How motivated can we be, really? Is there a genesis for all the positive things we accomplish in the day, and better yet, can we make a catchy name for it by splicing it with the word “inspiration”? (think: “thin-spo”, “fit-spo”, any word + “inspo”) There seems to be an answer: Yes! you are a unicorn in beast mode who can dream big and be a boss during the day but blaze all night; maybe all while remaining Super Dad/Mom/Son/Daughter/Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Human. However, according to the internet, you don’t inherently know this and need consistent memes, comments and 140-word messages of encouragement to remind you. Whether you feel elated or annoyed by all of the motivation mongering on social media, news media, online retail, or virtually anywhere else you can put your cursor, it’s useful to ponder why everyone is so supportive. Most often and innocently, the reason is its role in creating positive attitudes and motivations in the viewer. However, using positive content to incite attitude or behavioral change can also be used by advertisers to redirect your inspiration toward their best interest.

The first reason for all the positivity may be that viewing motivational content is helpful to the observer in certain circumstances. The online message of positivism Aunt Ida left in a Facebook comment may become most effective after our emotions have been primed to receive it. This effect shows up in psychological experiments. In a study of smokers trying to quit, researchers found that positively toned anti-smoking public service announcements (PSAs) were more effective when shown directly after a person smoked, because they were able to consciously process attitudes on a negative behavior that was making them feel shame, guilt or defeat, and then better commit to change (Rydell, Sherman, Boucher & Macy, 2012). Conceivably, the same might hold true when that motivational content appears for someone who is currently unmotivated or unhappy, catalyzing recognition for the negative behaviors that got them there and moving them toward good. Aunt Ida’s Facebook comment to “have a great day, Shnookums” may actually help motivate you to turn around a cruddy one.

(via Quoteshunter.com)

A second reason is that in some cases, the poster, the content generator or online company may also be benefiting from providing you with your daily "everything-spiration.” The emotional priming hit upon at the perfect moment to illicit positive change is also coveted for creating behaviors like conformity or spending. Positive association between “feel-good” messages and products is a tactic that most people are familiar with in the medium of television advertising. Back in the lab, researchers testing the effectiveness of ads after movie clips found that positive clips allowed people to mentally store the following advertising information immediately (Yegiyan, 2015). Online, ads are not all preceded by clips from "Happy Feet," but it can be hypothesized that the inspirational content that some covert advertisers use has the same emotional priming effect. For example, Instagram fitness models often post “fit-spiration” selfies, like this one from the Instagram profile of Page Hathaway:

(via Page Hathaway's Instagram profile: https://www.instagram.com/pagehathaway/)

Hathaway is also sponsored by the fitness supplement company Shredz. She has a remarkable physique and is certainly worth aspiring to, even if it means going to the gym. Yet, in this situation, one might wonder whether the emotional priming from the positive image of a successfully fit female is less for the benefit of the viewer and more for brand recognition. It is not to say that these two results are mutually exclusive; that feeling inspired by this content must lead to either a motivation for a positive change like fitness or an unwitting purchase of unneeded products. More likely, it is the purpose of Shredz in partnering with Hathaway to inspire viewers to commit to getting fit as well as buying their products. A rainbow appears if you actually achieve your goals, but the gold is in their pockets if you purchase after viewing the fit-spo, regardless.

There are websites and social media accounts for every interest, that can be cherry picked to try and achieve the effect of inspiration, emotional priming, motivation, or whatever you consider a pick-me-up. The Huffington Post compiled 10 inspiring Instagram accounts, and a list of 11 for “Fitness Junkies”, and a simple Twitter search of #inspo will work to reveal endless motivational content. To this thinking, we exist in an online world telling us “go get ‘em, Tiger!”. We should be propelled out the door as our best selves and seizing every day. But, are we following through? Inspiring viewers becomes valuable when advertisers are able to incorporate product placement, and viewers should be cognizant for whether their newly motivated efforts land on the intended target. There’s no harm in scrolling by a good Oscar Wilde quotation while browsing Twitter, even if it isn't cited, and perhaps we can make great use of the emotional priming that everything-spiration provides us. Just, when you finally accomplish the amazing feat that you’ve been inspired to tackle, make sure to use the proper #inspo tag so I can find it.