Ernest Dichter was an American-based psychologist

Psychologist

Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

 and marketing

Marketing

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

 expert who is often considered to be the "father of motivational research."

He received his doctorate from the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

 in 1934 and emigrated with his wife Hedy (née Langfelder) to the United States in 1937. In 1946 he founded the Institute for Motivational Research in Croton-on-Hudson, New York

Croton-on-Hudson, New York

Croton-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 8,070 at the 2010 census. It is located in the town of Cortlandt, in New York City's northern suburbs...

 (later in his home in Peekskill) and in the succeeding years founded similar institutes in Switzerland and Germany.

Dichter pioneered the application of Freudian

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...

 psychoanalytic

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...

 concepts and techniques to business — in particular to the study of consumer behavior

Consumer behaviour

Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups...

 in the marketplace. Ideas he established were a significant influence on the practices of the advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 industry in the twentieth century. According to a New York Times article in 1998, he "was the first to coin the term focus group

Focus group

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging...

 and to stress the importance of image and persuasion in advertising".

Dichter is credited with originating the Exxon

Exxon

Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....

 slogan "Put a tiger in your tank" in collaboration with Chicago advertising copywriter Frederick D. ("Sandy") Sulcer

Frederick D. Sulcer

Frederick Durham Sulcer, known as Sandy Sulcer, was an American advertising agency copywriter and executive notable for creating the 1960s Put a Tiger in Your Tank advertising theme for Esso gasoline, now known as ExxonMobil.-Early years:...

.

Publications

Dichter was the author of 17 books, including:

• The Handbook of Consumer Motivations
• Motivating Human Behavior
• The Naked Manager
• Packaging, the Sixth Sense?: a guide to identifying consumer motivation
• Total Self-Knowledge
• Getting Motivated
• The Strategy of Desire
• How Hot a Manager Are You?
• Marketing Plus: finding the hidden gold in the market place

See also

• The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard
  Vance Packard
  Vance Packard was an American journalist, social critic, and author.- Life and career :He was born in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania to parents Philip J. Packard and Mabel Case Packard...
  
   (1956) contains many references to Dichter and his findings.
• Edward Bernays
  Edward Bernays
  Edward Louis Bernays , was an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda along with Ivy Lee, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations"...
  
   (Nephew of Sigmund Freud
  Sigmund Freud
  Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
  
   and the creator of the field of Public Relations
  Public relations
  Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
  
  , a marketing concept similar to motivational research in its inspiration by psychoanalytical theory)
• Cigarette Seduction by Alan Brody (2007) contains key references to Dichter and his work on cigarette brands and smoker's motivation.

External links

• Ernest Dichter, Father of Motivational Research – a 2005 symposium at the University of Vienna
• Ernest Dichter Institut (Germany) – founded 1971, http://www.dichter.ch / Dichter Research Zürich Switzerland founded (1947) 2004