Dichter, Ernest, 1907-1991

Ernest Dichter, one of the pioneers in consumer motivational research, was born in Vienna on August 14, 1907, and died near Peekskill, N.Y., on November 21, 1991.

Dichter came to the U.S. as a refugee from the Nazis in 1938 and worked for the advertising agency J. Stirling Getchell, Inc. and for the CBS Network before starting his own consulting business in 1946. It was incorporated in New York as the Institute for Research in Mass Motivations, Inc., in 1952 and renamed the Institute for Motivational Research, Inc., in 1955. Dichter maintained branch offices in Paris (1958), Rome (1959), London (1958-69), Zurich (1968-80?), and Frankfurt (1970-74?), the latter two surviving as independent organizations.

Dichter specialized in the "depth interview" in which samples of target consumers were subjected to a battery of psychological tests and something approximating psychoanalytic sessions. Dichter provided these services for a wide range of clients, including large U.S. and European manufacturing firms. He is perhaps best known for helping coin the "put a tiger in your tank" slogan for Exxon Corporation. Dichter's type of qualitiative motivational research was going out of style in the U.S. by the mid-1960s, although it remained popular in German-speaking Europe, and as his regular business contracted, he turned more to employee motivation, writing and speaking. Dichter remained active until a few years before his death.

Ernest Dichter, one of the pioneers in consumer motivational research, was born in Vienna on August 14, 1907, and died near Peekskill, N.Y., on November 21, 1991.

Dichter came to the U.S. as a refugee from the Nazis in 1938 and worked for the advertising agency J. Stirling Getchell, Inc. and for the CBS Network before starting his own consulting business in 1946. It was incorporated in New York as the Institute for Research in Mass Motivations, Inc., in 1952 and renamed the Institute for Motivational Research, Inc., in 1955. Dichter maintained branch offices in Paris (1958), Rome (1959), London (1958-69), Zurich (1968-80?), and Frankfurt (1970-74?), the latter two surviving as independent organizations.

Dichter specialized in the "depth interview" in which samples of target consumers were subjected to a battery of psychological tests and something approximating psychoanalytic sessions. Dichter provided these services for a wide range of clients, including large U.S. and European manufacturing firms. He is perhaps best known for coining the "put a tiger in your tank" slogan for Exxon Corporation. Dichter's type of qualitiative motivational research was going out of style in the U.S. by the mid-1960s, although it remained popular in German-speaking Europe, and as his regular business contracted, he turned more to employee motivation, writing and speaking. Dichter remained active until a few years before his death.