Happy Holidays!

My fellow readers,

That means you better have gone to buy presents yourselves! That's what consumerism is all about, isn't it? Nah, but seriously...

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Your attitude changes everything!

Welcome again!

I hope you, my readers, had a great holiday and are set to start a new beginning as you plan to accomplish your new goals this 2015.

I’m sure many of us were enticed by the media advertising that influenced our shopping behaviour through Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year sales. Prices you just can’t say no to! 

Imagine the time taken to plan marketing strategies for the holiday in pursuit of beating competition through floor prices and not with the intent of increasing market share. 

In the long run, yes, the prices do affect loyalty, which will impact the market share but because people are in a holiday mood, businesses would leverage consumers’ ability to spend. I mean, why not make money during the season where everyone is out looking for something to gift his or her beloved one? Why not let shopaholics enjoy their demand for various products? Holidays are when consumers are most vulnerable and impulse purchase as well.  Sounds ridiculous that businesses are trying to take advantage of consumers but its true! I mean, look at this and tell me if you don't think people go crazy during Boxing Day!

Think about it. How many purchases did you make this Christmas? The answer is obviously going to be different for each and every one of you because of one major factor: attitude.

We all form different attitudes about various products and we have our reasons for it but at the same time, people can form the same attitude about a certain product and have a different reason for forming that attitude. Every consumer is unique and diverse in their own way and therefore forms tastes and preferences to specific products over competitive brands. I, for example, have purchased Apple products for years and have upgraded the iPhone every two years because of the features and accessibility it offers me as a customer. That would generally make me a loyal consumer, as I believe no other brand can provide such quality and I feel that the features of the products accommodate my needs from cloud sharing to synchronising and even software design. My roommate on the other hand has formed a stronger attitude where he believes that new versions of the device create a significant impact and because of his passion for the brand, he would literally line up the day before to pick his new gadget. I wondered why someone would be that crazy to literally get out of bed early to go and line up. Like, are you serious? So I asked my roommate and he said that the services the company offers are unique and flexible enough to allow strong users to get their problem resolved in no time.

Yeah, yeah! I know I’m ranting about how awesome Apple is and all you Android users are aggravated. But it’s just how I feel about the brand. Something I found quite interesting is that people I know who have never used an Apple product just don’t like Apple and their users because of the attitude and loyalty they form towards a specific brand. I learnt about how there are hierarchies when making a purchase-decision using attitude as a factor. It consists of Affect (how you feel about an attitude object), Behaviour (the person’s intention of the attitude object) and Cognition (beliefs of an attitude object). Now when I purchased the iPhone 6, I had already developed the belief that the phone was reliable and suited my needs and therefore made a purchase decision. But when I already bought the phone and began using it, I realised that the iPhone 6Plus was more ideal than the iPhone 6 itself and this affected that way I felt towards the specific phone. Some can agree with me and others have a different opinion. New users however, could buy the product (behaviour) and then when they use the phone, they will form an opinion about how they feel about the product (affect) and then form an attitude towards the product by expressing their beliefs about their experience (cognition). There are several ways in which people could form an attitude towards something and they will have their reason for it.

Advertising also helps us form an attitude towards a product; good or bad. We often judge the aesthetics of a product then form an attitude. Its funny how the mind plays with us. Say if I hadn’t formed a bad attitude towards the iPhone 6Plus and if I hadn’t been excited to purchase the iPhone 6, I wouldn’t have experienced what businesses call post-purchase dissonance. Making a decision after learning about the product rather than focusing on aesthetics, I would’ve made a totally different product choice. The social environment around me that is my friends also had a significant influence in my attitude towards the iPhone 6 Plus. It’s funny how so many other factors can change your attitude towards a product and consumers are influenced everyday through experience, their social circles, the internet and even the television.

What are the attitude commitments?
The highest level is Internalisation: the fact that I choose only to buy an iPhone and no other phone ever shows my commitment to the product and that my attitude is positively responsive to Apple products only.
The mid level is Identification: The first time the iPhone ever came out in 2007, it was the first fully integrated touch screen phone and I purchased it to conform to my group of friends. That is the attitude I had earlier.
The lowest level is Compliance: Attitude here is based on punishment or rewards. I would go to Psychology class even though I hated it because I got bonus marks for attendance.

Every product that you buy, I believe has a different level of attitude based on the level of involvement and interest. 

Have you ever changed your attitude towards something that was important to you?

You are more beautiful than you think!

Hello beautiful!

How do we perceive ourselves? Do we judge ourselves too harshly? Ever heard of the phrase "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"?

