The Year After Graduation: An Image Is Worth A Thousand Words

The Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) was created by Gerald Zaltman,a Harvard Business School professor. This technique takes a qualitative approach to research, asking participants to identify images that they consider relevant to a brand/product/concept. With this exercise the consumers' motives are reveled, providing greater insight into why they do what they do. 

Following the ZMET, my Consumer Behavior class was challenged to explore the literal and metaphorical meaning of photographs that displayed each student's perception of  The Year After Graduation. Selecting my 9 images for this exercise (pictured below) was relatively easy. I didn't think I had put much thought into my selections beyond the literal, but once my interview began, I found myself describing my perception of the year after graduation in terms of vivid metaphorical themes. 

To provide a bit of insight into my picture selections: 

The Pasta Dish I selected this picture to describe the fact that I will have to cook a lot more for myself after graduation. The deeper meaning behind the bowl of pasta is that I am well aware that there are many life skills that I need to learn in order to take care of myself. 

The Packed Car 
After graduation I will have to more than likely move to a different town or city for work, so this picture captures that change. What this picture also captures my apprehensive feelings toward the unknown. 

The Group of FriendsI plan on spending a lot of time with family and friends the summer after graduation. On a deeper level, I am very concerned about maintaining relationships with those close to me as life changes. 

The Girl in the Hammock
After school I plan on enjoying a lot of outdoor activities and adventures. What this picture really represents is my desire to relax after the four stressful years of college. 

The Solo Backpacker
I am planning on doing a lot of traveling the summer after graduation. I view it as a time to gain independence, as well as, learn about myself. 

The Office Girl
I look forward to working after graduation. With that comes the pressures of proving myself and building my career. 

The Money in the Nest
After graduation I will have to learn how to manage money and budget. Financial independence brings a lot of unknowns and anxiety. 

The Apartment
I am ready to experience living on my own. Though this may not actually be feasible, I am ready to take on that responsibility. 

The Skier
 I really enjoy skiing and it is something I would like to continue doing in the future. This picture also represents my desire to focus on finding a work/life balance. 

Through this experience I learned that images are powerful tools in understanding a person's perspective. When brought together for collaboration, common themes among students were present. In metaphorical terms the year after graduation was commonly described as change, unknown, freedom, independence, passion, new experiences, adventure, and the all encompassing "adulting". 

When asked to combine our thoughts the following cognitive maps resulted.

The team I was a part of (pictured first) decided to divide our thoughts about the future into 3 categories: priorities, goals, and feelings. The center of the target represented priorities, the next layer represented the goals that come from the priorities, and the last layer represented our personal feelings about the goals. What was interesting about this process was observing how different individuals in the group perceived certain items such as money, new experiences, happiness, etc. One individual would stick happiness in the priority section and then a few minutes later another individual would move it to the goal section. This observation made it apparent that concepts can mean different things to different people. Working with such a large team, roughly 10 people, required a lot of trial and error. We would try one layout and then realize that it didn't quite work for what we wanted, so we tried another layout and then another until we found a map that represented not only our thoughts, but also our feelings. 

My team created a massive target of thoughts, feelings, and expectations for the year after graduation. This giant wad on the whiteboard showed us that there isn't a direct path to follow and that there are a lot of decisions to be made along the way. The second team created a cognitive map that was a bit easier to follow, but grouped completely different. It was interesting to see that many similar ideas were present on the second teams diagram, but grouped in a completely different way. What I took away from this experience was that we all perceive the year after graduation differently and that there is no exact plan to follow.