Ask a veteran consumer behavior researcher anything.

Rumble_in_the_Jungle · 2015-06-09T02:28:02+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Why are men so often represented in a negative way - as emasculated semi-hipster doormats, as idiots who can't think beyond beer and boobs, or as exaggerated hyper masculine neanderthals? The only exception is the James Bond type guys in ads for cologne or wrist watches.

Why do commercials have so much "random" Family Guy-esqe humor? I understand the simple answer is "because it works," but what is it that makes these ads work? Which demographic do they target?

What is your favorite marketing campaign and why?

It sounds like you're new to this sub. One of the basic tenets of TRP is "women as the most responsible teenager in the house" (see the article in the sidebar) - does this concept come into play in your lines of work?

Are there marketing methods that would be effective but are not used because they are considered politically incorrect? What are they?

xScotchx · 2015-06-09T06:02:35+00:00

Thank you all so much for your interest - I am surprised at the amount of curiousity within this community. I'm waiting to see some commentary on my responses, but it's time to hit the sack. I'll try to answer the remaining posts tomorrow afternoon.

moodyprism · 2015-06-09T02:17:38+00:00

How much have you seen products specifically developed and tailored to woman's hypergamy and tendencies to branch swing and cheat?

true_detective_sf · 2015-06-09T05:12:31+00:00

Thank you. This is great. I am extremely impressed by the quality of your answers so far.

Does sex sell better to men or to women?

As people age, does sex become more or less of an effective marketing tool?

Your hotel pricing example was very interesting. Are there more like that?

Is there a huge difference in marketing effectiveness to similar demographics between say England, Russia, and the United States? If I wanted to sell a wood chipper in Russia, would I use a fundamentally different approach than in the United States?

How important have sites like Yelp, Tripadvisor, etc become to the advertising industry. Does the industry at large bother with fake reviews?

What do you know, that most people don't know, that you think would help me improve my life?

NotAlwaysAppropriate · 2015-06-09T00:49:57+00:00

Do [single] men truly have meaningless consumer purchase power? Most ads are pretty much a giant "fuck you" to me.

xScotchx · 2015-06-09T01:52:04+00:00

Tell me how I can get access to this "world of data, algorithms, and resources that are far beyond the reach of a Google search.".

Books references, anything. I am deeply interested in the subject.

Retro93 · 2015-06-09T01:37:08+00:00

Not so much a consumer behavior question, but a career question. I'm a marketing major that'll be graduating in a year. Your thread caught my attention because Consumer Behavior has by far been my favorite course. How do I go about getting a career in this field? What is a day in your career like? What sort of projects are you working on?

-Anteros- · 2015-06-09T02:19:51+00:00

Thank you very much for doing this AMA I think there is a lot to learn here.

1) What are the major factors taken into consideration when selling to women across various age groups, does AF/BB factor into in these calculations?

2) Do you find evidence that men buy for utility (trucks,tools,etc) and women buy to improve their SMV/status? What do you think of the truck ad comparing a male pickup truck driver to a middling car driver?

3) What would be the most appealing factor to sell the idea of Game/RP/Self improvement to young men outside of promises that they would get laid more? It seems this is an almost insurmountable task due to a lifetime of pro-woman training that young men suffer. Convincing them to do something like lifting heavy weights might be easier if the data show them to be more concerned with in-group status than notch count. Far fetched I know, but I suspect that's what these insights are about.

RationalistFaith1 · 2015-06-09T04:43:54+00:00

I'm building a meta study of commonalities of high SMV people (mostly women, since I'm a guy). My data is converging to a boring type of profile (hot girl; waitress type; easy college etc.).

After all the data has/is being collected... Is our species that predictable?

moodyprism · 2015-06-09T00:54:38+00:00

Thanks a lot for your time. What is the number one most applied form of psychological manipulation that is used when someone wants to sell a product? What do people respond to most? Is there a difference between what tactics are used on men and women and if so what are they? Are there any absolutely bat shit crazy stories/conspiracy theories that you are legally able to tell us that you have witnessed while in this industry?

rubixx392 · 2015-06-09T05:42:31+00:00

Hotels have higher sales on February 13 than February 14 because February 13 is the most adulterous day due to valentine's being spent with the ol' steady.

How do you infer the causality of the hotel room rental spike on February 13th being adultery? Seems like someone could just as well say it's caused by loving couples spending a few days together. Not saying you're wrong, just asking where you're getting that data from.

Also as a compsci major, what steps would you recommend if someone wanted to follow in your footsteps?

Thanks.

Brinjal · 2015-06-09T02:48:35+00:00

What's the future look like from the perspective of an adman?

