The Discovery of 86 Need States -- Part 2

Using twoamp160out of threeamp160agreement we applied those 1562 words to each of the top 1000 series on televisionamp160 Settopbox data were used to develop psychological profiles of households based on the programs they watchedamp160 A program recommender allowed cable subscribers to request a recommendation of their remoteamp160 Within a second our system told them which was the one program coming up next on one of the operator39s channels that a that household had not watched before and b that household should like because it had the same quotDNAquot as the shows they did watchamp160 Eighteen percent of the recommendations resulted in a conversion to loyal three out of fouramp160episodes viewing of the program by the household to which it was recommendedMultiple regression indicates that only 265 of the 1562 words were predictive of conversionamp160 These were called DriverTagsTM because they appeared to drive viewing behavioramp160amp160Thirdparty validations of these DriverTagsTM by Nielsen Catalina Simmons 605 and others indicate that they are also linked to brand choiceamp160 Semantic analysis of the 265 words indicates that they cluster into 86 Need StatesOur hypothesis is that these 86 Need States are the same Need States that exist in our brains and are used by the subconscious lookup table to decide what to get us to pay attention toThe DriverTagsTM and Need State system we are working with was not invented by usamp160 It was empirically discoveredamp160 It shows up in set top box data purchase data survey data andamp160panel dataWe hypothesize that the preponderance of Need States is formed in early childhood and that we all have all 86 of them but the degree to which we are motivated by each of them is what widely variesamp160 Also the same Need State may be quotcustomizedquot by individuals so that two individuals both highly motivated by the same one may be motivated by different facets of itamp160 We call these facets DriverTagsTMLet39s take one Need State and analyze it somewhat thoroughly in order to provide a clear illustration of how to gain attention with attractionThe Need State of Wanting to Be UpscaleOne of the 86 Need Statesamp160is Upscaleamp160 It39s a cluster of 10 DriverTagsTMamp160amp160Imagine a person only a few years old learning from his parents what quotworkingquot isamp160 They have to be gone most of the time to do this workingamp160 The individual left in day care or wherever is not in favor of this working stuffamp160amp160He or she later associates working with slavery and says to herself quotwe are born in bondagequotamp160 At a moment in time perhaps around age seven she says quotI39m going to beat the treadmill by making enough money fast to never have to work againquotWe hypothesize that these events when the individual comes to form a Need State create a quotconversation groupquot of neurons in the brainamp160 The Need State operationally is that cluster of intercommunicating neuronsamp160 I call these events quotKey SynthesesquotShe associates Upscale with freedom and with the feeling of being good enough oramp160having proven herself in a material cultureamp160She will be able to act any way she feels like without worrying about what other people think because being upscale makes her feel invulnerableAnother person might have the same Need State to the same degree but it may be more oriented to social status oramp160the way people look at them amp160the opposite of the way this Need State operates in the first hypothetical individualamp160 The DriverTagsTM detect these differencesAnother subset of this Need State is very down to Earth and motivated by the ability to afford the very best of everything for its own sake not for any psychological benefitsFrom a marketing point of view the theory stated in this and my prior column has the following implicationsBy knowing the Need States of one39s current users loyals and disloyals and of other category usersamp160a marketer can optimize the creative briefs given to creative agencies and the media plans collaboratively developed with media agenciesResearch companies can work to detect locking and trackingScience can work to study the formation of Need Statesamp160 Researcher Arthur Kover is working on personality formation and looking for collaboratorsPhoto creditamp160 Avi RichardsUnsplashClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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The Discovery of 86 Need States -- Part 2

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Bill Harvey

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The Discovery of 86 Need States -- Part 2

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