Conspicuous Consumption

I had the opportunity to witness blatant conspicuous consumption first hand last week.

I have a friend, let's call him John. He has always been a fan of Apple products but not so much reaching "fanboy" status. i.e. buying anything that had the logo on it. He had an iMac and an iPhone and that's about as far as it went.

Until he started his new job. John had been unemployed for about three months, so understandably money was tight. He had started this job with the expectation that he wouldn't get paid for three weeks after he started. On his first day at the photography company, he saw that everyone in the office had multiple, high end electronics. He told me that they did give him weird looks for not having an arsenal of gadgets, which in turn made him feel uncomfortable. I told him that didn't matter as long as he had the necessary tools to do the job.

Fast forward a week, mind you, he didn't get paid yet and the only thing sustaining him was a credit card at this moment. I go to his house and he proudly displays a brand new iPad 2. The 800 dollar version. I asked what his reasoning was for purchasing it. He flat out told me he didn't have any idea, but that it would make him feel accepted at work. I told him to return it.

John used money he didn't have, to purchase something he didn't need, to be accepted by people he didn't like (necessarily). He wanted to be seen as someone who's "with it" by his coworkers.

I kept the receipt for him in case he changed his mind.

Christmas Dinner in a Box

I can't help but notice the increased crowdedness of stores around the Holiday season. This is to be expected as masses of consumers rush to complete their gift shopping, decoration shopping, and other holiday related shopping. Christmas has oddly become something of which shopping is a symbol and an indicator. With complete logic to back up the observance of increased customer volume in stores as a result of the Holidays, there are still some things that I do not quite understand. I was reminded of this during a recent shopping experience.

Today, I went to Walmart to buy frozen meals and ultimately prevent starving during finals week. What I experienced was mass hysteria in the frozen meal section of Walmart. What I don't understand is why this too is a product of which consumption is increased during the Holiday season. Ok, so it is understandable that the grocery store as a whole would have more shoppers to prepare for Holiday meals and visits from family. I don't know about you, but when I think of Christmas and family holiday meals, I typically do not picture sitting down to a frozen meal in a plastic tray which I prepared myself in the microwave. My inference from this is that consumers are just starting to attribute shopping of all sorts to the Christmas season. This is dangerous. Remember that one guy? Jesus?

Holiday deals and hysteria

As Black Friday approached, I could sense myself growing a bit excited as I thought about the chaos that was about to ensue. I don't like to get into the commericalistic culture America has fallen victim to, but sometimes it is fun to go out on Black Friday and see the insanity, and maybe get something you've been wanting relatively cheaply. I am happy to say that this time, however, I took advantage of the ability to sleep in while on break, instead of getting up at unhuman hours to go out and deal with the mess.

It was interesting to see myself growing a little more anxious as it approached, knowing that Black Friday would have these huge deals (I was more interested in all the music store deals), and then there would be the Saturday and Sunday deals, which aren't as good, but still nice, then Cyber Monday. All the commericals were hyping it up and drawing into this culture and trying to arouse this interest of everyone to get them to come out. I liked seeing how easily I tend to fall into the excitement and to be a part of it like everyone else, but with the knowledge I have from my business classes, and Consumer Behavior especially, I rationalized myself out of going.

Now, I will admit, I did take part of Cyber Monday and took advantage of some of the coupons Guitar Center emailed me as a part of it so I could get some gear before my band hits the road christmas break . . . www.facebook.com/saintsofdenial . . . (shameless plug). But I still had to fight off my impulsive buying tendancies. I spoke of this the last time I blogged, how when I go to a guitar store or music store I tend to want to buy at least something. We just finished talking about compulsive buying in class, and while I don't think I am a compulsive buying totally, I definitely fall victim to that at the guitar store. Rationalizing is something I am very good at in these situations. I always tend to find a way for it to make sense for me to buy what I'm about to buy. And even though I almost had talked myself out of buying gear on Cyber Monday, the coupons Guitar Center sent me pushed me over the edge. I bought something I felt I could have waited to buy until later, especially because I have to be careful about how much I spend right now not having a job. There were a few things I figured made more sense to get first, but the savings were going to outweigh any potential liabilites. The other things I wanted weren't there anyway, so I talked myself into by not wanting to waste the coupon. Point being . . . it's funny to watch myself wrestle around with decisions now that I know better why I'm doing it.

Black Friday Rush

I've always wondered what it was like, being a member of the crowds during black friday. Up until this season, I had worked retail for the past 6 years of my life, and was used to seeing the madness from the inside. Watching the customers come in and out, by what seemed to be the thousands, loading up their carts, their bags, and anything they could fit in their arms. I would greet them politely and invite them to take a look at the "big sale." But never had I been one of the lunatics running around like a chicken with my head cut off. This was the year! I finally didn't have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn and haul myself into work jacked up on mountain dew, coffee, and a fake sense of sensibility. This year I was going to wake up at the butt crack of dawn and haul myself into every store I could jacked up on mountain dew, coffee, and a real sense of excitement.

