The Dr. and Mrs. Gary Brummer Colloquium Series in Psychology is a free and public series, hosted by Murray State University, that encompasses a wide range of psychological research and speakers. This past week, Ian Norris, chair of the Psychology Department and Associate Professor of Marketing at Berea College, presented his research on the psychology behind material possessions. Norris visited Sounds Good to discuss his upcoming lecture.
A large part of advertising and marketing is connecting to a consumer base on an emotional level. Ian Norris, last week's presenter in the Brummer Colloquium Series, explains that "it's the goal of advertisers and marketers, to some extent at least, to create a sense of meaning from the goods and services that they want to sell us." Dramatic scores, emotional storylines, and repetitive imagery serve to convince consumers of a good or service's ability to fulfill some sort of need the individual has. Norris describes these emotional attachments as purposeful and specific.
"It's more than just emotion, it's a certain kind of emotion that is targeted to our sense of self in some way, our basic needs at various levels of heirarchy, be it needs for safety or security, or be it needs for self esteem or social validation. The emotions that ads are designed to elicit try to link feelings associated with products and brands to the more basic sorts of needs that all people share in common."
Norris' presentation at Wrather Auditorium covered the 'big picture' element of psychological advertising, including how people attach meaning to objects, why certain items/services are seen as better fits for certain personality types, perceptions of needs and luxuries, and how to differentiate between the two. Although Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs has commonly been used by marketers as the basic foundation of consumer psychology, the concept of identifying luxuries and needs as two distinct groups is highly subjective. Norris describes research he has done within this subject, which included asking various people how they would classify certain products or services. Depending on the individual's motivation and values, wealth, and socioeconomic standing, these distinctions often varied.
Material possessions can serve as important sources of physical, psychological, and symbolic security. Norris' studies not only explore how consumers think about material products as luxuries and necessities, but also the influence of psychological security motives on these perceptions. Implications for evolutionary biology, digital consumption, and environmental sustainability were also explored throuhgout the presentation. Dr. Ian Norris presented Luxuries, Necessities, and Psychological Security: The Meaning of Things at Wrather Auditorium on Thursday, October 18th. For more information on the Dr. and Mrs. Gary Brummer Colloquium Series of Psychology, visit Murray State's website.
