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Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers Really Want

John Patrick Finn, Ph.D.Rutgers Business School&Cahill Finn Associates

Presented at ProductCamp NYCNovember 6, 2010held at Microsoft Offices, New York

Center for Management DevelopmentRule #1 -- The Customer is Always Right

Rule #2 - If the Customer is Ever Wrong, Re-Read Rule #1" Stew Leonards Passionate Approach to Customer Service:John P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantCenter for Management DevelopmentSome Starting Assumptions The consumer is the center of everything No consumer ever buys a price

Every product/service purchased or used is a solution to some aspect of daily life

As a consumers daily lives changes, products/services are adapted, re-invented, or changed to fit new circumstancesPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentHow Do We Find Out What Consumers Need/Want ?Uncover Consumer Insights: understand the essence of something

In Practice, Consumer Insights

Extend along the continuum of consumer contact with a product category, specific products, and Brands in a category

Pre- Purchase PurchaseConsumptionPost-Purchase

Range from the practical (i.e., functional) to the emotional

Reveal something about the consumers approach and beliefs about the Brand or Category

Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentWell developed Consumer Insights depend upon

in-depth understanding of measurable facts

integrated with a well developed ability to hear and see the consumer

Want to know how they approach selection of any category/product, and this one in particular; e.g.

I only choose the highest quality/they are all the same

I use the brand as guide/I just read ingredient labels

products are a reflection of me

How Do We Find Out What Consumers Need/Want ?Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentSo How Do We Do It ?

Were All Consumers, so Whats the Big Deal: Just Ask the Right Questions, and Youll Get the Right Answers

Right ?Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentTruth is:

We Seldom Really Know Why People Do the Things They Do

Because

Were Usually Not Directly Aware of What Influences Even Our Own BehaviorPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentIll KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT

But We May Not Realize We Saw it

The Strange Case of

Subliminal Perception

Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentAfter viewing a brief film showing a car rear-ending a stopped car, viewers were asked the following question:

How fast was the car going when it smashed into the rear of the car stopped at the STOP sign ?

A second group viewed the same film and were asked this question:

How fast was the car going when it bumped into the car stopped at the Stop sign ?Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management Development

Which Picture is More Appealing ? Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentHow to Get College Students to Clean Up. Without Realizing Why They Did It !

Recent study demonstrated that

When a dorm room was subtly infused with the aroma of a citrus all-purpose cleanser

More students cleaned up after themselves after eating in the room than did a comparable group who smelled a product having nothing to do with cleaning

When questioned afterwards, the citrus group could not venture a consistent reason for their behavior

Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentWomen Wearing Red Dresses

Judged More Attractive than the Same

Women Wearing a Black, Blue, or Any

OtherColor DressThe Woman in RedPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentWe Humans Can Tell You What We Like or Dislike,

But

Cannot Reliably Tell You Why We Like or Dislike SomethingPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management Development

Why Words Often Fail Us Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management Development14 But, There are Also Cognitive Illusions that Can Be Barriers to Gaining Insights

Most obstacles are in our heads, trapped in conventional wisdom and accepted ways of making sense of a business and the world around us

These blinders of everyday normalcy are the single biggest impediment to developing true insights

We have lots of biases built into ways in which we try to make sense of the world: They push us to explain away things we see/hear from consumers because they dont conform to accepted wisdom

This leads us to fail to connect the dots (i.e., make obvious connections), that only seem obvious after someone finally does make the connection

Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentWhats the One Sport That Does Not Belong with the Rest ?

Football (American) ?Field Hockey ?Pocket Billiards ?Baseball ?Soccer ?Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentSome Cognitive Obstacles/Barriers to Gaining Insights

Sometimes We See Things That Arent There

And Sometimes We Miss Things That Are There

Sometimes Theres More Than One Explanation

Sometimes What We See Doesnt Make Any SensePitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentSOMETIMES WE SEE THINGS THAT ARENT THEREIngrained societal expectations about peoples roles, behaviors and expectations

women are passengers, not drivers

men dont color their hair

everyone has kids

older people dont try new things

Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management DevelopmentInnovation

Hersheys Dark Choc KissesStarbucks Coffee Cup SleeveOreos 100 calorie packs Ketchup in a squeeze bottle Frosted Flakes Coffee can with pullback seal Panty Hose Originally Insight Introduced Introduced 1907 2003 1992 +/- 1999+/- 1920 2005 . . . A really long time 1924 1952 1920 2000 1800s 1960 AND SOMETIMES WE MISS THINGS THAT ARE THEREPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management Development

SOMETIMES THERES MORE THAN ONE EXPLANATIONPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management Development

SOMETIMES THERES MORE THAN ONE EXPLANATIONPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management Development

SOMETIMES WHAT WE SEE DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE

Pitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management Development Often Results in a Dismissive Attitude by Marketers Toward Things They See Consumers Do or Hear Them Say

WHY Dont CONSUMERS Understand ?

Should really be

WHY Dont MARKETERS Understand ?

If consumers are product users, it means there is something WE have missed, or

If consumers are not users, its because WE may have failed to communicate or maybe even failed to understand the brand/product well enough ourselves

SOMETIMES WHAT WE SEE DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSEPitfalls in Trying to Figure Out What Consumers WantJohn P. Finn Rutgers Business School & Cahill Finn AssociatesCenter for Management Development