Surface metaphors "Money runs through his fingers. Our mission is to help you gain that understanding. O f course, our approach does not replace other validated re- search methods, especially those that lend themselves to quanti- tative analyses.
All methods are compromises with reality. The challenge is finding the best method or set of methods for the problem at hand without recasting the problem so that it con- forms to a comfortable, familiar method.
This book introduces not only the ideas that we and col- leagues from several countries have developed about deep meta- phors but also the multidisciplinary research that informs and supports these ideas. We use a disproportionate number of ex- amples from Olson Zaltman Associates and its global licensee- partners because we can provide greater background and detail.
Typically in our research, we apply the patented Zaltman Meta- phor Elicitation Technique ZMET , which consists of several steps during a one-on-one interview such as the one just de- scribed. Each step is based on well-documented facets of cogni- tion and proven ways of understanding them. O u r goal in this book, however, is not to train you in this re- search technique or describe it in detail; rather, it is to demon- strate that deep metaphors play powerfully yet silently in the unconscious minds of consumers, are relatively few, and are uni- versal.
You will see how we interpret consumers' surface expres- sions and imagery to detect their deep metaphors. You will also learn how managers leverage deep metaphors to evaluate and test new concepts, identify new product and service opportuni- ties, and position new or existing products.
Deep metaphors have also yielded great ht into internal organizational issues, important social is- ,and public policy matters. The Journey Ahead it in deep thinking among managers ors contributing to this deficit, particu- ies to overemphasize surface-level dif- rs and to neglect the deep metaphors t enable us to observe such differences in the first place. We ue that managers can use consumers' deep metaphors to it in their own thinking. Chapter 2 briefly introduces some of the social, psychologi- logical bases for deep metaphors.
Each chapter gives ompanies-some of which are necessarily ised-have applied their understanding of a deep meta- ular business issue.
Fortunately, this nondisclosure does not prevent our introducing the reader to deep metaphors, how consumers experience them, and how managers use them.
To illustrate the presence of deep metaphors in consumer thinking, each chapter contains a digital image like Jenny's and a short excerpt of the interviewee's description. The digital image, how- ever, represents only one of several ZMET steps used to uncover deep metaphors.
Chapter 10 details the use of deep metaphors and discusses how new thoughts and feelings emerge when multiple deep metaphors are surfacing around a topic. Finally, we provide ex- amples from nonconsumer settings to illustrate the presence of deep metaphors in all comers of everyone's daily life. In fact, most matters in life involve two or more deep metaphors. For this reason, we have delib- erately reused certain examples in different chapters.
Just because a topic seems to involve a specific deep metaphor-for example, vacation travel is a journey- does not mean that the idea of a journey is the primary deep metaphor at play in the minds of consumers. It could be transformation instead. Basically, a consumer's primary viewing lens depends on the facet of a topic being explored and its perspective. When asked about benefiting from a vacation, they may speak of transfor- mation rather than a journey.
Consumers view different brands in the same category through the lens of different deep metaphors. For in- stance, Michelin invokes the deep metaphor of con- tainer chapter 6 , while Pirelli invokes control chapter 9.
Budweiser "owns" the deep metaphor of connection chapter 7 , and Coors owns the deep metaphors of force and nature. Different market segments may engage the same deep metaphor differently. Jenny felt good about the transfor- mations of new motherhood, whereas others interviewed for this project experienced their transformations more The 'book's epigraph nicely captures the spirit of Marketing an beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust-we all ance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisi- le piper.
In this book, the invisible piper is the unconscious mind, where most thought originates, and those mysterious tunes are deep metaphors. To get at the re issues, we conducted a number of lengthy interviews with me of the world's most thoughtful and respected business aders. For this book, we supplemented that initial study with ditional interviews of leading industry executives so that our mple covered diverse industries. Without exception, these executives pointed to the epth deficit within their companies.
