I’d like to pick up on a long reply to yesterday’s post because I hope I can be more constructive than I was able to be yesterday. Here’s is Pam’s reply to yesterday’s post: It’s interesting to read how the rational and unconscious minds often pull us in opposite directions. Your point is well taken that people often think they want A but actually choose B because it fulfills an unconscious need, want or desire. It is good to bear this in mind. If you are looking to invest your money though, at some point – unless you choose to navigate the investment world yourself – you will likely be forced to make a choice between various options and advisers available to you. In essence, you are trusting your future to advice of someone and their investing philosophy and strategy. The question then becomes in whom do you trust and […]
The Edge of Reason: The Psychology of Investment Decisions
Perhaps some of the most interesting blog debate I’ve read recently has been on Rod’s Personal Investment Strategies blog. It’s been a while since I did any consumer behaviour research with financial institutions, but in many ways my journey into consumer behaviour and away from traditional consumer research began during a consumer focus group about pension choice, back in the 1990s. It was the fourth long and tedious group discussion with people who were considering investing in a pension scheme, during which they told me how they wanted independent advice, a range of funds and a provider with good financial security. At the end, after everyone was getting up to go, one of the group asked another, who had been a little more vociferous than the rest, where he was planning to get his pension. The reply led to several of the group soliciting the details of someone who I […]
Reasons to Worry about the Consumer’s Unconscious Mind
One of the joys of a home office is that the commute time is pretty short – I estimate 65 yards from breakfast to the desk. My preferred option is to get straight into my work for the day – not because I’m one of these incredibly driven types, it’s just that I find it’s one of my most productive times of the day. However, with two young children there’s some healthy competition for my time. Today I opted for games before school, which meant a couple of games of table football with my son, one with both children and a game called Balloon Lagoon with my daughter. They headed off to school and I started my day a little later than usual, but still considerably earlier than if I was commuting somewhere. It was whilst I was helping Martha put the Balloon Lagoon game away in the cupboard that […]
Consumer Reaction to a GM Chapter 11 Filing
There has been a lot of speculation (again) recently about General Motors (GM) filing for chapter 11. Reports suggest that the company would use this form of bankruptcy protection so that it could liquidate undesirable assets and renegotiate contracts. Of course, these are all things it has been trying to do over the past few months, a period during which it has received substantial funding from the US government ($17.4 billion was divided between them and Chrysler). It’s worth noting that, according to some reports, only around 10% of companies manage to reorganise successfully. Naturally, my interest is the potential reaction of consumers if GM did file for Chapter 11 rather than the politics of bailing out companies. That said, I will add that giving a huge amount of money to a group of people who have demonstrated that they can’t run a business well seems a little, how shall I put it, optimistic. […]
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