Psychology in the Adult Industry

[Sana Chan]

Hi guys,

I've been curious so I'm just going to ask, I'm sorry if this isn't the right place but I would really like to know.

I'm a senior in college, a year away from my B.S. in Psychology. I have considered going to graduate school for a Master's Degree in Industrial Psychology and then using it to work in the Adult Internet Industry.

As webmasters, would you hire a psychology for any reason such as marketing, content expectations, etc.?

I'm curious as I was considering doing my senior thesis on the Adult Industry.

Thanks so much,
Sana Chan, the Pervy Psychologist

[Chris Alan]

I don't know about hiring a Psychologist for marketing. But I sure can use some therapy.:wacko:

[Gary-Alan]

Sana,

If you ask me 90% of marketing and merchandizing is psychology - on and offline. Would I hire a board cetrfied psychologist specifically, not necessarily. But I would consider someone with training in psychology, first.

Outside of the web, many companies would choose a psych major for different fields. Especially when a lot of customer/client contact is involved.

And to go a step further, I think that selling online needs even MORE attention to the mindset of the surfer. While we incorporate the basics there is an edge that needs to be here that doesn't necessarily need to be on TV or in a magazine.

There's my two cents for you...

GA

[BDBionic]

I think that a psychology degree could give you great insight in to the behavior of surfers and what could and could not encourage them to by.

Marketing is all about psychology and understanding people's behavior and means of thought. How they react to and respond to things, how they receive things, how they develop perceptions and impressions. I do think that your studying psychology and looking to apply that in adult site marketing is a very sound and smart way to go about things.

It helps to be able to read and gauge patterns in your surfers and make sense of why they do what they do and buy when they do. An understanding of the complexities and intricacies in all that could definitely give you a leg up.

My professional background before I got in to online marketing dealt very much with psychology and being able to not only understand how people think, but predict how they'll respond to certain situations and scenarios.

Most people don't know, but I did government work after leaving the military. I lived in the Middle East and refer to what I did as "research" on foreign governments and security analysis and threat assessment work for the US State Dept. and multinational corporations for a few years during and immediately after college. And though it might seem like a stretch, all of that has had some real practical applications in my current work. Because that work was all about being able to look at situations beyond what was apparent on the surface and understand and predict motivation and outcome, among other things. The ability to make educated guesses about the future based on experience and evidence from the past and recognize not just what is going on but why.

In fact, I still do that work as a consultant for a large security firm based here in the US with predominantly Middle Eastern and US govt. clientele. And although they were initially a bit wierded out by my involvement in the adult industry (there was a question of whether or not it would affect my security clearance and "legitimacy") they've come to recognize that the intense study in to traffic patters, surfer behavior, etc actually contributes to a broader ability to study and analyze people and events.

And that's what marketing is Know how people think, and you'll know how to get em to buy. So I think you're doin' a pretty cool thing! :groovy:

[Jason]

It all started when I was 4 years old.....


Oh, sorry, getting ahead of myself a bit there. You've gotten some great responses already. For me, college wasn't as much about a specific degree as it was about learning how to educate myself. Having almost ANY degree can help you in almost ANY field. In this industry, it really is useful to be as well-rounded as possible. I have been fortunate enough to have worked many different positions in this industry, without having to jump around to different companies. But I tell you what, a Psych. degree sure would have been helpfull when I was managing live online models...man, what a crazy group. (hhmm...perhaps i should get back to that 'when i was 4' part)

Congratulations on your degree and good luck in all you do. You seem to have a lot going for you already.

[Sana Chan]

Wow! Thanks for the input guys. Its all be really good. I'm glad to know my degree will be useful in this line of work as I do enjoy both understanding thoughts and processes as much as watching two hot boys go down on each other!

Oh, and as a Psychology major, I could really go to town with the Freudian "sexual represment" theory....but considering all of you people I doubt many of you are repressing ANY sexual ideas. :groovy:

[Jason]

Originally posted by Sana Chan
Wow! Thanks for the input guys. Its all be really good. I'm glad to know my degree will be useful in this line of work as I do enjoy both understanding thoughts and processes as much as watching two hot boys go down on each other!

Oh, and as a Psychology major, I could really go to town with the Freudian "sexual represment" theory....but considering all of you people I doubt many of you are repressing ANY sexual ideas. :groovy:

"HELP HELP...I'm being repressed!"

[CashAddict]

I think psychology is a major part of marketing, especially in the adult industry where surfers are often buying on impulse whilst feeling frustrated.

I'm doing a psychology/NLP course at the moment and it's given me a fascinating insight into how language can affect decision making. Just changing a few words in our tour has brought massive results, even though the meaning of the words is the same as before. It's so subtle. I'm sure a psychologist could come up with loads of ideas that would get better results.

[Sana Chan]

LOL! That movie so rules Jason. But seriously, what really got me thinking about all this was a seminar topic from Internext of previous years. It was about the Psychology of Adult Website surfers I believe. Just makes me think.

And now for something completely different.

"I wave my private parts at your aunties!! You and all your silly English kinnnnnnnigits!!!" :p :p

[Lee]

As far as i am concerned there is definately a place for psychology in the adult industry especially when it comes to marketing products sites and services.

Specific colors can provoke specific reactions and this is one thing that we as a company do tend to pay attention to, avoiding colors that will result in depressed feelings or feelings of caution on the majority of our sites.

Instead we opt for colors that are often associated with trust, honesty, integrity and more importantly relaxation.

Regards,

Lee