HOW CUSTOMERS THINK

Chapter One

A VOYAGE FROM THE FAMILIAR

BY : Jahangir Dehmardan

WHAT DO YOU SEE ?

• 80% of all new products fail within six months

Marketers don’t understand how their own and their customers’ minds interact

What do you see ?

• Managers : customers don’t know what they want

• Consumers : you don’t listen, so there is no point in talking to you anymore

What do you see ?

Woman in the mirror

or skull?

What do you see ?

How old is this lady ?

What do you see ?

What ethnic group does this gentleman belong to ?

What do you see ?

What the heck is this ?

The need for an interdisciplinary approach • Open minded managers are extending their

comfort zones to explore unfamiliar disciplines Musicology Neurologyphilosophy anthropology psychology

The need for an interdisciplinary approach• To understand what happens within the

complex system of mind, brain, body, and society when consumers evaluate product

• Gaining a new perspective on how their own minds work

• Mind of the market : When consumers and marketers interact

Marketing fallacies

• Some assumptions about how the world works, prevent marketers from understanding and serving customers effectively.

• Espoused theory: what we say we believe

• Theory-in-use: is the belief that underlies what we actually do .

An example

• Espoused Theory: conducting market research to confirm an existing belief is a waste of resources.

• Theory-in-use: 80% of all market research serves mainly to reinforce existing conclusion.

Six marketing fallacies

1- Consumers think in a well-reasoned or rational, linear way

2- Consumers can readily explain their thinking and behavior

3- Consumers minds, bodies and surrounding culture and society can be adequately studied independently of one another

Six marketing fallacies

4- Consumers’ memories accurately represent their experiences

5- Consumers think in words

6- Consumers can be "injected" with company Messages and will interpret these messages as marketers intend

Three categories of error

1- Mistaking descriptive information for insight

“knowing that” vs. “knowing why”

Customers prefer a round shape container

Three categories of error

2- Confusing customer data with understanding

Data quantity does not assure data quality

What does chronological age is really measuring?

Three categories of error

3-Focusing on the wrong elements of the consumer experience

Attributes and functional features vs. emotional benefits

Nestle Crunch Bar

Customer-centricity

• The degree to which a company focuses on latent as well as obvious needs of current and potential customers

• High customer-centricity involves two acts of hearing or listening

Customer-centricity

• The customer “hears”- truly understands-that a firm’s offering merit a purchase

• The firm hears- truly understands-through skillful listening what current and potential customers are saying in their native language about their deep thoughts and feelings.

Customer-centricity

• The more skilled marketers are in listening to customers, the more effective their marketing strategies will be in establishing the value of the firm’s offerings.

Customer-centricity

• The more clearly current and potential customers understand the value of the firm’s offerings, the larger the revenues will be

Conclusion

• To change the current marketing paradigm, we must envision completely new ways of thinking and open ourselves to new ideas

• Since our ability to tap into customers minds is limited only by our imagination, this paradigm-shifting voyage will start only by exercising our imaginations using a variety of disciplines