英文原文
New research shows consumers use “happier” words to search for products when they are in a good mood. Researchers have connected those positive search terms with an increased likelihood of clicking on search engine ads. The study connects marketing’s more traditional research into how marketers manipulate and react to consumers’ emotions and behavior at brick-and-mortar retailers to today’s digital realities. “There’s a lot of research about how you feel when you’re in a store, how you feel when you see a product, but now people begin the shopping process online before they step foot in a store,” says Sarah Whitley, an assistant professor of marketing in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. “They may operate differently in this online space, and we need to understand how emotions play a role.” The research team analyzed a set of more than 5 million archived searches and ran experiments with 6,800 participants. The team found people who were primed to be in a better mood by being shown pictures of positive things (e.g., babies, bubbles, sunshine, etc.) were significantly more likely to use cheerful words to describe their desired product in their online search. When search engine ads were presented in response to these more positive search terms, they were about 50% more likely to generate site visits than the same search terms without a “happy” modifier, regardless of product category. For instance, test subjects who used positive emotion search terms—such as joyful, cheerful, playful, and inspiring—to describe a water bottle were more than twice as likely to click on ads at the top of their search results than people who used non-emotion descriptors such as clear, metal, and lightweight. Other products such as books and posters showed similar effects. “The positive feeling has nothing to do with the product they are searching for; it’s just something they are feeling at the moment,” says Anindita Chakravarty, coauthor of the study and professor in the marketing department. “When it happens they’re feeling happy and need to search for a product at the same time, they are going to use more positive words when they type in their search query. And that’s when the practical implications come in.” The difference between ad clicks generated by cheerful and neutral searchers is connected to happy consumers’ reduced skepticism about ads. “When people are in a positive mood and experiencing positive emotions, they have rose-colored glasses on,” Whitley says. “Every person carries around this knowledge in their head that allows them to see how marketers are trying to persuade them—persuasion knowledge. “When you’re in a positive mood, it dampers down that tendency to use your persuasion knowledge to avoid ads. You’re less skeptical and view advertising content more