In his Monday Manager blog, Harvey Schacter ,over at the Globe & Mail, talks about stories that arouse peoples interest have emotional connections. He is referencing comments of Lois Kelly who is the author of Beyond Buzz, The Next Generation of Word of Mouth Marketing.
Seth Godin spoke about similar things in All Marketers Are Liars , in fact if you consider most of the buying decisions you make be it products, services or people its the emotional aspects that are the deciding factors.
That is why personal branding makes so much sense – people may be attracted or intrigued by your rational attributes – those that you 'need' to do whatever it is that you do – but when it comes to deciding its you the emotional differentators are what makes them come to YOU!