Decision Making is Emotional

Good Insights

Emotion is essential in decision making

Three brains in one

The extent is individual

Blink

Thin slicing

Post-rationalisation

Two types of emotion

Positive Negative

Happiness

Love

Hope

Fear

Anger

Disgust

Sadness

Emotion in decision making

Incidental Integral

The feelings that you happen to have at the time you need to make a decision

The feelings about the specific issue /

decision

Expected

Much less important

Cognitive analysis of these leads to

less post-decision satisfaction

Source:

The role of emotions in foreign policy decision making, Renshon, J.B. & Lerner, J. S.

Wilson et al, 1993

Do emotions evoke responses?

Emotions that evoke responses Emotions that don’t evoke responses

Anger: Typically involves attempts to redress injustice

Hope: Creates optimism which is important if encouraging risk taking

Happiness: Happy people are most likely to help other people

Disgust: Causes disengagement, although it can trigger attempts to cleanse oneself of offending objects / ideas

Sadness: Causes disengagement, and sometimes efforts to change one’s circumstances

Contentment: Appraised with low effort and inactivity

Source:

Do positive and negative emotions have opposing influences on hope? Jennifer S Lerner and Deborah Small, 2002

What does this mean for us?

Fundraising, campaigning and behaviourchange are not about being rational

Relationship Action

Consistency

Their values, your needs

Cause / Issue

Your supporters

What you want them to

do

Brand

Our emotions must create actions

What emotion is right for you?

Our emotions need to overcome incidental emotions

Fundraising skills are key to inspiring action

• ReachReach = the right audience and channel

• RelevanceRelevance = connection to their world

• ResonanceResonance = emotionally moving

• Realism Realism = confidence it makes a differencei.e. clear need, clear solution, a clear role for our supporters,

clear ask for the task

• RewardReward = thanks feedback, appreciation (before you start again ...)

Social psychology and public campaigning

Influence and persuasion – the importance of the big six…

• Reciprocation• Commitment and consistency• Scarcity• Liking• Authority• Social proof

Influence – the psychology of persuasionInfluence – the psychology of persuasionRobert CialdiniRobert Cialdini

Herd

• More on psychology to really freak out those who believe we are independent thinkers….

HerdHerdMark EarlsMark Earls

Social psychology and public campaigning – why Dove?

• ReciprocationReciprocation – We didn’t do this one (but I’ll come back to it later…)

• Commitment and consistencyCommitment and consistency – Initial easy action for our supporters against the Chair of the Round Table on sustainable Palm Oil

• ScarcityScarcity – disappearing forest• LikingLiking – Oang-utan (not Greenpeace!!), and their

favorite brand good here too• AuthorityAuthority – 3-year investigation• Social proofSocial proof – well this is where Flickr and the ad

agencies came in…