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11.22.2002

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For more Hartman Group articles on CONSUMER BEHAVIOR...

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The Emotional Baggage That Is Price

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A Rational Explanation For Irrational Patterns Of Consumption: The Self Of Many Selves

The Hartman Group research, as well as previous HartBeat articles, have shown that traditional methods of market research are, at best, problematic. Most consumers don't fit into neat and tidy segments but rather have complex lifestyles that compel them to engage in patterns of consumption that are contradictory and difficult to predict. In a nutshell, our research has shown that consumer behavior is indeed "messy" and that the demographic of a given segment or population doesn't tell us anything about how consumers live, shop and buy. Because our work has shown time after time that traditional methods have only limited utility, we are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to study and explain consumer behavior.

Regardless of whether you've studied psychology or agree with what you've read, you probably have an intuitive understanding of Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, or at least the angel and the devil battling it out on each shoulder. Freud suggested that the individual has an Id (drives), a Super Ego (internal moral judge) and an Ego, which mediates conflict between the Id and Super Ego. Each of these three components of the self is fairly consistent and also in conflict with the other parts. To illustrate, many of us can reflect on our days as children and recall watching cartoons in which the protagonist is faced with a dilemma. On one shoulder, an angel instructs them to do something good while on the other shoulder a little devil tells them to be deviant. The protagonist acts as the Ego, mediating this internal conflict. At times, the protagonist's behavior is consistent with what the angel asks him to do, at others it's closer to what the devil instructs. Most us have faced similar dilemmas and been forced to choose between the two.

For many consumers, this internal conflict is compounded by the need to live and work in a variety of roles. Most of us can relate to the manager who has many roles, each of which has its own values, routines and patterns of consumption. Jane Consumer is not simply one consumer: She is Jane the employee, Jane the manager, Jane the mom, Jane the wife, Jane the friend and so on. These contradictory roles and routines - and the conflict that results from competing needs and desires - sometimes results in contradictory and irrational behavior, which, in turn, makes it difficult for marketers and merchants to target consumer segments.

In effect, I want to suggest that consumers are moving targets and it's conflict between the selves that causes the movement. When Jane goes shopping, the mother part of the self may tell her to buy organic produce for herself and her children (like the Super Ego) while the manager part of the self may tell her to buy sugar-coated cereal to help ensure that her child eats a quick breakfast that will allow her to get to work on time. Like the protagonist, Jane consumer must negotiate this conflict between wellness and convenience. Similarly, each of one's various roles (e.g., manager, partner, wellness consumer) may have different ways of interpreting products, brands and stores. In essence, each consumer is a self of many selves and hence should be viewed not as one consumer, but as many.

This essential insight has led us to understand that you reach consumers not by expecting them to act consistently in all areas of their life, but by understanding the logic of the lifestyle worlds that they live, shop and buy within. This is important - indeed, vital - because at least while they participate in that world, they will usually follow the logic that has been formulated for that world.

Within the context of the wellness market, moving the focus away from demographics to more accurate predictors of wellness behavior is essential for companies that wish to position themselves to capitalize on market trends. Anthropological and ethnographic methods that take into account the real life complexity of consumer behavior allow us to gain a clear and accurate understanding of the contradictory nature of human behavior, which puts us into a better position to make sense of consumer irrationality. It's that information, far more than the demographic of a given population or segment, that puts one into a better position to design retail offerings that appeal to the modern consumer.

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