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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/ROLE OF EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/ EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAlmost one and a half century ago, Darwin presented his natural selection and inclusive fitnesstheory, which has provided valuable insights into marketing in general and consumer behavior inparticular. From this perspective, human mind which controls psychological mechanisms, is in factshaped up and influenced by the evolutionary ancestors.Evolutionary psychology (EP) posits that human mind is evolved over millions of years and thehuman behavior is largely inherited through genes. Consumer behavior which is an importantmarketing-related aspect needs to be studied with ultimate explanations rather than proximate.Thus, to study the consumer behavior, it is imperative for marketers to understand it from theevolutionary psychology perspective, instead of ‘standard social science model’ (SSSM), as thepsychological mechanisms of consumers are not only influenced by the surroundings andenvironment they live in, but also the surroundings and adaptive problems their ancestors faced.EP is considered very much relevant to consumer behavior by various psychologists and marketers.EP is very powerful, in the sense that it examines and points out the critical reasons for humanbehavior in various contexts – altruism, kin selection, gender differences, food preferences,differences in preferences for potential mates, landscape preferences, standards of physicalattractiveness, and spatial abilities.EP can provide marketers with insights into cultural similarities and differences which prove to bevaluable for firms targeting customers across borders; the significance of certain colors, preferentialattributes in potential mates, and gift-giving attitude exists in many countries irrespective of theircultures. Moreover, EP psychologists explained why advertisements that portrayed young and nakedgirls were successful to generate positive sexual stimuli in men, and why they do not work for femalecustomers.Though, humans engage in several activities to maximize their benefits, yet they demonstrate self-harmful behaviors by indulging into activities that are injurious to health, for instance sun tanning,smoking and binge drinking. Understanding what drives them to indulge into such activities andwhat motivates them to buy such products or services even after knowing their harmful effects,marketers may be better able to develop effective and persuasive messages.Understanding evolutionary psychology in regards to consumer behavior, and valuing its significanceis important to develop an effective marketing strategy. Just as it is indispensable in biology, EPmight be viewed in coming decades as something which is essential for marketers as well to studyconsumer behavior and to suggest valuable implications.

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/ TABLE OF CONTENTSCONTENT PAGEIntroduction 1Evolutionary psychology and consumer behavior 2Evolutionary psychology and culture 3Evolutionary psychology and consumption patterns 3 Dark side consumption acts 4 Excessive consumption 4 Illicit goods’ consumption 4Evolutionary psychology and advertising 5Evolutionary psychology and differences between sexes 6 Higher level of parental investment by mothers 6 Preferential attributes in potential mates 6 Gender-specific Toys 7 Females’ communal behavior 7 Response to sexual stimuli 7Adaptations common to both sexes 7 Kin selection 8 Status and prestige 8 Preference for sweets, salt and fatty products 8 Inclination towards savanna-like landscapes 9Evolutionary psychology and neuromarketing 9Recommendations/Conclusion 9Appendix 1 11References 12

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/INTRODUCTIONFirms have been spending millions of dollars in order to build and adopt effective marketingstrategies for their products or services; few have been successful in achieving recognitionfor their efforts, whereas the others have just been grounded. Apart from all the otheraspects, understanding consumer behavior is one vital characteristic of marketing strategywhich can have major impact on the performance of the company. Consumer behavior isnot something which has been developed or influenced by the environment or surroundingsof the consumer only, but it has a lot to do with the dynamics of the environment thatconsumers’ ancestors lived in. Therefore, understanding evolutionary psychology bymarketers is important to have a well-constructed marketing strategy.Evolutionary psychology - often referred to as ‘Modern Darwinism’ (Nicholson 1998) - ismajorly concerned with the reasons of the particular behavior adopted by humans,understanding which can open doors for marketers - it emphasizes on the ultimateexplanations instead of proximate. Human minds defined as the pinnacle of evolution(Mitchell 1999) have evolved with the passage of time through the process of naturalselection, developing solutions for the adaptive problems affecting perceptual, cognitiveand motivational mechanisms underlying our behavior (Lynn et al 1999). Marketers can gainvaluable insights into consumer behavior by understanding evolutionary psychology as itchallenges the Standard Social Science Model (SSSM) by providing insights into theenvironmental forces that led to the development of existing consumer behavior.Evolutionary psychology can provide valuable insights to marketers about the differentattitudes of males and females and their evolved preferences; risk-seeking or risk-aversionattitude of both the genders; response to sexual stimuli in advertising; consumer emotionsand their facial expressions; and consumption choices of both genders, and consumptionpatterns of female during menstrual cycle. As Pinker (2005) opined, evolutionary biology isvery much related to psychology, more than botany to astronomy, this paper identifiessome of the benefits that marketers can gain from understanding the evolved consumerbehavior from evolutionary psychology perspective instead of SSSM. 1

