Ernest Dichter and Motivation Research: New Perspectives on the Making of Post-war Consumer Culture

300 Pages·2010·1.865 MB·English

by  Stefan Schwarzkopf, Rainer Gries (eds.)

Ernest Dichter and
Motivation Research

New Perspectives on the Making of

Post-War Consumer Culture
Edited by

Stefan Schwarzkopf

Rainer Gries
Ernest Dichter and Motivation Research
AlsobyStefanSchwarzkopf
DIEANATOMIEDESMACHTWECHSELS:DIESOZIALDEMOKRATISCHEN
REGIERUNGSÜBERNAHMENVON1969UND1998
AlsobyRainerGries
PROPAGANDAINDEUTSCHLAND
PRODUKTEALSMEDIEN
UNSEREFEINDE:KONSTRUKTIONENDESANDERENIMSOZIALISMUS
KULTURDERPROPAGANDA
PRODUKTE UND POLITIK: ZUR KULTUR- UND POLITIKGESCHICHTE DER
PRODUKTKOMMUNIKATION
ERNESTDICHTER:DOYENDERVERFÜHRER(withStefanSchwarzkopf)
PRODUKTKOMMUNIKATION:GESCHICHTEUNDTHEORIE
Ernest Dichter and
Motivation Research
New Perspectives on the Making of
Post-War Consumer Culture
Editedby
Stefan Schwarzkopf
AssociateProfessorinBusinessHistoryandMarketing,
CopenhagenBusinessSchool,Denmark
Rainer Gries
ProfessorofCommunications,UniversityofVienna,Austria
Editorialmatter,selection,chapter1andchapter16©StefanSchwarzkopf
andRainerGries2010
Allremainingchapters©theirrespectiveauthors2010
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-53799-6
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
ErnestDichterandmotivationresearch:newperspectivesonthemakingof
post-warconsumerculture/editedbyStefanSchwarzkopf,RainerGries.
p. cm.
1. Dichter,Ernest,1907–1991. 2. Dichter,Ernest,1907–1991—
Influence. 3. Consumerbehavior—Psychologicalaspects.
4. Consumption(Economics)—Psychologicalaspects.
5. Motivationresearch(Marketing) I. Schwarzkopf,Stefan,1976–
II. Gries,Rainer,1958–
HF5415.32.E762010
306.3—dc22 2010023955
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
Contents
ListofFiguresandTable viii
PrefaceandAcknowledgements ix
NotesonContributors x
Part I Introduction
1 ErnestDichter,MotivationResearchandthe‘Centuryof
theConsumer’ 3
StefanSchwarzkopfandRainerGries
Part II DimensionsofErnestDichter’sWorkand
Personality
2 FromViennatotheUnitedStatesandBack:ErnestDichter
andAmericanConsumerCulture 41
DanielHorowitz
3 ErnestDichter:TheMotivationalResearcher 58
RonaldFullerton
4 ErnestDichter,ReligionandtheSpiritofCapitalism:
AnExegeteofPureCultReligionServesConsumer
Society 75
GabrieleSorgo
5 ErnestDichterandConsumerBehaviour:Intellectual
PrimacyandInterpretiveConsumerResearch 91
MarkTadajewski
Part III TheBrandingofConsumerLife–Case
StudiesonErnestDichter’sWork
6 ErnestDichter’sStudiesonAutomobileMarketing 109
HeleneKarmasin
v
vi Contents
7 ErnestDichterandthePeacockRevolution:Motivation
Research,theMenswearMarketandtheDuPontCompany 126
ReginaLeeBlaszczyk
8 The‘SexofFood’:ErnestDichter,LibidoandAmerican
FoodAdvertising 140
KatherineParkin
9 PatriarchorPromoteroftheWomen’sMovement?
ErnestDichterandhisInterpretationoftheFemale
Image 155
KarinaKrummeichandStefanieLahm
Part IV TheEuropeanTheatre
10 ErnestDichterasMidwifeandEducator:Post-war
EuropeanConsumerSocietiesandtheSociologyofthe
Consumer 173
Kai-UweHellmann
11 ABackwardRepublicor‘BraveNewAustria’?Marketand
MotivationResearchinDichter’sHomeCountryafterthe
SecondWorldWar 188
AndreaMorawetz
12 TheReceptionofErnestDichterandtheResistanceto
MotivationResearchinFrancophoneEurope 205
VéroniquePouillard
13 ErnestDichterMotivatestheBritish:Motivation
ResearchandContestedProfessionalLegitimacies
inBritain 220
StefanSchwarzkopf
14 The‘DepthBoy’–ErnestDichterandthePost-war
GermanAdvertisingElite 236
DirkSchindelbeck
15 ‘VictimofaTechnicalHitch...’:ErnestDichteras
ProprietorofaGuesthousewithBuggingInstallation 256
DirkSchindelbeck
Contents vii
Part V Conclusion
16 MotivationResearch–EpisodeorParadigmShift?From
ErnestDichtertoConsumerEthnography,
NeuromarketingandBio-power 269
StefanSchwarzkopfandRainerGries
Index 291
List of Figures and Table
Figures
1.1 Dichter’sHolisticViewoftheProductandoftheMarket
ResearchProcess(adaptedfromTheStrategyofDesire,
p.145) 10
1.2 TheErnestDichterInstituteforMotivationalResearch
inCroton-on-Hudson,c.1955 14
1.3 LeopoldDichter’sDepartmentStore,Brunnengasse
Vienna,c.1930 21
2.1 ErnestDichter:TheVienneseÉmigré,Researcherand
Intellectual(c.1959) 45
5.1 ErnestDichterataGroupDiscussion,c.1966 102
6.1 ProjectiveTechnique(fromDichter1959) 114
6.2 CareUsage(fromDichter1959) 115
6.3 ElicitationofResponses(fromDichter1959) 116
6.4 ConsumerAttitudeCategories(fromDichter1972a) 117
6.5 CareUsage(fromDichter1959) 118
9.1 ErnestandHedyDichter,c.1965 159
11.1 ErnestDichterExplainshisPhilosophyofPackaging,
1971 197
16.1 ‘ErnestDichterlooksintoyourneeds’,c.1960 277
Table
3.1 MajorMotivationResearchleadersandorganisations
(c.1954) 63
viii
Preface and Acknowledgements
Thisbookemanatedfromthepapersanddiscussionsatthefirstinterna-
tionalconferenceonErnestDichterandMotivationResearch,organised
by the editors at the University of Vienna in December 2005. After
a preliminary publication of some of the conference papers with a
Viennese publisher, news was received in 2008 that Ernest Dichter’s
completepapershadbeendepositedattheHagleyMuseumandLibrary
in Wilmington, Delaware. In order to celebrate the life and work of
Ernest Dichter and accession of the Dichter archive at Hagley Museum
andLibrary,themuseumhasheldafurtherworkshop,‘Understanding
Markets’,inOctober2009.
The editors of this collection would like to thank the staff of the
Ernest Dichter Archive, University of Vienna, and in particular Roger
Horowitz, Associate Director of the Center for Business, Technology,
and Society, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, for his gener-
ous help with tracing sources. The following institutions have kindly
given permission to reproduce materials from their collections: Ernest
Dichter Archive, University of Vienna, Austria; Hagley Museum and
Library, Wilmington, DE. At Palgrave, Michael Strang and particularly
Ruth Ireland proved immensely helpful and patient. Their help and
adviceisgratefullyacknowledged.
ix