THE MIND OF THE BUYER A PSYCHOLOGY OF SELLING THE MACMILLAN COMPANY MBW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO DALLAS ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OP CANADA, LIMITED TORONTO THE MIND OF THE BUYEB A PSYCHOLOGY OF SELLING BY HARRY DEXTER KITSON, PH.D. PROFSSSOB OF PSYCHOLOGY, BtDUJU UNIVERSITY Porfe THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1929 AU rights reserved PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA COPYRIGHT, 1921 BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1921 FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY NEW YORK PEEFACE This book is written for the progressive salesman, advertiser, sales correspondent for every one who is engaged in influencing men to buy. It does not deal with the tech- nique of selling; each form of selling has its own technique which must be separately ac- quired. Bather it deals with principles. It recognizes that certain elements are common to all forms of selling. These elements are certain occurrences within the mind of the buyer. Whether directed by word of mouth, by pen or by picture, the mind must perforce pass through certain stages en route to the act of purchase. It is to describe these mental processes that the book is written. Such a work must necessarily deal with profound psychological questions. Such men- tal processes as attention, interest, desire, and confidence require voluminous treatment in the literature of theoretical psychology. The author has endeavored in this presenta- tion, however, to rob them of their forbidding v 753475 vi PREFACE dryness by stripping away technical terms and substituting words of current business usage. Two outstanding ideals have governed the preparation of the work: (1) To show the reader how to take the psychological point of view toward the business of selling; (2) to teach that in investigating the sale psycho- logically we must employ the methods of scientific measurement. By repetition and ex- ample the author has emphasized these two ideals. If he shall have made them clear he will have accomplished his chief aim whether he teaches a great amount of psychological fact or not. The psychologist-reader will discern a studied avoidance of the spiritistic conception of mind. The mind is here conceived as an organic unity. Though exposition of this point of view is withheld, as unseemly in a book of this kind, still the phraseology will be found to fit it, without at the same time affrighting the non-psychological reader un- familiar with the controversies about the mind-body relation. This avoidance of meta- physical disputations is further helped by the consistent emphasis upon the buyer's be- havior. Objective descriptions are largely PREFACE vli used. And since our objective psychological nomenclature is not cluttered with spiritistic connotations, the aim of being scientific and at the same time understandable is more easily achieved. Grateful acknowledgments are due to J. B. Lippincott Company for permission to use certain passages and cuts from the author's "Manual for the Study of the Psychology of Advertising and Selling," with which this may be used as a text; to the editor of The Scientific Monthly for permission to reprint portions of Chapter XIII; to the editor of Western Advertising for permission to re- print portions of Chapter V; to Professor W. F. Book for reading the manuscript and making helpful suggestions; and to the many students at The University of Chicago and at Indiana University, who by their keen interest and their scientific zeal have stimu- lated the author to prosecute his quest towards a scientific approach to the mind of the buyer. H. D. K. June, 1921. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER PAGE I THE STREAM OP THOUGHT IN THE SALE 3 STAGE ONE ATTENTION II IMPORTANT FACTORS IN ATTRACTING ATTEN- TION 29 III THE INFLUENCE OF REPETITION 44 IV SELLING TO THE COLLECTIVE BUYER ... 54 STAGE TWO INTEREST V How TO AROUSE INTEREST IN A COMMODITY . 77 VI GOOD FEELING A REQUISITE 89 VII THE IMAGINATION OF THE BUYER .... 97 STAGE THREE DESIRE VTH DESIRE 109 STAGE FOUR CONFIDENCE IX CONFIDENCE AND GOOD WILL 117 STAGE FIVE DECISION AND ACTION X THE POWER OF REASON 131 XI INSTINCTIVI FACTORS 139 be CONTENTS CHAPTXK XII SUGGESTION IN THE SALE ....... 152 XIII THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MOMENT .... 169 STAGE SIX SATISFACTION XIV SATISFACTION THE GOAL . . . . - M ... . . 185 BIBLIOGRAPHY .... ... ... ... . . . . 203 INDEX 209 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE THE STREAM OF THOUGHT IN THE SALE Successful selling demands psychological point of view. A sale is an interaction between two people who are exchanging economic goods. This interaction consists of a series of changes occurring in both buyer and seller. The lat- ter makes certain moves which call forth re- sponsive movements from the former. The moves made by the seller may consist of various things: display of goods; verbal descriptions; pictures; even the proffer of a friendly cigar. The responses of the buyer may be equally variable : entering a store for a box of candy displayed in the window; reaching into the pocket for a coin; sending for a catalog; dispatching a written order. In the light of such variable conditions we must recognize as forms of selling: adver- tising, window display, sales correspondence, and personal salesmanship. Although each of these modes of selling has its peculiar problems and methods, all have one aim in 3 4 THE MIND OF THE BUYER common to influence the mind of the buyer. Any seller, then, who wishes to be successful, must study the mind of the buyer in other words, must take the psychological point of view. The mind a stream. In discussing the mind of the buyer we may profitably use James's figure of speech and picture it as a stream, consisting of the sum-total of mental processes going on within the individual: ideas, sensations, feelings, volitions and ac- tions. There are two characteristics of the stream which deserve special notice: Characteristics of the mental stream. 1. The mind never stands still. It is in constant motion. The thoughts of one mo- ment are quickly replaced by others. The mind of the buyer in a sale consists of a pro- cession of sensations, feelings, and willings. From the beginning to the conclusion of the sale these flow along like a stream. 2. The mind is complex. It is not a simple thing that we are dealing with, but an organ- ism of many qualities and powers. It will be our task in this book to describe this stream; to slow it up and examine its con- tents. We shall analyze it in two directions longitudinally and cross-sectionally. In the STREAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 5 first case we shall divide it into several rather well-defined stages, each of which we shall study separately. In the second, we shall cut cross-sections at critical points and examine the contents minutely under our psychological microscope. The stages in a sale. The mental stream of the buyer may be divided into six stages : I Attention II Interest III Desire IV Confidence V Decision and Action VI Satisfaction Stage I II III IV VI FIG. 1. Th stream of thought in a sale. (Reproduced by kind permission of J B. Lippincott Company, from the author's "Manual for the Study of the Psychology of Advertising and Selling.") The order just mentioned may not be strictly adhered to in every sale. For in- stance, confidence may precede desire and even interest; interest may come simultane- ously with attention. Generally speaking, 6 THE MIND OF THE BUYER however, the order given above will truly represent conditions, especially in the initial purchase of an article. We should also recognize the fact that the stages are not necessarily equal in length. The initial pulse of attention may last but a moment before merging into interest. Inter- est may then endure for an hour. Moreover a single stage may vary in length under dif- ferent circumstances. Interest may endure for a minute, an hour, a day or a year. Gross-sectional analysis of the stream. Though we shall regard the mind as an ever-flowing stream, still we shall occasionally be obliged to act as though we could stop it. At im- portant stages we shall retard it and take cross-sections of it. Were we to represent these diagramatically we should use a circle similar to that of Figure 2, and represent the sensations, ideas, and feelings of the buyer by symbolic designs. We should bear in mind throughout that this procedure is really an artificial one. Strictly speaking we can- not stop the mind in its flow and make detailed pictures of its contents. Nevertheless we shall employ this method as far as possible, being justified by the facts thus obtainable and the clearness of analysis thus made possible. STREAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 7 Other points of view. In taking the psycho- logical point of view we do not mean to imply that the only problems in selling are those of a psychological nature. Particularly im- portant are those of an ethical and economic nature. And before proceeding with our Fro. 9. Cross-section of stream of thought. (Reproduced by kind permission of J. B. Lippincott Company, from the author's "Manual for the Study of the Psychology of Advertising and Selling.") psychological descriptions we should observe the relations between these several points of view. When we regard a sale from the ethical point of view we stress the rightness or wrong- ness of the transaction. We ask: Is this practice right? Are the goods being sold at a fair price? Are they being sold with a consideration for the rights of competitors? 8 THE MIND OF THE BUYER The ethical side of selling is exceedingly im- portant from the standpoint of the welfare of society. And it is gratifying to note that the standards of ethics in the business world are rising. We shall present some evidence for this in a later section of the book (page 192). When we regard a sale from the economic point of view we ask such questions as these : What are the sources of the commodity under consideration? What agencies are required to bring it from source to buyer? What are the separate elements that enter in to de- termine the price? It is needless to enumerate more questions. Every business man formu- lates scores of them daily; for whether one neglects other points of view or not, one is bound to consider the economic point of view. Important as are these two aspects of the sale we shall not stress them in this book. We shall assume that no reader will under- take any practice which is not ethically justi- fied. And we shall assume that the profes- sional economists will take care of the economic issues involved. So we shall con- centrate our attention upon the psychological aspects. In undertaking to psychologize about the conduct of the buyer, let it be understood that STEEAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 9 we purpose to catalogue the sensations, ideas and feelings animating him and to discover the springs of his action. This purpose is inherent in the very definition of psychology, "the science which aims to describe and ex- plain the conduct of living creatures." What distinguishes our point of view, then, from others, is that we seek merely to give a com- plete description and explanation of the buyer's conduct, and explain how to manipu- late it. Old and new conceptions of psychology. In adopting this conception of psychology we should mark it off clearly from the conception held by some people. For the most part the public regards psychology as something mys- terious and occult a matter for hypnotism and clairvoyance, a kind of divining-rod, a mesmeric potion, or weird incantation by means of which a seller may cast a spell over a buyer and compel him to purchase. This bizarre superstition regarding psy- chology is very deep-rooted. It dates back many centuries, even to the time of Aristotle (384-22 B. c.) who wrote the first psychologi- cal text-book. Aristotle defined psychology as the "science of the soul." He regarded the soul as that part of man which thinks, feels, 10 THE MIND OF THE BUYER and wills ; and he sought to determine whence it came and where it went after death. Aristotle's kind of psychology endured for many hundreds of years, in fact, until the seventeenth century. About this time Locke, Hume and others began to assert : Though we have been trying for centuries to discover the nature, origin and source of the soul, we have not succeeded. Let us, then, abandon these questions and relegate them to the realm of things beyond our ken. Instead let us ob- serve the events that occur during the lifetime of an individual. In other words, let us con- sider the mind only as it relates to man's bodily conduct. This advice was heeded and psychology came to be defined as the "science of mind" or "consciousness." This definition endures at the present time, colored in the popular mind by relics of Aristotle's mysticism. Since the middle of the nineteenth century another conception of psychology has arisen. During the nineteenth century the physical sciences physics and chemistry developed greatly; and the biological sciences botany, zoology, and physiology arose. Under the influence of these developments, psychology began to change in subject-matter and method. STREAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 11 (1) The influence of bodily conditions upon the mind came to be more clearly recognized; and (2) the methods used in the other rapidly- developing sciences were timidly applied. Many of these methods worked, particularly those used in the investigation of animal be- havior. As a result, psychology came to be defined as the "science of consciousness and behavior." (Some extremists have gone so far as to leave out the word consciousness and call it the "science of behavior.") This defini- tion, though not vitally objectionable to most psychologists of to-day, nevertheless carries some undesirable implications. Accordingly we shall adopt a slightly different wording: "the science which aims to describe and ex- plain the conduct of living creatures." After this brief historical resume the reader may understand why in the popular mind psychology continues to be identified with mystical, abstract, and ethereal things. He may also see that the real progress of the science has been away from mysticism; that to-day it is just as matter-of fact and "earthly" as the sciences of physics, geography, and astronomy. This kinship with the other sciences will be shown more clearly in our next paragraph where we shall discuss the 12 THE MIND OF THE BUYER method of psychology and show that it is identical with that employed by other sciences. Scientific method experiment. In describ- ing and explaining the actions of the buyer, psychology employs the method common to all sciences experiment. The procedure of an experiment may be described as follows : 1. To observe the phenomenon under con- sideration. To observe systematically, not spasmodically or sporadically. Indeed, to be thoroughly scientific we must make our ob- servations under carefully controlled condi- tions usually in the laboratory where we can control them more easily than in the hurly- burly of everyday life. By "control" we mean to arrange conditions so that we may repeat our observations (for in making scientific measurements we cannot rely upon merely one observation) ; watch one factor at a time; and change conditions at will. In brief, an experiment is "a series of observations which can be repeated, isolated and varied." 2. We must record our measures. We must use great care in doing this; describing exactly the conditions under which we per- form our experiment, so that another experi- menter working under the same conditions may secure similar results. We record our STREAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 1? results, be it understood, in mathematical terms. Accordingly a very important part of our records will be figures. 3. Our next step is to tabulate these fig- ures in orderly array, then to summarize them in a concise form so that they may be readily perceived. 4. On the basis of the results secured we draw conclusions. In order to illustrate this procedure we shall give an experiment which is sometimes performed in the psychological laboratory: A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT (Adapted from C. H. Judd, "Laboratory Manual of Psychology" by kind permission of Ginn & Co.) Hold page 15 directly in front of the eyes at a distance of about twenty inches. Though these two lines are equal length (10 centimeters = 4 inches), the horizontal line ap% pears to be shorter than the vertical one. There is a psychological fact at the bottom of this: namely, that the apparent length of a line depends to some degree upon its position. This much is evident from casual observation. But to have a scientific statement of the fact we must state how much effect is produced by changing th* line from the horizontal to the vertical position. We must measure the effect and state it in mathematical terms. In order to do this, cover the vertical line with a piece of plain paper, setting the page up in front of the eyes at a distance of twenty inches. Then, using the horizontal line as a standard, draw on a piece of plain paper, a vertical 14 THE MIND OF THE BUYER line which appears to you to equal the horizontal line. (Do not try to make allowance for the discrepancy which you now know exists.) If you measure the line you have just drawn you will probably find that it is less than four inches; thus showing that you judged the line longer when in the vertical posi- tion, than in the horizontal. And you can state how much longer you judged it by subtracting the length of your copied line from the length of the standard. But this single observation is not sufficient to permit a scientific conclusion. In scientific investigation a single observation is seldom relied upon. You must make more measures. Cover up the line you just drew and draw another; cover it up and draw successive lines, covering each line as soon as drawn, until you have drawn ten. Now measure all the lines and record the lengths; add them and find the average. Your series of measures will resemble the series below, showing the lengths of lines drawn by another experimenter under these same conditions. The measures are stated in centimeters. With a horizontal line of ten centimeters (four inches) as a standard the vertical line was drawn ten times with the following lengths: 8.6 8.3 ' The average shows a difference of 1.67 8 ' 4 centimeters between the horizontal standard and the vertical copies. This gives us sound ' basis for concluding that under the condi- g'j tions of the experiment, the apparent length g'g of a line changes from 10 centimeters to g' 3 8.33 centimeters when the line is changed '_ from horizontal to vertical. 10)83.3 8.33 STREAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 15 I 16 THE MIND OF THE BUYER This was a typical psychological experiment, conforming to our formulation above. a. We made an observation, surrounding it with all the care possible. b. We repeated the observation, being careful to maintain conditions unchanged. And our measures were fairly con- sistent. By following our procedure another experimenter will secure practically the same results. c. We arranged conditions so that we might observe merely one factor about the line the effect of position upon apparent length. We isolated that factor, disregarding ef- fect of position upon apparent thickness, brightness, etc. d. Again we arranged conditions so that had we wished we might have varied our observations, slanting the line first at thirty degrees, then at sixty. e. Lastly, we measured the effects and stated our con- clusion in quantitative terms. Three forms of scientific method. We may apply the experimental (scientific) method to problems of selling in three forms: 1. "Statistical investigation of returns." We may arrange conditions in a selling cam- paign so that the returns may be measured. By successive trials of different methods and comparisons between returns, we may deter- mine which method is the most effective. Good examples of this in the field of advertis- ing are furnished by Shryer. This scientific "investigation of returns," however desirable it may be, is many times not feasible. The returns from many sales- STKEAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 17 mediums, such as bill-boards and car-cards, are not measurable. Moreover, the compon- ents of a selling campaign are so numerous and various that it is difficult to isolate the several items and ascertain what part of the returns is due to each. Finally, the method is bound to be attended by some waste of effort and money. Altogether despite its advantage of certainty of information the method can- not be employed alone and in wholesale fashion. 