Can Consumers Escape the Market?

Today in class we discussed the article "Can Consumers Escape the Market?" which we were suppose to have read.  I read all of it but the last couple paragraphs in the discussion section at the end.  I did not care much for the article and found it very hard to interpret the overall and basic ideas because the things that stuck out to me were the description of the people who attended Burning Man.  The ideas that I picked up on were that the attendees wanted to separate themselves from the brands they usually wear/are visible during their day to day life.  The week long festival is a time for them to forget about fitting in based on their "brand" and connect on a more personal level.  The concept is good, however, I feel like 'they' (attendees)  put so much focus on masking out brands that they are really paying more attention to them.  Taping off the brand of camper, tent, sleeping bag etc. seems a little excessive.  I feel like with the nudity and all the "free" entertainment, the last thing participants would be paying attention to were brands.

It is exhausting just trying to think about "de-branding" everything.  The article even says that brands can be found in tribes in the Amazon which have the least contact with "the outside world" and are living much like their ancestors have for the past thousands of years.  I agree with Muniz and O'Guinn in the article who "urge us to believe that communities built upon an explicitly commercial basis, brands, are legitimate communities 'and generally a good thing'" (pg. 22).  Communities can be based on so many factors and many of us belong to several different communities at one time and join many more throughout our life.  To make a big deal out of "de-branding" seems kinda silly and a waste of time to me, however, I would enjoy the Burning Man experience.

Black Friday

I spent Thanksgiving this year with my boyfriend John and his family in Great Falls, MT this year.  This was my first Thanksgiving without my family, which didn't bother me, but it was also my first Thanksgiving in a town with a population greater than 7,000.  In Lewistown, Black Friday exists however, the majority of the serious shoppers travel to either Billings or Great Falls for the deals. 

We had a Thanksgiving lunch at his mom's house at one, and dinner at his dad's house (which is on the other side of town) at four.  We were stuffed to the brim with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie and left to head back to his mom's house around seven.  If you have ever been to Great Falls, I'm sure you have been down 10th Ave, which has the Holiday Village Mall, Target, JoAnn's and other shopping venues.  At seven o'clock on Thursday, there were already large lines of people at Herberger's and Target!  It blew my mind.  I knew people waited in lines to get into places but I had never seen it for myself and certainly wasn't expecting them to be lined up so early!  A very teeny tiny part of me wanted to experiece the Black Friday shopping rush.  I decided to save myself the stress and anxiety and passed on the opportunity.  I did decide to go shopping Friday afternoon once the rush was over.  While the mall was crowded I was actually surprised by how few people were shopping.  I'm assuming that the serious ones were done by then and at home sleeping and the shoppers that were at the mall when I was there were there for the same reasons I was; to see if there was anything on sale that I didn't really need but couldn't pass up.  I did end up getting a dress and a blouse for a meer $30 so I was pleasantly pleased with my shopping trip. 

Someday I will brave the chaos and join a team to dominate the Black Friday shopping endeavor but until that day comes I will continue to observe and read about everything that happens in the paper. 

Wedding Costs

Tis the season, not for weddings necessarily, however a family friend got married over Thanksgiving break and I am going to another wedding this weekend.  In addition to the two recent weddings, I have already received "save the date's" 6 weddings in 2013, one in June, one in July, one in August, one in September and two in October.  While I'm thinking of my costs, (wedding gifts, travel expenses and dresses for the 2 October weddings that I'm in), I can't help but think of how much money will be spent by the brides and grooms and their families.  I was curious, so I decided to look into what the average wedding costs these days.  $25,361 was the amount I found.  While it all depends on where the wedding and reception are held, how nice the meal is, how many guests are attending and everything else that goes into a wedding, I feel like that number is pretty fair.  I found a website that had the costs broken down into categories:

While I highly doubt many or even any of the weddings I attend in 2013 will cost this amount, I think it is interesting and helpful to see where and what "uses" most of the budget.  To me it is important to rank expenses in order of importance.  Pictures last much longer than the food, therefore I would rather spend the money to get an amazing photographer and sacrifice some of the catering budget.  I also think it is important to remember that the wedding is one day (or a weekend) and the marriage is forever (?) so I certainly don't want to be paying off my wedding expenses 10 years later.  I know my "dream" wedding could easily cost $25,000 but at the same time, that is a new car, and a new car is more of a necessity than an extravagant wedding.  Having a budget, sticking to it and making smart consumer decisions when it comes to a wedding is key in my opinion.  

