How Customers Think

7/30/2019 How Customers Think

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In this issue:

I Penetrate...the mystery that bafflesmarketers in every industry:why customers dont buyproducts and services thatthey insist they want.

I Understand...how a customers buyingdecision is influenced by thecomplex interactionsbetween his mind, brain,body, and society in general.

I Transform...insights about buying

decisions from the latestneurological research intoproducts and services thatcustomers truly value.

I Avoid...the six common marketingfallacies that frequentlycause executives to makedisastrous decisions.

I Improve...the effectiveness of your

marketing messages by tap-ping into the unconsciousneeds and wants of yourcustomers.

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How Customers ThinkEssential Insights into the Mind of the Market

byGerald Zaltman

A summary of the original text.

After years of costly R&D, acompany launches a newsoft drink, only to see itignored in the marketplace.Focus group participants raveabout a new personal digitalassistant and say they can'twait to buy it and thenthey don't buy it when it goeson sale two months later.

These are just two amonghundreds of cases in which

customers said one thing anddid another. All too often,companies ask customerswhat they want, give it tothem, and then watch thecustomers buy competingproducts instead.

According to research by theMarketing Science Institute,four out of every five newproducts or services fail with-in six months, or fall wellshort of forecasted profits.The cost of these mistakes ishigh: lost revenues, low cus-tomer satisfaction, and pooremployee morale.

Believe it or not, the reasonsfor nearly every one of thesefailures boil down to a com-mon, deceptively simpletruth: Too many marketers

don't understand how theirown and their consumers'minds interact.

To exploit new opportunities,managers must know morethan they now do about howcustomers think and act.Fortunately, science hasmade tremendous progress inunderstanding the humanmind in recent years. Duringthe 1990s, researchers discov-

ered more truths about thebrain in that single decadethan they had during theentire history of psychologyand neuroscience.

For example, neurologicalresearch revealed that peopledon't think in linear, hierar-chical ways. That is, theydon't experience a cake bysampling a sequence of rawingredients. Instead, theyexperience fully baked cakes.This insight prompted compa-nies like Citibank, Disney,Kraft, McNeil Health Care,and John Deere to change theways in which they engagedcustomers.

To fully understand whathappens when consumersevaluate and buy things,

Volume 12, No. 2 (2 sections). Section 1, February 2003

2003 Audio-Tech Business Book Summaries 12-3.

No part of this publication may be used or reproducedin any manner whatsoever without written permission.

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these companies are drawingupon many disciplines ranging from zoology to musi-cology, from neurology toanthropology. This researchis pointing marketers to anew understanding of how acustomer's buying decision isinfluenced by the complex

interactions between mind,brain, body, and society ingeneral.

Some managers are evenimporting experts, askingnew questions, discoveringpowerful new knowledge, andthen creating products thatoffer unprecedented value.

Most importantly, theseefforts are paying off with

real benefits. For example,the managers of one companymet for two days with aneurobiologist, a psychiatrist,an Olympic coach, a special-ist in adult intellectual devel-opment, and a sociologist.Their mission was to examinenew ways to use consumerincentives. The meetinggenerated several innovativeideas, one of which the com-pany implemented withintwo weeks. In the nextseven months, the effective-ness of its consumer incen-tive program soared byalmost 40 percent.

Marketers are also startingto understand how theirown minds work, and howthey distort their perceptionsof consumers' responses.When consumers and mar-

keters interact, the result isa concept we'll call the mindof the market. Thatswhat successful managersmust understand andleverage creatively to seizecompetitive advantage.

This new way of thinkingabout customers is muchdifferent than the waymarketers usually think.

Currently, more than 80percent of market research isused to reinforce existing con-clusions, rather than to testor develop new possibilities,according to HarvardBusiness School professorRohit Desphand.

By focusing on their ownassumptions, managersprevent themselves fromgaining a true understandingof their customers. Too manymanagers make decisionsbased on six common market-ing fallacies. These fallaciesare:

First, consumers think inwell-reasoned, linearways as they evaluate

products. They dont.For example, consumersdo not consciously assessa car's benefits attributeby attribute and decidewhether to buy it.Instead, their emotions the desire for happiness,prestige, and so on play a bigger role thanlogic in the purchasedecision.

Second, consumers canplausibly explain theirthinking and behavior.In reality, however, 95percent of thinking takesplace in our unconsciousminds. People use con-scious thought primarilyas a way to rationalizebehavior.

Third, consumers minds,

brains, bodies, andsurrounding culture canbe studied independentlyof one another. In fact,the mind, brain, andexternal world interactwith, and help shape, oneanother. For example,people from different cul-tures experience physicalpain differently.

Fourth, consumers memo-ries accurately reflect theirexperience. Researchreveals that memory isnot perfect, and in fact itchanges depending on thesituation. For example,when people are asked torecall an experience, their

memories are influencedby the sequence in whichthe questions are asked,and even the color ofthe paper on which thesurvey is printed.

Fifth, consumers thinkprimarily in words. Yetbrain scans suggest thatonly a small portion ofthe brains neural activityultimately surfaces in

language.

Sixth, consumers canreceive "injections" of com-pany messages andinterpret them correctly.However, consumers donot passively absorb mes-sages. They constantlyreinterpret such messagesin terms of their uniqueexperiences. Forinstance, people have longheard that they shouldvisit the dentist every sixmonths. But researchshows that most individu-als are very skepticalabout the need for suchregular dental visits.

In falling prey to the six mis-conceptions listed, marketersmake three errors:

1. Mistaking descriptiveinformation for realinsight.

2. Confusing consumer datawith understanding.

3. Focusing on the wrongelements of the consumerexperience. These errorscan destroy productlaunches.

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Most marketers believe mere-ly knowing that consumersprefer a container with around shape rather than asquare one is enough. Butdigging more deeply into whyconsumers lean toward oneshape can produce some realinsights. It may even suggest

that another shape, such asrectangular or oblong, wouldspark better sales.

