Many product managers have certain learned perceptions that marketing research should be the basis of decision making and that what the customer says that they want is what the marketers should give them. Imagine now, a book that suddenly makes everything that you know incorrect, a book like Gerald Zaltman’s book entitled How Customer's Think.
Using recent research and studies in the fields of neurology, sociology and philosophy, Zaltman carves out a new pattern of creative thinking for anyone who is responsible for a brand or advertising.
The book begins by examining the research methods that are used, looking at the most common and highly regarded method: focus groups. Zaltman explains how the essence of finding out what really drives the consumers’ purchase decision is not consciously known; in fact 95 percent is unconscious, and is emotionally based and triggered deep within the inner psyche of the individual.
As any focus group mediator will tell you, a consumer is being asked to think about their purchase decision and therefore is depicting what they believe is the reason why they buy a particular brand. This method takes an amazing mediator to truly look into the emotions of a person and to get them to open up their exact thoughts and feelings that make them purchase a certain product, as well as the role they see themselves in and the childhood triggers that push the buy button.
At first glance, managers despair that they are doomed never to know what the customer is really thinking. But Zaltman provides hope and a convenient structure of points to incite creative thinking, which includes:
>>Favor restlessness over contentment: marketers tend to become complacent saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Rather than using existing practices, examine new data in order to find the exact trigger to push the consumers’ buy button.
>>Wonder about the cow’s crumpled horn: this analogy to the children’s nursery rhyme is used to illustrate that we as human beings are wired to look for irregularities, but usually ignore them when it comes to irregular data.
>>Play with accidental data: examining the odd data that doesn’t fit with the rest means more than just dismissing it as an anomaly, but rather looking at it through correct interpretation may give the manager insight that has never been used before.
>>View conclusions as beginnings: most of the time we enjoy closure; however, in marketing the conclusion is only the beginning. Once an answer to data is found, it needs to be examined further in order to extract all the important information.
>>Don't get outdated: Just because it works now doesn’t mean that it’ll work forever. Continue to examine and reexamine things that have come to conclusions.
>>Stop squeezing the same baby chicken: Improving the process isn’t something that’s done once and then ended. It’s something that the manager must commit to revisiting in order to really succeed.
>>Nurture cool passion: A person always looking for new ideas and willing to accept them is more likely to find what consumers are looking for.
>>Have the courage of your convictions: Many people don’t enjoy the unusual and will fight a manager on every level, which is why it is so important to be steadfast and maintain ideas.
>>Ask Generic Questions: Many managers get caught up in the brand and how customers view it, but ignore the possibility that the customer may have a different idea about the category than research has previously shown. Asking generic questions allows for a different perspective from the consumer.
>>Avoid premature dismissal: just because something’s different doesn’t mean it should be automatically dismissed. Give everything a chance.
