Consumer Emotions Impact Paid Search Clicks
It is a common misconception that online search is purely functional. However, a recent study has highlighted the significant role of emotions in shaping search behaviour for consumers. These emotions strongly influence online searches for products, services and click through rates for paid search adverts. The key findings of the research include the following:
Positive Feelings Influence Clicks
Consumers experiencing positive emotions tend to use emotionally charged keywords in their search activity. As part of this study, they compared search queries with positive emotional language (e.g., “romantic hotels”) to more neutral language (e.g., “international hotels”). The clickthrough rates were significantly higher when the search queries incorporated a more positive and emotional description.
The Power of Priming
A second study undertaken used images tied to positive and neutral emotions – for example, images of flowers, sunshine compared to more impersonal images, e.g., a spoon or chair, to try and influence the state of mind of the participants. Following this, the participants were asked to search for products/services they were interested in purchasing. As a result, the people who were exposed to the more positive imagery were more likely to use positive keywords in searches, such as ‘happy’, ‘joyful’ and ‘joy’.
A Moderating Effect
A final study was undertaken that divided participants into two groups: a ‘non-emotion’ group were instructed to search for a metal water bottle and a ‘positive emotion’ group were asked to search for a ‘happy water bottle’. Some consumers were given an article detailing how advertisers get people to click on paid search ads by ‘imitating organic search’ before consumers enter a search query. As a result, the study replicated previous findings for the group that did not read the article, with the ‘positive emotion’ group demonstrating higher click-through rates on paid ads. However, the group that read the article about advertising tactics did not exhibit this same behaviour. This suggests that consumer awareness of advertising techniques can mitigate the impact of emotional priming on ad click-through rates.
In conclusion, understanding the impact of consumer emotion has on online search is essential for digital advertisers. Advertisers can create more effective and engaging campaigns by designing creatives that prime users’ emotions and creating ad copy that aligns with consumers' emotional states, thereby increasing click-through rates.
https://www.warc.com/content/feed/consumer-emotions-impact-paid-search-clicks/en-GB/9996