2. "Laboratory method." A substitute for the above has been proposed in the laboratory method, according to which conditions are arranged as nearly as possible like the con- ditions of the market ; persons are chosen typi- cal of the prospective buyers of the com- modity; and measures are obtained of their reactions. In this manner various sales de- vices may be tried out before being used on a large scale. This method seems to promise good results and undoubtedly may throw light upon many problems of selling, particularly in the preparation of sales appeals through the printed page. Suppose that we are laying out an advertisement, and wish to know whether upper-case type (capitals) or lower- case type (small letters) will make the more 18 THE MIND OF THE BUYER legible headline. To investigate this we might enter the psychological laboratory, ex- pose sample headlines through an instrument called the tachistoscope ; measure the speed with which a number of persons can perceive the headlines in the two kinds of type; tabu- late our results; collate them; and conclude which type is the more legible. Many ap- plications of this form of scientific method are described in the several books on the Psy- chology of Advertising. We may confidently affirm that the method has demonstrated its adaptability to the solution of a number of problems of selling. With certain problems, however, it can hardly be used effectively, owing in part to an inevitable artificiality of the laboratory atmosphere. 3. But we have not exhausted the possi- bilities of scientific method in the investiga- tion of problems of selling. In case neither of the above two methods is adaptable, or in case we wish to corroborate our findings by other kinds of information, we may secure light from still another direction. Our aim, be it remembered, is to discover with scientific accuracy the most effective way to do a thing before we proceed to do it. If we cannot ac- complish this in the market or in the labora- STREAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 19 tory, we may appeal to the experience of other sellers who have faced our problem; and by observing their solutions, we may govern our procedure. How discover their experiences? To ask them would evoke contradictions and opinions of different degrees of reliability. Further- more, since we seek scientific formulations of our facts we must have figures instead of opinions. How shall we reduce the experi- ences of sellers to numerical terms? The answer is, Use the "historical method." Investigate the practices of the sellers of the past and observe the ways in which they solved the problems that confront us. For example, in answering "historically" the question propounded above : Is it in gen- eral more profitable to use upper-case or lower-case type in headlines?, one would go to the files of newspapers and magazines for many years back, and ascertain the percentage of headlines in small letters. An investigation of this nature by the author disclosed the fact that advertisers have been using with increasing frequency lower-case headlines. Whereas in 1905 sixty-three per cent of the headlines in full-page advertisements in the Literary Digest were in lower-case type, in 20 THE MIND OF THE BUYER 1920 the number had increased to seventy-six per cent. (See Fig. 4.) ^ Another illustration of the "historical" method : A number of firms desired to deter- mine the bst method of selecting salesmen. 1905 1910 1915 1920 FIG. 4. Showing the increase in the use of lower-case type for headlines between 1905 and 1920. They formed a cooperative bureau which examined the practices of all the firms; tabu- lated them and combined the results, embody- ing them into a system by which all might select their salesmen. In employing the "historical" method we make use of several assumptions: STREAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 21 a. The practices which have persisted over a period of years have probably been of value. We infer either that those firms which did not follow these practices did not make enough money to enable them to continue to adver- tise; or that those which did continue to advertise, discovered the difference between valueless and valuable practices and adopted the latter. We must not assume that sellers made these changes as a result of conscious discoveries. They worked mainly by trial and error. As indicated in Figure 4, they discovered the usefulness of lower-case type in headlines only after a long-extended period of experimenta- tion. We may regard modern selling practices, then, as products of unconscious evolution. In the struggle for existence in the world of publicity, certain features have survived be- cause of certain psychological elements of strength and fitness. They exemplify a sort of economic "survival of the fittest." b. A second assumption we make in utilizing the "historical" method is that if sellers had studied the practices of their pre- decessors they might have avoided some errors and might have 'eliminated much wastage. 22 THE MIND OF THE BUYER And we assume that by surveying the prac- tices of the past and by discovering which ones have survived and which have failed, we may modify our practices and find a shorter and more economical road to business success. We repeat that we are not proposing the historical method as a formula for the solu- tion of all selling problems. We advocate it merely as one form of scientific investigation which will permit us to supplement and cor- roborate information secured by other means. Indeed we cannot regard either one of these methods as sufficient for the approach to sell- ing problems. At best each throws only a bit of light upon the entire situation. One method may be better adapted to one type of problem than is another method. And one may be more adaptable to one type of problem than to another type. In most cases probably two or all three of the methods will be found useful; each one supplementing the results secured through the others. After this discussion of the history and methods of psychology, the reader will see that modern psychology has no hint of hocus- pocus in its procedure; that it is far from being the mesmeric game of popular fancy. Rather that it is a serious matter of labora- STKEAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 23 tory apparatus, statistical tables and graphs. Instead of donning the crescent-decorated robe of the clairvoyant, the psychologist rolls up his shirt-sleeves and enters the advertising- copy room, the factory, the market any place where human conduct may be found with a slide-rule under his arm. As we enter upon the psychological study of the sale we shall adhere as rigidly as possible to the method of science. We shall avoid the vague and easy formulations of arm-chair psychology, and endeavor to make no state- ment which cannot be supported by facts se- cured through experimental research. Where we lack such information we shall attempt to outline the steps by which it may be se- cured. Wherever we give opinion we shall label it as such. Though this may prevent us from making downright, dogmatic state- ments regarding certain points that some readers would like to have settled; still it will testify to our ardor for truth, and will impress upon the reader the chief message of the book : namely, that the psychology of sell- ing must be developed according to the rigid methods of experiment. "Rule of thumb" versus scientific psychology. After we have followed the hard and fast 24 THE MIND OF THE BUYER procedure of scientific method in solving a problem, we can conclude: "I know." The aim of science is to give positive knowledge (the word science is derived from the Latin scientia, knowledge) and it is this quality, and others which we shall enumerate, that differentiate scientific business psychology from the unscientific psychology of most business men. For we must admit that suc- cessful business men use a form of psychology. They describe and explain human conduct, sometimes in a very effective manner. In what respects is their psychology different from the scientific brand? 1. It is individual. Though valuable as far as it goes, it is limited by the bounds of one person's experience. It is, therefore, not representative of all possible situations. Scientific psychology, however, is based upon a large (theoretically infinite) number of ex- periences drawn from all sources. 2. Kule of thumb psychology is particular. The devices which it teaches are applicable only to situations which one man has met. The findings of scientific psychology, however, are general in their application. 3. Rule of thumb psychology comes with long, painful and costly experience. On the STREAM OF THOUGHT IN SALE 25 contrary, scientific psychology as taught in universities and colleges is learned much more easily. The business man acknowledges this by sending his son to college. 4. Again, rule of thumb psychology is un- systematic and unordered; while scientific psychology is systematic and orderly. 5. Finally, the statements of unscientific psychology are at best inaccurate. Though they may be near to the truth they are not exact. Scientific psychology states its facts with mathematical precision. Summary. In this introductory chapter we have shown what we mean by the psychologi- cal methods of selling. We have pictured the mind of the buyer as a stream which we shall describe to the best of our ability. We shall first mark off six stages. Then we shall cut cross-sections at various points and examine the contents of the mind in detail. In mak- ing this examination we repudiate the use of necromancy or mysticism of any sort, and commit ourselves to the strict application of scientific method. Thus we shall abandon the old rule-of-thumb methods and accept only proven facts as our guides in conducting the business of selling. STAGE ONE ATTENTION CHAPTER TWO IMPORTANT FACTORS IN ATTRACTING ATTENTION The nature of attention. In the preceding chapter we likened the mind of the buyer to a stream constantly in motion and highly complicated. We formulated our purpose : to describe and explain the stream in its flow. The method: to cut cross-sections at various important stages and to analyze them under our psychological microscope. The first stage that we shall analyze is at- tention. To secure the attention of the buyer is the seller's first task. It is often fraught with difficulty. For the buyer's mental stream is flowing along placidly, charged with thoughts relating to his personal affairs. The seller, who brings forward a new article, foreign, perhaps, to these affairs, is bound to encounter some difficulty in thrusting it into the stream. His task is more difficult from the fact that he must place his com- modity not merely at the edge of the stream where it may remain practically unnoticed. 29 30 THE MIND OF THE BUYER He must thrust it, as it were, completely into the middle of the stream. Only thus can he secure for it a high degree of attention. The ease with which the seller may do this depends partly upon the rate of flow of the stream and partly upon the contents of it. Sometimes the current flows sluggishly, as when the buyer sits without occupation in a street-car and casts his eyes carelessly from one advertising card to another. On such oc- casions it is easy for the seller to enter the stream. At other times the mind flows with torren- tial vehemence, as when the buyer is consum- mating a deal on the floor of the stock ex- change or watching an exciting ball game. Under such circumstances it is difficult to inject a new object into the center of attention. Further difficulty is encountered if the con- tents of the mind are quite foreign to the com- modity under consideration. Under such circumstances the seller is obliged to prepare the mind beforehand an operation about which we shall talk in detail in later chapters. Whatever the difficulties may be, the seller must make a start by attracting the atten- tion. Hence we shall consider some devices by means of which to claim it. No single rule ATTRACTING ATTENTION 31 can be laid down applicable to all rates of flow, all commodities and all sales mediums. Nevertheless there are certain factors which are usually effective. Intensity. The first is intensity. (By in- tense we mean "strong." ) Normally the mind is very sensitive to strong stimuli: bright lights, loud noises, strong odors, severe pres- sures, extreme temperatures, intense pains. We shall more clearly understand the force inherent in intensity if we inquire its origin and rationale. When we consider man his- torically we must regard him as the inheritor of various traits from past generations. For many generations his forbears have been sub- jected to certain environmental conditions. To those that jeopardized their welfare they gave quick attention: for example, to bright lights which might put out the eyes; to loud sounds which might split the ear-drums. The individuals who failed to take notice of such things were injured or killed. Since to attend to intense things has tended to prolong life, then, the habit has become ingrained within the members of the human species as an in- eradicable trait. Many other traits of the buyer may be thus accounted for on an hereditary basis. We 32 THE MIND OF THE BUYER shall devote an entire chapter to them at a later stage. For the present we shall pass them by, merely noting the excellent reason why certain kinds of objects readily attract the attention. This gives us a hint as to the method of arresting and penetrating the mental stream of the buyer: Choose a stimulus stronger than the other objects round about him. In olden times the town crier used a bell ; the fish- monger, a horn. To-day the advertiser uses shrieking bill boards. The salesman who de- pends upon personal contact rarely uses in- tensity in attracting the attention of his prospective customer; probably because of its frequent rudeness and vulgarity. If he can devise some elegant and inoffensive way, however, of utilizing it, he will highly aug- ment his chances of securing favorable atten- tion. Extensity. The second factor is extensity, by which we mean size, bigness, magnitude. The mind is very susceptible to the influence of bigness. In its rapid flow it may neglect the small objects seeking sheUer in its midst, and shove them unheedingly to one side. But it can hardly do so to the big ones. An auto- ist bowling along a country road can scarcely ATTKACTING ATTENTION 33 ignore a monstrous bill board looming up at a turn in the road. A pedestrian strolling up Broadway cannot easily ignore the hugest of the signs piercing the sky. Besides this impulsion due to the brutality of the assault upon the senses, magnitude has still another effect. It makes us read into the object so glaringly displayed quali- ties of superiority which it does not possess. We tend to associate superiority in size with superiority in quality. We tend to judge the man with the largest diamond or automobile as the richest one. Americans as a people are almost obsessed by the idea of immensity. They regard it practically as a virtue in itself. The typical American city boasts of its vast area, sidewalk mileage, even the amount of its debt for public improvements. There is another psychological effect inher- ent in magnitude. Whenever we see a thing that is relatively large, we tend to judge it larger than it really is. We exaggerate the size of things above their actual dimensions. In telling about a large diamond we report that it is "as big as a hen's egg!" This habit may appear despicable and un- worthy, nevertheless it is an integral part of human nature and must be taken into account 34 THE MIND OF THE BUYER by one who wishes to influence the human mind. Probably we should regard it as ex- plainable by the same principle we used in explaining man's affinity for intensity: as a racial habit (perhaps instinct) wrought dur- ing the struggle for existence, when man was obliged to take notice of things larger than himself in order to escape being overcome by them. Whatever be its explanation it offers a live cue to the seller, and suggests that he may in- crease his chances of success by operating on a large scale. The practice of successful sellers exemplifies this. "Probably no man in the world has more unqualified belief in the power of [big] advertising than William Wrigley, Jr. In the twelve years since his first great national campaign he has spent more than $20,000,000 to spread his message in eighteen languages across the civilized world." "As a result of one of his huge con- tracts each of the 62,000 street, subway and elevated cars in operation in the United States carries one or more of his cards. Above Times Square, New York, flashes nightly an electric sign which costs $104,000 a year." "In 1915 he collected every telephone direc- tory in the country and mailed four sample ATTRACTING ATTENTION 35 sticks of his gum to the 1,500,000 listed sub- scribers. He duplicated this campaign in 1919, this time to more than 7,000,000 homes. His advertising expenditures for the one year pass the f 3,500,000 mark." * The tremendous growth of advertising in general during the past twenty-five years bears similar evidence of the attractive power of magnitude in the form of increasing use of extensive space. An investigation conducted by the author showed that the number of full-page advertise- ments in one periodical increased five-fold in the decade 1910-19. Change. Our third proposition is that change has great value in arresting attention change in any sense : in intensity, extensity, or nature of stimulus. We may test the truth of this in everyday life by noting that we are aware that the clock has been ticking, only after it has stopped. Movement. One very common form of change is movement. To it we give certain and eager response. Though for the most part unaware of it, we shall find, when we stop to think, that it bulks importantly in our daily life. We sit for hours by the ocean, gazing at nothing but swelling, tossing, jostling 1 American Magazine, March, 1920, p. 192. 36 THE MIND OF THE BUYER waves; we lie on the ground absorbed in the clouds that float across our vision; we sit be- fore an open fire fascinated by the ever-dart- ing flames, almost to the point of hypnotiza- tion. How explain this fascination? Probably largely in terms of inheritance, as we did our affinity for intensity and extensity. In the distant days when man's progenitor stalked in the jungles, one of the most important factors in life was movement. The lightest flutter of a leaf might indicate the presence of a hidden enemy ; the flicker of a twig might signify lurking death. As a result our ancestor was obliged to give close attention to any- thing that moved. If he had failed he would have fallen victim one day to the destructive forces surrounding him. As a result the off- spring of primitive man manifested intense interest in moving things. The trait, being useful in preserving life, became ingrained Within the members of the species and per- sists to this day. There is another way of accounting for the influence of movement. It fits into the very nature of mentality. The mind is like a stream, constantly in motion. A moving ob- ject, then, has a ready chance of securing a ATTRACTING ATTENTION 37 foothold in the stream. The relationship may be pictured by imagining two platforms, one (the mind) moving, and the other (the object of attention) stationary. To step from the latter to the former requires considerable effort. If, however, we start the second in motion in the same direction and at the same rate as the first, we can make the transition easily. It is thus that a moving object fits into the nature of the onward-flowing mental processes. In addition to this onward flow of the total stream there is a form of movement within the stream itself. Eddies are present, which keep the contents of the stream oscillating to and fro. The mind is so constituted that it cannot hold an object in the center for longer than an instant. The reader may test this for himself by attempting to fixate steadily the letter o. Though he may try his best to maintain it unchanged in the center of his attention, he will find that he cannot. His attention will wander from one part of the letter to another, from top to bottom, from side to side; and presently, off the letter en- tirely to a nearby flaw in the paper. In fixing the limits to the time during which one can hold an object in attention 38 THE MIND OF THE BUYER in a perfectly unchanged condition, psycholo- gists have discovered some evidence that the period may be two or three minutes, but far more commonly, only a second or two in length. After this length of time in the vortex of the stream an object must give way to an- other one which has been hovering on the Fra. 5. margin waiting for a chance to wedge itself in. Be it remembered that at any one mo- ment there are many things variously dis- tributed in the mental stream. A cross-sec- tion would reveal a condition resembling that pictured in Figure 5, where object A (let it be a street-car advertisement of Bunte Cough Drops) gives way after a brief dominance over the center of attention, to object B (an adjoining advertisement of Arrow collars) ; ATTRACTING ATTENTION 39 which in its turn gives way to object C (an advertisement of Sloan's liniment). Again, such a cross-section might be likened to a kaleidoscope in which minute pieces of varicolored glass continually shift their posi- tions. That which was at the center drifts marginward and vice versa. From this we see that movement is a capital device for the seller to use, not merely