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND CONSUMER BEHAVIORHuman behavior had been influenced by the environment humans lived in, in turn, affectingthe behavior of the ensuing generations by propagating genes with successful adaptationsinto the next generation (Wright 1995). To better understand the existing human behavior,it requires the recognition that humans are biological entities, minds of which have beenshaped by millions of years of evolution (Saad 2004) and by the experiences of ourancestors in the distant past (Bagozzi and Nataraajan 2000). Saad and Gill (2003) suggestedthat human behavior is “a product of an interaction between evolved psychologicalmechanisms and the environment”. From the evolutionary perspective, humans’ physicalorgans as well as mental organs developed over time. Moreover, innate characteristicswhich are inherited by ensuing generations through genes, and the environment are not thecompeting factors but the interacting variables which explain the human psychology (Lynnet al 1999).Companies spent significant amount of money on advertising - $320 billion in 2000, globally(Kloss 2001). Therefore, to effectively utilize that money, marketers should base theirdecisions on accurate view of human nature. The study of evolutionary psychology canprovide profound insights to marketers about consumer behavior and can suggest newdirections for consumer research as EP is very much relevant to consumer behavior (Lynn etal 1999). For instance, according to the EP perspective, the universal preference for sweetsand fatty foods is believed to be due to scarcity of salty and healthy food in the ancestralworld. As is cited in Lynn et al (1999), EP perspective has already provided new insights intohuman behavior, for instance, landscape preferences, differences in romantic and sexualdesires of both the genders, changes in consumption patterns of females duringmenstruation cycle, spatial abilities and various other psychological aspects of humannature. As humans are ‘hardwired’, Nicholson (1998) presented some management-relatedimplications for managers which can also be applied in marketing field (Appendix 1).Moreover, EP can provide valuable information about the cultural aspects of consumerbehavior and socialization processes of the consumers (Saad and Gill 2000). In today’sworld, many theories from the EP perspective have been developed to explain human 2

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/behavior, some of which are appropriately related to marketing in general and consumerbehavior in particular.EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE“EP has the potential to be a causal link between natural and social sciences in the sense ofexplaining the phenomena of culture by its biological underpinnings, with psychology as theintermediate link” (Saad and Gill 2000). SSSM explanations about the consumer behaviorwhich assume that the behavior of a human being is shaped by its surroundings andsocialization agents are nullified by the psychologists valuing EP.EP can help marketers and managers of global companies identifying the cross-culturalsimilarities, defining human universals, contrary to cultural relativism. Moreover, EPidentifies the extent of similarities between humans across cultures (Saad 2004) which canprovide useful insights for global organizations targeting customers across borders (Saadand Gill 2000). An example of such arguments is the finding of Chattopadhyah et al (1998) inthe context of uniform color preferences of humans across cultures (cited in Saad and Gill2000). Universal preference for blue is attributed to the color of sky and water which havebeen the dominant parts of our ancestral environment. Similarly, the universal preferencesof men and women in seeking and selecting the ideal mates – men and women valuingbeauty and social status respectively - are attributed to the evolutionary past, nullifying theeffect of disparate cultures. Moreover, the culture of gift-giving exists almost everywhereirrespective of the cultures (Saad and Gill 2003). Tooby and Cosmides (1989) noted that thepsychological mechanisms are shaped by the evolutionary processes; these preferences areexplained by Darwinian propositions of evolved preferences that make adaptive sense.EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND CONSUMPTION PATTERNSNatural selection process that was adopted in evolutionary past to solve the adaptiveproblems largely accounts for the behavior of the ensuing generations. Consumer behaviorstudied from the EP perspective would help marketers to draw insights into the 3

