Societing

If you haven't done so yet, you need to check out the brilliant Prof Bernard Cova.

He's been arguing that we're looking in the wrong place to understand consumption behaviour. We look down at level 2 (through individual's psychology/psychopathology) or if you're crazy in the head (and get easily overwhelmed by scientific stuff) down at level 1 (the physiological wiring in the brain). Or up at level 4 (aggregated versions of the individual stuff - markets, society etc).

All of which is the wrong place to look because being social creatures, our consumption behaviour (like everything else) is done in front of/with others (real or imagined). So go for the pink, he says: the tribal level...the many shifting 'tribal' groups we live out our lives in.

This really pushes traditional psychology (the science of studying individuals) aside and creates an intellectual framework for the tools of social science. Use those useful tools (Sociology, Ethnography, Anthropology) and try societing, instead of marketing