Managers cant achieve trulyinsightful consumer analysisby scratching the surfaces ofthought and behavior. Tounderstand consumers, itsbiological factors that under-lie mental activity. It is alsoessential to grasp the socialand psychological processes

that affect consumersexperiences.

Those steps lead to a fullerunderstanding of how mentalactivity occurs. Then, themarketer can gain a morecomplete understanding ofcustomers.

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THE MIND OF THE MARKET

The goal for marketers is toachieve customer-centricity.It occurs when:

First, the customer hearsand fully comprehendsthat a firms offeringsmerit a purchase.

Second, the companyhears and fully under-

stands the customersdeepest thoughts andstrongest yearnings.

Without listening carefullyand systematically tocustomers, marketers cantdevelop effective strategies.As for customers, the morethey understand a productsvalue, the more theyll wantto buy.

Thinkinginside the box limitsthe ability to tap into con-sumers minds. To find outwhat theyre really thinking consciously and uncon-sciously we need to usebetter research methods.Then, we need to make betteruse of our imaginations.

Obviously, such high-qualitythinking can pay dividendsfor marketers. But severalfactors limit its presence inbusiness.

One reason is that it takestime, energy, and unusualopenness to new possibilities.Also, imaginative thinkingand bold actions requirepeople with the rare courage

to accept occasional failures.

But an open, active mind canhelp managers win more cus-tomers, and satisfy more ofthem.

Its an arduous process tounderstand the mind of themarket. For instance, thenumber of known particles inthe universe is 10, followedby approximately 79 zeros.But the number of possibleneural connections in thehuman brain is 10, followedby more than a million zeros.

But even with its vast com-plexity, the brain isnt anentity unto itself. It interactswith the body, mind, andsocial world. As the brainlinks up with the social andphysical world, the body

mediates the connection.

The body senses informationabout the world. It thengenerates chemical andphysical responses that createemotions and thoughts. Thebody then moves in responseto the cerebral activity.

Traditional market researchover-relies on consciousness in other words, on rational-ity, economic logic, andverbalization. However, inconsumers purchasingchoices, 95 percent of thedecision-making process takesplace below the consciouslevel.

This means that the complex

reasons why people buy oneproduct and reject anotheroperate well below the mar-ket researchers "radarscreen" one traditionallyfocused on consciousness.

Note that unconsciousthought is preverbal. Itinvolves mental activity, butprimarily at the level ofimpulses and fragmentaryimages. Tying our shoes, forexample, obviously involvesa kind of thought, but at asubconscious level.

In terms of consciousness,thoughts are ideas orconcepts. However, moreprecisely, a thought is an elec-trochemical "behavior" oroccurrence that we cant seewithout a neuroimagingdevice.

B U S I N E S S B O O K S U M M A R I E S 3

THE NEW PARADIGM OF AN INTEGRATED MIND-BODY-BRAIN-SOCIETY


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Why should marketers careabout such complex matters?For two main reasons: first,because marketing lies rightat the hub of the interactions;and second, because the newparadigm reminds us that wecant study consumers in iso-lation from the factors that

influence them.

The mind-body-society-pyramid shapes thinking andbehavior for each consumer,as well as each marketer.What happens when a"marketer pyramid" and a"consumer pyramid" cometogether and interact?

We see the results in thefigure below called "The Mind

of the Market." Consciousprocesses play a relativelysmall part; this is the top ofeach pyramid. In contrast,unconscious processes play alarge role, represented by thebroad base of each pyramid.

However, as weve seen,marketers traditionally havefocused on conscious process-es and largely ignored thehard-to-read unconscious.

Thats a big problem, one ofwhich all of us are at leastdimly aware. As we'vealready suggested, a personpurchasing a high-perfor-mance sports car is not justbuying a device to convey himfrom one place to another. In

purely rational terms, thepurchase may make littlepractical or economic sense.After all, speed limits preventthe driver from reaching thetop speed on the speedometer,so he cannot drive a $100,000Porsche faster than a $20,000Ford.

Instead, the sports car makesa statement about theowners personal identity perhaps regarding youthful-ness, daringness, sexiness, oraggressiveness.

In some cases, consumersmake purchases whose realpurpose they try to conceal.For example, consider peoplewho buy expensive chocolate

products. When questioned,they often indicate its a giftto others. However, in-depthresearch finds that its usual-ly intended for personalconsumption. The purchaseis tangled up in emotions ofjoy and guilt that the con-sumer may not even under-stand at the conscious level;all the person knows is thatthe sight of the box, or thesmell of the chocolate,triggers a desire to buy.

Discussions of how neuralactivity takes place andultimately expresses itselfin conscious thought tend tobe very technical. But thekey point is that conscious-ness results from neurons

processing stimuli in largelyunconscious ways.

Sights, sounds, and smells for example, smelling coffeebrewing at Starbucks may unleash brain activitiestracing back to pleasurablememories from childhood.

Does it make practical senseto go in and spend severaldollars for whats basicallyjust a cup of coffee? Maybenot, but millions of people doso every day.

The unconscious regularlyreveals itself throughmetaphors. A metaphor is"figurative language,"referring to the representa-tion of one thing in terms of

another.

For instance, if a poet says,"My love is a red, red rose,"he doesnt mean shes turnedinto a flower. He meansthat in sight and scent sheresembles a rose.

Similarly, if someone says,"My hair is my signature," itsclearly not meant precisely.Rather, it suggests the hairsignals something about himor her as a person.

