Q: Can emotional connection be faked? Can you just say the right things and be done for the day?
A: The ability to detect insincerity is hardwired into the human brain, but we’re not foolproof.
Plenty of true crime documentaries show us how certain people have an uncanny ability to hide their true intent and get away with terrible things. But after watching you were probably left wondering how people were so blind. This is because we all believe in our ability to see through facades and be a good judge of character. Whether or not we’re successful doesn’t dissuade us from actively trying to hone this skill. It’s this fact that’s most relevant for businesses today.
Cue stage left: the forensic consumer. This individual is hellbent on scrutinising businesses and judging their true character. They act relentlessly to uncover and expose any masked intent, any half truth, or even semi-half truth, a business could be hiding. The source of their power? Technology. Specifically the ability to communicate with other consumers, en masse, all the time, using a myriad of digital tools.
So businesses have a choice then:
Reveal their true character honestly
Try and outfox someone incredibly determined to outfox your outfoxing (remember if just one consumer sees through it they’ll make it their sole mission to alert every other consumer in the world)
The question businesses need to ask is: Which option makes it easier to create emotional connections with consumers?
We all know some people will try and play a dishonest game. This is also human. It’s also why consumers know they have to be forensic, and keep improving their character judging skills. We can also see exacerbating factors - like the rise of misinformation during Covid - that have increased this need further. Let’s not even begin to speculate on the rise of AI, and how its sole purpose at this point seems to be to erode our ability to detect fakery (we’ll have more to say on this later).
Humans have a hardwired emotional need to trust their instincts and decipher someone’s intent. This will not change. It’s a lens through which businesses will always be viewed by consumers.
So the question is not ‘can’ emotional connection be faked, it’s whether or not you should try to fake it.
The demand for honesty will increase in proportion to its perceived scarcity.