Just because my man- agers consume the products and watch thefocus jyoups, t h q think t h q understand consumers. WhenIpush them to ex- plain a consumer insight that excites them, t h y en cannot. IJt did not upset w s o much, I mightfeel soryfor them. A senior officer at IBM told us he counsels his managers with this advice: "Never confuse working hard with thinking hard. We think deeply by applying disciplined imagination to deep insights from consumers.
Nearly every executive mentioned several factors that con- tribute to depth deficits: short-term thinking, outdated market- ing knowledge, a discouraging work environment evidenced by the lack of true managerial support and reward systems, the basic fear of change, and the seduction of superficial differences.
Thinking only about the present or the near future leaves no mental bandwidth for deep thinking. Two aspects of presentism surfaced in our conversations: I a failure to consider what one does not know and needs to learn, and 2 a desire to produce quick, short-term results that occurs at the expense of thoughtfulness. But if thinking deeply is so important, then do companies not make time available?
Even when they , why do so few employees take advantage of it? Because, de- pite frequent managerial pronouncements about the need to ake risks, company systems and processes do not authentically upport employees' efforts.
One executive described an experiment in her previous com- any, where unit heads offered to make special arrangements r a select group of managers so that they had more time to ink. The result? That cared me. It spoke volumes about the future of that company.
They may fear that nothing better will result after incurring costs and absorbing risks. Companies also discourage risk taking-where the risk is thinking differentiy and deeply-because it may be disruptive. A basic fear of thinking differently, partly rooted in the organizational climate, is another force. One CEO from an industrial products firm observed: "We have bright, ener- getic people in marketing. But for all their technical skills and hard work, they lack courage.
They are afraid to think deeply. They fear the deep, I guess. Unfortunately, that is where the big fish swim, but they stick to the shallows and collect minnows.
Fear of thinking differently is related to the psychological cost of changing one's mind. The technical term for this fear isphonemophobia, the fear of having new and unfamiliar thoughts appear, whether they are one's own thoughts or those of others. These thoughts may gen- erate difficult emotions and uncomfortable feelings. By staying focused on familiar thoughts, a manager can avoid such nega- tive experiences. There is a related fear, metathesiophobia, the fear of change. Thinking differently may require behaving differently, which can be disruptive and threatening.
For example, to think more deeply and imaginatively about data, a manager must allocate more time, abandon the comfort of outdated methods, and learn new, more scientifically grounded techniques. Thinking deeply may involve changing how a manager de- fines, approaches, and acts on problems. However, marketers often focus on rela- ly inconsequential differences when segmenting markets positioning products.
Even though a difference may be sta- stically significant, it may be substantively inconsequential and nlikely to influence consumer behavior. An executive in one of he world's largest consumer products companies told us about he oversegmentation of a product category of considerable im- ortance to his firm: Sixyears ago, we spent millions ofdollars devising a global market segmentationplan.
We identijed seven dflerent segments in nine global regions. About ayear ago, wejinallyjigured out that our segmentation scheme had not substan- tially changed our toplinegrowth. This time around, our advertising agency really earned itsjes. Its research demonstrated that there were reallyjust three hot buttonsfor consumers and these varied somewhat globally.
In fleet, we were dealing with only three segments. That learning made a huge dflerence in turning ur around. We had not seen theforest because ofall the trees. Wegot seduced by dgerences. Psycholo- gist Jerome Kagan spoke of the importance of context: "The meaning of a single measure is as ambiguous as that or a verb lacking a noun or object. There is not one example in the his- tory of the social sciences in which a particular measure had a single, unambiguous meaning-not one!
Biomet- rics can help us assess the presence or absence of negative and positive emotions. In one study, marketers used two physiologi- cal measures to test two alternative life insurance advertise- ments. Both measures indicated the presence of strong negative emotions in one advertisement and their relative absence in the other.
Since both advertisements were designed to stimulate feelings of guilt, the managers assumed that the first advertise- ment achieved this goal more effectively. But neither measure indicated conclusively that the advertise- ments were indeed stimulatingguilt. They showed differences be- tween the ads but not whether the consumers were feeling guilt, shame, remorse, embarrassment, or something else-all very dif- ferent emotions.
