Give customers more than a transaction: designing marketing that builds wellbeing
Authored by Sam Thomas
Marketing is changing. Instead of only solving problems or pushing features, the most durable brands create moments that make people feel better — and not incidentally: they generate value for both customer and organisation. Positive psychology gives us a language and a set of mechanisms to design those moments. The recent review by Ebitu et al. maps those mechanisms onto everyday marketing practice — and, crucially, points to small, testable changes fundraisers and marketers can make today.
What the paper tells us
Positive psychology focuses on positive emotions, character strengths, relationships and institutions. When marketers design experiences that boost positive emotion, meaningful connection and a sense of agency, customers report greater satisfaction and loyalty. Tactics that concretely draw on these mechanisms include emotion-led creative, personalised journeys, social proof, storytelling, influencer partnerships, gamification, excellent UX, community building on social channels, and sustainability framing. The paper gathers evidence and practical examples for each.
Why this matters for charities and mission-driven organisations
For organisations that rely on repeat support (donors, members, regular purchasers), the goal isn’t a single transaction — it’s a relationship. Designing supporter experiences that produce genuine positive feelings and a sense of impact turns one-off acts into longer-term behaviour. In other words: wellbeing-centred marketing is a retention strategy as much as a communications choice.
Five practical moves you can deploy this month
Make the emotional lift explicit in your thank-you: Donors often feel good after giving — help them notice it. Add a short sentence to your immediate receipt/thank-you that names the emotion (“Many supporters tell us they feel proud/hopeful after giving”) and invite one sentence of reflection.
Swap an abstract stat for one human moment: Replace one numeric stat in a campaign with a single short story or photo of a named beneficiary. Emotional resonance beats generic scale for creating meaning.
Personalise a micro-milestone: When a supporter’s actions hit a threshold (first gift, third year, volunteer shift), trigger a tailored message that celebrates progress and links it to a concrete outcome.
Design one gamified journey for engagement: Create a short, optional challenge (e.g., 3 simple actions in 14 days) with small recognitions (badge, printable certificate, social share card). Keep it meaningful and avoid manipulative loops; focus on mastery and community.
Make sustainability messaging values-led, not guilt-led: Frame environmental benefits as shared purpose and practical wins (“Because of you, X trees restored; here’s the local community outcome”), rather than as obligation.
Ethical guardrails
Be authentic: Don’t overclaim outcomes or manufacture emotional content. Positive psychology applied well increases genuine wellbeing; applied poorly it becomes manipulation.
Respect dignity: Use images and stories that preserve dignity of people/animals served.
Track equity: Check that wellbeing-oriented campaigns don’t only target already privileged segments; measure reach across groups.
Short critical note for leadership
Ebitu et al. provide an optimistic toolkit, but it’s built on secondary literature — many interventions work only in specific contexts. Plan small pilots, measure wellbeing-relevant outcomes (affect, sense of meaning, re-engagement) as well as traditional KPIs, and treat iteration as part of the strategy.
References
Ebitu, E. T., James, E. E., Etim, G. S., Inyang, I. B., & Anna, E. H. (2023). Positive psychology and its application in marketing: An appraisal. Journal of Psychology and Behavior Studies, 3(2), 62–75. https://doi.org/10.32996/jpbs.2023.3.2.6