Starbucks have recently announced their latest drink creation since the Butterscotch Brulée Latte – and this time it involves….. salted toffee.

If Starbucks caught you in a good mood, the probability of you staring at that (very pleasing) multicoloured GIF and feeling the urge to run to your local to get a taste of this mythical sounding ‘salted toffee drizzle’ is reasonably high. Seems logical, right?

Well, in a new study conducted by multinational technology company Yahoo (yes, they’re still around), statistics have undoubtedly proven that reaching consumers when they’re feeling “upbeat” could make digital advertising, like this Starbucks one, 40% more effective.

Hailed as one of the “most comprehensive studies ever conducted”, Yahoo’s Receptivity of Emotions study examines emotional states of consumers and the role that emotions play in the receptivity to advertising. The study found that US and UK consumers are “upbeat” 46% of the time, meaning that, despite the old stereotype, we’re actually quite cheery people.

giphy

So, just how did they reach this very precise percentage?

Using a specially developed smartphone app, the search engine company gathered more than 18,000 mood data points over a week-long study, followed by qualitative interviews and an online survey. Their findings confirmed that when consumers are in a happy mood, they are more likely to engage with digital advertising than if they were to be in other emotional states.

Managing director of Yahoo UK, Nigel Clarkson, stated “digital marketers all appreciate the importance of reaching the right person, on the right device, at the right time” but “we should be striving to take a consumer’s emotions into account as well.” And while the concept may seem obvious, many underestimate the powerful effect it has on advertising.

As well as proving that emotions and receptivity go hand in hand, Yahoo’s study discloses when in the day consumers are in the best mood: 11am and 2pm (though, to be honest, we’d be surprised if anyone was in an ‘upbeat’ mood anytime before 10am….*yawn*).

So, with these times exposed as the ‘optimal’ hours for digital advertising, the proof is in the pudding. Meanwhile, there’s a Salted Toffee Macadamia Latte with our name on it.