The End of The Beginning

For our last blog post of the semester, we were asked to write about what we have learned. I started thinking about how my outlook and my purchasing behavior have changed throughout the semester. I also thought about all of the tedious writing that was required of us throughout the semester.

I looked back at my first blog and I remember taking HOURS to write it. I brainstormed for a considerable amount of time and then wanted to make sure that all of my content was perfect. Even though I admit that I was stressed out by the heavy reading and writing that this class entailed, it really has made me a better and faster writer. After all, I'm wrapping up an entire semester's worth of knowledge in less than an hour of writing a single blog post. I hope that you have enjoyed reading my blog and that you found it relevant, interesting, and entertaining!

Going back to how my outlook and purchasing behaviors have changed. Now, I find that I am very critical of how people seem to "rationalize" different buying behaviors. I have a friend that says "Wow, that's a deal. I'm losing money not buying it." That one always gets me. Or my roommate will say, "Look at this purse I bought today Jodi, it says it was originally $100 and I got it for $35." She exclaims this bubbling with excitement feeling that she has just made an extremely smart purchase and defeated the market.  I just remind them how well they're taking the bait that marketers have thrown at them.

I look at all of the inserts in magazines and see how they offer FREE gifts and huge discounts for buying a full one or two year subscription and I'm reminded of Nudge.

I see people behaving extremely irrationally around me and encourage them to be smarter consumers. But then, I reflect on recent purchases and think "yikes they got me again..I really didn't need that." Or I'll spend that extra $20 just so I can get free shipping. It's really quite interesting. I have become very aware of the marketing tactics that are so often so effective and I still can justify spending $100 on a pair of sunglasses because "if I die tomorrow, I can't take my money with me." Completely irrational.

Another thing I have started to understand more deeply and actually have started to disagree with is that the ideas of "Econs" and "Humans" (pointed out in the assigned reading of Nudge and Predictably Irrational) are opposing forces. Predictably Irrational devotes a lot of the book to protesting the economics in general is not consistent with how humans actually behave. However, as an economics minor, when discussing economics theory, we recognize that people in groups make consumer decisions differently than a single person. We also take into account the effects of purchasing behavior on families, single persons, and people of different religions/cultures/social classes. All things that are consistent with consumer behavior study. I have started to think that a lot of economics is actually just the quantitative research of consumer behavior's heavily qualitative concepts.

 All in all, I think the main thing that this class brought to the table was that it made me think critically and analytically and be able to then communicate that in an effective way. It also made me aware of behaviors and tendencies that are consistent throughout different groups. These behaviors and tendencies are things that I previously engaged in subconsciously. Though I may still behave like a "human" and act "predictably irrational" at times, I am much more aware of how businesses, marketers, politicians, friends, families, etc. try to appeal to our plethora of emotions and "nudge" us to behave a certain way. Maybe I'll even refrain from over-stuffing myself at Thanksgiving next year. :)

Is it a ritual or OCD?

We recently have been discussing rituals in Consumer Behavior class. Today we shared stories in class about our personal consumer rituals. The common theme among these rituals is that they are 1. meaningful and 2. perhaps most interestingly, we tend to go haywire when we do not practice our ritual in the "proper" order. For example, I wrote about all of the activities that my family does during Christmas. It is not necessarily unique, but we will go to great lengths to keep Christmas as consistent as possible. I mentioned that despite my sister not enjoying skiing, all of us not really liking ham, and my father not excited to go to church, Christmas wouldn't feel like Christmas if we didn't do all of these things. Simply because "it's what we've always done." 

Another example came from my roommate. When she gets ready for her day in the morning, she ALWAYS, has a cup of coffee, takes a shower, eats breakfast in her robe, then brushes her hair and teeth and gets dressed. It's her morning ritual. Last week, she had a horrible day and concluded that her entire day was whack because she ate breakfast before she showered and so "the whole day felt off" from the get-go.

When I think about these personal rituals, I think to myself, is this a ritual or do we all have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)??? Specifically, do I have it? I can't fall asleep if I haven't made my bed right before I go to sleep, even though I make it in the morning too. I can't focus on homework or anything else for that matter if I know my closet and dresser are not properly organized by function (coats, sweaters, long sleeve, short sleeves, tank tops, dresses, left to right) and then of course by color. 

After doing a little research on OCD, people report that "they can't go to bed until they have checked three times to see that their alarm has been set to the proper time" or that "everything in their house from movies to books has to be in alphabetical order." After reading this I thought, "yep, I have that." But then I read on about how someone would think about it all day if they stepped on a bug and I read about a gal who, when eating, absolutely had to eat an even amount. Even if she was eating an entire bag of potato chips she had to count each and every one that she consumed and had to make sure that she finished with 22 or 24 for example but never 23. Otherwise something bad would happen. 

Anyway, after calming down and concluding that I do not have OCD, I thought about how rituals (even if they are a little OCD-like) could be beneficial to students and business-people. In what ways could we be happier and more productive people if we developed healthy rituals like working out every day or getting our work done?

Especially for all of us procrastinators out there, I found this video helpful. It's a really simple idea and I wouldn't necessarily call the guy a genius, but it does answer my previous questions entirely. Maybe if we can condition ourselves to do the same healthy and productive things every day to the point where they become ritual, we will get that horrible feeling, like eating breakfast before showering, if we do not accomplish our positive ritual. I'd say it's worth a shot. What do you think?

The Consequences of Abundance

Last week, we read an article called "We Gather Together" by Melanie Wallendorf and Eric J. Arnould about consumption rituals on Thanksgiving Day. The part of the article that struck me most was about different consequences of abundance on this day. The authors recognize that we use words like "stuffing" and "loading" (Wallendorf, 17) habitually to describe various types of traditional Thanksgiving foods. The holiday itself has transformed into a day where individuals "save up" all day and then gorge themselves to the point of misery by consuming a huge quantity of low-quality foods.

