One of the many emails I get in an attempt to keep myself up to date in what is going on in the world (at least the bits that I am interested in) is from Science Daily which lists recently published research in a number of fields. It's easy to get lost in reading the many intriguing articles that bear no relation to why I am getting the email in the first place e.g. Polyphenols and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Boost the Birth of New Neurons, but also it has a good number of research studies that exactly relate to what I am involved in.
I am currently working with a retailer on an organization design project so it was good to find the article posted last week on Talking to Ourselves: How Consumers Navigate Choices and Inner Conflict "From simple decisions like "Should I eat this brownie?" to bigger questions such as "Should my next car be a hybrid?" consumers are involved in an inner dialogue that reflects thoughts and perspectives of their different selves, according to the authors of a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research".
Well any consumer knows this inner dialogue and maybe it doesn't need an academic research study but it's still interesting to see it examined to see if there are patterns, what they might mean, and how they can be useful both to the consumer and to the marketers. The review of the research noted that "The authors believe this study can help marketers and other agencies that are trying to promote more mindful consumption choices.'By understanding the different voices in consumers they can promote communications that model consumers' inner conflicts and present different dialogical strategies like negotiation, coalition, compassion, and compartmentalization that will help them navigate conflicts to make better choices.'"
So drawing this to the attention of the visual merchandizers, and the marketers I am working with evoked discussion on what it might mean for helping their functions improve the company's performance.
What the article didn't discuss was how the consumers, armed with more knowledge about their inner dialogues, might be in a position to better withstand the siege of the marketers. No doubt, a topic for a different research project.
Naomi Stanford 