Marketing Megalomania

Ranjit asks if in the cartoon issue, along with the insecurity, whether it could also be a dose of megalomania, and if the two can co-exist? Also, how can the marketer manipulate that in a consumer?

As far as megalomania goes, there's material out there to show the political class may suffer from grandiose notions. 'Experts believe that disproportionate numbers of pathological narcissists are at work in the most influential reaches of society. As Sam Vaknin, author of Malignant Self-Love, a bestselling study of narcissism, says: "Narcissists gravitate towards professions where they can control people and elicit adulation.They are more likely to work in politics, finance or medicine than in shoe-making.' (via article listed on Wiki)

About the co-existence of megalomania and insecurity, that's again quite a possibility. In fact the former masks the latter. As for the marketer manipulating grandiose notions of greatness, I wouldn't quite put it that way. Consumer personality traits, even disorders can be used by marketers to craft brand personality. Such personalities then draw target consumers into a connect that could lead to a possible purchase.

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