Final thoughts

My final thoughts on consumer behavior are interesting and complex. I say this because I really liked the class and you professor, but it has made me realize that I don't really want to minor or have a lot to do with business. Even though I liked most of the class, I realized that I don't have the right type of motivation and focus for business studies at this point in my life. And this upsets me because I find alot of it interesting it's just I couldn't find motivation for it it the classroom. This is in no reflections of your teaching capabilities professor, for you are an excellent educator.

Actually having this class come to an end is helping me put alot in perspective and I don't think that would have been possible without you. I belive you should keep on teaching the way you do because you can help many other students realize what they need to do in the future. So once again thank you for all your hard work and dedication, it will not go unappreciated.

reference group

Commericial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af1OxkFOK18

In this commercial, B-List movie Superstar Bruce Campbell, goes on and on talking about experience, saying things like you can't buy it, but you can gain it, and all these others sayings. Thend of of the commercial flashes oldspice logo with it's classic little tune. The point of this commercial is to obviously get people to get old spice. However they use an interesting reference group of Bruce. I say this because Bruce is an extremely well known actor in small circles and for his b-list movies.

However by using Bruce, the commercial accomplishes to things. First, he can walk, talk, and act like someone with mass amounts of experience, so to people who do not know him he seems charasmatic and charming. However, those who do know of him as an actor get his inside jokes and can appreciate the commercial even further.

Oldspice accomplished alot in using Bruce Campbell and he was one of the first actors to really start off old spices series of obscure commercials they have helped make them so popular in recent pop-culture. This commercial used reference groups brilliantly and I believe experienced great success because of it.

VALS Survey

After completeing the VALS survery it told me that my primary type was an Experiencer and that my secondary type was an Innovator. This all sounded about right, but I had to do a little more research on what these terms exactly meant and if they reflected who I was.

First off, I looked up what it meant to be an Experiencer. After reading up on it, I quickly realized that it was about me and actually defined my personality almost dead on. Next I had to check up on what it means to be an innovator.

The section of the innovator was an interesting one. The reason why I say this is because it is not everything that I am or was, but everything that I want to be. This is where I guss I could begin to have my doubts with the VALS system in that for some people the system seems potentially very future based. This could be a problem for marketing to individuals who are not at the place in life where they want to be. The reason why i say this is because if you market to someone that can't afford something or use something yet, you could potentially be wasting the marketing because style and fads can potentially change at any seconds. Mckracken and our texts tell us and warn us about trends and the way that they change.

Yes some of the aspects of an individual may not change, and for this the VALS system is good. However, the system( as no system can) can account for future events that could completely change an individudals or a group of individuals. Example being myself. The VALS system fits in perfectly with my life project ( not exactly sure what this is or means though). However I could experience something tomorrow that could completely change this. This is the only issue I have with the system.

So In the end, The VALS system is an efficient and unique system and could be of great use for marketers and consumers alike. I really enjoyed the survey and I found the system of evaluation to be unique.

Prizm area code

So I conducted a little more research on the prizm segments in my zipcode. These descriptions seem to be very accurate for the majority of my zip codes population, but do not seem accurate to me however.

I mean the description of income, education levels, and empty nest parents is very accurate. However, in terms of investments, hobbies, and views; the segmentation is slightly off. I realize that these descriptions can not be perfect and are very general, but it just seems likes there could be more prizm segmentation's.

Although their could be more, the segmentation for my zip code are exactly what marketers would need to be successful in my area. So I do believe that the the Prizm segmentation is effective in marketing to areas, but they should include more segmentation's.

Prizm

So this whole Prism concept isn't new to me but it's still kind of confusing as to what segment I belong too. I mean I have some college, I'm single, and I work a service job. So logically I would say that I fall into "boomtown Single". However I feel as though I don't meet the living styles of this section because I live in a dorm.

So where do I stand in this whole Prizm thing? I feel as though the concept of this system is extremely intelligent for marketers but could still use some more segments focused towards younger children and young adults. But it would be hard to do this all while being accurate to the families they live with and not being politicaly incorrect.

So as far as where I stand in the Prizm system, I'm pretty satisfied. I feel as though it does accurately reflect my lifestyle and what I like and enjoy. the only thing I can complain within my Prizm segment is the living style that was presented to me. But alas, not everything is perfect and I think that the system works well.

Possession

After reading the article it was hard to think of one item that truly defines who I am as an individual. I mean after reading this, all I could think about would be the safety of my family in an event as such. But alas there has to be something that helps define who I truly am or what is important to me besides the safety of my family.

After pondering this question for some time, I decided that there might possibly be an object that does define me, or at least part of me. I would have to say that my computer define who I am. The reason I say this is because it is an extension of my mind and reflection of my self. I mean everything on it is something I want, need, enjoy, or have created. The files and music and software are all reflections of the type of person that I am. Furthermore, my computer has become a part of my daily life and makes my life exceedingly easier. One could say that if I no longer had my computer I would have to become someone new for a period of time until that piece of myself could be replaced.

Luckily, computers are replaceable, but does that mean that the part of me that is directly linked to my computer replaceable as well. Or even more startling is every part of myself (in a figurative and philosophical sense) replaceable? I think the possessions that we own have more influence over who we are then we truly know. This makes me think that one must be careful to be owned by the objects that they own.

