Introduction
What is the difference between the two words, affect and effect? The difference is that effect is used when a causative agent is involved. In psychological realms, it is used in the technical sense of it, e.g., in explaining why a wall has collapsed. An explosion caused by dynamite can be said to be the cause of the collapse (Shapiro and Emde, 1992).
Affect is not easily substantiated as opposed to an effect. It is among the top-notch senses in the human psychology. Affect is a sense found in humans but not in any way affected by pheromones such as smell or taste. It is from the subconscious part of the brain where the affect action takes place.
A person who does something that is attributed to affect only realizes the probable consequence of the action after its execution. Affect does not just represent a feeling; it also encompasses the interaction of the individual with the surrounding environment. This is referred to as cognition in psychology.
Thrift explains that affect is a product of the events that people experience. There exist four approaches used in describing affect. The first one (which was first done by Darwin) includes the study of emotions. This approach has a short coming; it does not include the effect, which is a result of communication. The second one uses a psychoanalytical approach, with an emphasis on the psychological processes of the brain.
It is more biological and revolves around issues such as the desire for something and sexual libido. The third approach uses of an individual’s physical state of mind; it also uses emotional and psychological aspects. Finally, the fourth approach looks at how affect influences other people around it, for instance people and animals (Shapiro et al. 1992).
Among the things that can influence the decisions that an individual makes is emotional status; the emotions that people exhibit are in some way related to what has just been explained as, affect. Emotions give way to the making of a choice by identifying and knowing the cause of a given occurrence. An example could be when a person is angered by a thing, person or situation for being offensive.
Affect does not imply the reverse of human cognitive ability neither is it an irrational way of making decisions (though it may be easily confused for this). It is another way of choosing between the different options that are presented to an individual. Affect and the cognitive ability of the humans have got some influence on each other (Redding 1999). Affect is devoid of any consciousness.
Are there roles that affect plays in the making of decisions? An individual who has to make a decision about walking a tight rope for instance will have to undergo two processes before making this decision. The first part is the reflection on the essential requirement of walking on a tight rope, which is the ability to balance.
There is thought by the visceral side which may raise fears about the consequence of falling down. The ability to rationalize consciously will only take place after there has been some fear on the person due to affect. There is then the preparation of the body by emotions that prepare for anything that could happen.
We can also say that affect happens to people as a result of their interaction with others, or other beings in their environment. It is thus an occurrence between more than one thing and person. Brennan explains that there is an atmosphere that can be described as coming from affect.
That is to say the occurrences outside ones’ body can interfere with the occurrences inside. Affect has got a strong influence on the feelings of a person. This often brings out emotions (Redding 1999).
A feeling can be regarded as a sensation within one self. It could be that of happiness or sadness or even of fear. Emotion can be termed as an exhibition of what one feels, for example, laughing as a result of happiness or shaking as a result of being afraid.
The expression of emotions could either be genuine, or not (Preece and Keller 1990). Whenever people want a product and go for it, the expression of emotion cannot be a result of pretence, in almost all the cases because it costs them. What then is the influence of the two instances affect and emotions in designing of a product with the user in mind?
This can be done by creating need-fulfilling products and services; these have to consider the influence of affect and emotions in their choice in the way that consumers make their choices on the products to buy or use. There are a number of hormones that are involved in the process of decision making by consumers.
It is from these considerations by designers of products and services that the science of affective computing came into being. Its emphasis was in the link between emotions, and the ability of individuals to make decisions as they learn. Another bit was the incorporation of some functions of the memory.
It was around this time that people with disorders of the mind and those who could not express their emotions were found to be unable to make decisions. Affect has been noted to lack the human mental ability of recognition; it is this property that can be said to be critical as people make decisions about the things that they want (Preece et al. 1990).
In the designing of products, there is the incorporation of a number of aspects; affect being one of them. For instance, the ease of use by the consumer and any form of beautification that can complement this is factored into the design.
It is this beautification that stimulates the senses of the potential consumer as he makes a decision concerning the product, e.g. the design of glasses used in drinking wine and the design of auto teller machines. Other than this, the beauty of any product has to be oriented towards its use. The use of the product should be considered by manufacturers in designing its beauty.
