How Colors Can Influence Shopping

One of the most powerful methods to appeal to a potential buyer is the use of color theory. Different colors can be used to affect our emotional status making people feel safer with one color and more energetic with another one. Have you ever noticed that landing on some web page you feel like clicking some links and keep browsing the site? While on other when you try to navigate away you get annoying popup messages. It’s because of the developers choice of color.

Color is believed to be one of the most powerful elements of design for web sites, direct mail, ads, and other marketing materials. It carries meaning through associations or your body physical response. When it brands color is crucial. The majority of memorial brand use bright eye catching colors to grab the attention of possible buyers. The color red activates your pituitary gland and increases your heart rate making you feel more energetic while color like blue and green may make you feel calm and secure because their associated with nature and the sky.

Although online and physical stores may use different colors to affect your decision, the fact is it all boils down to a matter of personal preference and what memories err associated with the color. The color blue might make some people feel calm while others feel slightly anxious by it because they may have almost drowned as a young child. That doesn't change the fact that by showing the majority of people what they want to see corporations may some times be able to influence your shopping habits.

http://www.seosmarty.com/brand-color/

I Wanna Be Just Like You!

You're watching TV. You flip through the channels for something to settle on. Suddenly, something catches your eye. You stop and see Taylor Swift holding a chain saw on a Home Depot commercial. Seem a little out of the ordinary? That's because the advertising world is a whole deal smarter than that.

Companies purposely hire popular stars to market their products. The star is specifically chosen for a specific product. You wouldn't see Taylor Swift with a chain saw any soon than you would see Gene Simmons try to sell Edible Arrangements. What you do see, however, is what causes you to buy.

Xenadrine is a drug to help consumers lose more weight and gain more energy. Jersey Shore cast member Ronnie Magro has become a spokesman for this product. He's a big guy--very built with enough muscles for the entire Jersey Boardwalk. It makes sense that he appear on Xenadrine commercials. People see him in his form-fitting tank tops, and they want to be just like that. They want to be fit and strong, and they figure "if Ronnie takes this drug, then I should too." They don't take into account the hours upon hours Ronnie spends in the gym working on those muscles--all they see on their TV is Ronnie, muscles, and Xenadrine.

"Easy, breezy, beautiful Covergirl" has found a spokesperson for their product, "the look of Simply Ageless Serum Primer". Ellen DeGeneres was their choice, a fifty-two year old woman who looks as though she could pass for thirties in her Covergirl ads. Viewers are speechless when they see how well this make up worked for Ellen, and they want to try it out themselves. Ellen is a stand-up comedian, TV show host, actress, and was featured as a judge on American Idol for a short time. Knowing that her face has been seen by many people in many different scenarios, Covergirl knew exactly what they were doing when they hired her. The commercials have won again.

Sources: wikipedia.org

covergirl.com

xenadrine.com

A Little to the Left...One to the Right...Perfect!

The placement of products throughout a store has a direct relationship with how well those products sell. There are many ways to influence a consumer's purchase. Three of those strategies include the placement of inventory on shelves, the placement of catchy signs, and the placement of unnecessary products. These tactics are what make stores thousands and thousands of dollars every year.

Walk down the cereal aisle at your local grocery store. Notice how there seems to be a certain organization of the boxes on the shelves? The store brand ones are all the way up at the top out of sight, the sugar infested cereals are low where the children can easily grab them, and the healthy options are right at eye level. There's no accident here. Stores plan out their displays very carefully, even going to the specific detail of the average shopper's height. Stores use certain tricks to manipulate their shoppers, such as putting sale items right at eye level so that the deal seems quite reasonable, however just below or above that sale there has been the same product of the store brand for the same price all along. The good deal has always been there, but cleverly hidden out of sight.

Timing also influences a consumer's need to buy. Stores will place flashy, eye-catching signs around the walk ways advertising "hot spring fashions" or "new styles" that makes the buyer believe if they don't act now, the opportunity will be lost. This is not true, because as the weeks go by the inventory changes, which brings all new options for the consumer. The bright and catchy signs distract a shopper from drawing logical conclusions.

Impulse buying is one thing a store thrives on. There is no need for a Hershey bar at the checkout line, or a pointless tabloid magazine with the latest gossip. Yet somehow, these purchases still give stores thousands and thousands of dollars alone. The strategic placement of these candy bars and magazines at the checkout line is just what the idle brain of a consumer will fall to. They may pick up an interesting magazine, however not be able to finish it by the time they have to pay. So, they'll just buy it anyway. This is how the stores maximize their profits.