in in- troducing his commodity into the center of the mental stream, but also in holding it there. Now we see, at least in part, the mechanism by which we give attention so spontaneously to selling devices which em- body movement : the army of manikins in store windows feverishly plying saf ety -razors ; the Display shoes aridly stepping in and out of pans of water. The moving electric sign offers excellent Opportunity for the exploitation of movement. It is demonstrably effective. The reader may test himself to-night as he walks down Main Street. Let him watch himself out of the Corner of his eye, so to speak ; and he will find himself observing the moving signs almost Invariably. He will be aware of them far to the right and left; even of those in the rear, flickering in his eye-glasses. He will notice, 40 THE MIND OF THE BUYER also, that a faint moving light attracts atten- tion more quickly than a strong stationary one. A field with still greater possibilities of de- velopment is the moving picture. Here is movement incarnate, the consummation of man's age-long dreams and cravings. And man worships at their shrine nightly, be he rich or poor, young or old, savant or imbecile. He tries to justify his infatuation by elaborate reasons of an esthetic, social or economic nature: the cinema offers a varied entertain- ment; is always just around the corner; costs only about a quarter. But these do not fully account for his interest. For when the plot is vaporish, the humor inane, the vamping "old stuff," he still attends with seemingly in- satiable avidity. The cinema as a selling medium has not yet come into its own. Never- theless it will undoubtedly develop into a valuable ally for the seller, because it em- bodies a feature to which man is passionately inclined movement. Simulated or suggested movement. So strong is our affinity for movement that we respond to the mere suggestion of it. An automobile which is pictured as moving pleases us more than one which appears to be standing stilL ATTRACTING ATTENTION 41 Color. A fourth factor of growing impor- tance in selling is color. Volumes might be written upon the potency of color in forcing itself into the center of attention. To proceed logically we ought to specify that we mean by color any visual experience that is not black, white or some intermediate degree of gray. All visual stimuli that affect the mental stream may be classified as either grayness (black, white or one of seven hun- dred intermediate shades of gray) or color. There are many varieties of color some psychologists calculate 30,000. In all this variegation some simplification may be ef- fected. Much psychological experimentation has been directed toward the discovery of the few simple colors out of which the others may be compounded. Results point to four: red, green, blue and yellow. With these elemen- tary colors and the various degrees of gray- ness mentioned above, the seller must evolve every one of his colored appeals. Clearly he has an unlimited field for his ingenuity. Even in the relatively limited realm of grayness (to which one is confined in daily newspaper advertising) one may produce an amazing: 42 THE MIND OF THE BUYER variety. In background, type and illustration, one may achieve, thanks to the inventions of modern printing, a number of striking effects. These varieties, numerous as they are, con- stitute only a fraction of the number possible in the realm of color. And effective as are the former, they pale beside the latter. Several lines of proof point to the overpow- ering attractiveness of color. For one, we need go no further than everyday observation. When the early settlers of America wanted to make an attractive price to the Indians did they offer black or gray beads? We are not told so. Eather do the chroniclers emphasize "colored" beads. It is said that the mail- order houses have found colored catalogs to be very superior to those in black and white. More scientific proof from the laboratories is reported in the voluminous literature upon the subject. If our curiosity leads us to inquire why color attracts the attention so much more easily than grayness, we may find a partial explanation in the fact that the light waves for colors travel farther than do those for grayness. Whatever be the reason, we may confidently employ color whenever possible. ATTRACTING ATTENTION 43 Other effects of color. Before concluding this inadequate treatment of the subject we should point out that color may be useful not only in attracting attention. It may also hold attention. Again it may arouse pleasur- able feelings. The feelings may come from intrinsic pleasure-giving quality of the color; then may be transferred to the object being sold an end evidently sought in the coloring of the containers of certain brands of face pow- der. Or it may give pleasure by reason of cer- tain ideas it arouses within the buyer. In seek- ing to use color we face a large group of ques- tions relating to the appropriateness of color to commodity. We shall merely recognize the existence of these for the present, reserving their detailed consideration for a later chapter. Summary. In discussing these four factors : intensity, extensity, change and color, we have not exhausted the list of determinants of at- tention which are available to the seller. We have merely touched upon four which fit into the outline of this book. Another in particu- lar repetition is so important that we shall use it as the basis of our next chapter. NOTE: For discussion of the theoretical aspects of color the reader is referred to the bibliography. For practical applications in the field of advertising the reader is referred to the well-known books on thjftt subject CHAPTER THREE THE INFLUENCE OF REPETITION Repetition wins attention. If we cannot force our commodity into the center of attention by any of the devices mentioned in the pre- ceding chapter, or by virtue of its intrinsic merit and appropriateness to the contents of the buyer's mind, we may have recourse to another factor repetition. Mere bald, brutal repetition goes far in attracting attention. This fact is crystallized in the old proverb, "Constant dropping wears away stones." We have frequent verification of this fact in everyday life. Often when we are asleep a sound occurs without awaking us the first time, the second or the third. As it per- sistently recurs, however, it forces its way through the murk of unconsciousness and arouses us. And then as we look back we recall that the sound had been there vaguely (in the margin of the mental stream) for some time, but had required repetition to be effective. For an explanation of the great power resi- 44 THE INFLUENCE OF REPETITION 45 dent in repetition, we are driven to a con- sideration of the brain and nervous system. In order for a thing to affect the mind it must enter the pathways to the brain. These path- ways are somewhat resistant to new impres- sions, but after repeated assault they open up and permit access to the brain. Another form of explanation is the assertion by some psychologists that man is innately credulous, that he is inclined to accept as true every statement he hears. In the course of experience, however, the adult person de- velops inhibitions, which make him sophisti- cated and resistant. To overcome this re- sistance requires considerable battering. To this factor is due the effectiveness of many sales-names, like Uneeda. Though the buyer may resist the repetitions of this name for a time, he eventually comes to believe that he does need a biscuit, and makes the purchase. It is this coercive power of repetition which justifies the so-called display advertising con- stituting so great a part of modern publicity. Many a firm advertises on bill-boards, theater programs, and the like, when it knows it can- not effect an immediate sale. But by keeping its name and commodity before the mind of the public, it hopes to derive a cumulative 46 THE MIND OF THE BUYER effect that will ultimately bring about action. During the World War many firms which had already sold their entire output to the govern- ment continued none the less to use a great amount of advertising space, hoping by repeti- tion to retain a place in the mind of the public. And their course of action was justified by this psychological principle we are now con- sidering. Repetition influences memory. This leads us to recognize that repetition does more than merely force the merits of a commodity upon the attention of the buyer. It imprints the message deeply within his memory. For as a rule the seller desires not merely to put his message into the buyer's mind, but to keep it there that it may instigate purchase time after time. Eepetition, then, is a powerful agent with which to overcome the well-known for- getfulness of the human race which would naturally tend to relegate a commodity to the margin of the mental stream. Distribution of repetitions. We may vary the effectiveness of our repetitions by the way in which we distribute them over a period of time. By repeating our message at certain intervals, we may increase the retentiveness of the buyer's mind. THE INFLUENCE OF KEPETITION 47 The matter may be explained by imagining a case where we are announcing a new article in a monthly magazine. Let us assume that we have decided upon eight insertions for the year. How shall we most effectively dis- tribute them? A number of alternatives are possible; eight consecutive insertions in the first eight, last eight, or any eight successive issues; four in the first four issues of the year, four in the last four, and so on. Though we cannot say for certain what is the best distribution for every specific article, still we may make some profitable guess by considera- tion of certain facts proven by laboratory demonstration After much investigation of me*nory, psy- chologists have discovered that facts once im- pressed upon the mind tend to slip away at an uneven rate rapidly at first, then more and more slowly until the amount retained reaches a constant level and stays there. The matter is graphically represented by a curve of forgetting, similar to that of Figure 6, where the greater part of the material is for- gotten almost immediately and a smaller part remains relatively constant (as shown by the line AB). 48 THE MIND OF THE BUYER It is not inconceivable that this condition holds good for the memory of things seen in advertisements. If so let us speculate upon the profitable ways of distributing repeated advertisements. The author has ventured to lay out a reasonable distribution upon the curve in Figure 6. Since forgetting takes B Ja! F. Mar. Apr. Jftay Ju. JL An. 8e. O ST Fig. 6. Showing a theoretically possible distribution of eight advertisements among twelve issues of a monthly magazine. place rapidly at first, let the early announce- ments come at frequent intervals. Since the rate of forgetting is slower toward the end of the period let the later announcements come at less frequent but regular intervals. The general principle is to adapt the number and regularity of repetitions to the amount and constancy of the material retained. The object, in graphic terms, is to raise the line D. THE INFLUENCE OF KEPETITION 49 of retention (AB) as nearly as possible to the level of complete remembrance (AA'). We repeat that this suggestion should not be regarded as a scheme of proven and uni- versal applicability in selling. At present its validity has been demonstrated only with re- spect to certain kinds of memorizing done in the psychological laboratory under experi- mental conditions. Whether or not it is directly applicable to the various forms of business contact such as advertising, sales cor- respondence, personal salesmanship and credit collections, can be determined only by long experimentation. Pending experimental veri- fication we may consider the proposed plan as a reasonable hypothesis. Unconscious remembrance of a commodity. While considering the relation between repe- tition and memory we should note the condi- tion sometimes called "unconscious memory" as it relates to the sale. Although a seller may not be able, and of course he is not, to keep his commodity in the immediate center of the buyer's attention indefinitely, he need not despair of making the sale. Psychologists have discovered that an idea in the margin of the mental stream may operate with sur- prising effect; "that the mind may undergo 50 THE MIND OF THE BUYER modifications, sometimes of very considerable importance, without being itself conscious of the process, until its results present them- selves to consciousness, in the new ideas, or new combinations of ideas, which the process has evolved." An instance related by Coleridge illustrates this strikingly : "A case of this kind occurred in a Roman Catholic town in Germany a year or two before my arrival at Gottingen, and had not then ceased to be a frequent subject of con- versation. A young woman of four or five and twenty, who could neither read nor write, was seized with a nervous fever; during which, according to the asseverations of all the priests and monks of the neighborhood, she became possessed, and, as it appeared, by a very learned devil. She continued incessantly talking Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, in very pompous tones and with most distinct enunciation. This possession was rendered more probable by the known fact that she was or had been a heretic. Voltaire humor- ously advises the devil to decline all acquaintance with medical men" ; and it would have been more to his reputation, if he had taken this advice in the present instance. The case had attracted the particular attention of a young physician, and by his statement many eminent physiologists and psychologists visited the town, and cross-examined the case on the spot. Sheets full of her ravings were taken down from her own mouth, and were found to consist of sentences, coherent and intelligible each for itself, but with little or no connection with each other. Of the Hebrew, a small portion only could be traced to the Bible; the re- mainder seemed to be in the Rabbinical dialect. All trick or conspiracy was out of the question. Not only had the THE INFLUENCE OF REPETITION 51 young woman ever been a simple, harmless creature; but she was evidently laboring under a nervous fever. In the town, in which she had been resident for many years as a servant in different families, no solution presented itself. The young physician, however, determined to retrace her past life step by step; for the patient herself was incapable of returning a rational answer. He at length succeeded in discovering the place where her parents had lived; travelled thither, found them dead, but an uncle surviving; and from him learned, that the patient had been charitably taken by an old Protestant pastor at nine years old, and had remained with him some years, even till the old man's death. Of this pastor the uncle knew nothing, but that he was a very good man. With great difficulty, and after much search, our young medical philosopher discovered a niece of the pastor's, who had lived with him as his housekeeper, and had in- herited his effects. She remembered the girl; related, that her venerable uncle had been too indulgent, and could not bear to have the girl scolded; that she was willing to have kept her, but that, after her patron's death the girl herself refused to stay. Anxious inquiries were then, of course, made concerning the pastor's habits; and the solution of the phenomenon was soon obtained. For it appeared, that it had been the old man's custom, for years, to walk up and down a passage of his house into which the kitchen door opened, and to read to himself with a loud voice, out of his favorite books. A considerable number of these were still in the niece's possession. She added, that he was a very learned man and a great Hebraist. Among the books were found a collection of Rabbinical writings, together with several of the Greek and Latin Fathers; and the physician succeeded in identifying so many passages with those taken down at the young woman's bedside, that no doubt could remain in any rational mind concerning the true origin of the im- pressions made on her nervous system." 52 THE MIND OF THE BUYER This case shows in extreme form what may happen in lesser degree to any buyer. An advertising appeal to which he pays little at- tention at the time, may, if repeated often enough, leave an impression which will at some later time influence him to buy. The reader may test his own memory in this respect in the following paragraph: What trade names first come into your mind in connection with these commodities: Lini- ment, gum, cough drops, camera, watch, garter, roofing, paint, talcum powder? In connection with each of these commodi- ties it is probable that a certain name arose instantly that one wjiich appears most fre- quently on car-cards, bill -boards, newspapers and magazines. It is likely that if the reader were buying the article for the first time, he would buy this certain kind. Though in his daily life he probably had not paid much attention to these flaring signs, still he was impressed "subconsciously," as it were, and when he came to buy, he would act accord- ingly. This fact is justification for the liberal use of "display" advertising. Eepetition affects the sale in other ways than through attention and memory. It may influence later stages of confidence and de- THE INFLUENCE OF EEPETITION 53 cision. We shall not pause here to discuss these, however, preferring to plumb the stage of interest before passing on tto the later stages of the sale. CHAPTER FOUR SELLING TO THE COLLECTIVE BUYER Definition of "public." A good deal of the selling of to-day is done to people en masse. A car-card strikes not merely one person at a time, but a earful. A newspaper advertise- ment falls under the eyes not of one individual but of a group. The persons who are served by any selling medium constitute a collectivity Ross calls it a "public" which we may de- fine as a group of dispersed individuals hav- ing similar ideas, feelings and actions, intensi- fied by the consciousness of their "collective- It should be noted that a public is not a simple arithmetical summation of individual minds. Nor is it a new super-mind transcend- ing its components. It can be regarded as one mind only in the sense that the individual minds composing it are almost identical in certain respects. Then, because each member of the group knows that all the other mem- bers hold opinions identical with his, he feels 54 SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 55 more strongly than he would without such social support. It is in such a sense, then, that we speak of a collective mind as different from the individual minds composing it. Newspapers and magazines offer good in- ternal evidence of the existence of the col- lective mind. The editor writes in the plural number, implying that he is spokesman or chairman of the group. He emphasizes this relationship by using such prases as, "Editor's Easy Chair," "The Editor's Drawer"; by heading his feature sections: "Friend of the People," "Column for Workers," "Our Boys and Girls"; implying that he is seated in the midst of his readers, all of whom con- stitute a psychical family. We may assert, then, that psychologically speaking, the readers of a sales medium con- stitute an entity, a public, which is not a loose aggregation of isolated and individual minds but an organic union, coalesced into one col- lective mind in the sense just mentioned. Each public unique. There is further compli- cation in the fact that each public is unique. The Chicago American public, for example, differs from that of the Evening Post. The readers of the Country Gentleman differ from the readers of the Fireside Companion. 56 THE MIND OF THE BUYER We do not disregard the fact that an in- dividual may belong to more than one public. He may at the same time be a reader of the New York Times, the New Republic, the Congregationalist, and the Commercial and Financial Chronicle; in which fact is in- volved no anomaly or mysterious splitting of personality. It means simply that when one reads the Times he is entertaining ideas that are being shared with a certain number of other people; and when he reads the Con- gregationalist he is entertaining mental ten- ants identical with those in the minds of another group of people. Sales- and advertising-managers frequently complain about the multiplicity of mediums which they must use in carrying their mes- sage to the buying public. They regard it as a misfortune. As a matter of fact, such multi- plicity is an advantage; it simplifies the task of the advertiser. There is not simply one infinitely large "buying public," out of which a seller may win a few customers. There are many "buying publics." Not all of them care for every commodity, or every type of a certain commodity. Fortunately they are sifted out and are grouped, with reference to tastes, about certain periodicals. The SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 57 seller, by studying the periodicals, may dis- cover the publics that are most closely inter- ested in his wares. And then adapt his mes- sage to each public. His task is simplified by the fact that he may treat the members of a public as a single mind. A form of appeal that would move one reader of the Liberator, for example, would be likely to move most of the readers of the periodical; that which would appeal to one reader of the Christian Herald would have good chances of moving the rest. In analyzing various mediums, and select- ing publics upon which to inaugurate a selling campaign the seller faces a difficult task. Ac- cording to the tenets of this book, he should use scientific method. Measurement of a public. The first step is to secure clear and intimate knowledge of each public. This requires investigation covering a number of relationships: 1. Geographical. Facts should fte gath- ered showing where the members of the public live. For instance, a manufacturer of skates would not wish to advertise in a periodical with a predominantly southern circulation. Most periodicals serving large areas furnish geographical information willingly. 