Will you advertise differently?

What are some emerging trends?

What new products will you be selling? Who will you be selling them to?

What about aging boomers? And the millennials coming of age?

Manuel_S · 2015-06-09T06:18:40+00:00

1st of all, thank you. What I've read has been amazingly interesting.

I would like to know:

Is there any substantial difference in buying/marketing profiles when the target is tagged as "religious"?
What is your most reliable ID tag to recognize a customer? Email, skype, what?
Once you are "profiled" as a consumer, is this profile continuously adjusted or does it tend to stay?
How well are you followed across sites and even different emails / accounts / user names? Are these integrated?
How are you "recognized" when you go in a site? Does it look at the cookies, look up some online name/target supplier, how?
Its said that even starting a shopping act will apply a metaphorical red-hot brand to your forehead. Is this true?
Know any way to detach from your current profile and be born again in the net? (keeping mail)

Cheers

Edit: people, do read what he's said, don't just browse or look for confirmation to your beliefs. There's good stuff there.

RunawayGrain · 2015-06-09T01:45:43+00:00

What tactics work for selling to men, vs which tactics work for selling to women and how do those compare?

Im a bit reminded of Mitchell and Webb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85HT4Om6JT4

moodyprism · 2015-06-09T04:21:54+00:00

What advise would you give people for sifting through the vast amounts of informations and ads we get bombarded with daily on getting what we want and need and not being taken for a ride? What are your opinions and observations on psychological manipulation at the social level? For example not companies trying to sell products but you trying to get that promotion or trying to sleep with that woman.

moodyprism · 2015-06-09T03:06:04+00:00

I feel like a lot of questions are diverging on this but how do why do you feel that archetypal alpha male is no longer being advertised to? Why are more and more commercials and products seemingly more femcentric or is this just an illusion? Why do most ads seem to potray men as sniveling man children clung on to their wives skirt tails lest they wander into traffic.

Somewhat tangential to that last string of questions: Do you think that advertising effects culture or does culture effect advetising? For example do you believe men are partly becoming more beta simply because products that are marketed to them are less masculine or do you believe that the products became less masculine because men are becoming less masculine?

Sorry if you don't agree with any of the premises of those questions. Just clarify what your own opinions are.

xScotchx · 2015-06-09T00:39:34+00:00

I don't know man. I'm new here - you tell me!

Off to a great start - where are the insights junkies at?

DonBravera · 2015-06-09T03:11:51+00:00

What are your predictions on the future of Virtual Reality? How soon will it be before it takes over our lives? What will be the incentives for people to stay unplugged? Ultimately, what will be the affects on society based on your Red Pill knowledge?

xScotchx · 2015-06-09T04:19:01+00:00

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yummyluckycharms · 2015-06-09T04:23:21+00:00

I"m not quite sure where you are based, but I was wondering if you are seeing similar behavior in your clients target demography? For example, in Canada there seems to be a definitive and perhaps irreversible splitting of the consumer market into smaller and smaller niches. I"m not talking mainstream vs subs - but that a universe of subs being the norm now.

For example, for younger canadians and even older canucks, cord cutting has meant that people are getting their news from either only one source or sometimes many vs one big media push. In the past a company could just pay for adds using one or two media channels, its now far harder for them to build brand awareness or for ad campaigns to get reliable ROI metrics.

Even more to the point, big data doesnt seem to be able to construct valid consumer profiles that are representative anymore. It used to be in the past that the typical consumer that would purchase a BMW for example would have a certain number of traits, or lacking that, big data could construct a reasonable archetype that could be used as a valid basis. The previous mentioned fragmentation seems to be causing big data firms to only be able to capture limited snapshots of this evolving profile now. Kinda like how pollsters are pretty much wrong all the time now when calling elections - they're ideas of what a typical "voter" is based off traditional archetypes that either dont exist anymore or are changing so quickly that the profile is useless.

How is big data evolving to deal with this challenge?

xScotchx · 2015-06-09T05:07:18+00:00

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ivkustov · 2015-06-09T12:21:31+00:00

I'm thinking about switching career from software engineer to something close to yours.

I have understanding of statistics/statistical models and deep math background but I'm lacking of practical knowledge of facts / real experiments /etc.

What kind of books/courses you may recommend? I'm not counting on detailed answer - just couple of titles that you think eased your job.

BlatantTRPThrowaway · 2015-06-09T05:04:00+00:00

How well do you see many of these strategies utilized by political campaigns? The PAC "war on women" back in the 2012 was particularly effective, but I'm interested in your perspective on why it was so effective in that context.

