Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Consumer Behavior

Did anyone else see it? The Tower of Babel image in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye. In the article "Lost in Translation," http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575383131592767868.html?mod=e2tw, the article's author, Lera Boroditsky, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, suggests "language profoundly influences the way people see the world." As a marketer and writer, I see it more... as a way to identify the cognitive process a business or a writer would want to address in marketing their products/books globally.
So much hinges on our perceptions. In turn, that which we perceive hinges on the language we receive it in... and furthermore, as Boroditksy states "...does the language shape cultural values, or does the influence go the other way, or both?" How do consumers contextualize any product or service, including the books, and in fact any writing, we offer?
More heavy thoughts posited in the article: "How do we come to be the way we are? Why do we think the way we do? An important part of the answer, it turns out, is in the languages we speak."