Primal Shopper: Unlocking Shopper DNA to Power Your Marketing

by Eric Bowe

Every so often in business something comes along of which you need to take a new marketing channel, a new technology, a radical discovery. Primal Shopper is that radical discovery. Inspired by Myers-Briggs, Primal Shopper sets out the innate motivations guiding our shopping decisions. Think of these motivations as our shopper DNA. This DNA is predictable and persistent across brands and product categories. In Primal Unlocking Shopper DNA to Power Your Marketing, author Eric Bowe explores this discovery and its impact on marketing effectiveness.Bowe begins the book by revealing the behavioral research applied to uncover the shopper DNA and explains the nature of the basic strands. He also reveals how the DNA strands are combined into eight primal shopper typologies defining our retail preferences and discusses the different hypotheses leading to the final survey, including those that fell by the wayside. Sample surveys are supplied so readers can determine their own shopper DNA within different product categories.The second part of the book explores the shopper psychology generated and influenced by the DNA strands. Bowe exposes the reader to 18 primal principles underlying shopping behavior. These principles provide insight into shopping preferences in the context of today’s retail environment. The author examines the effectiveness of marketing tactics grounded in these shopper typologies. Drawing on this discussion, he explores different product categories, assessing the impact of tactics like advertising, digital marketing, social media, and loyalty programs on moving the shopper.The power of Primal Shopper is the ability to grow market share. As Bowe points “A person’s shopper DNA determines whether your marketing tactics will break through or just blend into the retail white noise. By marketing to different shopper DNA combinations, you can increase your motivational share and ultimately your market share.”In the book's final section, Bowe applies these learnings to such topics as the effect of advertising on shopper DNA and the difficult process of embedding an understanding of shopper behavior in a marketing organization’s own DNA. The result is a book that will leave you looking at shoppers and their behavior in an exciting and productive new way.

248 pages, Paperback

Published June 22, 2019

About the author

Eric Bowe has helped clients develop marketing communication programs in a rapidly evolving marketplace over the past two decades. His passion is to uncover what makes shoppers tick and design brand experiences to convert shoppers to buyers.

For the past decade, Eric has actively researched shopper behavior in multiple product categories. Eric’s research uncovered something provocative – we all have primal motivations driving our purchase decisions. These motivations predict how shoppers act within the marketplace and is the subject of his book Primal Shopper. Eric derived shopper principles from the research to create effective marketing for clients.

Over his career, Eric has worked with wide-array of brands in automotive, travel, retail, restaurant, financial, and healthcare. You can connect with Eric at PrimalShopper.com where he has a regular podcast based on the content of his book.

Over his career Eric has led different strategy groups in major agencies including Organic, Team Detroit, and McCann, while working on notable clients including General Motors, Ford Motor Company, ALDI, Pure Michigan, and Ameriprise.