Knowing which emotion or emotions the con- sumers experienced would be critical in the marketing decision. Decision makers must understand the content of an emotion and not just whether an emotional state arose at all. The com- pany decided to test both ads using a storytelling approach to learn what meanings the consumers coauthored or cocreated in each case. BThe findings produced a modification of the second ad, which is proving very successful in engaging consumers.
Certainly, differences can be significant and have many practical implications for market strategies and tactics. But too often, marketers measure differences because they can. The industry devotes less attention to the more important but difficult measurement of whether an advertisement engages viewers constructively and has an enduring emotional impact-which is an advertisement's ultimate purpose. Moreover, emphasizing differences distracts us with surface issues so that we lose insights into important drivers of consumer behavior.
Focusing on similarities forces us to critique the under- lying bases that we use when making distinctions. In the end, such examination improves our measures. In fact, we cannot make comparisons and draw distinctions, which are at the heart of segmenting markets and differentiating products, without re- ferring to an underlying dimension that enables such contrast- ing observations.
Distinctions have their roots in commonalities. Finally, since similarities among people do not stand out as differences do, we underestimate the prevalence of similarities. We think that differences we can see on the surface signal some deeper, underlying difference, and I think this is almost always an illusion.
We are deeply alike. Similarly, because we know our group, society, and culture better than we understand others, we like to think it is unique and overestimate just how unique it really is. These biases cause marketing managers to overly focus on consumer differences and miss important com- monalities among them.
Ignoring alikeness as an important driver of thought and behavior leads to depth deficits in strate- gic thinking. We will return to this issue later. Outdated KnowledgeAbout How Customers Think Most marketing practice is rooted in outdated or incomplete knowledge of how the mind works.
One executive noted: So en our conrumer research is a dead weight to thinking instead of being a spriqboardjrfinding better ways ofconnecting with our markets. Zeproblem is inadequate thinking,not inadequate data. Wzat do Imean by inadequate thinking? Managers] are wingout- dated models ofhuman behavior:Now that Ithink ofit, our data is probably inadequatejr the same e a s m.
For example, in surveys, marketers often ask consumers to respond to such statements as "Financial planning is difficult," "Chewing breath mints freshens my mouth," and "Going to the theater makes me happy. This information can n identifying problems or assessing the effects of specific ut when consumers attach ratings of agreement and im- nce to such statements, the responses reveal only thoughts ers and researchers deem important but e the most relevant drivers of consumer be- s, consumers are responding to ideas im- nerated by them.
Political psychologist w Westen, in his critique of focus groups, comments, "If ask people conscious questions about unconscious pro- ses, they will be happy to offer you their theories. As oted psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker notes, "Words ght [and] much of human wisdom con- ts of not mistaking one for the other.
Focusing only on the say product attributes and functional benefits produces surface-levelmana- gerial thinking. This level of thinking contributes to the depth deficit because managers fail to ask about the social and psy- chological consequences of those benefits deeper thinking.
Nor do they ask how those social or psychological consequences fit into a consumer's values, beliefs, and life goals still deeper thinking. Workable wondering involves the use of empirical, rigorous, and relevant information, also called workable knowledge, to challenge our assumptions and to en- gage in disciplined imagination. It means thinking deeply about the consumer insights that we have surfaced. It requires reading between the lines and detecting what else is present, well beyond what we al- ready know.
One told us, "It is not just the sense they make out of the in- formation they have; it is how they add value by going beyond what they've got. That is what I look for. Do they dare to imag- ine? Another executive said, "It is not what is in front of you that provides real competitive advantage. Competitors may have that, too. It is what you think that no else thinks to think, even when they have the same information. An executive explained, "The 'Aha!
It is there, but no one else sees it until you point it out. Until those introductions, no one imagined a market. With- out workable wondering, many of the goods and services we now take for granted would not exist. Someone had to engage in deep, disciplined, and imaginative thinking to see such possibili- ties as the need for personal computers, energy-efficientautomo- biles, cell phones, iPods, and gourmet coffee houses.
