What I learned this semester

Throughout this semester I have learned about many of the consumer behavior ideas, theories and

have gained a better understanding of how consumers behave.

This ranges from learning about individual consumers, how people see themselves, consumers perception and motivation to how consumers make decisions and the culture of consumers.

 I have also learned through the book Nudge, that people need a little push in the right direction, so they make the right choices. This might be do their "Predictably Irrational" (another book we read) side, where people are bound to make irrational decisions.



I think the best thing that I have taken away from this class is the ability to be able to recognize consumer behavior ideas in the real world. I see it throughout movies I watch, in stores, everywhere. Understanding these ideas will help me in my marketing career, but also in my own experiences as a consumer.

For example, when I am in a store I recognize that the brands that have paid more for advertising space that is in my direct line of vision.

From taking this class I have a better understanding of the marketplace and consumer interaction. 

Consumers and Colors

I read an article in Science Daily about a study that a consumer researcher did that tested the colors of

logos and the emotions that people felt. She found that blue was associated with confidence and success; green with environmental friendliness, durability and sustainability; purple with femininity, glamour and charm; yellow with fun and modernity.

However, the traditional belief that red is associated with aggression and romance was not found. The researcher found that it was correlated with feelings of expertise and self-assurance.

She believes this is because of logos that are well-known and already established such as, McDonald's, State Farm and ESPN, so consumers already have consumers have "pre-existing emotions associated with brands using that color."

Branding is important for marketers to get their products in the hands of the consumers. With this information, when thinking of a logo for a company, the color is directly related to the image that the brand has.

There are different thoughts on the colors of logos and their direct meaning, but overall they have similar messages. Brian Honigman talks about a company that exists solely to help create logos. He created this chart to help understand the colors and the attached emotions.

Color is one of the most important aspects of creating a logo, but not the only one. Do you think that color makes a difference in the eyes of consumers?

To read more about the psychology of color and exactly which color evokes each emotion, read this article and find more charts like the one below.
 

#Selfie

Recently the term "selfie" has been gaining more popularity. This is explained by the meme theory. According to the book, a meme theory is "an idea or product that enters the consciousness of people over time."

You may have heard the song #Selfie by The Chainsmokers (if not the video is below), when this song comes on people go crazy and want to take selfies.

Since smart phones have developed a front-facing camera, taking selfies have become easier. People will upload them to social media and #selfie or something similar.

Selfies are taken at almost any type of event, even funerals. President Obama even took a selfie at Nelson Mandela's memorial service. Celebrities and regular people, alike, engage in the activity.

Some people will even take it to extremes. In Spain a man died because he climbed to the top of a train to take a selfie and was electrocuted. One 19 year old boy said that selfies caused him to drop out of school at the age of 15 because he was so addicted. He would spend at least 10 hours a day trying to capture the perfect image. This obsession led him to attempt suicide because he could not take the perfect picture.

A British photographer, David Bailey, says that the selfie craze will die out.

So is this selfie craze just a fad or is it here for a long time? Do some people take it too far?

What's keeping you there?

  I came across an article that was talking about why consumers stay with the same bank, even though

they are unhappy with it. They said it was inertia, and define it as "the dead-weight pull that dampens decisiveness, and masquerades, to anyone foolish enough to interpret it this way, as customer loyalty."

The book describes it as the lack of motivation to consider alternatives. I feel like the bank is similar to many services or products people buy. They will complain about it, say they won't buy it again or wouldn't recommend it, yet they still continue to use the same product or service. Consumers will buy the products out of habit because they have low involvement with the products.

So is it a marketers responsibility to help consumers overcome this inertia and switch products? Tom Markiewicz illustrates how marketers need to give consumers a reason to switch. He uses the example of cable, he says his company is doing just enough to keep him as a customer. Yet, the satellite companies have not made a good enough case for him to go through the hassle of switching.

He also advises that companies answer the following questions when determining their marketing plan: "What aspects of switching to your service does the customer most worry about? Are we really providing value here to the customer? Are we making a good case for our product to overcome this customer inertia?"

I am guilty of staying with a sub-par product because I do not want to look for an alternative. Consumer inertia is an interesting topic and can be hard to overcome for both consumers and marketers.

Saying Goodbye

It is always interesting when someone has such a strong tie to a material object. Cars are always in this category. People name them, call them their "baby" and talk to them. Some people go to great lengths to protect their car. I agree that keeping your car in great condition is essential for making it last.

 

What is more interesting is how people go through divestment rituals when they have to get rid a product, like their car. A divestment ritual, as explained by the book, are the steps people take to distance themselves from an object when they have to sell them or give them away.