58 THE MIND OF THE BUYER 2. Economic. Facts should be gathered showing the property holdings, earnings, etc. Some periodicals have gathered such facts for distribution to interested space-buyers. 3. Sociological. What is the social level of the public? What are the leading occupa- tions represented ; the sports and relaxations? These data are difficult to gather and often can be ascertained only indirectly. The chief difficulty comes in expressing them in numeri- cal terms. One periodical overcame this in- geniously by collecting telephone directories of the country and ascertaining what per- centage of its subscribers' names appeared therein. This did not furnish a complete de- scription of the social status of its public, but it gave an indication. These examples indicate that sellers are aware of the differences existing between pub- lics and are seeking to measure them scien- tifically. Successful as they are, however, they have omitted one important form of in- vestigation, which we shall call: 4. Psychological. Some of the greatest differences between publics are mental ideas, feelings, motives, and the like. People vaguely recognize these differences; they say that the X Monthly is read by "high-brows" ; SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 59 the Y Monthly by "low-brows"; that one newspaper controls the "labor" vote; another, the "wet" element. If these differences exist surely we ought to be able to measure them. True, the task will be difficult; for psychical things are obscure and elusive. Furthermore, the status of psychology as an accurate science is so recently established that we do not yet have psychological "yard-sticks" with which to measure all kinds of mental things. In the effort to secure such measurements the author undertook an investigation of several periodicals, and discovered a technique which revealed distinct psychological differ- ences and permitted their mathematical pre- sentation. Though these differences are not of a nature to be markedly significant for ad- vertising and selling, they are nevertheless striking enough to encourage us to hope that we may ultimately develop methods that will be practically applicable to the two-fold prob- lem which the advertiser faces : what medium to use, and how adapt copy to each one? By way of preliminary approach the follow- ing simple procedure was planned and exe- cuted: Two periodicals were chosen which are commonly alleged to serve different pub- lics the Chicago Evening Post and the 60 THE MIND OF THE BUYER Chicago American. From the editorial, news and feature columns of six parallel issues of these two papers, approximately five thou- sand words were taken in consecutive order an equal number from each newspaper and tabulated according to the number of syllables they contained. The results are shown in Table I, in terms of the percentage of words containing more than two, three, etc., syllables. These figures show that the number of words over two sylla- bles long in the Post is greater than that in the American by seventy per cent; this ratio holds for all the polysyllabic words. TABLE I. Showing percentage of words containing more than 2, 8, 4 and 5 syllables in Chicago Evening Post, Chicago Ameri- can, Century and American magazines. Over 2 Oer 3 Over 4 Over 5 Post 13.2 4.6 1.2 0.0 Chi. Am 7.7 2.7 .7 0.0 Difference 5.5 1.9 .5 Per cent 70 70 71 13.5 4.3 1.0 .9 9.9 2.7 .6 .1 Difference .... 3.6 1.6 .4 .1 Per cent . 36 59 67 100 SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 61 In order to see if such a test would reveal similar differences between two magazines, the Century and American magazines were likewise examined. Results, as shown in Table I, answer our inquiry positively. They show that the number of words over two syllables in length in the Century is greater than the corresponding number in the Ameri- can magazine by thirty-six per cent; the num- ber over three syllables by fifty-nine per cent; the number over four syllables by sixty-seven per cent; and the number over five syllables by 100 per cent. In continuation of the search for intel- lectual differences, the length of sentences was next measured. From parallel issues and columns of the same four periodicals ( one issue each of the newspapers and two each of the magazines) a total of 8000 sentences were taken in consecutive order. The number of words in each sentence was computed and recorded by tens. That is, sentences contain- ing from one to ten words were grouped to- gether, those from ten to twenty, twenty to thirty, and so forth. The percentages are shown in Table II. These results show a greater number of 'long" sentences in the Post than in the American. Considering any- 62 THE MIND OF THE BUYER TABLE II. Showing percentage of sentences of various lengths in Chicago Evening Post, Chicago American, Century and American magazines. Over Over Over Over 1-10 10 20 30 40 Post 16.9 83.1 49.0 22.3 8.5 Chi. Amer 23.1 76.9 43.4 20.6 10.3 Difference 6.2 6.2 5.6 1.7 1.8 Century 22.8 77.2 45.4 24.4 10.6 American 30.5 69.5 33.5 14.5 5.2 Post Over 50 2.7 Over 60 .8 Over 70 .2 Over 80 Over 90 Over 100 Chi. Amer. . . 2.3 1.8 .6 '.3 ".2 '.2 Difference ... Century .... .4 5.5 2.4 .4 .9 .3 .4 .2 .2 * American .... 1.8 .7 .3 .1 .1 *.i Difference ... 3.7 1.7 .6 .3 .1 .1 thing over twenty as a long sentence the median length is between ten and twenty we find a difference of 5.6. That is, whereas the American has 43.4 per cent, the Post has 49.0 per cent, an amount greater by thirteen per cent. The difference in favor of the magazines again favoring the Century amounts to thirty-three per cent. SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 63 The author does not reason from these find- ings that a superiority in number of long words and sentences proves conclusively a cor- responding intellectual superiority. Clearly long words and long sentences are not an absolute criterion of erudition or short ones of ignorance. Nevertheless, we must admit that in the long run, the chances favor a greater number of long words being asso- ciated with more enlightened people. Meas- urements made by various vocabulary tests have shown that there are more words in the vocabularies of the more enlightened; hence we might expect a greater number of long words there. \s^ If we should grant the validity of such as- sumptions, however, we still should recog- nize that the kind of measures we have just made are still very fragmentary. The psy- chological differences between periodicals, and especially those differences that interest the advertiser, are much broader. Particularly important are those of an emotional order, such as tastes, interests, and the like. Such differences might conceivably be shown as follows: In each periodical being investigated, measure the amount of space devoted to each kind of reading matter (ex- 64 THE MIND OF THE BUYER eluding advertisements) . Classify the contents under such headings as Politics, Finance, Re- ligion, Literary Criticism, Science, Sports, etc. Then chart the results so as to show the proportionate amounts of space devoted to material of each class. Such a study of two magazines (pooled measures of four issues each, same months) gave results as shown in Table III. By thus statistically studying various periodicals the seller may prepare a table (see Table IV) showing the amount of space in each periodical devoted to the subject nearest to his particu- lar commodity; and from it may infer the degree of interest held by a public toward each field. For surely, in the long run, there is a close relation between the tastes of the readers of a periodical and the amount of space de- voted to various topics. The amount of space devoted to advertise- ments of various kinds of commodity might next be statistically examined. And the seller, using our historical criterion set forth on page 21, might settle on those mediums that devote a certain per cent of space to mate- rials relating directly to his commodity. For example, a marketer of tennis paraphernalia SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 65 TABLE III. Showing proportions of space in Review of Reviews and World's Work, devoted to various topics (reading matter). Review of World's Reviews Work Per cent Per cent Current Events 20 18 Politics 18 19 Foreign Comment 18 5 Educ., Lit., and Religion 16 8 Industrial Problems 12 11 War 8 2 Science 6 8 Finance 2 9 TABLE IV. Showing proportions of space devoted to various topics in five hypothetical mediums. Medium >- A B C D E Sport 60 50 40 30 20 Education 20 20 25 30 30 Science , 15 10 15 20 20 Fiction 5 10 10 10 15 Religion 5 5 5 15 Finance 5 5 5 might choose only those mediums that devote, say, twenty per cent to sports. We do not claim for these preliminary in- vestigations and plans, however convincing they may appear, immediate applicability to the problems of group selling. We have pre- sented them chiefly in demonstration of our thesis that psychological differences between mediums and, may we say, the publics which 66 THE MIND OF THE BUYER they serve, may be discovered and measured. With additional labor and collaboration be- tween psychological laboratory and advertis- ing copy-room, we may hope to develop a kind of measurement which may ultimately be of great service to the advertiser. Adapt copy to medium. After having de- cided what mediums to use, the advertiser who is alive to the psychological factors involved in selling to group buyers, will devise for each medium a piece of copy which will be appropriate to the psychological characteristics of the public that reads it. A good example of such adaptation which was successfully made even if it could not be based upon scientific differentiation between pub- lics, is reported by Mr. Frank Fehlman who, as sales manager of H. W. Gossard Company, planned an advertising campaign involving the use of eleven national woman's magazines. He was convinced that each of these periodi- cals served a typical group of women, and that his copy should be adapted to the per- sonality of each of these types. Lacking mathematical characterization of these types, he sought the editor of each magazine and asked for a description of the typical reader, as he, the editor, visualized her. The adver- SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 67 tising copy writer then composed a different piece of copy for the top half of each adver- tisement, tied up with the editorial policy of the magazine. For example, the policy of Good House- keeping had been closely knit around Dr. Wiley and food tests. The magazine guaran- teed its advertisements; hence the idea of guarantee was well grounded in the mind of the reader of the magazine. Accordingly the headline over a picture of a galaxy of moving- picture beauties garbed in the Gossard product was, "Tested and Proved by the Greatest Stars in the Film World." Woman's Home Companion had been con- ducting a campaign for better films. In order to fit in with this policy the following headline was employed with the picture: "Better Films Beautiful Stars Gossard Corsets." "Then we wrapped our full page in Vogue in the smart, aristocratic, haute aire atmos- phere of the lady of the limousine who pays twenty -five dollars for a corset with the non- chalance with which you or I spend a cent for a newspaper. We knew that the headline of this advertisement in Vogue "The Regal Beauty of Dora Rogers" would have the right effect on the haughty, double-chinned 68 THE MIND OF THE BUYER society dowager whose corsets contribute so vitally toward the regality of her figure as she sweeps from her Kolls-Royce into the entrance of Sherry's." After citing other adaptations of copy to medium this writer concludes : "We are now so thoroughly convinced of the necessity of linking up copy with the editorial tone of the magazine that it is one of our strongest adver- tising policies." If such profitable adaptations can be ef- fected without the use of scientific measure- ments, surely after we have refined a tech- nique similar to that suggested in this chapter, we shall be able to make much more effective adaptations of sales appeals to the publics we are trying to reach. Fashion a phenomenon of the collective mind. One characteristic of group minds is the phenomenon which we call fashion. It may be defined as "a series of recurring changes in the choices of a group of people which, though they may be accompanied by utility, are not determined by it." Fashion is one of the most important psychical factors affecting modern selling. Every one recog- nizes its force, but few lay down any prin- SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 69 ciples by which a seller may turn it to his account. We shall be able to secure some light upon this question if we analyze fashion, showing what it is and how it operates. We shall do this by itemizing several of the most promi- nent characteristics concerned in its birth and development. 1. The first is universality. It may attach itself to any kind of human conduct dress, speech, dancing, gait, hair-dressing. A furtker form of its universality is that it is prevalent throughout the human race. On Fifth avenue and on the palm-fringed beach of a South Sea island it flourishes with equal luxuriance and exuberance. 2. It is not determined by usefulness; in- deed, many fashions thrive because they are conspicuously not useful. For example, one thing that makes French heels fashionable is that they hinder a woman from working very actively, and thus testify to the world that she is a woman of leisure. 3. A fashion at its inception must have some element of newness. 4. It originally represents the desire of some individual to mark himself off from others. If a belle on Riverside Drive or in 70 THE MIND OF THE BUYER Zululand secures a set of green beads when her companions have none, she thereby marks herself as different from the rest. 5. Dae to the next component of fashion imitation the other young women in her set secure some green beads. 6. In this imitation, we should observe the higher individual is imitated by the lower. 3 ( 7 J FIG. 3 J 7. ? J 7. As a result of this imitative action, the individual who was first made conspicuous by the new apparel is no longer distinguished. The situation may be graphically represented by Figure 7. In the social group A B C D E F G, indi- vidual D adopted the novel practice of wearing green beads thus raising herself above the level of her companions. When they, how- ever, followed her example and put on green beads, they raised themselves to her level. SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 71 Finding herself again an undistinguished member of the group, D adopted some new ornament (perhaps bows on her shoes) which raised her again above the common level. Unfortunately, her inferiors are bound to copy this fashion; and so she will be obliged to search for another distinguishing mark. 8. After many such changes it becomes difficult to devise a new distinguishing mark; one is forced to revert to a fashion which hacf its vogue a long time before and died out. Having been quiescent for a long time, some- times a generation, it possesses the element of novelty in the eyes of the new generation and answers the purpose of a new object of fashion. In other words, fashions move in cycles. Shoes range from wide to narrow toes, high to low heels. Women's skirts oscil- late between extremes of length and shortness, narrowness and width. Is there some favored length of time for fashion cycles? Various answers have been given. But speculation is futile. The true facts can be secured only by statistical investi- gation. Such, in epitome, is the interesting story of fashion in general. The reader may apply 72 THE MIND OF THE BUYER this schema to any fashion and may easily see its commercial implications. Relation between fashion and selling. Ob- viously fashion may stimulate selling by creating and furthering new demands. It may retard selling by reducing the demand for an article which has ceased to be fashion- able. For these and other reasons the seller should study fashion, statistically, if possible. By means of the knowledge thus obtained he may estimate what to buy, how much of a stock to lay in, when to plan for another fashion, and how long it may run. In introducing a new article to the public, the seller may succeed vastly better if he studies the psychology of fashion and acts accordingly. Thus he may utilize law 4 by showing the buyer how the purchase of this commodity will give him individuality and ascendancy over the mass. In observance of laws 5 and 6, the seller would seek as his first buyer the acknowledged leader of the social group. Then he may inform the lesser buyer that he may distinguish himself by doing as did the most distinguished member of the group. Summary. In this chapter we have shown that the buyer is not always appealed to in- SELLING TO COLLECTIVE BUYER 73 dividually; that he is many times to be ap- proached in company with others. That this gives rise to a group consciousness or col- lective mind, with characteristics peculiar to itself. We mentioned several of these char- acteristics, expanding with some particular- ity upon fashion and showing its relation to the business of selling. We found that the people served by one sales medium constitute a collective mind that is different from the collective mind belonging to another sales medium. And that a seller who would sell intelligently should investi- gate each collective mind from several points of view: geographical, economic, sociological and psychological. (By sample investiga- tions of the latter class we demonstrated the existence of marked differences, and stated them in quantitative terms.) After making such scientific investigations the seller may make intelligent adaptation of his appeal to the various sales-mediums employed. STAGE TWO INTEREST CHAPTER FIVE HOW TO AROUSE INTEREST IN A COMMODITY Attention may merge into interest. After the buyer has given his initial momentary atten- tion to a commodity, he does one of two things: either he turns away, in which case he for the time being ceases to be a prospective buyer; or he continues to pay attention and remains a prospective buyer. In the latter case his attention becomes something more than the mere intellectual awareness consid- ered as the first stage of the sale. It becomes a deeper, warmer, more rapt kind of attention, so different as to constitute a new stage in the stream of thought and to deserve a new name. We shall denominate it Interest. In this chapter we shall discuss the nature of interest in general ; and in the two following chapters, two of the devices that maintain it at high peak good feeling and imagination. Definitions. In describing interest we may properly start with a definition. Several have been formulated : "Interest is the recognition 77 78 THE MIND OF THE BUYER of a thing which has been vitally connected with experience before a thing recognized as old." "Impulse to attend." "Interest naturally arouses tendencies to act." "The root idea of the term seems to be that of being engaged, engrossed, or entirely taken up with some activity because of its recognized worth."