Predictably Irrational Reflection

After reading the books Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely and Nudge by Thaler and Sustein,  I found them to be very similar in many ways. I feel like Predictably Irrational could be some sort of prequel into Nudge, in the sense that it illustrated how people react to different situations while nudge showed us that ew can persuade people to do things based on these situations. For example, in the first chapter of Predictably Irrational, it talked about a company that made bread makers, they originally sold one product for $99. the product was doing terribly (people were like "why would I need a bread maker when I can just buy bread?") and they needed to do something about it. What this company did was sell a new, better, bread maker for $199. This caused the cheaper bread maker to sell more because it was put into perspective (now people were like "well this one's cheaper and affordable, why would I need such a fancy bread maker?"). Obviously, they were nudging people to buy the cheap one.

One significant idea from this book is that the supplier usually has power over the consumer in terms of asking price and value. Suppliers can and have taken advantage of the behavior of consumers given certain situations. People love free things (even if the product costs more, at least shipping is free, or even though I waited in line for two hours to get this ice cream at least it was free), people act different when aroused, people respond to "anchors" and so much more. My favorite example was when black pearls weren't selling at all, but when a merchant put them in the window next to diamonds and gems, they started to sell like crazy.

What I have taken away from these books is awareness and paranoia. Awareness when i'm out of the house and marketers are trying to nudge me one direction. Also I am paranoid (not to a crazy person level) that just about every large corporation knows how to get me to buy things. So I make a list and put my headphones in when grocery shopping.

Reflection On The Persuaders

The Persuaders was an episode on PBS's show Frontline. It basically covered what direction marketing was headed in 2004, and although some of it was outdated (today there is a huge presence of the internet and smartphones), a lot of the information still holds true today. What stood out to me was when the narrator, was talking about clutter, and how it is getting harder and harder to reach consumers. Also, as companies and marketing firms try to "break through" the clutter, it only creates more clutter.

This made me think about how many advertisements I see every day. After I get ready for the day, I walk out of the house and instantly see flyers attached to the streetlight outside my front door, I barely take notice and continue walking to school. As I walk, I listen to music on Spotify, where I hear ads because I don't pay for "premium" Spotify. When I start hearing an advertisement, I simply turn my cell phone volume down and ignore it. Also, every morning when I check my email I have a newsletter from the Brakken Center ready for me to read, this newsletter is usually promoting some sort of business club, I casually delete the emails without even looking at them (which is bad, I know there is a lot of great information). When I finally get to Jabs Hall, I am bombarded by advertisements. the halls are flooded with flyers decorate the building, posters that advertise the career fair, posters advertising the companies going to the career fair, LaunchCats flyers, Toastmasters flyers, and so many more. The thing is, I usually don't take notice of these advertisements.



Although clutter is becoming more and more of a problem, some commercials are permanently engraved in my long-term memory, mainly those that are funny, those that are played entirely too many times, or those that happen to have a catchy song. For example, I always think of Jake from State Farm whenever the word "khakis"is said out loud, or I recall this jingle whenever I hear somebody talking about credit cards. All I know is that as a marketer, it is incredibly important to be different, or as Seth Godin said, "be remarkable".

There are many ways in order to "be remarkable" but taking risks, taking chances, and just doing anything to set yourself away from competitors is the best way to cut through clutter and actually reach a target market.

The Influence of Music

I was reading a fellow classmates blog today, and he was talking about how music really does influence consumer behavior. I found it interesting because after thinking about it and listening to some old songs, I realized that just about every song is tied to a memory. Good or bad, music has an incredibly powerful influence on my life. Marketers use a very specific criteria when choosing songs to put in their ads. like it or not, music does has an effect on how people behave, people respond differently, but it does impact a person's actions.

Jake's article got me thinking about how music could be used to nudge people into making good decisions. The book "Nudge" written by Richard Thaler and Cass Sustein in 2008, defines a nudge as a way of using choice architecture to influence people's decisions, while not limiting all of their options. It is a nudge because it isn't forceful, it doesn't make you act a certain way, but it can alter or influence the way a person thinks and acts. Using music to nudge people would be like playing party songs on an advertisement for a Bud Light, or Sarah McGlaughlin singing sad songs for an anti-animal cruelty organization that is trying persuade television viewers to donate, or even playing soothing music to try to get a client relaxed for a medical procedure or a massage.

Music is all around us and has an impeccable impact on the lives of humans, it varies from culture to culture, but is consistent in the fact that every culture has their own type of music. Music has the power to latch on to your brain forever, when you hear a song that you haven't heard in years, you can still remember the lyrics. This is why music could be so easily used in marketing, if one only remembers to choose the right songs.