Rheingold Institute GmbH & Co KG

The rheingold institute was founded in 1987 by Stephan Grünewald and Jens Lönneker. It has approx. 45 staff members that consist of graduate psychologists and psychologically-trained researchers. We use morphology, which is a school of psychology developed at the University of Cologne, to analyse consumer behaviour. This allows us to examine the unconscious mental factors and contexts that determine our individual actions when we are shopping and using products and media offerings. The results are often surprising. We do this by every year putting more than 5,000 men and women “on the couch”.

So how does rheingold conduct research? Our rheingold psychological in-depth interviews and group discussions, in combination with our digital and quantitative tools allow us to dive into the psyche of consumers to produce actionable insights.

In two-hour face-to-face or group explorative sessions, rheingold’s psychologists reveal the often unconscious mental influences and factors that determine consumer behaviour. During the explorations, consumers are encouraged to describe in their own words everything that occurs to them in connection with the issue under discussion.

Our psychological depth interviews represent joint quests. In ever-deepening and intensifying descriptive processes, concealed or unconscious thought patterns are identified and exposed. This process unmasks turning points and psychological transitions which are explored to reveal their impact on consumer behavior.