The science of desire

Science of Desire

Ever since there has been the concept of ownership, there has also been the concept of selling the goods own owned. Depending on the period of cultural development and the abundance (or lack) of various resources, the selling of goods and services has grown and diminished in importance. In today's United States and Western culture in general, few things could be considered more important from political and socio-economic viewpoint -- our entire society is built on the notion that companies can continue to make profits by selling things to consumers. When consumers stop buying, or when companies are unable to meet other financial obligations and can no longer sell, many other parts of society are threatened with collapse. This is one (admittedly oversimplified) explanation of the current economic meltdown.

In his article "The Science of Desire," Spencer Ante details an emerging phenomenon in the world of sales. He starts with the case of Sirius Radio's competition with then-leader of the satellite radio industry XM Radio. Rather than resort to more traditional competitive techniques, Sirius decided to go about things in a more scientific way. They employed a group of social scientists that for four weeks "shadowed 45 people, studying how they listen to music, watch TV, and even peruse gossip magazines" hoping to gain insight into the consumer mind (Ante 2006, pp. 70).

Ante's article goes on to trace the growing trend of using social sciences as a means of designing products. He is careful to note that it is not an entirely new phenomenon, but the types of scientists and the way the information is used is somewhat revolutionary. Ethnographers -- a certain type of anthropologist -- have become increasingly utilized by many corporations looking to grow in order to determine "what's missing in people's lives" (Ante 2006, pp. 70).

The use of ethnographers itself is not new, but such a heavy reliance on them in the corporate world is a very new phenomenon. Ante describes this change in many companies' strategy in learning about consumers as coming at least partially as a response to new design demands, which are beginning to take precedence over performance features -- especially in the rapidly growing and enormously lucrative technology sector. As design rather than functionality becomes the differentiating aspect between various products, it needs to be incorporated earlier in the development of new products, and has become far more important because of this.

Ethnographers are used to determine how people want to use devices. This allows them to work with both executives and engineers to develop and design products well suited to consumers needs and desires. It can also allow companies to grow into new markets., such as GE's entrance into the plastic fiber producing industry. Ante notes that "for big corporations that don't market directly to consumers, ethnography has a singular appeal" in letting them know how to work with other possible associates and subsidiaries (Ante 2006, pp. 73). GE had assumed the plastic fiber industry would work one way, but instead learned that things operated very differently, and there use of ethnographers allowed them to learn this difference quickly.

It is not an entirely rosy scenario that Ante paints in his article, however. Though many ethnographers are pleased to longer be relegated to academia, there have been negative results. The perceived "cheapening" of the science is one. Worse, "many ethnographers already complain about poseurs flooding the field," and others feel like mere rubber-stamps (Ante 2006, pp. 71).

In general, however, Ante makes it very clear that he is at least amused by, if not staunchly in favor of, this growing trend of using science to design and market products. In a way, his optimism is easy to understand. Many of the executives he quotes or cites in this article are using ethnographers to design products for different cultures, some of which are incredibly disadvantaged. It is not merely an issue of selling more products to more people, but really about designing and building products that people truly need. The increased focus on filling consumer demand, and adjusting the idea of demand to include affordability, will certainly have its benefits, and these are the effects that Ante seems to focus on. There is also a definite tone of bemusement running throughout the entire piece, as though it is almost hard for Ante to believe -- as it is perhaps for many of his readers -- that so much scientific thought and effort could go into designing the next iPod. Yet overall his article seems to suggest that this is simply one more change brought by the information age, and we might as well reap the benefits.