positively.” Online marketers have long known more precise search terms and price-oriented search terms are clues that online consumers are closer to completing a purchase and more willing to click on an ad. So, they spend money to have their ads shown when consumers search for specific product characteristics, logistics, or deals that generate more return for their ad money. In light of this new research, marketers may want to reserve some ad dollars to reach shoppers in a positive mood earlier in the buying process. “Instead of just thinking about deal-based search terms, marketers might want to consider some of these positive emotion words in search terms that can indicate how the consumer is feeling at that moment,” Whitley says. “Because if they’re feeling positive, they may be less suspicious of your ads and more likely to click on them, and you’d have a larger ROI on your ad spending.” The findings appear in the Journal of Marketing.
中文翻译
新研究表明，消费者在心情好时会使用更“快乐”的词语来搜索产品。研究人员已将这些积极的搜索词与点击搜索引擎广告的可能性增加联系起来。这项研究将市场营销领域关于营销人员如何操纵和回应实体店消费者情绪与行为的传统研究，与当今的数字现实联系起来。“关于你在商店里的感受、看到产品时的感受，已经有很多研究，但现在人们在踏入商店之前，就已经在线上开始了购物过程，”佐治亚大学泰里商学院市场营销助理教授莎拉·惠特利说。“他们在这个线上空间的行为方式可能有所不同，我们需要理解情绪在其中扮演的角色。”研究团队分析了超过500万次存档搜索，并对6800名参与者进行了实验。团队发现，通过展示积极事物（如婴儿、泡泡、阳光等）图片而被引导进入更好情绪的人，在在线搜索中更有可能使用愉快的词语来描述他们想要的产品。当搜索引擎广告针对这些更积极的搜索词展示时，无论产品类别如何，它们产生网站访问的可能性比没有“快乐”修饰词的相同搜索词高出约50%。例如，使用积极情绪搜索词（如快乐的、愉悦的、有趣的、鼓舞人心的）来描述水瓶的测试对象，点击搜索结果顶部广告的可能性是使用非情绪描述词（如透明的、金属的、轻便的）的人的两倍多。书籍和海报等其他产品也显示出类似的效果。“这种积极的感觉与他们正在搜索的产品无关；这只是他们当下的一种感受，”该研究的合著者、市场营销系教授阿宁迪塔·查克拉瓦蒂说。“当他们感到快乐并同时需要搜索产品时，他们会在输入搜索查询时使用更积极的词语。而这正是实际意义所在。”快乐搜索者和中性搜索者产生的广告点击差异，与快乐消费者对广告的怀疑态度降低有关。“当人们处于积极情绪中并体验积极情感时，他们会戴上‘玫瑰色眼镜’，”惠特利说。“每个人头脑中都存有这种知识，让他们能够看清营销人员试图说服他们的方式——我们称之为‘说服知识’。“当你心情愉快时，这种使用说服知识来回避广告的倾向会减弱。你的怀疑会减少，并更积极地看待广告内容。”在线营销人员早就知道，更精确的搜索词和以价格为导向的搜索词是线上消费者接近完成购买并更愿意点击广告的线索。因此，他们会花钱在消费者搜索特定产品特性、物流或优惠时展示他们的广告，从而为他们的广告费带来更多回报。鉴于这项新研究，营销人员可能希望预留一些广告预算，以便在购买过程的早期阶段触达心情愉快的购物者。“营销人员或许可以考虑在搜索词中加入一些能够反映消费者当下感受的积极情绪词汇，而不仅仅是考虑基于交易的搜索词，”惠特利说。“因为如果他们感觉良好，他们可能对你的广告不那么怀疑，也更有可能点击，你的广告支出回报率就会更高。”该研究结果发表在《市场营销杂志》上。
文章概要
佐治亚大学的一项新研究揭示，消费者的情绪显著影响其在线搜索行为和广告点击率。研究发现，心情愉快的消费者倾向于使用更积极、更富情感色彩的词汇进行搜索。这些“快乐”的搜索词能使广告点击率提高约50%。其心理机制在于，积极情绪会降低消费者对广告的怀疑态度（即“说服知识”），使他们更愿意点击。该研究为数字营销提供了新思路，建议营销人员可以关注并利用这些情绪关键词，在消费者购物早期阶段进行有效触达，从而提升广告投资回报率。
高德明老师的评价
TA沟通分析评价：这项研究巧妙地揭示了当消费者处于“自由儿童”自我状态时，其行为会更具自发性和开放性。积极的情绪激发了“自由儿童”的好奇心，降低了“成人”自我状态的审慎和“父母”自我状态的批判，从而对广告这一外部刺激做出了更积极的回应。这充分展现了内在自我状态如何塑造我们与外部世界的互动模式，为创造能引发积极交互的沟通方式提供了宝贵的视角。
焦点解决心理学评价：这项研究是一个发现“有效经验”的绝佳范例。它没有去探究“人们为何不点击广告”，而是聚焦于“在何种情况下人们更愿意点击”，这正是焦点解决的精髓。研究识别出“积极情绪”是一个宝贵的资源和例外，并探索了如何将其放大。这为我们开辟了一个充满希望的未来视角：营销不仅是单向说服，更是通过构建积极体验，与消费者共同创造价值，实现双赢的局面。
佛学专家角色评价：此项研究生动地印证了“心生则种种法生”的道理。消费者的心念（Citta）状态直接影响了其后续的行为（Karma）。一个愉悦、向善的心境（Kusala Citta）自然会引发更开放、少防备的行为。研究过程清晰地展示了“缘起”法则：积极情绪为缘，生发了积极的语言念头，此念头又为缘，促成了点击广告的行为。这提醒我们，内在心境的平和与喜悦是我们与世界和谐互动的基础，也为未来如何以更善意、更智慧的方式进行价值交换，提供了深刻的启示。