Also interested to see which campaigning strategies you appreciate the most so far out of the 2016 cycle.

xScotchx · 2015-06-09T08:48:07+00:00

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Palpetinus · 2015-06-09T10:04:38+00:00

Something a bit different: You mentioned, or rather it's obvious, that data is tracked in all sorts of ways when online. No matter if it's phone, computer or similar: How are you protecting yourself when it comes to the tracking of your data, if at all? Do you avoid doing certain things or just block certain IPs?

For example, I am using several programs on my PC that block IPs that are not malicious but are there to track my data for statistics and similar. What's your take on this, is that a good or bad thing to do?

magus678 · 2015-06-09T12:57:08+00:00

Thank you for doing this. Not only are you bothering at all, but your responses are very thoughtful. It is appreciated.

drallcom3 · 2015-06-09T13:10:39+00:00

What are the top things 30 yo singles (never married) spend their money for, split by gender?

pitchbl4ck · 2015-06-09T11:12:07+00:00

What kind of education did you take in uni/college to get a job like this?

tyeunbroken · 2015-06-09T13:37:40+00:00

Is it easy for false positives to pop up? As in, could someone make himself fall in a different demographic than they actually are by just being really good at pretending or just by accident?

MarcusDavidson · 2015-06-09T14:03:29+00:00

Thank you for donating your time to discuss the business side of TRP.

What Decision Tree does the consumer use when buying services (business consultation, software as a service)?

Is there a difference in the decision making process of buying tangible goods versus intangible services?

Is there a difference process for selling the same service to men versus women?

wolfNshepherd · 2015-06-09T14:38:57+00:00

Hi there Scotch (and whatever handsome gentlemen may read this buried comment). Thanks for contributing to the community here! We need all the outside insights we can get here, in this, the most open-minded and self-aware subreddit around... To the point:

Recently I've been reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. One chapter of the book describes finding unfilled markets. The example from the book is a man in New York who walks around, taking note of everything everybody is wearing, as well as what all the clothing shops are selling. He eventually finds one product that launches his business.

My question for you is...How can big data best be used to identify underserved markets? This is a tricky (and vague) question, so I'll break it down:

In your experience, are there any groups of people that tend to be underserved by advertising, or the marketplace in general? Obviously people with less spending power are less valuable as consumers, so they get less attention. Outside of the typical ideal consumer base (hip young people), I'd guess that minorities, older people, and other, less mainstream groups might be underserved in the market.

How can we go about extracting insights from data? There's an unimaginably huge pile of raw data out there, but turning data into insight is the truly valuable aspect of big data as an industry. How do we take raw data, like keywords, search-terms, demographics, surveys, etc. and turn those into knowledge pertinent to our agenda? To find an unfilled demand, we need to find people who A. have money to spend and B. have an unfulfilled need/want that, ideally, C. is currently not provided by anyone else. In short, how can we start with a versatile idea and use data to refine it into a specific service best suited towards a specific market?

Apologies in advance for the essay. I've bolded each question because your time is valuable; I really appreciate you taking the time to remark on any or all of my thoughts.

I'd love to hear any of you guys' experiences related to any of the questions I've put forward. Boy, it's refreshing to have a new perspective. Thanks again for contributing.

TheRedPilsner · 2015-06-09T14:47:43+00:00

Recently the company Protein World saw a boost in sales and was praised by thousands of people on social media because they refused to discontinue an ad that feminists found offensive. In fact, Protein World even responded to the protesters by deliberately baiting and antagonizing them on Twitter. Do you think more companies will start doing this?

ddundly · 2015-06-09T18:16:54+00:00

Have you had any dealings with marketing tied to "global warming"?

CuriousErnestBrine · 2015-06-09T20:54:00+00:00

How do I get a career like yours, I'll be studying Econometrics and Operations Research next year (it's with mathematical models applied on the economy).

What do I need to do besides making friends

MonsieurZank · 2015-06-09T21:00:09+00:00

Why are liberals / feminists able to move the zeitgeist leftwards, against men, at such a steady pace? What marketing techniques do they use? Or, conversely, what doesn't the manosphere do?

NiceTryDisaster · 2015-06-09T21:28:53+00:00

This one quote from Mad Men always stuck by me.

Don Draper: "The reason you haven’t felt it is because it doesn’t exist. What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons. You’re born alone and you die alone and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts. "

I want to know your view on it. How much of "love" is created and perpetuated by the media for money? Do you think it exists or is something totally made up?

xScotchx · 2015-06-09T10:59:49+00:00

When do you think the money bubble will burst and ever increasing mass consumerism as we know it will end?

iamz3ro · 2015-06-10T01:25:18+00:00

Ladies and gentlemen. This is probably going to be the closest we’ll ever get (without having to fork over a quarter of a million dollars) to scientific data, basically confirming what we know here at TRP.