Eye-level shopping, timing, and spontaneous purchases are what mess with the consumer's mind. The strategic placement of products around a store reel in thousands of dollars. Next time you're walking through your grocery store, stop and think about it. Do you want the salsa just because you're buying the chips? Or perhaps is this one of the store's twisted mind games...

Source: thriftyfun.com

Scents Sell

A study by Gueguen and Petr (2006) studied the effects different smells have on how much time and money people spend in restaurants. Instead of observing the effect the smell of food had on people, they observed the effects the smell of lavender had. A small pizzeria in France, was where the experiment took place on three Saturdays during the month of May. Three different experimental conditions were tested, the first with no aroma was dispersed other than that coming from the food being served. The second, the smell of lemon was diffused into the atmosphere of the restaurant and the third lavender.

When lemon used the amount of money spent increased but not by a statistically significant amount, but when the scent of lavender was used not only did the spending per person increased from 17.5 Euros to 21.1 Euros on average, but so did the average amount of time spent in the restaurant from 91.3 minutes to 105.7 minutes. In busy restaurants, owners often want a high throughput of diners. More covers equals more cash and more lavender equals more cash intake but people drinking coffee with the sent of lavender in the air is not necessarily going to increase profits. For small restaurants and cafes that are mostly empty the sent of lavender might help increase their profits in the poor economy.

Gueguen, N., & Petr, C. (2006). Odors and consumer behavior in a restaurant. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 25, 335-339.

Let's Go Shopping

Personally, I love to shop. Bright window displays easily draw me in, spring catalogs absorb my attention for hours, and 7 unnecessary pairs of knock-off ray ban glasses have recently found their way into my wardrobe. Anyone who knows me well can see my obvious weakness for dresses, band t-shirts, hair accessories, and shoes, but what is less apparent is why I feel the desire to buy these things. Why do I love going to the mall for things that I do not need? Why do I clutter my shelves with belts and scarves? Why do I have a pair of sun glasses for every color of the rainbow? To find answers to these tough life questions, I sought the advice and insight of my fellow college students and analyzed their motivations for buying clothing, in order to help me decipher my own. I wanted to know how the personal styles of my peers are affected by advertising, brand names, the media, and the price of products, so over the past month, I have conducted twenty seven interviews with random students from SUNY New Paltz and Marist. I interviewed these subjects, who are of all genders and styles, in order to pick apart the minds of college consumers and find answers to my inquiries.

In order to find the reason behind individual shopping habits and consumer demands, I first asked what various students consider to be their personal style. While I expected answers such as "preppy" or "hipster", I was surprised to learn that very few college students identify with a defined dress code.

"I don't have a style; it comes down to whatever looks good. I mean,

i'm wearing a 'Muppet Show' T-shirt right now..."

-Joe D.

"I don't know... I wear hoodies, tees, jeans, the occasional thermal... I really don't have a style. I used to always wear button-ups and nice shoes but being formal was too time consuming."

-Mike R.

"I don't really know. I like retro clothes, like I think they're cool, but I don't wear them. I also like to look girly and dress up but normally I just wear jeans and a T-shirt. I don't really think I know anyone with a specific 'style'. Most people just wear whatever."

-Lauren S.

"I want to say 'things that look nice' but really I just throw on whatever is in my closet."

-Jennie D.

I then asked where various students shop for clothes and why and received a wide range of answers:

"Thrift stores, generic stores like Bob's Footwear and stuff,

American Eagle if I have a gift card and anywhere on-line."

-Matt T.

"On-line? i don't know, I kind of shop all over the place."

-Marygrace N.

"The funny thing is, up until last year my mom bought all of my clothes for me. I mean... well... she still does but when I actually do buy clothes I go to Kohl's."

-Luke A.

Judging by the previous quotations, one may begin to assume that college students do not put too much emphasis on specific store brands. However, I did encounter many loyal customers of stores such as Forever 21 (11 participants), Urban Outfitters (13 participants), GAP (17 participants), and PacSun (18 participants).

"The GAP is classic. They have everything from stuff I wear to the beach to like, funeral pants. They have such a wide range of clothes that are generally really cute."

-Erica E.

"I buy all of my clothes at Forever 21. Everything is so amazingly cheep and adorable. Everything in my closet is from that store and I'm perfectly okay with that."

-Rachel S.

"I don't know, I guess I like the laid back style. Plus [PacSun] is

apparently going out of business so everything is like, free almost."

-Dan U.

Numerous subjects mentioned low cost as a motive for buying clothing from a specific store, so I inquired further to see just how large a role money plays in product consumption by asking if higher cost generates a better or more valuable product. It turns out, the vast majority of students feel that the lower the cost, the better. High price held very little appeal.

