SYMBOLSFOR SALE

'The consumer is not as funetionaliy orientedas he used to be — if he ever really was.'

By Sidney ], Levy

The thoughtful businessman is undoubtedlyaware of the growing use and influence of socialscience concepts in the business world. Man-agement gives increasing attention to relationsbetween people, wbetber among the manage-ment group, down the line, between the manu-facturer and the retailer, or between tbe pro-ducer and the consumer. Tbere is less preoc-eupation witb tbe performanee of impersonaleconomic entities.

Tbe modern assumption is that people arefaced witb alternatives; that tbey may be mo-tivated in various directions. From tbis assump-tion grows tbe significance of communicationsand understandings, and tbe concomitant con-cern witb wbat tbe people of tbe world tbink— with political public opinion, eonsumer re-actions, and so on. Because of tbis developmenttbe seience and practice of marketing bave beeninfused witb new life.

Changing Scene

We need not belabor tbe obvious cbanges intbe Ameriean scene. They can be readily enu-merated. Tbere are more people. Tbese peoplebave more of all kinds of things — more leisure,more money, more possessions, more pleasures.

and more, if not the same, old worries.^ Soci-ological and psychological interpretations of thecontemporary scene arc fashionable now and are,in tbemselves, a part of tbe scene — part ofthe wave of human preoccupation and of self-examination that is growing as we move furtherand further from grubbing for subsistence.

Tbe less eoncern tbere is witb tbe concretesatisfactions of a survival level of existence, tbemore abstract buman responses become. As be-bavior in tbe market place is increasingly elab-orated, it also becomes increasingly symbolic.Tbis idea needs some examination, because itmeans tbat sellers of goods are engaged, whetherwillfully or not, in selling symbols, as well aspractical merehandise. It means that marketingmanagers must attend to more tban tbe rela-tively superficial facts witb wbicb tbey usuallyeoncem tbemselves when they do not think oftheir goods as baving symbolic significance.

Uneconomic Man

Formerly, when goods tended to mean someessentials of food, elothing, and shelter, prac-tical matters were very important. Tbe consumerwas apt to be an "economic man," wbo was

^ See Reucl Denncy, "The Leisure Society," HBR May-June 1959, p. 46; and August Hcckschcr and Sebastiande Grazia, "Problems in Review: Executive Leisure," p. 6,this issue.

117

118 Harvard Business Revie^^7

more or less careful of how he distributed hispennies. To do this meant giving closer atten-tion to the concrete value of what he bought,to the durability of the fabric, the quantity ofthe food, the sturdiness of the building materials.

The philosophy of business was also orientedaround these issues, with a few outstandingenterprises intent on creating an individualityof quality and a competitive price. The marketplace was largely occupied with the things soldand bought. These were often neither packagednor advertised. Consumers were customers, notaudiences.

The modern market place, which is exempli-fied so dramatically in the vast supermarket(food, drug, or furniture store), reminds us dailyof the marketing revolution that has come about.There is an astonishing variety of merchandise,all of it displayed in equally astonishing ways.There are frozen foods, precooked foods, plasticcontainers, and packages with Ingenious (ofteninsidious) opening devices.

In this new setting, what kind of man is theconsumer? He is hardly an economic man —especially since there is considerable evidencethat he does not buy economically. Indeed, heis often vague about the aetual price he pays forsomething; he has few standards for judgingthe quality of what he buys, and at times windsup not using it anyway!

This is not just a joke. American homescontain many things of unknown price — ob-jects that are bought on time, appliances thatwould gather dust if not covered, unused base-ment workshops. Of course, these are extreme

examples — they may even be gifts from hos-tile relatives, who always have furnished homeswith undesirable objects. The point is that to-day, when people shop, they tend to buy lav-

ishly. Consumers still talk about price,and durability, since these are regarded as sen-sible traditional values. But at the same time,they know that other factors affect them andbelieve these to be legitimate influences.