As I watched the news, I watched them interviewing people standing in line as early as 12 hours before the opening of the doors, for the biggest sales day of the year! I wasn't quite committed to being that outrageous, but I was sitting at home, picking out sales, planning my attacks on any major retail store in a 10 mile radius. As midnight approached, I became anxious, wondering... are they still gonna have that movie I want, or the T.V. for my grandma... I was getting sucked into the glitz and glamour marketing advisors put into this day.

As I walked through the doors of Target, I felt a sudden rush of adrenalin. I could feel the energy, I could feel the pandaemonium, it was crazy and I LOVED every second of it! It was then, that I understood. All the marketing, all the advertising, luring the customers to walk through the doors... wasn't about the sales, or getting the best deals. It was about the feeling the customer gets when experiencing the rush.

Shopping for some people is like a drug, always looking for the next fix. It's addicting, and easy to fall into the trap. For me, I don't think I'm going down that path quite yet... but the feeling was undeniably thrilling, yet frightening.

Christmas Season

My wife and I have been married for just about a year and a half in December, and one of the main things I have noticed since being is that we are poorer than we have ever been. It has been really tough for us because we both like to give gifts. It is especially difficult around the holidays. Her birthday is always right around Thanksgiving and then Christmas comes along and it's tough to get her the things she wants, and it's hard for her to get me the things I want too. We have always had enough money for groceries and bills and gas, sometimes it was a much tighter month than we would have hoped for but we have never gone without. I think it's just crazy when I hear about all the chaos that goes along with Black Friday and the shopping season during Christmas. So many people get upset when they don't get the deals that they want, but what they don't realize is that they're lucky to even have to money to spend on those deals. So many Americans today forget how lucky they really are. Appreciate the small things, it makes life much more enjoyable.

Oh, Wal-Mart

This past summer my roommate purchased a fairly expensive Nikon camera from Wal-Mart in Anderson. Because of the name brand she had high expectations for the performance of the camera. Early in the school year the camera broke due to a manufacture defect. Experiencing disconfirmation and negative post-decision feelings, she proceeded to make numerous stops into Wal-Mart in order to get the issue resolved. After speaking with numerous Wal-Mart employees and managers a replacement camera, which was no longer carried in the store, was ordered. She was contacted when the camera came in. She went to the electronics picked up her camera and proceeded to the customer service counter. Here she was informed she couldn’t make an even exchange because it was passed the three month period, even though the camera was specially ordered for her, and that she would have to go through the manufacturer. Needless to say she became an irate complainer. She has since boycotted Wal-Mart and participated in some heavy negative word-of-mouth. Although I tried to encourage her to go back and ask for a manger she is tired of dealing with the issue. I explained that one does not shop at Wal-Mart for the customer service. Low prices generally equal poor service.

Titanium Necklaces

In today’s baseball culture, players have begun to wear what is called titanium necklaces. Now although necklaces have been worn by both athletes and non athletes, these titanium necklaces are suppose to be “healthy and good for the body.” These necklaces are said to “Promote health and fitness, help with anxiety and anger, increase flexibility, ease discomfort, and reduce fatigue.” There is website after website that states these facts. In face though I believe that these things are not caused by the necklace and that instead it is becoming big among the baseball culture because of the normative influence of conformity and partial brand-choice congruence.

These titanium necklaces were first marketed as being helpful for athletics from all of the side benefits it causes as I stated before, but if people are catching on and waking up to the fact that they are not “magical” necklaces but instead what is becoming the popular and the norm for the culture of baseball. Players have brand-choice congruence to what other players are buying (titanium necklaces). Also players have conformed to the idea of wearing the titanium necklaces not only on the field but as part of their outfits off the field throughout their daily lives.

