Week 8: Healthy Flavored Halloween Treats

I found this video on this link and just had to share. I thought it was hilarious and appropriate for this time of the year. We all know most kids will say anything that comes to their mind with no filter. Anyone remember that show "Kids Say the Darndest Things" hosted by Bill Cosby? Once again, I think this video would also fit perfectly on that show as well.

So this whole semester we have been talking about consumer behavior and why we buy the things we do, why we act the way we do, and basically our consumption patterns and how it all relates to our ideal and actual sense of self, lifestyles, and values. However, I don't think kids fit the model of most of our arguments through out the semester.

You'd have a hard time getting adults or teenagers to be this open and candid. Most would be afraid of coming off rude. In the book Nudge, they talk about how other people and their opinions influence us and our choices/answers. I can't remember the specific example they used, but it was a similar focus-group situation and one person out of the group was specifically there to say the opposite of what everyone else was saying or say an answer that was obviously incorrect.

This person was very confident and convincing with his or her answers. Eventually, others if not all of the group began to agree and change their answers/opinions to ones that were obviously incorrect. However, they did not want to go against the norm or draw attention to themselves.

If they were to replace this situation with adults instead of children and had one person in the study say all of the treats were fabulous and tasted so good. I'm sure at least a few other people would be nudged to agree with them. Or they might be more polite and discrete about there lack of satisfaction with these healthy tasting treats.

This whole video is a commercial for Crest and Oral-B. At the end it says "there is nothing more horrifying than Halloween without candy"and then the slogan pictured above. I think this is a very clever marketing strategy.

I'm not a parent, but now a days it seems as if parents are much more concerned with their children eating healthy and organic then mine ever were when I was younger. It seems as if parents do not want their kids eating a lot of candy and instead try to find healthy alternatives for candy (which is impossible, obviously). This commercial was instead targeted toward parents. It shows them what a Halloween without candy would look like and then gives them something to do to help the problem of so their children eating so much candy. And lets be honest, nobody wants a Halloween without candy. So Crest and Oral-B have stepped in and attempted to make parents relax.

Holidays especially ones like Halloween alter our consumption behavior as well. Never would it be ok to eat our own weight in candy and dress up as Miley Cyrus banging on neighbors doors demanding candy. But on Halloween this is expected. Thanksgiving is like this as well. In my family, we do not eat anything all day before eating Thanksgiving dinner 3 or 4 times that evening. Holidays change our consumption patterns and what we would normally view as ridiculous behavior is expected on these days.

So overall, I wanted to share this video because I thought it was so funny and cute. Especially the part when Adrianna announces "I threw up" and the focus-group leader says " You threw up? Ok" so nonchalantly and unconcerned. However, this video and holidays in general relate to consumer behavior overall.

Week 7: Ghostery and Consumer Behavior

So the other day in my market research class with Omar, he told us about this amazing browser tool/software called Ghostery. This tool allows you to see all of the advertisers, and trackers that are watching what you do, and collecting data on the websites you browse. For example, one day I was looking up a particular type of hot tea (ginger peach green tea), and the next day I had ads for tea companies on my internet browsers sidebar and whatnot. Ghostery allows you to block those ads and advertisers. Here is the link for Ghostery if you want to download it: Ghostery.

I downloaded ghostery and I didn't realize how many companies are actually on each website I go on. I knew there had to be a few but some sites had 30-40 hits! I am able to block these advertisers which makes me feel like I have a bit more privacy but I was shocked to see numbers like that. I don't think as consumers we really realize how much companies are watching us and tracking our purchases and other ways to advertise to us.

For me, when I see the ads on the side of my browser specifically targeted to me and products I was searching the other day, I have mixed feelings about it. I understand its more logical and cost effective for companies to advertise to consumers who are in the market for their products. However, I also find it kinda creepy and annoying to have those ads right there. Like, if I want to buy the tea, I will. I will go to there website and buy the tea, I don't want/need a constant reminder flashing in my face when I'm trying to get my homework done.

Above is a little video explaining what ghostery does even more. I like that it allows you to choose what companies you allow to "watch" you. And that it also informs you about those companies and how that data might be used. As a marketing student, I know some of this information can be extremely helpful for those companies, as well as benefit my eventually. So I like that ghostery adds a little about each company so you can decide if you want to block them or not.

This type of product reminds me of something the authors of Nudge would advocate for. It gives people a choice to block advertisers and trackers, and educates you about them. Compared to the other two alternatives of doing nothing, or installing software that blocks all ads/companies in general. Ghostery allows you to make an educated decision.

I feel as consumers, we may alter our browsing/online purchasing behavior if we really knew all of the people tracking us. This may lead to incorrect data, so ghostery may actually be helping these companies record more accurate data because people are more secure in what they are sharing and how it will be used.

I know when I worked at 24 Hour Fitness, customers had to scan their finger to check in too the club. Some customers refused to have their finger scanned cause they were afraid we would save their prints and send it to the government or FBI. However, this was not true and the technology we had didn't allow for that anyways. It only saved various points of ones print. I think this can be applied to online browsing privacy as well. People want to know that the data a company is collecting will not be used against them.

Week 6 Post: Minimalism/Purest

Today in class we talked about the concept of minimalism that seems to be very popular recently. In class today we specifically focused on the "finger" shoes, or bow hunting which seems to be much more difficult, and pure. 

I feel like we are resorting to these types of products to be more connected to ones self, and to be more aware of our bodies, health, and surroundings. One example includes segmented sleep where someone will sleep for four hours and then wake for one hour and then sleep again for four more hours. Before modern electricity this sleep cycle was very popular. It seems as if consumers are engaging in non-consumption by going back to more pure or primitive ways. Another example of a minimalist type of product is any Apple products. Steve Jobs designed his products to be simple. This could be one of reasons his designs are so popular.

Life is usually pretty complex, so I think anytime consumers have the ability to be more pure in their purchases, they take that opportunity. As a consumer, I have noticed that health has becoming a very popular lifestyle. Lifestyle is a, "pattern of consumption that reflects a person's choices of how to spend her time or money" (Solomon p. 469). The minimalist shoe represents a certain lifestyle. When I see someone wearing the particular shoe pictured above, I assume they are healthy, an avid/experienced runner, conscious about their body, and maybe earthy.

The products we buy really contribute to the lifestyle we lead and the beliefs/values we relate too. As we stated in class, the minimalist shoe probably isn't just a fad like any trends from the 80's, which makes it become apart of a lifestyle. This lifestyle may even create over consumption as well. Because these types of shoes require you to own more than one pair of running shoes, at least for a while anyways. My point is, is that something that is considered minimalist is actually causing over consumption. I find that kind of interesting.