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In one of the studies they asked people to recall a particular experience that the researchers knew would trigger a particular emotion (the birth of a child for happiness, the death of a loved one for sadness, or an encounter with an awkward neighbour for anger).
Next they asked a number of questions about the people the participants worked with. How likely would he or she be to complete a task they asked him to do? How accurately would he or she represent their view to somebody else? And so on.
Happy people were significantly more trusting and positive. For the record, angry people were the least trusting, sad somewhere between the two.
Perhaps because this research feels intuitively obvious, it's easy to overlook the most significant part (so I'll mention it again just in case): where people feel happy about one thing that they are inclined to be much more trusting.
Trust is such a huge issue for consumers (particularly at an unconscious level).
One of the reasons that big brands do so well is that customers feel safe buying products from brands they have seen frequently and experienced without coming to harm often.
It all links back to our distant past. Our unconscious is designed first and foremost to keep us safe.
Small brands and newer companies have to work much harder to reassure people who are thinking of buying from them. But all that reassurance and justification of your product or service can make the shopping experience less fun.
This research shows it's vital to stand back from what you're doing and see if you can create some happiness around the experience. And the key word is “around”.
Just as good, if you can catch customers when they are in a good mood you will sell more.
Oh yes, why did I say "It's a secret" in the title?
Well, the same researchers found that when people were aware that a happy memory or funny film could influence their emotions, their trust levels were unchanged subsequently.
If
you can create an environment where
customers are happy, they’ll be far more
likely to
buy.
For more details of the research cited in this article see:
Schweitzer and Dunn; "Feeling and Believing: The Influence of Emotion on Trust." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88(6), 736-748 (2005).
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© 2008 Philip Graves Consumer Behaviour Resource. All rights reserved