B2B Buyers Are Making Career Bets, Not Rational Decisions

There’s a myth that keeps circulating in B2B marketing circles—one that’s particularly prevalent in tech and AI spaces. It goes like this: B2B buying decisions are rational. They’re based on features, ROI calculations, and pricing spreadsheets. Emotions don’t factor in.

But if you believe that, you’re missing the entire story.

The truth is, every B2B purchase is a person making a career bet. And when you ignore that emotional reality, you might grab attention for a moment, but you’ll never build the kind of preference that actually wins in crowded markets.

We recently welcomed Jessica Rosenberg, Head of Brand at AirOps, to our Best Story Wins podcast for a conversation about building brands in the AI space. Rosenberg brings serious credentials to the table—she cut her teeth at Crispin Porter and Bogusky in the early 2000s before moving into tech, where she’s led brand efforts at Twitter, Cloudflare, Mural, Webflow, Jasper, and now AirOps. Throughout our conversation, she shared some refreshing honesty about what actually drives B2B buying decisions, especially in fast-moving spaces like AI.

Here’s what she wants marketers to understand about the emotional truth behind B2B purchases.

3 Truths About Emotion in B2B Buying

1) Every B2B Purchase Is a Person Making a Career Bet

Let’s start with the reality check. “Behind every B2B purchase is just a person making a career bet at the end of the day,” Rosenberg says. When someone evaluates your product or platform, they’re not thinking purely about features and functionality. They’re thinking about:

• Trust
• Credibility
• Risk

Most importantly, they’re thinking about how this choice reflects on them—whether that’s to their CMO, their executive team, or the rest of the organization. Will this decision make them look smart? Will it help them deliver results? Will it advance their career or put it at risk?

These are fundamentally emotional considerations. Even if they’re dressed up in the language of business logic, decisions need to be defensible to superiors, peers, and end users.

As Rosenberg shared on the podcast, she’s felt this firsthand when buying tools for her own teams. The stakes are real. You’re not just selecting software; you’re making a bet on your own judgment and reputation. Understandably, when you’re operating in a space like AI—where the technology is evolving rapidly and the market is crowded with options—that emotional weight gets even heavier.

Tip: Before crafting your next campaign or piece of content, map out the emotional journey your buyers are on. What are they worried about? What would make them feel confident? What career outcomes are they hoping to achieve? Understanding these emotional drivers will help you create marketing that actually resonates.

2) Ignoring Emotion Gets Attention, But Doesn’t Build Preference

Here’s where a lot of B2B marketers stumble. You can absolutely get attention by focusing purely on features, specs, and rational benefits. You might even generate some leads.

However, attention isn’t the same thing as preference.

“When you ignore that emotional layer of the purchase experience, you might get attention for a little bit, but I don’t think you necessarily build preference with customers,” Rosenberg explains. And in crowded markets, which is basically every market in AI and tech right now, preference is everything.

Think about it this way: when a buyer is evaluating three similar platforms, and they all check the right boxes on features and pricing, what actually tips the decision? It’s not another feature comparison chart. It’s how they feel about each brand.

• Do they trust you?
• Do they believe you understand their challenges?
• Do they feel confident that choosing you will reflect well on them?

(And when we say “you,” unfortunately we don’t mean you as a person. While we’re sure you’re lovely, about 60% of buyers make the final purchase decision based on digital content alone. Trust and comfort are won and lost in the content marketing trenches.)

That’s where emotional connection comes in. And it’s why brands like AirOps are focusing on transformation, not just transactions. As Rosenberg notes, “We’re changing careers, we’re turning content marketers into content engineers.” That kind of positioning taps directly into the emotional stakes—the hope of growth, the fear of being left behind, the desire to level up professionally.

Tip: Audit your current marketing materials. Are you just listing features and benefits, or are you addressing the emotional reality of what it means to adopt your solution? Look for opportunities to acknowledge the human experience—the challenges, the aspirations, the fears—behind the purchase decision.

Related content: Stop Choosing Between Brand vs Product: A Smarter Storytelling Framework for B2B

3) You’re Marketing to Humans, Not Departments

This might seem obvious, but it’s worth stating plainly: you’re not marketing to “marketing teams” or “IT departments” or “enterprise buyers.” You’re marketing to humans who happen to work in those roles.

“You’re marketing to a human that is looking to make a decision,” Rosenberg says. “It’s probably an emotional one in some way, shape, or form.”

Even the most seemingly rational B2B purchases—the ones focused on saving time or cutting costs—are emotional at their core. People care about their time. They care about their budgets. They care about delivering results that earn personal recognition and reward.

And when they make a purchase that helps them do those things? “You’ll get promoted. You got a raise, get shout out,” Rosenberg points out. “There’s a very emotional motivator there for sure.”

This is especially true in the AI space, where Rosenberg and her team are navigating a moment of genuine transformation. They’re not just selling software; they’re helping people navigate career-defining shifts in getting work done. The emotional stakes couldn’t be higher. (And if you’ve ever lost sleep over a major purchase decision, you know exactly what we’re talking about.)

Tip: When creating personas or ideal customer profiles, go beyond job titles and pain points. Dig into the emotional landscape.

• What does success feel like for this person?
• What keeps them up at night?
• What would make them feel like a hero to their team or their boss?

The more you understand the human on the other side of the purchase, the better your marketing will perform.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

If you’re still skeptical that emotion matters in B2B, then consider that the most successful B2B brands aren’t the ones with the longest feature lists. They’re the ones that make people feel something—confidence, excitement, hope, trust.

And in spaces like AI, where buyers are navigating unprecedented change and trying to make smart bets in a rapidly evolving landscape, that emotional connection becomes even more critical. People are nervous. They’re unsure. They’re making decisions that could define the next chapter of their careers.

The brands that win will be the ones that acknowledge that reality, and build their marketing around it.

So stop pretending B2B decisions are purely rational. Start building for the emotional truth: your buyers are humans making career bets. And they need to feel confident that betting on you is the right move.

Want to hear more from Jessica Rosenberg about building brands in the AI era? Listen to our full conversation with Jessica on the Best Story Wins podcast to hear more about quality over speed, building for timelessness, and why real education beats product marketing every time. 

And if you’re looking for help building a B2B brand that connects emotionally with your audience, we’re here to help. Reach out to start a conversation.