When a company connects with customers’ emotions, the payoff can be
huge. Yet building such connections is often more guesswork than
science. To remedy that problem, the authors have created a lexicon of
nearly 300 “emotional motivators” and, using big data analytics, have
linked them to specific profitable behaviors. They describe how firms
can identify and leverage the particular motivators that will maximize
their competitive advantage and growth. The process can be divided into
three phases. First, companies should inventory their existing market
research and customer insight data, looking for qualitative descriptions
of what motivates their customers—desires for freedom, security,
success, and so on. Further research can add to their understanding of
those motivators. Second, companies should analyze their best customers
to learn which of the motivators just identified are specific or more
important to the high-value group. They should then find the two or
three of these key motivators that have a strong association with their
brand. This provides a guide to the emotions they need to connect with
in order to grow their most valuable customer segment. Third, companies
need to make the organization’s commitment to emotional connection a key
lever for growth—not just in the marketing department but across every
function in the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]