I sometimes wonder if it would be helpful to add a minor in psychology to the standard marketing research curriculum. Though nothing new - people like Vance Packard and Ernest Dichter brought it to the fore decades ago - the study of the role our unconscious mind plays in our buying habits is a hot topic now, as marketers seek new and different ways to communicate with consumers.

In his dense and scholarly book How Customers Think, author Gerald Zaltman argues that traditional marketing (and by extension, marketing research) falls short because it attempts to communicate with consumers at the conscious level, rather than the all-important subconscious level, where 95 percent of all thinking is done, he maintains.

While Zaltman, a professor of marketing at Harvard Business School, describes himself as a fan of “research that requires thoughtful statistical analysis,” in arguing that metaphor is key, he seems to be tipping the scale toward qualitative research, which is ideally suited to the brain-plumbing that metaphor hunting requires. A favored approach is the consensus map, which displays how the shared thoughts and feelings of a group of consumers about a topic are connected in similar ways. Zaltman shows how the development of consensus maps and other schemata can help marketers construct the metaphors that resonate with consumers.

Though different in overall approach, Moderating to the Max makes a nice companion to Zaltman’s effort. Authors/moderators Jean Bystedt, Siri Lynn and Deborah Potts reinforce the power of our subconscious, positing that thoughts and emotions and unconscious elements are key to consumers’ relationships with brands. Respondents need some help bringing these things to the surface, however, and qualitative research is here to help.

Getting at those motivations, which aren’t easily uncovered, requires a range of methods. And methods, both usual and unusual - such as metaphorical tools, storytelling, “draw the user,” picture decks, collage - are the focus of the book.

It’s a fun read, obviously a labor of love, which by no means lessens its considerable instructional value. Each focus group is different, and there is no single way to approach the discussions, but in reading the book I imagined it could serve as a handy guide to developing action plans for upcoming focus groups.

As long as the moderator knows who he or she will be talking to, what the client’s informational goals are, and the nature of the product or service or advertising to be discussed, Moderating to the Max can help determine the mix of techniques - from laddering to word bubbles - that will elicit those invaluable nuggets from the folks around the conference table.

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I also wanted to mention After Fifty – How the Baby Boom Will Redefine the Mature Market, in which Leslie Harris, managing partner of Mature Marketing & Research in Boston, has assembled 10 chapters from various authors on Baby Boomers and their needs, wants and consumption habits.

The chapters, written by marketers and researchers who specialize in all things Boomer-related, cover specific topics such as fast-food, technology, health, travel, apparel and financial services. There are also helpful and thorough overview sections that put this vast group’s size and opinions into perspective. Taken as a whole, they give the reader a complete picture of this challenging and multifaceted market.

How Customers Think (324 pages, $29.95), by Gerald Zaltman, is published by Harvard Business School Press, Boston (www.hbspress.org ).

Moderating to the Max (144 pages, $34.95), by Jean Bystedt, Siri Lynn, and Deborah Potts, is published by Paramount Market Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y. (www.paramountbooks.com ).

After Fifty – How the Baby Boom Will Redefine the Mature Market (182 pages, $39.95), edited by Leslie Harris, is published by Paramount Market Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y. (www.paramountbooks.com ).