Ernest Dichter

Ernest Dichter (14 August 1907 in Vienna – 21 November 1991 in Peekskill, New York) was an American psychologist and marketing expert known as the "father of motivational research."

Dichter pioneered the application of Freudian psychoanalytic concepts and techniques to business — in particular to the study of consumer behavior in the marketplace.

Ideas he established were a significant influence on the practices of the advertising industry in the twentieth century.

Dichter promised the "mobilisation and manipulation of human needs as they exist in the consumer".

Dichter was born to Jewish family on 14 August 1907 in Vienna.

He was the eldest of three sons of Wilhelm Dichter, a small businessman, and Mathilde Kurtz.

His early education was interrupted due to the family's financial difficulties.

However, by working part-time as a tutor, retail-store window decorator and other odd jobs, he was able to educate himself and attended the Sorbonne in Paris where he studied literature.

He received his doctorate from the University of Vienna in 1934.

After graduating, he gained some experience in market research working for the Psychoeconomic Institute in Vienna where he was part of a team that carried out research into the milk-drinking habits of the Viennese; a project where he was exposed to depth interviews for the first time.

In 1934, he married Hedy Langfelder, a concert pianist and piano teacher.

In 1937, while working at the institute, Dichter was arrested and interrogated for four weeks.

After being released, he learned that his name had been added to a list of subversives.

He realised that as a Jew with a record as a subversive, it would be virtually impossible to find work in Vienna.

He and his wife fled to Paris, but soon realised that France was also a dangerous place for a Jewish family.

The couple left Europe permanently, arriving in New York in 1938.

In 1939, soon after arriving in the US, Dichter sent out a cover letter describing himself as: "a young psychologist from Vienna ... with some interesting new ideas which can help you be more successful, effective, sell more and communicate better."

One of his first clients was the Compton Agency who invited him to work on a campaign for Ivory Soap, a Procter & Gamble product.

In that project, Dichter relied on depth interviews where people talked about their experience of bathing.

This method, which resembled the techniques used by cultural anthropologists, contrasted sharply with the quantitative marketing research methods in use at the time.

Dichter demonstrated that bathing had an erotic element – "one of the few occasions when the Puritanical American was allowed to caress himself or herself."

Dichter arrived at the insight that bathing was more than just a physical cleansing, but also a psychological cleansing.

This insight gave rise to a new campaign slogan: "Be Smart and Get a Fresh Start with Ivory Soap."

He was also hired by Chrysler Corporation to help sell Plymouth cars.

In that project, Dichter offered two key insights.

One was that women play an important role in influencing men's purchasing decisions.

His interviews also revealed the importance of the convertible.

People, especially middle-aged men, connected emotionally with sports cars which reminded them of their youth and freedom.

Although convertibles accounted for less than 2% of sales, they had symbolic significance in the showroom.

Dichter likened the convertible to a mistress, while the sedate, comfortable sedan which most people purchased was associated with a wife.

Among Dichter's recommendations to Chrysler was that the company advertise in women's magazines, a move that was highly successful.

Dichter's work on the Chrysler campaign caught the attention of the US trade press who picked up on the story of the wife or mistress.

Time magazine also followed with a detailed story of Dichter and his methods.

According to Time Dichter was "the first to apply to advertising the really scientific psychology."

This media coverage launched Dichter's career, just eighteen months after he had arrived in the US.

Dichter also carried out the research that led to the famous slogan for Esso/Exxon.

The slogan, "Put a tiger in your tank" was built around the insight that consumers associate motor vehicles with power.

In 1946, he founded the Institute for Motivational Research in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, later named Ernest Dichter and Associates and moved his home to Peekskill in New York.

In the succeeding years, he founded similar institutes in Switzerland and Germany.

As America entered the 1950s, the decade of heightened commodity fetishism, Dichter offered consumers moral permission to embrace sex and consumption, and forged a philosophy of corporate hedonism, which he thought would make people immune to dangerous totalitarian ideas.