New Whys for BuysThis point is worth some emphasis since

many people disapprove of the fact that pur-chases may be made on what they consider tobe insubstantial grounds. The fact that peopledo not buy furniture to last 20 years may bedeplored as a sign of̂ the lightheadedness of ourtimes. On the other hand, such massive, stout-ly made furniture may be dismissed from thehome at the behest of other values such as com-fortable living or changing tastes.

Grandmother cherished her furniture for itssensible, practical value, but today people knowthat it is hardly the practical considerationswhich determine their ehoices between Post'sand Kellogg's, Camels and Luekies, Oldsmo-biles and Buicks, or Arpege and Chanel No. 5.They know that package color, television com-mercials, and newspaper and magazine adver-tisements incline them toward one prefereneeor another. And, what is more, when they can-not really tell the difference among competitivebrands of the same product, tliey do not believethat a manufacturer should necessarily go outof business because he is unable to produce adistinguishable product. They do not even mindif Procter & Camble Company puts out bothTide and Cheer.

Diversity of SpendingAt the heart of all this is the fact that the con-

sumer is not as funetionally oriented as he usedto be — if he ever really was. Aesthetic pref-erences have changed somewhat. For example,we no longer go in for stained glass lamps andantimacassars, although the latter were perhapsmore attractive than transparent couch covers.Moreover, the diversity of ways in which peoplecan spend their money has had an impact onmotivation:

« People buy things not only for what they cando, but also for what they mean. At one level, so-ciety has to concern itself with bread for sustenance,and appropriate agencies must see to it that ourbreads are sufficiently nourishing, enriched, andnot poisonously refined. But the consumer is nolonger mueh interested in bread as the staff of life.In the first place, he (or she) is probably on adiet and not eating bread; in the second place, he

is apt to he more concerned with whether to buyan exotic twist, to do something "interesting" witha pancake flour, or to pop in a brown-and-serveroll that will come hot to the table to the moderatesurprise of the guests.

« When people talk about the things they buyand why they buy them, they show a variety oflogics. They refer to convenience, inadvertence,family pressures, other social pressures, complexeconomic reasonings, advertising, and pretty colors.They try to satisfy many aims, feelings, wishes, andcircumstances. The pleasure they gain from buy-

ing objects is ever more playful. The question isless: "Do I need thisr" More important are theideas: "Do 1 want it?" "Do I like it?"

Language of Symbols

Answering the questions asked by today's con-sumer takes the definition of goods into newrealms — at least new in the sense that theyare now recognized as questions worthy of seri-ous examination. The things people buy areseen to have personal and social meanings inaddition to their functions. To ignore or deerythe symbolism of consumer goods does not af-fect the importance of the fact. The only ques-tion is whether the goods are to be symbolizedthoughtfully or thoughtlessly.

Specialists in the study of communications.

Symbols for Sale 119

language formation, and semantics make variousdistinctions between levels of meaning. It iscustomary to speak of signs, signals, symbols,gestures, and other more technical terms. Manyof the distinctions are arbitrary, expressing thespecialists' preference for one or another modeof thinking, and need not eoncern us here. Itwill suffice to say that in easual usage symbol isa general term for all instanees where experienceis mediated rather than direct; where an ob-jeet, aetion, word, picture, or complex behavioris understood to mean not only itself but alsosome other ideas or feelings.

Psychological Things

From this viewpoint, modern goods are ree-ognized as essentially psychological things whichare symbolic of personal attributes and goals andof social patterns and strivings.

When going shopping the consumer spendsnot only money hut energy. His attention isstimulated or lies dormant as he moves throughthe mart. Objects he sees on the shelves areassessed according to standards which he hasestablished for what is important or potentiallyimportant to him. For instance:

A saw may be very useful — and there may bethings around the house tliat need to be sawed —but if he feels that a saw is beneath the way hewants to expend his energy, or allot his attention,he passes it idly by. Perhaps he buys a record in-stead, or he may choose a Hi-Fi component; theseare objects in an area where he prefers to investhis ps\ chological energies.

