Differential Emotions Theory

Introduction

A marketing campaign is a specific, defined series of activities used in marketing a new or changed product or service, or in using new marketing channels and methods. In the clutter, it is effective marketing that separates the leaders from the followers, imitators or counterfeiters. Firms that have succeeded in highly competitive mass markets for consumer goods have done so on the back of highly competitive products and even better marketing campaigns.

Successful campaigns tend to be carefully researched, well thought-out and focused on details and execution, rather than resting on a single, grand idea. Hence the growing importance of getting the right formula to connect with the audience as the audience gets more and more sophisticated

They will take the minimum possible time to make their decision which, depending on the category, may be only one or two seconds. Having said that, in this miniscule time frame they will try and recollect the brands that best synced with their emotional setup.

We shall have a look at some theories in psychology and their implications on marketers and how these have influenced campaigns.

Differential Emotions Theory

Propositions: Izard (1977, p. 43) presents this theory based on several key assumptions. First, ten fundamental emotions (7 negative, 2 positive, and 1 neutral) constitute the human motivational system. Second, fundamental emotions function for the survival of human beings. Third, these emotions interact with each other.

Circular Model of Emotion

Propositions: This theory provides a structural model describing the inter-relations among emotions. The major postulates are as follows (Plutchik, 1980, pp. 8-9). First, there are 8 primary emotions (4 negative, 2 positive, and 2 neutral). All other emotions are mixtures of the primary emotions. Second, emotions serve an adaptive role in dealing with survival issues. Third, primary emotions can be seen differently in terms of pairs of polar