Beerless superbowl

Today in class we discussed the "dark side" of consumer behavior. a point was brought up regarding beer and alcohol commercials being aired during the super-bowl where younger kids are exposed to such commercials. We watched one organizations attempt at lobbying for banning these commercials to be aired during the super-bowl due to the fear of younger generations being witness to such adult content. I found the groups attempt very pathetic and poorly done, it made the group look foolish in fact. I actually find the whole attempt to ban these commercials from the super-bowl a very ignorant move. Everybody knows that the super-bowl is the absolute biggest day of the year for television ads and companies not only pay millions for the commercial spots but also reap the benefits of such exposure. To take out beer or alcohol commercials from the super-bowl is an absurd thought and a move that will most assuredly take place. I understand not wanting to expose younger kids to alcohol at an early age. However, there is just too much revenue at stake for that idea to every take shape and actually be passed by television networks or the NFL.

man purses..murses..satchels

The other day I was watching one of my all time favorite television shows, Friends. This particular episode was mostly about Joey sporting a new bag, what he called a satchel, but what everyone else called a purse. After much criticism and even being turned down for a part in a play he reluctantly stopped wearing the satchel. This made me think about not only the change in clothing styles between the decades, but also the change in what is acceptable between gender roles. In today's world, you see a lot more guys displaying a feminine orientation such as by wearing satchels. One of my roommates recently purchased a satchel, when he wore it the first day I couldn't stop ridiculing him for it. I guess the point is that with time, sexual orientation can change and so does the judgement of that orientation. This is something for marketers to take in account.

Black Friday Raises Ethical Concerns

Due to our reference groups we often receive offers to go shopping on Black Friday. I myself had to tell my fiance that I was not interested. What stirs this shopping craze in everyone? Is it the amazing deals, the thrill of getting one of the three toys that the stores had, or the excitement of the season? We have been conditioned since we can remember that the Friday after Thanksgiving has been the day where moms and grandmas unite and stay up late, or get up early. We as kids knew that was the day they were going to get the presents that we desired mostly. We are not the only ones who know this. Businesses are obviously aware of the frenzy that is stirred up due to this infamous holiday. This raises the questions about the dark side of marketing. Is it right for these businesses to stir up this fever pitch and only offer these deals for a few short hours? Safety ultimately comes into a concern for any shopper. Every year there are deaths and thefts over petty things. All you have to do is go to Youtube and type in crazy Black Friday shoppers and you will get hundreds of videos of people doing ridiculous things. We as future marketers have the ability to change this trend. We can restructure how people look at Black Friday, or we can ignore the negatives and continue to fuel the fire of get here twelve hours before our doors open to get one toy. Maybe it is time marketers look at Black Friday ethically and try to promote what Christmas and the holidays are really about; family and giving. Profits are important, but when its all we care about sometime the consumers get trampled.

Past Experience with Friend

Looking at my life, I would say that I am the farthest thing from being a compulsive buyer. Shopping does not make me happy, and if I do not have money, I do not even go into a store where I know I am going to want to buy something. If you asked my family they would tell you that I am very tight with my money, I try to save every penny I can so to speak. I have always been that way I can never remember myself always wanting to go buy certain things, I never really got into that. When I was in middle school, I had a friend who was my neighbor. We went to school together and played on the same basketball team. However my friend was a compulsive buyer. He was always going to stores and buying things, most of the time he was buying things he would never use, he bought them just to buy them. When we would hang out he would always be talking about the next thing he was going to buy. Unfortunately he never always had enough money to go out and buy the things he wanted. We were in Wal-Mart one day just looking around after practice and he was acting weird, so when we left I asked him if he was okay. He looked at me and smiled and pulled something out of his pocket that he had stolen from Wal-Mart. I naturally asked him what he was doing, why did you steal that? His response was I did not have enough money to buy it, and I wanted it so I just took it. He explained how easy it was, and he had been doing it for a long time. I said so "your just gonna steal things you want but cant afford?" He said why not, its so easy to just steal it and walk out with it. So after that day I never went back into a store with him, where it was a possibility where he could get me in trouble.

The deal right under my nose

I had been waiting for a long time to purchase a blu ray player but just did not want to fork over 100 dollars for one. Knowing that there would be deals around this time of year, I told myself that if I found one for under 50 bucks I had to buy it. End of story.

It all started with a computer. I went to walmart.com and purchased a pair of Apple headphones because I cannot find mine whatsoever and I wanted to be able to listen to some music on my iphone at Starbucks. I paid and used the ship-to-store feature. Once class was over, I drove to the Walmart on Scatterfield. I found a parking spot, and made my way back to the ship-to-store pick-up area, which was all the way in the back where the toys met the electronics.

I gave them my signature and proceeded to walk out with my purchase. And as I was walking by the blu ray players, I saw it! It was your basic LG blu ray player for $49.99. I could not believe my eyes! What was I gonna do? It did not have the features that the next priced ones had (wifi, etc.). However, it was the last one in stock at that point in time. Seeing as I do not have a TV with HDMI or anything fancy like that, I figured that this one would be good enough for me for at least a few years.

As I got to my car, I realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime deal. I quickly ran back into Walmart, and proceeded to return the item (still in the bag with the receipt stapled on it). I got my $30 dollars back from the headphones and walked briskly back to blu ray players. When I got there, it was still there! So, I pick it up and then browse for a blu ray movie or two (depending what's on clearance). I probably browsed for at least an hour just make sure there was something that I could find a good deal on. Did not find a thing.