Everyday, when we look in the mirror, we remind ourselves of who we are. Each and every one of us so unique in its own distinctive measure. I'd like to ask you readers, that when you walk out of the house, look at the people around you. Think about how each person is living a different life, undergoing different circumstances in pursuit to survive the real world.

Today, I walked out and decided to ask a couple of people if they were free to answer just a few questions.
1. Where are you from?
2. If you were to describe yourself, what would it be and why?
3. What is the most important thing to you?

I pulled out my iPhone and asked them:
4. What do you think of this product?

Each person gave a different answer and had a different perspective of looking at things. It made me think about how people of different cultures approach things in a certain way. It is understood from the Consumer Behaviour book by Solomon, White and Dahl in the Sixth edition, that Western cultures focus on the unique self while Eastern cultures focus on the collective self. I find this to be true because even though I am from Kenya, I was raised from a culture followed from the east because of my Indian ethnicity and we were brought up in a manner that required us to perform actions collectively. Upon coming to Canada, I have learned the Western way by doing things individually without having to form an approval from my social circle. So when I spoke to people with different opinions, it suddenly struck me. Organisations set objectives and implement strategies to deliver their product to a diverse group of people and this can be quite difficult. The research and development department look into the target market's personality and see how they identify their self. What people desire from a product, I believe, is what identifies who the person is and hence the name of the blog, You Are What You Consume. It primarily explains that the decisions we make and the things we choose to purchase identify who we are as consumers and the image we project to others.

Piercings, tattoos, the kind of products we buy, the colour of the product, the price, the way we dress, the sports team we follow, all these are attributes that determine our personality and the way we look at ourself. But how do people perceive you as? We tend to judge people with the things that are associated with them rather than looking at their inner self.

One of the people I interviewed had a tattoo on his neck and dressed in a manner that would otherwise be inappropriate to the society. But when he told me his story, I would have never thought that this was the same person as the outer person (his appearance). The fact that the man was struggling to finance his daughter's education and how his family abandoned him because of the choices he made to express who he is through body art was quite saddening. Having to listen to someone portraying himself of who he really is and society rejecting this personality by judging his appearance really opened my eyes. That's when the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" really applied to me.



Dove specialise in cosmetics and deliver beauty care products to their customers. They executed a campaign earlier to emphasise how we tend to misinterpret who we are. The successful campaign lead to one of the highest views on youtube ever and when I saw this video, it made me realise how harsh we can be to judge ourselves let alone others judging us. It makes me question, is beauty really in the eyes of the beholder? The campaign was about a forensic artist who asked women (the target group) to describe themselves and the contrast of what they thought they looked like and what they actually looked like was unbelievable. "Dove began the first Campaign for Real Beauty in 2004, after conducting a survey that showed only two percent of women worldwide would describe themselves as beautiful.

In the two drawings are shown side-by-side, the contrast is stark - and the women seem stunned. 

'She looks closed off and fatter. Sadder too,' said one woman when asked to describe the two sketches. 'The other one looks more open, friendly and happy.'"

Take a look.

This campaign impacted my significantly because when I tried the experiment by describing myself, and instead of having my roommate to draw mw, I told him to describe my features and the descriptions were quite different. I didn't recognise the features I had until it was pointed out to me. It made me question myself as a consumer. I had purchased a lotion that would make my skin softer because I thought my palms were rough. But when I was told I had soft hands already I was brought to surprise! My ideal self was actually my actual self to a certain extent. I also realised that I gave a different impression to others than I thought I did. Because of the fact that I stutter, I though I came across as nervous and slow speaker but then again it was brought to me that I don't seem nervous and only stutter rarely. Because I was aware of my stutter problem, I was not confident about the way I speak. It's funny to learn something about yourself that you didn't know even after living so many years and understanding who I really was.
Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself who you are. Now ask a friend to describe you and see how close the two descriptions are. How well do you know yourself? Look around your room and see the kinds of things you have purchased. Do they relate to your personality and who you think you are?

All I'm saying is, don't judge yourself too harshly and learn about yourself. You'll always notice something new about yourself. Identify your identity!!

Sources:
1. Solomon, White, Dahl. Consumer Behaviour. 2014 Pearson Canada
2. Townsend, C. (2013, April 18). You ARE more beautiful than you think: Dove hires FBI-trained forensic artist to prove women judge their appearance more harshly than strangers. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2309984/You-ARE-beautiful-think--Dove-uses-FBI-trained-forensic-artist-prove-women-judge-appearance-harshly-strangers.html

State of mind

Missed me? Good, because today we are going to discuss how advertising strategies affect our memory and state of mind.

