You can have a great design and clever copy, but if your message doesn’t connect, people will just move on.
That’s why it pays to understand the psychology behind brand messaging. It helps you communicate in a way that feels clear and obvious to the person reading or listening.
Here, I’ve broken down the psychology behind effective messaging into eight practical ideas, each backed by research and real examples you can actually use.
Let’s get right into it.
1. Make it easy to understand
Most people won’t spend long trying to figure out what you mean. Our brains look for simplicity and shortcuts, especially when there’s so much competing for our attention. That’s why clarity matters so much in brand communication.
If your message is easy to get, people are more likely to remember it, act on it, and actually believe it. Psychologists call this ‘processing fluency’—the easier something is to grasp, the more we tend to like it, trust it, and judge it positively.
Recent marketing research by Light and Fernbach (2024) found that consumers who perceived a brand as simple rated it as less risky and more dependable. But the paper also warned that this could backfire if the brand failed to meet expectations.
So clarity isn’t just about making your message easy to understand. It also shapes how safe people feel about choosing your brand. And a sense of safety is often what gets people to take action.
Example: Wise
Wise builds its whole story around simple, transparent money transfers. Their slogan, “money without borders”, sums it up. Everything—from clear pricing to showing the real exchange rate and step-by-step processes—reduces uncertainty and builds trust.
How to craft an easy-to-understand brand message
- Use language that feels natural and straightforward. Sound like you’d actually speak.
- Stick to active voice and clear, definite words.
- Avoid jargon and industry speak. If someone outside your field wouldn’t get it, make it simpler.
- Break ideas into headlines and bullet points so people can scan your content.
- Use readability tools such as Hemingway or Grammarly. Brand-level tools like messaging and value-proposition frameworks can also help you keep your message clear and consistent everywhere.
2. Make people feel something
Clarity gets people through the door, but emotion is what keeps them engaged.
Once someone understands what you offer, their next natural question is: Why should I care?
Emotion answers that question. Most of us decide with our feelings first and use logic to back it up later. Our brains look for meaning before facts, and emotional cues show us what matters.
Research also shows that emotion helps content spread.
Berger and Milkman (2012) analysed thousands of New York Times articles and found that content evoking high-arousal emotions, like awe or anger, was more likely to be shared. On the other hand, content evoking low-arousal emotions, such as sadness, was less likely to be shared.
That’s why emotionally charged stories spread faster than dry facts.
Context matters, though. For example, a study of tweets about the Coronavirus pandemic found that tweets expressing joy were retweeted more often, while those expressing anger were retweeted less.
That goes to show that the topic and audience also shape which emotions travel best.
So, what works for other brands might not work for your audience and channels.
Example: Dove
Dove’s Real Beauty campaign shifted the focus away from product features towards self-worth and identity.
This emotional approach makes the brand more memorable and relevant. It sparks discussions and thereby boosts awareness, loyalty and sales.
How to use emotion in your brand messaging
- Lead with feeling, not features.
- Show why your brand or offer matters. What changes for someone when they choose you?
- Match the emotion to what your audience already cares about. It could be hope, pride, relief, or even a bit of fear if you use it carefully.
- Use real stories and specific details. The more concrete you get, the more believable your message becomes.
- Use emotion to help people understand your offer, not to manipulate them.
3. Frame your value the right way
The next step is to communicate the real value of your offer. And the way you present it can hugely influence how it’s perceived.
This is where framing comes in. Our decisions depend not just on what’s said, but on how it’s said.
Here’s a classic example from behavioural research: A ‘95% success rate’ feels much more reassuring than ‘5% failure rate’, even though they both mean the same thing.
This difference in interpretation was first documented by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in their research on decision-making and judgement.
Framing can shape value perception but also how people interpret risk.
According to Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), we are naturally more sensitive to losses than to gains. Losing 10 dollars, for example, has a stronger emotional impact than winning the same amount.
This is why emphasising what someone might lose by not buying something—be it time, clarity, or opportunities—can sometimes be more motivating than simply listing the benefits.
But this should never be about instilling fear. The aim is just to make the stakes real. When you show someone the difference between their current situation and what’s possible if they take action, your message becomes more relevant and meaningful to them.
