When bad moods work: Emotional priming in marketing negotiations
Abstract
Emotions play a key role in marketing, yet their role in sequential decision making is not well understood. Common wisdom holds that positive and neutral emotions are best, but underestimates the value of negative emotions. This paper examines how emotional states affects decisions in marketing negotiations through the lens of game theory. Building on empirical research using ultimatum games, this paper demonstrates that both positive and negative emotional priming increase generous behaviours compared with neutral conditions. The findings of this paper offer actionable insights for marketing practitioners seeking to optimise negotiations, promotional offerings and customer engagement strategies. This paper challenges traditional rational actor models by showing how systematic emotional effects influence economic decisions that marketers can measure, test and strategically incorporate into customer experiences. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at http://hstalks.com/business.
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Author's Biography
Mir Pauwels is a student researcher specialising in behavioural decision making and the social sciences. His work exploring the intersection of cognitive psychology and human judgment informs his research into how people process information and make choices. Alongside his academic interests, he co-founded the Index Card Gaming Club, reflecting his strengths in strategic thinking and community building. As a certified yoga trainer, he brings a holistic perspective to human behaviour, integrating mind–body awareness with analytical inquiry. Mir plans to continue his studies in cognitive science, deepening his understanding of decision processes and cognitive mechanisms.
Raoul Kübler is Professor of Marketing at ESSEC Business School, where his research examines digital media, consumer behaviour and political and cultural communication. Using large-scale datasets and advanced machine-learning methods, he studies how information spreads online, how brands and public actors build legitimacy, and how algorithms shape attention and belief formation. His research has been recognised by the Academy of Marketing Science, Marketing Science Institute and the European Academy of Marketing, and has appeared in such publications as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Retailing and Journal of Business Research. He is Area and Associate Editor for the International Journal of Research in Marketing and the Journal of Business Research. He also advises global companies on data-driven marketing strategy.
Citation
Pauwels, Mir and Kübler, Raoul (2026, June 1). When bad moods work: Emotional priming in marketing negotiations. In the Applied Marketing Analytics: The Peer-Reviewed Journal, Volume 12, Issue 1. https://doi.org/10.69554/MGOZ9169.
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