Fuqua Insights Podcast: Why Do We Crave Structure When Life Feels Chaotic?

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00:08

Scott Dyreng: hey there, and welcome to the show. My name is Scott Dyreng. I'm the Senior Associate Dean of innovation at the Fuqua School of Business, and today I'm excited to speak with Keisha Cutright, a professor and behavioral researcher whose work explores how our sense of personal control, or lack of it, shapes the way we engage with brands, products and environments. We'll be talking about one of her most widely cited papers, “The beauty of boundaries,” when and why we seek structure in consumption, published in the Journal of Consumer Research. In the paper, Professor Cutright shows how even small design choices like a framed painting or an organized store layout can become powerfully appealing when people feel uncertain or overwhelmed. Her work offers rich insights for anyone thinking about consumer behavior, brand strategy or retail design, especially during moments of disruption. The paper came out more than a decade ago. So while we're talking, we'll ask her about what's changed and what hasn't, and how consumption consumers cope with a chaotic world. Let's dive in. Keisha, thanks for coming

01:15

First question: What sparked your interest in the idea that consumers might seek structure in their environments as a way to cope with low personal control?

Keisha Cutright: Thanks for having me, Scott, I would say it started when I was actually at P&G and I was working on toilet paper. I worked on the Charmin brand. And one of the things we noticed through our segmentation research was that there was definitely a segment of consumers who were really focused on having a structured life, and that came through in a variety of ways. It came through and the pictures they showed us about their lives, the way they described their lives. And so for me, when I started the PhD program, I was really still curious about the why. So I understood that there was a segment of consumers who really wanted this structure in their lives, but I didn't quite understand the why, and so that's what got me started when I came here. That's very cool. Okay, so in the paper, you show that something as simple as a frame around a postcard or a logo can become more appealing when people feel out of control. Why do these subtle design elements have such a strong psychological impact? So I think it's important to start with, what do we mean by not having control? And what we mean is that, basically, people feel as if they can't make positive things happen in their lives. They can't avoid negative things. And when you feel this way, one of the scariest things in the world is to believe that things are happening in your environment randomly. So not only do you not control things, but things are just happening randomly, which means that anything could happen to you at any given time. There's no sense of fairness or justice. And so when you feel this way, people are looking for a way to say, okay, things aren't happening randomly in the world, but there's actually a sense of structure to the way that things happen. There's some rhyme and some reason to it, and they look in the environment for subtle reminders that that is true. And so having boundaries, having structure associated with our products, is one way that they get that sense that things are okay, that there is a sense of structure, that things aren't happening randomly in the world.

03:26

So for MBA students thinking about branding and product design, how can your research inform decisions around visual identity, packaging and retail layout?

Keisha Cutright: So what we see is that there are very simple things that you can do. So for example, if you're thinking about a logo or a package design, you can think about, should this be an open logo, or should we have a boundary around it to give people a cue that it is contained, right? There's a place for everything, and everything has its place. Or if you're thinking about your store layout you want to understand. Are you truly prioritizing how organized the store is? Is it very clear when people walk in which directions they should go to get to whatever products they're looking for? Are things labeled clearly? Are aisles wide enough such that people feel as if things are structured and organized in a given space. So there are lots of little things to do, just to remind people that things aren't kind of half hazardly thrown together, but that you've thought through the structure in a given situation.

Scott Dyreng: You explore both tangible boundaries like fences or frames, and intangible boundaries like organized retail environments. Can you explain why both of these matters and how they might be used differently by marketers?

Keisha Cutright:  Sure, and they're very similar. The only difference is when I say tangible boundaries, I'm talking about actual physical boundaries that you can touch, versus intangible boundaries, are boundaries that you perceive, but there's nothing there for you to necessarily touch, right? So.

05:00

Obviously a tangible boundary is something like a fence or a frame, something that you can touch, but intangible is just walking into the grocery store and you notice that there's a difference between where the shampoo is and where the conditioner is right. Like there's a there's a clear line in your mind about where one thing begins and where one thing ends. And so that's that's the primary difference between tangible and intangible boundaries. And so marketers can use both of these in a variety of ways.

05:30

It's easy when you think about packaging design, or, again, kind of the design of a store, to think about the boundaries that will be actual physical boundaries that you can touch, but then also just the things that will be intuitive to people to help them understand this is this category. This is another category, different labels, different colors, a whole variety of things. Again, they're very simple. And I think that's what was most interesting to me about this research, is that they're not major things, but very simple things to just cue people into the fact that this is one thing, this is another thing. This product is in its place, and you can do that in a variety of ways.

Scott Dyreng: So one study found that people in disorganized store environments bought fewer items, but only when they felt low personal control. What are the implications for this physical retail design, especially during uncertain times like recessions or crises?