In this sense, all commercial ohjects have asymbolic character, and making a purchase in-volves an assessment — implicit or explicit —of this symbolism, to decide whether or not itfits. Energy (and money) will be given when thesymbols are appropriate ones, and denied orgiven parsimoniously when they are not. Whatdetermines their appropriateness?

Image Reinforced

A symbol is appropriate (and the product willbe used and enjoyed) when it joins with, mesheswith, adds to, or reinforces the way the con-sumer thinks about himself. We are dealinghere with a very plain fact of human nature.In the broadest sense, each person aims to en-hance his sense of self, and behaves in waysthat are consistent with his image of the personhe is or wants to be. Prescott Lecky has written

120 Harvard Business

an interesting essay on how people behave inconsistency with their self-concepts," and manybusinessmen could doubtless supplement bis ob-servations witb a number of tbeir own.

Because of their symbolic nature, consumergoods can be chosen with less confliet or in-decision tban would otberwise be tbe ease.Legend bas it tbat Buridan's ass starved to deathequidistant between two piles of equally attrae-tive hay; be would not have bad the problemif one pile had been a bit more asinine — letus say — than the other. Modern marketingmight have helped him.

Cboices are made more easily — either moreroutinely or more impulsively, seemingly —because one objeet is symbolically more barmoni-ous witb our goals, feelings, and self-definitionsthan another. Tbe differenee may not be alarge one, nor a very important one in tbe manu-facture of tbe products; hut it may be big enougbto dictate a constant direction of preference intbe indulgence of one's viewpoint. People feelbetter when batbroom tissue is pastel blue, thecar is a large one (or, at least, until recently),tbe newspaper is a tabloid size, tbe trousers bavepleats, and so on. It is increasingly fasbionableto be a connoisseur or gourmet of some kind —tbat is, to consume witb one or anotber stand-ard of discrimination.

Shrewd JudgesSeveral years of researeli into the symbol-

ic nature of products, brands, institutions, andmedia of communication make it amjily elearthat consumers are able to gauge grossly andsubtly tbe symbolie language of different ob-jects, and tben to translate tbem into meaningsfor tbemselves.

Consumers understand tbat darker colors aresymbolic of more "respectable" products; tbatbrowns and yellows are manly; tbat reds areexciting and provocative. Tbe fact tbat some-tbing is "scientific" means teebnieal merit, aninterest in quality, and (probably) less enjoy-ment. Theatrieal references imply glamour andsuspension of staid criteria.

The value of a testimonial may dependlargely on whether tbere is an association (logicalor illogical) between tJie man and the product.For instance, people tbink it is appropriate forWinston Cburchill to endorse cigars, whiskey,and books. But if they are very average eon-sumers, then they are apt to miss (or ignore) tbe

^Self-consistency (New York, Island Press, 1945).

humor of a testimonial for a Springmaid sbeetadvertisement altogetber.

Dimensions of Distinction

People use symbols to distinguisb. As SusanneLanger says in discussing tbe process of sym-bolization in Philosophy in a New Key:

"Tlie power of understanding symbols, i.e. ofregarding everytbing about a sense-datum as ir-relevant except a certain form tiiat it embodies, istbe most characteristic mental trait of mankind.It issues in an unconscious, spontaneous process ofahstraction, wbicb goes on all tbe time in thebuman mind. . . ." ^

More or Less GenderOne of tbe most basic dimensions of sym-

bolism is gender. Almost all societies make somedifferential disposition of tbe sexes — decidingwho will do wbat and wbich objects will be re-served to men and wbicb to women.

Usually it is hard to evade thinking of in-animate things as male or female. Tbrougb suchpersonalization, vessels tend to become feminineand motherly if they are big enougb. Men fallin love vi'itb tbeir sbips and cars, giving tbemwomen's names.

