12/3/2018 Ernest Dichter - Wikipedia

Ernest Dichter
Ernest Dichter (14 August 1907 – 21 November 1991) was an American
Ernest Dichter
psychologist and marketing expert known as the "father of motivational
research." Dichter pioneered the application of Freudian psychoanalytic Born August 14, 1907
concepts and techniques to business — in particular to the study of consumer Vienna, Austria.
behavior in the marketplace. Ideas he established were a significant influence Died November 21, 1991
on the practices of the advertising industry in the twentieth century. Dichter (aged 84)
promised the "mobilisation and manipulation of human needs as they exist in Peekskill, New York
the consumer". As America entered the 1950s, the decade of heightened Education
commodity fetishism, Dichter offered consumers moral permission to embrace Licenciés es
sex and consumption, and forged a philosophy of corporate hedonism, which lettres,
he thought would make people immune to dangerous totalitarian ideas.[1] Sorbonne, Paris
PhD
(psychology),
University of
Contents Vienna, 1934
Early life and education
Occupation Psychologist,
Career market researcher
Methods and author
Recognition
Notable work The Strategy of
Publications Desire (1960)
See also
Spouse(s) Hedy Langfelder
References
Children Thomas William (b.
Further reading
1941); Susan Jane
External links
(b. 1943)
Parent(s) Wilhelm Dichter

Early life and education Mathilde Kurtz

Dichter was born to Jewish family on 14 August 1907 in Vienna.[2] He was the eldest of three sons of Wilhelm Dichter, a
small businessman, and Mathilde Kurtz.[3] His early education was interrupted due to the family's financial difficulties.
However, by working part-time as a tutor, retail-store window decorator and other odd jobs, he was able to educate
himself and attended the Sorbonne in Paris where he studied literature. He received his doctorate from the University of
Vienna in 1934.[4]

After graduating, he gained some experience in market research working for the Psychoeconomic Institute in Vienna
where he was part of a team that carried out research into the milk-drinking habits of the Viennese; a project where he was
exposed to depth interviews for the first time. In 1934, he married Hedy Langfelder, a concert pianist and piano teacher.
In 1937, while working at the Institute, Dichter was arrested and interrogated for four weeks. After being released, he
learned that his name had been added to a list of subversives. He realised that as a Jew with a record as a subversive, it
would be virtually impossible to find work in Vienna. He and his wife fled to Paris, but soon realised that France was also a
dangerous place for a Jewish family. The couple left Europe permanently, arriving in New York in 1938.[5][6]

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Career
In 1939, soon after arriving in the US, Dichter sent out a cover letter describing himself as: "a young psychologist from
Vienna ... with some interesting new ideas which can help you be more successful, effective, sell more and communicate
better."[7]

One of his first clients was the Compton Agency who invited him to work on a campaign for Ivory Soap, a Procter &
Gamble product. In that project, Dichter relied on depth interviews where people talked about their experience of bathing.
This method, which resembled the techniques used by cultural anthropologists, contrasted sharply with the quantitative
marketing research methods in use at the time. Dichter demonstrated that bathing had an erotic element -- "one of the few
occasions when the Puritanical American was allowed to caress himself or herself." Dichter arrived at the insight that
bathing was more than just a physical cleansing, but also a psychological cleansing. This insight gave rise to a new
campaign slogan: "Be Smart and Get a Fresh Start with Ivory Soap."[8]

He was also hired by Chrysler Corporation to help sell Plymouth cars. In that project, Dichter offered two key insights.
One was that women play an important role in influencing men's purchasing decisions. His interviews also revealed the
importance of the convertible. People, especially middle-aged men, connected emotionally with sports cars which
reminded them of their youth and freedom. Although convertibles accounted for less than 2% of sales, they had symbolic
significance in the showroom. Dichter likened the convertible to a mistress, while the sedate, comfortable sedan which
most people purchased was associated with a wife. Among Dichter's recommendations to Chrysler was that the company
advertise in women's magazines, a move that was highly successful.[9]

Dichter's work on the Chrysler campaign caught the attention of the US trade press who picked up on the story of the wife
or mistress. Time magazine also followed with a detailed story of Dichter and his methods. According to Time Dichter was
"the first to apply to advertising the really scientific psychology." [10] This media coverage launched Dichter's career, just
eighteen months after he had arrived in the US.

