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Case Study #4
A Midwestern Superstore
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THE GOAL:
Understand why the percentage of women who
shopped at a superstore didn’t return for repeat
visits, despite reporting that the store had a
broader
selection of merchandise and better
prices than
its competitors. The usual rational
answers such
as “inconvenience” didn’t ring
true since both the
shoppers and the rejecters
lived in the same area.
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Through the interview process a core difference between the shoppers and the rejecters was discovered. The two types of women had differing developmental experiences. All children go through what is called the “Practicing Sub-Phase of Development.”
This is the time when children begin to explore their worlds and separate from their mothers. The store experience unconsciously triggered this developmental time.
Women who liked shopping at the store had a more successful practicing sub-phase of separation and the store triggered the unconscious fantasy of exploring a world without limits.
Those who rejected the store has a less successful time with this development stage and the store triggered fears of being engulfed or abandoned.
The chain was able to attract rejecters by in-store anchor mechanisms such as improved signage and better staff training that allowed previously uncomfortable women to navigate the store. They were then better able to explore with a sense of fun and adventure.
A number of projective techniques were used, the most productive of which was Dream work. Respondents were asked to represent the store in a fantasy by something other than a store, e.g., a person, animal, object or place.
Those who were comfortable in the store came up with descriptors like a circus, amusement park, or playground. Those who had rejected the store had images including quicksand an abyss or a jungle.
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