We recently shared our thoughts on āDefining Consumer Emotions for Market Researchā on our blog, and dug even deeper into this topic in the first of our two-part webinar series, āWhy Is There So Much Confusion About Emotions?āĀ
This webinar, hosted by our Chief Research Officer Greg Stucky, on January 20th, talked about how researchers need to build some degree of emotional intelligence into the market research innovation process in order to get the RIGHT insights. Being able to understand what emotions are and what they are notāand elicit them properly in researchācan make or break success with consumers.Ā
There are many reasons why it is difficult to land on a universal definition of emotions, and in turn agree on how to measure them. We discussed definitions (temperament, attitudes, moods and emotions) in our previous blog post, but in a nutshell the confusion comes from the myriad ways humans use emotional language. When people talk about self, about experience or about feelings, we, for example, may use the same word āhappyā to mean very different things. A person might say āI am a happy person,ā or āCandles make me happy,ā or āI am happy,ā or āThis fragrance makes me feel happy.āĀ
(“Happy” used for Temperament, Attitude, Mood, and Emotion)

Being able to discern what people are talking about when they say āhappyā is quite helpful in understanding how to measure emotions and focusing that information for innovation.
In terms of market research for product development, emotions are incredibly important to define and understand. Humans can form emotional connections with products and brands, and these emotions drive toward or away from purchasing behaviors. Emotions are responsible for forming memories, the strength of those memories, and the ability to recall experiences.Ā
In the webinar recording, Greg shares more about how emotions are elicited, how context changes emotions, and takes a deeper look at the definitions of temperament, attitudes, moods and emotions. Make sure to listen to this webinar, āWhy Is There So Much Confusion About Emotions?āā and then sign up to join us for the second in the two-part series, āWriting Emotions Insightsā on January 27th.Ā
updated Feb. 2022
Both webinars are available on-demand through the button.