The classic learning model is comprised of three elements: Think -> Feel -> Do. People learn about a product or service, come to feel a certain way, and then take action. A very linear, logical approach.
In the 80s, Dick Vaughn spearheaded the FCB Grid which identified alternative learning models, such as Feel -> Think -> Do (for categories like luxury cars and perfume) and Do -> Feel -> Think for (instant gratification products like candy bars). Still linear, however.
In the 90s, based on the research I was conducting, I started counseling clients that the decision-making process was actually iterative – often with lots of back and forth between the thinking and feeling components. It’s often the case that we rationalize our feelings with thoughts and our thoughts with feelings.
But that’s only one dimension. What’s the situation a consumer finds themselves in? What are they actually thinking and feeling about? How they prioritize, based on their situation, can provide marketers will critical consumer insights.
Take restaurants for example. The diagram below shows quite a number of attributes that might be considered when deciding where to eat.
Here are several situational examples:
- I don’t have a lot of time to eat and I’m alone.
- I’m dining out for a special occasion and don’t have a lot of time because we’re going to the theater immediately after dinner.
- I feel like full-service Thai in a family-friendly setting.
- I’m driving on a highway and I’m hungry; the next rest-stops are in 5 miles and 50 miles.
Where someone “enters the decision-process” – how they prioritize what’s important to them in that situation – will determine which set of restaurants they will choose from. In our four examples, I might have some of the same restaurants on my first two lists. If children are in the party I might have some of the same restaurants (Thai only) on my second and third lists. Example #4 highlights how taking action can supersede nearly all other variables.
What are the decision criteria in your category? How can you use this approach to effectively segment and communicate with your customers?
Your thoughts?
I chose an unusual category but that is where I am in right now. Assuming a job seeker as a customer and an employer as the marketer/seller/provider:
Decision criteria-
Salary
Health care and other benefits
Work culture
Commute distance
Position offered
Organization attributes
Situational examples:
1. I don’t really care about salary and benefits but being a new Mom, I need a great work culture and a reasonable commute.
2. I am a beginner and my first and probably only priority is to get a foothold in the industry. Therefore, the nature of position offered is my main concern so I can gain the desired skills.
3. I am looking for a leadership role and therefore, my first priority is the organizational attributes followed closely by salary and benefit plans.
4. I am unemployed with minimal skills and all I need is a job which can offer me some salary and benefits so I can keep my family afloat.
Since the situational factors of a customer are NOT in the control of any marketer/seller/provider, it is probably BEST to be the top choice for any customer whose situational demands match your product or service or job vacancy in my example. (Of course, in my example, I make the particular company my top choice but they need not make me their top choice.)
Example, as a recruiter, I have 5 candidates in market research with similar skills and experience. First, identify the strong points of the open position – whether it is the salary or the work culture or both and so on. Next, segment the candidates based on their situational needs/wants. Finally, choose the candidate whose situational need/want best fits the position’s strongest attributes. Of course, effective communication is needed early on to make the candidates aware of the strongest attributes of the open position.
Steps to effective communication using situational decision-making model:
1. First, use the decision criteria to identify your brand/service’s strongest assets/attributes.
2. Second, use the different situational factors to create situations under which a customer might consider your brand/service as a purchase/service option. The situational factors can also be used to segment customers on the basis of their need/want in a given situation.
3. Third, communicate effectively using messages/lessons learned from step 2.
I think this is a valuable perspective. While not the way I originally was thinking of this, the point of these blog posts is to take what you want from the posting and see how it might apply to you and your business/industry.
You’ve layered this idea. In effect, you put a gatekeeper between the company and its employees, which is exactly what happens when seeking work. You have two competing situations (recruiter and candidate) with both seeking the same outcome. It’s a third dimension, but I think the basic concept still applies.