Dichter also carried out the research that led to the famous slogan for Esso/Exxon. The slogan, "Put a tiger in your tank"
was built around the insight that consumers associate motor vehicles with power.[11]

In 1946 he founded the Institute for Motivational Research in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, later named Ernest Dichter
and Associates and moved his home to Peekskill in New York.[12] In the succeeding years, he founded similar institutes in
Switzerland and Germany. Between the late 1930s and the 1960s, Dichter worked on hundreds of advertising campaigns,
packaging ideas and product designs - from cake mixes to typewriters.[13]

Methods
Dichter borrowed techniques used in psychology; depth interviews, projective techniques and observational research
methods and applied them in new ways.[14] Rather than use these methods to treat neuroses, he used them to understand
unconsciously held beliefs and attitudes that help to explain why people behave in certain ways. To do this, he gathered
together small groups whose members were typical of the target audience and interviewed them to uncover their desires
and predispositions to a product or brand. He called these groups focus groups. [15] In contrast to standard market
research methods of the time which sought to quantify what consumers were doing, Dichter was interested in why
consumers made given purchase decisions.[16]

An oft-cited example of Dichter's studies is an understanding of why people use cigarette lighters. The conscious
explanation is that lighters are used to light cigarettes, but at a deeper, unconscious level people use lighters because it
gives them mastery and power.[17] "The capacity to summon fire inevitably gives every human being, child or grownup the

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sense of power. Reasons go far back into man's history... the ability to control fire is an age-old symbol of man's conquest
of the physical world." [18]

Dichter's work was central to the development of the idea of brand image.[19] According to a 1998 article in The New York
Times, he "was the first to coin the term focus group and to stress the importance of product image and persuasion in
advertising". In Vance Packard's book on Dichter and his practices, Packard recalls meeting Dichter in his castle and
finding children watching televisions while resident psychologists, crouching behind special screens secretly filmed and
studied their every action so that they could inform advertisers how to manipulate their unconscious minds. Dichter called
such focus groups his "living laboratory". One such session led to the invention of the Barbie Doll: "What they wanted was
someone sexy looking, someone that they wanted to grow up to be like," Dichter reported, "Long legs, big breasts,
glamorous." [20]

Dichter's reputation fluctuated throughout his career.[21] Vance Packard attacked the ethics of his methods in the book,
The Hidden Persuaders (1956). Packard's book argued that many consumers "are being influenced and manipulated far
more than we realize in the patterns of our everyday lives." Packard compared Dichter's methods to "the chilling world of
George Orwell and his Big Brother." [22] To Packard, Dichter's gothic mansion was a sinister factory that manufactured
and implanted self-destructive desires. The popularity of Packard's book left the general public with a deep suspicion
about market research methods.[23] By the 1970s, Dichter and the subject of motivation research were rarely mentioned in
the scholarly literature.[24]

Scholars have questioned whether Dichter was truly responsible for the development of motivational research or whether
he was its greatest proponent.[25] This questioninng is based on the insight that the field of motivational research was
already well developed prior to Dichter's arrival in the US.[26] Without doubt, motivational research became increasingly
well-known within the advertising and marketing professions from the late 1940s. The Journal of Marketing featured the
method in the April issue of 1950; Newsweek also featured the subject in October, 1955 and Fortune magazine devoted its
cover story in June 1956 to the field. If he was not the father of motivational research, he was certainly influential in
popularising the discipline.[27] Dichter certainly positioned himself as a revolutionary in the consumer research movement
of the post-war period.[28]

Dichter died on 21 November 1991 in Peekskill, New York.

Recognition
He was named Man of the Year by Market Research Council in 1983.[29]

Publications
Dichter authored 17 books, numerous articles and contributed many chapters to books on advertising and market
research:

Books

The Psychology of Everyday Living (1947)

The Strategy of Desire (1960, 1964)
The Handbook of Consumer Motivations (1964)
Motivating Human Behavior (1971)
Packaging, the Sixth Sense? A Guide to Identifying Consumer Motivation (1975)
Total Self-Knowledge (1976)
The Naked Manager (1976)
Getting Motivated (1979)
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How Hot a Manager Are You? (1987)

Marketing Plus: Finding the Hidden Gold in the Market Place (1988)
Select List of Journal articles

"Psychology in Market Research," Harvard Business Review, 25(4). 1947, pp 432–43

"A Psychological View of Advertising Effectiveness," Journal of Marketing, 14(1), 1949, pp 61–7
"What are the Real Reasons People Buy," Sales Management, 74(Feb), 1955, pp 36–89
"Thinking Ahead," Harvard Business Review, 1957 (Nov–Dec), pp 19–162
"Seven Tenants of Creative Research," Journal of Marketing, 25(4), 1961, pp 1–4
"How Word-of-Mouth Advertising Works," Harvard Business Review, Nov/Dec, 1966, pp 147–66

