From Mindstate to Marketing

So we are driven in the choices we make by, often unconsciously or implicitly' end values and personal motivations. On the store floor, we then choose that product or service that helps us fulfill those end-values and motivations as easily as possible.

The book Marketing to Mindstates exposes in a practical way how important the mindstate of the consumer is in and at the time of choosing a product or service. In our Blauw Book Club we discussed this book and I took a guess for myself as to whether I recognize this and darn it: yes!

Last week I wanted to buy hand soap in the supermarket and I was faced with the choice: which variant would I take. Unfortunately, the variant I normally buy was already sold out, so I was forced to try something new. To outline the setting, it was 7 p.m., I had just come from work, I was anxious to get home, and I had already missed out at another supermarket because the hand soap there was completely sold out. At this supermarket I still had the choice between a variant of Method and Dettol. In my mind, two things came into play: the soap must work well and in terms of packaging, the color must look good in my open kitchen. In a split second I chose the pretty bottle of Method, while I actually feel that Dettol might "wash better. So when it comes to my functional need (clean hands), I actually made a crazy choice. When I think about this more deeply now, I think the look of the packaging is so important mainly because I would like to impress people who come to see me and show them that I have it right. This is something that is so deeply nested in me, so I apparently take for granted that the product I buy is not so much the best, but the packaging and appearance is the best.

A day later, I had a meeting with a new client. In the conversation, she mentioned that it is increasingly common for consumers to say one thing and do another. She asked us how we viewed this. With the above example in mind, one wonders if consumers can actually say why they come to certain choices and therefore if research is useful. As my colleague Ricardo says, that totally depends on what questions you ask and whether you should ask them at all! Within our team, we have stopped asking consumers directly about drivers & barriers. Instead, we look as much as possible at actual behavior and are very attentive to the context in which the consumer demonstrates that behavior. Where are they, what do they care about, how do they feel? We do this through, for example, diary assignments in our online community or accompanied shoppings where we observe the shopper on the store floor. Between the lines, we learn what drives behavior. And yes, this also shows: our mindstate definitely plays an important role in our choice!

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