Once we know something, it becomes hard to imagine what it feels like not to know it.
More quotesPeople frequently tell research the answer they would like to be true about themselves. That does not make them liars. It makes a focus group a social situation. Ask what fashion advertising ought to show and participants discuss fairness, representation and principle. Put clothes on sale and the choice may answer a different question: who do I want to become, how do I want to feel, and will that coat forgive Christmas?
The M&S example is provocative because the campaign won stated approval and recall while sales fell. One case cannot prove why every shopper behaved as they did, and anyone claiming all women secretly want one body type is selling lazy nonsense. But it does expose the gap between applauding an idea and desiring the product attached to it. Research questions often invite moral reviews of advertising when the commercial problem concerns aspiration. “Do you like this?” “Is it inclusive?” “Does it represent people like you?” Useful questions, but none means “will you buy these trousers?” Nor does purchase invalidate the moral opinion. People can want the culture to change while still navigating the status signals and insecurities the existing culture taught them.
The uncomfortable work is comparing speech with choice without sneering at either. Test behaviour. Notice the setting in which the answer was given. Separate support for a social message from attraction to the offer. A person can sincerely endorse the campaign and sincerely purchase something else. Reality includes what consumers say, what they buy and the awkward disagreement between the two.