Let’s Get Emotional: Values that Resonate Emotionally with Asian Audiences

Research conducted by Jonah Berger and Katherine Milkman shows that there is a direct correlation between how viral a piece of content becomes and how much emotion it evokes. The top 10 emotions that drive content-sharing are positive ones, such as amusement, happiness, hope, affection, and excitement.

However, these emotions may not be evoked in the same ways that strike a chord in America or the UK.  Different themes and cultural values may be the different triggers for these emotions. Despite a slow erosion of traditional values while modernizing, The Pan-Asian Wave Consumer Study: Asian Marketing Trends and Consumer Insights has shown that on the contrary, key Asian values still hold sway amongst many Asian consumers.

Hence, below is a list of three values that will resonate with an Asian audience.

1. Family

Many Asian societies believe that family is at the core of society, where one places family before the individual.  A study by Pew Research illustrates that even Asian-Americans who have left their countries are more likely to live in multi-generational households with a strong sense of filial respect and loyalty to the family, which often also includes an extended family.  Therefore, happiness, pleasure, hope and affection may be more strongly tied to family for Asian audiences.

2. Collectivism and community

The sense of community is stronger in Asian countries than the individualistic mindsets of more Westernized nations. Individuals are aware that they are a member of an extended family, neighborhood, community and country.  Thus, the well-being and interests of the family and of society are balanced or sometimes even more emphasized than the interests of the individual.   In many ads, this may be seen as the community working together towards a common goal or strangers helping each other out through acts of charity.

3. Does Hard Work Equal Success?

The “Asian work ethic” is rooted in truth, as hard work is considered a virtue.  Part of this ethic is the resilience of many Asians, as their nations and people have endured more social upheavals, natural disasters and economic difficulties than their Western counterparts.   This mentality of working hard for your family is often passed on despite leaving their countries.  Hence oftentimes, sacrifices and perseverance in the face of immense obstacles are more readily relatable to Asian audiences, plucking at their heartstrings and evoking emotions of hope and happiness.

So now the question is: how to apply these emotions into a successful campaign? Berger’s research shows that visual content is better at increasing emotional identification, and is simply more engaging than text as it activates its strong emotional impact much faster.  Furthermore, the more emotions are evoked, the more the virality of the content is increased.

A good example of a visual campaign that has included the values above is Eppendorf’s micro-film series, “The Journey of Finding Love”. Eppendorf’s message that its products help transmit the care and love in life’s daily routine is amplified and made all the more authentic by its knowledge of Asian values.  In the story of a woman who cannot escape putting in overtime at work to spend Mother’s Day with her mom, the values of family and filial piety, and hard work are woven together in the videos to amplify Eppendorf’s brand story.  Furthermore, the text of the press release situates the visual story in a broader narrative of the brand, which according to Berger, leverages “stickiness” for Eppendorf.  Kudos to the savvy brand for understanding Asian values to create a winning campaign in the multimedia news release!

Celine Wu is the Audience Development Executive for PR Newswire.