Avoiding the Self-Reference Criterion

The American Marketing Association defines the self-reference criterion as “The unconscious reference to one’s own cultural values or one’s home country frame of reference.”  I think in marketing and leadership today, we see a much expanded version of this concept.

Where I learned the term was in an international marketing class, it clearly applies, for example, to projecting American language, cultural values and norms on a product campaign in South America. The classic example is the Chevy Nova which in Spanish translates to “Chevy doesn’t go.”  We also see an expanded definition among different cultural classes and demographics within our own country, industries and even companies.

Often when making people decisions, we assume everyone will think and act like we do.  Because we might be sales-minded and like working on commissions, doesn’t mean others do.  In fact, that would scare and demotivate many very talented people.

In marketing, we see it all the time.  I can remember a co-worker once putting cars in ads based on what she liked to drive. I remember a branch office being decorated to the manager’s personal taste and not in a customer centric or brand reinforcing way.  Of course, we naturally surround ourselves with the familiar and what we have seen work for us.

I’m an only child, so I fight this tendency all the time.  I have to be very deliberate at putting myself in the other person’s shoes and showing empathy.

So, how do we fight the Self reference criterion tendency that we all naturally have? Here are a few things that help me:

1. Listening
2. Using Personas
3. Trading Places

Let’s looks at each of these in more detail. 

Listening
There are lots of ways we can listen; surveys, interviews, and feedback loops such as a robust customer and employee suggestion system. Sometimes it helps to get external voices that can provide candid and unbiased look inside the operation. Several years ago, the company I was looking for hired a consultant who conducted several interviews within the company. The results clearly led the consultant to see that company’s commitment to a cherished principle of the CEO was not even on the individual minds of top executives. The CEO dismissed the consultant for how out of touch he was with the company’s culture. Ironically, as the CEO left, the cherished principle left with him. In the end, the CEO only heard what he demanded from his employees and refused to listen to the consultant. Part of listening is being able to accept what we hear.

Using Personas
Marketing buyer personas are very powerful tools that can be used in many endeavors.  A persona can be a real or fictitious person whom represents a larger group. For example, if you are a grocery store in the suburbs, then you could formalize a persona of a married, 32 year old stay at home mom with two kids. Maybe a grocery store in a city forms a persona around a 25 year old single man who lives in an apartment. In thinking about these two people, think about their lives… the car they drive (if they have one), their weekend plans, their friends, the media they consume.

Put a name like “Dave” on your persona. Just like the car you just bought that you thought was so unique, you’ll start seeing Dave’s popping up all over the place. You may even start asking yourself weird questions like, what would Dave do?

Trade Places
Sometimes there is just no substitution for walking a mile in in the other person’s shoes. Be a customer or your company. Switch jobs. I really love the show “Undercover Boss” where the top brass, usually the CEO of a company, goes out and tries a few of the jobs. It’s amazing how eye opening these experiences are for these leaders.

Hopefully these tools will help break you out of your own world. They have really helped me. I’d love to hear some other things that people are doing to get away from the self-reference criterion.