Gift Cards to Avoid this Holiday Season

Tis the season for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the many other December holidays.  If gift cards are on your shopping list, here is an article to read before deciding which ones to purchase.  I saw this article this morning and although I hardly ever buy gift cards for people, I do occasionally receive some.

The article lists 5 gift cards to avoid purchasing this year (unless of course you have money to spend on those you dislike).  The five to avoid are: Sears, American Airlines, FYE, Dippin' Dots, and Rite Aid.  Why?  Well, these companies are not doing so "hot" in the economy and purchasing a gift card now, that will be given in a few weeks and probably not be used until the spring is just down right risky.  The article discusses each company's financials and why its not looking good for them in the future, so if you were contemplating a gift card from one of these places, I encourage you to look into the company's first.  For example, FYE is an electronics store that sells CD's, DVD's and Blu-Ray discs in malls and may not be around in a year.

I think Sears is the only store we have here in Bozeman (with the exception of American Airlines, but who buys a gift card to an airline?  I would rather have the cash!!).  Sears is also the only company on the list that I would ever even consider buying a gift card from!

As nice as gift cards are, (I especially enjoy ones to Target, JoAnn's and Michael's),  I think the article makes a good point to look into a company and make sure they are still going to be around long enough for the "gifted" to use his/her gift card.

Getting People to Buy

This evening I hosted a Park Lane jewelry party at my house.  I do not sell the jewelry myself, but my friend does and asked if I would like to host a party which involves inviting friends and providing the location of the party.  I figured it's close to Christmas, everyone is stressed about school and what better way to relieve stress than retail therapy.  Although it was just my roommates and myself, we managed to spend a hefty amount of money.  Why? Well, the "deals" were just too good to pass up!

Without going too in depth on how this particular jewelry company works I want to share why it was so easy to spend so much.  The catalog is HUGE and I truly believe there was something in there for everyone, male/female and any age.  So how it works is if you spend $30-60, you can pick any piece of jewelry (of equal or lesser value) for only $12. If you spend $61-90 you can pick any 2 pieces (of equal or lesser value) for only $12 each plus one for free.  Then if you spend more than $90 its the same thing only 3 pieces of equal or lesser plus one for free.  The jewelry seems extremely over priced but the company is able to do that because of peoples 'Predictably Irrational' buying behaviors.

For example: my roommate found LOTS of pieces she like.  She made a list of the 6 or 7 items with prices ranging from $23-$119 (the $119 item was a watch).  Then what she did was add up enough of the lower priced items to equal $119. I think it ended up being a pair of earrings, a ring and a necklace. So, since those equaled the amount of the watch, she paid $12 for the watch, $12 for the next most expensive item, and $12 for the third most expensive item.  She was then able to pick out any piece of jewelry up to $119 value, absolutely free!  She ended up spending around $160 for 8 items which would be $20 per piece of jewelry (not that bad).

While I somewhat fell victim to buying more to save more, I couldn't help but think "what a great selling technique".  It obviously works, (both my roommates spent over $100 but ended up pleased with the quantity of new jewelry they were going to receive).  This selling technique reminded me of the experiments in the book 'Predictably Irrational' on how "FREE" affects buying behaviors and people really do buy/spend more just to receive a "free" item they may not even really need.

Pieces of April (and I thought my family didn't get along! ;) )

On Tuesday November 20th, I was one of 4 who chose to watch Pieces of April in class.  I didn't care much for the movie.  I spent most of the time just trying to figure out April's family.  What bothered me the most about the movie was how negative it was.  There didn't seem to be any happiness or thankfulness from anyone till the very end.  I know from my own family that not everyone gets along and there are other ways each of us would rather spend half of our day than with each other but usually those feelings are felt by one or two people and are only temporary.  I think April's family lacked or didn't share the same sense of humor with each other and the only one who did make jokes was April's mom who seemed to be the most depressed out of all of them.  I think being able to laugh with (or at) family members and feed off each others humor makes family get-together's that much more enjoyable.