But it is clearly an uphill battle, one that re- commitment at the very top. Im- eneral Electric, has established a class of projects well known as imagination breakthroughs. The projects consist eas that are "really hard or really important" and might gen- e significant revenues over a three-year period, the time that usually takes to implement a new idea.
How Deep Metaphors Fuel Workable Wondering and Bridge the Say-Mean Gap Obviously, the quality of a manager's thinking is closely linked to the quality of the information to think about. If deep insights from consumers are absent, then it matters little how imagi- native the managers are.
A key requirement, then, for work- able wondering-that is, for thinking deeply and imaginatively about consumers-is having deep insightsjam consumers. Such insights come from I exploring beyond consumers' surface- level thinking and behavior into their unconscious mind, and 2 learning from their perspective why and how they think and do Deep metaphors can help us gain these insights.
When consumers are empowered to explore their thinking and speak at length about a topic, their expres- sions become rich and revealing. Consider these examples: "Planning for my golden years is an uphill, rocky road" forty-year-oldAmerican woman on financial planning. When I look at my future, I see more todays" eighteen-year-old Macedonian man on his prospects in life. When the company explored those thoughts further, it identified other important ideas to consider in its decision making.
For exam- found the following deep metaphors in italics in the ided the preceding quotes: Financial planning is ajourney. Breath mints are a resource for renewal. The arts transform one life stage to another. The here and now is a container that may have no opening or escape hatch for the future.
Punishment will balance out the enjoyment of indiscreet many ways, deep metaphors and emotions are siblings. Moreover, deep metaphors and emotions are scious operations that are vital perceptual and cognitive y, though they are few, deep metaphors and universal. That is, people experience them at the basic level worldwide. Simi- differences arise in how people experience a given deep hor.
Both viewed finan- cial planning as a journey. One, from a lower socioeconomic background than the person who described financial planning as a "rocky road," expressed the idea of ajourney this way: "Birth- days, anniversaries, Christmas, and just plain old temptation are roadblocks to my putting money away for old age.
Deep metaphors and emotions work hand in hand, and un- derstanding the latter might be impossible without the former, says Zoltin Kovecses, professor of linguistics: Emotion language is largely metaphorical in English and in allprob- abiliy in other languages as well.
Method- ologically, then, this language is important injndingout about these experiences. Simply put, wesay what wejel and wejel what we say. That is, marketers learn which emotions influence how consumers evaluate their needs and the people, brands, and companies offering to help address those needs. What's more, once marketers understand the anatomy of these emotions, they can learn how to engage the emotions using metaphoric cues in product design, shopping environments, and other communications.
In fact, what marketers say is often not what mers hear. Before its deep meta- research, the company spoke to consumers narrowly, using y product-attribute language rather than the language of tions that made those attributes important.
According to orporate insider, the company had been "addressing con- ers in 'chemist speak,' while consumers were listening emo- ally. The resulting conversation was not terribly productive. In addition to addressing certain flavor quali- 'es in its communications, the firm began to stress the cultural onnections or associations triggered by those flavors, as the re- arch also revealed that these connections were as important as stein the purchase decision.
By probing deeper, a company can gain insights that it can onvert into opportunities. For example, a major beverage com- pany's standard market research had long determined that one of its primary brands rejuvenated and energized consumers. But the research had uncovered only halfof its brand equity, the half that consumers could easily access and discuss. After conducting deep-level research similar to what we have described thus far, the company discovered that the brand also delivered inner peace and calm to consumers.
With this new, deeper consumer insight, the company repositioned the brand to engage consumers in this new emotional terrain-and sales improved dramatically. Declining revenues suggested that this approach was insufficient. Managers realized that they had failed to understand the emotional relevance of the benefits provided by particular product features.
The firm em- barked on an in-depth, multicountry study concerning parents' motivations for giving children cell phones. The resulting deeper insights produced a more useful segmentation strategy. Alto- gether, four key consumer segments were identified and sub- sequently validated by other techniques. All segments, it was found, shared the deep metaphor we call connection. However, the segments differed in how connection mattered.