In America there has been eomplaint tbatsome of this differentiation is fading; tbat womenare getting more like men, and men are sbift-ing to meet tbem, in a movement toward bo-moseneous toaetberness. No doubt tbere is some

basis for tbis concern if we compare ourselveswith past civilizations or witb bunting and agri-cultural societies tbat make sbarper distinctionsbetween what is maseuline and what is feminine.But the differenees still loom large in the market

'Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1957, p. 72.

place — so large that there are even gradationsof characterization. For example:

Probably all cigarette brands could be placed ona continuum of degrees of gender, as one aspectof their complex symbolie patternings. The sameis true for musical compositions and the recordedinterpretations of them; of cheeses and the brandversions of each kind.

Sex at WorkSexual definitions may seem absurd at times,

and often have only modest influence in one oranother choice. But they are at work and forma natural part of, for instance, the housewife'slogic and acquired reactions as she makes herselections in the food store and serves her family.She considers what her husband's preferencesare; what a growing boy should have; what isjust right for a girl's delicate tastes. To take twosimple illustrations:

C Since smoothness is generally understood tohe more feminine, as foods go, it seems fitting thatgirls should prefer smooth peanut butter, and boysthe ehunky. While the overlap is great, a cultivatedsociety teaches such a discrimination, and children,being attentive to their proper sex roles, learn itearly. Indeed, the modern family seems to begreatly concerned with the indoctrination of sym-bolic appropriateness.

In an interview one six-year-old boy protestedthat he had never liked peanut butter, but hismother and sister bad always insisted that he did,and now he loved it. Apparently a violent bias infavor of peanut butter is suitable to little boys, andmay be taken as representing something of therowdy boyishness of childhood, in contrast to morerestrained and orderly foods.

Sucb findings are not idle, since tbey help ex-plain why "Skippy" is an appropriate name for apeanut butter, and why "Peter Pan" was not untilhe was taken away from Maude Adams and givento Mary Martin and Walt Disney.

C Similarly, in a recent study of two cheese ad-vertisements for a certain cheese, one wedge ofcheese was shown in a setting of a brown cuttingboard, dark bread, and a glimpse of a chess game.The cheese wedge was pictured standing erect onits smallest base. Although no people were shown,consumers interpreted the ad as part of a masculinescene, with men playing a game, being served asnack.

The same cheese was also shown in anothersetting with lighter colors, a suggestion of a floralbowl, and the wedge lying flat on one of its longersides. This was interpreted hy eonsumers as afeminine scene, probably with ladies lunching in

Symbols for Sale 121the vicinity. Each ad worked to convey a symbolicimpression of the cheese, modifying or enhancingestablished ideas about the product.

Act Your Symbolical Age

Just as most people usually recognize whethersomething is addressed to them as a man or asa woman, so are they sensitive to symbols of age.

Teenagers are sensitive to communicationswhich imply childishness. If presented with asoft drink layout showing a family going ona picnic, their reaction is apt to be "kid stuff."They are trying to break away from the familybosom. While they might actually enjoy such apicnic, the scene symbolizes restraint and in-ability to leave in order to be with people oftheir own age.

Clothing is carefully graded in people's eyes;Ave normally judge, within a few years' span,whether some garment is fitted to the age ofthe wearer. Women are particularly astute (andcruel) in such judgments, but men also observethat a pin-striped suit is too mature for onewearer, or that a "collegiate" outfit is too youngfor a man who should be acting his age.

Class 8c Caste

Symbols of social participation are among themost dramatic factors in marketing. Like it ornot, there are social class groupings formed bythe ways people live, the attitudes they have,and the acceptance and exclusiveness of their

122 Harvard Business Review

associations. Most goods say sometliing aboutthe social world of the people who consumethem. The things they buy are chosen partlyto attest to their social positions.

The possession of mink is hardly a matter ofwinter warmth alone, as all women know whowear mink with slacks while strolling at a beachresort. The social stature of mink — and itsdowngrading — leads us to marvel that it isnow sold at Sears, Roebuck & Co. On the otherhand. Sears has upgraded itself and become moremiddle-class.

