Engineering Human Emotions

by Paul Losee, President Decoding.com

Emotions can be engineered by first having an in-depth understanding of the major attributes that constitutes each emotion and then using these attributes to manipulate or "engineer" a particular emotion. The "Engineering Human Emotions" process thus permits the evolution of one unique emotion into another. Having control of this "emotional throttle" allows a company to precisely design a desired emotional experience surrounding it's product or service.

	A t t e n t i o n : The person doesn't need to pay much attention. The situation should not require much effort on their part.
	C e r t a i n t y : No surprises here. The person needs to understand up front that they'll. get the promised outcome.
	P e r s o n a l C o n t r o l : Very little personal control required but the person is definitely in control. The situation is so pleasant however, that almost no control is required.
	P l e a s a n t : The situation will feel good. No worries, fears, or unexpected snags. Everything is smiles and lollipops.
	E f f o r t : The bar below the "0" line signifies negative or in this case, negative effort (no effort, the goods are just handed over).
	S i t u a t i o n C o n t r o l : Again the bar below the "0" line illustrates that the person is in control and NOT the situation.

	A t t e n t i o n : Requires slightly more of our attention than happiness.
	C e r t a i n t y : Herein is the big differentiation from happiness. The certainty of the outcome is not defined. Anything can happen and can only be discovered by staying with the experience. If they walk out in the beginning or the middle, they’ll never know.
	P e r s o n a l C o n t r o l : There is some loss of personal control, which is another way of saying the situation is definitely involved in the experience.
	P l e a s a n t : It is pleasant, not as much as happiness, but definitely above the line.
	E f f o r t : Again we’re seeing a major difference between happiness and excitement. The person is required to expend quite a lot of effort in this situation. They are more involved.
	S i t u a t i o n C o n t r o l : There is some situation control going on. The outcome is not wholly dependent on what the person desires from the experience.

Just for interest sake, look at the structure of the emotion "Fear." Notice that fear and excitement are almost the same except for the positive vs. negative expected outcome.

During a particular research project there was a great deal of the emotion "fear" discovered during the research phase. Further secondary research into the emotion "fear" divulged that physiologically, the body doesn't know the difference between fear and excitement. In other words, while experiencing either emotion, the heart speeds up, the sweat glands open, skin temperature increases, etc. The trick is to turn fear into excitement by focusing on the possible POSITIVE outcome rather than the possible NEGATIVE outcome. This information allowed the client to design marketing campaigns to quickly turn fear into excitement using their in-depth understanding of the structures of the two emotions. It is the ultimate sophistication in marketing tactics.

Included are a few other emotions for interest sake. For instance, turning "frustration" into "challenge" is pretty simple once the structure is understood. It should be fairly obvious that designing control into the situation and requiring effort from the customer will turn a frustrating experience into a challenging one.

This information was used successfully for a client who was creating frustration with their customers during the "out of box" experience as the customer tried to go through the hardware installation process. Knowing the "code" for challenge, the client was able to quickly convert the experience into a positive one for their customers.

Engineering Human Emotions is a unique service offering of Decoding.com provided within the scope of a research project for corporate clients.