* "Interest marks the annihilation of the dis- tance between the person and the materials and results of his action; it is a sign of their organic union." Watch a boy of fourteen as he bends over a mystery tale. Blind and deaf to sights and sounds around him he throws his entire being into the page. We say he is interested. To achieve such effects upon the reading public would fulfill the dearest wish of the advertis- ing copy-writer. For, according to our last definition of interest, when the reader of an advertisement is interested in the description of a thing he identifies himself with it; he makes an imaginary purchase ; if it turns out to be agreeable he tries to materialize it by actually purchasing the commodity. First law of interest. How to create this de- gree of interest within the mind of the buyer is the question before us. The answer may be found in two psychological laws. The first HOW TO AEOUSE INTEREST 79 In order to create interest in a thing, information about it. We may see the force of this law if we examine some interest in the course of development. Take the in- terest of a typical young girl in a certain nu>vie actor. She knows the name of every picture in which he has appeared; his age; the color of his hair, eyes and automobile. She cherishes these facts and fondles them as a precious rosary with which she pays her de- votions. They constitute the psychological basis of her interest. The astute press-agent knows this, and at well-timed intervals, he lets slip through the press a few items and anecdotes about the star which fan the interest of the fair devotee to a still whiter heat. Sellers in general may profitably follow this example, disseminating information about their wares. Progressive advertisers have been making much use of this device within the past few years. Probably they have not con- sciously applied our rule ; but in studying the effects of the various elements in their ad- vertisements, they have discovered that in- formation-giving advertisements bring re- sults; and so they have increased the use of them. Of 1000 advertisements in Collier's Weekly for 1902 only 220, or twenty-two per 80 THE MIND OF THE BUYER cent were "informational." In the same periodical for 1919 the per cent had increased to seventy-four. If we consider the doctrine of "survival of the fittest" applicable in the realm of advertising, we may reasonably infer that this feature has proved of considerable selling value. In giving information about a commodity it is desirable to observe an important corol- lary to our first law : State the new in terms of the old. For example, in giving informa- tion about a new kind of filing cabinet which will fit into the drawer of an executive's desk, describe some difficulty which every executive faces; such as the necessity of interrupting an important conference to call a clerk and wait for her to fetch a record card. This situation is already familiar to the buyer, being a part of his daily experience. It is for this reason a valuable starting point from which the seller may proceed to impart in- formation about his new product. Classification. In thus utilizing old interests the seller has a wide variety to select from. They may be classified as innate and acquired. Those in the first group are born within the race. As shown in Chapter II, man naturally HOW TO AROUSE INTEREST 81 takes an interest in moving things, loud noises, bright lights, strong odors and tastes. Let us not, at this point, fall into an error which often traps the unwary ; namely, to call interests innate which are really acquired. It is incorrect, for example, to call interest in tomatoes, the Republican party, or chess, innate. These interests are acquired by ex- perience. We may roughly discriminate be- tween the two groups by saying that man is innately interested in simple elements or qualities of objects: such as the brightness of lamps and the loudness of bass drums; but that he acquires interest in objects; such as old Roman lamps, and orchestral music. Having cleared the ground of logical mis- conceptions, we may develop our corollary further. James advises the following pro- cedure: "Begin with the lines of his native interests, and offer him objects that have some immediate connection with these." To apply this in advertising a waterproof shoe, one might arrange a display shoe so that it will continually step in and out of a pan of water. This arouses an innate interest in moving things. Having aroused interest in one attribute of the shoe movement we may transfer the interest to the attribute 82 THE MIND OF THE BUYER which we are using as our chief selling point waterproofness. This is a difficult task. In bringing it about James advises: "Next, step by step, connect with these first objects and experiences, the later objects and ideas which you wish to instill. Associate the new with the old in some natural and telling way, so that the interest, being shed from point to point, finally suffuses the entire system of ob- jects of thought." Here the advertiser may begin to appeal to the acquired interests by showing how these waterproof shoes will save money and trouble by eliminating the neces- sity of wearing rubbers. Many advertisers at this step fail to make a smooth transition be- tween the old idea and the new one. They fail to show how Lincoln's birthday, which they may be referring to as a matter of con- temporary interest, is related to their com- modity. This is an important matter and deserves more than passing attention. But we must proceed with the task in hand. We might group the acquired interests, upon which a seller may play, into two classes: permanent and temporary. Those in the first class have enough vitality to persist through- out the greater part of a lifetime. Such are preferences for sugar (or salt) on tomatoes. HOW TO AEOUSE INTEREST 83 a particular political party or fraternal order. Those belonging to the second group are of less importance to the individual : interest in a passing murder trial, in the first aeroplane trip across the Atlantic, in a pending presi- dential election. In choosing informational facts with which to evoke interest in a given commodity, we might group them into four classes: (1) sources of the raw materials, (2) processes of manufacture, (3) facts about the men who compose the firm, (4) uses for the commodity. By thus classifying the thousand advertise- ments mentioned above we may discover some- thing about the relative merit of these classes of facts in advertising practice. The results of such arrangement are presented in per- centage form in Table V. TABLE V. Showing the percentages of informational advertisements in Cottier's Weekly for 1902 and 1919, grouped according to the kinds of information given regarding the commodity. Processes Personnel Sources of of the of Raw Uses Manufacture Firm Materials Total 1902 57 22 11 10 100 1919 66 14 18 02 100 These figures show that the items featured most frequently are the uses to which the 84 THE MIND OF THE BUYER commodity may be put. This is true of both the 1902 and the 1919 advertisements. In- deed, in the later period, the frequency is greater. Perhaps the explanation is that by describing uses the advertiser can get nearer to the heart of his reader. He can talk about the daily needs of the reader in terms already familiar, and can show the related uses for the commodity, thus exemplifying the true course of interest as we outlined it in earlier paragraphs. Perhaps, too, the effectiveness of use may be attributed to the human liking for activity. One's reaction toward an object seems to be innately in terms of "what is to be done with it?" Facts about processes of manufacture,, though formerly second in frequency, seem to have lost some of their popularity, likewise facts regarding the sources of raw materials. The value of facts about the personnel of the firm, however, seems to be increasing; the percentage having grown from 11 to 18 dur ing the eighteen years covered by the investi- gation. This may be indicative of the growing interest which society is taking in big business, and particularly in the personal aspect. It requires to know income returns, amounts of excess profits; and naturally desires to HOW TO AROUSE INTEREST 85 know about the character and ability of the men at the head of the affairs. Besides, people like to read about successful men in order to discover the secret of their success. Howsoever we explain these qualities, we know for certain that during the great ex- pansion of advertising of the past twenty years, the use of information-giving adver- tisements has increased in the ratio from twenty-two to seventy-four in a hundred. And that among informational facts, certain groups have been numerically favored over others. The enterprising copy-writer who de- sires to profit by the experience of the past may well adopt the practice of arousing inter- est by means of informational copy, and may well consider seriously the results of our investigation showing the relative value of different classes of interest-evoking facts. Second law of interest. Leaving now the un- limited possibilities of variation in the spread- ing of information about a commodity, let us pass on to another phase. For there is another psychological law of interest: In order to create interest in a thing, arouse activity to- ward it. We may see this law exemplified in the methods pursued by various organiza- 86 THE MIND OF THE BUYER tions in enlisting the interest of certain persons. When a hospital desires to secure a wealthy patroness it places her on the Board of Directors; then on some important com- mittee. As she busies herself with the affairs of the institution she becomes interested in it, and soon makes the hoped-for financial con- tributions. Opportunities for the utilization of this prescription are numerous enough in direct personal selling. The salesman may induce the buyer to feel the texture of the silk, take a ride in the automobile, try the piano. A pertinent example is given in this description of the method employed by salesmen sent out to introduce a new cooking product to the housewives of the country : "The canvasser knocked at the door of the house. When the door was opened, the canvasser immediately removed his hat, placing it on the floor of the piazza or on the rail if one were handy. Using a set phrase such as: 'Madam, I am here to show you Crisco, the new shortening,* he offered her with his two hands a pail of Crisco. The instant that the woman took the pail from the canvasser's hands he drew a pencil from his pocket and held it in his right hand, at the same time he drew from another pocket a coupon which he held in his left hand. This was so that the woman could not hand back the pail to the canvasser. The most she could do was to drop or place it on the floor. Then the conversation started.' 1 HOW TO AROUSE INTEREST 87 Opportunities to arouse activity on the part of the buyer are not quite so numerous in ad- vertising. There are some, however, which when exploited, serve the purpose admirably. Here belong coupons to be torn off, requests for names of friends and dealers, offers of prizes for the solution of puzzles, reproduction of cartoons, composition of limericks. All these devices, which have established their utility by their persistence in advertising, de- rive their psychological justification from their ability to arouse interest through ac- tivity. Summary. We have now answered the ques- tion posited at the beginning of this chapter. We have made a psychological analysis of interest; have described the kinds of interest common to the human species; and have formulated two laws for the development of interest. We have seen that these laws are not merely theoretical formulations. By an investigation of advertising practice we found their prac- tical verification in the conscious or uncon- scious use of them by successful sellers. By a more minute analysis of the specific stimu- lants to interest which have been employed, 88 THE MIND OF THE BUYER we have discovered which ones are likely to have the strongest appeal. It should be remarked that though we may seem to have treated interest as a distinct stage of the sale, we do not thereby imply that it is entirely separate from the other stages. As a matter of fact, once it is aroused, it per- sists throughout the sale, in desire, confidence, decision and satisfaction. We shall now proceed to discuss two com- ponents of the mental stream good feeling and imagination which are important stimu- lants to the growth of interest. CHAPTER SIX GOOD FEELING A REQUISITE Two-fold aspect of feeling. We shall lay it down as a fundamental rule that a perfect sale requires good feeling in the mind of the buyer at the start, throughout the intermedi- ate stages, and at the end. By feeling we mean pleasantness and unpleasantness. Prae- ticafly every state of mind is accompanied by some feeling. Karely does man take a purely cold-blooded, disinterested attitude to- ward the world. To the feelings of pleasant- ness and unpleasantness in their complicated settings are attached various names: sorrow, joy, embarrassment, reverence, etc., expres- sive of a thousand shades of subtleties of meaning. In spite of the many varieties, how- ever, feelings may be reduced to two kinds pleasant and unpleasant. It is our contention in this chapter that pleasant feelings must attend every sale. We must insist upon this condition, allowing no exception. We are now emphasizing this idea 90 THE MIND OF THE BUYER in connection with the stage of interest, and we shall repeat it in discussing the later stages, especially that of satisfaction, where we shall show that the sale is not really con- summated until the buyer is in a completely satisfied state of mind. Meanwhile, in order to understand the reason for good feeling at the various stages of the sale, ve shall con- sider it as a general psychological factor, endeavoring to show what it is, and how it affects human conduct. Pleasantness reflected in bodily changes. In endeavoring to show how good feeling facili- tates the act of purchase we must recognize the fact that states of feeling are character- istically accompanied by wide-spread bodily activities. These consist of many varieties, often called "expressions." Some are con- nected with the gross muscles of the trunk, arms, legs and neck. Others with the finer muscles in the face and eyes. Still others with internal organs hidden from the naked eye. Some psychologists assert that such of these movements as accompany pleasant feelings represent a heightening of the bodily powers; and that those which accompany unpleasant feelings represent a depressing effect. For GOOD FEELING A REQUISITE 91 example, a scientist who investigated the effect of various stimuli upon the extent of the knee-jerk, discovered that pleasant music increased the extent of the movement. We cannot accept unqualifiedly this thoroughgo- ing relationship between pleasantness and heightening of bodily powers, because of cer- tain contradictory evidence which we shall not enter into here. Nevertheless the theory offers interesting possibilities for speculation concerning the power of pleasant feelings over the actions of the buyer. Another view is somewhat more credible, namely, that pleasant feelings with respect to an object are accompanied by movements to- ward, while unpleasant feelings are accom- panied by movements away from, the object. Something of this sort seems to happen when we make experiments upon a simple organism like the amoeba. When we place one kind of object in his neighborhood he moves toward it ; when we place there another kind of object, he quickly moves away. An infant reacts similarly. To a shiny ball dangling before his eyes he reaches forth his hands; from a sharp pin he draws away. It is probable that an adult reacts with similar positive and negative movements ac- 92 THE MIND OF THE BUYER cording as he is confronted with an object which is pleasing or displeasing. Sometimes his movements of expansion and retraction are easily discernible. At other times they are minute, and perceptible only by means of delicate measuring instruments. For though in the course of our civilized existence we learn to conceal our outward manifestations of feeling, we rarely succeed in repressing the inner ones. They occur without the interposi- tion of the will. And they form a large ma- jority of the signs of unpleasantness. They are, as we say, instinctive to be more thor- oughly discussed in Chapter XL Though we shall not enumerate them here, we shall in- dicate their astonishing multiplicity by men- tioning a few. It is well known that the sweat glands and saliva glands are affected by strong feeling. Other glands not so well known are also aroused, such as the thyroid, pituitary, pineal, adrenal. Changes also occur in the circulatory system; the heart beats change in rate ; and the arteries expand as in blushing, or contract as in paling. Elec- tric disturbances occur man being a sort of electric battery. Chemical reactions occur. Is this not proved by the fact that the hair may turn white in a single night? GOOD FEELING A KEQUISITE 93 Sometimes the bodily functions are seri- ously disturbed. A patient reported by one physician had passed a sleepless night of worry. In the morning the contents of her stomach were removed with a stomach pump. It was discovered that her dinner of the evening before had been untouched by the digestive agencies. If we conceive of the stomach and allied organs as composed of a mass of cells expanding with pleasantness and contracting with unpleasantness, we may con- clude that the cells charged with the work of digestion retracted under stress of the un- pleasant feelings, and refused to do their duty, Whether or not this expansion-contraction theory is literally applicable to all bodily movements, it is a convenient help in picturing the bodily accompaniments of feeling. One effect quite certainly accompanies pleasant feeling, namely, a widespread bodily reaction within the buyer. This means the liberation of a vast amount of potential nervous energy, which the seller may, by the devices presented in other chapters, direct toward the production of the act of purchase. Humor in the sale. In the attempt to invoke pleasant feelings some salesmen follow the rule of starting out with a funny story. 94 THE MIND OF THE BUYER Interpreting good feeling as hilarious humor they conceive their role to be that of a court jester; to manufacture a constant flow of wit with which to keep the spirits of the buyer at a high pitch. Some advertisers act on the same principle, straining every nerve to evolve a humorous story, picture or limerick. Whether this de- vice is successful or not is seriously open to question. If we seek the testimony to be found in the practices of the majority of ad- vertisers we find scant use of humor as a stimulant to good feeling. In an investigation of the advertisements appearing in Collier's Weekly and Harper's Weekly between 1902 and 1919, the author found that the number of humorous advertisements never exceeded seven in 100. If we place any reliance upon the historical method as an index of successful selling practices, we may conclude that few advertisers have found humor a valuable selling aid. Perhaps this apparent lack of success is not due to any intrinsic unprofitableness in humor or to any violent distaste for it on the part of the buyer. The apparent success of a few such mildly humorous devices as the dog who hears "His Master's Voice"; the Gold- GOOD FEELING A REQUISITE 95 Dust twins; and the cheery chef of Cream of Wheat suggests this. Probably the failure of certain similar attempts is due to the poor quality of humor employed. To be funny artistically requires the services of a real humorist An advertiser may have first-rate ability as a composer of "straight" copy with- out being a clever humorist. In recognition of this fact some advertisers desirous of using humor have lately called in professional humorists, particularly cartoonists, and have asked them to prepare copy containing the same funny situations that have already caught the public fancy. Such commercial- izations of expert humor are too recent to permit us to draw conclusions. After suffi- cient trial, however, they may tell whether or not our previous failures in humorous copy were due to the ineptness of copy-writers. Other stimulants of good feeling. But humor is not the only method by which to generate good feeling. Pleasantness need not take the form of hilarity. It may be esthetic; called up by pleasing combinations of colors or pleas- ing lines of a package. It may consist of the mild feeling of recognition called up by fre- quency of repetition of the sales message (Chapter III). It may be the feeling which 96 THE MIND OF THE BUYER in the preceding chapter we called interest, generated by the linkage of old with new. It may be one of the feelings accompanying desire, where pleasant old experiences are attached to new objects vividly projected into the future (Chapter VIII). In an intense form it may consist of some pleasant feeling (in this case called emotion) accompanying instinctive forms of reaction discussed in Chapter XL Supremely important is that form of pleas- antness which, in our final chapter we shall discuss under the name, satisfaction. There we shall supplement this discussion by show- ing that good feeling, which is the true goal of the sale, should constitute, indeed, the great sub-stratum in the mind of the buyer. Until then we shall rest content with the con- tention of this chapter, namely, that by means of arousing pleasant feelings, the seller calls forth within the buyer a number of instinc- tive movements, great and small ; which release a great amount of nervous energy, which the seller may direct into the act of purchase. CHAPTER SEVEN THE IMAGINATION OF THE BUYER The nature of image. The seller has at his disposal two sorts of agencies with which to influence the mind of the buyer: external physical contrivances, such as words, letters, colors; and mental agencies residing within the mind-stream of the buyer. Like Aladdin, the seller may summon from the invisible mind of the buyer certain powerful genii which will assist him mightily in bringing about the sale. These mental accessories are technically known as images; and they reside in great numbers in the mental stream. By way of definition we shall call an image a mental copy of a thing which has once been impressed upon the senses. The word image is some- what ill-chosen; for it usually signifies some- thing connected with vision; it implies that the stuff of mental images is entirely visual. Such a conception is erroneous. We can image practically anything that we can sense. We 97 98 THE MIND OF THE BUYER may have tactual images of things touched; auditory images of things heard; gustatory images of things tasted; olfactory images of things smelled; and so on through the entire range of sensations. The law of association. If we try to account for this power* of imaging, we must refer to the nature of brain tissue, which is so con- stituted that any object impressed upon the senses makes a permanent modification in the brain; to recall the object later, one needs only to revive this pathway. One usually accomplishes this revival by stimulating an- other pathway which was stimulated when the first one was made. As a rule, several path- ways are stimulated at once. They are asso- ciated, we say. This, because our experiences are necessarily related to each other; either they follow closely upon each other's heels; or else they possess common elements. As a result, whenever a new object (a commodity for sale) stimulates one pathway it revives another at the same time. Thus the seller has the power to call up within the mind of the buyer any objects ex- perienced in the past; reviving them in the form of images. For example, with the word "Wrigley," he may call up "gum," which has THE IMAGINATION OF THE BUYER 99 been frequently associated with it. Let us observe some of the characteristics of images which the seller may utilize in furthering the sale. Characteristics of images. 