By one estimate, humanbeings use aboutsixmetaphors per minute ofspoken language. Why sofrequently? Mainly becausetheyestablish connections,helping us interpret the worldand make it intelligible.

Marketers benefit greatly bygetting consumers to usemetaphors about products.They can help bring uncon-scious thoughts and feelingsto the surface. They canshow the real connectionsconsumers see betweenproducts and their own lives.

Historically, marketers havegained knowledge about

A U D I O - T E C H4

THE MIND OF THE MARKET


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consumer decision makingthrough such means astelephone interviews, focusgroups, and questionnaires.These approaches rely onself-reflection and awareness.

But how does that squarewith estimates that more

than nine-tenths of thought,emotion, and even learningoccur in the unconsciousmind? The obvious answer:It doesnt.

Clearly, consciousness, whichexpresses itself in carefullycrafted words, regularlyinvolves self-censorship.Consciousness relies lesson candor than on socialacceptability.

The point is this: Muchpotential knowledge aboutconsumers remains hidden.For marketers charged withachieving a deep understand-ing of consumers, that pre-sents a major problem. Theremainder of this summaryexamines the techniquesmarketers can use to surfacemore of the vast amount ofconsumer information thatlurks in the unconscious.

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EXPLORING THE UNCONSCIOUS

MIND OF THE CUSTOMER

To understand how customersthink and act, we need tounderstand the human mind.As we've already discussed,the greatest influences on

consumer decisions take placebelow the surface of consciousthought.

The term cognitive uncon-scious a synonym for theunconscious mind refersto the mental processesoperatingoutside consumerawareness. Together withconscious processes, theyconstitute an individuals

experience of the world.

Our degree of consciousnessvaries over a lifetime andeven during the course of aday or an hour. It fades inand out as we work, moveabout, sleep, and dream.

Only a tiny portion of mentalactivity occurs as real aware-ness and thought. However,its that consciousness whichallows us to reflect onunconscious events.

Here are some research-verified examples of theunconscious mind at work:

The exact same dinnertastes better if we like

the person with whomwere dining.

The difference between aproduct costing $10 andone costing $9.99 is amere penny butconsumers treat it like abargain.

The participants in blindtaste tests frequentlychange their stated pref-erences, often withoutawareness of doing so,when testers identifythe brand and show thepackaging.

The typical consumerrealizes that generic med-ications are as good asexpensive nationalbrands, but he or shegenerally pays the higher

price for the comfort ofthe brand name.

The use of infants or babyanimals in ads invariablycauses consumers to rankthem high insincerity,perhaps associatinginfancy with innocenceand honesty.

The use ofsubliminal

messages, those below thelevel of consciousness,demonstrably influencesbehavior.

The delivery of overnightmail gets rated as "fast"or "slow" not so much ontime of arrival as on the

recipients eagerness toget it.

Theplacebo effect occurs,for example, whenpatients think theyrereceiving an analgesic,but instead are gettinga sugar pill. A significantnumber of placebo recipi-ents experience an easingof pain, apparentlybecause their brains

produce endorphins witheffects similar to thechemicals in themedicines.

In other words, when peopleexpect a positive experience,they tend to get it. Thatholds true not only formedicines but also for otherproducts.

These examples call intosharp question the stronglyheld notion that consumersare savvy shoppers whooperate rationally.

But shouldnt a productsprice and demonstratedeffectiveness, combined withconsumers own stated beliefsabout the product, determinetheir buying behavior? Yes,but in many cases, they dont,

and the answer lies in theunconscious.

The unconscious mind clearlyrepresents a significantfrontier. Its a place mar-keters must explore if theywant to achieve competitiveadvantage.

The pressing need is toestablish research methods



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that penetrate more deeplyinto the human mind. Inthis regard, metaphors offerfertile ground.

By metaphors, we meansimiles, analogies, allegories,personifications, andproverbs.

When the unconscious mindreveals itself in metaphors,theyre available for consciousexamination. The consciousmind can examine the uncon-scious, but the reverse isnttrue.

Enlightened managers inviteconsumers to use metaphorswhen describing products.Thats because metaphors

offer a glimpse into con-sumers unconscious thoughtsand feelings.

For example, the technique ofmetaphor elicitation can behighly effective. This methodinvolves encouraging con-sumers or employees to usemetaphors in talking aboutcompanies, brands, and prod-ucts. Researchers can speedup the elicitation process bypresenting lists of metaphorsor by showing pictures.

One global industrial-goodscompany used metaphorelicitation to find out whatexecutives thought about thecompanys attitude towardinnovation. Before the inter-views, participants chosefrom among several picturesthey could use as metaphors.

One woman selected a pictureof Godzilla, the giant lizardwho destroys modern cities inold movies. In the commonportrayal of Godzilla, hes aprotector of the old way ofdoing things.

Metaphorically, Godzilla rep-resents the womans viewof senior management. It

protected approaches thatimpeded learning, movedponderously, and obstructedinnovation.

At a deeper level, sheexpressed feelings of impo-tence and isolation in the faceof a powerful, slow-moving

status quo.

Clearly, the use of ametaphoric approach encour-aged candor and passion.Apparently, its easier to makea critical analysis of Godzillathan of ones employer.

It turned out that otheremployees agreed withthe "Godzilla" characteriza-tion. In response, senior

management decentralizedand simplified the process ofinitiating new procedures.

The additional autonomygiven to people paid divi-dends, leading to a tripling inthe number of promising newideas.

Here are two ways thatfirms have used metaphors inproduct development andrefinement:

Hallmark launched anentire new division basedon consumer metaphorsrelated to memory, whichis a subject of great inter-est to the marketer ofcards, picture frames, andgifts.

A European cosmetics

maker has used threecore metaphors it discov-ered in consumers'thinking to develop entirenew lines of business.