The whole movie went back and forth between the family trying to get to April's for dinner and all their emotional struggles while April struggled to impress her family with a Thanksgiving meal.  And in the middle of all that, April's boyfriend went through hell to impress her family!  Despite all the struggles that whole family went through on that Thanksgiving day, some of April's neighbors were able to help her out and introduce her to their own family/cultural Thanksgiving traditions.  I did feel bad for April when her family drove off after realizing where she lived and seeing her boyfriend beat up.  She seemed to enjoy decorating the stairwell and to feel so unappreciated after all the work she put in.  Of all the people to decide on their own to go visit April, I was pleasantly surprised to see it was her mother. I don't think it would have meant as much had it been anyone else.  I was glad that everything April had done didn't go to waste and her family was able to see a different side to her.

Hopefully no one had a Thanksgiving as stressful as April did! I surely didn't :)

I knew I was predictable, but irrational too?

Reading Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely has opened my eyes to irrational decisions (maybe just opened them wider).  I know I can be predictable in my behaviors but I always considered my self to be honest and one to make good choices.  (Ok, maybe not ALL the time).  I found the experiments as well as the results extremely interesting.  Ariely conducted experiments on how "FREE" affects consumers and what they purchase, how being in an emotional state affects our decisions, ordering aloud in a group can alter what we choose and cost us our satisfaction, and the further we are separated from the cash itself, the more likely we are to steal.  I don't know how many times I "start over" with trying to eat healthy and the grocery store will be having a sale on fruit snacks or Chef Boyardee buy one get one FREE!  I must admit, I am a victim of the enticing FREE product.  If only fresh produce was buy one get one....

Irrational is defined as without the faculty of reason; deprived of reason.  While I fall victim of the buy one get one promotions at stores, I don't believe I am acting irrational.  Especially when it comes to food.  First of all, I hate grocery shopping and second, I like quick and easy meals.  So when things like Chef Boyardee and fruit snacks go on sale I do tend to buy them because they are easy to take for lunches, they have a long shelf life and I am shopping on a college budget.

I'm sure I make more irrational decisions than I am aware of but that is life and part of who we are as humans.  I buy things I may not need if it comes with *More! or something *Free!  I know I say things I don't mean when in the heat of the moment, and I do walk off with pens, pencils and such from banks and other places that have a nice bouquet of writing sticks.  I do not however, let what others order affect what I'm getting.  Like I said before, I am a picky eater and if someone orders a burger and fries at a restaurant, unless I'm in the mood for chicken strips, we will be eating the same thing :)

mmmmm... bacon!

A few weeks ago in class, we discussed why people buy things, especially things they don't really need.  One of the reasons (it is driving me crazy because I can't remember the term), is when people purchase something because they fear it may not be available tomorrow.  This got me thinking about the fear of pork prices rising that were spread all over the news.  I was watching the morning news a few weeks ago and pork consumers who were being interviewed said that they couldn't live without bacon and ham so they will probably start stocking up rather than cut back or go without.  I found their responses kinda silly since people usually don't just eat pork, and like other grocery items prices go up and fluctuate, it is expected that meat will too.

I want to share a blog post my cousin wrote on her blog page about the concerns of pork prices rising.  My cousin Katie and I are the same age and grew up more like sisters then cousins.  She received a full ride scholarship to study business marketing at St. John's University in NYC and now works as a media specialist at M Booth, a marketing firm in NYC.
This is her take on consumers concerns about pork.

Bacon to break the bank?

Just as Denny’s is bringing back its infamous bacon milkshake, reports of a bacon shortage are appearing everywhere in the news. No, the pigs have not all taken to the skies to show us that they can fly, but rather the recent droughts have damaged crops worldwide, and pig farmers are finding themselves without food for their flock. I like the term flock better than herd, especially since I want pigs to fly.

The National Pig Association in the UK is saying that hog farmers are raising fewer hogs, and they’re predicting that pork prices could double by 2013. (Today I pay $3.99 for an 8-slice pack of bacon from Trader Joe’s.) The good news is that this is the National Pig Association in the UK that is reporting this, and conditions in the U.S. have not been as bad. Although my father was Montana’s Pork All American in 1986, at the time this post was being written, he was not available for comment.

My advice to all you bacon eaters out there who will read about this issue in the days to come is to hold off on stockpiling and stay informed. Remember that the media often blows things out of porkportion . If you are not yet a fan of bacon and you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, get thee to the nearest Sur La Table to sign up for their unique cooking class “Everything’s Better with Bacon” where you’ll learn how to make everything from bacon Guinness jam to bacon peanut brittle. Despite the Irish reference, “keep calm & carry on!”

