Consumerology: The Market Research Myth, the Truth About Consumers, and the Psychology of Shopping - Hardcover

Graves, Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1857885503 ISBN 13: 9781857885507

Publisher: UNKNO, 2010

Synopsis

Market research is a myth. Philip Graves, one of the world's leading experts in consumer behaviour, reveals why the findings obtained from most market research are completely unreliable. Whether it is company executives seeking to define their corporate strategy or politicians wanting to understand the electorate, the idea that questions answered on a questionnaire or discussed in a focus group can provide useful insights on which to base business decisions is the cause of product failures, political blunders and wasted billions.

Consumer.ology exposes some of the most expensive examples of research-driven thinking clouding judgement, experience and evidence – from New Coke to General Motors, from Mattel to the Millennium Dome – and instances of success through ignoring market research, such as Baileys and Dr Who. It also shows organisations the tools they should be using if they want to understand their customers.

Using his unique AFECT approach, a set of five criteria to evaluate the reliability of any consumer insight, Graves asserts that it's time for a fresh approach that embraces this new understanding of human behaviour. Along the way, he reveals why the current practice of market research is a false science, why we often don't buy what we say we will, and how to understand consumers better than they do themselves. After reading Consumer.ology business leaders and politicians will never look at market research in the same way again.

About this title

About the Author:

Philip Graves is a consumer behaviour consultant, author and speaker. 20 years observing consumers as a market research manager and research consultant made him aware of a conflict between what people said in research and what they actually did, which led to the introduction of the psychology of shopping into his work. He has advised numerous international businesses, including Comet, ITV, Whirlpool, Dr Martens, New Covent Garden Food Company, Camelot, Virgin Media, Hotpoint and Pepsi. In addition to running his own consultancy business, Shift, Philip is an associate of Frontier Economics.

Review:

Philip Graves has put together an excellent guide to understanding how to know what people will and won't do...Now you can have the benefit of years of knowledge and experience distilled into an easy-to-read and understand book. (Kevin Hogan, author of The Psychology of Persuasion and The Science of Influence)

Alongside his debunking of the market research industry, the author takes us on a fascinating romp through the psychological underpinnings of consumer behaviour...It's well written, accessible and entertaining, yet thought provoking. Consumer.ology is a rich digest of insights on consumer psychology. It should be essential reading for marketers and general managers, and carefully hidden away from anyone whose livelihood depends on market research. (Alan Giles, The Marketing Society and Associate Fellow, Said Business School, University of Oxford)

Consumer.ology is a refreshingly iconoclastic skewer through the heart of traditional market research methods and reason. Graves' peppering of psychological theory with pithy anecdotes of misguided consumer successes and failures is bound to at once ruffle feathers and get heads nodding within marketing and innovation circles. (Blake H. Glenn, Senior Inventor, ?What If! The Innovation Company)

About this edition

• Publisher: UNKNO
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1857885503
• ISBN 13: 9781857885507
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224