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/consumption patterns of the consumer. The differences in the consumption patterns ofmales and females; biologically driven consumption choices by women; emotions that theconsumers experience during the ‘moments of truth’; and their attitudes towardsmaximizing their fitness are explained by the evolutionary psychologists. Hence, EPperspective would not only enable marketers to understand the consumer behavior, butwould also give them insights for better segmentation and targeting. For example, womenin order to look attractive to men would use dresses which serve that purpose, and menwho strive for resource acquisition would seek such products that satisfy this particularneed. Marketers need to understand the core motivational forces that lead to the purchaseof a specific product or brand. Dark Side Consumption Acts Excessive Consumption Human beings, though, strive for the solutions to adaptive problems to maximize the inclusive fitness, yet they have been engaged into the consumption of goods and services which have injurious effects on their mental and/or physical health. Eating disorders, chain smoking, binge drinking, pornographic addictions, and sun bathing are examples of activities that have adverse effects on the consumer. Marketers with the help of evolutionary psychology should look for the ultimate reasons for such attitudes and behavior to develop effective and persuasive messages. “When so many people in the society engage in a behavior so self-destructive can only suggest that powerful motivating psychological forces are at work” (Saad and Peng 2006). Illicit Goods’ Consumption Another significant problem of the 21st century is the growing consumption of counterfeits of luxury goods which has now become a significant economic phenomenon (Bian and Moutinho 2009; Hamm 2009). Consumers who aspire to buy luxury goods but cannot afford it, engage themselves into trade of illicit goods sometimes knowingly (non-deceptive counterfeiting), to create fake identities for themselves to become socially accepted. 4

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/ EP perspective would enable luxury brand managers and genuine-item owners to understand the real motivations and psychological mechanisms of such consumers who not only adversely affect the brand equity of luxury brands but also shift the demand from genuine-item owners to counterfeiters (Bosworth and Yang 2002).EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND ADVERTISINGEvolutionary psychology, about which Tooby and Cosmides claimed that it was not given thedue attention (cited in Mitchell 1999), and to which Saad and Gill (2000), referred as“emerging paradigm in psychological science”, was made use of in developing products ordesigning advertisements, though always not consciously. Psychological mechanismsexplained by EP have been taken into account for development of preferences for variousconsumer products and marketing practices in the past. Various advertisers did notconsciously engineered the advertisements particularly based on EP perspective, but wereaware of the importance of advertising appeals which “emerged from an interaction ofpsychological mechanisms, ecological conditions and cultural factors” (Colarelli andDettmann 2003).The depiction of women in the advertisements as young and sexy is primarily because of theevolved sexuality of men. It has nothing to do with oppression and little to do with thecultural agents; though efforts are being made to end these hypersexualized depictions ofwomen in some parts of the world as it is considered offensive to women’s dignity (Nadeau2011). Moreover, the EP perspective also lays the foundation of the different effects theendorsers in advertising campaigns have on gender-related consumption patterns.Though marketers are aware of such blatant reality as there is a great number ofadvertisements in which females are shown as gorgeous and young, yet marketers can digdeeper into the matter by looking at it from EP perspective to get new insights. 5

