Is using emotional appeal in advertising an unethical practise?

Being emotional is basic human nature. People run high on emotions and are deeply affected by them. Emotions are something that makes people extremely vulnerable and sensitive too. Every human feels different emotions and advertisers make the most of it. Advertisements, especially in India run high on emotional appeal. Be it humor, fear, love, or any other emotion. 

Studies have shown that using emotional appeal in advertisements has benefitted brands in the past and they heavily bank on it. Emotions, in a way, make humans internally weak and when we see an advertisement that resonates with us, we instantly feel the connection. Emotional appeal is used in different ways to persuade consumers to make a purchase. If the advertisement hits the right cord, brands will surely benefit from it. 

Here are some of the major reasons why advertisers use emotional appeal in their advertisements:

  • Resonates with audiences of all kinds
  • Creates a long-lasting and deep-rooted impact in the minds of people
  • Emotions make the audience vulnerable and a purchase is made easily
  • Evokes strong feelings in people for the product
  • Affects the audiences at a psychological level

But there is an ongoing debate about whether brands using emotional appeal in advertisements is ethical or not. One of the main reasons for this belief is that when the audience is emotional, their ability to think rationally is low. This creates hindrances in logical thinking and the customers make an impulsive buy. For instance, Surf Excel ads are known to be emotional and make ads that run high on the emotion factor. There is certainly no connection between the product and the emotions being advertised. People purely purchase products based on the emotions they witness. Fear is another such emotion that is widely used. Unnecessarily scaring people with a problem that doesn’t exist is certainly unethical. Hence people feel that banking on people’s emotional vulnerability is a wrong and unethical practice. 

I feel that emotions are an important part of our lives and using them in advertisements does no harm. So, what’s your take on this?