My bacon & I at the fair

Product Placement vs. Clutter

I came across a New York Times article about how big stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy and the like place crates or piles of products in the middle of isles as a way to get consumers to spend more. The article discusses how various stores have tried different de-cluttering techniques (especially in Wal-Mart) to make the store seem more organized and open.  Surprisingly this lowered the sales as customers started to doubt that Wal-Mart had the lowest prices.  It seems crazy to me that the more cluttered a place is, the higher the sales would be.  I would think customers would like the organization and ability to move more freely throughout the store rather than assume that since the store is more open, it is more expensive.

I tend to shop at Target more frequently than I do Wal-Mart and I can relate the article to what I see in Target on a regular bases.  Today I even fell culprit.  If you shop at Target ever, you will know that right through the doors on one side is a little food court and the other side is the dollar deal section.  The dollar section is usually filled with holiday decor and trinkets that no one really NEEDS but are fun and festive and eye catching.  Plus you can't beat the price!  I can only imagine the struggle trying to get little kids past that first corner of the store.

The article had some interesting points about the layout, storage and placement of merchandise to maximize sales by "tricking" customers into buying more than they initially intended.  If anyone is interested in reading it, here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/business/08clutter.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0

My Persuaders

After the in-class discussion on Thursday about MSU's way of getting students to choose them as their source of education, and being asked why I chose to come to MSU, I realized I didn't choose.  My parents did.

It was understood that after high school came college and I enjoy school so I was okay with it.  When it came time to start looking and applying to schools, I had high hopes of going out of state. I knew I wanted to study interior design so my search was pretty structured.  My parents had always had a say in everything I had done up until then because "while I was living under their roof, with them supporting me, I was to follow their rules." I knew my parents wanted to keep supporting me financially through my first year at college so I could focus on school, and not on making money to live off of.

I am realizing now that my parents had so many limiting factors as far as where I could go that "made the most sense" that I really didn't choose where I would go.  So while I am the consumer of the education, my parents are the ones that went through the pro's and con's and decision making process before the large purchase of my college education.

Surprisingly I do think my parents knew what would be best for me and while a part of me still wishes I would  have gone out of state, I am positive I would have ended up transferring to MSU eventually.

I received a card from my roommate when I graduated from the interior design program and typically I read cards and toss them but this one I decided to frame.  The quote on the front spoke to me.  "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." -George Bernard Shaw.  I began to think more in depth about this quote while reading Chapter 5 from the text as well as Possessions and the Extended Self.  While some say they need time to find themselves, I think they aren't really looking for who they are but trying to figure out how to react to a certain situation.  Thinking about all the things that make up one's extended self, and then losing one of those things can change that persons personality, appearance, and outlook on life.  I think the reason I like the quote so much is that it reminds me that although I may feel lost at times, I'm still me and my decisions, actions etc. reflect me at that time.  I have grown and changed myself from when I was in high school and I hope I continue to grow and change through my future life experiences.

Body Image

While reading Chapter 5 [The Self] in the text, the section Body Image caught my attention.  Some things the section talks about are how consumers view themselves physically, ideals of beauty, and cosmetic surgery.  The sections talk about the popular saying "You can't judge a book by its cover" but that is what our society does.  Research and studies have shown that physical appearance can affect how much a person will make and that generally "those who are below average in appearance make an average of 9 percent less than the norm." (Solomon, pg. 192)  Studies have also come up with what makes a face aesthetically pleasing to look at.  Such things as facial symmetry, distance between eyes, cheek bone location on females and jaw line on males all contribute to a "pretty face".

Today, cosmetic surgery is quite common which has raised society's standard of what makes someone beautiful.  People are able to alter or enhance the way they look if they have the money, however, most cannot afford such cosmetic changes.  While reading chapter 5, I remembered an article I read a few months ago.  It is about a girl, Nadia, who was bullied by kids at school for having big ears that stuck out and how it got so bad that she would do just about anything to avoid going to school.  Her mom found Little Baby Face Foundation which provides financial assistance to families seeking plastic surgery to fix facial deformities in children.  Nadia had her ears, nose and chin altered at no cost.  It was life changing for her and has provided her with the confidence and self esteem she previously lacked.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/08/09/bullied-14-year-old-girl-gets-plastic-surgery-to-fix-ears-nose-chin/

It is amazing how young of an age body image becomes important and how it can have a lasting effect throughout a persons life and career.