CX and digital leaders know that emotions are a key aspect of CX and brand experience (BX), yet most digital interactions fail to create meaningful emotional experiences. Many websites and apps allow customers to complete their tasks but fall short of being engaging and memorable. To drive loyalty and differentiate in a world where customers increasingly connect via digital channels, you must create digital experiences that aren’t only easy and effective, but also emotionally resonant. 

Why This Matters Now 

Emotionally resonant experiences aren’t just “nice to have” — they: 

  1. Increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. 
  2. Improve digital adoption and task completion. 
  3. Strengthen brand perception in competitive markets. 

What Makes A Digital Experience Emotionally Resonant? 

To create emotionally resonant experiences, digital and CX leaders need to go beyond usability. They must: 

  • Acknowledge how users feel at different points in their journey. 
  • Support emotional transitions — for example, from confusion to clarity, or from frustration to relief. 
  • Use design, content, and functionality to create moments that feel human — not robotic. 

Think of a banking app that reassures users after a failed transaction with empathy and clear language that shows the path to resolution. Or a government website that celebrates a completed application with a friendly confirmation message and clear next steps. These small touches can make a big emotional difference. 

Use Our Three-Step Approach To Build Emotionally Positive Experiences 

Our new research introduces a structured approach — The Positive Emotion Creation (PEC) Model — and provides practical guidance to CX and digital leaders for creating emotionally resonant digital experiences. Here are the two reports that will help you apply the PEC Model: 

  • Evoke Positive Emotions In Your Digital Experiences. Read this foundational report to learn why it’s important to build emotionally positive experiences that go beyond functionality and effectiveness. To accomplish this goal, you must understand the emotional make up of the journey, assess users’ emotional states throughout their digital interactions (e.g., using tools like Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions), and facilitate emotional shifts through functionality, content, or UX. 
  • How To Use The Positive Emotion Creation Model To Shift Emotions In Digital Experiences. Read this companion report to learn how to operationalize the PEC model in digital experiences, and make emotional transitions authentic and realistic — ensuring that shifts feel earned, not engineered. For example, moving users from frustration to relief in a natural way requires validation and reassurance before attempting to evoke stronger emotions like loyalty or joy.  

Let’s Connect 

If you’re a Forrester client and would like to discuss how to create emotionally positive experiences, set up a conversation with us here. You can also follow or connect with us — Senem Biyikli and Kerstin Wehmeyer — on LinkedIn.