University of Central Punjab

Assignment-3
SMET Technique
Assigned By : Prof. Syed Asad Shah
Submitted By: M. Rehan (36)
Usman Maqsood (40), Umer Hassan (61),
& Usman Hassan (62),
Class : MBA - 1A (Marketing)

Strategic Brand Management

Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique

The Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET) is a patented market research tool. ZMET is
a technique that elicits both conscious and especially unconscious thoughts by exploring people's
non-literal or metaphoric expressions. It was developed by Dr. Gerald Zaltman at the Harvard
Business School in the early 1990s. As Zaltman described it, "A lot goes on in our minds that
we're not aware of. Most of what influences what we say and do occurs below the level of
awareness. That's why we need new techniques: to get at hidden knowledge-to get at what people
don't know they know." The technique has been used by academic researchers and for marketing
purposes to study a variety of topics related to both marketing and the social sciences.
The ZMET technique

Time
Pre-interview
Sensory, visual and non-verbal
Steps

The Seven-step Process

Story Telling
Missing Pictures
Triad Task
Metaphor Probe/Expand the Frame
Sensory (Non-Visual) Metaphors
Vignette
Digital Imaging
The Power Of Metaphor

Zaltman introduces several concepts mental model a set of thoughts formed when neural
clusters influence each other; used to process information from and respond to an abstract event.
A road map that identifies communities and their connecting routes. Consumers encounter this
when they need to contemplate a decision.
Humans think in images, not words. Most research tools, according to Zaltman, are
verbocentrics. Conscious thought thoughts that we can articulate because we are fully aware
of our own existence, sensations and cognition. Unconscious thought thinking outcomes of
which we are unaware or vaguely aware and struggle to articulate, mental activity outside
conscious awareness. Metaphors stimulate the workings of the human mind.

Application of ZMET
Oticon, a Danish manufacturer of hearing aids, applied ZMET to understand the negative
connotations that people associated with hearing aids. They felt, although many people used cost
as a reason to postpone the purchase of a hearing aid, there were deeper factors at work. Hearing
aids were described as a symbol of being seen as old and flawed. Oticon responded by creating a
hearing aid with a new, fashionable styling in an attempt to counter this stereotype
In a study for Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, ZMET discovered that the metaphors
of transformation and control were critical to the experience of patients and their families
within the hospital. The architectural firm Astorino translated this into a "Transformation
Corridor" that connects the main parking garage to the central lobby. Along the walls of the 260foot corridor is a butterfly motif, which, along with terrazzo floor pattern, changes to represent
the changing of the seasons. The hospital also incorporated a modular patient room design,
intended to give patients and their families the ability to customize their living space
ZMET research was critical to the launch of the odor-removing spray, Febreze by Procter &
Gamble.
ZMET has been used in academic and not-for-profit environments to study a range of topics
including the experience of attending a county fair, mountain biking how women recover from
substance abuse the relationship between video game players and their avatars how Americans
are dealing with the economic crisis, and the value of an insight in the workplace.