New Laces..Fo cleats??

The other day during rugby practice, my left cleat's shoe laces were torn completely off. Looking back on the practice..i still have no idea how it even happened but i told myself come saturday morning i was going to fix this little problem. Saturday morning (aka 12 t0 1) comes and i head to MC sports wanting to make this quick and easy. I walk into the store, continue to the back where the shoes are, and see an entire wall of shoe laces. Not a wall of shoes....just laces. I quickly narrowed my search to ones that were missing flowers and rainbow kisses on them as id like to keep my pride on the field. My cleats are red and black so i continued to narrow the laces by color as well, narrowing to three types of laces: flat black laces, red oval laces, and black round laces. The oval was a little bright for my liking and the flat ones i knew would tear easily when making cuts and in rucks. I recognized the black round laces as something similar to what i already had and tested the strength by pulling them hard. I found a pair of similar shoes on the shelf and put the laces up to see if they would fit and what they looked like. I eventually ended up picking the black round laces and they look studly if i do say so myself. I also bought orange and black athletic tap and pre-wrap...whos ready for some rugby?

I Need a Coat for the Winter!

The start of each academic calendar year brings with it new International Students to the AU campus. One of the things that is identified is that not all International Students have experienced extremely cold winters with minus degree weather or even seen snow before. The International Student Association therefore, schedules a trip each year to take the new students shopping for new coats. As always, there is a wide range of suggestions of places to go to shop. The criteria for selecting a location include: availability of a wide range of clothing (coats), cheap prices, distance from campus, among others. Location plays a huge role as it entails whether or not the store is in a mall or not, if there are any places to eat other than the food court, and the general safety of the area. One of the names of places to go that usually comes up is Burlington Coat Factory. Earlier this fall, I saw an advertisement on T.V about Burlington Coat Factory highlighting the wide variety of clothing articles as well as its massive price discounts. The ad used both visual (showing the clothing articles and the discounts) as well as verbal (announcer relaying the information) to appeal to consumers. Burlington Coat Factory, particularly the one located at Lafayette Square Mall in Indianapolis has several aspects that make it appealing when deciding where to shop. It is conveniently located near the heart of Indianapolis, with a wide variety of fast food as well ethnic and fine cuisine restaurants. It has a wide range of clothing that includes mens and women's, as well as as baby clothing items and very affordable and competitive prices. The store is adequately decorated and lit, adding to the visual appeal, and there is soft music playing in the overheard speakers, enhancing the general mood and atmosphere of the store.

Where Should I Eat Tonight?

When trying to decide where to eat dinner in Anderson, Indiana, there are an abundance of choices nearby. Scatterfield Road is littered with restaurants. It offers your typical fast food joints, buffets, sub shops, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, American, and everything else in between. How in the world is one supposed to decide where to eat?
Luckily, right before I went out to dinner with my girlfriend, I was watching t.v. and a commercial came on advertising Applebee's new deal called the "2 for $20". This meal includes one appetizer and two entrees for only $20. This deal's target market is geared directly at couples or those going out on a dinner date to Applebee's. It attempts to save the man some money by keeping the meal for two from going over $20. Also, many men can count on their woman not eating much or any of the appetizer, thus giving him more food for his money.
The foods they advertised in the commercial appeared to be very delicious. They showed a wide range of foods such as grilled chicken marinated in some special spices, a juicy steak, a loaded bacon cheeseburger, and a huge bowl of chicken pasta. The voice of the commercial added a smooth touch, giving the commercial both visual and verbal appeal. The ad left my mouth salivating and my taste buds tingling. I noticed that the commercial was also positioned at a time in the evening right before most families eat dinner, 5:20 p.m.
I immediately recommended Applebee's to my date, and she accepted my offer. We didn't end up choosing the "2 for $20" deal on the menu, but Applebee's successfully reeled in their target market by bringing us into their restaurant. The food was just as scrumptious as the commercial had portrayed, and we left satisfied customers.

Late Night Wal-Mart run

Last night I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some body soap and some other things i needed. As i walked into the soap isle, I was bombarded with all the options i had. I looked at the different bottles, brands that i knew, and lastly smelled a few that looked good to choose.

