How Animals in Marketing Elevate Customer Experience
In a world filled with constant stimuli and digital distractions, consumers are increasingly seeking out content that evokes positive emotions and promotes well-being. From heartwarming animal videos to nostalgic throwback clips, wholesome content has become a go-to source of comfort and relaxation for many.
But what is it about animals used in marketing that elevates the feel-good factor in potential customers? In this blog, we explore this phenomenon with insights from experts in psychology, marketing, and consumer behaviour.
The Science Behind the Feel-Good Factor
The feel-good factor, (sometimes referred to as positive affect or emotional well-being), is a multifaceted phenomenon influenced by neurochemical, psychological, social, and behavioural factors. Understanding the science behind the feel-good factor can help brands cultivate emotional, satisfying, happy and fulfilling content that appeals to potential customers.
By creating marketing content that elevates that feel good factor or gives a glimmer of escapism to a happier place, we create positive brand associations.
“Wholesome content doesn’t need to have a clear narrative. We seek out soothing content, videos of people deep cleaning objects, or videos of a simpler life connected to nature. It’s escapism that is oddly satisfying,” says Earnest Pettie, a YouTube specialist in culture and trends.
Professor Amitav Chakravarti, a professor of marketing at the London School of Economics, explains: “People feel calmer, more relaxed, and even more generous and altruistic when they connect to wholesome content.”
Chakravarti further elaborates that “people’s desire for wholesome content stems from the human desire for affiliation with others.” Wholesome content can often provide this affiliation through imagery of human connection, a connection with nature, animals and Mother Earth.
The Impact on Consumer Mood and Behaviour
Nancy Puccinelli, co-director at Bath Retail Lab, emphasises the importance of consumer mood and emotion in advertising: “The basic premise is that if the ad makes people feel good, their attitudes towards nearly anything you show them will go up considerably. And there’s also a significant knock-on effect on behaviour – all other things being equal, if a brand makes me feel good, I’m going to be inclined to buy that brand.”
Whether as beloved pets, therapy animals, or wildlife encounters, animals play a valuable role in enhancing human happiness and quality of life. Therefore, when we see animals in advertising, we automatically generate that feel good factor in humans. We associate animals with companionship, unconditional love, stress reduction, a sense of purpose and a connection to the natural world.
All this positivity can, as Puccinelli states, generate a wholesome association with the brand and help generate sales.
This Generation of Consumers: Gen Z
Brands are harnessing wholesome content to tap into the preferences of this generation of consumers. A 2022 Ipsos survey found that Gen Z love to watch soothing video content, such as “ASMR content, animal live streams, or nostalgia videos” to help them relax. Marketing campaigns that leverage this type of content will see fantastic results with the Gen Z audience.
While every generation has held positive association with animal content, we can see that Gen Z is savvy and wary about AI. Importantly, there is a focus on seeing the “real thing” and it’s clear to see why AI imagery of animals just wouldn’t cut it.
Gen Z specifically wants to see authenticity yet in an ethical and environmentally friendly way. Hiring force free professionally trained animals to work in your content campaigns provides this authenticity in a genuinely effective way that garners that feel good factor.
The Aesthetics of Wholesome Content
Brands looking to incorporate wholesomeness into their marketing strategies can help their customers feel good about themselves, the brand, and the wider world. By leveraging animals in marketing campaigns, brands can create emotional connections with consumers, evoke positive emotions, and foster a sense of well-being.
Earnest Pettie highlights the aesthetic appeal of wholesome content: “Wholesome content doesn’t need to have a clear narrative. We seek out soothing content, videos of people deep cleaning objects, or videos of a simpler life connected to nature. It’s escapism that is oddly satisfying.”
A sense of escapism, a closer connection to nature and the living world are concepts that really work in harnessing the feel good factor in potential consumers. Achieving this in your content in an authentic way is the best route to appeal to your customers.
Incorporating Animal Wholesomeness into Marketing
The presence of animals in marketing not only enhances the feel-good factor for potential customers but also serves as a powerful tool for brands to connect with their audience on a deeper level.
Animals have a remarkable ability to evoke positive emotions and promote well-being in humans. Humans have an innate affinity for nature and other living organisms, known as biophilia. Simply viewing animals, and more so interacting with animals, allows humans to reconnect with the natural world, which has been shown to improve mood, reduce stress, and promote overall health and well-being.
By tapping into this desire and accompanying it with the desire for wholesome content, brands can create meaningful experiences that leave a lasting impression and drive positive consumer behaviour.