I purchased the blu ray player, and then proceeded to Target. When I got there, I found some excellent deals on movies but I could either buy one for about $20 dollars or buy two for about $10 bucks a piece. I ended up selecting Public Enemies, and the Princess Bride.

All in all, I feel like I made out with the best deal that I could get right now and probably for awhile. Now I just have to upgrade my TV.

4th and Ruddle

Living off campus is a wonderful blessing. I am currently living with three roommates. Each of us have different personalities and add something different to the house. We regularly joke about who plays what role in our little family. For examples, I am the father always taking care of everyone else, being the provider, and still trying to have as much fun as possible. To not embarrass my roommates I will change their names but many of you will be able to guess who is who. Peter is the mother. He is always worried and concerned that we are going to hurt ourselves, always picking up after us, and constantly saying, "I don't think that's a good idea" which most of the time he is right but we do it anyways. Larry is the rebellious son, always looking for trouble, picking fights, full of energy, and just being wild. Finally, there is Donald, the toddler. The rest of the family is trying to guide him through life while giving him a hard time since he is the youngest and is very curious, always asking questions.

When it comes to purchasing items for our household, I can see who plays each role in our house. I am the gatekeeper, influencer, decider, buyer, and user. I tend to initiate the process and gather the information. I have influence over rest of the household. Usually, I make the final decisions. Unfortunately, I tend to be the buyer but in a college house everyone provides in one way or another and of course I use the product. Peter is an influencer and a user. Larry is a gatekeeper, influencer, and user. Donald has a tendency to just be a user but occasionally is a influencer. Each of us plays a role during the purchase process in our household and has some form of ability to impact the decision making process.

Black Friday Phone Call

On Black Friday this year, I refused to take part in the madness. My pregnant best friend, however, decided to venture out. She called me while she was freezing in the Kohl's parking lot. I have never been Black Friday shopping ever and was amazed to hear the reactions of people over the phone when they were finally let in. It is surprising that materialism literally takes over on Black Friday. To some people the deals seem more important than the people around them! My friend had to fight for a cart! It is amazing that people would make a pregnant girl try to carry heavy items around the store. People seem to let their values fly right out the window on Black Friday and it is truly shocking. Everyone seems to take on agentic traits. They become more aggressive and have no emotion; they just want the products they came for. Gender does not even seem to matter as we saw in the video when people were trampling over women. It is just common courtesy to help people up when they fall down, or to let a pregnant woman have a cart. Black Friday makes people crazy. Although there were not any incidents in Anderson that I know of, it was obvious by the way my friend was treated that there is a lack of respect for others on Black Friday.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...Maybe...

Christmas time is here again and it is more chaotic than ever. The most wonderful time of the year has turned into a shopping frenzy that has turned into a new holiday all in itself. A holiday where people spend the most money on consumer goods as they will in any other single day the entire year. A holiday where the worst can be brought out in people to get the best deal on what they want. A holiday that encourages the greed and selfishness that makes America great (sarcasm). It is the holiday we now know as Black Friday.

What has caused this extreme new holiday the day after thanksgiving? The culture of America and social influences would be a good place to start. The more that Christmas became the most consumeristic holiday of the year, the more a separate, slightly darker holiday was needed to meet the wants of our culture. However, not everyone will pull your hair or pepper spray you to get to the item they want for the price they want. What is it that makes sane people go out on Black Friday? Is it the deals? Possibly, but not likely. What makes us want to stay up all night the night we stuff our faces on Thanksgiving?

Black Friday has become so popular in our society that it has virtually reached every consumer's reference group, whether it is seen as something that is negative or that is positive. No matter what one may think of Black Friday, there is something about it that draws us in. A good friend of mine had never been out on Black Friday because he realized that you can get most of the deals through the entire Christmas season not just on that one day. He decided this year to conform and try it out because of the craziness of it. The way people had been talking about it made it seem like it was similar to a mosh pit at a concert. He had to see for himself. Because of word of mouth, he tried something that he would later call "a regrettable decision." He found out that it is just as crazy, if not crazier than people say it is, especially at Wal-Mart.

Black Friday has become more than just a fad in the United States, it is now the norm. My family may be one of the few that previously participated in Black Friday, but stopped because it became too crazy for their liking. People now participate in Black Friday because it is what everybody else does, and once you start doing something because everybody else does it, you are probably going nowhere fast. Black Friday is now officially a part of Christmas. That should make us question what we have we let Christmas become all about? It used to be the most wonderful time of the year, now we have to cut through the thick fog that is Black Friday and consumerism to find it.