Advertising Copy: Rational & Emotional approach

Advertising Copy

Text of a print, radio, or television advertising message that aims at catching and holding the interest of the prospective buyer, and at persuading him or her to make a purchase all within a few short seconds. The headline of an advertising copy is said to be the most important part, and quite often a small change in its wording brings disproportionate results. Although a short advertising copy is more common in consumer-product advertising, according to the UK advertising guru David Ogilvy (1911-1999) people do read (and listen or attend to) lengthy advertisements if they are skillfully written.
Most advertising copy is based on advertising/consumer research and is composed by professional copywriters hired by advertising agencies.

Rational & Emotional approach of advertising

A rational appeal tells about the facts, figures and scientific use of the product and services.

An example of Rational advertisement

An Emotional appeal connect customer with the product with its uses, safety, etc.

An example of Emotional Advertising

A rational appeal in advertising means more emphasis is placed on providing factual information and specific details about product benefits. A household cleaning product ad might show the product in use and then offer an explanation of how it cleans twice as well as competing brands and costs less. The same product could be promoted with a more emotional appeal that emphasizes the ease of cleaning, the hassle-free experience and the environmental benefits it offers.

Data

Rational appeals tend to turn market data into a more straightforward message that appeals to the intelligent reasoning of the customer. A toothbrush ad that claims "four out of five dentists recommend" the product appeals to your ability to reason that if dentists believe in the product, so should you.

Involvement

Customers tend to put more time and effort into making informed decisions when purchases are more involving. Big ticket items, those intended for long-term use, and other products of personal importance are all more involving than routine, everyday items like shampoo and milk. A December 2010 article from marketing agency DMN3 indicated that rational appeals typically have more influence on big ticket purchases. Companies still use emotion in messages, but customers need to see more facts and sound, logical reasons to buy when they put more time into their decisions.

Why should you care about the rational or emotional appeal?

No one size fits all relates to advertising as well. At a certain level, both rational and emotional appeals are at work in advertising. However, one is dominant while the other is submissive, as even an emotional appeal requires logical reasoning and may need facts to base the campaign structure. On the other hand, if a rational appeal is at center, then these too ultimately provoke emotional reaction, as emotion plays a role in how viewer reacts to everything. The reaction further is personal as consumers have their own past experiences and thus bring their personal perceptions about products or brands.

The crux of the matter is the most effective advertisement campaigns use both emotional as well as rational appeals to persuade consumers.

Rational Appeal: What is said?

Emotional Appeal: How it is said?

Here are two examples of the most viral ads from the past which justify how marketers blend the emotional and rational part of the campaign.