The Mind of the Buyer

CHAP TE R F OU R

SELLING TO TH E COLLECTIVE B U Y ER

D efinition o f “ public.” A go o d d eal o f th e
selling of to day i s d one to pe opl e en ma sse.
A ca r-ca rd s tri ke s no t m erely o ne pe rson a t
a time, b u t a c a rful. A new sp ap er a dve rti se
m ent fall s unde r th e eye s no t o f o ne i ndi vidual
b u t o f a group. The p erson s wh o are serve d
by a ny selling m edi um c onsti tut e a c oll ec tivi ty
—Ro ss c all s i t a “ p ublic ” — wh ich w e m ay d e
fin e a s a group o f disp e rsed i ndivi dual s h av
ing si mila r idea s, feelings and ac tions, in ten si
fied by th e c on sciou sn ess o f th eir “ coll ec tive
ness.
I t sh oul d b e n ote d th a t a p ublic i s no t a
simpl e a rithm etic al summa ti on of indivi dual
min ds. N o r i s i t a new sup e r-min d transcen d
ing it s c om p onents. It can be regarded a s o ne
mi nd ‘ onl y i n th e sense th a t th e i ndivi dual
mind s c omposing i t a re alm ost i de ntical i n
ce rta i n re sp ec ts. Then, beca use each m emb er
of th e group know s tha t al l th e oth e r m em
bers h ol d opinion s i den tical with hi s, he feel s
54