The archetypes within consumer narratives: an approach capable of

explaining the consumer-brand desire and relationship.

Abstract:
Examining the stories consumers tell in natural contexts involving brands provides
explanations of associations between archetypes, brands, and consumers. In order to
identify and interpret the archetypal themes in stories told by the consumer, this study
advances the use of degrees-of-freedom analysis and visual narrative art as useful steps
for confirming or disconfirming whether or not the stories consumers tell have themes
events, and how consumers position brands in their lives. This paper identifies the
“Lover” and “Ruler” archetypes in two consumer stories available on the internet. The
analysis providing tools and insights for managers and researchers on issues relating to
consumer and brand role enactments.

Keywords: archetypes, consumer, brands, degrees of freedom analysis, visual narrative art

Track: Consumer Behavior

1. Introduction

Consumers may tell stories involving buying and experiencing brands, in part, to relive
archetypal experiences and to clarify the meaning for themselves about these experiences.
Archetypes are collective, mostly unconscious, primal forces according to Jung (1959); these
forces are strong motivational stimuli that compel action. The insertion/use of archetypes and
myths as platforms to support brand construction is a proposal arising in recent research.
Research informs this view in both in the academic context, analyzing the relationship
between consumers and brands (Holt, 2004; Veen, 1994; Woodside, Sood, & Miller, 2008;
Zaltman, 2003), and in the marketing context as guidelines for marketing professionals (Mark
& Pearson, 2001; Vincent, 2002; Wertime, 2002). This article includes a brief explanation of
the function of archetypes in human behavior, and the importance of narratives in human
behavior and the materialization of archetypal themes. The study presents degrees-of-freedom
(DFA) and visual narrative art (VNA) as possible ways of identifying the archetypes adopted
and the role of the brand in the narrative projection of the consumer and presents two cases
where this phenomenon occurs and can be verified and mapped. Finally, the discussion
concludes with theoretical and managerial implications of this approach.

2. Archetypes and the consumers’ need to experience self-fulfillment, and the consumer
narratives as vehicles for communicating archetypes.

Jung’s greatest contributions to psychology may include the concepts of the collective
unconscious and the archetypes from which they are constituted (Gray, 1996). The collective
unconscious is a deposit of memories that humans inherit from their ancestors and which
influence their current lives (Jung, 1959). Within this deposit archetypes are stored; symbols,
images, and representations capture the essential and universal communalities (Zaltman,
2003). Archetypes are also known as elementary ideas (Campbell, 1988). According to Gray
(1996) (and the study by Campbell, 1988) the same themes and imagery, with minor
variations, appear in each individual, culture and race, over and over. Jung describes only
some archetypes systematically, considering them as “fundamentally unobservable” (Faber &
Mayer, 2009, p. 308). However, the 12-archetype model that Mark and Pearson (2001)
propose divides archetypes in accordance with a two-axis matrix: belonging/people versus
independence/ self-actualization and stability/control versus risk/mastery.

According to the consumer behavior literature, consumer expectations regarding products and
brands are not always conscious (Shiv, Carmon, & Ariely, 2005; Zaltman, 2003); consumers
tell (or experience) stories that are repeated in the collective unconscious and bring meaning
to themselves and connect them to the community to which they belong (Hirschman, 2010).
Brands are “modern myths” (Holt, 2003), which can contain archetype enactments that
combine and satisfy (give pleasure, fulfillment, happiness) the interlocutors that experience
such myths. Thus, archetypes can also serve as central themes for consumer fulfillment
without consumer recognition of the roles brands play in such archetypes enactments.
Much of the information and many social experiences that the consumer acquires in his life
are transmitted in the form of narratives (Adaval & Wyer, 1998). Escalas and Bettman (2000)
describe consumers as builders of stories, where the major focus of their stories makes sense
when it comes to saying who they are and what they consume. From the viewpoint of brands,
brand narratives can involve the audience and make audience members experience the
concerns and feelings of the characters (Deighton et al, 1989). Therefore, both interlocutors
(brand and consumer) use storytelling as primal forces in the collective unconscious in order
to compel (and explain) action (Woodside et al, 2011). This outcome implies that the story is
the central means for researchers to understand and map the role of archetypes in the
connection between consumers and brands.

