Back to the Future (QRCA Views - Fall 2012)

7/23/2019 Back to the Future (QRCA Views - Fall 2012)

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f a l l 2 0 1 2V o l u m e 1 1 N u m b e r 1

INSPIRATION AND RESOURCES

FOR QUALITAT IVE RESEARCH

The NewRenaissance

childPLUS:

back to

the future?The Legacy of

Dichter and the

Depth Boys

Special Inside! Sneak Preview of the

2012 Qrca aNNual coNfereNceOctober 35 Montreal, Canada


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12 QRCA VIEWS FALL 2012 www.qrca.org

hrough its direct face-to-faceengagement with consumers(think of it as greater band

width that enhances clarity), quali-tative research has a unique opportunityto negotiate an ethical relationship interms of what respondents are willingto share.They are made aware of thepurpose and uses of what they reveal,and guidelines and best practices havebeen developed to ensure that researchis ethical and that consumers confi-dentiality is protected. This is oneof the key functions of QRCA andAQR to be the conscience ofour industry.

This article takes a brief look atthe changing ethics of qualitativeresearch in its widest sense and howadvertising and marketing agencieshave used its finding in ways thatsometimes have been accused of un-ethically manipulating the public. Ouraim is not to be comprehensive, but tohighlight some issues and perspectives.

Dr. Dichter and the riginsof Motivational ResearchThe in-depth qualitative researchmethods in QRCs current toolboxeshad their origins in the 1940s and1950s with motivational research,

By Simon PattersonQRI onsulting, td.

ondon, U.K.

[email protected]

Alan BranthwaiteQRI onsulting, td.

ondon, U.K.

[email protected]

and Jessica NeildQRI onsulting, td.

ondon, U.K.

[email protected]

T


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1Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H C O N S U L T A N T S A S S O C I A T I O N

C N T I N E D Back to the Future? The Legacy of Dichter and the Depth Boys

which was popularized by psychol-ogist and psychoanalyst Dr. ErnestDichter. He laid the foundations forexploring the needs and motivations ofconsumers (some of which are still seenin in-depth methods and approachesused today), and he was partly (or evenlargely) responsible for introducing thesemethods and approaches to MadisonAvenue advertising and later the U.K.and beyond.

Dichter was a sensation. Motivationalresearch used psychoanalytic methods

to reveal consumers hidden motivationsand desires. Dr. Dichters work andthat of similar motivational researchers sometimes known as the depthboys underpinned the marketingand advertising of Madison Avenue,which was one of the main drivingforces behind the post-World War IIboom, and with it came a whole new

Dr. Dicters work and tat o similar motivational researcers sometimes known as te dept boys underpinned te marketingand advertising o Madison Avenue, and wit it came a wole new era o

marketing tat encouraged indulgence, product desire and replacemento te old wit te new, even i te old was still serviceable.

ooper and Patterson asserted tat consumersenter into a cooperative relationsip o mutualconsent rater tan trickery and tat tey arenot unwitting in teir seduction instead, itis a game played in te modern world betweenconsumers and brands.

era of marketing that encouragedindulgence, product desire and replace-ment of the old with the new, even ifthe old was still serviceable.

Cars became objects of male potency.Dr. Dichter empowered the Esso motor-ist with his Put a Tiger in Your Tank

campaign. He likened the convertibleto a mistress and the sedan to a wife,and he recommended the developmentof the hardtop car so that men couldbenefit from the feeling of having themistress without straying from thesafety of the wife. Indeed, consumerslived in an exciting new golden ageof consumerism.

Dr. Dichter and the depth boysrevealed consumers real needs andwants by giving objects new meanings.By association through advertisingimages, lipsticks became phallic

objects, and lips adorned with theirbright colors were a honey trap formen. And every woman dreamed ofwalking down Park Avenue in nothingbut a Maidenform bra!

Critics Sound ffThe use of motivational research byadmen, however, was not without its

critics and concerns about the ethicsinvolved. In 1957, American journalistVance Packard wrote his famousexpos, The Hidden Persuaders,which sold over a million copiesand was the top seller for non-fictionbooks for six consecutive weeks.

Packard claimed that unethical adver-tisers were using hidden symbols tomanipulate the unconscious mind bychanneling our unthinking habits toinfluence our purchase decisions andour thought processes.

Packard, however, was too late.Far from discrediting motivationalresearch, his book was responsiblefor exposing its popularity. Thepublic, even if reluctant to admit it,was fascinated by the change in con-sumer culture that such research hadbrought advertising became more

interesting, more exciting and morefun. The tide had turned; indeed, mostconsumers were enjoying the narcissism


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Back to the Future? The Legacy of Dichter and the Depth Boys C N T I N E D

14 QRCA VIEWS FALL 2012 www.qrca.org

of being the center of marketing atten-tion and being seduced, rather thansold to in a cold and rational manner,as had been the previous way.

