Freud and Psychoanalysis (part B)
by
Charles Lamson
The Preconscious and the Unconscious
In The Ego and the Id (1923) Freud made the distinction between the 'preconscious', ideas which an individual can bring to consciousness almost at will and 'unconscious' thought which because of its disturbing nature is not easily made conscious although it still may indirectly influence behavior. Freud posited that people may consciously censor and repress, display or project such threatening ideas. As an instance of 'repression' Freud offers the case history of 'Anna O'. Despite the summer heat, Anna refused to drink water. She often raised the glass to her lips only to repel it with an air of disgust. No one, including Anna herself, knew the source of this sudden malady. It was only several days later when under hypnosis that Anna revealed that she had gone into someone else's room and had seen a dog drinking out of a glass. She had felt revulsion and disgust at the sight. Once she had described this situation Anna felt better and was able to drink. Freud's explanation of Anna's predicament was that this image had so revolted Anna's sensibilities that she had unconsciously repressed all knowledge of the scene and had converted this repressed disgust into a phobia concerning drinking.
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Repression is a form of ego defense whereby images which are thought of as being disturbing are shut out of consciousness. Such disturbing images may be related to the outward expression of desires that are considered abnormal by society. By contrast to repression, 'displacement' occurs when an unconscious impulse is redirected towards a more acceptable target.
Displacement can take many forms, but that which is of most interest for consumer behavior assessment is 'sublimation'. Sublimation involves the displacement of sexual energy, known as 'libido', to non-sexual ends in a manner which not only avoids conflict. It actively promotes a person's adjustment to his or her social context. Oriented toward the reality principal, the ego plays a key role in sublimating id demands by channeling id energy away from the pure investment in immediate gratification demanded by the pleasure principal towards a more socially acceptable response (see last post for a better description of id, superego and ego). A Freudian explanation would suggest that within Western European culture, consumer goods play an ever increasing role in sublimating those desires expressed by Eros. Freud's idea of 'sexuality' is different from that used generally. For Freud libido is essentially a drive whose object is the stimulation of various bodily areas or 'erotogenic zones'. In order to understand what Freud means by sexual energy and the developmental process by which this is attained, there needs to be further discussion.
Researching Consumer Motivation
The Institute for Motivation Research, started by Dichter around 1940, employed Freudian concepts to understand consumer desire better. Dichter (1960) argued that the key to desire lies in an understanding of the unconscious motives that often lie behind it. He considered that the desire for freedom and discovery can be expressed through the glamour of a new car. Dichter pioneered a number of forms of research, including the focus group. He recalls the institute's first study on Ivory soap. By means of detailed observation researchers learned what others had ignored, that when buying soap people do not simply look at it but often sniff it and hold it; that consequently the smell, feel and shape of the soap bar are important. Researchers carried out 100 non-directive interviews in the US inquiring why people take a bath or shower. They found that taking a bath or shower before a romantic date had more significance; interviewees bathed more carefully and took longer. People made the choice to buy based not on attributes such as price, appearance, lather and color but on a combination of these factors, plus an 'intangible' element which Dichter labeled the personality of the soap. The researchers found that Ivory soap had a somber, utilitarian, thoroughly cleansing character. Dichter linked brand identity to personal identity by arguing that individuals project themselves on to products. In buying a car they actually buy an extension of their own personality (Dichter, 1964). Likewise when they are 'loyal' to a commercial brand they are 'loyal' to themselves. In discussing areas such as brand personality and social marketing he was well ahead of his time. Dichter (1964) later published a handbook of consumer motivations that contained findings from 2,500 studies of motivation carried out by the Institute.
Later Freud: Id-Ego-Superego
It was mentioned above that Freud's theory is hydraulic to the extent that energy plays a vital part in his explanation and provides a key role in understanding motivation. In his later work he associated this energy with the powerful instinctual forces that are produced within the id, which Freud likens to a huge reservoir of psychic energy. The id is:
[A] cauldron full of seething excitations ... it is filled with energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization, produces no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle.
(Freud, 1933)
 According to Freud, biological instincts drive the production of energy according to two main principals over the life of the human subject, the life drive, Eros, and the death drive, Thanatos. Eros 'naturally' should prevail over the birth and growth phases of life, to be replaced as a person grows older by the equally pervasive power of Thanatos. During the period of the predominance of Eros the instinctual drives push all the behavior in the direction of immediate gratification of biological life-giving needs, the instinctual drives of hunger and sex. Freud's definition of 'sex' differs from the common view, a point which will be expanded upon later. The biological forces of the id are especially powerful during infancy and into early childhood.
The powerful demand of the id for immediate satisfaction is progressively countered by an equally powerful force that only becomes internalized following the resolution of the Oedipus complex at adolescence. This internalized image of society is known as the superego, which in the early years consists of parental control. Parents pass on their language, customs and cultural values to their children which subsequently are internalized by the child following a period of struggle in adolescence. The third important aspect of the self is the ego, which stands between the id and the superego. The ego has a fragile existence as it plays the role of arbitrator and mediator between the demands of biology and society by seeking to bring the influence of the external world to bear on the id. The ego aims to substitute the reality principal for the pleasure principal which governs the id.