There are three rituals the book describes:
- The iconic transfer ritual, where people take pictures with the objects before they sell them.
- The transition-place ritual, putting the items in a location out of the way.
- The ritual cleansing, washing, ironing or wrapping the item.

I understand why people feel like a part of them is being taken away when they have such a connection with an object. Personally, I don't have an extremely strong tie with any of the objects. I do hate throwing things away because I always feel like I will still need it. On the bright side, if you have to throw something away or give it away, you have room for something else!




Sources: Consumer Behavior, Tenth Edition, Michael Solomon

Pressed for Time

Why do we always feel like we don't have enough time? The book called this "time poverty" and explained it as more perception than based on factual evidence. I always feel like I have no time, or less time than I had in previous years. I think I have so much more to do and end up finishing everything in less time than I anticipated. There are more choices of things to do and wanting to do them all makes me feel pressed for time, when in reality I waste so much of my time.

An article from CNN, explains why they believe people feel this time constraint. "One problem is that our time has become more valuable. And as time becomes worth more money, we feel like we have less of it."

They performed an experiment where people were playing as consultants and were told they were going to be paid either $9 or $90. When they were told they were being paid $90, they thought that they were more pressed for time than if they were being paid $9.

This article also explains that people still feel more stressed about time, even when they have "me" time. But, their research found that if people helped others, like shoveling a neighbors driveway, they felt less stressed about their time. This is interesting because I would think after getting a massage, you would feel more relaxed and wouldn't think that helping others would make me feel less stressed about what I had to accomplish.

Products have been coming out to save people time. Such as, the Keurig Coffee pot where you don't have wait for a full pot of coffee. Other things that market their products as time savers have the potential to be very successful, especially when people think they are too busy to accomplish the tasks they need to.

The Price of "Free"

How many times have you gone into a store because you have a "Free" item coupon, but ended up getting more things at that store besides the "Free" item. I just did this recently and spent more than the "Free" item was worth (which I didn't even need and actually didn't really want).

In Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely says that "Free is one of the most powerful ways to trigger behavior." This is completely true because I probably would not have gone to that store except for the "Free" item that I had to get, just because it was free. It is a way to get customers in the door, where they might actually spend more than they had anticipated.






I am also guilty of putting more in my online shopping cart, just to get the free shipping that would probably be less than the product I just bought. My rationale for this is that, I can buy a product (that I might need), for somewhat of a discount (e.g. the shipping cost). I know it is not a great rationale, but it works for me!

Free is an extremely influential way to get customers to go to a store or buy more items. People tend to go crazy for "Free", myself included.

The Power of Word-of-Mouth Communication

I really like your sweater, where did you get it?

I love my computer, I got it from...

The food at ... is really good, you should try it.

Word-of-mouth communication happens everyday, probably multiple times. Advice or recommendations that people receive from a trusted source, such as, a friend, family member, co-worker, etc., can be a very powerful tool for gaining more customers. People trust the recommendations that others give them, more than they will trust review sites and traditional ads. ***

http://socialmediatoday.com/gursharn/2000296/word-mouth-marketing-digital-space

Why is word-of-mouth successful? Shawn P. O'Connor states:

"While there’s no single formula for word-of-mouth success, I’ve found it often starts with creating a culture that encourages your clients to consider themselves valued partners in your business. Word-of-mouth referrals stem naturally from an unparalleled customer experience that fosters clients’ identification with your brand."

There can also be negative word-of-mouth, that could inhibit sales though. When people have bad customer service, or don't like something about a product or service, they like to tell others about it. It can damage a company's reputation and there can be loss of support or opportunities.***

With social media and the internet today, word of mouth can spread rapidly to many consumers.
Here are five examples of positive word-of-mouth that spread through social media. It can help the company or hinder their performance.

Are there any brands that you have avoided or purchased because of word of mouth?

How did they know I like that product?



Click here to read the article this picture is from.

Have you ever gone to a website and an ad shows up on the screen. You then say to yourself, hey, I like that product...how is that happening? How does my computer know that I like that product?

I have asked myself this many times when an ad shows up and I realize I was just looking at the same product the other day. This is all due to behavioral targeting and personalized retargeting.

What are these you may be asking? Well, behavioral targeting is where "e-commerce marketers serve up customized ads on websites or cable TV stations based on a consumers prior activity."* So, if you visit a site, an ad will show up with a product similar to it. TV stations use data to determine what commercials to play in each house.

A news article by CBS News explains behavioral targeting well. On a very basic level, an ad marketing company will track the online behavior of consumers, including every webpage a consumer views, the links they click and if they make a purchase. Companies then purchase this data to get sales leads and save costs by only displaying relevant ads to those consumers that are most likely to make a purchase.

