The "infectiousness" of content is directly related to the activity of the audience. This parameter appears when the user starts sharing the selected material. The main thing in engagement is the maximum number of interactions with the content. The publication should motivate people to comment, like, share the material and recommend it to friends. The central component of viral marketing is emotions.
Feelings often determine people's actions. When the brain forms emotional arousal, the nervous system's reaction creates a subjective experience (feelings). Most decisions made by a person are based on emotional reactions. The level of emotional manifestation affects the likelihood of response activity.
Stages of influence of emotions on people's actions
Let's look at the main stages of the influence of emotions on people's actions on the Internet.
The average user almost always has two options to choose from:
to read – not to read;
to look – not to look;
to comment – not to comment, and so on.
These decisions are determined denmark email list by emotional mood. Neuroscientists support the opinion that curiosity (interest) is at the center of this process. It controls selective attention, which controls other systems. Therefore, content should, first of all, arouse curiosity. This is why headlines and introductions are so important. If these text elements do not hook the user, there will be no interaction with the content.
The next step is to convince the user to repost the material.
The decision-making process, according to psychology researcher Richard Lazarus, consists of the following steps:
Cognitive assessment: the individual analyzes the situation at the level of consciousness and feelings.
Physiological processes: The thought response triggers biological processes, including increased adrenaline or decreased mood.
Action: The user feels an emotion and makes a choice about his reaction: to react or not.
When a cognitive analysis elicits a powerful emotional response and, accordingly, significant physiological reactions, the likelihood of a reaction increases and the reader decides to share the material.
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There is a high probability that any strong feeling can stimulate user engagement. However, not all emotions are equally effective in the context of managing human behavior. It is important to generate those that lead to the desired actions. Here is a list of the most powerful emotions that cause the desire to share viral content, based on the research of Professor John Berger from the University of Chicago.
Human emotions for viral reach