3. Degrees-of-freedom as a method for scoring and confirming archetype presence

Campbell (1975) suggests degrees-of-freedom analysis (DFA) in case study research. The
“pattern-matching” between the theoretical propositions and observations in a set of data is
the essence of DFA” (Woodside, 2010). DFA compares propositions or ingredients from a
specific theory to check how well the case under analysis matches one or two or more
competing theory. As Campbell (1975) states, keeping a record of all theories considered in
the puzzle-solving process is important, and this method represents the degrees-of-freedom
from multiple implications and can be useful for the creation of a box score of hits and misses
to test which theory is relevant to a specific case. Although used little and mentioned only in
passing in the literature (Yin, 1994), this technique has the potential for research in the field
of marketing (Woodside, 2010). Central to the DFA approach is the prediction matrix
(Campbell, 1975; Woodside, 2010). Based on the theory, and in order to be confirmed or
disconfirmed by the case data, the prediction matrix is organized into a list of statements
(objective questions about the case) and the content of each statement predict that a theory is
either confirmed (Y), not-confirmed (N), not possible to confirm, or partially confirmed (P).
One or several judges may evaluate the data to tally the theory box-score results.

4. Visual narrative art as a means of mapping (and understanding) stories

When dealing with the mapping of metaphors of organizations for the purpose of identifying
the meanings that professionals give to their experiences in the working environment, Stein
(2003) suggests using art to access thoughts and feelings in order to connect unconscious
images and bring them-to-light. Visual narrative art (VNA) utilizes one or more types of
illustrations (paintings, sculpture, photographs, physical movements, film, or other media
beyond verbal reporting) that create a story formed by scenes or episodes in which people,
animals, objects, and symbols interact while the narrative unfolds (Megehee & Woodside,
2010). Art as a means for telling a story non-verbally is one of the oldest forms in which
human beings tell a story, since the days when the cavemen painted on the walls of caves, and
remains one of the most modern forms of communication in the 21st century (Megehee &
Spake, 2012). In consumer behavior research, creating and interpreting a VNA helps to make
explicit unconscious thinking and emotion-based associations, and helps to clarify the role of
a brand in consumers’ stories and consumers’ lives. The use of VNA can increase accuracy of
how archetype enactments in consumer stories about buying/using a brand.

5. Method

Two stories by consumers were collected from blogs on the internet. The stories were
analyzed using the DFA method, using an instrument created for each archetype, with 16
items each (the stories were finalized using all the instruments created for a total of thirteen
archetypes). Two themes appear and were confirmed. The first story is compatible with the
Lover archetype and focuses on the relationship between a consumer and the Louis Vuitton
brand. The second narrative involves a visit to Paris and matches the theme of the Ruler
archetype, with clear signs that this element is experienced, as shown in the facts and
reflections of the protagonists. The first story, describing the relationship between a consumer
and the Louis Vuitton brand had a confirmation level of 100% concerning the sixteen items of
the instrument created for the Lover archetype. Likewise, there was 100% confirmation for
the story about the visit to Paris regarding the items in the instrument created for the Ruler
archetype.
When the instrument created for the Lover archetype is applied to the other story (about the
visit to Paris), only five of the sixteen items are verified. When the instrument for the Ruler is
applied to the other story (about the Louis Vuitton brand), the correspondence rate is lower
still: only two of the sixteen items fit the matrix of the Ruler, meaning that this archetype is
not to be found in that story. The stories were evaluated by two independent judges, who
classified them according to the instruments for each archetype. Any eventual differences
were discussed with the authors.
Although the text of the stories and the items that make up the instruments of the DFA
method are not shown in this article due to a lack of space, the VNAs that were developed to
illustrate the archetypal theme in question and provide insight into it are shown below.

