Another Mindless Purchasae

                    Everyone has, what many refer to as, their "go to brands". These are names and labels that consumers will automatically draw their attention to. The chosen brands are ones that people most identify with, whether it be because of the name, scents, jingles or the appeal the brand brought. Overtime consumers make connections between themselves and the brands that they have chosen. These can be based on personal or repetition, a constant bombardment of advertisements that become embedded in their mind. These behavioural responses result in mindless, sometimes unnecessary and pricey, purchases.

                  

                  Relating back to my previous blog, this is a result of stimulus. In this blog we're going to stick to classical conditioning, since I am relating a lot of the theories to my own shopping and buying habits I feel like this is the theory that relates most to me. Classical conditioning is a form of associative learning. This conditioning refers to when a stimulus that initially elicits a response becomes paired with a stimulus that does not elicit a response on its own. As time goes on the, because of learned association, this second stimulus also begins to result in a similar response as the original stimulus. Consumers are learning to makes associations between stimuli without any complex processing, therefore they are making buyer decisions without memory or cognition. 

                   

                   One of the most common tools that marketers use to increase the stimulus of their consumers is repetition. Repetition increases learning and can result in mindless purchases on the side of the consumer. Most information consumers will process in an automatic or passive way and then these products are automatically categorized in their mind. From there customers will respond to the product as a member of the category, without actually taking the time to analyze and figure out if it really fits. 

                    And as much as I wanna deny being a part of this group of people, I am probably leading the crowd. The finest example will be not just through repetition but also through the use of celebrities. I watch a lot of television which results in a lot of commercials. My mom loves commercials, she is one of the few people who LOL's at them, meaning I have to sit through them all. Therefore jingles and phrases are permanently embedded in my mind to the point of where I see the product and will begin to sing the song out loud; every time I pass a McDonalds Justin Timberlake singing "I'm Lovin' it" pops into my head. The celebrities are the worst, the amount of purchases I have made because I have related them to who endorses the product. Like I said when I started the blog, I am basically the ultimate consumer and associative learning is very much a part of it. 

Wait, let me smell it first!!

              The first blog for consumer behaviour and I am writing about smelling a product, typical. As I mentioned in the previous post I will always be described as the  “ultimate consumer” by almost all of my friends and family. Product placement, design, smell, feels, they will all get to me when making purchases. However, by far the most important aspect of my purchases and the overall draw towards the product will be the smell.

            Before I begin discussing my obsession over smell of things I should give you a bit of background behind perceptions and sensations. Sensation is the basic reaction to reactors around us. Sensations are picked up by our senses for example, hearing, touching, smelling, through basic stimuli like light and colour. Then our sensory inputs categorize them to the corresponding body part; light --> sight --> eyes or texture --> touch --> hands. 

           While our sensations are the reactions to different stimuli, our perception is the means to which our body will process the sensations that our body has selected and interpret them. Our perception is what we take from the raw senses that are around us; they determine which senses and stimuli we pick up and how we will interpret them further. 

            So for me, in terms of taste, I know what I like and what I don't like other then that please refrain from asking me what is savoury or moist and what seasonings I can taste. I am also slightly deaf from having my earphones in at all times at the highest setting therefore my hearing will not pick up much. My sense of touch is slightly more sensitive however I really do not like people and things in my space. However with smells, I am just drawn to them, a good smelling car, food, product or man will easily get my attention and hold it. The same goes for the bad smells, my body will find any way to avoid them. Therefore, based on the two definitions above, my body has a high reaction and filter for the sense of smell. 

          The most alluring smell will always be that of a man. A guy with the right smell will go a long way! First and foremost this tells the girl that the guys showers, which is always a very big plus!! A man who smells good is someone who knows how to take care of themselves, and this may not always be right but a good smell can certainly give that type of aura! A mans scent can defiantly trigger a woman's perception. Instead of a woman asking herself if the guy in front of her is a man or a boy? Successful or lazy? Classy or a total slob?, they can begin to categorize them based on their smell. 

            For example guys wearing Hugo Boss or Givenchy cologne give off the aura of success, business man and someone who knows what they want in life. The scent of these colognes varies, some might be a little fruitier or sweeter while others tend to use spice leaves mixed with citrus or some scents are even more "woodsy" almost. While higher class brands smell like success, the scent of spray deodorant reeks of a manly man, like AXE. Okay, so AXE is an interesting example because either women love it or hate it and I am one of those women who loves it therefore I am sticking to my example and opinion. AXE successfully marked themselves as the musky scent that all the lady's want. The boy wearing AXE is the average guy, the one who cannot afford the high end brands but still wants to smell attractive or just got out of the gym and needed a quick deodorant or maybe they're still in high school and are just looking to attract the ladies. Either way this scent lives up to it standards and certainly knows how to get the attention of the ladies. 

        Therefore to end off I have attached one of the infamous ladykiller advertisements that AXE uses to market their product. In this advertisement, AXE's new fragrance causes even Angels to give up their goodness for the man with the right scent. Enjoy ;) 

              

The Ultimate Consumer

           So, why write this blog? Why base a blog about different chapters of a textbook? Other then the obvious answer of this being a school assignment, there is actually more to it. It actually relates to my reason for taking consumer behaviour as a class. Well, you see most of my friends refer to me as the "ultimate consumer". Whether it be shoes, clothes, groceries or alcohol if it has a recognizable name, a pretty packaging or familiar face advocating it, my eyes and my feet will be directed towards it and for the most part I end up spending a bit more money then I should have. And I wanna know why? Why do people's senses and mind react to the marketing techniques that are so obviously used to get us to make purchases. The $10 no name product is just as good as the $25 brand name one but we are still willing to spend the extra $15. So that is what this blog is about; a couple of posts that give a bit of insight as to why we make the purchasing decisions that we do. 

P.S. I'm really bad at keeping up with blogs so there might be some time between posts; hope you still enjoy and keep coming back though!