Consumer Psychology

“Area Man Buying Not So Much a Soft Drink as an Image”

“SOUTHFIELD, MI— In a move Coca-Cola marketing executives called "a clear sign of our branding success," highway worker Chuck Burdon, 37, purchased a two-liter Diet Coke during his lunch break Tuesday, buying not so much a soft drink as an image.

'Let me tell you, I was mighty thirsty after all that paving,' a refreshed Burdon told reporters. 'Yet on a subconscious, psychological level, I wanted more than mere rehydration or refreshment. I craved an image. I craved being imbued with the sort of fun, carefree spirit seen in Diet Coke commercials. I also wished to feel like I was part of a larger community of discriminating, likeminded consumers who have the good taste to choose the world's most-consumed diet cola and not some inferior, lower-priced off-brand.'" (The Onion) read the rest of the article

Obviously, the statement above would be a marketer’s dream come true. In particular two master marketers:

• Clotaire Rapaille
• Frank Luntz
  

Their differing philosophies regarding consumer marketing research can both be seen in the article above from The Onion.

Clotaire Rapaille

According to his interview in the documentary The Persuaders, Rapaille claims that people don’t know why they purchase the items they do. The urge to purchase comes from an unconscious association between the consumer and the products they purchase. In the article from The Onion, the consumer wanted the product on a “subconscious, psychological level…”

Rapaille uses a three-part research method when conducting a focus group. This method eventually results in a word that represents that unconscious association or what he refers to as “the code.” The three parts of the method are:

• Reason – logical reason to purchase an item (fits my garage, well-engineered, great warranty)
• Emotion – emotions that come from an item (makes me feel good, makes me happy, makes me feel important)
• Primal Core – according to Rapaille, this is the reptilian response that actually makes the decision. This is the unconscious association.

Rapaille rejects intellectual approaches that can be found in the first two parts of the method for more abstract and possibly harder to verify responses. This can be to Rapaille’s advantage when brand managers want to check ROI on a Rapaille recommendation. Are these unconscious responses repeatable? Are they verifiable? Can the brand manager absolutely be convinced (through data) that the success of a campaign was based upon Rapaille’s recommendation or on the merit of the product?

Frank Luntz

Unlike Rapaille, Frank Luntz listens to what the public is saying, what it is watching, and what it is listening to. He looks for the words to use in marketing messaging that result in triggering emotional responses from people. His “Instant Response” dial sessions (Luntz, Masslansky Strategic Research) allow session members to spontaneously rate words that are associated with a product (or service). He wants that immediate gut reaction, the impulsive response, the emotional response.

Luntz targets the emotional responses of people because (according to Luntz) 80% of human life is emotion and 20% is intellectual.

By knowing what language works with consumers, marketers can redefine issues, products or services through subtle changes of the message such as changing “global warming” to “climate change.” This removes the emotional perception of political bias of “global warming” and changes it to a more emotional-neutral scientific (indisputable, data-backed) term.

Luntz’ approach to emotional language can be found in The Onion article where Mr. Burden says “I craved being imbued with the sort of fun, carefree spirit…”

The Onion’s satirical article clearly illustrates what marketers hope to be the result of their expensive, carefully crafted and executed campaign.

Goodman, Rushkoff. (nd) The Persuaders. In PBS Frontline. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/

Author unknown. (November 13, 2002) Area Man Buying Not So Much a Soft Drink As An Image. In The Onion. Retrieved October 4, 2009, from http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27642.

Author unknown, (nd) How We Do It. In Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research. http://www.luntz.com/how_overview.html

*"Pepsi billboard image and copy" image found(http http://www.theonion.com/content/news/pepsi_to_cease_advertising)