Watch what they do, not what they say...
I just got an e-mail invitation to an event titled, Communicating Your Company's Values: How Corporate Social Responsibility Impacts the Bottom Line. The very first line of body copy is a quote attributed to a 2001, Cone/ Roper Corporate Citizenship Study which says this:
"81 percent (of consumers) said they'd likely switch brands on items of comparable quality and price to support a cause."
To me, the crucial word here is "said." Note that 81% of consumers did not actually switch brands to support a cause -- they just said they would.
Would I make an important marketing decision based on what consumers "say" they will do? Not on my life. Especially in this case, where there's a distinct motive for, well, bending the truth a bit -- people want to be seen as moral, ethical beings, not selfish creatures. So sure, I'll tell you I'll go out and buy a hybrid -- then I'll put money down on a gas-guzzling SUV.
C'mon, we've all learned this since we were toddlers: What people say they will do and what they actually do are two entirely different things with only a tentative relationship to each other -- kind of like distant cousins, twice removed, living on opposite coasts.
Yet marketers fall into this "consumers say" trap all the time, frequently as the result of bad research, poorly run focus groups and/or misinterpreted survey/interview data.
The research I value most measures behaviors and actions. That's why I love direct response so much. People respond or they don't respond. They buy or they don't buy. Hard and clear. Those are numbers I trust.
How about you?
"81 percent (of consumers) said they'd likely switch brands on items of comparable quality and price to support a cause."
To me, the crucial word here is "said." Note that 81% of consumers did not actually switch brands to support a cause -- they just said they would.
Would I make an important marketing decision based on what consumers "say" they will do? Not on my life. Especially in this case, where there's a distinct motive for, well, bending the truth a bit -- people want to be seen as moral, ethical beings, not selfish creatures. So sure, I'll tell you I'll go out and buy a hybrid -- then I'll put money down on a gas-guzzling SUV.
C'mon, we've all learned this since we were toddlers: What people say they will do and what they actually do are two entirely different things with only a tentative relationship to each other -- kind of like distant cousins, twice removed, living on opposite coasts.
Yet marketers fall into this "consumers say" trap all the time, frequently as the result of bad research, poorly run focus groups and/or misinterpreted survey/interview data.
The research I value most measures behaviors and actions. That's why I love direct response so much. People respond or they don't respond. They buy or they don't buy. Hard and clear. Those are numbers I trust.
How about you?
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