Many companies use con-sumer metaphors to generatenew products, including Bankof America, Samsung, P&G,and DuPont. Other firmshave used metaphors to

achieve several key goals,including:

Determining auto designpreferences.

Understanding patientsexperiences of medicalconditions.

Developing homehealthcare products.

Gauging audiencereactions to televisionprogramming.

Metaphors can surface con-sumer issues that dont revealthemselves by other means,such as questionnaires.Conscious expressions have a

guarded quality. Metaphoricexpressions reflect morepersonal and uninhibitedviews.

For example, a DuPontresearcher focusing onhosiery products saidmetaphor research provided"intensity, texture, and depththat wed never gotten fromother studies." She saw theresearch as "bringing out sub-tleties related to sexual issuesthat you dont get in astraight interview."

Based on the research, hosierymanufacturers modified theirads. Instead of emphasizingsuper-competent careerwomen, the new ads providedimages of sexiness, allure, andfemale affirmation.

Overall, understandingmetaphors helps marketerscommunicate more effectivelyabout brands and increasethe likelihood of purchases.For example, a Midwesternbank had found it was hurt-ing itself by conveying astodgy image.

Reviewing metaphorsvalued by its small business



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customers, the bank foundthese go-getters stressedvitality. It modified itsmarketing to emphasize itsenergy, resourcefulness, andcommitment to growth.

Understandably, whenmarketers seek to elicit

metaphors from consumers,the process can be challeng-ing. People get suspiciouswhen questioned by someonethey dont know especiallywhen the inquiries deal withtheir deepest thoughts andfeelings.

Its important to conductin-depth interviews, at leastone hour long. Its also help-ful to make them one-on-one

encounters, free from thesocial influences of groups.

In conducting effectivesessions, its essential toresist the tendency to get par-ticipants to give the answersyou want to hear. Remember,youre trying to trigger theconsumersthoughts andfeelings, not your own.

In other words, dontprompt. Instead,probe.Metaphorically speaking,prompting is a mirrorreflecting the researcher.Conversely, probing is awindow that looks into theconsumers mind.

Effective probing requires theestablishment of trustbetween the interviewer andparticipants. At times, par-

ticipants might become quiteemotional as one thoughttriggers another feeling orthought.

High levels of trust dontoccur immediately, butinstead require time,patience, and understanding.

However, the payoff is worththe effort. Researchers find

that eight one-hour, one-person interviews produce thesame number of ideas aseight focus groups involving atotal of 65 people.

Whats more, in validationstudies conducted withEastman Kodak, DuPont, and

General Motors, these tech-niques doubled the number ofideas judged actionable andrelevant to managers com-pared with other methods,including focus groups andsurveys of more than 30,000people.

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RESPONSE LATENCY AND

NEUROIMAGING

Metaphor elicitation is animportant technique to accessthe content of what con-sumers think and feel. Othermethods also help us learnwhat consumers experienceunconsciously.

Two such techniques areresponse latency andneuroimaging.

Response latency techniquesavoid one problem withtraditional approaches: thatconsumers survey responsesoften contradict what theyreally feel or do. The atmos-phere of a survey differsradically from that surround-ing a purchasing event, andbuying decisions get stronglyinfluenced by context.

To overcome that problem,researchers measure respon-dents response latency how long it takes them torespond to a certain pairingof words or images. Thequickness of response indi-cates the presence or absenceof "noise," or barriers toaction in respondentsthoughts and feelings.

Researchers generally mea-sure response times throughthe speed of participantscomputer clicks.

Response latency distinguish-es between participants'explicit, or conscious, emo-tions and thoughts and their

implicit, or unconscious, ones.Whenever there's a differencebetween explicit and implicitthoughts, the implicit onesgive better indications offuture behavior.

Two of the most effectiveresponse latency techniquesarepriming and theImplicitAssociation Test.

Priming reflects the fact that

specific brands "prime" orelicit certain thoughts. Twodifferent product designsmight get associated withvery different concepts, one inline with the positioningstrategy, one not. Forexample, Nike athleticfootwear generally will elicita much different response,especially from teenagers,than "sensible shoes."

TheImplicit Association Test,or IAT, builds on primingresearch. It measures howconsumers associate certainconcepts for example,"pleasant" or "irritating" with products or experiences.

In one case, a "clicks-and-mortar" company found fromthe IAT that consumers weremore likely to buy some

products at a physical storeand others on the Internet.The payoff was greater effi-ciency in order processing,fewer returns, lower shippingcosts, and higher customersatisfaction.

Implicit measures work bet-ter than explicit measures,such as surveys, for two mainreasons. First, the implicit



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approaches uncover attitudesof which consumers may notbe aware. Second, theyreveal the social driversaffecting behavior.

For example, if a personwants to be perceived ashealth conscious, he may

report on a survey or in afocus group that he does notconsume much alcohol andmay give negative ratings tobrands in that category.Implicit measures get closerto the truth.

In one study comparingimplicit measures with focusgroups and surveys, responselatency measures revealedthat there is a much larger

market for alcoholic bever-ages than the other methodssuggested. People displayedmuch more positive attitudestoward specific brands, andtoward consuming alcohol ingeneral.

Other research indicates thatimplicit measures can beespecially powerful tools inthe understanding of con-sumer attitudes aboutbrands. For example, evi-dence suggests that theIAT predicts actual productusage better than self-reportmeasures.

A second powerful techniquefor capturing unconsciousthoughts and feelings is neu-roimaging. This involvesbrain-scanning techniquesthat produce pictures of the

structure or functioning ofneurons. Neuroimagingallows researchers to makedirect observations of peoplesbrain activity while theyengage in various mentaltasks.

Neuroimaging offers greatpromise for marketers,especially in advertising andpositioning.

