Why People Buy. Louis Cheskin

of Newton’s physics. There are no absolutes in atomic physics.

      I should at this point call attention to one kind of decision making practiced in many corporations which is not scientifically sound, yet is not based on the subjective opinion or limited knowledge of the manager or a subordinate. I have in mind the committee method of decision making. Sometimes this is called the democratic method. It is also known as the brain picking method or brain storming method. This often operates on the assumption that a number of uninformed people can arrive at a better decision than one uninformed person.

      Decision making in a marketing program is frequently and crucially in the area of communication, in finding an effective means of persuading potential consumers to buy the particular product or brand.

      Persuading means influencing opinions or affecting attitudes by means of communication. It means not only informing, but educating, plus motivating. It means affecting the hearts as well as the minds of people.

      To persuade a person, the message has to reach his emotions, not merely his sense of logic. If the message contradicts an individual’s opinions, beliefs or attitudes, the individual will reject the message or will have no interest in it.

      Many advertising men fail to realize that a sales message delivered is not the same as a sales message received.

      A communication about a product is one thing. But people paying attention to it, believing it and being motivated by it is another matter entirely.

      An unconvincing message is either rejected outright or is modified to fit the opinion of the person who sees it or hears it. For a message to be effective it must fit a goal of the individual who receives the message, it must satisfy an emotional need. The message must motivate the individual.

      There is no longer any question among serious students of psychology whether people are rational or irrational. We know that individuals are motivated by both emotional and rational factors. A message has to have emotional appeal and at the same time possess rational or practical elements.

      A number of questions have to be answered in planning any kind of message on which many thousands of dollars will be spent. The questions are particularly hard to answer if the message is of the persuasion type. Is the message addressed in the most effective way? Is the timing the best? Does it appeal to the particular people it is supposed to reach? Is it easily recalled? Is it confused by people with another message from another source? Does it impress only those who agree with the message or does it have a favorable effect on people who ordinarily would not agree with it?

      For a message to fail in persuading, it does not necessarily have to antagonize people. Indifference to the message means that the communication is weak.

      Managers can, and some do, use research to get answers to these questions. Some research discloses the kind of people and how many are reached by the message. Other research shows how many are favorably affected by the communication, how many are unfavorably affected and how many indifferent to it.

      However, research can play its role only after there is something to test. First, creative individuals have to compose the message. Generally, a number of approaches are used; several themes are tried. The message is composed in many forms. Executives have to decide which of these forms, in which of the several ways, the communication will be most effective.

      Executives use some basic principles in nuking such decisions. One device used by advertising executives is the “principle of association,” which is demonstrated in the use of a pretty girl for selling a soft drink, or a rugged individual for selling cigarettes. It is known that most people, men and women, like to look at pretty girls. If a bottle of the particular brand of beverage is shown next to the girl, those who look at the girl will automatically see the brand of beverage. The “principle of association” becomes still stronger when the message communicates the idea that this pretty girl drinks this particular beverage.

      The “association principle” operates in the same way in selling cigarettes by associating the brand of cigarettes with an appealing, rugged, he-man character. This interesting man not only attracts people to the cigarettes, but the message communicates that men such as he, smoke this brand of cigarettes.

      The “association principle” is understood by advertising and public relations men and women. However, executives of the communications media still have questions that they cannot answer. They do not know what type of girl will appeal to the greatest number of people or what type will appeal to the particular individuals for whom the message is intended. They do not know exactly what kind of a man will have greatest appeal to the largest group. If the executives decide to use a rugged character as the symbol, they must delineate this character. They need a specific image of the character.

      This is where research is again called upon. Creative individuals produce images, photographs, paintings and drawings of sportsmen, cowboys, sailors and other rugged types. Research is called upon to measure the relative effectiveness of these images.

      Before management is ready to consider the character of the advertising or the nature of the communication about the product, it has to make sure that the product itself presents a favorable image. Here too, the “principle of association” is used. Orange juice is served with Castor oil to children by mothers in order to make the Castor oil acceptable. The same principle is used in marketing. An instrument that may suggest danger to people is encased in streamlined form and pleasing color. The image of smooth form and appealing color overshadows the image of danger that people might have.

      Here too, management has to get answers to a number of questions. What kind of form or styling will have the most favorable effect on the greatest number of potential buyers of the product? What color will have the most favorable effect and motivate the greatest number of people to want the product? The right kind of research can provide the answers to these questions.

      The present-day executive must be a problem-solver. He has to approach each problem without getting emotionally involved. He must make decisions on the basis of objective information.

      An executive can find solutions to problems. He can find new ways for solving new problems if he is aware that naturally or emotionally he is likely to be indifferent to or even hostile to a new idea, that is, to a concept that is not within the realm of his experience. If he recognizes this, he will guard himself against it.

      The modern executive is aware that new ideas are not necessarily good ideas. He uses modern research for determining whether the idea is good or bad. Modern research is “scientific research.” Scientific means controlled.

      A physicist cannot tell in what manner or how far a ball will roll on the street. He can determine how a specific ball will behave in a specific place, under specific circumstances or conditions. The physicist can obtain the answers to an unknown if all the other factors are known. In other words, he must test the unknown under controlled conditions.

      Managers of consumer goods manufacturing companies are generally consumer oriented. When planning to introduce a new product, the executives give primary attention to the potential consumers. Some executives want research that will show people’s wants, that is, whether they want such a product or a particular form of the product. Others want to know whether people will accept the product, although they do not care about why they accept it. Still others are interested in finding out not only what people will accept or what they want, but also why they accept it or want it.

      Some marketing executives operate on the assumption that people do not know what they want. To these executives, marketing means creating wants, that is, making people want what they have to sell. Before air conditioners were introduced to the market, people did not want air conditioners. The wants were created by making air conditioners available and by demonstrating the advantages of air conditioners.

      However, people did want to be cool on hot days. The first question to be answered was not whether people wanted air conditioners, but whether they wanted to be cool in the hot weather season. The want to be cool existed. In a competitive market the marketer had to create a want for his particular brand or for his special way of keeping cool.

      From a purely rational point of view, most people