Decoding Consumer Behavior: Freud's Marketing Impact

Freud's Psychoanalytic Principles in Marketing

Based on Freud's theoretical principles, marketing professionals utilize these concepts to establish that motivation at a deeper level is responsible for the acceptance or rejection of products or consumer goods. Motivational research techniques were used to correlate the psychic instances that, according to Freud, constitute personality and behavior with respect to consumption. The act of buying or choosing is strongly influenced by Freudian motives and fantasies held deeply within the consumer's private world (indoor).

The Role of Deep Motivation and Libido

His concept of libido (sexual desire or instinct—the driving energy of the life instinct) refers to the energy linked to sex and love. However, the theory of libido has been criticized as being too biological, often disregarding social processes. Many theorists argue that human passions are, at least in part, socially formed.

Perhaps the most important application of this model in marketing is the recognition that buyers are motivated by symbolic interests as well as by economic and functional interests. The change in shape of a square soap bar to a long one, for example, may be more important for its sexual connotations than for its functional connotations.

Key Motivational Research Techniques

As a result of Freud's work, major motivational research techniques employed in marketing are based on concepts such as:

• The Unconscious
• Rationalization
• Projection
• Free Association

A restriction practitioners offer regarding the marketing application of this model is that it sometimes yields discrepant or inefficient results, making precise conclusions necessary for analyzing buyer behavior difficult.

Freud's Contribution: The Unconscious and Behavior

Note that Freud, more than any other scholar, revealed and demonstrated the important role of sexual motives in determining individual behavior. His greatest contribution to the knowledge of human behavior was developing the concept of the unconscious.

The notion that man is motivated more by invisible forces than by controlled conscious thought was revolutionary for society at the time. This concept, even without considering the other constructs of psychoanalytic theory, suggests a personality structure based on the hedonistic principle of instinct satisfaction.

The Freudian Personality Structure

The Id (Pleasure Principle)

Leads to fundamental impulses of the libido; governed by the pleasure principle.

The Ego (Reality and Mediation)

Takes measures acceptable to society; acts as the mediator.

The Superego (Conscience and Censor)

The conscience of man, discerning right and wrong; acts as the censor.

Perception and Consumer Response

Perception is the meaning a person attributes to incoming stimuli through the five senses:

• Touch
• Smell (Olfaction)
• Taste
• Sight
• Hearing

Certainly, a buyer's behavior is strongly influenced by their perceptions of a good or service. Today, researchers recognize that perception, rather than objective reality, dictates consumer response. (E.g., brand perception of 'Jeans Forum' or 'Holy Cross Capibaribe').