The fact that 80% of decision-making is emotional is just as true for restaurant brands as it is elsewhere. People go to restaurants to eat (that functional side: I’m hungry!), but it’s the experience that answers deeper motivations and desires, and results in a more emotional — and valuable — connection to the brand. Uncovering the ‘whys’ of decision-making reenergizes a brand’s experience and keeps customers coming back.
For our QSR, Casual and Fast-Casual restaurant clients, getting to the ‘whys’ starts with deep understanding of the customer psyche. And when applied to the brand, elevate positioning from functional satisfiers, such as ’food as fuel’ or ‘quality’ and ‘selection’ to more engaging emotional platforms such as ‘belonging,’ ‘standing out from the crowd.’ This gives us rich territory for emotional ways in… and ultimately strengthens all touchpoints, from advertising, social media, outreach and events to customer interaction in-store.
Proof point: Emotion Tracking Video Analysis is a data intel tool we use to measure mood, attentiveness and emotional engagement in comparative video content. Quantifiably, video featuring people and experience outperforms food-based content, in terms of positive brand associations and engagement.
We believe restaurant customers who are emotionally connected are twice as valuable to the brand as merely satisfied customers… as evidenced through KPIs such as increased visits, higher checks, deeper, more consistent engagement and brand advocacy.