See also
The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard (1956) contains many references to Dichter and his findings.
Edward Bernays (Nephew of Sigmund Freud and the creator of the field of Public Relations, a marketing concept
similar to motivational research in its inspiration by psychoanalytical theory)
Cigarette Seduction by Alan Brody (http://www.cigseduction.com) (2007) contains key references to Dichter and his
work on cigarette brands and smoker's motivation.
Sandy Sulcer

References
1. Turner, Christopher (2012). "The Hidden Persuader". Cabinet. 44.
2. Jewish Virtual Library: "Modern Jewish History: Advertising" (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/advertising) retrieved
May 4, 2017
3. Berger, A., "Introduction to the Transaction Edition," in The Strategy of Desire, [E-book edition], by Ernest Dichter,
Routledge, 2017; Stern, B.B. "The Importance of Being Ernest: Commemorating Dichter's Contribution to Advertising
Research," Journal of Advertising Research, June, 2004, p. 166
4. Horowitz, D., "The Birth of a Salesman: Ernest Dichter and the Objects of Desire," Horowitz, 1986; also available as
an unpublished paper at unpublished paper, available at Hagley Museum, <Online:
https://www.hagley.org/sites/default/files/HOROWITZ_DICHTER.pdf>
5. Schwarzkopf, Stefan; Gries, Rainer, eds. (2010). Ernest Dichter and Motivation Research: New Perspectives on the
Making of Post-war Consumer Culture. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-230-53799-6.
6. Horowitz, D., "The Birth of a Salesman: Ernest Dichter and the Objects of Desire," Horowitz, 1986; also available as
an unpublished paper at unpublished paper, available at Hagley Museum, <Online:
https://www.hagley.org/sites/default/files/HOROWITZ_DICHTER.pdf>; Stern, B.B. "The Importance of Being Ernest:
Commemorating Dichter's Contribution to Advertising Research," Journal of Advertising Research, June, 2004, pp
165-169
7. "Retail therapy. How Ernest Dichter, an acolyte of Sigmund Freud, revolutionised marketing" (http://www.economist.co
m/node/21541706). The Economist. December 17, 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-01. "In 1939 he wrote to six big
American companies, introducing himself as 'a young psychologist ..."
8. Dichter, E., Getting Motivated, pp. 34-35
9. Horowitz, D., "The Birth of a Salesman: Ernest Dichter and the Objects of Desire," unpublished paper, available at
Hagley Museum, <Online: https://www.hagley.org/sites/default/files/HOROWITZ_DICHTER.pdf>, pp 16-17;Karmasin,
H., "Ernest Dichter’s Studies on Automobile Marketing," in Schwarzkopf, S. and Gries, R. (eds.), Ernest Dichter and
Motivation Research: New Perspectives on the Making of Post-war Consumer Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p.
109-125
10. Horowitz, D., "The Birth of a Salesman: Ernest Dichter and the Objects of Desire," unpublished paper, available at
Hagley Museum, <Online: https://www.hagley.org/sites/default/files/HOROWITZ_DICHTER.pdf>,pp 16-17; Time, 25
March 1940, pp. 46-47
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11. Adage, "Ernest Dichter," <Online: http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/dichter-ernest-1907-1991/98623/

