4 Emotions That Make Us Spend Money (And How They Do It)

My face every end of the month

Emotions and money are like lovers. They are as attached and connected as gum to a shoe on a bad day. Every purchase, donation, tip, sponsorship and even every time you have to pass the hat at the office to pay for someone’s b-day cake emotions play a part of the decision. Emotions, as we all know, can be positive or negative but they drive us to spend– whether it is when we pull out our credit cards for a shopping attack or when we spare some change to someone on the street.

 Advertising and PR executives know this. Hell they do! In fact, companies, organizations, small businesses and individuals spend thousands and thousands of dollars every year to generate or change emotions in their targeted audiences to get them to alter their behaviour and finally, spend money. Emotional copy is way more effective than plain straight-to-sell copy. Telling stories, using characters, creating a specific and pleasant environment are all ways that businesses use to pull emotional heartstrings.

 So what emotions are the most effective to target to get people to spend their hard earned money?
 You may recognize one or two of the emotions that work to open a wallet and you may even remember how you felt when you decided to buy that expensive camera or those jeans but usually we don’t even realize how our emotions have been used to motivate us to shop. Of course nobody likes to admit someone played with his/her emotions and and might have controlled him/her like a puppet. Let’s have a look to four of them and see how they work:

Wanna keep up with the Johnsons?

•  -Envy: Admit it. We all are greedy (please admit it, I don’t want to be the only one). It may be hard to accept but it is real. This deadly sin (not according to me since I am still alive) moves the masses to spend their bucks. Impulse purchases happen a lot because of this emotion.  As mortals, we like to have more stuff than others; better stuff, the latest version, the most expensive, the more complete, the biggest one, the shiniest one. The ‘it’s new so you gotta have it’ sense provokes in the consumer the need to own it even when that need is just being created in that moment and probably lying to us. Luxury goods, fancy real estate, and new shiny technology are all products that greed has made us buy. At the end, you don’t have to be rich, you just have to be richer than your neighbour.

Eat less, move more. That simple

• Fear: Fear? Fear of what? Read on: It is Tuesday evening and you are watching TV while having a big dinner. It’s just you in the dark room and the only light is coming from your TV screen as you watch CSI, it’s pouring outside, wind is ripping off branches of trees and you can hear thunder. Now the commercials are coming... then the phone rings and a creepy voice tells you that you will die in seven days and that they are calling from inside the house. Well... not really. I just made that up. Let’s go back to you watching all those diet commercials; pill diets, recipe diets, non-carb diets, non-carb but sugar is ok on Monday diets, non-sugar and carbs are evil except Italian carbs cause you have to have pasta diets, etc. You’re convinced you need to lose weight to look good in the summer, to find a spouse, to be successful but you are worried the diet won’t work.  You don’t want to be scammed again and throw your money down the drain with another crappy and unsuccessful diet like the last eight diets you have tried which sort of worked but those damn jeans still don’t fit and you won’t get married, you won’t get that promotion and you won’t look better than everyone at the high school reunion that your ex is also coming to too. So, you believe testimonials, you believe the warranties, you trust the new product again but you were still scared at the core that you are not the person you want to be. By the way, you may also need to hit the gym once in a while if you want to get slimmer (just sayin’). Fear and instability make people save sometimes, but they mostly make they buy.

No, I'm not talking about this Pride, the other pride

•  Pride: Who doesn’t like to be in the VIP section? To have access, to be rich, to be the center of the attention because nobody could attend to that private concert but you – our sense of vanity makes us spend a lot of money. I am talking about being number one. If there’s something that motivates people like crazy it’s the chance to belong to an exclusive group. We can point out fingers at about teenagers as they are motivated to be cool by advertising, to follow trends and fads but that would be too easy. What about us adults? (I am sort of an adult on a good day) Why buy a Mac before a Dell? Because if you do, you are going to be seen to be smart, cool, laid back and clever; the person in the sexy t-shirt not the person in the bad suit. Brands have their own personality; they target a certain group of people suggesting they are unique or superior. The perception of quality and functionality are a second level motivation. Emotional copy that portrays an exclusive atmosphere can be highly successful. By doing effective emotional copy and being careful that you are not suggesting excessive allure, this copy, that plays to pride, can permeate deeply into the psyche of the consumer without him or her noticing it. Leo Burnett, advertising guru, said: “Good advertising (...) penetrates the public mind with desires and belief’’.  He knew what he was speaking about.

