The appeal to emotion fallacy occurs when believing something makes a person feel good (Appeal, 2005; Fallacy, 2005).
When the emotions are aroused, positively or negatively, then rationality is thrown aside, and the emotions take over. This is why appeals for donations always show starving children, or sick children because they know it will stir up people's emotions and make them feel guilty for the good life they are living and many of them will feel obligated to donate to the worthy cause they see portrayed, even if they don't know the organization, or know how much of their donation will actually reach those portrayed as being in need. It is also used in advertising to get consumers to buy products.
The fallacy comes in because people such as advertisers use tactics to stir up people's emotions and make them do things they would not do otherwise, such as buy products they don't really need or send donations to appeals using children (Fallacy). Political speech makers also appeal to people's emotions to get their votes for their candidates, by promising them they will work on issues they know they care about, even if they have no intention of doing so after they are elected. They also use appeals to emotion to get people behind an issue, such as unseating another politician, or defeating a particular bill they don't want passed. The appeal to emotion is different from similar fallacies because it deals with what a person believes personally and not what others believe. It relies on stirring a person's emotions to make them take a particular action. However, it is still a fallacy.
Appeal to emotion. (2005). Retrieved July 6, 2005 from:
http://changingminds.org/discipline/argument/appeal_to_
Fallacy: appeal to emotion. Retrieved July 6, 2005 from:
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-emotion.
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