Application of transactional analysis in marketing research – models of the hierarchy of effects of marketing communication and structural analysis

Application of transactional analysis in marketing research - models of the hierarchy of effects of marketing communication and structural analysis The current concept of modern marketing is becoming more strategic in nature, and its essence is customer orientation. Just as high-quality communication is essential in building and maintaining any relationship, communication with current and potential customers is becoming a key element for a company. Marketing communication as a marketing tool therefore takes a central position, which is defined by Hradiská and Letovancová (2005, p. 21) as a set of directly interacting activities of mass, group, and interpersonal character designed to change the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour of the target group toward a certain product. It is a process of providing information to customers about a specific product of a manufacturer. In the philosophy of marketing, communication means, on the one hand, familiarizing customers with a given item or service, assessing its characteristics, highlighting its utility, value, and usefulness, and, on the other hand, knowing how to respond to stimuli and to consumer requirements (Foret, Světlík, 2014; Koprda, 2015).

Many benefits in increasing the effectiveness of marketing communication programs can be obtained if we consider how customers respond to marketing communication. One of the classical views of how customers react to, receive, and process information provided by marketing communication is clarified by the hierarchy of effects models. The fact that the multidisciplinarity of marketing communication requires knowledge from multiple social-science fields is shown in a new trend: the integration of transactional analysis theory into marketing communication research.

Transactional analysis

Transactional analysis (TA) originated in the mid-1950s as a psychotherapeutic approach with a profiling orientation. Its founder, Eric Berne, was a Californian professor and psychiatrist who focused on group psychotherapy. According to ITTA (The International Transactional Analysis Association), TA is a theory of personality and communication. In terms of its development, we can, based on Dusay (In: Ridgway, 2006), describe four stages: In the first phase (1955–1962), Berne identified a tripartite model of ego states (Parent, Adult, Child), which provided a framework for explaining individual thinking, feeling, and behaviour. He initiated the study of personality through observable criteria in the here-and-now phenomenon, visible in the client’s voice, gestures, and vocabulary. The second phase (1962–1966) focused on the development of functional analysis and game theory. The focus is on the interaction process of overt and covert communication happening at the level of individual ego states. During this period, TA gained popularity for simple vocabulary and came to imply a cognitive approach in which little attention was paid to emotions. The third phase (1966–1970) can be described as a stage of formulating the “environmental scenario”.

The concept of an internal script, which determines the direction of an individual’s life, is termed the theory of life scenarios, in which emphasis is placed on emotional patterns rooted in the Child ego state. This phase, identified as key to the initiation of real change, has been interpreted through verbal folk tales and Greek mythology. The fourth phase (1970 to the present) is characterized by the incorporation of new technologies into TA practice. The development of the egogram system by Dussay in 1977 provides a realistic picture of the intensity levels of relevant ego states and supports the ongoing application of TA across multiple social domains beyond psychology. Due to its use in diverse social-science areas, we agree with Corey’s opinion (2007) that TA currently does not exist in only one form, but is adapted to the needs of applications in various fields (education, social counselling, marketing).

The initial concept for the interpretive framework linking TA with models of the hierarchy of effects became the so-called structural analysis—the theory of personality that, in connection with marketing communication, offers deeper insight into how different customer segments respond while making purchase decisions.

Structural analysis in marketing communication

Communication with customers has undergone dynamic development in recent decades, leaving current forms of marketing communication shaped by two main factors. The first is the move from mass marketing to segmental marketing, aimed at building a more intensive relationship with a defined customer group. The second factor is scientific progress in information technology, which has accelerated the transition to segmental marketing. Modern information technology therefore helps marketers monitor customer needs, giving them much richer information at the level of individuals or households (Kotler, Keller, 2007; Lincényi et al., 2011; Kiková, 2014). Both factors increase demands on the efficiency of marketing communication as a process in which sender and receiver remain crucial. It is difficult to predict how customers will respond to an offer and how they will receive and process new information, because customer reactions are influenced by social, psychological, and cultural factors (Mandelíková, 2014; Bačíková, 2015; Kubaľaková, 2015). In this communication process, there are potential pitfalls, difficulties, and misunderstandings, reflected in stronger nonverbal behaviour, nuances, and subtle differences. Several authors (Fandelová, Džupina, 2013; Janková, 2014) therefore point out that important and powerful forces emerging from this interaction come from internal events that are transformed into communication acts. In their work, they refer to various theories, including TA, which make it possible to understand current mental states, motivational factors, consciousness, and to predict customer behaviour. Understanding the basics of interaction therefore requires knowledge of personality structure, because complex internal customer reactions are indirectly and externally manifested.

