The hidden life of the consumer mind

Abstract

Unconscious influences permeate the everyday life of consumers. The scope of unconscious influences is greatly enhanced when the operational definition of “unconscious” shifts from the anachronistic “subliminal” one—whether the person is aware of the triggering information itself—to the far more common situation of being unaware of the influence of that stimulus. People are often unaware of how external events influence their choices and behavior, which is a good reason not to rely on self-report measures of mediating internal mental processes. What are the main forms of mundane unconscious influence? (1) The person's primary evolved needs and motives and active goal pursuits, which operate unconsciously to exert a transformative effect on selective attention, preferences, and purchases, and consumption. These can be triggered through common external means such as grocery store handouts and emails from the boss. (2) Immediate preconscious perceptual inputs from the external environment influence seemingly “free” conscious choices. Finally, (3) postconscious processes have the same effects but come from the carry-over of conscious experiences from one situation into the next. This is the domain of “nudges” or “priming effects” with many field studies as well as meta-analyses demonstrating their validity and replicability.