Interestingly there is the view out there that psychologist's have the ability to manipulate someone to engage in behaviours they would not ordinarily do--and that marketing and businesses can use these resources to their benefit. An article appears on International Supermarket News (http://www.internationalsupermarketnews.com/index.php/the-news/1298-dylan) is a somewhat confusing attempt to perpetuate this myth. Alike to the stage hypnotists that are nothing more than entertainers who provide the opportunity for people wanting to be exhibitionistic to perform while excusing their ridiculous behavoiurs; a psychologist that specialises in marketing/ advertising and business strategy posesses no special powers of manipulation--I know this to be true because I am a psychologist who has practiced hypnotherapy and specialises in marketing and business strategy.
At the end article posted on ISN the auther implies that the customers control should be no less than scared--scared of what I ask? The author is indeed correct that supermarkets make the shopping experience as pleasant as possible and to that they need to understand the underlying motivations, perceptions, desires, fears, likes, dislikes to ensure this experience is delivered all the while trying to balance the financial and economic implications of operating a business. The former requirement is what psychology has to offer business, marekting and the like a deeper view into the workings of human behaviour, an understanding of things not yet met in the real world. If a business can use this insight to make something 'real' for a customer and the customer then acts by visiting, making a purchase etc then the customer has made the choice to act. To think the business has manipulated them is laughable--next we will see some lunatic suing a supermarket chain for 'making' them buying too much! In the end we are the master of our choices and unless you are mentally incompacitated then take some responsibility for your actions. To the supermarkets--I say let them entertain me and continue to improve the experience because as the author does rightly point out--we all need to eat and buy our supplies somewhere--in my view why not make it the best experience as possible!
Besides--if businesses don't use psychology to inform themselves I'd better out of a job!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Hypocracy at its finest
I just read the most ridiculous posting you need to check it out http://social.telematicsupdate.com/content/google-earth-danger-losing-its-focus
What is interesting in the whole debate between google earth, maps, street views and privacy is generally speaking people are becoming too precious. I can agree, okay, blur out faces, number plates on cars okay but really blurring out churches, schools, hospitals etc. And to relate it back to the Mumbai bombings as the evidence to support the argument. Only in American would such a ludicrious suggestion be put forth. Here we have a society that still believes it is their god given right to bare arms and than guns don't kill people--people with guns kills people as their support to the argument--the victims and relatives in latest shooting in Alabama may have something to say about that. But to play along with their ineloquent thinking, it wasn't terrorists armed with google earth on laptops or desktops that blew up, shot and killed unsuspecting victims in Mumbai, it was terrorists with guns and bombs. why is google earth getting the blame? I think I could probably come out on top if a terrorist armed with a laptop approached with me with google earth on the screen! I am not minimising the impact of the bombings in Mumbai, it is horrendous and terroists in my view should be given the harshest of punishments as they have no regard for life. But my point is they could have just as easily got the intelligence from hotel websites, or on the ground intelligence--the writer of piece above stated it clearly--could they not read another map? Just because terrorists are using technology to make their information gathering easier doesn't mean information providers should be punished. In fact why is there no focus on the security measures in Mumbai--how do these people get weapons? get them to the places they need them to be? how does this all go unnoticed? If one is to do a simple analysis of the all the factors they would surely find that google earth is the least of the problems. This US bill is farscicle and since when does the US get to determine what is right for the rest of the world? I'd say fine, let google blur our the US, who cares really, they can continue to be insular, I wouldn't miss it much. I guess they still think they are the centre of the universe and love to use their overthetop litigious society. Before they punish google earth for their hard work and innovative ideas they still need to take a real hard look at their own back yard and see what is missing there before another god loving, gun toting person shoots more innocent people because its their right to bare arms.