Visual Effect: I narrowed down my options by bottle design and color, looking for both a strong masculine scent and a subtle lingering smell.

Brand Recognition: I narrowed down further to brands that i knew or had used before (brand trust)
*One bottle made it past this stage that i had never used before, its bottle was gray and had a swooping look to it that attracted my eye.

Product Evaluation: I took the last few and smelled their contents. I chose from the one that smelled the best or that gave off the effect that i wanted.

What I learned?
To make the best decision possible, I should have smelled all of the soaps individually and made my decision based from that. Instead, a time factor was initiated and i knew i had to limit my options by narrowing them down. To do this, I looked first at the bottles that caught my eye. then I looked at the brands that i recognized and lessened it down further. With a smaller group to work with, the final decision was based on scent alone. The scent that was chosen satisfied both my wants and needs for my personal smell and the aroma i wanted to project to others.

Who knew that laziness could inspire the birth of a shopaholic.

I hate doing laundry.

I especially hated doing laundry when living in a dorm. It was during this time that i became something of a clothing collector, or as my mom so loving nicknamed me, "a clothes horse".

I found that the more clothes, specifically jeans and hoodies, I owned, the longer I could go without doing laundry and that really fueled my clothes buying craze.

I always assuaged my cognitive dissonance (aka buyers regret to normal people), however, by telling myself that when I had my own place with my own laundry-doing utensils, that I would stop my incessant buying habits and settle down to a few comfy, well-worn and loved jeans and a few basic hoodies.

I have now been living with my own personal laundry and dryer for the better part of six months, and unfortunately, my jeans count is at 15 and my hoodies at 21, and its not stopping. Just last week I bought a pair of jeans, totally on impulse. Well, I felt i needed them at the time. I was about to go on an unexpected date night to indy with my girlfriend and i was wearing shorts. When I left for her house, it was warm, and when we left to go to Indy, i could see my breath. So, she came up with the great idea to go buy a pair of jeans and then return them the next day after using them. Now, a simple 20 dollar pair of jeans would have sufficed, but no, I went to my favorite store and bought the middle-upper level pair of jeans for 45.99. And of course, fell in love with them and never returned them.

The worst part is, is that five days later, I was experiencing some buyers regret but I ripped all the tags off and intentionally threw away the receipt the night I bought the jeans to prevent my future self from returning the jeans.

Will I ever learn? Or will I just continue to fall victim to the ever captivating advertising machine. I guess only time will tell, but until then, I love myself some new jeans.

Buying New Shoes

About two weeks ago I was working out for my weight lifting class, and I realized that I was starting to get blisters on my feet. I realized that it might be a good time to get a new pair just for working out. I was searching online for some primary data. I always hate buying shoes because of the perceived risk. My feet are wide and just like to cause problems so I am always dealing with product risk. That’s why I was collecting data online. I went to site that explained different feet type. As far as being a pronation, underpronation, or overpronation. The site said that the best way to test this was to do a treadmill test and tape your feet. The site stated that there was a store in Indianapolis, The Running Company that performed this test, so I went there on a Thursday night and the person was very helpful. He explained that I was going to walk on a treadmill and they were going to tape my feet for about 20 seconds. As I was trying on the shoes, I was questioning if this was a good move or not. I was thinking of the financial risk because of not having that much money, but at the same time I was thinking that I functional needed these shoes to protect my feet during my workouts. So my functional needed won over my financial risk because I knew I needed a new pair, and that shoes are usually a good investment.

As i sit at Texas Roadhouse

As I sit at Texas Roadhouse looking around at all the signs and suggested menu and drink items it occurs tome that I am actively participating in consumer behavior skills everyday at work! Suggestive selling and trying to read the customer and persuade them to buy certain (usually more expensive) items is what I seem to understand as a very subtle consumer behavior process. How, you ask? By suggesting specific items such as an appitzer or a larger steak we are helping the customer fulfill a need or want. The customer knows the are hungry, but what and how much are they hungry for. They may need a steak or some chicken and I'm here to provide those very things! After awhile one can assess more accurately when to push harder to sell something and when to just let it go, because the customer really already knows what they need or want. I can now have a better attitude about going to work, because I truly am applying what I learn into my daily life!

