How a business can understand the emotional context of its customers by the example of Big Bang Theory characters?

There are several reasons to write this article. First of all, as a marketer with a scientific background in emotional and neurophysical research, I see an evident trend and rising popularity of a deeper understanding of consumer needs.

In 2002 Daniel Kahneman, PhD, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his groundbreaking work in applying psychological insights to economic theory, particularly in the areas of judgment and decision-making under uncertainty. In 2017 Nobel Prize was awarded to Richard H. Thaler for his contributions to behavioral economics. And even earlier in 2008 there appeared a book called “Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy”. It is a bestselling book by Martin Lindstrom, in which he analyzes what makes people buy.

Besides, Pieter Desmet, professor of Design for Experience at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, came up with the understanding why and how design evokes emotion, and how design can contribute to the well-being and flourishing of individual users and communities.

And this trend is visible not only in the academic sphere. A lot of big corporations create in-house UX laboratories to have a closer look at their customers and the ability to react faster.

There is no doubt that the consumer context is much wider and more complex than a simple business problem that needs a proper solution. That is why a second reason lies in the newest trend in services for mental health that help people to work out their emotions and feelings. I’m sure that you know Headspace, Сalm, Meditopia, NUE Life Health, and many others.

And last but not least! Being a marketer I really need to figure out if the JBTD (Jobs to be done) framework is enough for new product development and product marketing.

The JDTB framework was introduced by Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School. The theory is based on understanding both the customer’s specific goal or «job,” and the thought processes that would make a customer «hire” a product to complete the job. Everybody has various »jobs” to be done: get to a certain place, make a healthy breakfast, and share impressions from a party. When we start using a certain product we actually hire it to help us complete a certain »job task”. The product is not aiming to match a person and its character — it is aiming to match a certain problem to solve.One of the components of the JTBD framework is the Job story. Job Story describes the customers’needs in all detail. It consists of three parts:

When <situation> I want to <progress> So I can <outcome>

Hey, JTBD, get out of the way! Welcome a new instrument that will help you to get acquainted with your customer and make him happy — ETBF

Emotions To Be Fulfilled

Today we need to look wider and pay attention to emotions. Here is the moment ETBF comes into place. This framework focuses on customers’emotions and instruments to solve them. It is a part of the big method like neuro UX.

Emotional story

When <sence of tension> I want to <progress> So I can <outcome>

Let’s work with this formula and break it down into the blocks: situation, progress, and result.

How does a situation look when a person meets a problem? He lives, manages his own life — and suddenly something happens that makes him want to make a change. That something is an emotional reaction and a subsequent change of state. And that is, in fact, a problem. But our task is to describe not the problem itself, but the emotional context that was around the person when this problem occurred. And here lies the fundamental difference with JTBD.

Emotional Story can be segmented by emotional contexts around a person. Now it is much easier for product managers and founders to manage their product positioning and stand out from their competitors. And markets can build communication strategies with a big number of segments and produce new creatives.

Let’s how else we can describe Emotional Story:

Let’s look at an example from The Big Bang Theory. I’m sure you have watched this sitcom! Imagine the situation — “Penny is Hungry”.

But it is a problem, but not the emotional context of the situation. Such a formulation does not give us any practical value. It is not clear what happened to Penny, that she became hungry, and why this is to be treated as a problem at all. Therefore, it is necessary to describe exactly the emotional state in which this problem with Penny occurred. After all, a clear emotion is key to understanding Penny, her problems, and her perceptions. Let’s take Penny’s place and formulate the situation on her behalf, for example: “When I’m getting late for the next meeting, I’m nervous that I don’t have time to have a normal lunch…”

Please note: in this description of the situation, a fairly understandable emotional context is indicated («I’m nervous because I can’t have a normal lunch”) , potentially giving rise to a problem or conflict, but in itself not having an assessment. »I can’t eat properly” is not a problem in itself. Well, she can’t, so what? Perhaps she has had such a breakfast that she does not want to have a proper lunch.

Therefore, our task is:

- not to go into the description of the problem — it is too obvious, does not give insights, and we cannot do anything about it;

- not to describe a neutral situation that does not give rise to problems — this, of course, happens to people all the time, but in situations where nothing needs to be changed, no one buys anything.

Therefore, I use “change” assuming that we are only interested in a change for the better since a person makes an effort only when he expects a change for the better. The same goes for solving your own problem.

What change does Penny want to make when «she’s been driving errands all day and can’t have a proper lunch”? The most obvious is »she wants to stop being nervous as soon as possible and assuage her hunger ASAP. ” Let’s take a closer look.

Let’s look at some more examples with Sheldon. Of course, Sheldon is much more complicated in terms of defining his emotional interface. But even a person like this can be explored. What kind of features or products are you ready to propose to him?

