Consumption is driven by emotional responses. That emotional response is more important in today's highly fragmented market than it has ever been. While we all were attuned to classic segmentation in developing products, the highly fragmented market is now demanding we better understand what I'm beginning to call "Tribal" marketing. If you don't like that adjective, plug in "cult" or "identity".
Throughout the course of a day, consumers re-invent themselves. Think of your own "typical" day of which there really isn't one. Perhaps you start out being an athlete and working out prior to your "office" type day. Within that environment your personae changes to something else. Six o'clockish, and you become a different animal, and join a different tribe. These multiple personalities also account for the "aspirational" you. The aspirational you is one of those drivers of emotional consumption. With the multiple choices available to us in our 10 second on-line shopping experiences, the emotion of design becomes the absolute driver. If you're not emotionally driven within a very short time frame, you're only one click away from something else that will give you the emotional charge. Better start thinking about that one, or you're going to be left behind.
Walter Herbst was a keynote speaker at the Baxter GPPC 2005 Conference on Monday, September 26th, 2005. The topic was Design Innovation, and how to leverage emotion to fuel success. It was a thought-provoking look at current design trends and their application.