6. The results: the visual narrative art of the two stories

6.1The story with the Lover archetype

The Lover archetype is always present in human adventure stories, from the love stories of
mythology (Hamilton, 1942) to the most famous modern movies (Mark & Pearson, 2001).
Like Romeo and Juliet, their love was forbidden and both died in an attempt to liberate their
love. According to Ovid, “the more that flame is covered up, the hotter it burns” (Hamilton,
1942, p. 105). Indeed, Mark and Pearson (2001) conclude that this archetype is reflected in
the way that current society views a successful life, including marriage or at least the
ceaseless search for love. In this case, the ability to attract and seduce becomes crucially
important.

The myth of the siren represents the universal image of the power of attraction, often linked to
potential for destruction (Wertime, 2002), which represents the dark side of the Lover,
suggesting obsession or selfishness (Mark & Person, 2001).
The VNA of the first story seeks to show how the relationship with the brand began, the
sacrifice that this addiction represents, the feelings of compensation and happiness that it
brings and the emotions that permeate the relationship. The VNA developed by the
researchers portrays these passages and reinforces elements related to the Lover archetype,
such as addictive sensation of well-being, emotions of nostalgia, the feeling of emptiness
when there is no opportunity or it is impossible to have a further relationship with the brand.
The VNA of the first brand is shown in Figure 1, below.
6.2 The story with the Ruler archetype

According to scholars of ancient mythology, one of the primordial yearnings of humanity is

for the return or presence of a king. Born to lead, the Ruler knows that by taking control,
chaos is avoided (Mark & Pearson, 2001). Whoever experiences the Ruler archetype enjoys
the role of a leader who stays in control as much as possible and organizes and monitors his
activities as a source of achievement (Mark & Pearson, 2001). O VNA apresentado na figura
2, relativo à segunda estória, do consumidor que visita Paris pela segunda vez, portrays Paris
as a place with many choices and options to visit, one of the most powerful capital cities in
the world, where beauty and the authority of having been part of history combine. The
narrative ranges from Paris as a symbol of authority and power (Part 1 of the VNA) to a
sensation of privilege, power and control enjoyed by the protagonist himself (Part 2 of the
VNA). Some signs of this control and capacity to stamp his own identity on the story are
found in the protagonist’s control over the music he listens to, using his Ipod, adapting the
soundtrack to every movement while he visits the various tourist attractions. The signs can
also be seen in the daring and expensive act of drinking champagne at the Eiffel Tower, and
even when he goes to the bathroom on the third floor of the tower, conveying a feeling of
power and privilege, of asserting his authority for the one day.
7 Conclusions

Archetypal themes are bridges that connect consumers and places, not only from the
viewpoint of marketing managers that use the “mask” of myth, but also from consumer’s
unconscious perspectives. Consumers can experiment with these powerful myths as long as
the brand, in its interaction and communication, is positioned as the ingredient or tool for this
purpose. The case of the Louis Vuitton brand is a good illustration of the relationship level,
anchored by the presence of the Lover, between the consumer and the brand. There is no lack
of examples of the use of archetypes by marketing and advertising organizations (Solomon,
2013) and there is growing academic interest in the theme (Holt & Thompson, 2004;
Randazzo, 2006; Veen, 1994; Woodside et al, 2008). The illustrations of the two stories that
appear in this study provide insights into how product and place brands are positioned or
viewed by consumers and tourists and how this “scenario” enables the adoption and
experience of archetypal themes. In the same way that brands have to construct an adequate
and differentiated perception/image, the most suitable choice of archetype should occur with
this in mind.
The present study offers a useful method for analyzing the theme of archetypes in stories told
by consumers about (or including) brands, using DFA that results in a prediction matrix.
Applying the prediction matrix verifies or disconfirms the pattern, based on the theory, to
confirm or not the presence of an archetype in a story. This study might prove useful to
researchers who aim to further their studies of consumer-brand relationships and to
practitioners who might find in this tool a powerful support for developing and auditing the
effects of their actions in terms of brand construction.

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