What is interesting in the whole debate between google earth, maps, street views and privacy is generally speaking people are becoming too precious. I can agree, okay, blur out faces, number plates on cars okay but really blurring out churches, schools, hospitals etc. And to relate it back to the Mumbai bombings as the evidence to support the argument. Only in American would such a ludicrious suggestion be put forth. Here we have a society that still believes it is their god given right to bare arms and than guns don't kill people--people with guns kills people as their support to the argument--the victims and relatives in latest shooting in Alabama may have something to say about that. But to play along with their ineloquent thinking, it wasn't terrorists armed with google earth on laptops or desktops that blew up, shot and killed unsuspecting victims in Mumbai, it was terrorists with guns and bombs. why is google earth getting the blame? I think I could probably come out on top if a terrorist armed with a laptop approached with me with google earth on the screen! I am not minimising the impact of the bombings in Mumbai, it is horrendous and terroists in my view should be given the harshest of punishments as they have no regard for life. But my point is they could have just as easily got the intelligence from hotel websites, or on the ground intelligence--the writer of piece above stated it clearly--could they not read another map? Just because terrorists are using technology to make their information gathering easier doesn't mean information providers should be punished. In fact why is there no focus on the security measures in Mumbai--how do these people get weapons? get them to the places they need them to be? how does this all go unnoticed? If one is to do a simple analysis of the all the factors they would surely find that google earth is the least of the problems. This US bill is farscicle and since when does the US get to determine what is right for the rest of the world? I'd say fine, let google blur our the US, who cares really, they can continue to be insular, I wouldn't miss it much. I guess they still think they are the centre of the universe and love to use their overthetop litigious society. Before they punish google earth for their hard work and innovative ideas they still need to take a real hard look at their own back yard and see what is missing there before another god loving, gun toting person shoots more innocent people because its their right to bare arms.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Psychology of Brands
Okay, here it is my first post on the something from a marketing/psychology perspective.
The golden question to be successful in marketing, advertising, and sales is to determine what a consumer thinks about when they make the decision to purchase one product from another. The answer is not entirely that simple--even if its just price. In fact it is multi determined.
Professor Zaltman in his book How Customers Think (published by
Harvard Business School) wrote that “consumers use brands as templates for their lives”. I add that these “templates for our lives” are actually both the internal and external self that is, quite simply, the various psychological portrayals consumers wish to be confirmed within them (internal self) but also how they want to be represented to their external world (external self). Another marketing psychologist, Professor Salber has proposed something further in that he believes consumers utilise brands not only as a confirmation of the internal and external self but that brands offer assistance in the transformation to this ideal self whilst interacting with a brand.
In consumer psychology these confirmations are achieved through the choice of brands and thus are tied to the category involvement. Object-relation theory also supports this view in that, we seek out objects (i.e. animate or inanimate) not only to confirm who we are individually but how we are labelled in our external world. Thus, consumers seek internal validation of their desired self (s) through the choice of brands which also serve to externally personify the desire self (s) to others. This validation stretches across consumer involvement in ALL major product categories that is, consumers are moving through their lives utilising brands as a very unique method of self confirmation (internally & externally).
Don't believe me....we started this process from the time of our earliest childhood times. Remember that favorite blanket, toy, item of clothing etc,--these all were our first transitional objects that allowed us to begin to define who we are internally but also provided us with the stability to move out into the world.
The challenge for marketers and advertisers is that consumers consciously and unconsciously alter their psychologically defined self depending on the product or the category or the situation they will be utilising a product. To win is to understand the underlying motivations driving consumers within your category, your brands and your products!
The golden question to be successful in marketing, advertising, and sales is to determine what a consumer thinks about when they make the decision to purchase one product from another. The answer is not entirely that simple--even if its just price. In fact it is multi determined.
Professor Zaltman in his book How Customers Think (published by
Harvard Business School) wrote that “consumers use brands as templates for their lives”. I add that these “templates for our lives” are actually both the internal and external self that is, quite simply, the various psychological portrayals consumers wish to be confirmed within them (internal self) but also how they want to be represented to their external world (external self). Another marketing psychologist, Professor Salber has proposed something further in that he believes consumers utilise brands not only as a confirmation of the internal and external self but that brands offer assistance in the transformation to this ideal self whilst interacting with a brand.