Shopping at Sears is symbolic of a certain chicamong many middle-class people who used toregard it as much more working-class. Peoplenow boast that Sears is especially suitable forcertain kinds of merchandise, and their candorin saying they shop at Sears is not so muchfrankness as it is faeetiousness — as if to pointout an amusing quirk in one's social behavior.

Membership in a social class tends to affectone's general outlook, modes of communication,concreteness oi thinking and understanding.''Advertising often says different things to peopleof different social levels. For example, a per-fume ad showing an anthropological mask andswirling colors is likely to be incomprehensibleto many working-class women, whereas NewYorker readers will at least pretend they graspthe symbolism. On the other hand, working-class women will accept a crowded, scream-ing sale advertisement as meaning urgency andpotential interest, while women of higher statuswill ignore it as signaling inferiority.

Sense & Nonsense

Sometimes advertising symbolism can becomeconfined to a social class .S7r/;group. For example,some upper middle-elass people arc not sureivhat is being said in liquor ads featuring groupsof sinister men wearing rctl shoes or handsomemales riding sidesaddle. While suspecting thesymbolic language may be gibberish, they havesome undercurrent of anxiety about not beingpart of the in-group who use "nonsense syllables"to tell each other about vodka.

Discriminating Publics

The choice of the appropriate symbols foradvertising a product deserves careful considera-

' See Leonard Schatzman and Ansclm Strauss, "SocialClass and Modes of Communication," The AmericanJournal of Sociology, January 1955, p. 329.

tion. The symbolic messages conveyed in thead generally correspond to the advertiser's in-tention — although consumers may diseovermeanings additional to or even contrary to theintended meaning. A poorly chosen symbolfor an advertisement is likely to backfire. Forexample:

The headline of an advertisement claimed thatthe product was actually worth one cent more thanits price in comparison with competing products.Many housewives interpreted this claim as a signof cheapness; they needed to see only the one centin the headline to conclude that it was "one ofthose penny deals." Even to readers who under-stood literally what was said the efFect of talkingabout merely one cent somehow suggested the ideaof cheapening.

In other words, while the literal aim had beento refer to the greater worth of the product, thesymbolic means acted to cheapen it.

Fine Arts & Fine Distinctions

Dramas, particularly the theater shows spon-sored by General Electric, Kraft Foods, Procter& Gamble, and United States Steel, arc inter-preted as serious appeals to responsible intel-

lects, the dramatic theater being a symbol of thisas opposed to musical and variety shows. Withinthe dramatic theater finer distinctions are made.For instance, offerings by Ronald Reagan, asincere, charming man, are considered in keep-ins with the institutional nature of the General

Electric sponsorship (whereas offerings hy RedSkelton probably would conflict).

To Each His Own Conformity

Some comparatively well-defined modes of liv-ing and taste patterns tend to combine individualsymbols into large clusters of symbols. Theseparate symbols add to the definition of thewhole, and thereby organize purchases alonggiven directions. For example:

C The Ivy League cluster of symbols affects thekinds of suits, ties, and, to a lesser degree, the carsand liquors certain people buy.

•I Being a suburbanite is a broad identification,but it starts one's purchasing ideas moving in cer-tain lines. Name your own suburb, and the ideasleap into sharper focus. Neighbors judge the sym-bolic significance of how money is spent; they arequick to interpret the appropriateness of your spend-ing pattern for the community. They decide whatkind of people you are by making reasonable or un-reasonable deductions from what you consume —books, liquor, power mowers, cars, and the giftsyou and your children give at birthday parties.