Alas, I could go on for pages diving into philosophical matters of the correlations between the body and it's external possessions. Long story short, my computer reflects who I am.

Priming

Being a nerd, I feel that I can be easily primed for things within the nerd community. One such thing that I am easily primed for is video games, especially with the PS3. One of the aspects that Sony has primed it consumers for a long time is the PS3.

Over the past two years, Sony has released a successful campaign for the PS3 with a slogan of "It only does everything". This particular slogan has infected my mind like a virus. The reason I say this is because every time one of my friends complains about their computer, or xbox, or wii only doing a few thing, I say that my PlayStation does everything.

I also use this logic when thinking of products to buy. I know that my PlayStation will support various sources of media as well as provide me with high levels of entertain for a wide variety of areas. This new slogan that is used creates a sense of security in me that I will never be disappointed in the performance of the system because it can do everything.... supposedly.

Alas, as I right this blog all I can think about is how I could have written this blog from my PlayStation, or how I could be playing it right now....or watching a movie on it.... or listening to music. As you can see the appeal of the variety of options is outstanding especially in the ADD culture that we live in. And with this concept of it can do everything, what else would you want it to do?

Joining In

A group that I belong to is the group of Martial Artists. For this group however, we unfortunately don't have one singular logo or brand name. This is due to the fact that Martial artists study a variety of arts and live all over the world. So one single symbol, brand, or logo would be virtually impossible to define us.

However, on a more specific level a lot of different arts have different symbols and different schools have different logos. This is one of the many ways to distinguish between the arts and schools. But for individuals like myself, who study many different styles and have been apart of many different schools, we have no singular symbol or logo, which in a sense is very freeing.

But for the arts and schools that do have logos it helps define who they are. These symbols and logos sometimes describe the art or founder, or sometimes describe the lifestyle of the students that study the art. All these symbols help distinguish each style, yet all martial artists belong to a global community of martial artists which have no symbol....in my opinion.

The Pretty good Problem

In today's day and age, remarkable is a word that is carefully reserved by some and carelessly tossed around by others. Because of the latter, it can sometimes be hard to tell what is truly remarkable. Personally with constant advancing technlogy and culture, I believe that it would be quite difficult to find something that would be considered remarkable by a large group of people.

Personally I feel the last remarkable thing that I bought was a pair of shoes called "five fingered shoes". The reason why they are so remarkable lies in the fact of how simplistic they are. The shoe itself is essentially an extra thick rubber sock that isolates each toe from the rest. the shoe also has little padding what so ever, but just enough to walk comfortably across common day terrain. But its not the look the simplicity that truly remarkable, its what they do for your body.

The shoes cause the wearer to act as if they are walking bear foot. This feeling help instill a sense of balance back into the body as well as restoring some of the body's natural design such as walking patterns and the arches in your feet. However it is the way that cause you to move which is truly remarkable. The shoe makes the wearer walk more with there toes first instead of heel first. This process take stresses of the ankle and knee and puts more focus on the stabilizing muscles of the leg.

After wearing these shoes for a short while you'll notice you move more carefully and agile. You're aware of what your legs are doing and how your moving. And finally you'll find your legs in terrific shape and stronger then before, which to me is truly amazing.

Huh?

The other day I was reading through one of my "Men's Health" Magazines and I saw an interesting "Huh?" add. The add was for some sort of health drink that promised the consumers results of being "lean body with huge, bulging muscles". This made me say huh for several reasons.

First off, it seems weird to me that you can be lean and huge at the time. I mean I know it's all a matter of perspective, but I feel most people would say that lean muscle and huge muscle are two different things. I've always felt that it is kind of one or the other. I feel like the ad was actually deceptive and just trying to throw out words that would attract the widest amount of consumers. Which I guess is good from a potential profit stand point, But I feel it wouldn't established a niche and loyal buyers i.e. pattern buying.

Also, the fact that they made a promise bothered me too. I feel you can't promise the consumer anything without being more specific or knowing the consumer on a personal level. An example being a consumer could have these health shakes, but have terrible diet and workout routines, and they would not get fit. This too I believe would cause problems with customer loyalty and establishing patterns in buying and selling.

I guess all I can say after reading these advertisements is "Huh?"

Purchase: Yoga DVDs

So last week I decided that I was finally going to use my gift card to Target. Upon arrival at the store, I looked around for something that tickled my fancy. I visited the electronic section, the clothing section, even the gardening section. Yet nothing caught my eye.

After about 20 minutes in the store, I stumbled into the sports and fitness area. Once I arrived in the area I saw some yoga DVDs. So my purchasing thought process kicked in. Ok mental check list, read, go. Do I watch DVDs, yes. Do I want to be flexible, yes. Do I want to be fit, yes. Would I feel ridiculous doing this..... absolutely not!

So the decision was made and I collected my DVDs and head towards the cashier. It was a gift card well spent in my eyes.

Even though I haven't used the DVDs yet, I still believe they will be useful. But the buying process was equally as important as the DVDs themselves. And due to all this, I learned an Important lesson in buying. Make a list of pros and cons, and if you have the financial means and there are more pros, buy it.

Test Post

test