By: Michael Beas
For Callum Davies, founder of Illuminate Digitl, copywriting is not simply about arranging words on a page. It is about engineering experiences that bypass logic and trigger emotion. Within his Knee Jerk Method™, this philosophy is most evident in the second stage—Impossible to Stop Reading—where stories grip attention, and in the third stage—Impossible to Not Buy—where offers become irresistible.
Davies’ argument is straightforward: logic may justify decisions, but emotion makes them. Great copy, therefore, is less a matter of information and more a matter of engineering feeling.
The Limits of Logic
In many industries, professionals assume that buyers are rational actors. They focus on features, statistics, and comparisons, convinced that better data will sway the audience. But research consistently shows otherwise. Studies in behavioral economics reveal that people rarely buy the “best” product by objective standards. They buy the product that feels right.
Davies frames it even more bluntly: “Logic convinces people they could buy. Emotion makes them feel they must.”
This distinction is why so much technically accurate copy fails. Facts alone lack the spark that ignites decision.
The Role of Emotional Triggers
Emotion-driven copy doesn’t emerge by chance. Davies describes it as a form of emotional engineering—deliberately shaping words, stories, and offers to activate specific responses.
Key triggers include:
- Curiosity – The drive to resolve uncertainty.
- Fear – The instinct to avoid pain, loss, or regret.
- Aspiration – The desire to grow, improve, or elevate status.
- Belonging – The need to connect with a tribe or identity.
- Relief – The longing for a solution to end frustration or struggle.
By weaving these triggers into copy, writers ensure that readers don’t just understand the message—they feel it.
Stories as Emotional Blueprints
The most reliable way to engineer emotion, Davies insists, is through story. Facts may inform, but stories immerse. When readers see themselves in a narrative, they experience the emotions of the protagonist as if firsthand.
This immersion explains why copy written as story can sustain attention for thousands of words. Readers are not analyzing; they are living. And when they live the story, the emotional pull toward the offer becomes almost irresistible.
The Offer as Identity
Emotion reaches its peak at the moment of the offer. Here, Davies highlights the concept of identity. People do not simply buy products—they buy ways of seeing themselves.
An offer that aligns with identity transforms the decision from a transaction into self-expression. It allows buyers to say, I am the kind of person who invests in this. That sense of alignment generates pride, anticipation, and social validation—all powerful emotional rewards.
This is why Davies warns against framing offers purely in functional terms. Features may matter, but the emotional resonance of identity is what drives decisions.
Mistakes in Emotional Engineering
Like any craft, emotional engineering has pitfalls. Davies notes three common errors:
- Overreliance on Fear – While fear can trigger urgency, leaning on it too heavily risks manipulation and distrust.
- Generic Emotion – Vague appeals to “happiness” or “success” lack the specificity to truly connect.
- Ignoring Resolution – Stirring emotion without offering a satisfying path forward leaves readers agitated, not compelled.
The remedy, he explains, is balance. Effective copy stirs emotion but channels it toward resolution—the offer that provides relief, fulfillment, or transformation.
The Ethical Edge
Some may question whether emotional engineering borders on manipulation. Davies responds by drawing a distinction between exploitation and alignment.
Exploitation occurs when emotion is used to pressure people into choices that do not serve them. Alignment occurs when emotion is used to highlight solutions that genuinely improve lives.
For Davies, ethical persuasion is non-negotiable. Emotional engineering should honor the reader, not deceive them. This is why his framework emphasizes transformation as the final stage: copy should leave readers better off, not worse.
The Professional Parallel
The principle of emotional engineering applies far beyond marketing. Leaders inspire not through spreadsheets but through vision. Teachers spark curiosity not by reciting facts but by telling stories. Entrepreneurs win investors not with data alone but with the emotional pull of possibility.
In every case, influence arises not from logic alone, but from the emotions woven into the message.
The Writer’s Discipline
Engineering emotion requires skill and practice. Davies encourages writers to study human behavior, to observe the emotions that drive decisions in daily life. Why do people line up overnight for new technology? Why do they pay premiums for certain brands? Why do they follow some leaders but not others?
The answers are rarely logical. They are emotional. And for the copywriter, each observation becomes a tool to craft words that resonate more deeply.
The Long Game of Emotion
While emotion drives immediate action, its impact also compounds. A reader who feels understood returns. A buyer who feels proud becomes a repeat customer. A community that feels connected becomes loyal.
Davies frames this as the long game: emotion is not only the spark of decision but the glue of retention.
Closing Thought
Copywriting as emotional engineering reframes persuasion from a mechanical process into a human one. Logic may inform decisions, but emotion carries them across the finish line.
For Callum Davies, the challenge to professionals is clear: stop writing for what people think and start writing for what they feel.
Because when copy activates emotion, it doesn’t just inform—it transforms. And that, in the end, is the essence of the Knee Jerk Method™.
