Personalization through Emotional AI: Tailoring Marketing Messages Based on User Emotions

Do you ever get frustrated when brands blast generic ads that seem so…impersonal?

As if they don’t consider your actual interests or mood? You know the feeling and it’s surprisingly too common. Uncomfortably too common!

We all experience emotions fluctuating daily – stress, joy, sadness. Yet most marketing rarely tailor communications based on how we feel in the moment.

Exciting new emotional AI seeks to change that.

Leveraging AI For Emotional Targeting

Technology has come a long way, and it’s now in the emotional space. It may not be as refined as anyone would expect, but it’s a start. A good start.

There’s now emotion detection technology that analyzes facial expressions, voice tone variations, word choice, and micro-gestures to determine your current mood.

So, how’s this helpful?

Typically, retailers can deploy interactive in-store sensors scanning customer emotions on the sly. Think of situations where advertisers implant emotion trackers in websites and apps to gauge reactions digitally through your device’s camera.

Armed with this emotional data, marketers can hyper-personalize messaging to align with your mood. Fitness brands might push inspirational videos when you feel low energy. When you get the emotions right, clients will have no choice but to keep coming back. We want brands that understand us better. Make us feel better.

Fashion retailers could offer pick-me-up discounts if you seem sad, and travel sites may highlight relaxing coastal getaways upon sensing high anxiety.

The ability to pivot advertising content based on emotions takes personalization to unprecedented levels. Supporters believe emotional AI promotes feeling understood and catered to.

The Controversy

But critics argue it’s an intrusive play on vulnerabilities. Not true understanding. Others have raised ethical concerns over manipulating people’s decision-making when already emotionally compromised.

But while emotional AI in marketing remains controversial, its increasing adoption seems inevitable. Users may soon expect real-time ads as unique as their mercurial moods. The brands making that meaningful connection stand to build serious customer loyalty.

Those failing to tailor messages risk feeling tone-deaf. So, while privacy issues linger, emotional AI seems poised to rewrite the rules of personalization. The question is: how emotionally intelligent will marketers get?