Intellect Vs. Emotion

By Michael Drew - Sep 12 , 2007

Speaking to Both Sides of the Brain

A good place for your author to start creating a marketing platform is with a seminar, a newsletter, or a website—preferably, all three. And, when crafting copy for each of those three communication vehicles, your author needs to decide up-front whether to appeal to intellect or emotion. Let’s consider an example of each from the pages of two very different catalogs of women’s clothing:

VALUE RIGHT: cardigan-style jacket from Liz Baker Essentials. If you find a similar item somewhere else you think is a better value, return this item, and we will refund your money. Padded shoulders; single-button closure; pockets. Fitted with princess seams. Polyester with two-way comfort stretch. Polyester lining. Washable or dry clean. Made in USA or imported of domestic fabric. (1.5 lbs.) $39.98

Stompin’ at the Savoy. Take a train. Just in time for the One O’clock jump. Lionel’s kicking like mad; doing the Lindy, the Big Apple, the Shag, the Twist, the Fish, the Black Bottom. Now you’ve got it. Savvy Savoy dress. Four-gore skirt. Built for speed. High front slit, cut for the kickaway. (It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing.) Quick change of tempo into a foxtrot, cheek-to-cheek. ‘40s-style Swing Dress. Sandwashed silk crepe de Chine. Price $198. With cross-over bodice, little short sleeves, trapunto stitching around the collar, invisible side-seam zipper, and matching belt. Imported.

Would it be surprising if I told you the Savvy Savoy dress sold considerably better than the VALUE RIGHT jacket even though the ‘Savoy’ costs five times as much? It shouldn’t. As human beings, we have a tendency to make decisions emotionally and then use intellectual reasoning to justify those decisions. After all, who wants to be VALUE RIGHT when you can be Stompin’ at the Savoy instead?

The point is, creating an emotionally-driven message is an extremely effective way for an author to connect with people on a deeper level. This kind of message taps into a person’s past experiences while introducing a new perspective to refresh the way he or she feels about something. In other words, if your author can find a way to win peoples’ hearts, their minds are more likely to search for an intellectual justification to drive to the bookstore and purchase that book.

Now, I don’t mean to imply that choosing to appeal to the intellect is always the wrong choice. If your author really does have a good intellectual leg to stand on, go ahead and use it. Intellectual messages are good for providing audience members with new information that leads to a new decision. Some people are built to process information and make decisions with their heads instead of their hearts. One realm where this is true is the scientific community, where researchers are constantly attempting to prove or dispel theories. But the steep challenge in attempting to appeal to the intellect revolves around the substantiation of claims. Without sufficient supporting evidence, your authors run the risk of putting a message out there that comes off as hollow, biased, and contrived. So please make sure they include plenty of support for their assertions if they choose to take an intellectual approach.

Intellect versus Emotion is just one of several tugs-of-war your author will wrestle with when searching for a message that resonates with potential readers. Over the coming weeks I intend to address more of these tugs-of-war by looking at the choices of speaking to Time versus Money, Opportunity versus Security, Style versus Substance, and Pain versus Gain.

Questions about creating marketing messages may be directed to Michael R. Drew at the Austin, Texas, headquarters of Promote A Book : 512-858-0040. You can also contact Michael via email at michael@promoteabook.com.