Expectations

Why do I buy things? Because I expect them to do something. That something will be a task and the tasks can be from a variety of areas from fixing something else, to filling a "void." Essentially, I buy because of what I think the product will provide/do, and not necessarily because of what I know it will do. One example of this expectation theory is in the Coke vs. Pepsi battle. Both brands have had their own taste tests in which they find that people prefer their own soda. This is possible because Pepsi does a blind taste test and Coke does a test in which the subjects know which sodas they are consuming. Coke dominates Pepsi in the known category because people expect Coke to be better. Coke is the classic beverage, the age-old traditional beverage, and when people know which one it is, they expect it to be better, and then experience it as such. So, do expectations actually influence our experience of a product? Absolutely. If I think that something is the best, and then experience it, I will probably think that the experience was actually better than it really was. I'm sure we've all had this experience.

Oh Waitresses..

This weekend I had the pleasure of grabbing a beer at a restaurant/bar with a couple of friends and just enjoy their company. Who wouldn't want to do that? But, like many experiences, we had a waitress who decided she wanted to "hang out" with us at various times during the evening. Now, as far as waitresses go, she was not an annoying, overly-intrusive, obnoxious one, however she was also our waitress and not our friend. This may seem cold, and it is, however she was trying to blur the lines between a market relationship and a social one. I think they probably do this on purpose. Once they infiltrate the social norms of finances, all of a sudden a simple 15% tip seems too harsh to put upon a "pal." We stop valuing them as simply providing a service and thus providing them with an adequate tip based upon their level of performance (a marketing norm). And thus, we end up paying a $2.00 tip for a beer that cost $3.50, roughly a 57% gratuity. Why? Well she was our "friend" and friends don't go stingy on each other right?

Viral Videos and the not so pure cause

If you haven't seen the Kony 2012 video, you are one of few. In only a week, the viral video highlighting the recruitment of child soldiers by Kony shot to 90,000,000+ views. As many jumped on the bandwagon, it became interesting to watch as the film's creator/producer/founder of Invisible Children was arrested. While this video commentary above is humorous, it is also an interesting commentary into how we jump on board with causes and things we see so many others agree with, while not truly knowing what is going on.

I have also found it quite interesting to find many people who are against America's role as world police and sending troops all over the world suddenly posting that we need to send more troops to find Kony and play that world police role that they so decidedly will advocate against in other situations.

Collaborative Consumption - "Sharing is Caring"

Seeing as this last week we had assignments with focus on consumption, I saw this as a fitting topic. Though the book does not discuss this concept, Ms. Botsman has some interesting incites and ideas concerning collaborative consumption. This consumption is different in that it is a shared experience. Shared her does not mean that two parties are buying something to share (though this would be collaborative consumption), but rather how do people share the experience and collaborate together to solve problems. I think that you will find the video below interesting.