How to uncover unconscious motivations: Projection methods in interviews

As researchers, it is our underlying goal to understand what people think. Sadly, we cannot just look into their brain and get our answers. We have to interact with those people and find ways to make them tell us as accurately as possible what is going on in their heads, maintaining a supporting environment, without forcing answers.

One way to do that is through projection methods in interviews. While the word itself might be strange to you, you may have heard of picture pools often used in marketing or market research. Interviewees or participants are asked to select a picture out of a couple of options to express how they feel about a brand or a product and describe why they associate the topic in question with that picture. In this article, I want to talk about why methods like this are helpful, give you an overview of tools that I have worked with over the years and present some useful tips on how to apply projection in your own research.

But let's start with the why:

Why should we not just ask people what they think? Why should we use pictures, not our product or logo, or whatever we want to know more about?

Now, we all know that we might struggle to be understood when expressing what we think, feel or believe. Here are a couple of problems you might run into when doing fundamental research, trying to get feedback on a product, understanding associations, drivers and barriers for purchase decisions and so much more.

1.People might not know what they feel: Did you ever have to choose between two options and had a preference, without knowing why? I hate to break it to you, but you are not special on that one. Choices, preferences and emotions are the output of many unconscious processes that we cannot grasp or explain. As researchers, however, we need to understand those underlying factors. They enable us to draw the right conclusions and interpret as well as predict behavior accurately.

Let's assume you are talking to a person that has no problem getting in touch with their unconsciousness. Then the next barrier arises: Words get in the way.

2. Different meanings for the same words: While we might use the same language, one word might mean something else to me than to you, or that guy on the other side of the room. Already in our daily life this might lead to some misunderstanding, where details are not even that relevant. But when asking someone specifically about their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you might run into some issues. Our understanding of words is deeply rooted into our brains and shaped by culture, education, mother tongue and so much more. As researchers, we always encounter people that we have not met before, that might be very different from us. We have to create common ground or at least find a way to make understanding the interviewee easier or less error-prone. I will get later to how projection tools can help us reduce the risk of misunderstanding.

3. How do I say that? While for some people it is very easy to elaborately express their ideas and thoughts, for others this is a harder exercise. Finding the right words can be very difficult, especially when we are focusing on really being understood. The more we get lost in details, the more complex it becomes.

We cannot change humans, diversity is a beautiful thing that makes life interesting and we don't want everyone to be the same. But we can change how we interact with people, making it easier to understand and to be understood. Using projection tools in interviews or focus groups might do that and help overcome these previously mentioned issues.

In a projection, interviewees are asked to choose a representation for their inner processes and thoughts and talk about something more concrete rather than trying to make sense out of the blue. It takes the burden of being understood from the interviewees and rephrases the task, making it less difficult to succeed.

Choosing the right projection:

This representation can be anything: a picture, a famous personality, a fictional character like a superhero or childhood figure, or an animal. It can change from project to project, from research question to research question, and due to personal preferences. You might want to put some thoughts into what will make the most sense, beforehand. between researchers.

Using the projection method:

In the session, introduce the methods you are going to use and what you want to achieve with that. For example, tell your participants that you would like to understand a bit more, what your product means to them or how they perceive your brand.

Give some stimulus and input, like providing the pictures, quotes or similar. The goal is to make the unconscious visible, so looking at the same visualization is a must. Also you can make different interviews comparable and won’t force participants to create a picture in their head. It is easier to choose from a pool of options than come up with something unprompted.

Lay your stimulus materials all out in front of the group or individual you are interviewing and explain to them that you would like them to choose one representation.

For example, you can ask interviewees or participants in a group, if your product was an animal, which one would it be?

If you want to compare two products, you can do the same for each and let them then be compared. Why did one get these character traits, why the other one the other? How do they stand in comparison to each other? If they met, how would they interact?

If you are in a group, make sure that everyone has selected their representation, before starting the discussion. That way you can avoid social norm biases.

Make sure that the participants understand what they are talking about and what they are evaluating. But don't be too strict. In the end, it's supposed to make it easier for the interviewees. So don't put too much pressure on them. Try to read between the lines when the interviewee is stuck.

When to use projection? What is the right research question?

Personally, I think projections are very powerful when you want to understand

1. how your product or brand is perceived, either individually or in comparison to competitors.

2. what unconscious drivers and barriers for the purchase decision for or against your product/brand are

3. what individual needs are that are covered with your product or brand

Here are some watch-outs:

Make it a fun exercise. Interviewees love to break out of the questioning dialogue and get an easier exercise for a change. Use it maybe as a starter or at the end of a session.

Also, it is not that relevant, what people project their thoughts on. It is a lot more important to listen to what interviewees have to say about it. In the end, projections are just another tool that facilitates storytelling, they will not give you the answer by themselves. The key is to listen to what interviewees associate with their selected representative of inner beliefs.

So when asking interviewees to choose for example a famous person they associate with your product, it is not enough to note that they choose Mark Zuckerberg. Understand why they choose that person. Was it because they think it is innovative? Because it is disruptive? Because it connects people? Or do they believe that it is intrusive, addictive?

In general, it is not about what you think the projection means, but what your interview partner thinks. As always, continue to ask why to really understand the person you are talking to.

Closing remarks:

Lastly, it is important to say that you as an interviewer should feel comfortable with the methods you are using. If creative tasks are not your thing, then don’t force it. Over the course of time you will develop your personal style. But never be afraid to try new things. And please, get in touch once you have. I am curious to learn about your experience.