6 TH E M IN D O F TH E BUY E R
h ow eve r, th e order given ab ove will t ruly
represen t c onditions, especially i n th e initial
purch ase of a n a rticl e.
W' e sh oul d al so recognize th e fac t th a t th e
stage s are no t nec essa rily equal i n length.
Th e i nitial p ul se o f a tten tion may l a st b u t a
m oment b efore mergi ng int o int erest. Inte r
est. m ay th en endure fo r a n h ou r. M oreove r
a singl e stage m ay vary i n l ength under dif
ferent circumsta nc es. Int erest may endure
fo r a minute , a n h our, a day o r a yea r.
Cro ss- sectional analysis o f the stream. Th ough
w e sh all rega rd th e m in d a s a n eve r-flo wing
stream, still we sh all occa sionally b e obli ged
to ac t. a s th ough w e c oul d stop i t. At im
porta n t stages we sh al l reta rd it a nd take
cross- sec tion s of i t. Were we to rep resen t
th ese dia gra ma tical l y we sh oul d use a circl e
simil a r to tha t of Figure (^2) , a nd repre sen t th e
sensation s, idea s, and feelings of th e buye r
by symboli c desi gns. W e sh oul d b ea r in
mind th rough out th at this p rocedure is really
a n a rtificial one. S tric tly speaking w e can
no t st op th e mind i n its flow and m ak e detail ed
pict ure s of its c ont ents. Neve rth el e ss w e sh all
empl oy thi s m eth od a s fa r a s possible, being
j ustified by th e facts th us ob tainabl e and th e
cl earness of a nalysi s th us m a de possibl e.