Marketing, Speed Dating and Pronouns

By Jerry Rackley

I caught a recent NPR interview of Dr. James Pennebaker, social psychologist and professor at the University of Texas. He has done some research on how we use language, which is described in his book, The Secret Life of Pronouns.

The story that got my attention was the research he did of conversations between speed daters. I’ll get to that in a minute. First, Pennebaker describes two types of words we use to communicate. The first are those small, seemingly insignificant words to which we pay scant attention: the, this, I, and, there, that. They are the words that tie so many of our phrases together into sentences. Pennebaker calls these “function” words. When we’re conversing in our native language, these words barely register with us, if at all.

Then there are the “content” words, like product, revenue, strategy, salary and others like these that have substance and weight. They are words we latch onto in conversation, recognizing their meaning and gravity.

So what about these two categories of words? Pennebaker transcribed and analyzed conversations between speed daters and made a discovery marketers should care about. The more similar a prospective couple was in the use of function words, the more likely they would go on a real date. In other words, matching use of pronouns, prepositions and articles is a predictor of relationship potential, at least in this setting.

Is this coincidental? Not according to Pennebaker, who says that when people are paying close attention to one another, they use language the same way. Apparently, this is something that humans do automatically.

So what does this have to do with marketing? Marketing is, in many ways, like speed dating. We engage with a prospect, taking our best shot at sending a message that will resonate and get us to the next stage in the cycle of consideration. While I haven’t read Pennebaker’s book, it has got me thinking about those words that usually don’t get a second thought. I’ve always believed that great marketers seek to understand their target audience, and then find the best way to talk directly to them, in language they understand.  So perhaps the lesson here is the next time you find yourself working on the Message Map for your Marcom plan, you might give those function words just a bit more thought.