Americans love the Super Bowl—regardless of who's playing. It's one of the most-watched television events, completely entrenched in our culture.

‍

But psychologically, it's more than just a game. We challenged the Hive platform to see how.

‍

Why We Watch (Even When Our Team Isn't Playing)

Americans watch the Super Bowl for the fun, the cultural ritual, and for the social opportunities it provides. It probably won't surprise you to learn that Super Bowl viewers are more extraverted and more agreeable on average, and they're creatures of habit, driven by a desire to stick to the routine. Hence why people watch it year after year, regardless of who's playing.

‍

But when your team is playing, the stakes are higher, requiring a much bigger emotional investment. Winning is amazing, but losing normally feels especially bad – and not everyone wants to feel these bad feelings. This shapes who watches and what they remember during the game.

‍

Super Bowl watchers are more insensitive to threats – meaning they don't spend as much time worrying about a possible loss ahead of time (which means they'll spend less time anticipating the bad feelings that could come with a loss). And they have more secure attachment styles—in their relationships with other people and with groups they belong to. This means that they're better positioned to weather a loss – they can recover faster and maintain the bonds they have with their losing team.

‍

The Ads Are Doing Emotional Work

Interestingly, emotions that come with winning and losing also influence what people remember about the ads they see (and aren't the ads the real reason people tune in anyway??).

‍

We're all biased at the beginning of the game, believing that our preferred team will be the winner (regardless of who the team is). But this creates an emotional investment in the outcome – and we have to manage that emotional investment when our preferred team starts losing.

‍

The fans of the losing team have to do more emotional gymnastics to keep themselves regulated – as their team starts to lose, they have to come up with ways to stay balanced (emotionally). 

‍

It turns out that one way they do this is by paying more attention to the ads. 

‍

The ads are doing more than just increasing the entertainment value of the game – they help the losing side cope. They're our emotional safety net.

‍

The good news for the ads? The fans who use them to regulate their emotions actually remember more of the ads later on.

‍

Which brings us to this year's ads...

Brands pay upwards of $10 million to show their ads during the Super Bowl. That's a massive investment for 30 seconds of attention! The best ads don't just make you laugh or cry; they tap into deeper psychological dimensions that drive real consumer behavior. When an ad also aligns with the specific decision psychology of that product’s audience, it's not just memorable – it drives action.

‍‍

ENJOY THE GAME!

‍

‍