A lot of enquiry into people’s consumption decisions stops at their top of the mind answers such as ‘it’s convenient to use’, lasts long or tastes good. However, all of us experience products and services at a level much deeper than what these responses suggest. The stark difference in the following answers as to why a woman changed her make-up product paints a vivid picture.
The good reason: “Well, my old eye shadow was getting used up, and I was tired of it. I guess I just wanted a change of pace. This brand’s colors looked nice and I know they make good quality products.”
The real reason: “I guess it sounds silly, but there’s something kind of exciting about buying a new eye shadow. I open up the case and it’s like there in those four little squares of color is the possibility of a whole new me.” The ‘cultural code’ of make-up products is ‘transformation and self-renewal’.
That’s when we start realizing how some products and services mean something so important to us. Insurance could mean a sense of stability, peace of mind and duty to the family. Nike on the other hand brought that inspiration to change and better ourselves. Having borne our sense of duty for so long, some of us revel in the ‘fresh air’ that MTV, Sprite and often Pepsi managed to bring.
American bestseller, ‘The Culture Code’ is precisely a book on such deeper levels of motivation behind our consumption decisions. It has a lucid, easy to read, story-like way of taking us through such a profound subject. Several ‘Fortune 500’ companies have benefited from his perspective in connecting with their stake-holders at towards an enduring bond. Even if you aren’t directly into sales or marketing, the book is an interesting and useful read for that deeper level of bonding that you may wish to achieve with whoever is important in your scheme of things. Through several small real-life accounts, the book tells the most interesting story of all, the story of ‘real life’.
- Vidyadhar Wabgaonkar
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