For instance, one group of consumers emphasized parent-child connections re- volving around safety, evidenced in the group's disproportionate emphasis on security issues, as reflected in such statements as "The cell phone is like having a LoJack attached to the kids," "She has a sort of air bag with her, like in a car, in case she gets into trouble," and "It's like the EPIRB emergency distress sig- naling device on our boat.
The marketers are no longer thinking about consumers in shal- low terms of product attributes, but in deeper emotional terms. Seven Giants In some twelve thousand in-depth interviews for more than a hundred clients in over thirty countries, seven deep metaphors have surfaced with the greatest frequency in every sector- finance, food, transportation, and so forth-and in every coun- try, regardless of the research team.
Recall how the dwarfs capture qualities ar to everyone: Dopey represents sweetness and silliness; represents wisdom and intellect. Sneezy expresses our to anticipate and manage certain physiological responses, Sleepy expresses the tension between alternative states, in his case are wakefulness and sleep.
Meanwhile, Grumpy, py, and Bashful, like Dopey, express universal emotions dispositions The seven deep metaphors, or giants, ex- red in this book are even more personal. They are also the nant characters in the land of Metaphoria.
The metaphors are ust that they extend across topics ranging from our choice undry detergent to our choice of president. For example, le in very different cultures or who differ in other ways to use the deep metaphor of balance to understand their xperiences, plan meals, and judge automobile designs.
O f e, balance, like other deep metaphors, may be expressed rently in different cultures. Concerning the work aspect of the shopping journey, a Japanese consumer noted feeling a "depressed, blue feeling so that I don't want to do anything. I don't ever want to see the products themselves much less go out and get them. It's just what you have to do; it's a path every mother with a family has to travel.
I think, 'OK let's go and do the shopping and get it over with. It is something we have to have, but not something I want to have. Because I buy the same thing every week, it is a very mundane and routine outing. This example also illustrates that a deep metaphor may have multiple themes, often involving a bright and dark side.
The same person will use the same deep metaphor differ- ently in different contexts. For instance, the experience of trans- formation when one is watching a Broadway play is not the same transformation one experiences in becoming a first-time parent or receiving a promotion at work.
These qualities of deep metaphors are identical to their sib- lings, emotions. For example, the fear of snakes is not the same as fear of public speaking or the fear of being caught in a tor- nado, and the sadness of losing a loved one is not the same sad- ness a player feels when losing a championship game.
People in different cultures may also experience and express sadness with the same event differently. A BriefGuide to Overcoming Bur Depth Dejicit '9 as there is no one emotion that is inherently more impor- 0, typically precedes another, there is no hierarchy among eep metaphors. Hence, the order in which we present them is chapter and in the rest of the book is arbitrary.
Where than one deep metaphor matters in a given situation, as happens, it is a classic circular issue. Which metaphor first? Which matters more? The metaphors that are rele- depend on the situation.
Importantly, managers can also in- ce a situation to make a desired metaphor prominent. For ample, an advertisement showing a child sitting in a tire cues container metaphor Michelin , whereas a tire ad showing a giping the road cues the metaphor of control Pirelli.
Since they have the most universality ong consumers, they naturally have the most relevance for rketers, especially to fuel workable wondering. Again, more n one deep metaphor may be operating in a given situation, d the expression of one metaphor may contain telltale signs Balance lance imbalance includes ideas of equilibrium, adjusting, intaining or offsetting forces, and things as they should be.
In diet d eating, consumers reveal imbalance in expressions about ing overweight or stuffed, while foods that complement each her reflect balance. People express psychological imbalance when talking about being out-of-sorts, down, and feeling off, and psychological balance when they say they feel centered, feel inner peace, or are back on track.
Transformation involves changing states or status. Physically, we can go from being "laid low by a cold" to being "up and about," and an antidepressant medication can change a de- pressed person's outlook on life.
