• by Ray Schultz , January 8, 2021

People respond most to ads with emotional resonance, and the same is probably true of marketing emails, judging by a new survey by a Vancouver-based marketing performance management company.

Shoppers particularly like to see ads that reflect: 

• Inspiration — 42%
• Joy — 40% 
• Love — 38%
• Hope — 34% 

But some won’t buy if an ad incites:

• Sadness — 7%
• Fear — 8%
• Anger — 8%
• Annoyance — 6% 

In line with the above, shoppers cited these ads as having the biggest emotional impact on them:

• Budweiser’s holiday puppy commercials — 28%
• Google’s “Loretta” commercial (where a man asks Google Assistant to remember details about his late wife) — 25% 
• Nike’s social justice commercial for the Black Lives Matter movement — 24%

Of the consumers polled, 73% want brands to incorporate more diversity into their campaigns this year. 

Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar stores hold a slight edge over online sites in the 2021 shopping plans of Americans. 

The study found that 47% will shop most at big-box stores in person, and 41% in small businesses.  

In contrast, 40% will shop at a big-box store and 38% in small businesses online.  

The margin is also tight between shoppers who are influenced by social media ads and those who are not — 51% say yes, and 49% say no. 

Of those polled, 50% say social media ads spark gift ideas, and 44% that social ads remind them of products they want or need. 

But TV commercials have the greatest impact with consumers—54% say so. In contrast, 36% say the same about social media ads and 15% about radio.

“Economic forecasts and consumer behaviors remain difficult to predict as we move into the new year still contending with the coronavirus,” states Julia Stead, CMO of Allocadia.

Stead adds, “Behavioral data is crucial to giving marketers the actionable insights they need to pivot campaigns fast and be agile with budget