1. The first, as we have already said, is variety. Images may be as variegated as the senses. 2. Certain kinds are more numerous than others. In point of numbers, visual images probably come first. Measurements in the psychological laboratory have shown that most people can use visual images more freely than they can the other kinds. Auditory images come next. The others occur with con- siderable less frequency. Some people are able, only with great difficulty, to revive, for example, tastes and smells, especially those only feebly impressed. To test this, let the reader try to image the taste of coffee. (Be sure it is taste and not smell.) We do not mean to imply that images other than visual and auditory are absent from the ordinary mind. The conclusion which we would draw is that the seller will have greater likelihood of calling forth visual images. He should therefore set his psychological traps to catch this kind. When he wishes to make 100 THE MIND OF THE BUYER the buyer appreciate the glories of apples from the Hood Eiver valley he will be able to arouse mental visions of apples more easily than mental tastes, smells and "touches." This is to be expected because images are de- rived from previous sensory experiences; and the ordinary buyer has come into contact with apples more frequently through sight than through his other senses. Assuredly, however, any of the other forms of imagery may arise, and the seller may legitimately appeal to any variety that he wishes. Indeed, in advertis- ing apples he might evoke mental tastes and smells with great effectiveness because of the strength and novelty and pleasantness that would probably accompany them. 3. Images may be either clear or obscure. Some are so clear as to be hardly distinguish- able from original sensations. The extreme form of such self-deception is called hallucina- tion. Not all images come with this degree of clearness, however. Some are obscure, fleeting and sketchy, almost to the vanishing point. Many times one tries to image the voice of an absent friend with no more revival than per- haps a phrase or two and the vague sugges- tion of an intonation. In view of this fact, the seller who intends THE IMAGINATION OF THE BUYER 101 to utilize to the full the imaginal furniture of the buyer should strive to evoka ims^es that are likely to be clearest. Naturally he cannot foresee with certainty which', the^e- v. ; H' be/ Still he may increase his chances by adopting this general rule: Avoid general descriptive words, and choose specific words in which to describe the article for sale. For example, in announcing a sale of ladies' silk waists, avoid the old stereotyped phraseology: "Full line of cr&pe de Chine waists, all colors," etc. These are general, indefinite terms without character, personality or definiteness. Use instead, definite descriptive phrases which will call up clean-cut images: "Call and examine this group of cr$pe de Chine waists. Supple, clinging fabrics that give a slender silhouette grace to the figure. "For the debutante there are shades of blushing old rose (visual); for the matron, soft (touch) pastel mauves; for the elderly woman, the warm (temperature) ivory tints that take one back to the courtly days of Louis XIV." These phrasings tell the facts: there is a full line for young and old, slender and stout; and suggest that there are all colors. All by means of specific pictures called up in the mind of the buyer. 102 THE MIND OF THE BUYER To achieve this kind of definiteness is a difficult task.- Our lazy human nature tempts us to follow the line of least resistance and to use general terms. We are prone to describe all things with the same words : "wonderful," "great bargain," "immense saving." These are not descriptive words at all ; they give no hint of the nature or quality of the article. They may with equal pertinency be applied to a house and lot, an automobile, a pair of gloves, a block of oil stock. One explanation of our proneness toward the use of general, indefinite terms is the poverty of our vocabularies. We have not formed the habit of using words of variety sufficient for the designation of fine shades of meaning. The remedy is obvious: develop a full and exact vocabulary. In describing a commodity, search out words which fit it exactly and which represent its varied quali- ties vividly in the mind of the buyer. 4. Images may bring strong feelings in their train. This is especially true of infre- quent but unusually vivid images. In en- circling the sale with pleasant feelings as recommended in Chapter VI, the seller may use these with great profit. There are certain images that generally bring pleasant feelings THE IMAGINATION OF THE BUYER 103 images of eating ice-cream and similar dainties. These are much used by a certain candy company in advertising its chocolates. There are other images that generally bring unpleasant feelings noisome animals and reptiles. Besides such general tendencies there are likes and dislikes peculiar to certain individuals idiosyncracies developed in the course of experience. The seller should study them and use only those images which have pleasant associations. Empathy in the sale. One interesting use to which we occasionally put mental images is in that process called "empathy." Empathy may be defined as "the process of humanizing objects, of reading or feeling ourselves into them.' 7 We are so constituted that we are inclined to place ourselves imaginally into situations that may be presented before us. We do this sometimes over so simple a thing as a straight line. If it slants at a certain angle without any visible means of support it gives us an uncomfortable feeling. We feel as though we were the line; and to hold an attitude of such obliquity gives us uncomfort- able feelings of strain. The reader may note such feelings as he looks at Figure 8. The line, a, with its overweighted top, and the 104 THE MIND OF THE BUYER triangle, b, with its lack of poise, give the observer distinctly unpleasant feelings. Architects make allowance for such conditions in planning the lines of a building. They know that abrupt corners give a feeling of sharpness; straight lines, a feeling of hard- ness; curves, a feeling of softness. When a be FIG. 8. building an unsupported marquise over the entrance of a building, they usually tilt it slightly upward as in Figure 8, c, rather than build it on a horizontal plane. For they know that if it were horizontal, the ob- server, with his empathetic tendency, would feel that he ought to support it to keep it from falling. If it is already tilted upward, however, he does not feel obliged to push it up any higher. Sellers should observe this empathetic tendency in human nature and should make allowances for it in present- ing their wares. Particularly important is THE IMAGINATION OF THE BUYER 105 it in advertising and window decoration. Summary. Reviewing this discussion, we may conclude that the seller has a valuable set of allies in the mind of the buyer mental images. Thanks to the power of association he may call them up at his pleasure. Visual images are more numerous than the others; hence may be angled for with greater chances of success. There is some virtue in variety, however; and under certain circumstances the seller may strengthen his appeal by using many kinds there are as many as there are kinds of sensation. In discussing the methods by which images may be most certainly called up, we recom- mended the use of specific rather than general terms. And as a method of incorporating more of these into the sale, we counseled a vigorous increase in vocabulary. Finally, we recommended that the seller study carefully the words he intends to use descriptively, in order to make sure that they will call up only pleasant feelings. We have here given only a partial treatment of the subject of images in the mind of the buyer. We shall show further uses for them in connection with our discussion of the next stage of the sale Desire. STAGE THREE DESIRE CHAPTER EIGHT DESIRE Desire an outgrowth of interest. Interest, if it persists long enough, tends to merge into desire. Accordingly one way to arouse desire is to employ methods described in the preced- ing chapters. These are not all-sufficient, how- ever, for desire is after all a unique mental process requiring special analysis. Development of desire. The development of a desire involves a certain series of steps which we shall describe in order. 1. First comes attention to a new object something material, as an automobile; or immaterial, such as stock in an oil well. We discussed methods of attracting attention to this in Chapter II. 2. Within this new object the buyer recog- nizes certain elements which are related to his past experience. In the new automobile he sees an objecf that has given him many pleasant rides in the past; in the oil stock he visualizes the fortune which some friend 109 110 THE MIND OF THE BUYER made through such an investment He vir- tually takes a piece out of his past and pro- jects it into the future, in relation to the new object. We described this relation between the new and the old in Chapter V. 3. This forward projection of the buyer's past is quite likely to be in terms of the images discussed in Chapter VII. The buyer creates pictures of himself bowling along the boule- vards in the motor car, no longer as passenger but as driver. He imagines the things that he will do with the dividends from his oil- stock. 4. These trains of images are pleasantly toned (see Chapters VI and VII). And generally speaking the greater the pleasant- ness the greater the desire. We might lay it down as a rule that one who wishes to strengthen the buyer's desire for an object should arouse within him strong feelings of pleasantness. The mechanism for arousing these is the use of the imagery discussed in Chapter V (paragraph 3). Call up vivid images from the buyer's past, being careful that they be markedly pleasant. Then mix them into a picture showing future possibili- ties. Paint a definite picture of the buyer driving his family into the country on Sunday DESIRE 111 and enjoying a picnic dinner in a shady grove. Embellish every selling point with definite clean-cut images as directed in Chapter VII. An extraordinarily effective example of this is the slogan "Like mother used to make." Here are all the elements that go to produce strong desire: visual images of the fat, browned mince pie of childhood days; gusta- tory images of sinking one's teeth into the mass and allowing the flavor to permeate the mouth ; olfactory images of the spicy sweetish odor as the pie comes smoking from the oven ; and above all the image of mother's gentle smile as she cuts the golden object and dis- penses it around the table. Everything con- nected with this picture is pleasant in retro- spect. It is, therefore, a capital segment of experience to project into the future in rela- tion to a new kind of mince meat. 5. So vivid are these images, and so allur- ing, that they lead the buyer to make move- ments toward the object about which they center. These movements are a very impor- tant part of the desire. They are always there. An infant evinces a desire for a watch by reaching toward it. An adult also has an impulse to reach out and touch the object of his desire. True, under the repressive in- 112 THE MIND OF THE BUYER fluence of civilization he often inhibits the outward signs of movement; still he moves if only by twitching his muscles. Many times he acts in ways unknown to himself, through some of the hidden muscles and glands men- tioned in Chapter VI. Imperceptible though they are, these faint, incipient movements con- stitute a vital part of desire. When the movements of the buyer are gross enough to be observable, the seller may use them as indices to determine how highly de- veloped the desire is. For in general as the buyer becomes more desirous of the object he makes more violent movements toward it. He grasps it with firmer grip; or makes more minute examination of it; or sits down in it with an air of proprietorship. 6. If the first movement toward an object results in its purchase, desire does not last very long. Usually, however, the first move- ment does not bring about the attainment of the object. It is blocked in some way. The obstruction may be material: an intervening window glass; distance from the object pic- tured. Or it may be mental : an idea of some other object which is still more strongly de- sired. 7. This obstruction is accompanied by un- DESIEE 113 pleasant feelings. At this stage desire is chiefly marked by unhappiness. The greater the desire the more intense is the unpleasant- ness. 8. If the sale is to be consummated this block must be removed so that the movement toward the object may take place freely. This is the special task of the salesman. To per- form it he should concentrate effort upon the lines mentioned in paragraph 4. 9. With the blocks removed the buyer moves freely toward the object and attains it. He then feels markedly pleasant a sign that the period of desire is ended. Desire and the mental stream. In making this analytical study of desire we have treated the mental stream somewhat artificially. We have greatly retarded it; causing it to flow more slowly than is actually the case. We have also for the time being neglected several facts : a. As the last block is removed and the buyer reaches freely for the object he usually makes a decision." This, although the cul- mination of desire, is still such a distinct mental state that we shall devote a chapter specially to it (Chapter XIII). b. In hastening this decision and removing 114 THE MIND OF THE BUYER the blocks to the buyer's movements, the seller usually employs reason, suggestion, and other mental aids discussed throughout this book. c. The pleasure following the fulfillment of desire is that same mental condition which in Chapter XIV we shall call "satisfaction." Though these cross-references and duplica- tions may seem a trifle confusing to the reader, they are unavoidable; for we are making longitudinal- and cross-sections of a complex stream which does not lend itself readily to sharp clean-cut divisions. Summary. We shall conclude this chapter, at the risk of undue repetition, by character- izing desire as a stage in the mental stream akin to interest but a step beyond. A stage in which the buyer fastens certain past ex- periences upon a framework of future pros- pects, relating them all to the object for sale. He likes the ensemble so well that he reaches out after the object with either actual or in- cipient movements. At first these movements are blocked by physical or ideational impedi- ments. These the seller must remove. He may do so by calling up action-impelling images in the mind of the buyer, and images that are clothed with exceedingly pleasant feelings. STAGE FOUR CONFIDENCE CHAPTER NINE CONFIDENCE AND GOOD WILL Introduction. Somewhere in the course of the sale comes a stage which we may designate confidence. The strength of this confidence may vary between wide limits. In an old long-tried commodity the buyer may have unbounded confidence from the beginning of his purchase; in a strange one, almost none. Nevertheless before he consents to invest very much money in an article he must have at least a modicum of confidence, either in the commodity, or the seller, or both. No argument is needed to prove that the confidence of the buying public is a decided asset to a seller. Sellers demonstrate their belief in this continually. They spend princely sums announcing to the world that they are reliable. They spend large portions of this money simply giving publicity to a trade-mark to be used as a confidence-in- spiring badge upon all their products. Wit- ness in this connection the efforts expended 117 118 THE MIND OF THE BUYER to create public confidence in "57 varieties." The large money values which are sometimes estimated to inhere in confidence (sometimes called the good will of a concern) are further evidences of its large place in business. In arriving at such an evaluation, one accountant writes: "Good will is a legitimate asset in an industrial enterprise, and the most ac- cepted method of computing the amount of good will is to take the total profits for the last five years and deduct from them five years' interest on the capitalization at 7 per cent per annum; the balance is good will." Confidence and good will are habits. In busi- ness inventories confidence, or good will, is usually spoken of as one of the "intangible" assets of a firm, and is thereby classed as something that is only theoretically ex- istent. It is our purpose in this chapter to show that though it is intangible it is never- theless real. That in the process of the sale it occupies a place second to none of the other processes we are describing. If any one were to ask us where lurks this invisible asset, where it makes it habitat, we should answer, In the mind of the buyer. It exists there as a system of habits which the seller Las built up by dint of much labor and cost. These CONFIDENCE AND GOOD WILL 119 habits consist of acts or tendencies that are favorable to the seller and his commodity. The good will belonging to a certain haber- dashery dealer consists psychologically in my habit of turning in at his door rather than that of his competitor when I wish to buy collars. The good will of a certain firm of collar manufacturers consists of my habit of asking for their brand rather than another, and of recommending it to my friends. These habits, while in a sense belonging to me, be- long just as truly to the seller; they are paid for by the money which he has used in ad- vertising and by the pains he has taken to serve me. It shall be our purpose in this chapter to describe the processes through which these habits of confidence and good will are built up. Genesis and development of confidence. It is possible for the seller to build up confidence because of a certain fundamental trait in the buyer's mind. To find its roots we shall be obliged to probe far back into the days of infancy. There, at the time when the mental life of the individual is first unfolding, we shall find the roots of that which blooms forth as adult confidence. When we thus examine 120 THE MIND OF THE BUYER the mental life of the infant, we find as the first forerunner of confidence a simple, in- choate mental attitude which can hardly be expressed by any more definite term than a "feeling, of simple-reality"; this is attached to every object of experience. In every act of perceiving the infant implicitly says, "Ah ! I sense something here; I guess I can rely Upon my senses." He feels that if he can sense the object it must really be there. Ex- istence is, for him, simply presence. What- ever is, is real. There is no hint of disbelief in anything he can sense; there is no reason for anything but confidence in its existence. This feeling, crude and positive, which at- taches to the objects of infantile experience, may be inelegantly called a feeling of "thereness." This primeval predecessor of the confidence- to-be has been called by one psychologist (Bain) "primitive credulity." Bain says that the mind is so constituted that it tends to accept as true every statement made (see page 45). Every impression made upon the mind of a child tends to receive credence, and is accepted unless it is offset by a contrary im- pression. Now in the mind of the child most impressions come without any contradictory CONFIDENCE AND GOOD WILL 121 impression. Accordingly the child readily believes