Emotionally, if we undergo a major life change, we talk about needing "attitude adjustments" or "turning over a new leaf. But perhaps nothing connotes transformation better than nature's ultimate version: a humble caterpillar's changing into a beautiful butterfly. Hence, we see butterflies used in hospital designs and in advertisements promoting sleep aids. Transformations can be surprising or expected. Consumers may actively seek or avoid them. For example, children put on makeup to play adult roles whereas adults use makeup to retain a appearance.
Consumers talk about many aspects of life as a journey. In fact, we often frame life itself as one big journey, including, for many, an afterlife. They can protect us or trap us, can be opened d closed, and be positive or negative.
They involve physical, chological, and social states. We find ourselves in or out of ysical shape or condition, in a good or bad mood, stuck in a t, unable to kick a habit, or born into a social class and family. We store up our money, energy, and good- 'If.
Memories are one of the most vital containers because they store our individual histories and identities. Connection Connection disconnection encompasses feelings of belonging or exclusion: being kept in or out of the loop, identifying with heroes, drawn to celebrities, or breaking up a relationship. Feelings of distance and separation from others reflect disconnection, as when losing a friend, missing a pet, or losing ajob.
Similarly, we cannot shake a cold or get rid of certain people or recurring dreams. Themes of connection and disconnection factor promi- nently in consumers' thinking about marriage and divorce, hav- ing or adopting children, sending the kids to college, and giving and receiving gifts. Resource We need resources to survive.
We would die without food and water or a nurturing adult in our infancy. Our family and friends are resources who support us in tough times and serve as what singer-songwriters Simon and Garfunkel called "a bridge over troubled water. Products and services are also important resources: a woman refers to her cell phone as her "lifeline," and a man describes motor oil as his truck's "lifeblood. For example, Dell may make MP3 players and other gadgets, but its "bread and butter" is the computer.
We find re- sources in nature, manmade creations, or both: a natural athlete hones her skills and deems bottled spring water more healthful and enjoyable than high-calorie soft drinks. Knowledge and in- formation are other vital resources. An intelligent person is a "fountain of knowledge"; gaining an education is the "key" to one's future. Some- we succeed, sometimes we do not. When people "suc- ,' to a serious disease, they may feel "powerless.
We of span of control and decision rights within organiza- and of leaders gaining or losing authority. We tame and animals and feel at the mercy of nature.
Social norms arise ntrol group interactions, and we imprison those who can- llow those norms. Other Deep Metaphors seven giants most permeate our lives. Indeed, few of our research projects fail to uncover at least one giant metaphor ighly relevant, regardless of topic or cultural setting, and in- endent research teams in different organizations around the e typically find one or more of these seven deep metaphors.
We present a few of them briefly below and elsewhere in this book. As we have said, consumers may use more than one deep metaphor or view- ing lens in a given situation.
For example, the deep metaphors of journey, resource, force, and orientation surface in this slot machine player's description of the casino gambling experi- ence: "It is like going on a rollercoaster journey.
You have ex- citing ups, then your stomach-churning downs movement and orientation. You hope that luck resource will grab you and not let go force.
That is what I look forward to orientation. This deep metaphor has much in common with journey and is often an element of a journey. Hu- mans need to feel as if they are moving forward, either with the task at hand, their day, or more significantly, through life.
We do not want to feel stagnant or "stuck. In some cases, relationships move fast, we in- stantly click with someone; our relationship is on track, moving along. We can also, however, feel that a relationship has hit a "dead end" or is no longer progressing. We avoid situations that lack movement; we try to "keep things going. Force manifests itself as power, a powerful presence, or a source of energy. Consumers also describe force as a physi- cal impact: getting slammed or hit.
Companies use this meta- phor in advertisements to demonstrate strong or lasting flavor, to "shock" you or "set your mouth on fire. Positively, one ombine force and movement to describe a transaction ppened in a "flash. Depending on the product, consumer references outdoors and nature can be very important. Nature rep- ts what does not come from man. Natural products are taminated and pristine.
