Response to Subconscious Consumerism

Yesterday, when my class continued to watch the PBS documentary "The Persuaders," (link to documentary site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/). we were introduced to an interesting character in the documentary: Clotaire Rapaille. Dr. Rapaille is a psychologist who has turned his experience with human behavior to applications in marketing. He explains that consumers were subconsciously driven to buy products by what he calls the "reptilian" primal urges of the human brain. PBS's investigator, along with seemingly most of the class, seemed pretty skeptical to his methods. How could such a bunch of hokey really make money for corporations that pay this wierdo tons of money? However, I was not skeptical.

I have read two very interesting works that reflect the peculiar sociological and psychological aspects of people's consumption habits. They are The Tipping Point (description of The Tipping Point: http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html) and Blink (description of Blink: http://www.gladwell.com/blink/index.html) by Malcolm Gladwell. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell explores how relatively unknown products can suddenly explode into popularity due to how people interact with each other. The most prevalent example throughout the book is the explosion in popularity of "Hushpuppies," a particular brand and style of shoe. Gladwell explains the mechanics of brand popularity, describing how society can be broken down into consumers with different behaviors. There are an advance few that will try new styles that have never been tried before, then there are those consumers who specialize in disseminating information about these advance consumers. After a few more of these steps, a particular brand may become incredibly popular. It may not be obvious, but the science of sociology plays a huge role in people's consumer habits.

Blink can be best described as a dissertation explaining why gut feelings are usually correct. In this work, Gladwell explores the powerful influence of the human subconscious. I feel this book is relevant because it shows how the arcane human subconscious manifests itself in the daily actions of people. Quick decisions are made by the human subconscious faster than the conscious mind ever could, without any inner dialogue. This concept, in combination with the sociological roots of consumerism, makes me feel that Dr. Rapaille may be onto something ingenious instead of being a complete nut.