The main neuroimagingtechniques are:

1. Functional MagneticResonance Imaging, orfMRI.

2. Functional DiffuseOptical Tomography, or

fDOT.

Functional MagneticResonance Imaging trackschanges in neural activity.The most common form offMRI is the Blood OxygenLevel Dependent, or "BOLD"technique. It identifies brainareas with a high level ofblood flow, indicating signifi-cant neural activity. In abroad sense, it shows what

excites consumers.

In fMRI, neuroscientists takea number of steps to measurean individuals brain activity.The results suggest whichfactors, such as metaphors,ads, and the like, elicitpositive memories and encodenew memory.

The second neuroimagingtechnique isFunctionalDiffuse Optical Tomography,or fDOT. The technique isnew and needs more valida-tion. However, it avoids themain disadvantage of thefMRI technique, which is thatparticipants must lie still inan expensive, noisy, crampeddevice.

How does fDOT operate? Itssomething like shining a

flashlight through your hand.That occurs because lighttravels a significant distance.

In fDOT, a researcher useslaser sources and detectorsapplied to the head, rightabove the area of the brainunder examination. Throughthis method, the researchercan get measures of neuralactivity.

Heres how fDOT mightbenefit a researcher:

Imagine an exercise whereparticipants are asked to viewa number of icons, or images.Then they are asked to gener-ate mental pictures of theicons. The brain activation

should reveal how stronglyvisual areas become activatedwhen people generate theirimages of the icons theyveseen. If your product elicitesa heavy degree of positiveactivity, youve probably got amarket winner.

Clearly, neuroimagingtechniques can improve thecontent and application ofstandard market research

techniques. Whats more,they can detect and measureconsumer reactions to variousstimuli. This means they canhelp isolate the keymetaphors and symbols help-ful in developing marketingstrategies.

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UNDERSTANDING AND USING

CONSENSUS MAPS

Metaphors clearly help man-agers tap into critical, butelusive, drivers of consumerbehavior. The next subjectwe'll explore is consensusmaps, which build onmetaphor elicitation and serveas valuable tools for lookinginto consumers unconsciousminds.

Basically, consensus mapsare graphic displays with twoelements:

1. Words describing thethoughts and feelingsthat consumers shareabout a particular topic.

2. A linear suggestion of thelinkages between thethoughts and feelings.



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Such maps representwidely shared thoughts byconsumers about products.They reflect general conceptsgleaned from original data,based on extended interviewswith consumers.

Understanding common

elements in values, goals, andbehaviors is essential in mar-keting. The next step formarketers is to determinewhich of the shared elementsthey must acknowledge andrespect.

Consensus maps helpmarketers identify suchcommon features and howthey interact. Usingmetaphor-elicitation tech-

niques, researchers can makeconsensus maps that showmost of the thinking of mostconsumers on a topic.

An example of a consensusmap is shown on the right. Itdepicts consumers thoughtsabout companies that havetheir best interests at heart.

The seven qualities in this

consensus map are: depend-ability, honesty, patronage,moral character, dignity,responsiveness, and hospitali-ty. Each of these circles isconnected to some of theother circles by lines to showhow consumers link them.For example, honesty is

connected to dependability,patronage, dignity, and moralcharacter. It is not directlyconnected to responsivenessor hospitality.

For many companies, a key

quality to trace on the map is"dignity." By further analyz-ing the data, they can createa submap around dignity thatshows several other qualitiesthat influence it.

A submap for how consumersview dignity at one company

is shown below. Customers'judgments about how thecompany respects theirdignity are connected totheir perceptions of how thecompany treats its employees,whether the company appears


A SUBMAP OF THOUGHTSABOUT ACOMPANYTHAT HAS CONSUMERS

BEST INTERESTS AT HEART

Source: Mind of the Market Laboratory/Harvard Business School

Source: Mind of the Market Laboratory/Harvard Business School

A SUBMAP FOR THE CONSTRUCT OF DIGNITY


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to act selfishly, has a sense ofpride, and is evolving.

When a major cameramanufacturer conductedcorporate-image surveys, itfound that consumers ques-tioned the firm's respect forits employees. The company

changed its marketing cam-paign to stress that it treatedits workers well. The nexttime it conducted the survey,it found that consumers ratedthe company higher not onlyin how well it treated its per-sonnel, but also in dignity,which led to higher overallratings of the company andits treatment of customers.

As the example shows,

marketers that study consen-sus maps can reengineerthese maps. In that way,they can help boost customersatisfaction, strengthen brandloyalty, and enhance sales.

Various companies use con-sensus maps in diverse ways.Here are some examples:

Immunex, the drug-maker, used a consensusmap about physician deci-sion-making in a highlysuccessful drug launch.

Schiefflin and Somersetused such maps to reposi-tion several beveragebrands.

Procter & Gamble, AT&T,IBM, and Samsung useconsensus maps to devel-

op new product concepts. Coca-Cola, Bank of

America, J. WalterThompson, and FidelityInvestments use them todevelop communicationstrategies.

When working with consen-sus maps, managers must askthemselves several questions

about the qualities of thebusiness they are studying.These qualities are alsoknown as constructs. Thequestions should include:

Which constructs meritfurther analysis?

Which points should thecompany convey to cus-tomers relative to eachconstruct?

Which ranking doesthe company have oneach of these constructscompared to competitors?

Which degree of qualitydoes the company achievein terms of the strength

of associations betweenconstructs?

Which constructs affectthe companys or brand'sdesired position relativeto other constructs?

The answers to such ques-tions can help managersevaluate how well their mar-keting plans dovetail withconsumer thinking. Theycan help target aspects of

marketing strategy that needreexamination.

