While reading the chapter “Predictably Irrational,” I found the experiments and outcomes quite interesting. It is amazing how expectations can have such a profound impact on preferences. However, I don’t feel like this is a huge surprise.
I think the primary lesson from this chapter is that brand image is more often than not strong enough to either improve or detract from the likeability of a product. Like the chapter noted with the Coke and Pepsi experiment, Coke received a better critique when the subjects were shown the Coke symbol. Because people tend to associate a positive image with the Coke brand, subjects enjoyed the beverage more than Pepsi when seeing the red swirls. However, there wasn’t much of a difference between the two products when put up to a blind taste test.
I think another underlying lesson is that stereotypes and biases exist everywhere and are unavoidable. The numerous experiments proved this. There is always a preconceived notion about a product or a brand or just about anything, and this notion affects the likeliness of the product or brand. There is no way around this; it is just a fact of life.
This information can be very valuable to gaining insights and creating valuable experiences for our customers. If we know our customers value something in particular, we can associate whatever that may be with our product. Based on the experiments in this chapter, our customers are likely to carry over these positive feelings to our product.
Ariely provides quite a few examples throughout the chapter, but the main one is vinegar-laced beer. He added vinegar to one beer and left the other untainted then let his subjects taste each and decide which one was better. When given as a blind taste test, most people chose the vinegar-laced beer. However, when informed beforehand that vinegar was added to the beer, most chose the regular beer. This is because most people associate negative feelings with mixing vinegar and beer since it is not a normal combination. Additionally, when the subjects were told to taste each beer before being told that one had vinegar, their responses were similar to the blind taste-test: most chose the beer with the vinegar.
It’s amazing how different the reactions were when either being informed of the presence of vinegar before or after the tasting. This is undoubtedly because of expectations. In one instance, the subjects had an expectation of the vinegar in the beer tasting bad, and the other instance no expectations existed to alter the outcome. They were told about the vinegar afterward, but because they were already able to make their own decision about the taste of the beer, this did not alter the answer they gave.
A real life example of this concept exists with Apple. I feel like Apple hasn’t been nearly as prominent as it is today until maybe five years ago when the iPod became a big deal. They managed to reshape the idea of an mp3 player into a product no one could effectively compete against. They continued to create new products and become a well-known and highly respectable company. When they came out with the iPhone, it seems like everyone swarmed to buy one and didn’t even think twice about blowing $600 on a phone. If Apple had come out with this product five years ago before gaining such a strong reputation I highly doubt the iPhone would be as well known and as widely used as it currently is.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Persona
When trying to determine ten characteristics of myself to help a marketer create a persona, I decided the best way would be to lead them through a short-version story of my life. That way the marketer can really get to know who I am from the core by learning where I come from. By understanding my past it is much easier to predict my future product purchasing decisions. Here we go!
The Basics
When describing myself to a marketer to attempt at an in-depth persona of myself the basics are crucial. I am a 21-year-old Caucasian student coming from an upper-middle class typical family: two parents and two brothers. I’ve been raised a Christian since before I can remember. This information can be useful to a marketer because it can easily place me into a target market.
Across the Country
I was born in a tiny no-one-has-ever-heard-of-it town up in Massachusetts. I never really considered my family as big travelers besides our annual visits to Texas where my parents are both from. And of course the occasional trip to Disney World every kid dreams of. When I was 12, we moved to Houston to get closer to family. I say I’m a Texan who got here as fast as I could. We stayed in Houston where I went to high school, and at the end of that my parents moved to Virginia and I came to Austin for school. In the meantime, my older brother by two years moved to California for seminary. Soon enough my other brother, who’s a year younger than me, moved to New York City to go to school at Columbia. And then my parents moved to South Carolina for my dad’s job. Our family is now spread all of the US, and the farthest west I’ve ever been is Colorado. That’s right, my brother lives right outside LA and I have yet to visit. I told you we weren’t much of travelers.
Childhood Memories
My childhood was quite simple. At least compared to life now. Because our town was so small, everyone knew who everyone else was and all about them, and at my young, naïve age I thought that was a good thing. So I had lots of friends and school came easy. How hard is elementary school anyway? Summers were great; we had a lake house about 30 minutes away and we would stay there the whole summer. My three half-brothers from my dad’s first marriage would come live with us, so the season was spent with my parents, five brothers, and golden retriever pretty much living in the water. Those were the good ol’ days.
Olympics?
