hot button

Noun

hot button (plural hot buttons)

1. A central issue, concern or characteristic, especially one that motivates people to make a choice; sometimes also one that people seek to delay taking sides on.
   • That issue was mostly solved in the modern forces, but it was still a hot button for every student of modern military history.2014, M. L. Buchman, Light Up the Night, →ISBN
2. The principal desire that a salesman needs to "hit" in order to make a sale.
   • Jack Lacey^([sic]), a top rating salesman, says that sales are made by touching off a “hot button” within the prospect’s mind.’1944, Dental Items of Interest, volume 66, Dental Items of Interest Publishing Company, page 866
   • So one way of producing conviction is to “find the hot button”— something the other person is currently interested in—and show him how your idea can help him get that.1965, John D. Yeck, How to Get Profitable Ideas, McGraw-Hill, page 197
3. An emotional trigger; something that arouses strong emotion or opinions.
   • Because when you recognize your main hot button, you can take the necessary steps to diffuse anger and reestablish connectedness in a healthy relationship.2009, Gary Smalley, Ted Cunningham, From Anger to Intimacy Study Guide, →ISBN
   • “The sooner he gets rid of those children, the better it will be. He is too busy to be encumbered with orphans,” Delleah said. That struck Melissa's hot button. “2014, Barbara McMahon, The Nanny and the Sheikh, →ISBN