A Vile of Energy to Go, Please

I have never really been a coffee drinker. Don’t ask me why. I think it would always upset my stomach or something. It’s always too hot and I always get a mild burn on my tongue afterwards. Now an iced coffee, give me a large, tall, (veinte or whatever it’s called) and a big straw, ahhh. Yeah but those are mostly ice anyways and don’t supply a lot of energy. Why do most people drink coffee? It gives them energy from caffeine. What about people who don’t want coffee or soda, but want a force of energy in there day? Here is a possible target market.

Hello, 5-hour Energy! A tiny bottle of energy that is quick and convenient. Duh! When I first saw them on the shelf by the cashier at a gas station, I thought, “This is ridiculous. Who would pay 3 dollars for this little bottle?” It’s not even a bottle, but more like a vile. Well, I eventually tried one and I must say I am hooked. I feel a little embarrassed even admitting that I drink them because they are expensive. Now I don’t have one every day. I mainly get one when I feel like I’m going to pass out in the middle of the day.

Last year one of my good friends saw that I had one in my jeep and asked if they really work. I told him to try half of it. When I saw him last week, he was telling me how much he loves 5hr. energy and that it helps him get through his workday. Just yesterday I was at a gas station standing in line at the cashier and I noticed the customer (a male, about my age) in front of me put his items on the counter then look and lean to his right to grab one of the tiny red bottles. Right then, I thought to myself, “Okay, I’m not alone”.

Finishline my Kryptonite

So a few weeks ago I had my 21st birthday, and since becoming a college student it seems the only thing I ever receive for my birthday is money. Now don't get me wrong, that is by no means a bad thing, but having the extra cash on hand does make things a bit complicated. Seeing as it had been a few months since my last shoe purchase I decided to make my way to the local Finishline, my favorite store, to see if they had any new product that I might like. Of course as soon as I walked into the store I spotted at least 5 pairs of shoes that I wanted, not good. I had to make a phone call, to the person who knows me the best, my Mom, she would know what to do right? After some consoling and encouragement I walked back into the Finishline to continue my search for the ONE pair of shoes I was going to get that day.

There always seems to be a complication, at least when I want to buy something that is new, I want to be the only one to have it and the first to have it. So in order to meet these goals shopping for myself normally takes longer, much longer, than it should; although I always seem to come away content with a smile on face. Deciding on a new pair of shoes that day was no different, I had originally placed a time table on how long I wanted to spend in the store, but that had long pasted and now I was starting to get down to my final few selections. I had a decision to make, a tough one at that, so just like in "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" I used a lifeline and phoned a friend. Derek has the same style as I do and I knew he would be able to help me narrow down my selection to the shoe that was right for me. He did just as I expected and reassured my choice, a pair of beautiful white Nike Air Max Commands.

The salesman didn't have much work to do, I already knew my size, he just needed to walk into the back and get my new shoes for me. I was happy, I got the shoes I wanted and I fulfilled my goals, and as I said before I walked out of there with a smile on my face and feeling very content with my purchase. I just hope I don't get the urge to go back there again anytime soon, because Finishline is truly my Kryptonite.

World Obsession

This past weekend I ventured back home to Columbus, Ohio for my sister's baby shower. I make it a priority every time I am home to stop by my favorite store of all time, World Market. Many people have never heard of this store, but I promise you girls, you will love it. They sell everything. Browsing the store you will find unique and inexpensive jewelry, artwork, furniture, cookware, clothing, bathroom accessories, and even food.

Originally I had entered the store with the intention of buying two, and only two, scarfs. However, after being there for more than 10 minutes, I quickly filled my basket with many other World Market goods.

Most of these goods ended up being food. Now, I have never purchased food from World Market before mainly because food there is rather expensive compared to Kroger or Meijer. However, after looking at the packaging I quickly decided to sacrifice a few extra dollars and make the purchase.

The three items I bought were a jar of Chocolate/Banana Spread from Holland, a box of Gorgonzola filled ravioli, and a jar of vodka pasta sauce both imported from Italy.

I honestly do not think that I would have ever spent such a large amount of money if I had been in any other store or market. You can call me a brand loyal customer when it comes to World Market.

