Negative Emotion in Advertising: Mistake or Masterstroke?

This blog first appeared on MarketingFacts. Click here for the original article.

Negative emotion in communication is like fire: useful, but you can get badly burned. In practice, it often works against advertising effectiveness rather than for it. In this blog, we use data from one of our neuromarketing advertising studies to see how the brain truly responds to these expressions.

Negative Emotion in Commercials from Vivera, Aldi, and Hornbach

Advertisers seem to be using a new technique this year in the battle for attention; negative emotion. In just one commercial break, I encountered the following situations. Starting with the new commercial from Vivera.

A family sits down for dinner. Vegetarian schnitzel is on the menu. The father cautiously takes a first bite and makes a face full of disgust. After a nudge from his daughter, he admits he was just joking: the veggie schnitzel tastes quite good to him. Then comes Aldi.

We see a man storming away angrily from his ex-lover, who seals the end of their relationship with the words “just bugger off then”. What follows is 35 seconds of tears, swearing, and close-ups of comfort foods. Courtesy of Aldi.

Finally, Hornbach treats us to a nightmare for anyone who has ever done a DIY job at home. We see a series of DIY frustrations such as a crooked bathroom tile, a brand new floor with one plank that just won't stop creaking, and a carefully marked drill hole that is then drilled blatantly off-centre. The DIYers literally scream in anger.

Each of these is an example of negative emotion in advertising. And we are seeing it more and more.

That I wasn't the only one to notice this is evident from the number of emails I received in recent months asking if there is a neuroscientific answer to whether negative emotion in marketing is indeed wise for effectiveness.

That positive emotion sells will surprise few marketers. But when we look at how the brain responds to ads like these, it is unwise to assume that every painful stimulus should be eliminated. Negative emotion in communication is like fire: useful, but you can get badly burned.

In practice, it often works against advertising effectiveness rather than for it. In this blog, we use data from neuromarketing advertising research to see how the brain truly responds to these expressions.

Negative Emotions: Painfully Contagious, but Good for Attention

Unravel Research has now studied more than 700 commercials with EEG. In this research methodology, the neural response to advertisements is measured using electrodes on the head. In advertising research, we use brain data to calculate two fundamental metrics: desire (positive emotion) and attention. These metrics are U-shaped connected: attention generally increases during pronounced positive moments, but also during pronounced negative moments.

The Brain Mentally Resonates

Evoking positive emotion is not difficult. Our brain automatically responds to what we see; we mentally resonate. Show someone smiling, and the brain smiles along. Babies, pets, and delicious food can almost certainly count on a desire response in the brain. Pleasant lighting, nice music, and camera techniques that activate approach (such as zooming in) also systematically lead to higher desire.

Conversely, negative emotion is also contagious. Our brain immediately experiences negative emotion when we see someone making a disgusted face (as with Vivera), experiencing anger and sadness (as with Aldi), and with DIY fiascos you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy (as with Hornbach).

For these three commercials, the brain data leaves no doubt: the negative situations indeed evoke negative emotion in the viewer. This brings us to the more complex question of to what extent that negative emotion is unfavourable for the impact of the advertisement.

Why Negative Emotion Often Misses the Mark

Cells that wire together, fire together

This simple neural principle explains the workings of advertising. When a brand is active in our brain and we simultaneously experience positive emotion, we will find that brand a bit more attractive. However, if we experience negative emotion, that brand drops on the preference ladder in our head. This reduces the likelihood that one will purchase the brand in the future.

From this associative effect follow two practical principles:

• Advertisements that activate more positive emotion than negative emotion are the most effective.
• The moment after the brand identifier is crucial. What the viewer experiences at that moment will be most associated with the brand. Negative emotion at this moment is therefore unwise.

Based on these two principles, we know that negative emotion can contribute to advertising impact, but only insofar as it forms a prelude to a subsequent positive moment. Think of the classic problem-solution structure of advertisements: we first experience the pain of a problem (headache) and therefore feel more appreciation for the solution (a painkiller). A standalone negative experience – without a direct positive experience afterwards – will do little good for a brand.

Let's take a look at the effectiveness of the examples from the introduction of Vivera, Aldi, and Hornbach based on these basic principles.

Example: Vivera

The brain data shows that the brain mentally resonates with the father's disgusted look: as soon as he makes a disgusted face, the viewer experiences negative emotion. However, even when he admits he was just joking, the experience remains negative. Where the advertisers probably hoped that the subsequent rational persuasion (“Just kidding! Secretly quite tasty”) would set things right, the negative emotion continues to simmer throughout the scene.

Based on this data, unfortunately, you can only conclude that the final scene of the advertisement misses the mark. Although the expression attempts to rationally correct the negative first impression, emotionally it is ultimately the disgusted look that sticks. Not surprising: emotions are simply stronger than reason.

The rest of the commercial scores excellently, so the final scene can be well repaired in editing.

Example: Aldi

In the Aldi commercial, we also see the brain strongly mentally resonating. During the emotionally negative moments (the swearing and crying), there are strong emotional dips visible in the brain. At intermediate moments (the comfort foods, the reassuring phone call with mum, and, surprisingly, also the furious tidying up of the room) score strongly positive. This underscores an important rule about the workings of emotion in our brain: a negative moment can make a subsequent positive moment all the more pleasant. No sadness, no happiness.

As a result, the advertisement turns out positively overall. This can be explained by the balance between positive and negative moments: the advertisement contains deep lows, but also paves the way for emotionally strong highs. It was a bold choice by Aldi to now fully focus on emotion with their functionally oriented commercials from 2021, but it seems to be a smart move.

Example: Hornbach

The 60-second commercial from Hornbach is the most eloquent example of how the brain can emotionally resonate with the storyline. The first half of the commercial is filled with failed DIY jobs, such as the squeaky floor, the crooked bathroom tile, and a drill with a mind of its own. Although each DIY fiasco can initially count on negative emotion, these are immediately followed by a positive reaction in the case of the drill hole and bathroom tile. The reason is that these DIY mishaps not only hurt but also tickle the funny bone – positive emotion, therefore.

In the second half of the commercial, we see the DIYers looking back at their work with satisfaction. “Not perfect, but done by me,” you hear them think. It is precisely here that the initial pain stimulus is converted into positive emotion.

The Hornbach expression is a good example that negative emotion can work, provided that:

• Good balance: let positive moments dominate

• Good timing: negative emotion can work extra favourably as an attention grabber at the start of the commercial, but avoid negativity around the moment of the brand identifier

Conclusion: Negative Emotion Sometimes Surprisingly Effective, but Beware

In short: negative emotion is sometimes surprisingly effective, but you can get badly burned. That is one of the reasons why brands have their advertisements tested at the brain level. After all, you want to be sure that your creative choices hit the intended chord. Because EEG provides insight into the emotional response of each specific moment from the commercial, you gain concrete insights to realise the most effective TVC possible.