"Cost absolutely plays a role, butI buy clothes that are cheep. If two items are

comparable and one's brand name and one's cheeper, I'll go with the cheeper one."

-Chris H.

"If it costs more, it's of no higher quality to me. I mean, I'll still buy expensive

things if I like them, but I wish everything would cost less."

-Alyssa A.

"Nope. The best socks I've ever had came in a pack of 10 that only cost me two bucks. Then again, my boots... well, most of my shoes actually, cost me like, $200.00. It just happens that way though. If I want something and it's expensive, I'll buy it."

-Mike A.

"If it's cheep, I'll buy it, which is actually a problem sometimes. Like, I'll buy crappy clothes or clothes that I don't like as much as more expensive ones just because they're cheeper. Unless I have someone there to tell me to buy the nice one, I probably won't."

-Heather C.

I then inquired as to how prominent brand names are when buying products. While one may think that wearing products by a cool or popular company would be appealing, all but two of my subjects disagreed. In fact, brand names often generated a negative effect.

"Most of the time, names make things cost more so I don't buy them. Like, a shirt that says 'ABERCROMBIE' across it, I wouldn't buy. I think thats obnoxious."

-Victoria W.

"Brand names don't make anything more valuable to me. If I could buy 3 generic polos or one like, Ralph Lauren polo, ill obviously buy the three cheap ones."

-Tim H.

"There are name brand stores I'll shop at... like, I guess it's cool to have an American Eagle symbol on your shirt? I don't know. I only shop in some brand name stores that have good quality though. I don't really care about the name itself."

-Kevin C.

"I could honestly care less less. Kohl's all the way."

-Christie P.

Since advertising is understood as having a monumental role in consumer psychology, I inquired as to how strongly my peers are affected by various advertisements and got a wide range of positive and negative results. It seems that most studies on this subject are correct: everyone is effected by advertising, but in a variety of ways.

"I am very aware of advertising and I try to avoid it. If I see an advertisement with a message that I disagree with, then I wont buy it regardless of its quality. Like, if I walk by Abercrombie and Fitch and theres a half-naked guy and a half-naked girl who don't even look like real people, then that's a message that I don't agree with."

-Samantha L.

"The only way advertising effects what i wear is in movies. Like, if I see a character wearing a cool jacket, then I'll be like, 'I want that jacket.' Other then that, I don't think I have ever looked at an advertisement and been enticed to buy something clothing wise."

-Andrew R.

"Well if a see a mannequin wearing nice clothes, I'll buy it, or at least try it on. I feel like, even if you don't realize it, advertisements influence you. Like, if I see a cool clothing commercial, I'll want to buy that stuff. You buy clothes that advertise the look you're going for."

-Alex A.

"If I see something nice on a commercial and I see people wearing it and it looks cool, then I'll be like 'I want that too.' I feel like everyone does that, really. It's the whole idea of fitting in."

-Joey Y.

Since my range of results for each question were predominantly wide, as my final question I asked what specifically has the greatest effect on what each individual buys and wears. Surprisingly, this broad question had the fewest response variations.

"I guess how it looks... like, how it fits me."

-Mary F.

"Personal taste? I guess that effects what everyone wears

but i buy things in accordance with my own style."

-Mike S.

"Color and how it pertains to my style."

-Conor W.

"How clothes look on me determines if I buy them."

-Jacquie D.

"Um... probably colors. I like colorful things."

-Mala M.

So there you have it. Surprise surprise, a good number of college kids hate spending money on things, are affected by the media, and dress, not based on style, but on personal preference and color. Though this study does not lessen my love for shopping, I now have a better understanding of the reasons behind my drive to buy things, and of consumer psychology as a whole.

What Is In A Name?

There are many strategies to naming products, corporates, businesses, and brands. Many of these strategies are so simple and so discrete, that the consumer gives in to the purchasing temptation without a single thought as to why. Here is the inside scoop to some of those naming strategies.
Metonymy is a figure of speech where the name of an object is replaced with a word closely related to the original. Starbucks Coffee uses this to make consumers think that their money, or "bucks", which sounds more hip and energetic just like the coffee they wish to purchase, is going towards a better product by that decision. Perhaps the company even wanted to make their consumers feel all the more special by putting the word "star" in the title. Maybe as a consumer is waiting on line for their cafe mocha grande, they feel more like a star rather than just in a rush to get to work.
Haplology is used in company names like Toys R Us, where there is an omission of a repeated occurrence of a sound or syllable in the pronunciation. