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Allison Worldwide Urges Communicators To Measure Emotion, Not Just Sentiment
(MENAFN- PRovoke)
LAS VEGAS - With trust declining and emotional volatility rising, Allison Worldwide is arguing that sentiment analysis is no longer enough to predict stakeholder behavior or get ahead of reputational risk.
In new research presented at CES last week, the firm contends that companies need to start measuring emotion (not just how people feel about a brand, but what they care about most intensely) to understand what will actually drive stakeholder action.
The research, shared with senior marketing and communications leaders, is built around what Allison calls the“rise of emotion and decline of trust.” According to the firm, traditional metrics such as volume and sentiment capture reaction after the fact but fail to surface the emotional drivers that determine whether people act.
“We still see too many communications teams relying on the same playbook they've used for decades,” Ray Day, executive chair of Allison and vice chair of Stagwell, told PRovoke Media at CES.“Volume and sentiment are fine, but they don't tell you what people actually care about, or what's going to trigger action. Measuring emotion gives communicators a way to move from cleanup to foresight.”
Day presented the findings alongside Tony Sardella, Allison's managing director of data and predictive analytics, who said the distinction between sentiment and emotion is central to how communications measurement needs to evolve.
“Sentiment is the direction of emotion,” Sardella said.“Emotion is the intensity - what people care deeply about. You might feel negatively about a company, but unless that issue matters to you emotionally, it won't drive behavior. Emotion is what determines whether people act.”
That distinction underpins Allison's case that traditional reputation and sentiment trackers show how audiences feel about a brand, but not why, or where risks are forming. The firm frames this as a shift in influence: consumers rarely base trust only on facts or data, instead making decisions through a blend of logic and emotion, with emotion now the primary driver of reputation and stakeholder response.
Allison says its case for measuring emotion is grounded in two converging dynamics: declining trust in institutions and experts, and rising emotional intensity around issues such as affordability, healthcare access and corporate fairness.
Using analysis of online digital media from late 2025, the firm's research highlights growing skepticism of experts alongside heightened emotion tied to rising costs and perceived loss of control. In healthcare, Allison's data points to consumers feeling increasingly powerless as rising costs collide with declining confidence in traditional authorities, while positive discussion grows around alternative approaches to treatment.
“What we're seeing isn't just a pricing issue,” Sardella said.“It's people feeling that things are out of control, that the system isn't fair. When you understand that emotional layer, you can design responses that actually address what matters instead of reacting after the fact.”
For Day, the implications go well beyond measurement tools. He argues that communications leaders are under growing pressure from the C-suite to provide foresight, not just reporting.
“The number one question we hear is: how do you help us see around corners?” Day said.“If communications is only telling leaders what already happened, we're missing the opportunity to be strategic partners.”
That shift requires moving away from lagging indicators like reputation scores, sentiment swings and volume spikes toward predictive insight. Sardella said some companies are already reallocating investment from high-frequency reputation tracking toward tools that assess emotional resonance and issue intensity across audiences.
“Leading organizations are starting to invest in early-indicator systems that give them a window into what reputation will look like before it shows up in the numbers,” he said.
In new research presented at CES last week, the firm contends that companies need to start measuring emotion (not just how people feel about a brand, but what they care about most intensely) to understand what will actually drive stakeholder action.
The research, shared with senior marketing and communications leaders, is built around what Allison calls the“rise of emotion and decline of trust.” According to the firm, traditional metrics such as volume and sentiment capture reaction after the fact but fail to surface the emotional drivers that determine whether people act.
“We still see too many communications teams relying on the same playbook they've used for decades,” Ray Day, executive chair of Allison and vice chair of Stagwell, told PRovoke Media at CES.“Volume and sentiment are fine, but they don't tell you what people actually care about, or what's going to trigger action. Measuring emotion gives communicators a way to move from cleanup to foresight.”
Day presented the findings alongside Tony Sardella, Allison's managing director of data and predictive analytics, who said the distinction between sentiment and emotion is central to how communications measurement needs to evolve.
“Sentiment is the direction of emotion,” Sardella said.“Emotion is the intensity - what people care deeply about. You might feel negatively about a company, but unless that issue matters to you emotionally, it won't drive behavior. Emotion is what determines whether people act.”
That distinction underpins Allison's case that traditional reputation and sentiment trackers show how audiences feel about a brand, but not why, or where risks are forming. The firm frames this as a shift in influence: consumers rarely base trust only on facts or data, instead making decisions through a blend of logic and emotion, with emotion now the primary driver of reputation and stakeholder response.
Allison says its case for measuring emotion is grounded in two converging dynamics: declining trust in institutions and experts, and rising emotional intensity around issues such as affordability, healthcare access and corporate fairness.
Using analysis of online digital media from late 2025, the firm's research highlights growing skepticism of experts alongside heightened emotion tied to rising costs and perceived loss of control. In healthcare, Allison's data points to consumers feeling increasingly powerless as rising costs collide with declining confidence in traditional authorities, while positive discussion grows around alternative approaches to treatment.
“What we're seeing isn't just a pricing issue,” Sardella said.“It's people feeling that things are out of control, that the system isn't fair. When you understand that emotional layer, you can design responses that actually address what matters instead of reacting after the fact.”
For Day, the implications go well beyond measurement tools. He argues that communications leaders are under growing pressure from the C-suite to provide foresight, not just reporting.
“The number one question we hear is: how do you help us see around corners?” Day said.“If communications is only telling leaders what already happened, we're missing the opportunity to be strategic partners.”
That shift requires moving away from lagging indicators like reputation scores, sentiment swings and volume spikes toward predictive insight. Sardella said some companies are already reallocating investment from high-frequency reputation tracking toward tools that assess emotional resonance and issue intensity across audiences.
“Leading organizations are starting to invest in early-indicator systems that give them a window into what reputation will look like before it shows up in the numbers,” he said.
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