"An almost universal topic of after-dinner conversation is that everyone has overeaten and is painfully full" (Wallendorf, 18). Other consequences mentioned in the article include going for a short walk to ease the pain of over-abundance, consuming dessert on a full stomach, being silent during the meal, forgetfulness, and wearing loose clothing.

This particular part of the article got me thinking about American culture as a whole. It seems that in almost every aspect of our lives, we seek abundance. Continually wanting more can be good in some senses if we're talking about continually wanting an abundance of money in our savings or striving for an abundance of education. However, in many aspects there are negative consequences to abundance in American culture. For example, obesity is a huge problem that the United States faces. What is the reason? In many cases an abundance of unhealthy and convenient foods is the problem. On the contrary, hundreds of thousands of people across the globe die each year from hunger. Ironic isn't it?

Americans suffer consequences of abundance from other things that many in the world would consider a luxury. According to the Center for Disease Control,* 100 Americans die each DAY from overdosing on prescription drugs. The irony is that millions of others cannot get proper medical treatment or do not have access to the medication they need. Other examples of things that Americans tend to over-consume are alcohol, which we know has negative consequences, electricity/energy resulting in pollution, and even borrowing, giving Americans an abundance of debt. This seems all wrong doesn't it? Maybe we should be focusing on creating an abundance of schooling, healthy alternatives, and hospitals.

Maybe less really is more.. I have a feeling that our next book "The Paradox of Choice: Why more is less" will argue something similar.

*http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/rxbrief/

Bizarre Rites of Passage

After discussing different rites of passage in class on Tuesday, I grew curious. Americans are familiar with rites of passage such as baptism, Sweet 16 birthdays, graduation, marriage, retirement, and funerals to name a few. But what about other cultures? Sure, many people celebrate Bar Mitzvahs and Quinceaneras, but what about rites of passage from secluded areas of the world?

The book* defines rites of passage as "rituals we perform to mark a change in social status" (Solomon, 539). One of the most important rites of passages, especially in tribal communities, is becoming an adult. Generally speaking, but not always, becoming a man has more painful traditional rituals than becoming a woman. So I set out to find some interesting and unexpectedly painful rituals performed for making the transition from boy to man.

After watching this video and reading a little bit more about some bizarre rites of passage, I was not disgusted nor did I think that the rituals were outdated. I was actually envious. I know, why would I be envious? I surely don't wish that I had to endure that kind of pain to transition to womanhood. I was envious because I found it so cool (for lack of a better word) that these people keep in touch with their cultural roots and value the rituals and their meaning above all else.

The book* talks about a common "becoming an adult" rite of passage in the United States when one transitions from high school to college. It contains the three stages where at first, you disassociate yourself with high school. Then, you go to college and are a lost puppy trying to adjust to your new lifestyle and surroundings. Lastly, you come home a "cocky college 'veteran' " (Solomon 539). Many of my rites of passage are comparable to a Hallmark Holiday. Yes, graduating and moving onto college is great - but so many of us just cash in on graduation cards sent to us from people we see maybe once a year and we relish the attention that we receive at our grad party. It's just another day for people to spend money. Perhaps its importance seems less significant because the transition from high school to college is [fortunately] one that so many others do. Similarly, milestones like birthdays and marriage seem like their true meaning is often clouded by money and gifts that one receives as a result.

All in all, we are more than fortunate to have the opportunities that we Americans enjoy. However, I think many of us have lost touch with our roots and the cultural rituals that many indigenous people still display today. Maybe marketing is to blame for transforming the modern traditions and rituals for many of our rites of passage. Or maybe.....

*Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being by Michael R. Solomon

We're in for the long haul

The article "Can Consumers Escape the Market?" by Robert V. Kozinets has an interesting take on The Burning Man event, where people attempt to ditch the materialistic world and embrace their individuality.  Participants at this festival cover up all of their logos and brands and are expected to bring enough food, water, and other necessities to survive for one week as no vendors are allowed inside. The location is a desolate area in the dry and unforgiving desert (Kozinets, 2002).

The idea of escaping corporate greed is not seen just at Burning Man.  The motives behind the week-long event can be compared to those of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Whether or not participants at Burning Man are able to truly get away from the hustle and bustle and world of advertisements is debatable. Kozinets argues that it is possible, but only temporarily. He argues that sustainable non-consumption is nearly impossible (Kozinets 2002). I tend to agree. Although the idea of leaving the materialistic world behind is intriguing, it is short term. I think about hunting and backpacking and how great it is to feel like you have escaped the material world. But the fact of the matter is it simply is not sustainable for an American to completely escape the market.

The article also made me think of non-consumption and the different groups that people create by not consuming a certain product, service, or idea. Many individuals seek to escape the material world in the form of non-consumption. Examples would include only buying locally grown groceries, going vegan, buying only American-made products, or even quitting something like drinking and joining Alcoholics Anonymous. This behavior brings up yet another topic: subcultures.

These different subcultures are created when an individual boycotts something. Often times an individual will even engage in non-consumption to embrace their individuality. I find this rather contradicting because as soon as you stand for something, the world is going to categorize you with like-minded people and suddenly, you belong to a subculture. Though you may feel less materialistic and more of an individual if you go vegan, joining a biker gang, or a gym you are simply leaving a certain subculture and joining another. I would have to agree with Kozinets - we can never truly escape it all, and perhaps that's the scariest part. My advice: get comfortable.