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Leveraging Sentiment and Behavioral Data for the Development of Emotionally Resonant Advertising Campaigns: A Quantitative and Qualitative Inquiry
Bayousef, Nada
Bayousef, Nada
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Abstract
Emotional advertising has become one of the most powerful storytelling tools in today’s digital environment, but its impact depends less on how loudly a campaign speaks and more on how deeply it is felt. This study explores how audiences in Saudi Arabia and globally connected online spaces respond to emotionally driven campaigns, not as passive viewers, but as participants who extend, reinterpret, and personalize the message. By examining audience reactions to five culturally resonant campaigns — ranging from national pride to nostalgia, pop-culture influence, and intimate everyday moments — the research reveals that emotional engagement emerges when a campaign mirror lived experience. Authenticity, cultural timing, and identity-based representation consistently outweighed production value, creating moments where audiences recognized themselves, their memories, and their values within the narrative. The analysis also highlights that meaningful engagement is expressed through interpretation, not metrics; comments, remixes, duets, and shared reflections revealed richer emotional participation than views or likes ever could. An emerging pattern also shows the growing influence of founders and public figures as emotional anchors, where audience form relationships with the person behind the brand, transforming marketing into a personal exchange. Overall, the study argues that emotional marketing succeeds when brands offer not a performance, but a place — a space where people can feel seen, understood, and invited into conversation. In a digital world shaped by expression, cultural nuance, and collective memory, emotional resonance is no longer created by storytelling alone. It is co-created with the audience, who ultimately decide what the campaign means and why it matters. The study concludes that emotional advertising succeeds when it engages audiences as cultural participants rather than passive consumers. It emphasizes the importance of cultural insight, collective symbolism, and narrative authenticity in shaping long-term audience trust and connection, particularly within the Saudi and broader Middle Eastern media landscape.