Personalized retargeting is a form of behavioral targeting. It basically goes further than just showing related ads. It "provides messages that refer to exact products a person views on a website."*

A way to understand this is using an example from the textbook. The consumer visits a site, a cookie will then be inserted into the browser, then when the consumer is on their computer again an ad will show up for that same item.*

It may seem like an invasion of privacy for people to track every move consumers make on the internet. The ads shown on my computer are all relevant to me and that is kind of nice. (Except for when the ad marketing company gets something wrong....and I have to ask myself...what is this product? Why do they think I would want this?)

As I am researching behavioral targeting, an ad for Nike showed up on the right side of the screen, because I had been looking at new shoes. I guess the marketing worked because I purchased them!

*Solomon, M. R. (2013). Consumer behavior. (10th ed., pp. 235-236). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Brady/Prentice Hall/Addison-Wesley.

What is the personality of that brand?



Every brand has its own personality with characteristics that consumers attribute towards it. The product is personified and has personality traits that are associated with it. The image that the brand portrays causes consumers to either buy the product or completely avoid it.

For example, Wal-Mart has low prices, so it may cause some consumers to think that products may also be cheap and not of good quality. Geico continually shows the gecko in its advertising, this creates a sense of familiarity for the consumers. Ford trucks are thought to be tough, strong and durable, thus falling into the 5th dimension of brand personality.

The chart to the right is the five dimensions of brand personality, that Mike Edelhart summarized. (The full article can be read here).

When a company creates a brand, they have an image in mind that they want to have portrayed to the consumers. Everything the company does adds to the image and personality of the brand.

For example, if a company has had to reposition many times, consumers may not trust the brand as much.* Here is a site when you are creating an product or brand to help determine what your brand personality is.

Also, if a company treats a person right, that consumer may think of the brand to be sincere because they get the impression that the company truly cares about them.

In my opinion, the personality of a brand is extremely important for how consumers choose to purchase or avoid a product. What do you think?

*Solomon, M. R. (2013). Consumer behavior. (10th ed., pp. 223-226). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Brady/Prentice Hall/Addison-Wesley.

The Power of Cult Branding

We've all heard of the people who stand in line on the first day that a new version of the iPhone comes out? You may have even participated in this event.

Having people camp out in front of a store, just to get one of the first new items shows the power of a cult product.

A cult product is anything that has a loyal group of followers.

This article explains the 6 factors of a cult brand.

1. Customer Devotion
2. Cultural Orientation
3. Trendsetting
4. Richness of Story
5. Persuasiveness
6. Distinctness

People who follow a cult brand want to feel like they are part of a group and want to have a sense of belonging. To think about a cult brand, think about NFL fans. There are some diehard fans that are willing to get into fights about their team. They are the ones that are watching every game and feel the same emotions as the players after a win or loss.

Followers of a cult brand are some of the consumers that companies would want, they are completely brand loyal. They are the consumers that are free advertising. They will talk about the brand and tell other people to go get the product or go to that certain place where their brand loyalty lies.

What are some cult branding examples?

• The NFL
• Apple
• Oprah
• Harley Davidson
• WWF

To see more cult brands, go to this article by the Cult Branding Company.

People are so in love with these products, that the products become part of their extended selves. A company's goal should be to try to create a product that has the potential to become a cult brand. They would want it to attract people who are going to become so devoted to the product that they would never make a switch to a substitute.

However, this is way easier said than done...but it is a goal to shoot for!

Read more about cult branding here.

Are Celebrity Endorsements Effective?

With the Olympics starting today in Sochi, it made me think of how many of the athletes will endorse products after they win.

Are these ads that feature the athletes and other celebrities effective and worth the money that companies pour into them?

There are many celebrity endorsements these days, click here to see a list.

Shaun White is one of these athletes that has endorsed many
products, since 2010. Including Oakley and American Express. And we can't forget about his Stride Gum! You can see more Olympic Athletes and what they have sponsored here.


Some experts believe that having a celebrity endorse a product will help in the short run, but in the long run will make no difference. They think that it is a waste of money because the celebrities will require first class treatment and a large sum of money. There is also the risk that after you shoot this multi-million dollar ad, controversy will exist. The celebrity may get into PR trouble or contradict themselves.

Companies may have wasted that money and have to pull the ads they spent so much time on.  Kevin Harrington, talks about Pepsi paying 50 million dollars for Beyoncé to endorse drinking Pepsi, but the controversy that arose when she joined Michelle Obama's Let's Move Campaign.

The celebrity endorsement is going to raise awareness at first, but then will people even remember
which celebrity endorsed the product or which product they had been associated with?