TA is based on the premise that human personality is structured into three mutually distinct ego states. Therefore, each individual can at any moment manifest Parent, Adult, or Child mentality and is also capable, with varying readiness and fluidity, of moving from one ego state to another (Berne, 2012). Each customer can therefore act through three internally coherent structures that have different motivational ranges, ways of thinking, and behaviour patterns, and yet still have a tendency to work together as a single unit. The study of the tripartite of ego states—Parent (P), Adult (A), and Child (C)—is called structural analysis.

Picture No. 1 Structural diagram of personality (Berne, 2012)

The Parent ego state (P) is based on observed models of parents or other authority figures expressed as behaviour and embedded in memory during the first 4–6 years of life. These so-called internal records comprise a large set of rooted behaviours, norms, values, rules, warnings, and principles about how to live, including judgments of what is good and bad, acceptable and unacceptable (Zacharovský, Žilinčík, 1992). The Parent ego state can be divided into two parts: Critical Parent and Nurturing Parent. Critical Parent is the part that sets limits, enforces discipline, evaluates us, and criticizes others, while issuing judgments. In this context, it exercises authority and takes on a normative, often moralizing character, usually with negative connotations. Nurturing Parent is, by contrast, a source of protection. It grants permission, supports us and others, allows growth and development, and is caring and protective (Berne, 2011).

The Adult ego state (A) is the logically and rationally thinking part of personality. Some authors compare it to a computer because it collects, analyses, and evaluates information from both the external and internal worlds, weighs options, and makes decisions (White, 2000; Hargaden, Sills, In: Steiner, 2006). When solving problems, it selects the best alternatives through practical reasoning, with subsequent planning of steps throughout the decision-making process.

The Child ego state (C) is represented by emotions and feelings absorbed through contact with the outside world in early childhood, associated with specific external events. In general, Child behaviour is impulsive and reactive to direct stimuli, sometimes irrational, yet also a source of spontaneity, humour, fun, and creativity (Berne, 2012). It can be divided into two components: Free Child and Adapted Child. Free Child reflects the nature we have when born—natural, loving, carefree, adventurous, and trusting. It is the source of our will, the “motor” for effort and creativity (Zacharovský, Žilinčík, 1992). Adapted Child shows acquired behaviour patterns (begging, promising, whining, sulking) that are learned to retain the favour or attention of parents or other authority figures in response to one’s environment (Harris, 1997).

The mental states of ego mentioned above cannot be reduced to strictly negative or positive personality concepts. No set of manifestations (Table 1), as part of this tripartite, is clearly good or bad, as Nagyová states (1999, p. 159): “it depends— as always— on the situation.” All ego states are valid and legitimate, forming a coherent whole in individual personality, and it is important that they be adequately activated in relation to the situation. Balanced use of individual personality components in the interaction process has become a central paradigm.

Table 1 Characteristic manifestations of ego states according to Harris (1997)

Differentiating ego states is essential in every interaction process in which marketing communication directed at a customer is involved. The process is based on communication stimulus and response and depends on which ego state is in dominant operation.

Models of the hierarchy of effects in the interpretation of structural analysis (TA)

In general, we can state that basic models such as AIDA, DAGMAR/ACCA, the Model of Adaptation, and Ludvige-Steiner are based on the paradigm that events have a certain order, so earlier action/effect stages form the basis for later effects. As reported by De Pelsmacker et al. (2003), customers pass through three distinct phases of response to marketing communication, which Jouve (1992, p. 112) describes as the L-F-D model:

• a cognitive phase (Learl)
• an emotional phase (Feel)
• a conative/behavioural phase (Do)

According to Hradiská and Letovancová (2005), marketing communication leads to changes in customer mental processes. In the context of TA, the above phases are reflected in a sequence of transitions that activate the individual ego states—Parent, Adult, Child—in a dominant position.

During the cognitive phase, customers become acquainted with information that forms their knowledge of the presented product or service. At first glance, it may appear that the Adult ego state is activated at this stage, but in fact it is the Parent ego state that is involved. The information a customer first collects is searched within the mind, making those parental recordings an internal information source. Past experience with the product or service included in these recordings can be called, following Schiffman and Kanuk (2004), an internal source of information. The stronger the fixation on them, the less the customer will seek external information. It is necessary to note that this operationalism is affected by perceived risk. In high-risk situations, the customer approaches purchase with a more complex volume of information, which they will also seek and evaluate through external sources. In this case, information-gathering becomes more consistent and, through comparison with past experience, also acquires a more objective character. Processing and evaluating the acquired information is therefore associated with the Adult ego state.

