Common Internal Metaphorical Images
In his book Human Universals, Donald E. Brown makes a compelling case for the fact that behavioral and cognitive traits are shared by people in all world cultures. This idea runs contrary to the prevailing wisdom that cultures are fundamentally different in their views of the world and their social behavoirs. Identifying basic universal attributes common to all world cultures has the benefit of allowing you to extend your brand to more regional, national, or global markets much more effectively.

Our research shows that customers from diverse backgrounds often share remarkably similar inner images of their experiences with products, companies, or issues. The images at right are paraphrased from one of our research projects concerned with how women felt about shopping for clothing. Understanding customers' emotional reality as expressed in these kinds of metaphorical images can dramatically change the way you do business with them.