Sentient Insight: the business blog for consumer psychology and consumer marketing

Black Friday sales were up .5% from last year and retailers have high hopes for Cyber Monday. But the really good news for retailers might be yet to come: Interbrand noted that 51% of consumers said they will shop later this year and our own research bears that out:  our shopper focus groups throughout November told us their frugality is wearing thin but they’ll be waiting longer to shop this year, banking on last-minute deals in the malls and online. The recession has caused them to fight their urge for instant gratification: an urge that ruled the first decade of the 2000s.

Last week’s NYTimes Sunday Business section featured two articles on consumer irrationality (“Is There A Method In Cellphone Madness?”) and (“Paying A Price For the Thrill of the Hunt“) . As a firm that studies consumer psychology, and specifically the psychology of decision making, it’s interesting to see these topics making headlines. Part of our mission is to narrow the gap between academic research in consumer psychology and decision making and business, and to bring brands closer to their consumers, and we appreciate the movement in that direction. The more experts bring academic research on consumer decision making to the business world, the more efficient the business world will become. We see it happening every day.

The new Idaho Potato commercials featuring Denise Austin, health and fitness expert, attempt to cram a lot of brand messages into one ad. I counted at least 5 in one: 1) the origins of Idaho Potatoes; 2) the health benefits of Idaho Potatoes; 3) the taste of Idaho Potatoes; 4) the value of Idaho Potatoes; and 5) the Idaho Potatoes brand name itself. For each theme, a variety of support points is given: 1) Origins – “rich, volcanic soil” “pure water” “from the best earth on earth” 2) Healthy – no cholesterol, no fat, 110 calories, rich in nutrients, part of a well-balanced diet, a complex carbohydrate, high in vitamin C, more potassium than a banana, “great source of energy” 3) Tasty – tasty, delicious, “kids love them”

Sentient recently partnered with Crystal Deodorant to conduct a study about body odor. Not surprisingly, the results of this study show that people want to avoid bad body odor. What is surprising are the lengths people are willing to go to avoid bad body odor and how intimately it is tied to the sense of self-image. Approximately one-half of Americans (46%) said that they would be willing to sacrifice years of their life to chronic bad body odor. This group of individuals would sacrifice, on average, 10 years of their life to avoid this condition.

Nearly 40% larger than the next largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas left the shipyard in Finland this week en route for its new home in Florida. Five times larger than the Titanic, the $1.5 billion ship has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a small golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater. It has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members. Too large for existing cruise ship terminals, a $75 million terminal in Port Everglades had to be built to accommodate the new ship. What awful timing to launch such a display of decadence!