The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do by Clotaire Rapaille
Places Discussed
- No particular place
Posted 2007-03-19
Book Notes by John December
I believe a city is an interface for meeting human needs. Therefore, understanding user perception of urban experiences, products, and services could be a powerful way to guide design. In his book, The Culture Code, Clotaire Rapaille examines the perceptions people have of a variety of experiences and products and comes up with a shorthand code name or phrase that captures the essence of this user perception. The author claims that these codes powerfully tap into how people think and feel. By marketing a product or service "on code," consumers immediately recognize the value of the product in a profound (and sometimes unconscious way).
I think that Rapaille's coding method is applicable to the study of urbanism because urban areas and their promotion are increasingly relying on the understanding of demographics (Weiss 2000), creative class mobility (Florida 2002), perception (Karlgaard 2004), and the mindset of individuals (Whybrow 2005, Pink 2005). Rapaille does not apply any of his codes to urban issues, but I hope that perhaps someone would do this research.
Rapaille's methodology involves getting beyond his subjects' first responses to questions. Subjects might just repeat what others have said about a topic or say things they believe the questioner wants to hear. Rapialle goes beyond these responses, several hours into a listening session, and observes the pattern and structure of what people say. Here are some of Rapailles' codes he discusses in his book:
| Experience | Code |
|---|---|
| French perception of cheese | ALIVE |
| American perception of cheese | DEAD |
| Amercian perception of automobiles | IDENTITY |
| German perception of automobiles | ENGINEERING |
| American perception of love | FALSE EXPECTATION |
| American perception of seduction | MANIPULATION |
| American perception of sex | VIOLENCE |
| American perception of feminine beauty | MAN'S SALVATION |
| Amercian perception of health and wellness | MOVEMENT |
| American perception of youth | MASK |
| American perception of work | WHO YOU ARE |
| American perception of money | PROOF |
| American perception of quality | IT WORKS |
| American perception of food | FUEL |
| French perception of food | PLEASURE |
| American perception of shopping | RECONNECTING WITH LIFE |
| French perception of shopping | LEARNING YOUR CULTURE |
| American perception of luxury | "MIILTARY STRIPES" [outward marks of achievement implying a rank] |
| English perception of America | UNASHAMEDLY ABUNDANT |
| German perception of America | JOHN WAYNE |
| German perception of Germany | ORDER |
| French perception of France | IDEA |
| English perception of England | CLASS |
| American perception of America | DREAM |
My sense is that urban experiences and items could be likewise coded.
| Experience | Code |
|---|---|
| Driver's perception of streets | CORRIDOR? |
| Walker's perception of streets | THEATER? |
| Architect and planner perception of buildings | CONTAINER? |
| User perception of buildings | INTERFACE? |
| Government and planner perception of urban layout | CODES? |
| Human yearning for urban layout | CONNECTION? |
I think a major hurdle for urban areas is to change the thinking of code-makers and code-enforcers (as argued for in Suburban Nation). Part of this shift is to overcome disparities in thinking between the users of cities and the makers. Perhaps Rapaille's codes could bring these disparities to light.
Related Links
- Archetype Discoveries Worldwide: web site for consulting firm founded by Dr. G. C. Rapaille in marketing, advertising, research and development, and personnel. Site includes description of his archetype process and "The Pyramid of the Unconscious."
- Book Summary: The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do, Audio_tech Business Book Summary.
- "A Culture of Sophisticated Machines," book review by Graziella Jackson, PopMatters, March 2, 2007.