Selling & Buying Emotions

There are two parts to this assignment, both to be written in the same paper. They correspond to Unit 3: Selling Emotions (Emotional Labour) and Unit 4: Buying Emotions (Emotional Branding).

Emotional labour and emotional branding are sides of the same emotional experience, and so we treat them together here.

First:
€¢Choose a brand that interests you in some way. It can be any brand. The only requirement is that it interests you.

In Part 1 of your paper:
€¢Drawing on Unit 3, identify, describe and analyze the emotional labour that goes into creating and sustaining this brand.

Remember that the emotional labour behind the brand, not the physical product, is what matters. For example, in the case of BMW cars, it is the emotional labour of salespeople that matter, and not the ordinary labour of the people who build the cars. In the case of Disneyland, what matters is the emotional labour of the various Disney characters or cast members.

Which emotions do you think these emotional labourers feign and which do they suppress, and why?

In Part 2 of your paper:
€¢ Drawing on Unit 4, identify, describe, and analyze the narrative of the brand and how it connects with the emotions of potential and actual consumers.

How does the brand work’? Which emotions of customers does it attempt to engage, and how?

Remember that emotional labour and emotional branding work together, so it is likely that these two tasks will complement each other. The two parts of this assignment are distinct tasks, but they can be presented in one seamless paper.