Customers need to know how much a product costs, what it offers and how well it works, but do they ever consider how it makes them feel? A recent Knowledge@Emory article suggests that emotion doesn't just influence a rational buying decision — it forms the customer's rational base itself. The article quotes Liam Fahey, chief architect at the interestingly named Emotion Mining Company:
"...a customer is leaning toward buying a product because it has superior functionality while being priced approximately the same as a rival product. A rational choice would be to buy the product — better functionality, same price," says Fahey. "But, what if the customer feels uncomfortable with the brand? What if the retail store makes the customer feel unappreciated?"