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Janusian Thinking is derived from the concept of paradox.

Janus, the Greek god of doors and gates and beginnings and endings, was most often depicted with as man with two heads, each facing in opposite directions.

The obvious benefit of such a dual perspective – and the underlying power of Janusian thinking – is that it provides the ability to consider multiple perspectives simultaneously. Failure to do this results in decision-making paralysis, depression or in wasted effort, pursuing false goals.

Variants of Janusian thinking are applied in contemporary contexts to military planning, corporate strategy, and academic analysis.

Janusian thinking can be a valuable tool in everyday life. Our modern existence requires us to weigh complex, competing phenomena concurrently and make decisions we can stick by, despite having incomplete information.

In this blog I often apply the concepts of Janusian thinking to luxury marketing and to the behaviour of the diamond industry, but it offers us many more valuable insights into human behaviour. Mastering Janusian thinking holds the key  to moving beyond personal and institutional blockages and becoming a committed, purposeful leader.

In my PhD I offered descriptions of two predominant ‘worldviews’, which I termed Theta and Lambda.

People tend to prefer one of these two Theta or Lambda worldviews in their pursuit of life purpose, and thus also in the pattern of their purchasing decisions.

The Theta-Lambda worldview is particularly applicable to one’s consumption of luxury products as this category of goods and services aims to tap into our desire to reflect externally what we see as our internally derived identity.

While we can only see the world from one perspective, we can strive to respect and understand that there may be a different perspective, thus also respecting the person who has adopted that viewpoint.

Handling this apparent paradox – of holding one view to be true while allowing for another valid perspective to exist – is the key to achieving a rich and full interpretation of the world.

Gone are the days when demographics were the primary marketing targeting resource. Information available through demographic analysis cannot solely be accounted for marketing strategy since it’s based on correlation, not causality. Demographics continue to be important within the marketing craft, but without the context of psychographics they have limited usefulness.

Psychographics refer to a set of characteristics shared by specific demographic markets that indicate lifestyle choices, buying habits, attitudes or opinions.

The Theta-Lambda worldviews that I’ve developed are an example of psychographic characterisation consisting of two personality types. The typical Theta (Θ) personality seeks affiliation and control whereas the Lambdas (Λ), seek achievement and uniqueness as an ultimate end goal.

As another example, SRI Consulting Business Intelligence classifies luxury consumers into three segments based on psychographics:

• Luxury as functional: This segment is composed of consumers who buy luxury products for their superior functionality and quality. They usually involve themselves in a longer decision making process in order to make rational and logical decisions, rather than emotional or impulsive ones.

• Luxury as reward: This segment purchases luxury goods in order to showcase their achievements. They are motivated by their desire to be successful and demonstrate this to others. They usually purchase ‘smart’ luxury that demonstrates importance while not leaving them open to criticism.

• Luxury as indulgence: This group’s purpose for luxury goods is to self-indulge. They are willing to pay a premium for goods that express their individuality. They enjoy luxury for the way it makes them feel, therefore have a more emotional approach to purchases.

The understanding of psychographics plays an important role within the luxury industry. Although there is no standard definition of luxury or classification of consumer psychological profiles, by understanding the importance of psychographic analysis, one can constantly redefine and refine the term ‘luxury’ in relation to individual customers’ views. By engaging in this analytical process, marketers are able to tailor a product and the marketing message in order to appeal to customers’ desires and motivations.

Luxury marketers should make note that the luxury consumer is always looking for newer ways to satisfy his/her continuously changing needs. Hence, the need to keep a close tab through insightful and concurrent psychographic research is of prime importance.

The diamond industry is billions of pounds in debt, with both prices and demand largely static. Despite the industry’s best efforts to reverse this trend, it’s possible that only a dramatic reform of the market can remedy these problems. In this article, I argue that learning lessons from the coffee industry could make the diamond market shine again—but only if retailers are prepared to transform the way they work.

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