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Dichter’s message to advertisers was: figure out the personality of a product, and you will understand how to market it. Soaps could be old or young, flirty or conservative. Ivory, Dichter inferred, had a “sombre, utilitarian, thoroughly cleansing character”. It was the mother-daughter of soaps, whereas a brand like Camay was a seductress. Such insights led to the slogans “Be smart and get a fresh start with Ivory Soap” and “Wash your troubles away”.
But the innovation that put Dichter on the marketing map involved a problem Chrysler was having with its relatively new line of Plymouth cars—which consumers were shunning. Dichter headed out to Detroit, conducted extensive interviews with a couple of hundred people, and deduced that the company’s first problem was its existing advertising, which boasted that its cars were “different from any other one you have ever tried”. This evidently triggered an unconscious fear of the unknown among buyers, for whom familiarity in a car meant safety.
He also learned from interviews that whereas convertibles made up only 2% of sales in 1939, most men, particularly middle-aged ones, dreamed of owning one. When convertibles were placed in the windows of dealerships as “bait”, more men came in. But when they returned actually to make a purchase, they typically came with their wives and chose a sensible sedan (the Plymouth line offered both).
Dichter gathered that the convertible symbolised youth, freedom and the secret wish for a mistress: an idle bit of temptation. He suggested that Chrysler beef up its convertible advertising—and, in recognition of spouses’ role in the final decisions, begin marketing cars in women’s magazines. Meanwhile, a new and more reassuring campaign emphasised that it would take “only a few minutes” to feel at home with the new Plymouth.

A. 어휘
figure out 이해하다. flirty 경박한, 시시덕거리는.
conservative 보수적인. infer 推論(추론)하다. sombre 침울한, 어둠침침한.
utilitarian 公利的(공리적)인, 실리적인. cleansing 청결하게 하는.
character 특성. seductress 유혹하는 여자. innovation 혁신.
relatively 상대적으로. shun 피하다, 멀리하다. extensive 대규모의, 광대한.
deduce 演繹(연역)하다, 추론하다. boast 자랑하다.
trigger 觸發(촉발)하다. familiarity 친밀함.
the unknown 未知(미지)의 것. cf. the+형용사→추상명사
whereas 반면에. convertibles 지붕을 접을 수 있는 자동차. bait 미끼.
idle 한가한. temptation 유혹. beef up 강화시키다.
reassuring 鼓舞的(고무적)인, 용기를 북돋우는.