Example: Grammarly
Grammarly doesn’t just promise better writing. It presents a clear comparison:
- Without it, mistakes slip through, your tone is misread and messages can be misunderstood.
- With Grammarly, your writing becomes clearer and more confident, and you can avoid embarrassing errors.
By presenting the choice as a way to avoid unnecessary losses and gain clarity, Grammarly makes using the product a no-brainer.
How to frame your message for more impact
- Show both sides: what someone might miss if they don’t act, and what they gain if they do.
- Make the transformation visible. Show the before and after.
- Use people’s curiosity to highlight the gap between where they are now and where they want to be.
- Help people feel in control. Taking action should feel like a natural next step.
4. Turn your message into a story
Our brains love to organise information as stories and there are several reasons why.
When we hear or read a narrative, we don’t just process the words. Our brains actually simulate the experience as if we live through it ourselves. Neuroscience shows that reading a story activates regions linked to visual, motor, and sensory processing.
What’s more, stories boost our memory. In a classic study, Bower and Clark (1969) found that people who turned a list of unrelated words into a story could recall six to seven times more of those words later on than those who studied the list directly.
Another advantage of stories that’s particularly relevant for branding is that they help us imagine transformation. Being drawn into a story—and its emotion—can lower our resistance, shut down counter-arguments, and steer our thinking.
So when you tell your brand story, you give people a way to imagine their own journey and transformation.
Example: Nike
Nike’s “Just Do It” tagline isn’t really about shoes, but about grit and identity. Nike puts its customers first and lets its brand be their guide.
This is how stories change what people believe about themselves and how they connect with brands.
How to use storytelling in your brand messaging
- Let your audience be the hero, and your brand be the guide.
- Use a simple arc: problem → journey → solution.
- Show the transformation. Focus on what’s possible for your target audience.
- Keep it authentic.
Further reading
In this context, you might like my article on brand storytelling.
5. Speak to identity, not just needs
We don’t just buy products or services. We often invest in a better version of ourselves—more confident, more organised, more creative, or more in line with their values.
Every choice we make—from the clothes we wear to the food we eat—says something about who we are and who we want to be.
Research backs this up.
When a brand’s personality feels aligned with how someone sees themselves—or how they’d like to be—that self-congruence tends to deepen emotional attachment to the brand.
Brand identification—which means when a brand feels like part of someone’s identity—also predicts stronger loyalty and long-term commitment.
So if your brand can create that sense of shared identity, that’s a win.
Example: Patagonia
Yes, Patagonia is an often-quoted example. But there’s a reason it keeps coming up.
The brand doesn’t just sell outdoor gear. It has intentionally aligned its values—like environmentalism, sustainability, and activism—with the identity of the people who buy from it.
Choosing Patagonia becomes less about a jacket and more about making a statement.
How to align your brand message with identity:
- Connect your message to who people want to become, not just what they want to fix.
- Position your offer as a step towards growth or self-expression.
- Use stories and visuals that reflect your audience’s values and worldview. Show them you get it.
- Keep your tone human and honest. Speak like a real person.
6. Build credibility through others
Trust rarely comes from what a brand says about itself. Rather, it comes from what other people, such as experts, peers, and users who have already tried the products or services, say.
That’s why social proof is so effective. Reviews, testimonials and recommendations reassure buyers that your offer is safe and legitimate. If it worked for someone else, there’s a good chance it could work for them, too.
And the data backs this up. In Nielsen’s Trust in Advertising report (2021), 88% of respondents worldwide said they trust recommendations from people they know more than any form of advertising.
We also naturally tune in to people we see as experts or credible authorities. This is called authority bias. When someone you trust or respect endorses a brand, it usually carries more weight.
Jonah Berger’s work on word of mouth makes a similar point. Messages with visible engagement, like reviews, stories, testimonials, or shares, spread faster and feel more credible. (Contagious, 2013.)
So as a brand, your job isn’t just to tell your story but to make it easy for others to tell it for you.
Example: Airbnb
Airbnb’s entire business model is based on social proof. Hosts are reviewed and verified. Rather than Airbnb simply claiming that it is a safe place, thousands of guests openly share their experiences.
How to build brand credibility through social proof
- Support your message with credible sources like data, experts, or real results.