• Compassion: An emotional capacity of empathy and sympathy for the suffering of others, according to Wikipedia. Our sense of compassion is why we give money to children, to wounded puppies and to disaster relief efforts.  No, we are not all bad – we do spend money to help others. Making donations and supporting causes are actions that by nature create or support our own identity as good people and balance the other less nice demands of our personal and professional lives. The only thing I can add is that it works and it is very good for the world.

What A Good Copywriter Has To Have

'There's a way to do everything better, find it' T.A. Edison

When I told my friend Leo, a banking executive, that I was starting a career as a copywriter he made the ‘what?’ face, the conversation went downhill:

-You want to be a copy fighter?
Ha ha. No, a copywriter.
A coffee grinder?
No, A copywriter!
- Oh, ok... And what’s that?

This wasn’t the only time I had to explain what a copywriter is. I did it to friends, family, former co-workers and almost anyone who had no idea what a copywriter is (this is a lot of people). This unknown quality appealed to me.

Now, after going back to school, reading a ton of books and formally work as a copywriter, I am sure I made the right decision.

So, for the last time, here’s my definition of what a copywriter is: it is the respectful guy/gal (usually very smart and a total hottie) who produces ideas and copy (text) to promote, to advertise, to sell, to inform and to educate in media, web, printed material and other communication channels. 

A good copywriter possesses a vast acknowledge of spelling and grammar rules and how and how to break them, but also a set of skills and acknowledge that help him or her to write effective copy. Some skills you learn, some of them you were born with. In my opinion, some characteristics of a great copywriter are:

• Creative thinking: Creativity is the process to came up with original ideas. It is as simple as that, but even when it sounds simple, it could be a complex process for some people. To be a creative thinker you must go outside the box. I am not talking to ‘go outside the box’ as they say in business: think outside the box but do not cross the line and stick to the rules. Nope. This is  about going seriously crazy. Let your mind fly. Think in what can’t be possible nor real. I can’t assure you your idea is going to be good, but your originality has to be. Start the engine of your mind and don’t stop until you ran out of gas. Write your ideas, your thoughts, your dreams, movie lines, song’s lyrics, even jokes. Do free writing and brainstorming. Always original, not a second-rate version of somebody else.

Library pancakes stack, syrup anyone?

• Technical acknowledge: I know amazing copywriters who have never take a course in English or the language they write copy in. People who have never read a book about SEO and are awesome web copywriters. If you are in that group, congrats! However, for most of the rest of us, technical acknowledge is required to become competitive. Advertising, marketing, communications, SEO strategies, social media, graphic communication, copywriting, business, grammar, writing and editing are some, but not all,  the fields in which a good copywriter should be proficient and skilled at. Always keeping yourself up to date in new writing techniques, market behaivours, marketing and advertising strategies, communications approaches and trends. Courses, seminars, books, internet and some good magazines are great tools to take in account. At the end, one or two certificates hanging in your wall provide you proven acknowledge and academic experience that your clients will like. Invest in yourself. Your mind is the best professional asset you have.

Look at me, I'm an expert in writing on windows!

•  Expertise in the topic you are writing about: One of the things that I enjoy the most of being a copywriter is that I never know what the next project will be about. I have written copy for so many different services, events and products that all of them are very particular. The great copywriter must become an expert in the matter he or she is writing about. If you are writing for funeral services, apps for iPhones, caregivers, cupcakes stores, government or any other topic, you must make your research and get as much as you need to become a guru. This will allow you flow in your writing as an ice skater in the rink. It opens up your imagination in an incredible way and gives you credibility and expertise.

These and other personal and professional aspects plus experience are important components in being a great copywriter. At the end we all want to produce excellent work and our skills and acknowledge are the key.

I gotta go back to be a coffee grinder.