A few things:

Men are becoming way more beta than ever before (I think this is because of testosterone killing chemicals found in essentially every consumer product).
Women are becoming more like men. Now, I think this has happened probably not because women have created this, but because men allowed it due to inaction, due to an increased level of laziness, due to TV, drugs, alcohol, video games, etc. I’m sure we all know the old saying “For darkness to win, all that is needed is for light to do nothing”.

I mean, I stayed up to an ungodly hour last night because I simply could not sleep due to all this information running through my head (don’t reddit before bed time), and I’m in slight shock and disbelief. Basically, next time you see a hot ass bitch in rayban sunnies, Gucci handbag and iPhone 6, remember the following: You’re not looking at a human being, you’re looking at a machine. You’re looking at a product, a product of capitalism. This bitch has no individual thoughts, she does not have compassion, nor does she have even a slither of an idea of what the world she’s living in, is like.

I was almost in tears last night reading through the thread (I’m still relatively new to TRP so sometimes I’ll experience an emotional “outbreak” or similar due to shock or just pure disbelief. I’m still in the early to mid stages of TRP) and it’s depressingly disheartening when you come to the above realization. I realize I sound like a little bitch and I assure you I’m well versed in TRP but I’m aware that I have a long way to go.

My question: How would you go about presenting yourself if you’re a musician such as a DJ/Producer or a singer or a band member etc? A.k.a best practises. I’m assuming that the entertainment industry is also focused on advertising to women hence the query.

ankit0912 · 2015-06-09T11:29:03+00:00

How does one partition the market space i.e. how does one create a need for a product in masses to which they've never been exposed before? Are there certain customer behaviors which can be utilized and exploited in order to gain market?

LateralThinkerer · 2015-06-09T14:39:15+00:00

This is a tantalizing AMA - could anyone persuade you to generate an ongoing blog out of it?

lazzatron · 2015-06-09T14:43:23+00:00

do you prefer spss, qps or rfs?

laserdicks · 2015-06-09T14:50:44+00:00

When we look at the work of marketers from the outside it's tempting to believe that the problems caused by marketing are done on purpose; for example encouraging young women to feel self-conscious about their weight in order to compel them to buy weight-loss products.

In your opinion how far does this go? What is the most unethical thing you know marketers (not necessarily yourself, but any that are out there) will do for a sale, and also how invasive or planned out will that action be?

I guess there's probably a scale between ethics and planning where less planning goes into unethical consequences that make profit. On that scale is there a particularly bad and planned point?

Finally thank you for this AMA it's an absolutely fascinating topic as I believe that marketing reflects the truth of society if you can access the data ('follow the money'). There's a huge amount of gold in this thread already but I'd be stoked if you could answer this question.

watersign · 2015-06-09T16:06:54+00:00

I interviewed @ WPP. Lots of people stuck in the past there.

What type of statistical models are you guys using? Like..are you using machine learning technques or combining them with econometric type stuff?

JAG3172 · 2015-06-09T17:03:51+00:00

Any advice for someone entering their last year of university going into marketing? I don't know too many people actually working in the field so it has been tough to find someone who knows what they're talking about. I am currently trying to find a job for when I finish school, hopefully in an advertising focused role. Any help at all would be huge!

amirrezapsp · 2015-06-10T00:41:32+00:00

Not sure if you are still here, but I learned a lot! Thank you for your service.

amirrezapsp · 2015-06-10T03:36:36+00:00

I am a teenager still in High School and I am thinking of starting a Social Media Consultant business where I'd talk to small businesses in my area that are not very tech illiterate and get them to allow me to take their business online.

I am aware of the crazy competition and the fact that it has no barriers to entry (which is the reason I want to enter the business). I guess a temporary solution to that for me is offering my service for the first couple of clients for free so it would allow me to build some competitive advantage and move on from there.

Is there any advice you can give me about this? anything.

xScotchx · 2015-06-09T02:16:10+00:00

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xScotchx · 2015-06-09T00:52:34+00:00

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SilentForTooLong · 2015-06-09T05:36:03+00:00

[permanently deleted]

Title	Ask a veteran consumer behavior researcher anything.
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	317
Comments	286
Date	June 9, 2015 12:22 AM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/393jjb/ask_a_veteran_consumer_behavior_researcher/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/ask-a-veteran-consumer-behavior-researcher.33423 https://theredarchive.com/post/33423

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