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When you last watched TV or spent an hour or two on YouTube, were you in a good mood or a bad one? Your state of mind may have affected how influential the ads were.

Fred Bronner, from the University of Amsterdam, has shown that when people are in a good mood, they are more receptive to advertising. “Whether it’s food shopping when you’re hungry, or holiday shopping when you’re deep in the January blues, moods dominate. They influence how we feel, the type of day we’re having, how we respond socially and professionally, and crucially, what we buy.” 

Simply put, a good mood signalled an absence of danger and therefore we became more trusting. But it’s not just trust that mood affects. Research by Laura Maclean and Richard Shotton has found that mood also affects whether we like or dislike something.

They say that “The results from the research are easily applied to your media campaign. There are long-standing approaches to reach people likely to be in a good mood. IPA Touchpoints’ technology, for example, identifies moments when consumers have a greater likelihood of being in a good mood.

Even better, there are now digital targeting opportunities to reach people when they’re happy, rather than when they are just more likely to be happy. Twitter for example lets you target users when they have used a celebratory emoji.”
 

Mood isn’t just about happiness or sadness. It affects how you make decisions too. The outtake of these experiments is straightforward. Try and reach consumers when they’re in a good mood.

Here are 3 ways you can achieve this:
 

1. By the day of the week - The IPA Touchpoints data indicates the weekend is a particularly joyful time.
2. By the type of activity - A trip to the cinema tends to be more entertaining than the daily commute.
3. By a specific signal - Even emojis reveal information about someone’s state of mind. A tweet with a laughing emoji is giving a good indicator of a positive state of mind.

One of Coca-Cola’s more recent campaigns and tagline changed from "Open Happiness" to "Taste That Feeling". This shows how their brand appealed to their consumers 'good mood', or in this case, how their product can change your mood for the better.