The second phase of response to marketing communication concerns the emotional level. At this stage, the customer associates the product or service with feelings and emotions. The mental state initiated during this process is the Child ego state. If the communication stimulus is retrospectively linked to positive feelings about the product, the level of impulsiveness to proceed to purchase rises; in the opposite case, it declines. The last phase is the action itself. In this context, we can say that the customer, through communication incentives, has been encouraged to engage the individual components of his/her personality at a mental level. Through the transformation of past experience from the Adult ego state and the emotional set included in the Child ego state, the appropriate amount of information is provided to the Adult ego state, which rationalizes the decision to respond to communication consciously, and this is reflected in customer behaviour. The result of this process becomes, according to E. Berne (In: Schlegel, 2007), “the actionist method” in transactional analysis.

Most of the models mentioned above explain customer response to marketing communication in a simplified linear and sequential way. A bias toward opinion that ignores variables capable of changing the communication process, as well as the assumption that customer behaviour is conscious, stable, and largely rational, has led to criticism by marketing theorists (Hanekom, Barker, 2009). By implication of the structural analysis paradigm, we can conclude that this unification of customer behaviour does not fully account for actual decision-making autonomy. Cramphorn (2006) argues that we can intuitively assume that purchasing decision processes for different product types/categories pass through various emotional-mental trajectories. With that assumption, testing only one selected trajectory is, in advance, likely to fail—that is, it produces statistically insignificant parameters in any model built on data covering all product types/categories. Cramphorn identifies the only decisive variable in any test model as a long-term and stable emotional attachment to the brand (brand feeling), which explains 68% to 72% of the variation in purchase intention across different model types. In the conclusion of the study, he recommends focusing the objectives of new marketing strategy on the communication brief, or on leaving the target group with maximum brand feeling. In the context of TA, this means greater consistency between the marketing communication stimulus and the ego state dominant in the target customer segment. The emotional impulsiveness referred to by Cramphorn should therefore be interpreted through a structural tripartite framework.

A major step forward in research on modelling the effects of customer-oriented marketing communication was the finding that components of hierarchy-of-effects models may not be active only in one sequence, but can appear in alternative, modified orders. This means we should not necessarily talk about a hierarchy of effects, but rather a cycle. The role of marketing professionals and communication strategists is to determine where in the cycle the appeal to customer action begins and the order in which the individual components occur (Desmond Minh Hou, Stewart, 2002). The thesis of a hierarchical model cycle can be extended to combinations (Table 2), corresponding to different decision-making situations in relation to the impact of marketing communication on a customer. One such variant is also included in the so-called FCB model; linking it with structural analysis provides a deeper analogy for response to marketing communication.

Table 2 Different combinations of the L-F-D cycle (Jouve, 1992, p. 112)

The model Foot Cone-Belding (FCB) was designed by R. Vaughn and researchers from the advertising agency of the same name in 1986. The FCB grid is both the central and fundamental starting point for analysing marketing communication production because it integrates different sequential models into a single analytical whole. The model distinguishes two dimensions: “I think – I feel” and “high – low interest/involvement”. Interest/involvement was defined by De Pelsmacker et al. (2003, p. 90) as the importance a customer assigns to the product and to the importance of purchasing it, as well as the level of perceived risk associated with a potentially wrong brand choice. The I think–I feel dimension is the balancing mechanism in which the decision itself takes place through perception and feeling. This dimension captures, in terms of structural analysis, the relative dominance of Adult (I think) and Child (I feel) ego states within the customer.

The FCB model (Figure 2) proposes a communication strategy based on two levels: target group involvement (strong–weak) on the vertical axis and type of benefit a product category provides (rational–emotional) on the horizontal axis. According to Barry (In: Yoo et al., 2004, p. 1), “because of its simplicity and logic, the model provides information about where to focus marketing strategy and how to plan it, because it works as a conceptual tool for predicting customer behaviour.” The FCB grid allows derivation of four typical situations related to four product types, and when combined with structural analysis, it more consistently reflects parallelism in customer behaviour. Through graphical representations of each quadrant, we can see the degree of dominance of ego states.

Figure 2 FCB model (De Pelsmacker, et al., 2003)

The first quadrant is characterized by high interest and a rational decision-making criterion. Product information is paramount for the customer. This group can include, for example, loans from banks, purchase of computer technology, and household appliances. Such purchases involve a strong implication and require rational information and calculations (De Pelsmacker, et al., 2003). In structural analysis terms, dominance is acquired by the Adult ego state (Figure 3). The customer gathers all relevant information through this state, then responds to marketing communications and mobilizes purchasing activities accordingly. Ordered and analytical, without emotional contamination, the consumer handles the data and ultimately bases decisions on logic. In the background of this ego state, the Concerned Parent has the second position. Through its supportive attitude, the consumer shows support and, with adequate consideration, responds to the communication stimulus while taking perceived risk into account. In this context, can we speak of the so-called disciplining Parent, since positive motivation consists of empathetic challenges of a supportive nature while preserving autonomy in decision-making.

