BRANDS SHOULD HIRE ANTHROPOLOGISTS, SOCIAL SCIENTISTS, AND FUTURISTS TO UNDERSTAND THEIR CUSTOMERS BETTER

Consumer buying behaviour, a process consumers go through when purchasing a product or service, is a crucial process that brands must understand if they want to influence buying decisions; several factors, such as psychology, culture, and personal preferences, affect this process.

By understanding consumer buying behaviour, businesses can make better decisions about marketing, product development, and sales strategies. They can also identify and target specific segments of the population.

In this article, I argue that brands should hire Anthropologists, Social Scientists, and Futurists if they want to further influence the modern buyer.

These professionals have the insight to help brands better understand their customers and anticipate their needs. They can also help brands better understand the complex social interactions between people.

Historically, Anthropologists have studied businesses as an academic pursuit since the 1930s. Large corporations have been investing in Anthropologists through consulting firms or hiring them directly. Anthropologists have directly influenced the products you use every day through these collaborations.

In the development of the Swiffer, which remained one of Procter & Gamble's (P&G) most popular products, Anthropologists working with P&G observed people cleaning floors and noticed that cleaning floors included much time spent cleaning the mop itself. On the other hand, Adobe Photoshop worked with an anthropologist to facilitate conversations with designers, helping the Adobe Photoshop team better understand design workflows and pain points.

The core concept in anthropology is culture. Therefore, it is essential to look at cultural variation to understand variation in behaviour... Anthropology provides practical methods for analysing particular cultures (Tian, 2022).

The practice of corporate anthropology involves talking with customers and asking them in-depth questions to clarify what type of consumers they are, where they shop, how they pay for products, and what factors influence their purchase decisions. Using corporate anthropology, organisations can gain a better understanding of their customers and their cultures.

To understand what motivates people, social science employees can collaborate with digital science backgrounds to model consumer take-up and user experiences for new products.

Brands should remember that people do not make decisions in isolation, so consumer choices must be considered socially.

Sociology is the study of groups. When individuals form groups, their actions are sometimes quite different from when they are operating alone. The influences of group memberships, family and social class on consumer behaviour are essential for studying consumer behaviour (Deshpande, 2015).

Many companies can benefit from the expertise of futurists as navigators. Futurists can provide valuable insights into how customers and industries can evolve in the future.

The future of marketing and that of understanding consumers lies with futurists.

It's no longer business as usual, consumer behaviour is changing, and it will continue to do so. As a brand, you need to understand where your prospects come from (anthropology), know where they are now (sociology) and predict where they are headed (futurology).