The Darkside of Marketing: Motivation and how the brain works
Emotions, Toxic emotions & Storytelling:
What are 5 key families of emotion?
- Happiness – links to meaning, development, growth
- Fear
- Sadness
- Anger
- Disgust/ shame – feel repulsed by something
- Apathy/indifference ~ what is the impact of a lack of emotion and why is it there?
What is the positive value of each emotion?
- Happiness is a positive emotion
- Fear is a positive emotion in evolutionary terms ~ run away from animals that scare you,
ultimately ensuring survival
- Sadness is related to the concept of getting over a loss you have experienced
- Anger is associated with defending other that are important to you
- Disgust is one of the oldest evolutionary emotions ~ shame stops us from doing bad things
When do emotions become ‘toxic’?
- Happiness leads to trying to make others around you happy as well if they’re unhappy
rather than empathising; happiness may linger for too long ~ this can lead to toxicity
- Fear becomes an inhibiter, stops you from doing things you may want to do ~ relates to
concepts of anxiety
- Sadness is associated with loss ~ if it lingers too long, it can lead to depression
- Anger can lead to wrongful actions when overpowering your emotions
- Disgust can inhibit your emotions as an individual ~ which would lead to shame due to
societal norms, and trying to dictate what we should or shouldn’t do
o Shame is the emotion that marketers have most impact on
o Shame is associated most with addiction – related to numbing behaviours
o What is our conceptualisation of bad things? What others may consider bad may
not be considered bad from ourselves
3 systems in the brain: (McLean, 1998; Kiverstein & Miller, 2015)
- Non-cortex / New brain
o Analysis
o Creativity
o Problem solving
o To think clearly and effectively
o Try to regulate our emotions; identify meaning or purpose in our life
- Limbic / Middle brain
o Emotions
o Feelings
o Value judgements
o For free self-expression
o We sense emotions, other people’s emotions would impact ours whilst our emotions
will impact others
- Reptilian / Old brain
o Instinct
o Self-preservation
Emotions, Toxic emotions & Storytelling:
What are 5 key families of emotion?
- Happiness – links to meaning, development, growth
- Fear
- Sadness
- Anger
- Disgust/ shame – feel repulsed by something
- Apathy/indifference ~ what is the impact of a lack of emotion and why is it there?
What is the positive value of each emotion?
- Happiness is a positive emotion
- Fear is a positive emotion in evolutionary terms ~ run away from animals that scare you,
ultimately ensuring survival
- Sadness is related to the concept of getting over a loss you have experienced
- Anger is associated with defending other that are important to you
- Disgust is one of the oldest evolutionary emotions ~ shame stops us from doing bad things
When do emotions become ‘toxic’?
- Happiness leads to trying to make others around you happy as well if they’re unhappy
rather than empathising; happiness may linger for too long ~ this can lead to toxicity
- Fear becomes an inhibiter, stops you from doing things you may want to do ~ relates to
concepts of anxiety
- Sadness is associated with loss ~ if it lingers too long, it can lead to depression
- Anger can lead to wrongful actions when overpowering your emotions
- Disgust can inhibit your emotions as an individual ~ which would lead to shame due to
societal norms, and trying to dictate what we should or shouldn’t do
o Shame is the emotion that marketers have most impact on
o Shame is associated most with addiction – related to numbing behaviours
o What is our conceptualisation of bad things? What others may consider bad may
not be considered bad from ourselves
3 systems in the brain: (McLean, 1998; Kiverstein & Miller, 2015)
- Non-cortex / New brain
o Analysis
o Creativity
o Problem solving
o To think clearly and effectively
o Try to regulate our emotions; identify meaning or purpose in our life
- Limbic / Middle brain
o Emotions
o Feelings
o Value judgements
o For free self-expression
o We sense emotions, other people’s emotions would impact ours whilst our emotions
will impact others
- Reptilian / Old brain
o Instinct
o Self-preservation