everything told it: that Santa Clans comes down the chimney; that fairies inhabit the flowers; that goblins infest the dark. This "primitive credulity," so strong and absolute in early infancy, loses some of its naivete* as time passes. Experiences come which dull its freshness. The transition may happen in this way. One day the child be- comes hungry. As is common in desire (see page 111) he puts forth his hands to touch his milk-bottle and finds nothing there. He had a feeling of reality (attached to his mental image of the milk-bottle which had always previously been at hand when he was hungry), but when he acted upon it he found an unex- pected absence of the milk-bottle. Accord- ingly he has a new feeling, contrary to the old feeling of reality; which can only be de- scribed as a "feeling of unreality" or doubt. Following this first experience with doubt the child encounters it frequently. In the course of experience he finds that a certain reality-feeling may be contradicted by many things; either by lack of response when he acts upon it, or by the contradictory evidence of another experience. For example, the ex- perience of trying to crawl down the chimney 122 THE MIND OF THE BUYER and failing, makes him doubt the statement that Santa Clans enters through that passage. After a number of such experiences, coming more frequently as adulthood approaches, the individual forms the habit of suppressing his innate tendencies to credulity. He tests every one of his feelings of reality with his other experiences. He tentatively acts upon them to see if they bring the response to be ex- pected, and he places alongside them the ideas gained from former experiences. If his move- ments do not result in satisfactory response, he doubts. If the new impression is belied by his past experiences he doubts. Only if the new object gives full and expected re- sponse to his testing movements, and agrees with his previous experiences is his doubt re- solved and changed into confidence. When such a test results favorably it brings satisfaction and appeasement of desire. In order to understand how great may be this satisfaction after the resolution of a doubt, one has only to read the "Meditations" of some of the church Fathers, who, after having been racked and torn by religious doubts, came to a state of perfect belief and trust. There too one may secure illuminating understand- ing of the psychological conditions attending CONFIDENCE AND GOOD WILL 123 full confidence. After reading these descrip- tions a seller may understand more clearly what a powerful ally he has in the mind of a buyer who maintains implicit confidence in his (the seller's) goods. Such in outline is the genesis and develop- ment of confidence in the lifetime of the in- dividual. From a crude, primitive, almost animalistic "sensation-coefficient/' as one psychologist (Baldwin) puts it, it develops by a process of testing of thought with ex- ternality, into the refined and substantial force that we call by such meaningful and solemn words as belief, trust, credit, faith. To create this is a life-time task. Now we see why it often requires a long time to build up public confidence in certain commodities. For example, it took a long time for the public to develop confidence in the business of ad- vertising as such; because in the early days of advertising, the buyer, trusting his first impressions tinged with "primitive credulity," attempted to act upon them and was deceived. He found unreality where he had attributed reality. For a long time, then, whenever he was tempted to act on an advertisement, he recalled his first unpleasant experiences and they contradicted the statements he was read- 124 THE MIND OF THE BUYER ing. So he exclaimed, paraphrasing the dis- gruntled scriptural writer, "All advertisers are liars ; I will not believe any of them." If within recent years the buying public has developed more confidence in advertising it is because advertisers have learned to make statements which agree with reality and which, when acted upon by the buyer, bring satisfac- tory responses. Confidence is stable but fragile. One peculiar- ity about confidence is that after it has passed through the stage of doubt and has secured the right to exist by means of a long agree- ment between impression ("simple reality feelings") and fact, then it stands square and solid. We say of an individual in whom we have great confidence, "I would trust him with my last dollar." And this solidity endures as long as the feeling of reality can attach itself unimpededly to the object. But let one slip occur and the structure is ruined. Para- doxical as it may seem, confidence is at the same time very stable and very fragile. No- where is this demonstrated more forcibly than in the business of banking. The confidence which people may hold in a bank for genera- tions may be shattered over night. Confidence, the goal of bank advertising. The CONFIDENCE AND GOOD WILL 125 business of banking offers an excellent field in which to study the r61e of confidence in sell- ing. Dealing as it does with the accumulated treasure of civilized man, a bank is obliged to have the confidence of the public in an ex- traordinarily high degree. To secure this it must employ methods that may serve as models for other businesses that wish to com- mand confidence. It secures on its Board of Directors men who are notably worthy of confidence in their own right. It invests in an expensive corner where real estate values are palpably high and stable. It erects a building which is strong and confidence-in- spiring. It goes farther and builds into the structure features which do not make for greater solidity but which appear to do so. It adopts a massive style of architecture and puts heavy gratings before the windows. It knows, of course, that a lighter structure would house the bank just as adequately, but it affects an appearance of great strength in order to impress people with the fact that their funds will be perfectly safe in its vaults. Banks are often accused by zealous adver- tising men of being too conservative in their advertising. Analyzed, however, from the psychological point of view, this conservatism 126 THE MIND OF THE BUYER is justified. For what banks seek through advertising is first confidence, then deposits. They are obliged to keep confidence as their chief aim. They know that at best it is a pre- carious and fragile entity, which ever so slight a thing may disturb ; hence they refrain from employing any methods that may by their eccentricity shock it. Two devices for instilling confidence. From the foregoing analysis of confidence the reader is prepared to see what usually passes in the mind of the buyer when he is developing con- fidence in a commodity. Due to his "primitive credulity" the buyer tends to believe the first statement made about the commodity. Soon, however, he thinks of some past experiences which controvert the statement, which arouse within his mind disbeliefs, and which act as in- hibitions to the purchase of the commodity. These the seller must batter down. He may use two psychological aids: The first is repetition. An assertion re- peated often enough will go far toward creating belief in it. This is the psychological justification for the constant use of such slogans as, "Ask the man who owns one"; "There's a reason"; "99 44/100 % pure"; "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"; "The ut- CONFIDENCE AND GOOD WILL 127 most in cigarettes"; "The most beautiful car in America." The second is to arouse and maintain a feeling of satisfaction within the buyer. Throughout our discussion we have called confidence, both in its primitive state and its refined state, a feeling. We have done this designedly. For confidence is marked by something warm and pleasant it is a true feeling as we defined the term in Chapter VI. As we stated in that chapter, feeling is ever an animus to action. A seller may give ever so convincing arguments ; he may bristle with reasons why the buyer should purchase his article; but if he fail to create confidence he will not make the sale. We may paraphrase the old adage to read: "A man convinced without the feeling of confidence is of the same opinion still." Summary. We have here laid down the dic- tum that confidence is inevitable in the sale. Though it need not always appear as stage four, where we have placed it in the logical out- line of this book, still it usually comes here in the sale of a new commodity. Wherever it comes, it must exist in some degree of strength, the greater the better. And we cited some com- modities to which it adheres with the solidity 128 THE MIND OF THE BUYER of Gibraltar. Though it may be strong and well-grounded, however, it may, under very slight provocation and lack of faithfulness, crumble in a moment. Therefore the seller must exercise constant watchfulness to see that he keeps his pledges and fulfills the ex- pectations of those who trust him and his goods. Though confidence is usually regarded as an "intangible" asset, we showed that it has real existence; and that its value may be reckoned in dollars and cents. Psychologi- cally speaking we described it as a set of habits inculcated within the buyer motor habits of responding to the seller's appeals with acts of purchase. We showed the simple innate trait upon which it is based, and related how from this elemental germ it grows to a high plane of refinement and constancy. As specific psychological aids in the mold- ing of this into perfect form we recommend repetition and the maintenance of pleasant feeling. The form which this latter should take is the complete satisfaction of the needs of the buyer. STAGE FIVE DECISION AND ACTION CHAPTER TEN THE POWER OF REASON Reason and the will. After passing through the stages just described, the buyer is ready to perform the act of purchase. His condition of mind at this moment is unique. It is called by such names as decision, resolution, will, volition, psychological moment. We shall discuss its most critical aspect in Chapter XIII under the caption, The Psychological Moment. Meanwhile we shall discuss several subordinate mental processes that may im- mediately precede it and influence it: reason- ing, instinct, suggestion. These, we hasten to admit, may be used effectively at earlier stages of the sale; but they are the battery of forces which the seller usually reserves for the crucial moment of decision; hence we have waited until this point to discuss them. Analysis of reasoning. When a person rea- sons, he goes through four rather clearly- marked stages. In his mental stream we may distinguish four divisions : (1) the awareness 131 132 THE MIND OF THE BUYER of a difficulty; (2) the location of the diffi- culty; (3) the search for a solution; (4) the solution. By way of illustration let us imagine a sale in which the buyer decides to buy an auto- mobile tire through a process of practically pure reasoning. Let us suppose that our tire features a device for preventing rim-cuts. How shall we direct the reasoning processes of the buyer so that he will make a purchase? Recognition of a difficulty. First we should lead him to see that one of his great automo- biling problems is the short life of his tires. He will doubtless readily admit this to be true. Though there might be circumstances under which the buyer would not have such a clear consciousness of the problem ; in which case the task of the seller is to picture the problem in extraordinarily vivid terms. We shall revert to this point in a later paragraph. Location of difficulty. Our second task is to locate the difficulty by showing the cause of such rapid deterioration of tires. We shall locate this difficulty in the wearing by the rim. We might demonstrate this graphically by picking up an old tire and showing the buyer how the walls of the tire have been broken down by the sharp impact with the THE POWER OF KEASON 133 rim. Or more dramatically still by exhibiting a recently bought tire of the old-fashioned kind, which went flat on the road and was driven on the rim to the nearest garage ; with the result that the rim cut through the new fabric. Many of these facts will be new. to the buyer. He will be astonished to discover the insidious destruction that is going on in- side his old-style tires. We should enlighten him fully ; showing how many layers there are in the fabric of a tire; how stout it is; and still how quickly one layer after another may be eaten through without the protection of our beneficent no-rim-cut device. Our whole aim at this point should be to make a vivid presentation of the deplorable condition in which the buyer is without our tires. Generally speaking, the more clearly he sees the difficulties of his situation, the more anxious he will be for the solution when we hand it to him. For an excellent example of the tactics to pursue at this stage the seller may profitably study the methods used by a professional evangelist in "selling" religion. He begins by showing the prospective convert (buyer) how great a lack there is in his life; and how he faces a perpetual problem in liv- ing. The evangelist paints this in extremely 134 THE MIND OF THE BUYER graphic terms so that the "buyer" will re- spond readily when shown that the way of salvation is the solution to his problem. In- deed, a successful evangelist is perforce an excellent salesman ; and he can teach the seller of secular wares many things about the mind of the buyer. Presentation of solution. Our third task is to offer solutions of the difficulty. If other solutions than ours have been tried unsuccess- fully we might refer to them and show how they failed. Here we might present figures showing the average lifetime of a number of tires of standard make; then figures showing the average length of life of our no-rim-cut tire. Thus we show that the latter is the solution of the problem. During this stage come the "arguments" with which a train of reasoning is usually conducted. It is at this stage that the buyer may become an active opponent instead of a passive listener to our encomiums. He may bring up objections, consisting of cases from past experience in which our commodity might conceivably fail. He may put forth ideas of his own and test them out against our proposed solution. The situation at this point may be likened to a court-room scene in which THE POWER OF REASON 135 evidence is submitted and arguments are pre- sented for and against. As each bit of evi- dence is submitted, the judge (buyer) must test it ; must weight it and check it up against experience. As we (the seller) defend our product we must produce exactly the evidence necessary to refute every objection. We must show by actual demonstration how strong are the fibers in our fabric; how numerous are the layers; and how we have padded with inde- structible material the strategic spot at which the cuts occur. All this implies that the salesman has exact and complete knowledge of the processes by which the tires are manufactured, and it em- phasizes again the statement made in Chapter V, that the seller should be thoroughly ac- quainted with his product. Correct solution of the difficulty. But we have reached the last step of the train of rea- soning without noting it explicitly. It is here that the buyer recognizes that our tires will solve his problem. The moment an- nounces itself by being prefaced with "there- fore." If the train of reasoning has been skillfully conducted it will bring a conclusion tinged with finality. It will come clothed 136 THE MIND OF THE BUYER with confidence and belief. Here we should like to repeat all that we asseverated in Chapter IX. Points for special attention. In appealing to the buyer through reason, the seller should guard himself with particular care in several respects : The first is to delineate the problem of the buyer with exceeding sharpness. To do this he must study the buyer's needs beforehand. Some one has remarked that a successful sales- man must know more about the buyer's busi- ness than the buyer does himself. The second is to avoid wandering from the point at issue. The temptations to talk aim- lessly are great, especially at stage three of a train of reasoning. In order to avoid this the salesman might well outline a "sennonette" beforehand according to this pattern : 1. Problem: Your tires wear out rapidly, 2. Location and difficulty: Rim-cuts. Demonstrations a, b, c, d. 3. Various solutions have been tried: a, b, c, d. (The buyer will suggest some of these. The seller should know in advance what they are, and be prepared to meet them with counter-arguments, but he need not bring them up himself.) 4. This tire meets the need and solves the problem. THE POWER OF REASON 137 By following such an outline properly amplified, a seller who knows his goods and also the mind of the buyer may proceed with confidence to conduct a sale through reason- ing. The secondary role of reason. Though we have assumed that by means of pure reason the seller may induce the buyer to purchase, still we should not deceive ourselves by lay- ing too much stress upon it. Rarely does a sale depend upon reason exclusively. Some evidence for this lies in certain figures gath- ered by the author regarding the frequency with which advertisements are illustrated with pictures (non-reasoning material). These figures show that ninety-two per cent of contemporary non-classified advertisements are illustrated. Clearly, then, not more than eight advertisements in a hundred rely upon reasoning exclusively. And of the remaining ninety-two probably a large majority use rea- son only meagerly. In fact, in many sales where reason is in- volved it plays only a secondary r61e. As we remarked in Chapter VI the buyer bases his decision chiefly upon feeling. Then, because he likes to regard himself as a hard-headed man who must be "shown" he tries to justify 138 THE MIND OF THE BUYER his decision by reason. He uses it as a sop to his rationalising conscience. Experienced salesmen have discovered this fact about human nature, and they often use "reason- able" arguments principally as a means of justifying the choice which they know the buyer has already implicitly made through feeling. Aside from this vicarious r61e, however, reason plays a serious and of twn decisive part in the sale. Particularly is this tbe case when selling to such routine buyers as professional purchasing agents. To know how to conduct a reasoned sale properly should, therefore, be made a matter of serious study by every in- telligent seller. CHAPTER ELEVEN INSTINCTIVE FACTORS Introduction. Broadly speaking, the actions of the buyer have two sources: habits formed in his own lifetime and inheritances from pre- vious generations. We have considered the first with considerable detail in our discussions of repetition, imagination, interest, desire, reason ; pointing out devices by which to evoke the so-called habitual actions. We have touched only lightly, however, upon the sources of the second class though we have been obliged to take" some notice of them, particularly when discussing attention and feeling We shall now atone for this neglect by devoting an entire chapter to them. Definition of instinctive action. We call these inherited factors instinctive, defining the term as follows : An instinctive act is a series of acts of an hereditary nature, having a defi- nite though non-conscious end, and accom- panied by a characteristic feeling. Let us 139 140 THE MIND OF THE BUYER analyze this definition and point out the char- acteristics of instinctive action. Characteristics of instinctive action. 