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEXESFrom the evolutionary perspective, men and women are same in reference to all thosedomains in which they have faced similar kind of adaptive problems – food consumption,but they demonstrate different behaviors in other domains – childbirth for instance (Buss1995). Men and women evolved through evolutionary mechanisms and demonstratevarious differences from each other in regards to their behavior.Higher Level of Parental Investment by MothersWomen’s more nurturing attitude towards their children is due to their higher level ofparental investment, as EP explains it (Hill et al 2005). This is why marketers target babyfood or child-care products to mothers, as those are the ones who generally buy productsfor babies; even advertisements are directed towards women because of their greaterinterest in children and safety (Reda 1994, cited in Colarelli and Dettmann 2003).Preferential Attributes in Potential MatesAnother explanation by EP that is related to males and females’ different preferences forthe attributes in their potential mates provides insights to marketers (Hill et al 2005; Dupré).Women’s preference for youthful appearance due to high value given to beauty by theirpotential mates gives firms the opportunity to target beauty products to women. Womenuse more wrinkle removing creams and push-up bras to look more attractive to men.Whereas women’s preference for resourceful mates makes it imperative for marketers totarget those products to men that depict men’s professional and financial status and makemen look more competitive and resourceful as compared to their counterparts.Secondly, according to the research conducted by Grammer et al (1993) females’ clothingtightness and display of skin and figure was indirectly proportional to the country’seconomic conditions (cited in Hill et al 2005). This has an implication for the firms in fashion-clothing business as well as advertisers. 6

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/Gender-specific ToysThe design and promotional campaigns of toys are gender-specific. Toys, for instance dolls,are targeted to girls reflecting their greater interest in physical beauty, endorsed bycelebrities like Hannah Montana. Whereas, toys targeted to boys generally have mechanicalfeatures (Fitzgeral 1993). “Gender-based toys preferences appear to be due more to innatepropensities than to socialization” (Colarelli and Dettmann 2003).Females’ Communal BehaviorEvolutionary psychology perspective gives insights into “females’ communal and men’sagentic” behavior (Archer 1996, cited in Colarelli and Dettmann 2003). Being lesshierarchical and competitive among their counterparts, unlike men, women developstronger bond with same-sex friends. One successful business based on such insight isGrameen Bank. Secondly, knowing this fact, more and more companies are making use ofthe concept of “Affiliate Marketing”.Response to Sexual StimuliDifferences in response to stimuli tried to be generated by showing young, sexy women inadvertisements targeted to men, and men in advertisements targeted to females areexplained by EP. Marketers have used women as an important feature of theiradvertisements to sell products ranging from men’s shaving blades to yachts. Using sexy,naked women in advertisements targeted to men generate positive stimulus as men valuebeauty to a greater extent, whereas, showing naked men in advertisements does notgenerate positive stimuli in women’s minds, as is explained by evolutionary psychologists(Colarelli and Dettmann 2003).ADAPTATIONS COMMON TO BOTH SEXESVarious psychological mechanisms explained by EP, for instance, kin selection, statusseeking and savanna alike landscapes are common to both the sexes. 7

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/Kin Selection“One of the most powerful psychological mechanism” (W.D. Hamilton 1964, cited inColarelli and Dettmann 2003) – is the disposition to behave unselfishly to a kin. The morethe percentage of genes shared between the two individuals, the more the natural selectionwill favor the individuals to be altruistic towards his/her kin. This is one of the reasons ‘lifeinsurance’ is targeted to individuals in more individualistic cultures where extended familiesdiminished over a period of time. Similarly, banks in the developing as well as developedcountries are targeting potential customers with the savings account for their children’scollege expenses.Status and PrestigeStatus and prestige, which are related to higher rank in hierarchy and greater access toresources, have universal appeal which marketers make use of. According to evolutionarypsychology perspective, consumers tend to buy products and services which enhance theirstatus as well as prestige in order to attract potential mates from the opposite gender.Marketers use the prestige appeal in their advertisements or even otherwise when targetingconsumers by developing the luxury image of the product or by portraying the relationshipof the product with the skill (Colarelli and Dettmann 2003). Higher price and exclusivedistribution are two of the many elements of marketing mix to signal prestige to theconsumers.The prestige appeal in the advertisement is generally created by the celebrity endorsementsrelated to the skills of the celebrity or even which are unrelated to celebrity’s skills. Skillsrelated product endorsements example would be a GNC product endorsed by an athlete,whereas an example of unrelated product would be LVHM bag endorsed by a tennis player.Preference for Sweets, Salt and Fatty ProductsPreference for sweets, salt, and fatty products have been developed due to the high levelsof nutrients (for example in fruits), high mineral content, and scarcity of food resources(Gallup and Frederick 2010) respectively, in the ancestral world. Consequently, sales of saltysnacks reached $19billion in 1999 (Howell 2000, cited in Colarelli and Dettmann 2003), US 8

