• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 3, 2013

“Secrets & Lies,” a new global research study from Young & Rubicam, suggests that consumers are hiding their most important desires and motivations from marketers, and maybe even from themselves. The study, conducted in USA, Brazil and China, finds that many consumers hold views that are the opposite of what they tell us. It also identifies a new consumer mainstream comfortable with their own contradictory attitudes.

The study melds traditional survey research, which reveals what people think consciously, and indirect questioning, using an approach called Implicit Association, revealing unconscious motivations that operate outside of our conscious awareness. Some of the noteworthy findings from Y&R’s research are included here.

For example, globally, consumers claim that achieving “meaning in life” is their most important value (consciously) but unconsciously “sexual fulfillment” ranks #1.

Top Five Global Conscious and Unconscious Values
Conscious Value	Rank	Unconscious Value	Rank
Meaning in life	1	Sexual fulfillment	1
Choosing own path	2	Respect for tradition	2
Helpfulness	3	Maintaining security	3
Environmentalism	4	Environmentalism	4
Success	5	Wealth	5
Source: Young & Rubicam, September 2013

In the USA “helpfulness” ranks as the #1 value consciously, but is at the bottom of the heap (#16) unconsciously. In fact, American’s top conscious values (helpfulness, choosing your own path, meaning if life) are reminiscent of Oprah, says the report, while our top unconscious values (maintaining security, sexual fulfillment, respect for tradition) seem more reminiscent of Tony Soprano.

Top US Conscious and Unconscious Values
USA Conscious Value	Rank	USA Unconscious Value	Rank
Helpfulness	1	Maintaining security	1
Choosing own path	2	Sexual fulfillment	2
Meaning in life	3	Honoring tradition	3
Source: Young & Rubicam, September 2013

Consumers actually like ‘popular’ brands like Google and Microsoft a lot less than they say. And they like less popular brands Exxon and the National Inquirer a lot more than they say.

Secret and Silent Brand Crushes and Grudges
	Conscious Ranking		Unconscious Ranking
Brand	Low	High	Low	High
Secretly Disliked
Google	√			√
Starbucks	√			√
Truly Disliked
AT&T	√		√
K-Mart	√		√
Playboy	√		√
Truly Liked
Target		√		√
Amazon		√		√
Whole Foods		√		√
Secretly Liked
Facebook		√	√
Exxon		√	√
National Inquirer		√	√
Source: Young & Rubicam, September 2013

David Sable, Y&R Global CEO, says “What people tell us and what they really feel are often two very different things… marketers have known that instinctively… the research gives us the ability to dig deeper and get a fuller, truer picture…”

Some consumers find this state of inner conflict stressful and overwhelming, says the report.  But the study shows that a large and growing group, “Generation World,” takes these contradictions in stride. This is reflected in the top five conscious attitudes revealed in the research, each with over 50% of the global total agreeing.  These attitudes all reflect a comfort level with a fluid, evolving, multi-faceted identity:

• People should be able to marry, live, and work however they want   60.2
• It’s up to me to get what I want in life   59.8
• My age doesn’t define my; it is not central to who I am   55.0
• My identity, who I really am, is a work in progress   52.6
• Success is about how you see yourself, not how other people think of you   51.3

Respondents who agree most strongly with these attitudes, 42% of the global sample, represent a new mainstream who are multi-faceted, complex and evolving. This group, which Y&R calls “Generation World,” is found in all three countries surveyed and is characterized by being more digitally savvy than other respondents.

Y&R’s Sable says “They defy traditional stereotypes within their own local cultures. You can’t adequately describe these people by placing them into traditional market segments, age or demographic groups. That’s why we call them Generation World.”

Unfortunately, they don’t all feel that marketers “get” them, concludes the report. Only 29% of survey respondents globally “approve of the ways marketers and advertisers portray people like me.” Just 11% in the USA feel that way.

Chip Walker, the Y&R Executive Vice President who directed the study, notes that “… the inner life of the global consumer seems to run on conflict… the good news is that a great many consumers are increasingly comfortable living with this complexity… ”

For more information, please visit Y&R here.