Emotions and affect (which is a form of sense) have to be related to the way an individual is expected use the product. The design of a product or a brand is considered to be a success if it has an effective appeal to the buyers. Product designers have to incorporate another aspect of the human mind as they strive to achieve sales.
These are the emotions that can lead to a reduction in the cognitive capabilities of the human mind. They include fear and anxiety. It is thus necessary for the designer of any product to consider some of the feelings that can be aroused as a result of the design of a product.
For example, when the product is a gadget, for example, a computer and is not easy to use. The design should capitalize on possible emotions as a result of well designed products that may translate to increased uptake by consumers.
An example of such an emotion could be happiness or arousal of the user as a result of the experience of using the product. In short, products should be fun to use (Shanahan, Qu and Wiebe, 2006).
Norman (who has written a lot about affect) asserts that products designed in a way making them attractive to people bring about a relaxed feeling and an increased level of creativity to those who use them. The consideration of affect and emotions is not to be limited to the designing of products only, but also to the creating of names that buyers of the products will use in identifying them.
As a result of the appeal to the user or buyer of a product, the name brings the two closer together based om emotions. The trend nowadays among the makers of a commodity is to create a relationship with the buyers of that product that is built on passion and affect.
This is how; companies have been able to exploit the affect of their consumers in order to achieve sales. One of the ways that have been used to achieve this is via the increase in contact between companies and buyers (Shanahan et al. 2006). How this is increased contact achieved?
The increased contact between the two can be achieved through a design of the products that factor in sensory aspects of the human being. For example, fragrance has been used by laptop makers in order to make them smell in a way that is attractive and appealing to consumers.
The other human senses can also be incorporated into the designs, for example, attractive colors, or even cars that are designed in a sexy way. It is these senses that lead to an emotional contact between the consumer and the product. A further explanation on this (i.e., affect and emotion) is that affect can be used in designing a product to make it appealing to the customers.
It is also important to look at the Tardeshian theory in order to understand this further. This theory states that passions are passed on through media unknowingly to people. This can be attributed to cultural interaction and how people have been created biologically (Shanahan et al. 2006).
Both of these can be manipulated. This is useful in the strategic decisions that are used in politics and business. For example, politicians in the United States of America use empathy in their efforts to align their policies with what the majority of the population desire. In this way, they manage to gain substantial amounts of support. It is this strategy that designers of products use when making products.
It is essential to mention that there are emotions that are involved in most potential customer’s decision making. One of them is the emotion that relates to how and what people think. The other is when a person feels satisfied while using a purchased product.
The manufacturers of products have the obligation of making sure that their products will satisfy customers. Users of products in this way get some emotional experience. This is a crude way of one learning about the way he, or she acts as a result of his or her emotions. These people may notice changes in their physiological processes which act as indicators of various emotions.
They may be going through some of these as they make critical decisions on the products that they are to buy. Consumers think that they have a feeling in their gut that directs them to choosing a given product, as opposed to the other. This is based entirely on the emotional value of the product. Little do consumers know that they only choose a product that adds emotional value to their lives (Preece et al. 1990).
Conclusion
Clearly, there is an influence of a psychological kind on how people choose the experience to undertake. Moreover, this applies to the choices that they make on the products and services that they buy or use. The psychological influences could be attributed to affect and emotions. These have made consumers have some influence in the design of a product.
Product designers and branding managers have a duty to ensure that their products will arouse an emotional feeling to the end user. Consumers only buy a product based on their emotional experiences with it, and only when its previous use was satisfying.
This is not in the literal sense of it but in the way that those products are in sync with their emotions and affect. Emotions and effect are very crucial in the study of consumer behavior.
References
Preece, J and Keller ,L 1990, Human-computer interaction, Prentice Hall in association with Open University,New York.
Redding, P 1999, The logic of affect,Cornell University Press, New York.
Shanahan, J ,Qu,Y and Wiebe,M 2006,Computing attitude and affect in text: theory and applications, Springer,New York.
Shapiro, T and Emde,R 1992, Affect: psychoanalytic perspectives, International Universities Press,Detroit.