Why Emotion Matters: The Science Behind Farmer Decision-Making
Many agri-marketers still believe that farmers make purely rational buying decisions. After all, farming is a business, and business decisions should be based on facts, logic, and financial return—right?
Not entirely.
Consider the story of Phineas Gage, the 19th century railroad worker whose prefrontal lobe (responsible for emotion) was destroyed in a construction accident in the 1840’s. While one might assume that, without those nasty emotions to clutter things up, Phineas should have been an awesome decision maker after the accident, one would be wrong. Not only was his social behavior changed, he was no longer capable of even the simplest decision. Decades of research in psychology and behavioral economics prove that human decision-making is not just rational but deeply influenced by emotion. One of the most influential books on this topic, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, explains why.
Kahneman describes two modes of thinking:
· System 1 (Fast Thinking): Intuitive, automatic, and emotional. It operates without conscious effort, forming instant impressions and making snap decisions.
· System 2 (Slow Thinking): Deliberate, logical, and effortful. It processes complex information and scrutinizes choices carefully.
Farmers, like all people, rely on System 1 most of the time—up to 95% of daily cognitive activity. It helps them react quickly, recognize patterns, and make decisions efficiently, but it’s also subject to biases and shortcuts.
Why Emotion Shapes Brand Choices
System 1 doesn’t just process data; it creates narratives based on limited information. This means that brand familiarity, gut feelings, and emotional associations strongly influence decisions—often more than the cold, hard facts. Overall, System 1 thinking is deeply rooted in the cultural norms, upbringing, and personal experiences that shape an individual's worldview and intuitive responses.
Two key concepts from Kahneman’s work explain why:
WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is): People make decisions based on the information immediately available to them, rather than seeking out all possible facts. If your brand isn’t top-of-mind when a farmer is making a decision, you’re already at a disadvantage.
Heuristics (Mental Shortcuts): System 1 relies on quick decision-making rules, such as:
· Affect Heuristic: If a brand “feels right,” it must be the right choice.
· Availability Heuristic: If a brand is familiar or memorable, it seems more trustworthy and relevant.
The Implications for Agri-Marketers
1. Brand Awareness Fuels System 1 Decisions
Farmers, like all buyers, often go with the brand that comes to mind first. Emotional brand marketing ensures your brand is that brand.
Many consumer brands leverage this brilliantly—think Apple or John Deere, which evoke strong emotional connections. Even in B2B and agriculture, emotional attachment to brands drives loyalty and purchase behavior.
2. System 2 Still Matters—Don’t Ignore Logic
While emotion drives many decisions, expensive or high-stakes purchases (like machinery or inputs) often trigger System 2 thinking. Farmers will scrutinize details, compare specs, and look at ROI.
This means agri-marketers must appeal to both systems:
· Use emotion-driven marketing to create strong brand preference and top-of-mind awareness (System 1).
· Support it with solid data, product benefits, and logical reasoning when the farmer takes a deeper look (System 2).
In our previous work at Quarry, and more recently here at CentricEngine, we have found that there are consistent patterns among farmers System 1 thinking that agri-marketers can take advantage of in order to build narratives around their brands. Our research showed that farmers may be grouped or segmented by their natural System 1 response to certain situations such as problems that need to be solved or opportunities (innovations) that could be considered. Understanding these Stances in the context of your brands could provide a way to breakthrough with messaging.
The Bottom Line
Farmers don’t make decisions in a purely rational vacuum. Like everyone else, they rely on instinct, familiarity, and emotion to simplify choices. Brands that harness this reality—by balancing emotional storytelling with rational justification—will have the edge in agri-marketing.
If you want your brand to be the “no-brainer” choice, start speaking to both the head and the heart.
Share your thoughts in the comments, and stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll change gears and talk about the complexity of being a “trusted supplier”. f you want to take 15 minutes to discuss some options on working together - let’s arrange a time - contact Maurice at maurice.allin@centricengine.com.