In analyzing and acting ona consensus map, a criticalfactor is the original rawdata. It comes in the form ofmetaphoric images and verba-tim quotes both of which

are invaluable supplements tomanagers unique knowledgeof their products.

The extended consensus map-ping shown here illustrates asample consensus map andthe raw data underlying it.The map is a product of astudy on privacy conducted bythe Harvard Business SchoolMind of the Market Lab.


CONSENSUS MAP FOR CONSUMER THOUGHTSABOUT PRIVACY

The figure below showsthe consensus mapreflecting key constructsand the connectionsbetween them elementsmentioned by nearly allparticipants in the study.The five constructs high-lighted are those certainfirms, including Johnson &Johnson, General Mills,and GM, found especially

interesting.


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The upper- and middle-right figures shown heredepict excerpts from theelectronic version of themap, as well as the rawdata behind the highlight-ed constructs. The specif-ic data relates to twoconstructs: "scrutiny"

and "invasion."Clicking on a constructenables a user to accessvarious information aboutthe construct, including:its definition, a set ofsample quotations fromwhich it emerged, andvisual metaphors that par-ticipants used to expresstheir thoughts about it.

Far more important than

the individual constructsare their associations.The connections or"lines" in the upper andmiddle figures representconsumers reasoningprocesses. They givetexture and significanceto beliefs and feelings.

As illustrated in the lower-right figure, clicking on aline allows users to seehow two constructs in

this case, "scrutiny" and"invasion" relate to oneanother.

Understanding such link-ages is crucial. They pro-vide the best availablebasis for marketsegmentation.

Companies should defineconsumer segments onthe basis of similarities inreasoning, not on the

constructs alone. Its thethinking processes notthe constructs, and cer-tainly not criteria likedemographics or purchasevolume that reveal"why" consumers buy.

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THE MEANING OF SCRUTINY

THE MEANING OF INVASION

THE REASONING PROCESS INVOLVING SCRUTINY AND INVASION


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Dont look at consensusmaps as static. However, fun-damental issues, such aswhat it means to "feel good,"probably dont change muchover time.

In the same way, centralhuman issues, such as the

meaning of "home," generallyremain stable over severalyears.

But sub-issues related tohome could change. Thesemight include:

The experience of keepinga home clean, which issignificant to a companylike DuPont.

The use of exercise equip-ment in the home, whichis relevant to Nautilusand its competitors.

The use of home appli-ances, which is importantto companies like Maytagand Samsung.

A consensus map helps man-agers reengineer how theyinteract with consumers. Themap can help highlight wayscompanies can encouragepurchasers to see offerings innew ways, with new usages.

Marketers can play keyroles in helping new con-structs penetrate consumersthinking. That is, they canhelp consumers form freshassociations among existingideas.

Before facilitating suchshifts, managers should askthemselves questions like thefollowing:

What do we want thismap to look like in sixmonths or a year?

What changes in thismap would align it better

with our strategic vision?

What constructs do wewant to erase?

Which constructs shouldwe seek to de-emphasizeor reinforce?

Which constructs shouldwe add that woulddistinguish us from ourcompetitors?

Additional tests over timeshould demonstrate how wella company is succeeding in its"construct reengineering"efforts.

A consensus map serves as aguide for getting from one

point in the mind of themarket to another. The maphelps managers identifyopportunities and obstacles tosuccessful marketing efforts.

Broadly speaking, a consen-sus map reflects the sharedframe of reference on a topic.As consumers experiencechange and marketingactions play a key role in this the map also changes.

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thought and emotion.

Thus, the three categoriesoverlap. Memories arestories, but stories have abasis in memory. Bothmemories and storiescontain elements ofmetaphor.

These concepts mayseem abstract. But mostof us have memories andstories about certain prod-ucts, such as automobilesweve owned, themeparks weve visited aschildren and adults, andvacation spots. Many ofus can recite advertisingjingles from our memoriesabout products that nolonger exist.

Consumers usemetaphors, memories,and stories to give apersonal meaning toproducts and brands. Butits important to realizethat outside influences,including marketers, cancause people to changetheir memories. They canhelp create new meaning,and new stories, abouttheir brands.

In one study, moviegoerswho expressed negativeresponses to a film theydseen were shown a favor-able review. Theresearchers then askedthe study participants torepeat their originalimpressionof the film.That is, they asked themnot to let the positivereview be an influence.

The result was almostpredictable. The moviego-ers generally rememberedjudging the film in muchmore positive terms thanthey originally had.However, they firmlybelieved they were merelyrepeating what they hadsaid before.

Clearly, the glowingreview had influenced

MEMORY, STORIES, AND BRANDS

As weve alreadymentioned, customersmemories about productsserve as a foundationfor metaphors. Metaphorsand memories involvere-presentation, or

re-shaping, as do stories.

A metaphor re-presentsone thing in terms ofanother. A story alsore-presents, through link-ing events into a coherentwhole, a story.

All three metaphor,memory, and story contain elements of truthand fiction, as well as


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THE 10 CROWBARS FOR

CREATIVE THINKING

Its not enough for managersto understand consumersunconscious thinking, asexpressed in consensus maps.They also have to understandthe role of their own uncon-scious, and then think in new,interdisciplinary ways.

Managers who want toreshape their own thinkingface four challenges:

First, creating oridentifying new ideas.

Second, understandingthe new ideas.

Third, critically examin-ing their usefulness.

Fourth, leveraging themimaginatively in theirown work.

We'll conclude this summarywith 10 ways for managers to"break out of the box" to meetthese four challenges. Youdon't need to make dramatic

changes in your thinking.Instead, you should consideralternatives for times whencustomary habits of mind fallshort.

The following approaches are"crowbars" for leveragingchange and encouragingunconventional thinking. Youshould evaluate each of these10 crowbars in terms of yourown situation and style.

