Graves, P. (2013). Consumer.ology. London: Nicholas Brealey.
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If something seems plausible, impresses us, fits with what we’d like to think, or has been sold to us persuasively, we are willing to treat it as truth. To compound the problem, the lines between science and belief are frequently blurred: elements of dependable science are blended with wishful thinking to create an alluring cocktail of reality and desirable fantasy.
^ Explore how products do this to persuade people into buying. Focus on health products that include data and "science".
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The concious mind finds it almost impossible to resist putting its spin on events. From the moment we do anything it introduces distortion; when the mind considers the future it does so with an idealism that is both optimistic and simultaneously devoid of any objective assessment of the past.
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In the end, the unconscious drives that we might characterise as habit, emotion, or impulse often exert a much stronger influence over behaviour than concious intent.
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The same is true of our visual sense: how people respond can be influenced by things their eyes have seen that they haven’t consciously registered.
Could incorporate this into packaging. Texture, illustration, pattern.
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The concious mind is a powerful tool that, for our own sanity, is highly practiced at wrapping our behaviour in a veneer that suits our perception of ourselves. Generally, people perceive their own actions as self generated, well-intentioned, sensible behaviour.
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(Referring to website layout & design) People would probably like to think that their purchase of a nutritional supplement was decided by what it contained and what would be most effective, but when the makers Sytropin tested an informative medicinal theme against one that focused on how people’s lives might be after they’d used the product, it found that 50% more people who arrived on the page went on to make a purchase.
^ blog post on this. shows the effect of marketing (specifially online)
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The truth is that consumer behaviour is a reflection of the complex brain processes that drive all human actions. The unconscious mind is “in play” far more significantly than most people willing to acknowledge. … The unconscious mind works in terms of associations.
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It would seem that our response to words and the style in which they are written is influenced by the associations and filters we unconsciously map onto them. We unconsciously like what’s easiest and most familiar; in other words, what our brains can process most fluently. But of course, as is the way with the unconscious, we don’t know we’re doing this and that it is shaping our judgements. “oh no”, we tell ourselves, “we’re making concious, balanced, desperately sensible decisions.”
^ Compare this information with scientific writing - compare which type influences us to buy health food more (people may trust more if the writing contains scientific words/data even if they do not understand)
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Another factor that can help explain why people do things, which again runs counter to our preferred view of ourselves as independent-thinking entities, is our striking propensity for copying what other people do.
^ group behaviour, trends and influence. (as below)
People 47
It’s no surprise then, that consumer fads are so commonplace. Products come along and seem almost essential, so compelling is our desire to buy them, and yet within a matter of months, the excitement passes. Inevitably another fad follows, revealing both the extent to which we are influenced by what goes on around us and our inability to distinguish what’s truly useful from what seems like a good idea because everyone else is doing it.
^blog post on trends and focus on food trends specifically.
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Creating the appropriate mood around a product - be it by staging an exciting event, wrapping a “hot” celebrity around it, giving it to people when they’re having fun doing something else, or making them feel they’ve got a great bargain - can boost a brand’s appeal precisely because of the phenomenon of unconscious misattribution. Experiencing a powerful feeling at the same time as experiencing the product can be sufficient to make the less rational part of our mind perceive something in a way that it otherwise wouldn’t.
^ Discuss the influence of celebrity endorsements - models and actors eg. Johnny Depp, instagram influencers eg. Tammy Hembrow, The Kardashians/Jenners, youtube make up artists representing brands.
unconscious misattribution - products freely distributed at festivals, group events such as protests, football matches. Could link and discuss power of advertising/distribution at gyms and sporting events/expos such as body power.
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In some ways, overweight people tell us all we need to know about the frailties of market research and the benefit of observing behaviour. Many of them hold genuinely positive intentions about reducing the amount they eat at some point or another. Many believe quite strongly that they will lose weight by a given point in the future. Some will confidently state that they don’t overeat or consume foods known to be highly calorific. Many start off on specific diet and exercise plans, often purchased at considerable expense, with a clear sense of purpose that they will change their ways. When the pounds aren’t shed some will be incredulous, believing that they have followed a prescribed weight-loss plan and that, quite simply, “diets don’t work” - to lose weight, their bodies needed something beyond decreasing the ratio of calories consumed to calories expended.
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When it comes to evaluating promotional material or the effectiveness of packaging, testing the amount of visual attention an item receives can be useful in diagnosing the reason something hasn’t generated the desired sales. If the item concerned isn’t getting prolonged attention, the likelihood is that there is nothing familiar with for it to be both recognisable and feel safe. It’s worth being aware that visual communication has to attract the attention of the unconscious mind at first, before there is the opportunity for someone consciously to appraise the messages. It is the words, images and colours that are of “importance” to the unconscious mind that will cause someone to take notice of something.
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