Figure 3 The first quadrant of FCB vs. structural analysis (Inspired by: De Pelsmacker, et al., 2003, Berne, 2012)

In the second quadrant, high interest is again present but does not require mobilizing a large amount of calculations or rational analysis. In this case, the customer is primarily concerned with the product brand, and then the information-gathering process begins, ultimately leading to purchase. Typical products in this category are jewellery, perfumes, and summer vacations (De Pelsmacker, et al., 2003). In this case, the Adapted Child ego state is dominant (Figure 4), because the emotional component is driven by a suitable impulse to proceed with purchase. Because this quadrant is not tied to heavy operational processing of data, we can say that Concerned Parent is in the background of this ego state. The customer’s response to marketing communication then consists of introspection of the “parental recordings,” where experiential value is stored.

Figure 4 The second quadrant of FCB vs. structural analysis (Inspired by: De Pelsmacker et al., 2003, Berne, 2012)

The third quadrant is related to routine everyday products, such as sugar, detergents, and automotive fuels. The decision-making process requires minimal thinking and is more or less routine (De Pelsmacker et al., 2003). The customer generally buys the product and then evaluates its merits and eventually forms his or her own opinion about it. This quadrant is associated with a “routine” response to marketing communication, which, from the perspective of structural analysis, is based on the Parent ego state (Figure 5). The decision to proceed actively to purchase requires only activating the parental recordings. Gathering information about the product or service is not associated with significant effort. The background here is prior experience with that category and clearly defined pragmatic- rational criteria; thus, the Adult ego state becomes dominant in responding to marketing communication.

Figure 5 The third quadrant vs FCB. structural analysis (Inspired by: De Pelsmacker et al., 2003, Berne, 2012)

In the fourth quadrant, behaviour can be expressed as “Give yourself a little pleasure.” It starts with purchase and is followed by the activation of sensational and sensual perceptions and ends with the assembling of information about the product itself. As already mentioned, the last quadrant relates to so-called pleasure products, such as non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, ice cream, and chocolate (De Pelsmacker et al., 2003). In this case, response to marketing communication is based on the Single Child ego state (Figure 6). Customer behaviour is highly impulsive. The customer wants personal experience with the promoted product or service as soon as possible, so the decision-making process is significantly shortened. Rationalization linked to collecting objective information is minimized, and therefore the Adult ego state occupies the third position in this quadrant. Concerned Parent appears in a secondary position. The Child element activates the process of comparison and links emotionality with positive “parental recordings,” so impulsiveness becomes more intense.

Figure 6 The fourth quadrant vs FCB. structural analysis (Inspired by: De Pelsmacker et al. 2003, Berne, 2012)

Vaughan (2000) highlights the dynamic nature of the model, arguing that products can move within the grid. Each of the mentioned quadrants is therefore subsequently connected to a relevant marketing communication strategy. According to its author, the model condenses three decades of customer-behaviour research into a practical framework and works surprisingly well as support for designing communication activities. The fact that it also includes verbal and visual aspects is important and opens a new path in strategic planning for the long-term market performance of a unitary product. Customer response to marketing communication, from the FCB perspective, will be complementarily linked to the dominant ego state, as already discussed in the structural analysis above. Through comparative visualization of individual figures (Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6), we have demonstrated that leading marketing strategy consists of cognitive, conative, and affective appeals according to the dominant position of Parent, Adult, or Child in the target customer segment.

Conclusion

The current form of modern marketing emphasizes the strategic importance of marketing communication. Awareness of promoted products and services exists in customers’ minds not only because of their direct experience with them, but mainly due to the long-term effects of interaction stimuli. Traditional marketing models, in the transition from mass to targeted marketing—which consists of a shift from unified communication to all customers to differentiated segmentation approaches—cannot adequately represent the complexity and heterogeneity of the current behaviour of individual customer groups. One way to address this is to synthesize interdisciplinary functional approaches to marketing communication with a psychological focus, incorporating broader aspects of intrapsychic processes in comprehensively understanding personality and the interaction process itself.

The main idea of this paper is therefore a pragmatism based on the assumption that, at the operational level, it is possible to find compatibility between the two approaches by combining them to communicate the efficiency of a central marketing message to the target segment. This involves modifying communication models with respect to the mental components of customer personality in order to fulfil marketing objectives appropriately. The focus, therefore, was to demonstrate how to apply transactional analysis (TA) in marketing research by linking hierarchy-of-effects models of marketing communication and structural analysis of TA. With this interpretive framework, a deeper and more innovative insight is gained into the behaviour of target groups at the mental level of personality structures.

Author: Mgr. Ivana Polakevičová, PhD. Department of Mass Media Communication and Advertising Faculty of Arts, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra List of bibliographical references

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