psych eye for the innovation guy
DESCRIPTION
3 Must-Have Psychological Insights for Successful Consumer Innovation - from eminent psychologists Daniel Kahneman, Dan Dennett and Geoffrey MillerTRANSCRIPT
Psych Eye for the Innovation Guy3 Must-Have Innovation Insights from Consumer Psychology
1
Dr Paul Marsden Consumer Psychologist
@marsattacks
3 psychological insights for consumer innovation
2
WHAT TO INNOVATE HOW TO APPEAL TO THE CONSUMER MIND
HOW TO BRAND INNOVATIONS
Say hello to your incredible shrinking brain!(don’t panic it’s still the world’s most powerful computer)
3
1.5KG 1,200CC
78% WATER 100BN NEURONS 100TR SYNAPSES
-10% SIZE VS. 20K YEARS
Our minds evolved uniquely and exclusively to solve problems - solving problems is what minds are for
4
PROBLEM RECOGNITION
INFORMATION SEARCH
ALTERNATIVE EVALUATION
CHOICE
POST-EVALUATION
East, R., Wright, M., & Vanhuele, M. (2013). Consumer behaviour: applications in marketing. Sage.
Without problems to solve we’d probably adopt the same strategy as sea-squirts, and eat our own brains
5
Dennett, D. C. (1993). Consciousness explained. Penguin UK. Chicago
Psychologists like problems - understanding people’s problems and helping solve them keeps us in business
6
Problems also keep innovators in business - without problems to solve consumer minds are closed for business
7
So rather than focus on what people want, desire or say they need, focus innovation on peoples’ problems
8
But not all problems are obvious, they may be private or unrecognised and it’s here psychology can help
9
Using an interpretive lens, psychology reveals problems driving behaviour that are private or even unconscious
10
For example, motivational psychology interprets behaviour through the lens of three ‘implicit’ core problems (‘APA’)
11
ACHIEVEMENT - NO SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT
POWER - NOT FEELING IN CONTROL
AFFILIATION - NO FEELING OF BELONGING
PSYCH PROBLEMS ‘THE BIG 3’
Sokolowski, Kurt, et al. "Assessing achievement, affiliation, and power motives all at once: The Multi-Motive Grid (MMG)." Journal of Personality Assessment 74.1 (2000): 126-145. APA
Whilst evolutionary psychology interprets behaviour through the lens of fundamental ‘adaptive’ problems
12
1. SELF-PROTECTION 2. DISEASE AVOIDANCE 3. AFFILIATION 4. STATUS 5. MATE ACQUISITION 6. MATE RETENTION 7. KIN CARE
7 CORE PROBLEMS
Griskevicius, V., & Kenrick, D. T. (2013). Fundamental motives for why we buy: How evolutionary needs influence consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 23(3), 372-386.
We’re driven to solve ‘adaptive’ problems because we’re hardwired emotionally to reward such behaviour
13
For instance, the appeal of luxury brands for women may lie in helping solve adaptive ‘mate-retention’ problems
14
Wang, Yajin, and Vladas Griskevicius. "Conspicuous Consumption, Relationships, and Rivals: Women’s Luxury Products as Signals to Other Women." JCR 40.5 (2014): 834-854.
So whilst every innovation project should begin with a ‘problem audit’ of product and activity-related problems…
15
UTILITY
SAFETY
COMFORT
AESTHETICS
PROBLEM PYRAMID PROBLEM
WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
…the use of a ‘psychological lens’ can help you prioritise problems and identify unsolved hidden problems
16
1. SELF-PROTECTION 2. DISEASE AVOIDANCE 3. AFFILIATION 4. STATUS 5. MATE ACQUISITION 6. MATE RETENTION 7. KIN CARE
So the first insight from psychology for innovation is ‘problem-primacy’ - problems matter most
17
The second psychological insight is that innovations can appeal to our unconscious mind
18
Problems are so important that psychologists now believe we have all evolved two problem-solving minds
19
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Macmillan.
