© Copyright Acquisition International 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

Article Image - Rationality in Business  is Overrated
Posted 29th May 2015

Rationality in Business is Overrated

We hear from Kate Howe, Managing Director at gyro about why she believes emotions are pivotal to business success.

Mouse Scroll AnimationScroll to keep reading

Let us help promote your business to a wider following.

Rationality in Business is Overrated
Image

Rationality in Business is Overrated

We hear from Kate Howe, Managing Director at gyro about why she believes emotions are pivotal to business success.

In a world obsessed with data, the battle to pinpoint the key data points that will improve interactions with customers is perhaps the largest minefield we face on a daily basis. To make matters worse, customer expectations have increased tenfold as a result of the data they know we have access to – they share the information on the understanding that we will deliver them a better experience. However, the obsession with obtaining and mining ever more data on customers has blinded us to one, very important point – the data tells us nothing of the emotional response customers have to us and our offers.

Emotions are a huge factor in how people make decisions – not just what they think, but how to think. And it’s not just in our personal lives that emotions play a role. Every day, business decisions are made based on emotions. As human beings, we want authenticity, trust, respect and a sense of self-worth. In short, we want to feel an emotional connection with the people and the companies with whom we do business.

Wear your heart on your sleeve
Modern marketing is all about change. To make change happen, modern companies need to move beyond being “on-message” to being “on-emotion”. Why? Evidence proves the all-important role of emotions in influencing change and decision making in business.

Recent research undertaken by gyro, in partnership with YouGov, identified that the importance of emotions in decision making increases when it comes to making change happen. In the last three months, 79% of senior decision makers surveyed in medium and large businesses experienced change in their workplace. These changes triggered a volatile cocktail of emotional responses. Worry, Annoyance, Disappointment, Fear and Anger featured in the top 10, as did positive emotions such as Satisfaction, Hope and Happiness.

On deeper digging, notable differences were found:
– Male business decision makers responded differently to female business decision makers.
– The North of England responded differently to the South.
– Industry verticals such as Manufacturing responded differently to IT & Technology and Financial Services.

These differences create the opportunity for companies who embrace the idea of being on-emotion and view businesses as more than sterile decision-making machines. They will be the ones that think of businesses as networks of human relationships and focus on building strong emotional connections into those networks.

We’re all human
Finding ways to humanise business and to build emotional connections with business decision-makers is the key to success. Data is very important for informing marketing decisions, but B2B companies cannot always rely on the numbers. Each strong and successful business has a powerful emotive story that drives it forward and business decisions are deeply personal. They are high-consideration, career-changing moments with plenty of analysis and rational thinking involved.

Consequently, as buyers, people are looking for a long-term partner with whom they can relate and collaborate. In many ways, they are seeking a small part of themselves and putting their ambitions for the business in the hands of people they buy into. That’s why ultimately, business decisions lie in the heart and not in the numbers.

Become emotionally charged
There are four practical steps to turning being on-emotion into a competitive advantage:
Identify the tangled web of emotional responses that surrounds the change that you’re trying to sell in
Understand which of those emotional responses slow change down and speed change up
Decide if your brand should be the catalyst or the antidote for the emotional responses that make the biggest difference
Be clear about how to ignite or extinguish the emotional responses that matter

Conventional wisdom has always been that business and emotions don’t mix. However, the evidence shows they do. The battle for the hearts and minds of the customer is fast becoming the key battle to win. So, whether the industry feels totally comfortable with it or not – now is the time for modern companies to move beyond being on-message to being on emotion.

Categories: Strategy


You Might Also Like
Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
7 Ways Hiring a Lawyer for a Wrongful Death Case Can Be Beneficial
Legal
24/05/20237 Ways Hiring a Lawyer for a Wrongful Death Case Can Be Beneficial

Losing a loved one is depressing. It’s even more devastating when someone’s negligence or malicious intent causes their death. The Port of Milwaukee is important for global trade, but it increases truck traffic, which increases the risk of fatal motor vehi

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Tesco Mobile Partners with Crisis to Bring ‘Lifeline’ Of Connectivity to People Experiencing Homelessness in Great Britain
Strategy
26/08/2020Tesco Mobile Partners with Crisis to Bring ‘Lifeline’ Of Connectivity to People Experiencing Homelessness in Great Britain

Tesco Mobile has announced the start of an ambitious two-year partnership with Crisis with the aim of helping thousands of people experiencing homelessness across Britain to reconnect with society.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
SGP Rechtsanwälte Advise Pyrolyx’s Purchase of Carbon Clean Tech Stegelitz
M&A
08/07/2015SGP Rechtsanwälte Advise Pyrolyx’s Purchase of Carbon Clean Tech Stegelitz

SGP Rechtsanwälte Advise Pyrolyx's Purchase of Carbon Clean Tech Stegelitz

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
What is the Future of Digital Marketing?
Innovation
20/10/2021What is the Future of Digital Marketing?

Companies are facing a period of change, in many respects. First, doing business is quite different in a post-COVID-19 world. Some new ways of buying will remain forever. This will need to be addressed in the way companies market their products and services. A

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Four Reasons To Get Law Enforcement Transcription Service
News
28/09/2023Four Reasons To Get Law Enforcement Transcription Service

Many think that law enforcement transcription is another small, inconsequential cog in the American Criminal Justice System. It’s a requirement in certain instances, optional in others, and, in some cases, can completely be eschewed. However, many fail to re

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
5 Reasons You Should Start Investing Today
Finance
08/06/20235 Reasons You Should Start Investing Today

Investing has long been recognised as a powerful tool for building wealth and securing financial futures.  While it may seem intimidating at first, investing is not just reserved for the wealthy or finance professionals.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
How Debt Impacts Climate Disasters
Finance
16/05/2023How Debt Impacts Climate Disasters

Most of the countries that are vulnerable to climate disasters are also struggling with debt, which is making it harder for them to respond effectively to climate-related emergencies.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Corporate and Commercial Legal Services
Legal
29/02/2016Corporate and Commercial Legal Services

Greenaway Scott is a specialist firm of business lawyers offering a wide range of services.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
IPC Strikes Strategic Partnership With Trusted Data Solutions
M&A
29/10/2019IPC Strikes Strategic Partnership With Trusted Data Solutions

IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community, today announced a strategic partnership with Trusted Data Solutions (TDS), an expert in mobile voice recording solutions, complianc



Our Trusted Brands

Acquisition International is a flagship brand of AI Global Media. AI Global Media is a B2B enterprise and are committed to creating engaging content allowing businesses to market their services to a larger global audience. We have a number of unique brands, each of which serves a specific industry or region. Each brand covers the latest news in its sector and publishes a digital magazine and newsletter which is read by a global audience.

Arrow