The above relates to consumer behavior by providing an explanation of the dynamics underlying selfhood. Psychoanalytic theory can help explain the role played by goods and services in the make-up of ourselves. Freud's theory offers an explanation which focuses on the investment of psychic energy (motive force) into consumer goods. Why is such energy invested into consumer goods? It relates to the contradictory nature of the demands of biology and society and how these are partly resolved by means of consumption. Psychoanalytic theory suggests that often individuals are unaware of the motives which govern their decisions, as these are largely unconscious. This means that the importance of the unconscious in directing thoughts and behavior should be explored.
Sexuality and Development
Freud theorized that Eros is composed of ego and sexual instincts. While survival depends on fairly immediate gratification of ego instincts, libido or sexual drive is infinitely more malleable. His theory is developmental to the extent that he explains how the needs of children change as they grow older. According to this theory, children pass through a number of stages of development on their passage towards adulthood and at each stage a different erotogenic zone becomes the focus for sexual energy. Either excessive gratification or frustration of this desire will have major consequences for the individual in later life. They will help to determine not only the style of the child's sexual satisfaction in later life but also their personality and emotional character. If the child receives too much or too little gratification during a particular stage this creates anxiety that may result in a fixation on this zone; in adulthood they may even regress to this stage of development as the result of some trauma.
Oral Stage
in the first year of life the mouth of the child is the zone of interest and the breast of the mother (or its substitute) is the object of interest. The child obtains most gratification from sucking and when teeth develop, pleasure comes from biting. If the mother responds by either over or under gratifying the demands of the child, then the child may develop great tension and anxiety about feeding. This anxiety may reach intolerable levels, at which stage the ego may act to repress the impulses which are responsible for this tension. The ego must expend large amounts of energy in repressing this anxiety. In focusing on the mouth the adult may experience pleasure, engaging in oral activities such as smoking, drinking or perhaps a preoccupation with the preparation and consumption of food. However, a severe trauma such as the death of a relative may so stretch the resources of the ego that it can no longer contain the repressed anxieties of childhood which return in full force. This can result in a neurotic disorder where the person regresses back to the oral stage and may exhibit a wide range of disorders associated with eating.
Anal Stage
The next phase, which lasts from around one year old to the age of 3 is the anal phase. By this time the child's sphincter control has reached the point where s/he can take pleasure in holding on to or letting go of bodily wastes. Freud's theory suggests that children who are fixated at the anal stage may well develop as adults the character traits which reflect his or her difficulties in resolving this stage. Such adults may develop an obsessive regard for order and cleanliness, value hoarding and saving and have a stubborn nature.
Phallic Stage The phallic stage which lasts from between 3 to 5 years of age culminates in the emotional crisis known as the 'Oedipus complex'. Prior to the Oedipus complex (named after the famous Greek myth), both boys and girls identify with their mother. Boys see their father as a rival for the mother's affections but come to fear the power of the father. Their terror of the father becomes so great that eventually the boy splits his affections away from the mother and identifies himself with the father. It is by means of such an identification that the boy child achieves a male identity. In identifying with the father and 'introjecting', or internalizing,the father's values the boy develops a new structure, the superego or conscience, which replaces the external control his parents exercised over him.  The transition for girls is not so simple. Girls seek to identify with the father and come to see the mother as a rival for his affections. However, the girl's physical resemblance to the mother means that she cannot physically identify with the father or with his power. As a result, Freud thought, the development of the female superego was a more difficult process. Those who become fixated at the phallic stage become obsessed with power and those things which symbolize power. For example, this may be expressed through the purchase of products which are recognized as signifying prestige and power, i.e. anything from powerful sports cars to expensive watches or the latest technological toys. In recent years women executives who mimic male dress codes in business, e.g. by wearing suits which have jackets with wide shoulders, and sometimes even shirts and ties, have acquired the label 'power dressers'. Following the phallic stage there is a period of quiescence known as 'latency' which may last between 5 years of age and puberty. The beginnings of adult sexuality are observed in the 'genital period' when the individual's self-love or 'narcissism' becomes channeled into the love of others.  What can be learned from Freud in terms of the role which goods play in people's lives? Firstly the id is the source of all true needs, providing the energy and motive force for the demand for need satisfaction. The id demands satisfaction in line with the requirements of Eros, the life drive. Individuals are motivated to satisfy directly those needs for hunger and thirst and safety which are directly linked with survival. The sex drive is another major motive force which demands satisfaction. However, within Freud's explanation this comes into conflict with the restraining force of the superego which in its capacity as a proxy for 'civilized' society reins in the desire for direct sexual satisfaction and replaces such actions with others which are more socially acceptable. In a consumer society, one outlet for the sublimation of sexual desire is through the purchase of consumer goods and services.
*SOURCE: FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING, 2007, MARILYN A. STONE AND JOHN DRESMOND, PGS. 74-78*
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