- Let others speak for you. Use testimonials, case studies, and customer success stories.
- Show how people engage with your brand through reviews, shares, comments, influencer marketing, etc.
- Keep it human. Imperfect stories connect and spread better than polished claims.
7. Let your brand be human, not perfect
While perfection looks polished, it can also feel distant. When every message is perfectly rehearsed, it starts to sound artificial.
The Pratfall Effect, first documented by psychologist Elliot Aronson in 1966, explains why. In his study, a highly competent quiz contestant became more likeable after spilling a cup of coffee. This small, harmless mistake made them seem more human and relatable.
Ideally, as a brand, you should be competent, but also a little vulnerable.
When you share a small flaw or a setback, you start feeling more like an actual person. In this age of hyper-curated, AI-generated content, it’s these small human flaws that can draw people in.
Example: Oatly
Oatly uses a conversational, quirky voice that is irreverent, transparent, and intentionally unpolished. Their packaging and ads also have an unpolished feel to them, yet still look professional.
How to make your brand more human
- Let small imperfections show. They make your brand feel more relatable.
- Show personality and the behind-the-scenes process, not just the polished outcome.
- Tell stories about your challenges and lessons, not just your wins.
- Write like people actually speak, a little raw.
- Show where you’re learning and improving.
8. Give first and build trust over time
Reciprocity is one of the simplest and most reliable ways to build trust. When you offer something genuinely useful without expecting anything in return, people naturally become more open to engaging with you.
The effect becomes even stronger when it’s paired with small commitments. Once someone takes a tiny step—be it subscribing to your newsletter, downloading a guide, or leaving a comment—they’re more likely to take the next one to stay consistent with what they’ve already done.
Decades of behavioural research (Cialdini, 1984) show that even small actions create a pull towards staying consistent with our previous choices.
Recent research finds that when brands communicate without directive, pushy language, observers are more likely to engage. (Andriuzzi & Michel, 2025)
Rather than relying on pressure, use language that feels collaborative. Invite people in. This simple shift can make your brand seem more trustworthy and human, and help you to build trust and a sense of belonging.
Example: Figma
Before it became a major brand, Figma offered lots of value upfront, such as a free tier, open design files, community-built templates and live workshops.
Every small detail made it easy for people to get involved. These low-commitment features gradually turned casual users into loyal advocates.
How to build trust through reciprocity
- Offer real upfront: insights, tools, or resources that are genuinely helpful.
- Encourage small, low-pressure actions. Tiny steps make bigger steps later on feel more natural.
- Express genuine gratitude. Appreciation strengthens emotional bonds.
Further reading
You can learn more about reciprocity in my article on Cialdini’s 6 principles of influence and how brands can make use of them.
9. Repeat your message to build familiarity
Familiarity is one of the brain’s favourite shortcuts. When something feels familiar and easy to understand, it instantly seems more believable. This is known as the Illusory Truth Effect and has been well documented in cognitive psychology (Fazio, Brashier, Payne & Marsh, 2015; Dechêne et al., 2010).
While repetition doesn’t turn a message into a fact, it does make it seem more reliable and trustworthy.
For brands, repetition isn’t about repeating the same sentence over and over again. The key is to return to the same ideas in all your stories, visuals and brand touchpoints.
Each time you do this, you reinforce your brand identity and this is how strong brand memory structures form (Keller, 2003; Romaniuk & Sharp, 2016)—through consistent cues that make your brand feel familiar.
Example: Volvo
For decades, Volvo has anchored everything to the idea of safety. Crash-test videos, engineering innovations, family-focused stories, safety stats—no matter the angle, the message stays the same.
That constant repetition built a very strong brand association. Volvo means safety.
How to build brand familiarity
- Repeat your core messages and ideas across channels.
- Say the same thing in fresh ways. New examples, different stories, varied formats.
- Maintain a cohesive voice and design system so every touchpoint reinforces brand recognition. You might also be interested in the concept of distinctive brand assets.
Last words
At the end of the day, effective brand messaging is about understanding how people think and feel, and communicating with them in a way that’s honest, clear, and consistent.
When you do that, your message truly resonates, sticks and ultimately shapes how people feel about your brand.
Are you ready to take your messaging up a level? Let’s chat!
Title image by Zen Chung