For example, a denture cream ct may sell more effectively if consumers consider it natu- s opposed to industrial or abrasive. Nature symbolizes h or evolution. But the natural can also be opposed to the ed life. A motorcycle study, for example, demonstrated onsumers saw themselves as at one with nature while they e riding "wild and untamed. This deep metaphor arises when consumers need er or structure. For example, in reference to our biological em, we often refer to athletes as "well-oiled machines" or the rly as "breaking down.
The mere occurrence of a deep metaphor expression does not alone suggest its importance. Also, just because an object, a place, an event, or a service literally involves a deep metaphor, it does not mean that this metaphor is the primary viewing lens. For example, in a project on packaging conducted for a leading over-the-counter medication, control and resource rather than container were the primary deep metaphors.
In studies for a cruise line and an airline, we anticipated references to journey, but found that transformation and container, respectively, were more important to the travelers' assessment of their experiences. Again, different deep metaphors may apply to different brands in the same category. Budweiser owns the connection metaphor, whereas Coors owns nature and movement.
We find similar contrasts among sporting apparel brands, motorcycles, automobiles, and so on. Often, too, different brands will in- volve different themes of the same deep metaphor. Sometimes, marketers need to change the deep metaphors consumers use, and sometimes, marketers need only to leverage the metaphors. Using the right deep metaphor in the wrong way can lead consumers to hear something very different from what was intended.
For example, one bank experiencing growth problems chose community resource as the deep metaphor for repositioning itself among consumer and business accounts. How the bank communicated this positioning in printed mate- rials and how bank employees behaved gave consumers the im- pression that the community was a resourcefor the bank, rather than the bank's being a resource for the community.
Summary gers should worry about depth deficits, that is, the lack of 1 reflection and bold thinking about rich consumer infor- n. Shallow thinking has many causes, including having f-date knowledge about how the mind works, discouraging environments, and the simple fear of thinking differently.
Obtain deep insights from consumers to think deeply in productive ways. This involves having workable knowl- edge and engaging in workable wondering. Marketing Metaphoria should convince you that everything consumers think and do is influenced at unconscious levels--and it will give you access to those deeper levels of thinking. Featured Work. A major theme underlying most of Gerald Zaltman's research concerns the representation of thought. This includes how managers and customers represent their thinking to others and how they represent ideas and knowledge given to them.
This theme finds expression in a number of projects. A major underlying methodology for many of these projects involves the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique a unique, multidisciplinary based research tool now being used by major firms and leading academic researchers.
An ill-structured problem is one which is not routine, has no obvious best answer, and even the nature of the problem may be unclear. Ill-structured problems tend to be particularly significant when they arise. Using ZMET, this research investigates how experienced executives and novices approach this important task.
A companion study concerns how artists visualize approaches to their work which also tends to be ill-structured. It is expected that accomplished visual artists may address ill-structured tasks in ways that provide useful insights for managers.
Seeing Thought. This program of research combines the results from ZMET studies to create marketing stimuli such as advertising, retail store designs, product concepts, product design, and so forth, which are then presented to a sample of consumers whose reactions are observed using various brain imaging technologies. Gerald Zaltman is working with Professor Stephen M. General Hospital. The Ownership of Deep Metaphors. Deep metaphors are basic orienting structures of human thought.
They guide in subtle and overt ways how customers and managers process information about any product, service, or activity and event. It is essential for a firm to understand deep metaphors as they are experienced in particular product markets and to know how to gain ownership of them. Gaining ownership refers to the process whereby consumers or other stakeholders automatically associate a particular deep metaphor with a brand and do so in such a way that any competitor invoking this deep metaphor unavoidably makes the 'owning' firm's brand salient.
Selected in for the Sage Publications Legends in Marketing Series which covers the most significant scholarship in the field over the past century. Selected for the Marketing Legends Video Series in by the American Marketing Association to honor his significant contributions to the field of marketing research. Selected for the Inaugural Class of the American Marketing Association Fellows Program in which recognizes members who have made significant contributions to the research, theory and practice of marketing, and to the service and activities of the AMA.
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