First,favor restlessness overcontentment. Marketers thatbecome too content give agreen light to competitors.Motorola used restlessness asa crowbar in improvingemployee safety. It recog-nized that one of its consumerproducts, a device allowing abusiness traveler to summonhelp, could benefit its ownpersonnel.

Second, wonder about thecows crumpled horn. In thechildrens story This Is theHouse That Jack Built, thecows "crumpled horn" comesas a given.

Using "crowbar thinking," wepry up questions like: Howdid it happen? Who crumpledit? What did it feel like for

the cow? Is the crumplingthe kind of thing we might doourselves?

The crumpled horn is anirregularity. Unusual data,such as an unexpectedincrease or decrease in salescan be important.

Home Depot noticed a dra-matic spike in sales at one

store for a home plumbingkit. It found that the reasonwas the kits placement nextto certain bathroom fixtures:a discovery with importantmarketing implications.

Third,play with accidentaldata. In many cases, we

notice effects without causes.At one hospital, patients ran-domly assigned to one sideof a floor were dischargedmore quickly than theircounterparts across the hall.Why?

A persistent staffer finallyprovided a solution: Therooms of patients withshorter stays overlooked anattractive park. Patients on

the other side faced a parkinglot. The staffer developed theimportant concept of "thera-peutic imaging," in whichappealing scenes speedpatient recovery.

Fourth, view conclusions asbeginnings. Creative mar-keters not only solvemysteries, but also createthem. When they receive theresults of market research,they don't just accept theconclusions; instead, they askmore questions.

For example, a marketingdirector for a dentistry com-pany noticed a lack of data infocus groups about waiting-room experiences. Includingsuch questions in furtherresearch noted that the closeddoors, odors, strange noises,

and uninviting rooms weremajor turn-offs for patients.Adding insulation to doorsand brightening up waitingareas turned around thesituation.

Fifth,get outdated. That is,try to make what you alreadyknow and do look out of dateas soon as possible. Forexample, Ford found that


them, subconsciously, toalter their story about theproduct, the film.Obviously, memory andproduct stories arentstatic, but rather "worksin progress."

The implication for mar-

keters is this: If yourproduct originallyfounders in the market-place, dont despair. Evennegative consumer experi-ences are subject toalteration. By re-present-ing events, marketers caninfluence how consumersre-present their storiesabout a product.

Psychologists tell us thatbrands invariably link

themselves with story-telling. When managerstell a brand story, theyinfluence consumersconsensus maps. Whenmanagers tell new stories,theyre reengineeringthose maps.

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improving the grooming ofthose responsible for carcare significantly improvedcustomer loyalty. The ideahad its origin in a veryunlikely place: a magazinearticle about social bondingamong primates.

Sixth,stop squeezing thesame baby chicken. Inother words, dont put thesame "death grip" on yourideas that children do withbaby chickens. When peopleare overly attached to anidea, they block the path toprogress because they can'tconsider other options thatmay be better.

Seventh, nurture cool passion.

Imaginative thinking shouldblend reason, or coolness, andemotion, or passion. Coolpassion requires knowingunder which conditions ideaswill work, and then helpingcreate them.

Eighth, have the courage ofyour convictions, not someoneelses. Every company hasits share of "yes, but" typesand people who are alwaysuncomfortable with newideas.

Yes, point out potential obsta-cles. But dont portray diffi-culties as insurmountable.The president of one health-care concern handles the "yes,but" people in this way: Heaccepts their concerns, andthen insists they solve theissues they raise.

Ninth, ask generic questions.Remember that marketresearch doesnt exist for itsown sake. Instead, it seeks toexamine fundamental humanand social processes. Forexample, General Mills hasdeveloped several brandsthat reflect mothersconcerns about theirchildrens life-stages.

Tenth, avoid premature dis-missal. Before you reject anidea, reflect on whether itmight have unexpectedrelevance.

The goal of the 10 "crowbars"is to facilitate high-qualitythinking and intellectual

agility. These qualities arein short supply at many com-panies. Thats true for manyreasons, including: restric-tive work environments,unfamiliarity with out-of-the-box thinking, and fear oftrying to implement newideas.

The companies that aresuccessful in market share,margins, and profitability,

will encourage the followingcharacteristics: self-confi-dence, honesty about whatone does and doesnt know, courage to admitmistakes, and, especially,curiosity. Curiosity is impor-tant because it preventsconfidence from becomingarrogance.

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they thought about thebrand. The answerswere generally positive referring to such thingsas "good styling . . .comfort . . . and goodmaintenance."

Then, the company didsomething daring: itasked consumers whatthey believed theMercedes brand thoughtabout THEM. Negativeanswers abounded.

Consumers said thingslike the following: "Theydontthink of us" and "Weare sheep." Anotherresponse was, "They thinkI have money to burn."Yet another respondent

added, "They think Im achild that doesnt knowbetter."

In other words, thesecond question didmore than elicit negativecomments. It also demon-strated the fragility of thepositive comments aboutthe product. Whats more,it demonstrated thatconsumers believed thecompany had much less

interest in them as peoplethan as purchasers.

You can frame better,more valid questions byfollowing these guidelines:

1. Determine the genericquestion you want toexplore. That is, if youhave a new product toclean cars, dont justask about car clean-ing. Instead, ask what

consumers think aboutcleaning and cleanli-ness in general. Theanswers you get fromthe broad question canbe more informativeand useful than from anarrowly framed query.

2. Determine whether thebasic question shouldbe specific to brand,category, or problem.

BETTER ANSWERS THROUGHBETTER QUESTIONS

Of course, you cantfind better answers tomarketing issues withoutfirst asking better ques-tions. The questionspointedness ultimatelydetermines the answersquality.