A study performed by WPP agency Mediaedge:cia (MEC), was noted in this article. They "found that 35% of consumers believe celebrity endorsements improve a brand's awareness, help define its personality, and generate interest. Yet, 53% of respondents said they have problems remembering which celebrity is endorsing which product."

30% of young people would try a product if it was endorsed by their idol, with the number being substantially lower for adults and older people.

What does this mean?

Will companies continue to use celebrities in their ads for immediate returns?

Or does the celebrity need to be the product for it to be effective. Meaning everything the product represents, so does that celebrity.

It will be interesting to see what Olympic athletes win and get these endorsements after the Olympics.
Go Team USA!

Super Bowl Ads...A thing of the past?

Are Super Bowl Ads becoming a thing of the past? There are three things that people get excited for during the Super Bowl:

1. The game, of course. Although this year was upsetting, especially for me since I am a Broncos Fan.
2. The half-time show.  
3. The commercials, for a 30 second slot it can cost $4 million dollars. If you missed them, you can view them here.

All year long, people are trying to avoid commercials as much as possible. They do this by recording their shows and fast-forwarding through, so they can see their show uninterrupted.

However, during the Super Bowl people are looking forward to humorous, exciting advertisements. In my opinion, there weren't too many that were extremely memorable due to their humor. In this article, Brian Lowry wrote his opinion of which commercials flopped and which ones were a success. He states that some were a draw, including the only ads that stuck with me, the Tebow ads for T-Mobile.

 

With the high cost of ads, some companies are trying to do what the movie The Persuaders talks about to "break through the clutter." Companies are having to become more creative in order to persuade people. There were two companies that stood out on my Twitter feed, JC Penny and Esurance.

 

According to an article, written by Mae Anderson, Esurance saved $1.5 million by purchasing an ad that aired after the Super Bowl. If you missed the ad, then you missed your chance to tweet #EsuranceSave30 to win $1.5 million. As the article states, it has been a top trending hashtag and the number of Esurance followers has increased dramatically. I did not participate in this, but many of the people I follow were tweeting this hashtag multiple times until the deadline.



 

 

JC Penny did not run an ad during the Super Bowl and took a different approach with Twitter. Their tweets looked like drunk tweets. One tweet was "Toughdown Seadawks!! Is sSeattle going toa runaway wit h this???"

 

I saw retweets on my feed and decided to look at it more. Apparently JC Penny was promoting their Go USA Mittens, so they were #TweetingWithMittens. According to this ENews article, this is what a JCPenny spokeswoman said:

 

"We knew Twitter would be very active but wanted to find a way to stay above the Super Bowl fray and instead create our own narrative," a JCPenney spokeswoman explained to BuzzFeed. "Given it was cold, and we are selling Go USA mittens—we thought it could be a fun stunt!" 

 

 

In Mae Anderson's article, she writes that "J.C. Penney said it gained over 10,000 followers on Super Bowl Sunday, received over 40,000 @jcpenney mentions and 1,800 mentions of the hashtag #tweetingwithmittens."

 

 

Getting to consumers can be very tricky. Advertisers are having to come up with different way to reach their targets, as shown by ESurance and JC Penny. Both of these companies had an increase in followers, mentions and hashtag recognition.  It is unclear if these attempts were a complete success, but they have to find some way to be different.

 

What will we see in the future for companies that are trying to get through to consumers with all of  the other advertising clutter?

 

Introducing Myself

Hello there! For my first post I am going to introduce myself. My name is Lyndsie Berens. I was born and raised in Castle Rock, Colorado...about 30 minutes south of Denver. The "Rock" that is in Castle Rock has a star that is lit up every Christmas. When it is lit up it looks like the star is floating in the sky during the night. 


This is a picture of the "Rock".



 

I grew up with one older sister, her name is Erika. We are a "house divided," as she currently attends the University of Montana and is a student athletic trainer with the football team.

We both chose to come to Montana for college because our mom grew up in Helena and we have family close by. I chose Montana State because of the business program, and will be double majoring in marketing and management.



My dad and I at Canyon Ferry Lake

During the summers in high school we would come up to Montana and go to Canyon Ferry Lake where we have a cabin. Family and friends would come visit so they could boat, jet ski, tube and vacation by the water.

Being from Colorado, my family and I are huge fans of Denver sports teams, especially the Broncos. We are extremely excited that they made it to the Super Bowl and will be cheering them to victory this coming weekend. My hometown is also excited for the Super Bowl. The picture below is the star on the Rock lit up blue and orange in support of the Broncos.


Photo used from the Denver Channel

I look forward to providing some interesting stories and learning experiences about Consumer Behavior throughout the semester. I also hope to be able to say the Broncos are the Super Bowl champions in my next blog!