What is Appeal to Emotion?
Appealing to decisions based on the personal feelings or emotional effects rather than logical ones.
Business Application
Emotional gratification is important but should be measured by actual consequence. Value is relative but should not overshadow utility or quality.
Example
“Our products are 100% made in America. It’s much better than the cheap stuff made over in China.“
Why This is a Fallacy
Just because something is made in America doesn’t mean it’s a superior product. Arguing that something is better because of traits that exist outside of its qualities is misleading.

Tom Waters
Owner at Everyday Sales
Everyday Sales is an online resource for sales and business education. We expose the psychological exploits used in sales and marketing to empower our clients to become better professionals. Our feature content includes Sales in Cinema, Cognitive Biases in Business, Logical Fallacies in Business, and Quotes Deconstructed.
Latest posts by Tom Waters (see all)
- What’s the difference between a Feature and a Benefit? - April 4, 2019
- Everyday Sales Presents: Systems that Scale - November 6, 2018
- Episode 4: Disney Upcycle - August 13, 2017