Psychological insight on consumer self-image

Sentient recently partnered with Crystal Deodorant to conduct a study about body odor. Not surprisingly, the results of this study show that people want to avoid bad body odor. What is surprising are the lengths people are willing to go to avoid bad body odor and how intimately it is tied to the sense of self-image.
Approximately one-half of Americans (46%) said that they would be willing to sacrifice years of their life to chronic bad body odor. This group of individuals would sacrifice, on average, 10 years of their life to avoid this condition. Additionally, Americans are willing to gain an average of 17 pounds in order to avoid chronic bad body odor. The data appear to suggest that, for many individuals, self-consciousness about body odor is more powerful than self consciousness about body size. Possibly more shocking, especially given the current state of the economy, is that 13 percent of Americans would quit their current job to avoid sitting next to a co-worker with bad body odor for a year, and 44 percent would take a hit in income to avoid personal bad body odor.
Interestingly, the study also found that Americans are generally more willing to tolerate the bad body odor of others than to subject others to their own bad body odor. Fifty-seven percent of Americans would go on a date with their choice celebrity if he or she had bad body odor, but only 17 percent would go on the same date if they themselves had bad body odor. While this could be due to our considerate human nature, it likely points to our own vanity and self-conscious nature. In fact the extremes people are willing to go to is astounding, 44 percent of individuals would be willing to do at least one of the following to avoid personal bad body odor for a year: forgo any cash bonus for the year, forgo any salary increase for the following year and surrender 5% of your current salary for the year. In contrast, only 23 percent of individuals would be willing to make at least one of those sacrifices in order to avoid sitting next to a co-worker with bad body odor for a year.
Some deodorant marketers capitalize on human self-consciousness by using social fear appeals in their messaging. A typical deodorant ad of this sort alludes to the possibility of social disapproval and then suggests that bad body odor is the cause of this feared condition. Ads imply that potential social and emotional damage will occur if a particular brand of deodorant is not adopted, deeply effecting the desired projection of a specific self-image. The preservation and promotion of one’s self image is one of the primary drivers of consumer behavior. It is a motivating factor behind consumer adoption of a brand as a badge to wear. In this case, “fear marketing” stimulates anxiety in viewers through the potential degradation of the self-image and has the designed effect when it offers a salve to cope with the fear of social castigation – i.e., the deodorant. But not all deodorant messaging is created equal and the promotion of a positive self-image can also be achieved by priming values such as conscientiousness and hygiene.
For a more detailed report of the research findings, please go to http://www.thecrystal.com/research.cfm or contact us at info@sentientdecisionscience.com