Why marketers should stop asking customers why they do things

Gary Wilkinson and Ashton BishopConsumer responses to the question of ‘why’ are often unintentional lies and therefore the wrong basis for marketing insight, say Ashton Bishop and Gary Wilkinson in a piece that first appeared in Encore.

You are a liar. And so are your customers. Okay, so now you’re offended. We don’t like to think of ourselves as liars. Why? Because lying suggests self-serving manipulation and deceit. So what about when we’re not being manipulative, self-serving, deceitful or otherwise – but we’re still fibbing? It’s called confabulation and we all do it all of the time.

Marketers frequently ask customers and prospects why they do things. Many accept the responses at face value and then spend scarce marketing budget using these responses to guide their actions. There is enough evidence to suggest that this spend is based on falsehood or at least only half the story – our rationalised reasons. This information is important – you don’t want to contradict your customer’s rationalized view of the world. But reinforcing it won’t get them to choose you.

At the 2012 German Neuroscience Congress the headline consensus was that 95 per cent of the brain’s thinking processes are not made available to the conscious mind. Trust the Germans to quantify something – but what an acknowledgement of the lack of conscious control we have over most of our decisions. You might have heard that we make emotional decisions then make rational justifications, but it’s different when we experience it. Try it now.

Be a member to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Become a member

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

"*" indicates required fields

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.