12. Jones, D.G.B. and Tadajewski, M., (eds), The Routledge Companion to Marketing History, Oxon, Routledge, 2016, p.
72
13. Schwarzkopf, S. and Gries, R. (eds.), Ernest Dichter and Motivation Research: New Perspectives on the Making of
Post-war Consumer Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p. 278
14. Stern, B.B., "Literary Criticism and the History of Marketing Thought: A New Perspective on 'Reading' Marketing
Theory," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 18, No. 4, p. 330
15. Page, E., "Ernest Dichter, 84, a Consultant On Consumer Motivation, Is Dead," [Obituary], New York Times, 23
November 1991 <Online:https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/23/nyregion/ernest-dichter-84-a-consultant-on-consumer-
motivation-is-dead.html>
16. Williams, R.J., "Is it true what they say about motivation research?" Journal of Marketing, Vol. 22, October, 1957, pp
125–133
17. Berger, A., "Introduction to the Transaction Edition," in The Strategy of Desire, [E-book edition], by Ernest Dichter,
Routledge, 2017
18. Dichter, E., The Strategy of Desire, 1964, p. 341
19. "Ernest Dichter," Transatlantic Perspectives, 2018, <Online: http://www.transatlanticperspectives.org/entry.php?
rec=18>
20. Packard, Vance (1956). The Hidden Persuaders.
21. Adage, "Ernest Dichter," Online: http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/dichter-ernest-1907-1991/98623/
22. Page, E., "Ernest Dichter, 84, a Consultant On Consumer Motivation, Is Dead," [Obituary], New York Times, 23
November 1991 <Online:https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/23/nyregion/ernest-dichter-84-a-consultant-on-consumer-
motivation-is-dead.html>
23. Nelson, M.T., "The Hidden Persuaders: Then and Now," Journal of Advertising, Vol. 37, no. 1, 2008, DOI:
10.2753/JOA0091-3367370109, p. 113
24. Stern, B.B. "The Importance of Being Ernest: Commemorating Dichter's Contribution to Advertising Research,"
Journal of Advertising Research, June, 2004, p. 165
25. Schwarzkopf, Stefan, "Ernest Dichter, Motivation Research and the ‘Century of the Consumer’" in Schwarzkopf, S.
and Gries, R. (eds.), Ernest Dichter and Motivation Research: New Perspectives on the Making of Post-war
Consumer Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p. 4; Fullerton, R., "Ernest Dichter: The Motivational Researcher," in
Schwarzkopf, S. and Gries, R. (eds.), Ernest Dichter and Motivation Research: New Perspectives on the Making of
Post-war Consumer Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p. 58; Tadajewski, M., "Remembering Motivation Research:
Toward an Alternative Genealogy of Interpretive Consumer Research", Marketing Theory, vol. 6, 2006, p. 433, DOI:
10.1177/1470593106069931, Online (http://mtq.sagepub.com/content/6/4/429)
26. Tadajewski, M., "Remembering Motivation Research: Toward an Alternative Genealogy of Interpretive Consumer
Research," Marketing Theory, Vol.6, No. 4, 2006, pp 429-466, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593106069931;
Tadajewski, M., "Ernest Dichter and Consumer Behaviour: Intellectual Primacy and Interpretive Consumer Research,"
in Schwarzkopf, S. and Gries, R. (eds.), Ernest Dichter and Motivation Research: New Perspectives on the Making of
Post-war Consumer Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p. 91
27. "How Ernest Dichter, an acolyte of Sigmund Freud, revolutionised marketing," The Economist, 17 December 2011
<Online: http://www.economist.com/node/21541706>
28. Schwarzkopf, S. et al., "Motivation Research — Episode or Paradigm Shift? From Ernest Dichter to Consumer
Ethnography, Neuromarketing and Bio-power," in Schwarzkopf, S. and Gries, R. (eds.), Ernest Dichter and Motivation
Research: New Perspectives on the Making of Post-war Consumer Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p. 269-290
29. Adage, "Ernest Dichter," 2003 Online: http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/dichter-ernest-1907-1991/98623/

Further reading
Barbara B. Stern, "Literary Criticism and the History of Marketing Thought: A New Perspective on `Reading', Marketing
Theory," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 18 Fall, 1990, pp 329–36
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S. Schwarzkopf and R. Gries (eds), Ernest Dichter and Motivation Research: New Perspectives on the Making of Post-
war Consumer Culture, UK, Palgrave Macmillan. 2010 DOI: 10.1057/9780230293946

External links
The View From Peekskill; Tending the Flame of a Motivator (https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&r
es=9E01E4DE1538F931A3575BC0A96E958260) – The New York Times, 2 August 1998
Libido can rule when the id does the shopping (http://archive.uninews.unimelb.edu.au/news/1091/) – UniNews,
University of Melbourne, 1–15 December 2003
Retail therapy; How Ernest Dichter, an acolyte of Sigmund Freud, revolutionised marketing (http://www.economist.co
m/node/21541706), The Economist, 17 December 2011
Ernest Dichter, Father of Motivational Research (http://www.dieuniversitaet-online.at/beitraege/news/ernest-dichter-va
ter-der-motivforschung/10.html) (in German) – a 2005 symposium at the University of Vienna
Ernest Dichter Institut (Germany) (http://www.ernestdichter.com/) – founded 1971, http://www.dichter.ch / Dichter
Research Zürich Switzerland founded (1947) 2004
Ernest Dichter papers (http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/2407.xml) at the Hagley Museum and Library
Ernest Dichter papers, Series I. Research Proposals and Reports (http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/24
07A.xml) at Hagley Museum and Library

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