Ernest Dichter was an Austrian-American psychologist and marketing expert known as the "father of motivational research." He applied his Freudian education to examine consumer behavior and shared his findings on how to influence the market with advertisers. He was the first to introduce the term "focus group" and emphasize the significance of image and persuasion in advertising. In 1958, Mattel hired Dichter's Institute for Motivational Research to observe a group of 8-12-year-old girls and their mothers as they played with a range of Barbie prototypes. Its final report to Mattel…