For example, its humannature not to wantdisturbing conclusions inour market research. So,the tendency is to askconsumers how theyfeel about our brands questions almost predeter-mined to get positiveanswers.

Mercedes, the carmaker,asked consumers what


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For example, if yourproduct is a toothwhitener, should youask consumers aboutyour brand? Or aboutwhiteners in general?Or about the problemthe whiteners seek toaddress? Knowing

what the problem is from the consumersperspectives canhelp you design andposition your brand.

3. Pose more general andmore specific versionsof the first questionthat occurs to you. Inthe case of the carcleaner, a more gener-al question would dealwith how consumers

feel about keepingthings clean.Conversely, a morespecific questionwould ask somethinglike, "What do you likebest, and like least,about keeping your carclean?"

4. Determine whetheryou need to knowdirection, velocity, orboth. In other words,

as you sail forth with anew product, decidewhats most importantto learn: is it theattractiveness orappeal of a concept orproduct that is, thedirection? Or is it thelikely initial sales the winds velocity?The direction questionis essentialto development andlaunch decisions. The

velocity issue iscritical to productiondecisions.

5. Allow for surprises.Recognize that mostmarket research seeksconfirmation ofmanagers existingassumptions ratherthan illumination. Infact, disconfirminginformation, even in

the form of "badnews," can lead topositive changes. Toavoid generating onlysuperficial "goodnews," ask consumersto share any concernsnot covered in theresearch process.

6. Convert assumptionsinto questions.Managers must lookinward to identify theirown assumptions, andthen outward to testtheir accuracy. Forinstance, light users ofyour product might tellyou more than heavyusers. Is the problemless with peoples buy-ing habits than with

something deficient inthe product?

7. Employ a clairvoyant.Or at least imagine youhad a clairvoyant,someone who couldanswer one profoundquestion. Heres anexample: A maker ofalcoholic beveragesdidnt pose a basicquestion about posi-tioning. Instead, it

asked a clairvoyantsopen-ended question:"Whats the anatomyof social well-being?"The question reachedout to consumersthinking and feelingsin ways that allowedthe company todevelop an extremelyeffective ad campaign.

8. Employ a wizard someone who can

fix broken things.Better yet, imaginethat something goeswrong that youhave a deficiency inknowledge that mightlead to a serious prob-lem. Then, get theknowledge and fix theproblem before itoccurs.

Market-research questions

should do more than leadto predictable answers.Well-designed, penetratingquestions should opendoorways into consumersthinking.

In a practical sense, fram-ing good questions takes

you, as a manager, out ofthe realm of the "same oldsame old." It forces youto assess what you know and dont know. Itmakes you choose whatsimportant and whatsnot.

Thoughtfully framing aquestion can expose well-springs of assumptions,knowledge, and experi-ence. Learn to question

your questions, and goodanswers will begin to flowwith abundance.

One key in framingresearch questions isto distinguish betweenvelocityand direction.Velocity deals with likelysales, direction withgeneral attitudes aboutthe product.

Too many companies get

the cart the velocity before the horse thedirection.

In one case, a bank askedcustomers what theythought about a newsavings plan and,especially, how many ofthem would be likely toenroll in it. Response wasenthusiastic.

However, when the

company launched theprogram, few peopleenrolled. Eight monthsafter it began, the planwas discontinued. Whatwent wrong?

The bank had paid toomuch attention to velocity potential sales andnot enough to direction general attitudes aboutthe product. It thus


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One of the greatest productfailures of all time was thesinking of the Titanic. Its cap-tain and crew made severaldisastrous assumptions. For

example, they assumed thatthe ship was unsinkable, andthey assumed that they werenavigating in waters thatwere clear of icebergs. Theirassumptions were wrong, andthe results were tragic.

Of course, what sinks more

conventional products andbrands isnt an iceberg.Instead, its usually the sub-merged thoughts and feelingsof consumers, and of mar-keters. But the "TitanicEffect" can be seen in the new-product failure rates, in thefailed brands that lost theirleadership positions, and inthe celebrated firms that haverecently declared bankruptcy.

For businesses, the TitanicEffect results from managersunquestioned confidence incustomary assumptions aboutconsumers. It reflects a fail-ure to ask hard questions of

the "what-if" variety. It suf-fers from a lack of imaginationto look below the surface.

Examining the interactionbetween the conscious andunconscious minds of con-sumers can be exhilaratingand frightening. It demands a

lot of study and reflection.But its essential for managerswho want to reduce productfailures and increase customerloyalty and profits.

In a marketing sense,techniques like metaphorelicitation, consensus maps,response latency, and neu-roimaging are the waves ofthe future. They offer mar-keters opportunities to under-

stand consumers unconsciousminds the next source ofcompetitive advantage forcompanies in every industry.

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badly misread demand forthe new plan.

It was one of those caseswhere survey participantswere saying, "Gee, if Icould ever conceive ofhaving a need for such anintriguing product, Id surebuy it." Unfortunately, fewof them really had such aneed.

Velocity questions tend toexamine surfaces; activat-ing a "lets pretend" levelof consciousness. Gettinggood answers to directionquestions requires plumb-ing the unconscious.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gerald Zaltman is the Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration, a member of HarvardUniversitys Mind, Brain, and Behavior Interfaculty Initiative, and is Co-Director of the Mind of theMarket Laboratory. He has developed a new market research tool (ZMET) which is now being used by

major corporations for understanding the mental models underlying customer and manager thinking andbehavior.

He is author or co-author of fourteen books and editor or co-editor of twelve other books.

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How Customers Think, summarized by arrangement with Harvard Business School Press, from HowCustomers think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Marketby Gerald Zaltman. Copyright 2003 byGerald Zaltman.

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