Monthly Archives: August 2013

Despite the millions spent on market research, there is relatively little effort made to gauge the value of that investment. For the most part there is a default assumption, a belief, that asking people questions is a valid and useful thing to do (it often isn’t). One of the foundations of behavioural insight is that, with the precarious nature of the unconscious mind factored in, studies tend to be designed to isolate one or two variables, thereby proving their effect statistically-speaking (within the context of the study). Those that argue that market research also has statistical reliability at its core make a simple but crucial error: the base data to which those statistical processes are applied is unreliable because of the space that exists between the conscious and unconscious mind (something I call ‘The Mind Gap’). One study set out to go beyond identifying unexpected influences, and sought to put […]

Inevitably, when dealing with customers, something goes wrong. When I had to get my mountain bike’s gears serviced at the local shop – I’d tried but got nowhere – all seemed well. But a couple of days after getting the bike back something went ping and I was left with only the smallest front cog available.  For those who don’t ride  a bike, this meant that my legs had to whiz around like those of Olympic sprint cyclist, but my forward progress was something less than walking pace. I returned to the shop and explained the problem.  The repairman and I then had a debate over whose fault it was: I was fairly sure that I had done the damage when trying to adjust the gears myself, whereas he maintained that he had a slight tendency to over tighten the screw that had sheared off.  We both agreed that the […]

Sometimes people get confused between equality of opportunity and equality. A quick glance at sporting world records will show that men and women are not equal. Before I go further, I should warn you that this article deals in generalisations; it’s not suggesting any one individual has any particular trait. It’s apparent from the work I do watching people shop that, in general, women find shopping a more pleasurable experience than men. In fact, I would say that they are probably better at it. I believe both sexes are capable of finding the act of buying and owning gratifying, and that purchase can fulfil all sorts of psychological desires, but the act of shopping appears to me to suit more comfortably with women. A recent paper by Daniel Kruger, who works at the University of Michigan, has looked into why, in evolutionary terms, men and women’s approach to shopping differs. […]

At this time of year many people are making their New Year resolutions about how they’re going to do thing differently in the coming year. Often their choices are shaped by their festive excesses; losing weight or getting their finances under control. Last week, I was interviewed by a couple of radio stations who wanted a consumer behaviour expert’s take on this topic (I even had the good fortune to share one broadcast with the financial expert, Alvin Hall). What many people don’t realise is that cutting back on spending can be every bit as difficult as cutting back on food: a money diet is just as hard for many of the same reasons. The way we spend is, very often, shaped by our unconscious mind and influences on it. For example, spending can fulfil all sorts of psychological needs, depending on the person; it’s easy to resolve not to […]