Jose Carillo's Forum

POUR OUT YOUR MIND IN ENGLISH

This page welcomes well-thought-out and well-considered postings in English about any subject under the sun. Postings that will be entertained are original essays, short stories, and verses in the English language written by the forum member himself or herself.

The maximum allowable posting is 1,200 words in 12 points in the standard 8 ½” x 11” typeset format; longer but worthwhile postings will be cut or condensed by the moderator to fit the maximum space allocation.

The objective of this page is to promote and encourage the felicitous use of English in expressing ideas, thoughts, and feelings. By posting material on this page, the member expressly agrees to have it critiqued by fellow members of Jose Carillo’s English Forum. Members making critiques, on the other hand, are enjoined to make their critiques constructive, thoughtful, and helpful.

To avoid needless conflicts and recriminations, contributions to this space will be carefully screened and moderated. Offending and scurrilous posts will be removed outright by the forum moderator.

Now that the ground rules for his page are clear, we now invite you to start pouring out your mind—but strictly only in English, please!

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The impact of emotional appeals on our purchase decisions
By renzphotography

Perhaps we are now all aware that most purchasing decisions are emotional.

Although we try to be as financially prudent as possible in our purchase decisions when we go to the supermarket, we cannot deny the fact that in many cases, we prefer branded items over cheaper alternatives because “we feel better” using those branded products. The emotional appeal of the product or the brand figures very strongly in our purchase decisions.

The same thing goes when we decide whether to accept a social contract or not. The emotion involved in selecting a suitor is obvious, but what about the emotions involved in deciding to join an organization, in selecting a candidate in an election, or in buying a plane ticket with the expectation of reaching our destination safely?

Any sales pitch by a salesman, any persuasive speech by a politician, or any whisper by a suitor revolves around an emotion, so we should familiarize ourselves with the most common of these emotions:

(1) Love
This involves the things we could do to make our loved ones happy.

(2) Prestige
We feel good whenever we are treated exceptionally and we are willing to pay a premium for it.

(3) Fear of Loss
We are afraid of the possibility of losing the things we value, or of them being forcibly taken away from us.

(4) Greed
This is when we want to gain more than what could normally be derived for the same amount of resources, such as our money or our time.

(5) Guilt
The feeling of guilt is terrible, so anything that could take away this feeling from us could drive us to action.

Mass media advertisements are inundated with messages that revolve around these emotions. Consider these:

In political campaigns, of course, it is common to see politicians portray themselves in scenes where they embrace kids and elderly people or hand out relief goods during disasters.

Obviously, these are emotional appeals that say the politician loves the poor and lends a helping hand to victims of tragedy or disaster. Other common themes revolve around job generation, better health care, and food on every table.

In any case, we should always try to see which of the five emotions are involved in these messages. This way, we could see through the superficiality of the message and be able to focus on the things that truly matter, such as the intrinsic benefits of a product or the politician’s stand on particular issues as well as his or her track record.

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