How Emotional Appeal Can Influence Persuasive Writing

How Emotional Appeal Can Influence Persuasive Writing

Our decisions are greatly impacted by our emotions. This is natural to everyone who has ever thought, “Oooh! I have to have that,” before rashly purchasing a cool new product. Marketers profit greatly from this idea. They have taught people how to use emotional appeal to sell things in their sales training courses. persuasive essay writing help is particularly necessary if you want to persuade readers to agree with your viewpoint or perspective.

One of the most important skills a small or medium-sized business must have is persuasion. If you want to build your brand or sell a good or service, you need to be able to persuade others through emotional appeal. 

What is Persuasive Writing?

Nonfiction persuasive writing involves the use of logical reasoning, careful word choice, and a well-organised summary. We use this form of writing to convince the reader to adopt a particular viewpoint or behave in a particular way. It is frequently used in a variety of content such as ads, political speeches, and opinion pieces. 

What is Meant by Emotional Appeals?

Emotional appeal is an argumentative approach that is used in arguments to persuade listeners by avoking strong emotions in them. Usually anger and fear are those reactions but sometimes love and compassion can also be seen as a result. There is also another name for emotional appeal which is called “Pathos”. Emotional appeals have the power to connect with readers strongly. If we use it properly it can have a great impact on their ideas and behaviour. This makes it more beneficial for things like advertising. 

Applying Emotional Appeal in Persuasive Writing

This involves engaging your audience’s emotions to strengthen your arguments. However, it does not mean controlling the feelings of your audience. It’s all about making your content more humanized and reliable.

There are two main types of persuasion: emotional persuasion and rational persuasion. Rational persuasion uses credible evidence and reasonable arguments. Rational persuasion requires the audience to actively participate in receiving and evaluating the information. The audience’s brain must be conscious and engaged to actively process the information.  

The “auto-pilot” of the subconscious mind is used in emotional persuasion.  It manages the information processing, evaluation, and reception phases of decision-making. When it comes to processing and assessing information based on conscious thought, the subconscious mind is completely ignorant. Thus, the subconscious’s emotions and instincts take over as the automatic replacement for conscious thought. Put another way, subconscious decision-making is predicated on feelings and intuition, or “gut feeling.”

You can make your writing more engaging by connecting it with ideas like common experiences, personal stories, etc.

  1. Determine the feelings of your audience: What are their hopes, fears, values, and desires? Make more focused and successful emotional appeals by using this understanding.
  2. Strike a balance between logic and emotion: Emotional appeals are most effective when they are countered by rational claims. Excessive emotion might be perceived as deceptive or manipulative, whereas excessive rationality can come across as dull and uninteresting.
  3. Always be sincere: When making emotional appeals, authenticity is crucial. Sincerity is easily detected by others, make sure your emotional pleas are sincere.
  4. Employ the storytelling technique: stories can help in point visualization and increase listener empathy.
  5. Choose your words wisely: Strong, passionate language can evoke more intense feelings.
  6. Experiment and use diversity: Don’t limit yourself to a single emotional appeal style. To keep your audience interested, mix it up with different emotions like fear, joy, rage, and compassion.
  7. Avoid manipulating: Although emotional appeals might be effective, you shouldn’t use them to trick or control your audience. Always aim to write with integrity and openness.
  8. Make use of images: Your words should create a picture. Incorporating visual components into your message may trigger powerful emotional reactions from your audience. It can also develop a deep connection.
  9. Appeal to common experiences or values: Make a connection between your message and values or common experiences that your audience can relate to.
  10. Edit and revise: Do your emotive appeals adequately support your argument? Are they sincere and comprehensible? Make any necessary adjustments to make your writing as emotionally engaging as you can.

Emotional Appeal Examples

The following sentences describe emotional appeals:

1. “Thousands of helpless animals are abused annually. Giving them the love and care they desperately need can just cost a few dollars a month.

2. “Consider a society in which all children have access to high-quality education and are allowed to develop to their full potential. This planet might come into being with your help.

3. “Our cherished neighbourhood park will be replaced with a high-rise structure if prompt action is not taken. Let’s protect the location where we have so many special moments together.

In the End

All emotions, both strong and weak, have triggers that can be evoked in emotional appeals meant to persuade. Even though there is a broad range of human emotions, 2,500 years ago Aristotle identified 14 primary positive and negative emotions that are still used in persuasive arguments today. The fourteen emotions identified by Aristotle are kindness, pity, wrath, envy, imitation, contempt, fear, confidence, enmity, mildness, love, and humility. When you think about it, you can probably think of a long number of instances in which emotions on this list have influenced your own decisions to buy something.

Although they are such an effective technique, emotional appeals in persuasive writing should only be employed carefully and sincerely. Your writing will be more impactful and compelling if you connect your points to emotions. This will help you in writing impactful articles that  connect strongly with readers. However, striking that balance is crucial.

You may convey a strong message to your audience that inspires them to act by getting to know them, speaking to their fundamental emotions, utilizing stories, using emotional language, and employing social proof. You may become an expert at persuading and getting the achievement you want with effort and practice. Thus, start creating your message right now and watch as the power of emotional appeals moves you forward!