So I wake up today and the first thing I do is reach out for my glasses, put them on and grab my phone from under the pillow which I place out of habit because I tend to sleep through my alarms. As I scroll through the BBC news app, I realise that today I'm free as a bird! No class to worry about, no work to do and no grocery shopping to think about. I then wash up and head straight for the TV remote.

As I watch a series of shows, I come across various commercials some of which are inexplicable! I mean why would businesses spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on advertising without getting the message across well. I begin playing on my phone and no sooner do I hear a catchy song playing on TV. Who would have thought it was a bread commercial? If you don't believe me, watch it for yourself in the video below.

In the book Consumer Behaviour by Solomon, White and Dahl, the author explains how consumers respond to brand names, scents and jingles on the basis of learned associations over time.
Believe it or not, the song was engraved in the back of my head! Every time I'm out getting groceries, the song is playing in my head when I reach the bread section "1,2,3,4,5 and 6 and 7...". Because this song is associated with the Dempsters brand and the lyrics contain diction that relate to my needs, I feel motivated to choose it over the varieties of other bread available. The repetition in the tune and lyrics create a sort of learning activity to the memory thus giving more exposure to the brand. No one even had to come and push me to choose Dempsters specifically but the psychological effect communicates to the conscious mind about the product and before you know it, I was convinced enough that Dempsters will satisfy my needs. I believe the implementation of this jingle was a form of classical conditioning as every time I sang the jingle, it would make me feel hungry for the foods I like with this brand of bread. Singing about food like making quinoa would trigger my belly to start making obnoxious grumbling sounds and that's when I noticed how this advertising strategy affected my mind and memory.

There are other techniques used in triggering the memory to remember a brand's identity. The book of Consumer Behaviour defines Instrumental conditioning by explaining that individuals will learn to perform behaviours that produce positive outcomes and will avoid those that produce negative outcomes. This is a form of operant conditioning where our psychological thought processing adapts to performing actions that would result in a positive outcome and this is one method in which our memory is influenced. We, as consumers, react when something results in a positive outcome as we consider our happiness and satisfaction over anything. Take a look at Penny in the show Big Bang Theory and see how she is unconsciously being manipulated by Sheldon by being awarded with a treat every time she does something right. Something that you will not notice is that the stimuli is paired with time. The clip doesn't show how long it took Penny to be conditioned to operate with chocolate but rationally speaking, it would take time for one to be influenced using instruments.

Similarly, businesses condition us to react in a certain manner by introducing rewards because incentives enable us to do what will result in a positive outcome. Shoppers have their reward program, Scotiabank have free movies that you earn as you make purchases with their card and Subway offer free cookies if you complete their survey. So not only do they encourage you to spend more but they also use incentives to generate feedback from their customers. 


Sometimes when I have time on my hand, I would actually complete the survey cause I get a cookie to add to my meal. The fact that I am aware of the rewards available to me, it means that these incentives serve to store in my long term memory. Sometimes we are unaware of how we are conditioned and I believe it is vital for us as consumers to be conscious about these strategies and behave accordingly.


Analogy cues are used widely in advertising to help consumers understand the product's concept. Many at times the analogy remains in the memory and depending on the degree of accuracy of the two items, it will be stored in the short-term memory or long-term memory. A commercial was released in Kenya regarding the durability of a condom brand and the technique in which it is advertised helps the consumer believe in the product. I discussed this commercial with a few other people and the response I got was that they use that specific brand because of the way the company gives the consumer the confidence in the functionality. Take a look at the video below. Excuse the quality of the video, it was released quite a while ago.

The strength of the umbrella cover is compared to the condom itself thus giving the consumer the idea that they can trust the product's strength. It's amazing how creative companies can be to create a brand awareness and create brand loyalty in just 1minute. The humour in this commercial and the analogy would definitely create an impact on one's memory response as it did to the friends I spoke to earlier and through frequency marketing, the brand sticks within your memory to enable future purchases. Oh the wonders of advertising!

Watch out for another blog soon!

Sources:
Consumer Behaviour, Solomon,White,Dahl. Sixth Canadian Edition. 2014 Pearson Canada.

Worst decision ever?!

I'm glad you're back!

In today's world, everything around us has undergone a buying decision whether its tangible or intangible; from clothing apparel to transportation fares and even education. And one thing that we, as humans who learn from our mistakes think about, is if we liked what we bought, whether we would buy it again, would we recommend it to our friends and most of all was it worth?

The array of questions arise especially in the e-commerce industry. Here's something I know for sure that we have experienced once. That moment when you see something online and we feel like we have to get it, no matter what! 