Some ohjects we huy symholize such personalqualities as self-control; others expose our self-indulgence. We reason in these directions aboutpeople who drink and smoke, or who do not —and such reasoning will play a role in theirchoices of doing one or the other. A hard mat-tress is readily justified on pragmatic groundsof health, sound sleep, and the like, but peoplerecognize the austere self-denial at work thatwill also strengthen the character. Conversely,soft drinks may quench thirst, but people feelthat they are also buying an indulgent moment,a bit of ease, a lowering of adult restraints.

Tattletale Patterns

It is easy to overlook the variety of meaningsconveyed by objects since they range in theirconventionality and self-expressiveness. We or-dinarily give little thought to interpreting milkat the table, significant as milk may be (unless,perhaps, at a businessmen's lunch). We are ob-servant of dishes, cups, and silverware, however.True, we have to have them — people expectthem. But the patterns tell people things aboutus — and not always the things that we wouldexpect.

Take books: by and large, books are regardedas highly personal purchases. Guests will respect

one personally fortable, and perhapsSimilarly with majsymbolic differencesay. Look, Poptdarness Review.

Symbols for Sale 123

Dr. Zhivago on the coffeeraise an eyebrow at Lolita.

[azines: there is a world ofbetween such periodicals as,Seienee, and Harvard Busi-

Toward InformalityA whole treatise could be written on another

symbolic dimension, that of formality and in-formality. Many of our decisions to buy takeinto account the degree of formal or informal

character of the object. Housewives constantlygauge the hot dogs that they serve, the gifts thatthey are giving, and the tablecloth that they planto use with an eye to how inforniiil the occasionis or should he.

The movement toward informality has beena fundamental one in recent years, governingthe emphasis on casual clothes, backyard andbuffet meals, staying at motels, and bright col-ors (even for telephones).

Currently there seem to be signs of a re-aetion to this trend — of a seeking for moregraciousness in living. Again, there is interestin the elegance of a black car; a wish for homeswith dining rooms; and a desire for greater indi-vidual privacy. But the existence of a counter-trend does not cancel out the symholic meaningof casual clothes, buffet meals, and so on; in

124 Harvard Business Preview

fact, it may even sharpen awareness of the im-plications of these products and customs.

Symbolic Obsolescence

As I have indicated, among all the symbolsaround us, bidding for our buying attention andenergy, there are underlying trends that affectand are affected by the spirit of the times. Everyso often there comes along a new symbol, onethat makes a leap from the past into the pres-ent and that has power because it captures thespirit of the present and makes other on-goingsymbols old-fashioned. The recent Pepsi-Colagirl was a symbol of this sort. She had pre-cursors, of course, but she distinctly and promi-nently signified a modern phantasy; she estab-lished an advertising style somewhat removedfrom the Clabber girl.

ConclusionI have mentioned just a few of tbe varieties

of symbols encountered in the identification ofgoods in the market place, especially symbolswhich become part of the individual identitiesof consumers. The topic is as diverse as ourdaily lives and behaviors. Generally, peoplesymbolize with relatively little strain; neverthe-

less, the interactions among symbols which di-rect consumers' choices are liable to the difficul-ties of all communications, and consequently\\ arrant study.

This seems obvious if we grant the importanceof symbols — but not all businessmen do, ofcourse, and that has aecounted for many failuresin sales. Greater attention to consumers' modesof thought xvill give marketing management andresearch increased vitality, and, in turn, add toits own practical and symbolic merits.

Since the concept of brand image was putforth several years ago,"' the idea has been de-based by widespread use of it to refer to anyand all aspects of product and brand identifica-tion. Now it seems worthwhile to redirect at-tention to the ways products turn people'sthoughts and feelings toward symbolic imjiliea-tions, whether this is intended by the manu-facturer or not. If the manufacturer under-stands that he is selling symbols as \vell as goods,he can view his product more completely. Hecan understand not only how the object he sellssatisfies certfiin practical needs but also how itfits meaningfully into today's culture. Both heand the consumer stand to profit.

^ Sec Burlcigh B. Gardner and Sidney J. Levy, "TheProduct iind the Brand," HBR March-April 1955, p. 33.