There’s an associative, fast and mostly unconscious problem-solving mind (‘System 1’)
20
‘SYSTEM 1’ FAST
AUTOMATIC UNCONSCIOUS
And a conscious, slow, deliberate and reasoned problem-solving mind (‘System 2’)
21
‘SYSTEM 1’ FAST
AUTOMATIC UNCONSCIOUS
‘SYSTEM 2’ SLOW
DELIBERATE REASONED
Most problem-solving goes on below the threshold of awareness, using ‘System 1’
22
Li, W., Moallem, I., Paller, K. A., & Gottfried, J. A. (2007). Subliminal smells can guide social preferences. Psychological science, 18(12), 1044-1049.
Although we do like to post-rationalise - justifying the ‘System 1’ auto-pilot with ‘System 2’ excuses
23
So the innovation opportunity is to appeal to the ‘System 1’ problem-solving mind, not the System 2 excuse machine
24
‘SYSTEM 1’
‘SYSTEM 2’
System 1 appeals are powerful because they ‘feel’ right and responses are experienced as ‘intrinsically’ motivated
25
Verwijmeren, Thijs, et al. "The workings and limits of subliminal advertising: The role of habits." Journal of Consumer Psychology 21.2 (2011): 206-213.
Fortunately, we’re beginning to understand how System 1 problem-solving works and how to appeal to it
26
So here are five ways your innovation can appeal to the System 1 problem-solving mind
27
First, your innovation should ‘feel’ effortless - give instant and easy gratification (present bias)
28
Second, your innovation should ‘feel’ good by evoking positive associations (emotions, memories) (affect heuristic)
29
Third, your innovation has to feel ‘right’ because it’s consistent with what people already do (confirmation bias)
30
Fourth, your innovation should ‘feel’ familiar by building on category norms (availability heuristic)
31
Fifth, your innovation should ‘feel’ empowering - giving people control over their lives (optimism bias)
32
So that’s the second psychological insight for innovation - appeal to the ‘System 1’ problem-solving mind
33
‘SYSTEM 1’ FAST
AUTOMATIC UNCONSCIOUS
‘SYSTEM 2’ SLOW
DELIBERATE REASONED
Finally, let’s turn to the third psychological insight for innovation - how to brand your innovation
34
Traditionally, the psychological role of branding in innovation is to reduce the perception of risk
35
But in advanced consumer markets, the risk-reduction role of branding innovations often diminishes
36
Instead, the utility of a brand is not what it says about the product but what it says about the user
37
Miller, G. (2009). Spent: Sex, evolution, and consumer behavior. Penguin. Chicago
People use brands for ‘impression management’ - to help manage what other people think about us
38
Like a peacock tail that displays good genetic traits, we use brands to visually display our own positive traits…
39
…not only to other people - allies, rivals, mates - but also to ourselves (our ‘looking glass ’)
40
So how can innovations be branded to best harness their display value in impression management?
41
Whilst we’re all different, psychology reveals that we all share six core personality traits ‘iOCEAN’
42
Intelligence
iOCEAN is your unique ‘trait tattoo’ made up of general intelligence & the ‘Big Five’personality dimensions
43
iOCEAN TRAIT TATTOO i128-O80-C41-E63-A73-N01
Through a psychological lens, the branding opportunity in innovation is to help people display a desired trait
44
CONSCIENTIOUSNESSOPENNESS AGREEABLENESS NEUROTICISMEXTRAVERSION
BRAND PERSONALITY
Inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious
(Mini vs. Buick?)
Careful/dependable vs. easy-going/
careless (Honda vs. Jeep?)
Outgoing/energetic vs. quiet/calm (BMW
vs. Lexus?)
Friendly/cooperative vs. formal/driven
(Acura vs. Mercedes?)
Sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident
(Volvo vs. Porsche?)
By helping people display a core personality trait, you’ll be branding your innovation with deep psychological appeal
45
So that’s it, three top insights from a consumer psychologist for driving your next innovation success
46
1. PROBLEM PRIMACY 2. SYSTEM 1 APPEAL 3. TRAIT TATTOOS
For more practical marketing psychology digitalintelligencetoday.com
47
Dr Paul Marsden Consumer Psychologist
@marsattacks