1. It is very complicated. It is not a simple, single act like the wink of an eye. Rather is it made np of a number of simple acts. Ob- serve the bird as she goes through the instinc- tive act of nest-building. She performs a series of simple actions: picking up a string here, a twig there, a hair yonder; and laying them in the nest. In the same way the in- stinctive actions of humans consist of separate acts chained together, though this linkage should be interpreted according to the follow- ing paragraph: 2. The word "series" implies not merely multiplicity of acts but sequence as well. The separate simple acts comprising an instinctive act almost invariably occur in the same order, and as we shall show presently, without being planned by the individual. A striking ex- ample of this will be furnished by the follow- ing description: "A certain beetle of the genus Sitaris lays its eggs at the entrance of the subterranean galleries excavated by a kind of mason bee. From these eggs the larvae are hatched in autumn as active little insects very different from the ordinary type of beetle grub, having six legs each armed with a sharp curved hook. In the winter they become INSTINCTIVE FACTORS 141 sluggish, but resume their activity in the spring. And when in April the drones of the bee emerge and pass out through the gallery, the Sitaris larvae fasten upon them. There they remain till the nuptial flight of the bees, when, as the insects mate, they pass from the drone to the female bee. Then again they wait their chance. The moment a bee lays an egg, the Sitaris larva springs upon it, and at length breaks its prolonged fast. *Even while the poor mother is carefully fastening up her cell, her mortal enemy is begin- ning to devour her offspring; for the egg of the [bee] serves not only as a raft, but as a repast. The honey, which is enough for either, would be too little for both; and the Sitaris, therefore, at its first meal, relieves itself from its only rival. After eight days the egg is consumed, and on the empty shell the Sitaris undergoes its first transforma- tion, and malies its appearance in a very different form. ... It changes to a white fleshy, grub, so organized as to float on the surface of the honey, with the mouth beneath and the spiracles above the surface. ... In this state it remains until the honey is consumed,' and, after some further metamorphoses, develops into a perfect beetle in August. "Here, then, we have a curious and marvelously adaptive life-history, with specialized changes of form and structure, and with correlated modes of activity at each stage. How comes it to perform its varied activities, each step of which is so well adapted to the needs of the stage of life on which it is entering? Parental teaching is altogether ex- cluded, for the parent never sees her offspring; each in- dividual is excluded from others of its kind, so that imitation is also excluded. The activities cannot be per- formed through intelligence in the common acceptation of the word, for intelligence involves the profiting by individual experience. The larva cannot fasten upon the drone as the result of any previous experience, since it has never done anything of the sort before; nor can it pass to the female 142 THE MIND OF THE BUYER bee because experience has taught it that such a procedure brings with it satisfactory consequences. At no stage of the complex process can intelligence, based on individual experience, be admitted as a factor. If there be experience, it must be the inherited experience of ancestors who have, each in turn, done much the same." This illustration shows the invariable se- quence with which the simple components of a complex instinctive act follow each other. Upon superficial examination one might conclude that instinctive acts cannot be dif- ferentiated one from the other, because several may contain identical elementary acts. This is true, but we shall find on closer ex- amination, that though the elementary com- ponents of several instinctive acts may be identical, still in each instinctive pattern they are linked together in a unique order. For example, though the simple act of flushing in the face may occur in connection with several complicated instinctive actions, such as acts of shyness, embarrassment, modesty, even of pugnacity; still it comes surrounded by other elementary acts which give it in each case, a different setting. We thus say that each instinctive act has a distinct pattern regardless of the cloth of which it is made. 3. Our definition next emphasizes the fact INSTINCTIVE FACTORS 143 that instinctive actions are inherited. There is a volume of significance in this for the seller, which we shall point out presently. For the moment, let us elaborate upon the meaning of the term inheritance in general. a. Let us note first that anything inherited may come not merely from immediate parents but also from all preceding generations in the line of descent. Some of the things we inherit may have originated millions of years ago. b. An act which has passed down through so many generations is thus to be found in all the members of the species. For example, all human beings tend to act in about the same way when afraid. c. An inherited act is firmly fixed. It has been ingrained within so many generations and transmitted so faithfully from generation to generation that it is quite firmly embedded within the organism of the last inheritor. d. It may be quickly aroused. This fol- lows from the fact that the pathways for it are well marked out in the nervous system. Now to wear down a pathway for non-in- herited action requires considerable time. To do so through reasoning processes, for ex- ample, requires the time necessary for the nervous impulse to travel to the brain, perhaps 144 THE MIND OF THE BUYER calling up several idea-systems in turn, while the individual cogitates about the matter and debates for and against the suggested action. Instinctive action, however, being already inherent in the organism, requires no appre- ciable time for organization. We shall pres- ently point out the practical significance of this in selling. 4. Our definition next describes an instinc- tive act as one which the individual may perform without knowledge of the end. For example, when one turns pale in fear, he may be aware of the fact, but may not see any good purpose in it. In fact, he may regard it as detrimental. Now, though the end of paling in fear may not be apparent there is probably an end there, or there has been at some time in man's history. It probably serves in some way to preserve life. How can paling be connected with the preservation of life? Let us reason it out, following Darwin, on the basis of the distribution of the blood. At time of fear, what is the politic thing to do? Run away. But to run re- quires a sudden access of strength in the muscles of the legs. To bring this strength, blood is needed there. Nature provides for this by withdrawing blood from portions of INSTINCTIVE FACTORS 145 the body where it is not needed of which the face is one and sending it down to the legs. Of course, as adult man has schooled himself to repress some of his most evident instinctive actions, he may not always use up the oversupply of blood by running away; still he cannot prevent the automatic, instinc- tive part of the act from occurring. If this reasonable explanation is valid, we see that the instinctive act of paling has a real and definite end, even if it is obscure to the in- dividual. And that all of our instinctive actions may conceivably have their origin in some provision similarly useful. 5. The final part of our definition describes instinctive action as freighted with strong feeling. When we are performing an instinc- tive act we are emotionally stirred more deeply than when we are acting on a primarily reasoned and habitual basis. We fore- shadowed this statement in Chapter VI when we said that feeling is usually accompanied by widespread instinctive action. We now state the converse: instinctive action is ac- companied by feeling. Perhaps we should more accurately use the plural and say that instinctive actions are accompanied by feel- ings; for each great instinctive action-pattern 146 THE MIND OF THE BUYER possesses a feeling peculiarly its own usually called an emotion. Consider, for example, the instinctive act of running away from a fearsome object and this includes all the motions, large and small, that aid in the flight: the locomotive actions of the legs; the acceleration of the heart-beat which pumps more blood into the legs ; the quickened breath- ing which furnishes more oxygen to the rapidly flowing blood; the actions of the in- ternal glands which pour strength-giving sub- stances into the blood. This mass of corre- lated movement that we call the instinct- pattern, flight, is accompanied by the emo- tional cast of feeling which we call fear. The instinct-pattern that we call pugnacity is accompanied by the emotional cast of feeling which we call anger. The instinctive action of protecting one's young is accompanied by the emotional feeling called parental love. Thus each great instinct-pattern has its character- istic feeling. Classification of instinctive actions impracti- cable. At this point we should like to make a list of the fundamental human instincts, but we can hardly do so with confidence. There are several reasons. The situations when in- stinctive actions are evoked are sometimes INSTINCTIVE FACTORS 147 complex, so that more than one of the in- stincts are called out. The resulting action is a product of all; hence we can hardly secure separate, clean-cut patterns. Further- more, our instinctive actions become inter- penetrated, during the course of individual experience, with acquired acts, especially with habits. Since we rarely see the pure manifestations of instinctive action, then, we cannot tell exactly how many instincts there are. Though we shall not presume to give a com- plete list, we shall probably be safe in recog- nizing the existence of some of the great classes denoted by current terms like self* preservation (variously called locomotion? obtaining food, shelter, play, sleep) ; repro- duction; mating (including acts of coyness and coquetry) ; protection of the young; flight; pugnacity; repulsion. Again, "we may do best to make a general classification with reference to the end that the act subserves, rather than to the specific character of the particular instinct. One of the most convenient divides instincts into three classes: (1) those which preserve the life and provide for the welfare of the in- dividual" ; such as flight, pugnacity, hoarding, 148 THE MIND OF THE BUYER curiosity. "(2) Those which provide for the continuance of the race and family" ; such as, mating, protection of home and of young. "(3) Those which make for the welfare of the tribe or social unit"; such as gregariousness, imitation. "Some of the acts belong to more than one class in fact, no one of the second or third would be possible without the first but the division is convenient in general and may serve as a guide through the maze." Its value in the sale. Out of this discussion of the characteristics of instinctive action, modified by the acknowledgment that adult instinctive action is usually associated with acquired forms of action, the reader may emerge with at least one clear idea, namely, that the actions of a buyer have two sources : individual experiences and racial experiences. Though the two are not separate in their effects upon human conduct, still those of the second class are probably the ones upon which the seller may depend more firmly in moving the will of the buyer. Their superior strength lies in the following facts: Relatively more certain. Instinctive action, being the imprint of thousands of experiences upon thousands of ancestors, is firmly fixed within an individual; hence, the appropriate INSTINCTIVE FACTORS 149 appeal will quite certainly bring it out. Rea- soned action, however, being based only upon individual experience, is in general less stable, at any rate, less firmly fixed. Moreover, because instinctive types of action are present in all members of the species, a seller may know that if he appeals to a large number of buyers with the same device, he will with a high degree of certainty, secure the same response from all. He cannot be so certain about a type of reasoned action. For people are often prevented from listening to reason by deep-seated prejudices or ignor- ance; or one reason may appeal to one buyer but may repel another. An instinctive action, however, which comes from one person is likely to come in about the same strength from all. For example, an appeal based upon the welfare of one's children will appeal with about equal strength to all parents. Quicker in response. An instinctive action usually comes more quickly than a reasoned action. This is partly because the route over which the impulses must pass is shorter. In reasoned action, the impulses aroused by the seller must traverse a long and devious path from sense organ to brain ; there they branch 150 THE MIND OF THE BUYER out into various tracts, representing "idea- systems/' while the ideas are being weighed and balanced according to the involved, in- tricate procedure outlined in Chapter X. After a long delay, lasting an hour, a day, week, month, or year, the action follows. In instinctive action, however, the pathways are shorter and already marked out. When the stimulus comes the act follows readily. Instinctive action marked by feeling. The last advantage lies in the fact that instinctive action is intimately connected, fairly suffused, with feeling. Now to feeling belong certain possibilities for strengthening action which are not attributive to reason. For example, observe the way in which an evangelist appeals to his audience to be converted. When he uses reason he finds his hearers respectful (if not somnolent), but cold. When he takes up the wand of feeling, however, he quickly se- cures results. The seller who desires to use influential methods of appeal will learn a lesson from successful evangelists. For after all, both preacher and seller have the same problem psychologically to induce action. And both need to use the same psychological means is inducing it INSTINCTIVE FACTORS 151 In these last few pages we have spoken as though there might be two kinds of action, instinctive and reasoned. As a matter of fact, this is an artificial partition, justified only by the necessities of literary exposition. Actually a bit of human conduct may contain at the same time both instinctive and rea- soned factors. The object of our comparison has been to show that probably a seller may work more easily through the former than through the latter. Summary. We have now completed our treatment of the hereditary equipment in- stinct for action residing within the buyer. We found it resistant to satisfactory analysis because it usually occurs in connection with some obscuring and complicating acquired action. Also because jit originated far back in days before our ken, and is not always con- gruous and understandable in its present-day setting. This very trait of inheritance, how- ever, endows it with value in the sale. It is thereby firmly fixed; universal (present within all members of the species) ; prompt; and rich with the vivifying power of feeling. CHAPTER TWELVE SUGGESTION IN THE SALE Suggestion is regarded as mysterious. Much has been said during recent years about the psychology of suggestion and the possibility of using it in selling. So much mysterious potency has been claimed for it that many sellers believe that they have only to learn the laws of suggestion and then they can impose their wills unimpededly upon the help- less, submissive buying public. This aura of mystery surrounding sugges- tion results from the dramatic instances which have been recounted showing its power in influencing human beings ; particularly in the healing of disease. People suffering or alleged to be suffering from various diseases have been treated by nothing but suggestion with astonishing results. Consequently the public has concluded that there is some vital force inherent in suggestion which can be employed in all conditions of life. Still further awe is attached to it because of its close associa- 152 SUGGESTION IN THE SALE 153 tion with hypnotism a fascinating and ter- rifying thing to most people. Analysis of suggested action. In analyzing suggestion and showing its relation to the business of selling, we shall frankly eschew all aspirations to wield it in its abnormal form. For in the sale as we conceive it, we wish to use only legitimate, normal means of influencing the buyer. If we employ sugges- tion, it must be only in the best interests of the buyer. We shall treat it, then, as a per- fectly normal occurrence in the sale; and we shall describe it in plain, everyday terms of speech. In order to secure a clear conception of it we shall first give it analytic definition. "By suggestion is meant a great class of phenomena typified by the abrupt entrance from without into consciousness of an idea or image which becomes a part of the stream of thought and tends to produce the muscular and volitional efforts which ordinarily follow upon its presence." This definition means that in employing the power of suggestion, we attempt to insert some object (whatever we have for sale) morpleton & Co., 1873. 206 BIBLIOGRAPHY McDouoALL, WILLIAM: An Introduction to Social Psychology. London, Methuen & Co., 1908, pp. 19, 20, 31, 32, 44-67, 87-102. PILLSBURY, W. B. : Essentials of Psychology. Chap. X. WATSON, JOHN B.: Psychology from a Behavior- ist's Standpoint, Chap. IV. CHAPTER XII SCOTT, WALTER D.: Influencing Men in Business. Chaps. Ill, V, VI, VIII. SIDIS, BORIS: The Psychology of Suggestion. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1898, pp. 5-55. CHAPTER XIII JAMES, WILLIAM : Psychology, Briefer Course. New York, Henry Holt & Co., 1893. Chap. XXVI. KITSON, HARRY D.: The Psychological Moment, Scientific Monthly, Vol. IX, September, 1919, pp. 246-252. McDouoALL, WILLIAM: Psychological Psychology. London, J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1905. Chap. IX. PILLSBURY, W. B.: Essentials of Psychology, pp. 338-357. INDEX \ INDEX Advertisements, adapted to medium, 55 ff ; truthful- ness in, 191. ^Esthetic, see esthetic. Amoeba, 91. Arguments, in reasoning, 134. Associated Advertising Clubs of the World, 194. Association, law of, 98. Attention, attracting, 30 ff; nature of, 29. Auditory images, 99. Automobile, selling, 173, 180, 197; tire, 132 ff. Auto-suggestion, 167 f. Bain, 120. Baldwin, 123. Bank advertising, 125 f ; and confidence, 125. Better Business Bureaus, 195. Brain, energy, 176; path- ways, 45. Cartoons, in advertising, 95. Change, 35. Classification, of instinctive acts, 147 f. Coleridge, 50. Color, 41 ff, Collective buyer, 54. Commodity, defined as serv- ice, 196 f. Competition, 188. Confidence, 117 ff; develop- ment of, 119; how to in- still, 126. Copy, adapt to medium, 66. Counter-suggestion, 166. Coupons, 87. Credulity, 120. Cycle, in^ fashion, 71; in sale, 196. Darwin, 144. Desire, 96, 109 ff. Difficulty, recognition of, 132. Digestion, in feeling, 93. Direct suggestion, 163 f. Dishonesty in suggestion, 165 f. Display advertising, justi- fied, 45 f; 52. Doubt, 121 f. Dynamogenesis, see Ideo- motor action. Economic investigation of buying public, 58; point of view, 8, 189, 198. Emotion, 145 f. Empathy, 103 ff. Esthetic, 95. Ethical ideals, 187, 198 f; point of view, 7. Evangelist, a salesman, 133, 150. Extensity, 32 ff. 209 210 INDEX Fashion, and selling, 72; characteristics of, 69 ff; defined, 68. Feeling, "expressions" of, 90 ff; good, in sale, 89 ff; in instinctive action, 145, 150; unpleasant, in desire, 112 f; with images, 102 f. Fehlman, Frank, 66 f. Ford, Henry, 197. Forgetting, curve of, 47 f. Geographical study of buy- ing public, 57. Golden Rule, 200. Good-will, 118 f. Group-mind, see Public. Historical method, 11 ff. Hospital, 86. Humor, 93. Idea, 156; in suggestion, 163; in volition, 171 ff. Ideals, 186. Ideo-motor action, 154 f. Image, and feeling, 110; clearness of, 100; in De- sire, 110; nature of, 97, 99, 100. Imitation, 70. Impression, in belief, 120; 185. Inheritance, 31 f; in in- stinctive action, 143. Instinctive action, 91, 96; and feeling, 150; charac- teristics of, 140 f ; classi- fication of, 147 f; defined, 139. Intensity, 31. Interest, classification of, 80, 83, 96; defined, 77 f; how to arouse, 77 f; how to measure, 63; laws of, 79 f. Involuntary movements, at psychological moment, 179; in feeling, 90. James, 82. Judd, 11. Kaleidoscope, cross-section of mind like, 39. Laboratory method, 17. Laws, of competition, 188; of suggestion, 157 ff. Magazines, 55, 62, 64, 67. Magnitude, see Extensity. Mediums, 17, Chap. IV; choice of, 57 f ; distinc- tions between, 55 ff. Memory, influenced by repe- tition, 46 ; "unconscious," 49 ff. Motion picture, actor, 79; in selling, 40. Movement, 35 ff; in desire, 111 f ; in suggestion, 154; simulated, 40. Napoleon, 170. Negative suggestion, 159 f. Newspapers, 55, 59 f. Pleasant feeling, 91 f. Positive suggestion, 159. Price, 189. Primitive credulity, see Credulity. Psychological, differences between publics, 58 f; moment, 169, 177; how to meet, 179 ff; point of view, 9. Psychology, experiment in, 12 ff; old and new con- ceptions of, 9ff; "rule of thumb" vs. scientific, 23 f. Public, defined, 54. INDEX 211 Reality, feeling of, 120. Reason, 131 f ; dangers in, 136; secondary rdle of, 137. Recognition, of difficulty in reasoning, 132; of psycho- logical moment, 178 f. Repetition, 44; distribution of, 46, 49, 95; in inspir- ing confidence, 126. Retention, 49. "Rule of thumb" psychology, characteristics of, 23 ff. Sale, defined, 3. Salesman, and auto-sugges- tion, 167 f; selection of, 20. Satisfaction, 96; a feeling, 114; in confidence, 127; the goal of selling, 185. Scientific method, 12 ff. Sentences, length of, in me- diums, 61 f. Sensation-coefficient, 123. Selling, forms of, 3. . Shakespeare, 170. Shryer, 16. Sitaris, 140. Slogan, 45, 52, 160, 19T. Sociological investigation of buying public, 58. Specific words, 101 f. Statistical investigation of returns, 16. Statistics, 23. Stream, mental, 4; at stage of attention, 29; in de- sire, 113 f; in suggestion, 154, 186; stages in, 5. Suggestion, abnormal, 152; defined, 152; laws of, 157 ff. Superlative, 191. Syllables, se* Words. Trade-marks, 165 f. Truthfulness, in advertising 191. Type, investigation of lower- case, 17 ff. "Unconscious," action, 155; memorizing, 49 ff. Value, 187. Visual images, 99 f. Vocabulary, 102. Words, length of, in adver- tising mediums, 60. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. ''t ,.Wl--x? Due end r-' subject to recall ai teC'D to ^ ' 5 1 LD 21A-60m-2,'G7 (H241slO)476B General Library University of California Berkeley JJB 66U6V RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW AUb Z Z 2UU< DEC 1.22003 MAY 1 2007 12,000(11/95)