What House MD Wants Us to Know About Consumer Research

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The results showed that impression management is largely a conscious process, lower scores were recorded when people had to think about something else, but that self-enhancement is unconscious, people do it automatically.

If you make use of or commission consumer research your mind may already be racing with ways in which this can affect research findings:

If you’re exploring an area where people might be untruthful to make themselves look better, is there a way of distracting them whilst gauging their reaction. If I’m testing a new non alcoholic drink with young men I know it may not be cool to say you like anything but lager, so I will distract them with one exercise whilst they’re drinking the new drink.

On the other hand, if you want to conduct research and self-enhancement could be a factor, asking people is the last thing you want to do. As Gregory House would say, “Everybody lies.”

And that’s a big problem. Imagine you want to get reactions to a new product. If there’s a chance that people believe that how they feel about the product says something about them – and in my experience that’s more often than not – they won’t answer honestly.

So what are you to do?

Fortunately, House knows the answer to that to, and it’s the reason that I study consumer behaviour much more than I do consumers words…

"You want to know how two chemicals interact, do you ask them?
No, they're going to lie through their lying little chemical teeth.
Throw them in a beaker and apply heat."

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Source:  Ashok K. Lalwani. The Distinct Influence of Cognitive Busyness and Need for Closure on Cultural Differences in Socially Desirable Responding. Journal of Consumer Research, 2009; 0 (0): 090114112719036 DOI:10.1086/597214

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