Marketers urged to find their feelings to forge better business relations

In all, 70% of respondents attributed leadership as the most important element, with 83% naming company culture as the most important attribute in finding a potential partner. Crisis management, far from driving partners apart, can actually be the glue which holds them together, with a further 86% of those polled observing that successful handling of a moment of friction cemented bonds.

Elsewhere three-quarters strongly stood by the statement that ‘communication is the connective tissue of a business relationship’ and that 65% wished to walk away from a business relationship with a feeling of accomplishment when a pairing had run its course.

At the other end of the spectrum the key drivers cited as likely to kill optimism were uncertainty (77%), overpromising (69%) and arrogance (also 69%).

Christoph Becker, global chief executive and chief creative officer at Gyro, commented: “The reasons behind the choices we make aren’t easily measured. Real people are tribal and emotional. There is much to learn from the honest responses that Financial Times readers shared with us.

"But one fact is certain: Now, more than ever, marketers must focus on what their customers and prospects are feeling and deliver in a way that makes them feel both confident and optimistic. Human relevance in marketing has never been more valid and more necessary.”

The index was supplemented by Russell Research, as well as interviews with top marketers and Columbia University’s Michel Tuan Pham, a leading light in the field of emotion in marketing.