Keisha Cutright: this is something that is definitely very important

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in terms of practical implications. We noticed, for example, after 911 there were stories of how people were looking for more organization in store environments and in wherever spaces they were entering, they wanted things to be more orderly. We saw the same thing after COVID, where people were looking for more organized environments. They were thinking about more ordered activities. So we see more reports of things like basic rituals, baking things that allowed people to engage in some routine with a lot of structure and with a lot of order. And so again, to the extent that brands and companies can think about what are ways that we allow for structure and routine, we think that's going to be particularly helpful in times of crises and tough environments.

Scott Dyreng: so you also show that structured consumption can act as a substitute for religion, social support or financial resources. How might this insight change how brands approach consumers who feel underserved or vulnerable?

07:38

Keisha Cutright: I think it's important for brands to recognize that these populations where people may not necessarily have strong kind of sources of support in times of crises, are going to be the populations that could most benefit from brands who decide to step up and help provide a sense of structure, whether that's through the actual product that they're offering, does that product offer a means for additional support in people's lives, or is it just how you present the products that you have? So are you engaging in very clear communication? Are you offering very organized environments

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brands that take advantage of this opportunity to really provide what people need by way of structure will be important and well supported by these customers who don't otherwise have a means to get that. So those who may not be as religious or don't have other means of social support may be the most likely to benefit from brands who pay attention to this.

Scott Dyreng: This research was published more than a decade ago, have you seen evidence that these insights have become more relevant in today's world, especially given the major global disruptions like COVID 19 or increasing political uncertainty?

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Keisha Cutright: Yeah, I would say I don't know if it's more important than it has been in the past, but certainly, as important as it hasn't been in the past. We've certainly seen crises before, and we'll see them again in the future, and we're seeing similar reactions from customers, and that, you know, when these events occur, they are looking to brands to step up and provide a sense of structure. And so again, I think that was very clear during kind of COVID and I would, I would guess that the data would suggest that today,

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we'd see similar things. I don't have the data on that right now, but my guess is that we'd be seeing, you know, similar reports of people looking for structure in the midst of a lot of uncertainty right now.

09:37

Scott Dyreng; What would you say to a brand manager who is skeptical about the idea that psychological needs, like control, might influence product or experience design?

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Keisha Cutright: I would say that we've known for a long time that psychological needs affect consumers, choices, their behaviors, their emotions. I think that control is one.

10:00

Of those psychological needs, there are three others that people talk about a lot in the research. So there's the need for belonging, there's a need for esteem, and there's a need for meaning. Like those four are kind of primary psychological needs that we know affect consumption. And so, you know, I would say there's a lot of data to support the fact that the psychological needs are important. I would also say, though, that this,

10:29

this assumes all else equal, right? So all of the other four “Ps”, for example, that we talk about in class for you know, the product, the price, the place, promotion, all of those things will matter. So it's not to suggest that it's people's, you know, needs of control that are going to ultimately determine exactly what they purchase. But all else equal, as you think about those other pieces of execution, then the psychological needs will certainly matter. And I would say there's no, no real need to debate whether or not the psychological need matters. I think in today's world, you can easily test it right. You can test a variety of different designs and marketing approaches and see what works best for your particular segments

Scott Dyreng: Do you think the desire for structure plays out similarly in digital environments like websites and apps, or are there unique dynamics online that change how consumers respond to boundaries?

Keisha Cutright: I would say. So you know, my research in particular didn't look at kind of digital boundaries, but there has been research since then that has looked at people's reactions online into different interfaces, for example. And what you see is that, in general, obviously, people like more structured digital environments, but you see that this is stronger for those who are struggling with a sense of control. This is particularly important for them. And I would say that, you know what's unique about the online experience? I mean, one thing is that there's just so much more information that you can communicate online that I think it's probably even more important to think very clear, clear, carefully about the structure that you're providing to customers in that space. But I also think that there's a lot of opportunity in the digital space to tailor your kind of interface and how you communicate with consumers based on different segments, based on individuals. And so while I think it's perhaps harder given that you're trying to communicate so much information, I also think there's a lot of opportunity there. And so it's a nice space to continue to understand how feelings of control affect what people want to see and how they respond based on different structures.

Scott Dyreng: Looking back 15 years after publication, has your thinking on this topic evolved, and have you seen new research, either your own or others, that builds on or challenges these findings in other interesting ways?

Keisha Cutright: So I would say that the basic finding has been robust, and we see it in today's environment as much as we did 15 years ago. For sure, I would say I have very much appreciated and learned from additional work that has come out to look at cultural differences. So what cultures may be more accepting of a lack of structure, more ambiguity in the environment.

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For such cultures, perhaps the need for kind of boundaries and conception isn't as strong as those who are kind of more focused on certainty and a real sense of structure in the environment. I also very much appreciate the work that's coming along that looks at this in a kind of digital environment. So I think there are lots of extensions that are very, very interesting, and I'm sure more to come. But in general, I think the overall idea, again, stands today, that people are looking for structure, particularly when they feel low in control.

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Scott Dyreng: Keisha, thank you so much for coming and chatting with us today about your interesting marketing research.

Keisha Cutright: Thank you for having me. Scott.

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