Branding and Psychological Cathexis

Human behaviour is largely about acquiring and destroying. Freud stated that we attach a either a positive or negative cathexis to every object, person or idea in our environment. When we attach a positive cathexis to something, we will invest a significant amount of time and energy in acquiring that object or living in that idea. When we attach a negative cathexis to something in our environment, we we do everything in our power to obliterate or destroy it.

Think about it this way - when we fall in love with someone, we want to do everything we can to be with and even possess the person that is the object of our desire. Should our affections change, we will do everything we can to avoid or remove that person from our lives. This is a prime example of positive and negative cathexis, and for those who have been in and out of love, we know the amount of energy that we can spend on these pursuits.

I believe that attachment to brands works the same way - we attach either a positive or negative cathexis to every brand that we see. If there is a positive cathexis, we will go to the ends of the earth for that brand. If there is a negative cathexis, we will not bat an eye towards it. The challenge for branders and marketers, of course, is to determine what attributes will create a positive cathexis, given that every individual is different and has a unique set of ideals as to what they positively or negatively cathex.

To address this challenge, in qualitative research I am often called-upon to evaluate what people think of products, brands or communications. Though clients may not like to hear this - I know within 5 seconds whether a person or group likes what I am presenting to them. The reason why is we react instantly to objects to which we assign a positive or negative cathexis (imagine the dewey look a new lover gets in his/her eyes when describing their new significant other - we know in an instant that the person to whom we are speaking is smitten, even if we don't know all the details). In psychotherapy clinicians are trained to look for these shifts in a person's face, body posture, language and even the energy they give off. Though these cues may not be highly visible from behind the mirror, to a trained moderator in the room, they can hit like a ton of bricks.

Many of the questions that typically follow after presenting a brand, communication, product or concept are typically less reliable than the initial reaction that reveals the cathexis participants have towards what is being presented. That is, we typically ask what participants think, what they like, what they don't like, how it compares to other products, etc... These questions put participants into their heads - participants are trying to explain their own cathexis process that operates invisibly to them.

There are a number of practical considerations for qualitative research and analysis based on this:

- Qualitative research should not strive to have participants "head-state" their ideal product, brand or communication. Rather, the moderator should attempt to create an environment where participants will be able to actually display those initial reactions to products, brands and ideas. The moderator should probe the reaction as it happens (and the associated feelings) and not read from a pre-defined list of questions, as this will put participants into their heads, losing all the visceral emotions from the initial reaction. Clients need to trust a moderator's instinct, and for that matter should work with a moderator who has clinical psychology experience or training, as it is more likely this person is more in touch with his or her instincts.

- Projective techniques and guided imagery are often useful in this instance. For example, if a client is researching a new body soap, rather than having participants describe their "ideal characteristics" of the soap, we can use guided imagery that starts-out by putting the participants in an environment in which they already have a positive cathexis. Say, for example, we have participants close their eyes and ask them to drive around in their dream car - we ask them what it is like (e.g. the interior, the noise, the smell, the power of the car, the look of the dashboard, etc......) and how they feel (e.g. exhilarated, luxurious, practical, etc...). From there, we can ask them to look over at the passenger seat, and see emerging in it a bar of soap, and this bar of soap is going to give them the same feeling that they have driving the car. We can ask them, for example, what smell the soap has to it that gives them the same feeling, etc... The logic to this method is fairly simple - we have placed the participant in a positively cathexed environment, and asked them to get in touch wit the emotions and attributes they have in it. From there, we ask them to project those attributes onto the client's product.

- While the above will provide clients with a good sense of the emotional features and drivers for the bar of soap, most products or brands do not succeed unless they help consumers solve a problem. Think about it this way - we have a positive cathexis towards a partner based both on their physical attributes and also because they fulfill our human need to be loved and to care for others. A product, no matter how it is designed, must fill a need as well. Needs can be divided-up into two categories - practical and emotional. A car provides transportation, and it gives us a sense of identity in the world. Nike gives us both athletic shoes and confidence.

Again, in order to determine the benefits of the product, all we need to do is have participants envision using the product and then ask them how they envision their ego ideal - that is, what do they expect to happen to them, their environment and their psyche once they use the product and brand.

- Where brands, communications and products run in to trouble is when consumers have assigned them a negative cathexis, yet still purchase them anyhow. This is the very definition of neurosis - when one does not have the ability to annihilate a negatively cathexed object, or when one cannot properly acquire a positively cathexed object. Say we have a group of "frequent buyers" of our product in the room and when we ask them about the brand or product, we do not get that instant energy associated with positive cathexis. Instead what we get is a lot of "head talk" about how the brand has the best price/value ratio, or that it comes in convenient sizes, or that children like it, or that the product has a lot of great features. Sure, these are positives, but it is like dating someone just for their looks - the relationship will eventually fail once the couple realizes that they do not have anything in common.

The job of a good moderator, and the needs of a good marketer in this situation are not to find out what cosmetic adjustments can be made to the product, brand or communication - as these are just superficial changes. Rather, the moderator needs to delve into two things to attempt to uncover factors that create a positive cathexis:

1) What problem does the product or brand really help address or solve, or what problems would they like the product or brand to help solve. What is their grandest wish for the product or brand?

2) How do participants want to feel using the product or brand? What archetypes do they want to activate (e.g. the good mother, caring parent, prudent investor, maverick rebel, creative expressionist, etc...) and what are the feelings associated with these archetypes. It it critical to note that probing both of these factors requires use of projective techniques, as participants (and people in general) often blot-out or are unaware of these basic needs.

Good branding and marketing are not rocket science. A positively cathexed product addresses practical, emotional and archetypal needs of the individual. Researchers and marketers cannot focus solely on the practical (or head-space) benefits. If they do, they run the risk of putting out products that consumers will not have any long-term attachement to. That is, the products may look good and function well, but in reality the consumer has attached a negative cathexis to the product or service because they do not meet emotional or archetypal needs. When the consumer realizes that they can annihilate brands like this, they will do so - it is inevitable human nature.