I also made the inference that since all the items were imported from two different countries that they would be much better (higher quality) than most foods available at ordinary grocery stores. Which is a bit humorous considering this past week in class we discussed how we tend to stereotype foods based on country of origin.

I haven't tried the ravioli or pasta sauce yet, but I can definitely say the chocolate/banana spread is absolutely delicious. However, even though the food has been delicious, I doubt I will be buying food from World Market anytime soon. I don't think my bank account could handle it.

Self Help Books

When I think of my purchasing habits, I can name two things I tend to buy a lot of, DVDs and self help books. I have recently started a collection of DVDs and it is definitely tempting when I go to Walmart and pass through the $5 DVD section. Although the DVDs are a typical purchase for me, I would like to focus on another typical purchase that I make. Since I transferred here to AU last year, I have generated a liking for self help books. I am really attracted to these books because they provide a better sense of overall wellness for myself, not to mention to the knowledge I receive from all sorts of subjects. I can't help but pick out a new book when I go into a bookstore. For instance, the University bookstore here has a great selection, especially when it comes to self help in terms of spiritual aspects. So the first week of school the bookstore had a sale going, if you buy three books you get a sale priced book for free. The sale was appealing to me, I had a want to buy a book, so I took advantage of buying three books and getting one free. I would say I have bought about thirty books within the last year. I have read about ten of them so far, and have intentions to buy more. I don't know why I keep purchasing more to read when I still have books sitting on my shelf that I have not read yet. Overall when I look at this, I don't think I am influenced by a particular person, I feel that I am influenced by my "want" to have a broad range of knowledge on self help topics. I honestly feel that over the years I will develop a pretty extensive collection of books and I sure don't plan to stop purchasing them now. The book in the upper right hand corner is the book I am currently reading. It is called Walking with God by John Eldredge.

It's like a game of Chess...

It was back in 2003 and I was in tenth grade at Kafue Boys Secondary School, located about an hour away from my home in Lusaka, Zambia. For the last few weeks, I had watched my peers play Chess and never really understood what the game was all about. On this one particular morning, I was sitting in class and we were informed that the teacher would not be in that morning. It just so happened that one of my friends had brought a Chess board with him to class and I asked him to teach me how to play the game. By my senior year of high school, I had developed such a tremendous interest in the game and improved so much that I was selected to be on the school team. One of the biggest lessons I took away from playing the game is that you have to be able to think two-three moves ahead of your opponent--you have to anticipate your opponent's every possible move and have a counter move in return.

Fast forward seven years later, I'm in a classroom and we are discussing various products and how marketers have developed personalities for a lot of products out on the market today. What does this have to do with the game of Chess, you may be wondering? One thing that stuck out to me as we looked at different products and the different personalities that have been developed, was how marketers seem to be a step ahead of not only their competitors, but consumers as well. Through on-going research, marketers are continuously focussing on anticipating consumers needs-which are changing over time- and coming up with ways in which to best serve the consumers.

This for me, feels a lot like the game I have grown to love, the game where you learn to not only anticipate, but counter your opponent's move. Marketers, I believe, are able to thrive by their continued research into consumers' needs and anticipating ways to meet those needs.

If it is not Lays then I don't want it.

It was my birthday and like most people you think that you would be getting everything you want (within a reasonable limit) on your own day. On my special day all I wanted was a small get together and enjoy the evening with my friends. Before my guest were to arrive my roommate and friend went out to by drinks and snacks and a movie to watch.
While they were out I played host greeting guest at my apartment and waiting on their return so we could start the movie. When my friends finally did arrive they had brought everything that we needed cake, drinks, cups ect; except... that they brought Diritos chips. I cant stand Diritos. So I simply told them that had got the wrong snack and I refused to eat them. Now any other day it would have been not much of an issue but because it was supposed to be my day my friends insisted that we go out to return the Diritos and buy Lays chips.
With a team of four including myself and the two who had bought the Diritos, we returned to the dollar store that they had bought the chips. what made the trip short was that the store they chose was less than 5 minutes away. we went inside and had no trouble returning the Diritos. Yet the problem was that when we searched for Lays chips was that the store only had the very small bags. So what do we do? We decide that will travel all the way down to Wal-Mart, the only place we know we are guaranteed to find the chips in the size bag we needed.
Long story short was that just for a snack we traveled a half hour away from home with guest waiting for us at home just so that I, the birthday boy could have his favorite snack.
Personally I will not buy any other brand of chips and even know that one brand makes me sick if I ever eat it. In all honestly I remember that my friends thought it was silly that I was so dead set on a brand of potato chip. Yet these were people who would buy only a certain drink or only want to eat at Wendy's fast food. It is funny that to other people our brand loyalty seems absurd to almost every one on the outside yet we ourselves not only think that what we are loyal to ourselves is the best product in existence but think that others are as well.