The one word that could describe many hours of my childhood is gymnastics. Of course all my gymnast friends and I thought we’d go to the Olympics but you can see how that turned out. I started when I was just three years old, spending hours upon hours at my dance and gymnastics studio. I danced too, but gymnastics was my passion. I was never really good in gym meets, but I sure had a lot of fun. However, when I moved to Texas, I quit dance and focused on gym. I started at a gym with a very promising reputation and that’s when I realized how awful my technique was. Saying the gymnasts there were really good is an understatement. So I worked hard and had some amazing coaches and before I knew it, I became the state champion on floor and second on bars. Ah, the glory days. But then I realized that I pretty much had no life besides my calloused hands and my permanently damaged ankle, so I quit a week before I started high school.
High School Glory Days
Okay, they weren’t that glorious. As soon as I got to high school I realized I needed to do something because my life before now consumed by gymnastics was gone. So I decided to start dancing again. Nothing else seemed to interest me. So I tried out for our drill team and became a Fabulous Falcon Flair. I absolutely loved it my first year, but by senior year I was miserable. As soon as I realized how political everything was and how your parents involvement in the booster club pretty much determined how “good” you were, I stopped caring. I managed to make it through without quitting, but while everyone was crying after our last spring show a couple of my friends and I were celebrating. Besides all that, I kept my self quite busy in high school – AP classes, a part-time job that usually ended up being about 30 hours a week, and other random extra-curriculars that I didn’t put much effort into. I didn’t have time with dance and work taking up so much time. By the time I graduated I was burnt out.
Best Days of My Life?
College, the next stage of my life. After being so ridiculously busy without an ounce of free time in high school, I decided to do the opposite in college. I still worked part time, about 20 hours a week, and took a normal course load. So I wasn’t doing nothing, just not as much as in high school. Well I got bored pretty quick, so I decided to join Alpha Kappa Psi in the spring of my freshman year. Pledging definitely took up a lot of time, and was undoubtedly my favorite semester in college. Ever since I’ve kept myself quite busy.
Makin’ Money
The part time jobs I had in high school and college are the same. I started working at Texas Roadhouse three months after I turned 16 and have stuck with the company since. I started as a hostess and became a server when I turned 18, and when I came to Austin I transferred to one of the Roadhouses here. I am currently a bartender, which probably has to be one of the most fun jobs. I get paid to talk to people while mixing drinks.
Current Mid-life Crisis
At the time being, I pretty much have no idea what I’m going to do when I graduate. I already hate being a senior. I don’t know if I want to go straight to grad school to get my MBA or try to find a job. I love marketing but don’t really know what I want to do with it so I guess I’m keeping my options open. And I’ve always assumed I’d go straight to grad school but now I may want to work for a little first. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
When I Grow Up
My future goals are pretty simple and probably predictable. I see myself getting married and having two to four children – see my current family. I plan on continuing my career but my family comes first. My mother never worked until I got to high school, and it was nice having a mom who stayed involved in my life. I don’t plan to do anything that extreme, like not working for at least 15 years, but I definitely want to give my family the same amount of care. That’s all I’ve really got for my long-term goals. The future is unknown.
Random Traits
I’ll go ahead and make an attempt at describing my personality. I’ve always found that quite difficult – the whole describe-yourself-in-three-words thing. Well I was pretty shy as a kid. I got along with everyone but only came out of my shell when I knew everyone pretty well. I was really shy when I moved to Texas; not knowing anyone is quite intimidating. I didn’t really become outgoing until high school, and I would say that could describe me now for the most part. I am extremely upbeat and optimistic, although sometimes a little too much to the point of being naïve. I’ve gotten better, but I always like the think the best of things. I tend to trust people, and once again sometimes a little too much. I’d rather take chances and enjoy life than be left wondering what if.
The Basics
When describing myself to a marketer to attempt at an in-depth persona of myself the basics are crucial. I am a 21-year-old Caucasian student coming from an upper-middle class typical family: two parents and two brothers. I’ve been raised a Christian since before I can remember. This information can be useful to a marketer because it can easily place me into a target market.
Across the Country
I was born in a tiny no-one-has-ever-heard-of-it town up in Massachusetts. I never really considered my family as big travelers besides our annual visits to Texas where my parents are both from. And of course the occasional trip to Disney World every kid dreams of. When I was 12, we moved to Houston to get closer to family. I say I’m a Texan who got here as fast as I could. We stayed in Houston where I went to high school, and at the end of that my parents moved to Virginia and I came to Austin for school. In the meantime, my older brother by two years moved to California for seminary. Soon enough my other brother, who’s a year younger than me, moved to New York City to go to school at Columbia. And then my parents moved to South Carolina for my dad’s job. Our family is now spread all of the US, and the farthest west I’ve ever been is Colorado. That’s right, my brother lives right outside LA and I have yet to visit. I told you we weren’t much of travelers.
Childhood Memories
My childhood was quite simple. At least compared to life now. Because our town was so small, everyone knew who everyone else was and all about them, and at my young, naïve age I thought that was a good thing. So I had lots of friends and school came easy. How hard is elementary school anyway? Summers were great; we had a lake house about 30 minutes away and we would stay there the whole summer. My three half-brothers from my dad’s first marriage would come live with us, so the season was spent with my parents, five brothers, and golden retriever pretty much living in the water. Those were the good ol’ days.
Olympics?
The one word that could describe many hours of my childhood is gymnastics. Of course all my gymnast friends and I thought we’d go to the Olympics but you can see how that turned out. I started when I was just three years old, spending hours upon hours at my dance and gymnastics studio. I danced too, but gymnastics was my passion. I was never really good in gym meets, but I sure had a lot of fun. However, when I moved to Texas, I quit dance and focused on gym. I started at a gym with a very promising reputation and that’s when I realized how awful my technique was. Saying the gymnasts there were really good is an understatement. So I worked hard and had some amazing coaches and before I knew it, I became the state champion on floor and second on bars. Ah, the glory days. But then I realized that I pretty much had no life besides my calloused hands and my permanently damaged ankle, so I quit a week before I started high school.
High School Glory Days
Okay, they weren’t that glorious. As soon as I got to high school I realized I needed to do something because my life before now consumed by gymnastics was gone. So I decided to start dancing again. Nothing else seemed to interest me. So I tried out for our drill team and became a Fabulous Falcon Flair. I absolutely loved it my first year, but by senior year I was miserable. As soon as I realized how political everything was and how your parents involvement in the booster club pretty much determined how “good” you were, I stopped caring. I managed to make it through without quitting, but while everyone was crying after our last spring show a couple of my friends and I were celebrating. Besides all that, I kept my self quite busy in high school – AP classes, a part-time job that usually ended up being about 30 hours a week, and other random extra-curriculars that I didn’t put much effort into. I didn’t have time with dance and work taking up so much time. By the time I graduated I was burnt out.
Best Days of My Life?
College, the next stage of my life. After being so ridiculously busy without an ounce of free time in high school, I decided to do the opposite in college. I still worked part time, about 20 hours a week, and took a normal course load. So I wasn’t doing nothing, just not as much as in high school. Well I got bored pretty quick, so I decided to join Alpha Kappa Psi in the spring of my freshman year. Pledging definitely took up a lot of time, and was undoubtedly my favorite semester in college. Ever since I’ve kept myself quite busy.
Makin’ Money
The part time jobs I had in high school and college are the same. I started working at Texas Roadhouse three months after I turned 16 and have stuck with the company since. I started as a hostess and became a server when I turned 18, and when I came to Austin I transferred to one of the Roadhouses here. I am currently a bartender, which probably has to be one of the most fun jobs. I get paid to talk to people while mixing drinks.
Current Mid-life Crisis
At the time being, I pretty much have no idea what I’m going to do when I graduate. I already hate being a senior. I don’t know if I want to go straight to grad school to get my MBA or try to find a job. I love marketing but don’t really know what I want to do with it so I guess I’m keeping my options open. And I’ve always assumed I’d go straight to grad school but now I may want to work for a little first. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
When I Grow Up
My future goals are pretty simple and probably predictable. I see myself getting married and having two to four children – see my current family. I plan on continuing my career but my family comes first. My mother never worked until I got to high school, and it was nice having a mom who stayed involved in my life. I don’t plan to do anything that extreme, like not working for at least 15 years, but I definitely want to give my family the same amount of care. That’s all I’ve really got for my long-term goals. The future is unknown.
Random Traits
I’ll go ahead and make an attempt at describing my personality. I’ve always found that quite difficult – the whole describe-yourself-in-three-words thing. Well I was pretty shy as a kid. I got along with everyone but only came out of my shell when I knew everyone pretty well. I was really shy when I moved to Texas; not knowing anyone is quite intimidating. I didn’t really become outgoing until high school, and I would say that could describe me now for the most part. I am extremely upbeat and optimistic, although sometimes a little too much to the point of being naïve. I’ve gotten better, but I always like the think the best of things. I tend to trust people, and once again sometimes a little too much. I’d rather take chances and enjoy life than be left wondering what if.
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