So you order it right away with a click of a button on that Paypal checkout box and before you know it, the post comes and we're all excited to open the package. But then the worst thing happens. What looked so awesome on the internet is not what you received. The product's utility is almost worthless. Oh the disappointment! If only online shopping had an undo button. An example for me was ordering an iPhone 5 case and what's funkier than a picture of the award winning actor of the Dark Knight behind shattered glass? Who knew that the design was a sticker with low quality print on delicate plastic! But it is because of the way the case was advertised with pictures of the case placed in such a manner that my sight was indulged in the advertising stimulus such that my perception was convinced that this was something I would like to purchase and I wouldn't take no for an answer. 
              

But what is it that makes us buy that product? Here's the ugly truth. Sometimes we tend to depend so much on the aesthetics of the product, that we compromise it for quality. Businesses know that it is an important aspect in branding a product and they leverage it to affect our buying decision. And this doesn't only relate to online products but when we go to a store, sometimes we are unaware of the taste of the product or its functionality until we make that decision to purchase it. The advertising strategy is to connect to our sensory inputs like sight, smell, touch. I mean, if the phone case I bought online didn't look as appealing in HD quality, I probably wouldn't have bought it. The idea is to connect to the customer. The power of our senses are directly related to the advertising stimulus. 

I was at a mall back in Kenya and one of the toy stores set up covered tents at the entrance and actually used colourful glow in the dark footprints to lead children in. Now if something as intriguing and appealing attracted me and led me to intuitively walk towards the store, which 5 year old would walk right by? The fact that their eyesight is stronger at a young age, was a perfect opportunity to drag their parents along with them. 

And this doesn't only work with visual techniques! Recently I was talking to a buddy in Australia, someone I studied with in high school back in Kenya. So we were talking about midnight munchies and he told me how a local brand was promoting their minute pancakes at the store using Point of Sale displays. 

Now a strategy like this wouldn't just tackle a consumer's ability to see the product but the idea of generating a sense of smell in the surrounding area brought people in just to try the product. What devils! Imagine people shopping around midday or later in the afternoon, when their digestive systems are calling for a refill. The perfect opportunity to get people to make an impulse purchase when they have a bite of that sweet pancake. It's just how business works if you want to have advantage over competitors.

Many at times when I go to a mall, I would often be influenced in going to clothing stores like Lacoste because the trade dress (that is the colours associated with the brand) attracts me towards the store. I like the colour green and even though I am aware of the ridiculous pricing that the brand offers, I enjoy seeing their products. The sensation (immediate response through colour, sound and light) creates a desire to just browse around the store. If the business was to target towards an older age group, it would use dull colours to market to the older generation as they are attracted towards that sort of light. Lacoste uses a shade of green, BMO uses a shade of blue, TD uses a different shade of green and these are strategies that business use to create brand recognition. 

In my class, I learned something I wouldn't have known. Colour accounts for 85% of the reason people purchase a certain good. Interesting isn't it? Its an unspoken strategy to use our sensory inputs to influence our decision to buy a product.

Here's a funny clip from the famous Rowan Atkinson taking control of what he would like to purchase at the mall. This is a classic example of how sensory inputs affect our purchases. Notice how women's perfume led him to pace away (even though exaggerated) from that area, leaving him breathless. What if it were men's cologne? I'm darn sure it is something that would appeal to his interest and thus he would take the time to browse for varieties that would suit his needs.

Have a good laugh!

Jambo! (hello in Kiswahili)

Hello and Welcome to my blog!

"Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer"
-Adam Smith-

Isn't it interesting how we are often experienced with difficulties in making purchase decisions? But then again, the advertising overload can so much as manipulate you to spend that last $20 in your wallet on something you weren't even intending to purchase while you're out shopping for milk and bread.


My name is Aliasghar, (pronounced Alee-uss-ghur- I get a lot of crap about how my name can be pronounced in various ways; story of my life!) and this blog is intended to complete my Consumer Behaviour assignment. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy writing this blog because I've been ranting about starting one since forever. I've just always wanted to reach out to the society and express my experiences as a consumer in hopes that someone would comment regarding one of their very own experiences, ideas or thoughts.

Let me elaborate on my personal profile; I'm from Nairobi, Kenya and for your information, it is located in Africa. I've heard people comment that they thought it's near Hawaii, Sri-Lanka and even Beijing. Who knew geography was such a problem? 

Moving on, I'm studying Bachelors of Commerce with a concentration in Marketing at Carleton University, Ottawa. 

I've come to Canada to challenge my ability to function independently and explore my capabilities and oh boy was I in for a shock when I experienced my first winter. Trust me, it's a drastic change when you've enjoyed the tropical climate for 20 years of your life.

I'm hoping hat this blog will allow me to engage with people interested in sharing their knowledge in the business industry and hopefully I can entertain you with my experiences.

Stay tuned and Hakuna Matata!