Trickery or Mutual Consent?More recently, in 2000, a paper byPeter Cooper and Simon Patterson,entitled The Trickster, tackledthis same subject of the ethics inmarketing and advertising. Theauthors explored the mythology ofthe Trickster and how this ancientarchetype works in branding andadvertising to seduce the consumer.

Is covertly trawling social-network siteswit cyberbots, unseen and unknown toconsumers, a violation o data privacy? r

are participants willingly giving teir opin-ions and individual data, in excange orte opportunity to expose teir lives toanonymous and secret outsiders?

nly by taking an interest in and engaging witconsumers, saring teir lives as collaboratorsand partners, can we ully explore teir motiva-tions, emotions, aspirations and desires, alongwit te pressures and inluences tat sapeteir decision-making.

Unlike Packard, however, Cooperand Patterson asserted that consumersenter into a cooperative relationshipof mutual consent rather than trickery

and that they are not unwitting intheir seduction instead, it is a gameplayed in the modern world betweenconsumers and brands.

In this viewpoint, consumers areactually accomplices in their ownseduction. They allow themselves tobe enticed, convinced, seduced anddazzled by the Tricksters charms.

Indeed, the Trickster operates ata deep psychological level within themore primitive part of our brains,appealing to our wishes to be per-suaded, by using an array of devices

to entice, convince and seduce, andwe are dazzled by its charms. Weallow our id to have its way and playalong with the Trickster, who ticklesour fancy.

We know that Esso will not actuallyput a tiger in our tank and that Axewill not give us Herculean pullingpower; but, as knowing participants,

we willingly play along as insiders inthis post-modern joke.

Ethical Research Requiresan pen ConversationThe ethics of contemporary qualita-tive research are well integrated intocurrent professional practice. Theyrely on an open dialogue betweenresearchers and respondents. Only bytaking an interest in and engagingwith consumers, sharing their livesas collaborators and partners, canwe fully explore their motivations,emotions, aspirations and desires,along with the pressures and influ-ences that shape their decision-making.

To achieve this, qualitative researchneeds to be a conversation, which givesit cultural validity and authenticity.

By taking an interest in consumers,exchanging ideas, hearing their storiesand actively listening we can cometo know the consumer in an openand honest fashion.

Social-Media Monitoring a Breach of Data Privacy?A pressing concern for us in the con-temporary research culture is the role ofsocial-media monitoring and Facebookscraping, which some quarters seem toconsider as a valid alternative to quali-tative research. Apart from issues of

the validity, authenticity, superficialityand interpretation of the data, the ethicsand morality of this method of datacollection are being called into question.

Is covertly trawling social-networksites with cyberbots, unseen andunknown to consumers, a violationof data privacy? Or are participantswillingly giving their opinions and


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C N T I N E D Back to the Future? The Legacy of Dichter and the Depth Boys

1Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H C O N S U L T A N T S A S S O C I A T I O N

individual data, in exchange for theopportunity to share their lives andpersonal opinions with anonymous andsecret outsiders? In shaping their owninternet experience, are they engagingthemselves as participants and partnerswith brands and advertisers?!

It would appear that many con-sumers are willing to openly exposetheir views, ideas and personal infor-mation through social media, buton the condition that they can adoptwhatever persona they want. This,however, poses a serious danger ofundermining the value and credibilityof marketing research.

New ESOMAR guidelines on social-media research have been producedto regulate the potential abuse of dataprivacy, to make sure that consumers

are willing participants and that theirdata remains private.

Final ThoughtsIn conclusion, ethical qualitativeresearch is dependent on collabora-tion and co-creation with consumers.Indeed, it is in our interest forconsumers to share their thoughtsand feelings with us in a way thatis not cynical or jaded from uneth-ical practices, by both respondentsand researchers.

Research should be a democratic

process in which respondents revealtheir ideas and feelings on brands andservices. The journey that qualitativeresearch has taken, which was pro-voked by Ernest Dichter and the depthboys in the 1940s and 1950s, hasevolved as society, culture and technol-ogy has evolved. The essential purposeof our task, however, remains the same,and the ethical and moral issues arestill dependent on creating an openrelationship between respondent andresearcher to leverage valid and reliableinsights for our client.

ReferencesThe Hidden Persuaders,

Vance Packard, 1957The Strategy of Desire, Ernest Dichter,

1960The Trickster, Peter Cooper &

Simon Patterson, 2000,www.qriconsulting.com

The Vitality of Qualitative Research

in the Era of Social Media, AlanBranthwaite & Simon Patterson,ESOMAR, 2010

The Power of Qualitative Researchin the Era of Social Media, Alan

Branthwaite & Simon Patterson.

Qualitative Market Research AnInternational Journal, 14 (4) 2011, pp.430-440 (www.Emeraldinsight.com)

ESOMAR Guidelines for Social MediaResearch, 2011, www.esomar.org

QRi Consulting : 51 St Martins Lane : London WC2N 4EA

+44 (0)20 7420 1630 | [email protected] | www.qriconsulting.com

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Back to the Future (QRCA Views - Fall 2012)