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Again: Logic Versus Energy

A single product can address more than one conflict. For example, a consumer who is shopping for skin-care products is unconsciously trying to resolve paradoxes such as:

I want it fast, but I want it to be exactly right for me.

I want to be in control, even when someone else is the expert.

I love my best self, but I'm afraid it's not enough.

The common element in these paradoxes is that they are emotional; they deal with our vulnerabilities and anxieties. As we go through the day, we make choices based on instincts and feelings that we may barely understand; we aren't aware of these paradoxes on a conscious level, but they still hold us in their grip.

Again, this harks back to listening for logic versus listening for energy. Logic dictates that consumers will always buy the most efficient product-the product that is the most nutritious, that cleans windows without streaking, that gets the best gas mileage. All things being equal, they will purchase the least expensive alternative.

But of course, transactions (dynamic ones) aren't based only on logical reasons. If they were, we'd all make our coffee at home, we'd wear sensible shoes, and the generic black-and- white-label brands from the 1970s would be the only things sold on supermarket shelves.

A successful product has something more, something that satisfies a buyer emotionally, fulfilling more than one need. The consumer won't necessarily be able to put her finger on just what led her to make her choice, but the magnetic attraction is there just the same.