Rational Man and Conspicuous Consumption Man Are Run Down by the Context-Research Guy

This is the story of how the “Consumer Behavior Mystery” was finally solved!

It was a dark and stormy night when “Rational Man” in the company of “Conspicuous Consumption Man” while pursuing the elusive “Consumer Behavior” were both were run down by “Context-Research Guy.” A group of marketers were standing nearby, clearly confused. Context Research Guy cried out, “Fear not, I’m here to help.”

Rational and Conspicuous were dazed and were unable to continue; meanwhile, Context-Research has taken up the chase. It has been reported that Consumer Behavior may be trapped.

Context-Research Guy, whose full name is Context-Driven Qualitative Research Man, claims that he is the only one who truly understands Consumer Behavior.

He notes that Rational is wrong when he says that Consumer Behavior only wants to “maximize utility” i.e. pleasure or happiness. Oh yeah, there is more to it than simply pleasure.

Context-Research admits that Conspicuous is right when he says that Consumer is trying to impress others, but he says there is more to it than “Mine is bigger than yours.”

Context-Research is disgusted with both Rational and Conspicuous. He says, “If we are going to catch Consumer Behavior we need to get him where he lives - - then we can trap him with his own words.” He continues:

Here’s how to set the trap. Forget about traits and profiling, this is not a problem for psychology, it’s a matter of context. Find out what Consumer Behavior wants and how he goes about getting it. In short, picture the scene. Draw it up in a series of pictographs and let him explain himself as he goes through them. He might get emotional. So much the better. Keep your yap shut because he knows and you don’t.

For example, if Consumer Behavior tries to buy a car, gets fitted for a suit, or considers taking a vacation, we’re going to picture each decision point and then he can explain himself. Yeah, Consumer Behavior can run but he can’t hide. Even during these tough economic times, Consumer Behavior is still buying and we’re going to find out what and why.

Rational Man and Conspicuous Consumption you’ve had your day. Sure you were good, but not good enough. Now it is time to step aside and leave things to “Context-Research Guy.”

Written by Dale Paulson, Ph.D. President of Allegiance Research Group. To learn more email AllegianceResearch@gmail.com.

What is the Value of Respondents Telling You Things in Their Own Words?

The short answer is that this provides the opportunity for a communication breakthrough. Every so often one hears something that just sticks. This is true of both phrases and jingles. I remember a theater critic who reviewed the musical “Annie” and said, “It took me two weeks to get that damn song out of my head.”

For the marketer, sticky phrases can be like goldmines. They keep paying off and long after the broadcasts stop, we still remember them.

Here are some examples: “Diamonds are forever.” “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing—you ate it Ralph.” “We’re number two but we try harder.” “Where’s the beef?” Short pithy and memorable. These are examples of creative genius.

Perhaps you can duplicate this type of success if you attune yourself to the words of your consumers. There is no better way to get your customers to open up then to use pictographs. I discovered an interesting phrase when doing Context-Driven Qualitative Research (pictographs) for an adult education school. The phrase “We teach but we don’t grade,” removed the anxiety and increased attendance.

When you use Context-Driven Qualitative Research, you “Learn but you don’t judge.”

For more information, email AllegianceResearch@gmail.com.

Deciphering the Treasure Map

The “Treasure Map” is the decisional process that people use before they make a purchase. This applies to both products and services and if you understood this decisional process you would indeed have a treasure map.

Like most treasure maps, the “Decisional Calculus Treasure Map” is in code and traditional research will not break it. This is because asking people for their “reasons” is not very effective and “emotion” is an important component.

How do we break the code? First we must assume that asking direct questions “pollutes” the process. Oftentimes, people make purchasing decisions based upon emotions but when asked they likely explain it in rational terms. To truly understand, the researcher should “catch” the emotion as it occurs.

The best way to understand the decisional process is to “re-create” the buying scenario using “pictographs.” Why does someone buy a certain car at a particular dealership? How does one decide to take a cruise with a certain cruise line? How does one choose a bank? Each of these buying scenarios can be understood by using pictographs.

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words but, in truth, words cannot substitute for pictographs. Pictographs tend not to lead the respondent in the way that words do and they do a better job at capturing emotions.

If you want to decipher the decisional calculus treasure map for your product or service consider using a pictographic approach. For more information e-mail me at AllegianceResearch@gmail.com.

What The Hell Is This?

This rather simple cartoon or pictograph is from a set of thirty pictographs that was used to understand car purchasing behavior at a Chrysler dealership. This was before the current crisis where people now tend not to go into any auto dealership.

Cartoon Sequence Research(tm) involves showing people a series of cartoons that depict a buying scenario. In this instance the cartoons showed scenes from when people first considered buying a new car to them driving off the lot in their “new car.” People simply tell us a story. We learned a considerable amount from the auto buying cartoon set, but this particular cartoon stood out.

One advantage of Cartoon Sequence Research (CSR) is there are no leading questions and it taps into emotions. We learn information even if we don’t have the right questions.

Here is one thing we learned from this particular cartoon. Don’t put on a separate sticker on the car. Interestingly, you can add to the existing sticker even with a higher price and people tend not to mind.

Who knew? Well actually the customer knew, but, oftentimes the researcher doesn’t know enough to ask.

For more information email allegianceresearch@gmail.com