The Application of Archetypes and Narrative Theory to Consumer Needs in Marketing Contexts: A Literature Review

Abstract

Recent developments in technology and the resulting abundance of individual consumer data provide an unprecedented opportunity for matching consumers to the brands that best suit their egocentric, social, and altruistic needs. Decades of marketing research have been dedicated to the chimerical portrait of an aggregate, generalized ‘Average Joe’ brand consumer–a practice that, at its core, fundamentally limits the potential scope of a brand’s applicability. It is through the identification of the circumstances that differentiate a consumer base that insights regarding brand relevance in consumer lives can be comprehended and consequently leveraged. This can best be done through the use of archetypes in mediating between internal tensions (within society and the individual) that result in the satisfaction of core human needs. The use of a narrative framework–which provides the most natural and logical dissemination of these archetypes–will enable contemporary members of psychology and advertising fields to secure their place as pioneers in the new age of technological micromarketing.