When <sence of tension> I want to <progress> So I can <outcome>

Go to the emotional interface

Each of us not only experiences emotions but also knows how to categorize them. Our brain has a control system that not only helps to cope with uncertainties but also creates patterns of emotions and states. For example, you had a fight with a person and now you feel pain in your chest. Is it a heart attack, indigestion, feeling anxious, or realizing that your partner has made you uncomfortable? These states can also be adjusted. For example, your boss pissed you off, but you refrain from being rude to him. In this way, the brain helps to construct emotional experience and determine what it is.

— Emotions or feeling unwell (is it anxiety or indigestion?)

— What type of emotion and state is this (is it excitement or fear?)

— What actions after some emotions (with fear should I run or attack?)

— What is the context of these emotions (when I run away, should I scream or not?)

Most of these processes occur unconsciously. Breaking emotions into different types and categories based on the results of the work of our visual, auditory, and sensory channels, and memorizing them for our own benefit in the future is the work of the control system of our brain.

At the moment, the concept of emotional intelligence has undergone great changes and the skill of «emotion management” is being replaced by «understanding and accepting one’s own emotions.” It is important to highlight the skill in which the consumer goes through the awareness of how these emotions combine and generate the following emotional responses. A person is already able to anticipate and describe what feelings will arise in a hypothetical situation, for example, how he will feel if some unforeseen event happens. And the so-called »Emotional granularity” reflects the ability to describe in detail and accurately and recognize one’s own and other»s emotions. People with high emotional granularity accurately describe their emotional experiences. Such categorization of emotions allows a person to adequately convey their own or others’emotional states, draw conclusions about them, and predict their actions.

But how are brands and products concerned?

Designers, audience researchers, and marketers immediately understood the concept of emotional granularity. But I named it “neuro UX” when marketing managers, researchers or founders to research customer behavior and neuro reactions where seamless consumer experience is very important. And its importance for product development, as they are the ones who understand how important emotional messages are in product promotion and end-user choice. While product managers and developers needed more detailed explanations. In all five roles, participants found the typology of positive emotions useful in understanding the nuanced nature of positive emotions.

According to the results of the study, it was found that positive neuro UX allows you to work out the design of the product at a more detailed level and determine the necessary positive emotions that should be targeted.

Marker Desmet showed that people can experience at least 25 different positive emotions in human-product interactions, ranging from pride, amusement and hope to love. Although these emotions are all pleasurable, they differ in terms of feelings, the conditions that evoke them, and their influence on behavior and thoughts. For example, a pleasant surprise pulls a person’s attention toward a product, leading to increased product recall and recognition. A product that evokes inspiration infuses a user with new and creative thoughts, facilitating a shift in perspective. A feeling of interest engages a user to actively explore product attributes and functionalities and prolongs the duration of use, resulting in an increased understanding of a product.

Given these differences, it can be advantageous for designers to be able to discern and articulate various types of emotions with specificity in their design activities, e. g., user research, design conceptualization, and concept evaluation. We can compare emotions to colors. Designers never end up deciding on a mere ‘bright’color because although ‘apple green,’‘Tuscany cyan’and ‘summer yellow’are all examples of bright colors, each creates a very different product appearance.

http://www. ijdesign. org/index. php/IJDesign/article/view/66/15

Products do not solve isolated problems, but problems that occur in the workflow. Something happened «before” the emotional change, and another thing will happen »after”. In other words, a product that is to satisfy emotions has a starting point and an endpoint. The question is how to define them correctly. You can use each point or just one, it depends on assets and briefs

1. Interview with customers. Interviews should focus on the emotional context of product use and the key reason for the choice. And also there should be a focus on the transition of a person from one product to another and on what kept him from switching. The result of the interview will be a list of job stories.

When a person has not had practice recognizing and labeling their emotions, asking them to identify complex emotions becomes an intellectual exercise. The scheme below will have to make a questionnaire for the interview as it shows the interface of all possible states in different emotional contexts.

Emotion Sensation Feeling Wheel Handout by Lindsay Braman

2. Neuro methods. It depends on the budget you have. But more and more companies have in-house laboratories for conducting research on customers' needs. You may find out more in our previous article!

3. Mood tracker. «How do you do? ” or »How do you feel today? ” are typical questions that people ask when they meet. When we interact with digital devices, our current mood influences many different aspects of interaction and the content we want to consume. With the rise of AI and machine learning, it’s evident that in the near future, digital products will be able to detect moods automatically (without users even knowing about that) . Peter Smart shares his thoughts on how the app can track our mood automatically in his fantastic talk.

Is it possible to make predictions in 2024? Learn what to expect from customers in our article!

So, time to discuss)

References