What have a cake mix, focus groups and an egg all got in common?

The answer is Ernest Dichter.

You may never have heard of him before, but he has almost certainly had an impact on your life.

Dichter was a psychologist and marketing expert. He was also the man who coined the term ‘focus groups’.

Legend has it he was brought in by the Betty Crocker cake mix company in the 1950s to help find out why their newly launched instant mixture wasn’t selling.

By using his psychologist know-how and employing ‘focus groups,’ he was able to get to the ‘hidden truth’ behind the perplexing problem.

Apparently, housewives (remember this was the 1950s) felt guilty because making cakes for their family was now too easy. It lacked emotional involvement. What had previously been a bit of a labour of love, and hence a precious gift to their loving family, was no longer strictly speaking true.

His solution? To get the women more involved he suggested that the company remove the dried egg component from the mix, so the women making the cakes now had to add an egg. This made the process feel more like proper baking, and sure enough, the mix then sold...like hot cakes!