Guilt and shame

Curtis2011

11 years ago

Fear is probably the best negative emotion to manipulate. It's the strongest of them all.

If you want a list of negative emotions to go off of, though:

Pride
Anger
Desire
Fear
Grief
Apathy
Guilt
Shame

This about sums them up.

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sethczerepak

11 years ago

Yes, of course, but you have to balance it out. If you make someone feel too horrible they won't be able to overcome their own insecurities and buy. You have to empower them by adding hope and a brand new perspective on their problem. What you want is Cognitive dissonance, a negative and positive emotion fighting for dominance of their psyche...the positive emotion attached to your offer and the negative emotion attached to inaction or to the alternative solution/competitor. Cognitive dissonance creates an uneasiness which demands action and resolution, your job is to create that through contrast of positive and negative emotions, then get them to move in the direction you want them to...away from the negative and towards --> the positive.

Invalidation -> Validation
Insecure --> Secure
Frustrated --> Excited
Shameful --> Empowered

...etc.

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Lokahi

11 years ago

Originally Posted by sethczerepak

Yes, of course, but you have to balance it out. If you make someone feel too horrible they won't be able to overcome their own insecurities and buy. You have to empower them by adding hope and a brand new perspective on their problem. What you want is Cognitive dissonance, a negative and positive emotion fighting for dominance of their psyche...the positive emotion attached to your offer and the negative emotion attached to inaction or to the alternative solution/competitor. Cognitive dissonance creates an uneasiness which demands action and resolution, your job is to create that through contrast of positive and negative emotions, then get them to move in the direction you want them to...away from the negative and towards --> the positive.

Invalidation -> Validation
Insecure --> Secure
Frustrated --> Excited
Shameful --> Empowered

...etc.

Anti-perspirant companies like Sure, play to this 'insecure-secure' emotion. No one wants to think of smelling bad in public and for that reason, this tactic (be sure you are dry under your arms) works very well.

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BrianMcLeod

11 years ago

People reactively push guilt and shame away from themselves - "turn it off, turn it off..."

They don't proactively go out looking for solutions to it as a rule - they don't want to think about it!

So, if you want to lead with Guilt and Shame, good luck.

That said, who isn't deeply ashamed and guilty about something in their life?

Who wouldn't love to have that yoke lifted from their neck?

If you're looking for bankable emotions, look no further than Fear and Greed.

You can even call them something else so it doesn't feel so well-tread and obvious to your whiny little ego.

Anxiety & Self-Interest

Pain & Pleasure

Loss & Gain

Same as it ever was.

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Steve The Copywriter

11 years ago

In certain niches they can work well.

Charities, churches and fundraisers are good at capitalizing on them.

Steve

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Auxi 11 years ago

Depends on theme 99 % of time - no, it is not.
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- LastingLifeSuccess 11 years ago
  
  I suspect the negative emotions of guilt and shame could easily be used in negatively motivated sales copy, but why bother with the negative when so much more effectively positive sales copy techniques exist.
  
  Jay Abraham, Gary Halbert, John Carlton.
  
  Just to name a few powerful positive reasons why I wouldn't bother with the guilt and shame scene.
  
  Just sayin. . .
  
  LLS
  
  Thanks
  
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  "How To Make $4,000-$8,000 Finder's Fees Snooping Around Public Records"
  
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ReferralCandy

11 years ago

You can start with guilt and shame, but the most important thing is to offer a solution. Listerine didn't sell mouthwash, they sold a solution to halitosis. So on and so forth.

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Loren Woirhaye 11 years ago

Well, some entrepreneurs and therapists made
a lot of money with that "pray away the gay"
stuff. They probably didn't need sales letters
though because there was a lot of social
pressure within certain communities driving
the shame.

In general though, in most markets there are
more effective buttons to push.
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deezn

11 years ago

Originally Posted by ReferralCandy

You can start with guilt and shame, but the most important thing is to offer a solution. Listerine didn't sell mouthwash, they sold a solution to halitosis. So on and so forth.

If you check out Power of Habit, they tell the story of Febreze. Febreze was actually quite the chemical breakthrough when discovered. The active ingredient bonded to odor molecules. Sprayed onto fabrics and clothes, smoke smells, dog/cat/pet smells would vanish! So they marketed it as such. It flopped.

Two reasons. One, people get used to their smells. Smokers don't notice the smoke. Cat owners think their cats smell like petunias. Second, people didn't want to admit their house smelled. The guilt and shame of having a smelly house was effectively eliminated. The mind is a powerful thing indeed.

People don't want to think their house smelled, so they just ignored the thought! Amazing. Go to any pet owners house, tell them it smells like dog. They'll act surprised. Do it again 6 months later, they'll still act surprised.

So Proctor and Gamble marketed febreze differently, added a little perfume, effectively ignoring the very technical feature of febreze. Now it sells like hotcakes.

Hardly anyone who uses Febreze knows about the chemical inside that bonds molecularly with odors and eliminates them. They think it's a glorified fabric freshener.

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johndetlefs

11 years ago

Guilt and shame work great, and proponents of Spin Selling have been using both of these for years to sell more products at higher prices. In fact I've sold crap loads of various products in Telco and Finance for years using guilt and shame and can personally vouch for the efficacy of them.

That said, it's a shitty way to sell, and I had to stop as I found myself waking up every morning at 3am staring at the ceiling, and avoiding my own eyes while shaving in the mirror.

Sometimes better isn't really better, if you know what I mean? Now, I only use positive to sell products. It makes me feel better, and I seem to get a better brand of customer as well.

And I can look myself in the eye now when I'm shaving.

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travlinguy

11 years ago

Guilt and shame are repulsive. Almost no one will cop to them. They put up their Shame/Guilt force fields and deny, deny, deny.

Now, envy, pride and sloth. Them's emotions a manip... er, marketer can get his teeths into.