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/population spends 21.5% of their food expenditure on food items with high fat contents,and 25% of American children are overweight due to consumption of such products (UnitedStates 2002, cited in Colarelli and Dettmann 2003).Inclination towards Savanna-like LandscapesAccording to evolutionary psychology perspective, preference for savanna-like landscapesexists as it provided conducive environment for humans’ survival and reproduction in theevolutionary past, as compared to other settings (Kaplan 1992; Orians and Heerwagen 1992,cited in Colarelli and Dettmann 2003). Generally most people like pictures of clear water,mountains, grassy landscapes, in comparison to their opposites.This is one of the reasons marketers and advertisers depict such sceneries in their productspackaging and advertisements respectively. Such features are used in advertisements toevoke positive stimuli in the consumers’ mind, especially while promoting countries andcities (Place Branding), and in the advertisements of hotel resorts (Steinauer 2002, cited inColarelli and Dettmann 2003).EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY AND NEUROMARKETINGThe field of neuromarketing is also likely to benefit from the theories of EP and vice versa.Neuromarketing basically explains how the neural mechanisms shape the depicted behaviorand “Evolutionary theory provides a consilient framework for the neuromarketingparadigm” (Garcia and Saad 2008).RECOMMENDATIONS/CONCLUSIONAlthough much has not been written about evolutionary psychology in regards to marketingand consumer behavior, marketers can draw various implications from the underpinnings ofhuman behavior that the evolutionary psychology suggests. By what has been written aboutEP, it seems imperative for marketers to take into account the EP perspective into their 9

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/marketing and advertising strategies in particular to effectively target the potentialconsumers.Marketers in the past had been using intuitive evolutionary psychology perspectives, thoughthe psychologists and marketing academicians ignored the valuable insights EP couldgenerate in relation to consumer behavior. EP is a valid framework to study humanpsychological mechanisms, and is crucial in understanding consumer behavior and todevelop effective marketing strategies. Marketers and advertisers should adopt the processof reverse engineering of successful practices studying the successful products and adcampaigns and using them as template, as is suggested by Colarelli and Dettmann (2003).Moreover, marketers should develop products and services based on the EP, consideringultimate explanations instead of proximate ones.Though evolutionary psychology perspective can provide various significant insights formarketers, yet there are several deficiencies as well in this field of psychology in relation tomarketing and consumer behavior. While EP can explain the reasons of ubiquitouspreference for sweet and fatty products, and differences in consumption patterns of malesand females, it cannot explain the distinctive preferences and unique characteristics of agiven individual. Moreover, there is a need to develop a framework which combines theelements of both EP and SSSM to explain the consumer behavior in a better way, as thereare certain behavioral characteristics which cannot be explained by either of the both inisolation. Even then, Wilson (2002) opined that EP might be given its due importance oneday in reference to studying human behavior. 10

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/APPENDIX 1 Source: Nicholson 1998 11