In consumer psychology these confirmations are achieved through the choice of brands and thus are tied to the category involvement. Object-relation theory also supports this view in that, we seek out objects (i.e. animate or inanimate) not only to confirm who we are individually but how we are labelled in our external world. Thus, consumers seek internal validation of their desired self (s) through the choice of brands which also serve to externally personify the desire self (s) to others. This validation stretches across consumer involvement in ALL major product categories that is, consumers are moving through their lives utilising brands as a very unique method of self confirmation (internally & externally).
Don't believe me....we started this process from the time of our earliest childhood times. Remember that favorite blanket, toy, item of clothing etc,--these all were our first transitional objects that allowed us to begin to define who we are internally but also provided us with the stability to move out into the world.
The challenge for marketers and advertisers is that consumers consciously and unconsciously alter their psychologically defined self depending on the product or the category or the situation they will be utilising a product. To win is to understand the underlying motivations driving consumers within your category, your brands and your products!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Why
I am sitting here watching my eldest son play tennis on the family Wii Fit, while at the same time keeping track of three of my mates competing at ironman new zealand, checking my email, watching a demonstration of vulcan emissions tracking project (very cool indeed--check it out and watch the youtube clip www.governmentnews.com.au/2009/02/27/article/Google-Earth-tracks-carbon-emissions/ZUFJFSGHJC.html). It came upon me that the common link between all of these activites was not technology, that, is only the delivery system. The link between these things is the not even the idea or opportunity seen by the creators of the Wii Fit, the internet or the google/vulcan alliance--what is the link then? I realised that it is exactly what my young son and daughter and soon to be other son do on an ever annoying basis each--day more than 100 times a day--its to ask the simple question 'why'. I think children and the leading entrepreneurs of our times have this link in common--they continue to ask 'why'. I see the lack of this questioning everyday in business--too often people are scared to asked why, it is as if there is some unwritten rule that there comes a certain point where you stop asking why. I remember one of my first uni lectures Dr Cam Teskey in our first stats lecture saying "if you get one thing out of university its that you learn to think and question"--it is the bain of my colleagues, superiors, previous patients and even friends--I continue to ask why! Because if we do not ask the question nothing will change, we will not develop, we will accept the status quo. Even further, when you ask the question particularly in a group, someone else will be thinking the same thing but too scared to ask--its like in the movie 'Big' Tom Hank's adult character at his first toy meeting puts his hand up and says 'I don't get it'--changed everything--I think we should step back, put fears, anxieties aside and ask the question more--nintendo did, segei et al did and look what has happened.
until next time.
shane g moon
until next time.
shane g moon
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Its just the beginning.....
No matter what the day, the time or week, I am sure you find that yourself and everyone else has a thought, an opinion, an idea or a perspective--so I thought why should I be any different.
Life has its interesting twists and turns and it is my intention to start writing about the twists and turns that come my way or I find myself traveling through or just viewing from afar!!
Some things are likely to be opinion (uniformed and informed) some will be facts, some will be just general views on many different things from sport, exercise & nutrition (one of my lifetime passions), to psychology and understanding (another passion!) to views about the business world I find myself now in!! It will be an exciting journey to write this blog and I look forward blurting it out there!
The view from the moon is sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes dark, sometimes illuminating but guaranteed it will always be on something I need to float out to the world.
Until next time...
Shane G Moon
Life has its interesting twists and turns and it is my intention to start writing about the twists and turns that come my way or I find myself traveling through or just viewing from afar!!
Some things are likely to be opinion (uniformed and informed) some will be facts, some will be just general views on many different things from sport, exercise & nutrition (one of my lifetime passions), to psychology and understanding (another passion!) to views about the business world I find myself now in!! It will be an exciting journey to write this blog and I look forward blurting it out there!
The view from the moon is sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes dark, sometimes illuminating but guaranteed it will always be on something I need to float out to the world.
Until next time...
Shane G Moon
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