We’re at the Mercy of the Consumer Subconscious

After loading your washing machine do you grunt as you stand back up?*

Not sure?

Of course you aren’t.

Because that’s the kind of behaviour that’s completely automatic. The kind of reaction that’s purely instinctive. One that leaves you at the mercy of your subconscious.

Take questions such as:
“Would you buy this product?”
“How long do you leave your tea to brew?”

Consumers can’t reliably tell you these answers because they don’t know.

They can’t post rationalise the irrational. They can’t identify the unidentifiable. They can’t know the subconscious.

But they can show you.

Watch them in their environments.

Observe them during their occasions.

See their true behaviours.

*Dr Nancy Tennant Snyder of the Whirlpool Corporation took board members on in home consumer visits. They observed behaviours (such as grunting) which were telling signs of the effort taken when bending up and down to load a washing machine. The insight gathered led to the washing machine that stands on a plinth. And this story led to the birth of Watch Me Think 🙂