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/References: 1. Bian, X., Moutinho, L. (2009). The role of brand image, product involvement, and knowledge in explaining consumer purchase behavior of counterfeits. European Journal of Marketing, 45(1/2), pp. 191-216. 2. Bagozzi, R.P. and Nataraajan, R. (2000). The year 2000: Looking forward. Psychology & Marketing, 17(1), pp. 1-11. 3. Bosworth, D. and Yang, D. (2002). The Economics and Management of Global Counterfeiting. Sixth World Congress on Intellectual Capital and Innovation. September 2002. 4. Buss, D.M. (1995). Psychological sex differences: Origins through sexual selection. American Psychologist, 50(3), pp. 164-168. 5. Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, pp. 1–49. 6. Colarelli, S.M. and Dettmann, J.R. (2003). Intuitive evolutionary perspectives in marketing practices. Psychology & Marketing, 20(9), pp. 837-865. 7. Dupré, J. What the theory of evolution can’t tell us? Critical Quarterly, 42(3), pp. 18-34. 8. Fitzgerald, K. (1993). Toylands elusive goal: Win over both sexes. Advertising Age, February, pp. S2, S18. 9. Gallup, G., & Frederick, D. (2010). The science of sex appeal: An evolutionary perspective. Review of General Psychology, 14(3), pp. 240-250. 10. Garcia, J.R. and Saad, G. (2008). Evolutionary neuromarketing: Darwanizing the neuroimaging paradigm for consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Behavior, July-October, pp. 397-414. 11. Hamm, K. (2009). Effects of Counterfeiting on the Image of Luxury Brands in China. China Business and Research, No. 004. [Online]. (URL: http://www.frankfurt- school.de/content/en/ecbc/ecbc_portal/content_files/file7/CBR2009_004_Hamm_Effects_c ounterfeiting.pdf). (Accessed 14 April 2011). 12. Hill, R.A., Donovan, S. and Koyama, N.F. (2005). Female sexual advertisement reflects resource availability in Twentieth-century UK society. Human Nature, 16(3), pp. 266-277. 13. Kloss, I. (2001). Advertising worldwide. Heidelberg: Springer. [Online]. (URL: http://www.ingomar-kloss.de/download/advertising1.pdf). (Accessed 23 April 2011). 14. Lynn, M., Kampschroeder, K. and Pereira, A. (1999). Evolutionary perspectives on consumer behavior: An introduction. Advances in Consumer Research, 26, pp. 226-230. 15. Mitchell, M. (1999). Can evolution explain how the mind works? A review of the evolutionary psychology debates. Complexity, 4(3), pp. 17-24. 16. Nadeau, B. (2011). ‘We are treated like prosciutto’. Newsweek, April, pp 46-48. 17. Nicholson, N. (1998). How hardwired is human behavior? Harvard Business Review, July- August, pp. 133-147. 18. Pinker, S. (2005). So how does the mind work? Mind & Language, 20 (1), pp. 1-24. 19. Reda, S. (1994). Big stores and little kids. Stores, 76, pp. 22–24. 20. Saad, G. (2004). Applying evolutionary psychology in understanding the representation of women in advertisements. Psychology and Marketing, 21(8), pp. 593-612. 21. Saad, G. and Peng, A. (2006). Applying Darwinian principles in designing effective intervention strategies: The case of sun tanning. Psychology & Marketing, 23(7), pp. 617-638 12

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http://brandingtodominate.blogspot.com/22. Saad, G. and Gill, T. (2003). An evolutionary psychology perspective on gift giving among young adults. Psychology & Marketing, 20(9), pp. 765-784.23. Saad, G. and Gill, T. (2000). Applications of evolutionary psychology in marketing. Psychology & Marketing, 17(12), pp. 1005-1034.24. Tooby, J. and Cosmides, L. (1989) Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture, part 1. Ethology and Sociobiology, 10, pp. 29-49.25. Wilson, D.S. (2002). Human evolutionary psychology: Pardon our dust. Evolution, 56(11), pp. 2334-2338.26. Wright, R. (1995). The moral animal. Why we are, the way we are: The new science of evolutionary psychology. New York: Vintage Books. 13