Will I Ever Say Enough is Enough?

This past weekend I found myself in the same predicament that I always get myself into whenever I go to any kind of mall or department store that sells shoes and that is I need another pair of shoes. Over the last 3-4 years of my life I have developed what one would say a addiction to buying all kinds of shoes, especially sneakers. It all started when a friend of mine worked at a shoe store over the summer and I would get like 60% off on shoes and so every time that I went to that store I always bought a pair of shoes, and sometimes 3 pairs at a time. That summer I bought at least 10 pairs of shoes thus beginning my addiction to buying shoes.

Back to this past weekend I was with a group of friends and we went to Carmel to eat at Bubs, which is a burger restaurant, it has the Big Ugly a 1.5 pound burger and if you eat it you will get your picture on the wall. Well we went and there was an hour and twenty minute wait so we walked to the skateboard shop Rise and that was a big mistake. I go there knowing that I cannot afford to buy any shoes but there prices are so cheap and their shoes are so cool. So right before we get there I say I do not need any shoes so I am not going to buy anything. We walk into Rise and all of a sudden I am just taken over by the smell of new shoes and the desire to buy shoes. I find a pair of shoes that I really like and they are relatively cheap like $45 so I justify that in my head and so I start asking a worker about the shoes and he informs me that next weekend is buy 2 pairs of shoes get 1 free. My heart about stopped when I heard that so I put the shoes down and walk out of the store happy that I did not buy any shoes but kind of sad knowing that I will be back there next weekend and probably will buy at least 2 pairs of shoes.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the skate shop just to buy shoes and I know that I should not go because I can’t afford right now to buy shoes but I still want to go. So I am not planning on buying any sneakers tomorrow but when I get around shoes the need and desire to buy shoes takes over and I just cannot say no, but I am hoping that I can learn how to say no.

My Battle With Five Dollar Movies

My battle with Walmart’s five dollar movies started last summer. I had just graduated and bought most of the things I needed for college, so I had a little of my graduation money left over for whatever else. I went to several different places looking for random things that I wanted just for fun, and then I discovered the wonder that is the five dollar movie. There were so many to choose from, and I never realized that there could be so many cheap movies that I felt the need to have. Since then, my movie collection has grown dramatically.

I’m the kind of person who likes to have plenty of options. I always pick a movie depending on the mood I’m in, so I feel like I need to have a little bit of everything just in case. Also, I can never seem to buy just one movie at a time. I’m good at convincing myself that, since it’s only five dollars, I can buy a bunch of them at once. For example, I’ve already bought three in the last four or five days. I think that offering discounted movies is a really good marketing strategy. Since the movies are so cheap, people will be more apt to buy several at a time. Then, there will be people like me who keep coming back and buying more and, in the long run, will have bought more movies and maybe even spent more than they would have if they were all at regular price. Since the five dollar movies are obviously so much cheaper than regular priced ones, it seems like a better deal to buy four five dollar movies for twenty dollars, rather than just getting only one for the same price.

To be honest, I’m not always totally happy with the movies I choose to buy. There have been several occasions where I’ve regretted buying certain ones. I’m an impulsive buyer, so when I have the desire to buy something, I tend to not think of the consequences and I just go for it. I’ll think it’s a really good idea for the amount of time it takes to get through the checkout, and then by the time I get home or have watched the movie once, I come to find out that it wasn’t worth what I paid. I don’t consider buying a five dollar movie or two to involve much risk, so I’ll probably continue buying them as long as they’re available.