Comments on: The consumer unconscious — why it matters to marketers http://www.northlich.com/the-consumer-unconscious-why-it-matters-to-marketers/ Cincinnati ad agency specializing in rehavior Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:06:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Keith http://www.northlich.com/the-consumer-unconscious-why-it-matters-to-marketers/comment-page-1/#comment-51 Keith Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:52:54 +0000 http://www.northlich.com/?p=1193#comment-51 Steve, I'm a fan of laddering as well. It can even work nicely in small scale quant with just word/phrase associations. It's labor intensive for sure, but some of the least self-aware consumers can reveal structures that direct questioning could never touch. The last example of neuro imaging I saw was @ a Boston AMA event about a year ago. Wondering if the interpretation tools and methods have improved since then. Steve, I’m a fan of laddering as well. It can even work nicely in small scale quant with just word/phrase associations. It’s labor intensive for sure, but some of the least self-aware consumers can reveal structures that direct questioning could never touch.

The last example of neuro imaging I saw was @ a Boston AMA event about a year ago. Wondering if the interpretation tools and methods have improved since then.

]]> By: Steve Pickens http://www.northlich.com/the-consumer-unconscious-why-it-matters-to-marketers/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Steve Pickens Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:33:35 +0000 http://www.northlich.com/?p=1193#comment-28 If you are looking for ways to generate these insights, I suggest you examine means- end research as popularized by Thomas Reynolds. I've been using it for about 10 years now and it gives great insight to the emotional needs being satisfied through consumer decisions. It allows the researcher to use "focus group" style interview techniques to generate decision maps for product categories and to quantify them. As for your premise that most of marketing is based on the controlled system, I somewhat disagree. Working on the "reasons to believe" is a relatively recent phenomenon based on benefits selling. I think that marketers have long realized that decisions are based on emotion; the mind simply rationalizes the buying behavior. Early TV advertising, especially through jingles, was based on Skinner theories of stimulus and response. It is my believe that the in its essence, successful brand communications campaign lives like a virus in the mind of the consumer; so that when s/he is confronted by various brands in the supermarket, the brand itself triggers the desired behavior at the point of purchase. If you are looking for ways to generate these insights, I suggest you examine means- end research as popularized by Thomas Reynolds. I’ve been using it for about 10 years now and it gives great insight to the emotional needs being satisfied through consumer decisions. It allows the researcher to use “focus group” style interview techniques to generate decision maps for product categories and to quantify them.

As for your premise that most of marketing is based on the controlled system, I somewhat disagree. Working on the “reasons to believe” is a relatively recent phenomenon based on benefits selling. I think that marketers have long realized that decisions are based on emotion; the mind simply rationalizes the buying behavior.

Early TV advertising, especially through jingles, was based on Skinner theories of stimulus and response. It is my believe that the in its essence, successful brand communications campaign lives like a virus in the mind of the consumer; so that when s/he is confronted by various brands in the supermarket, the brand itself triggers the desired behavior at the point of purchase.

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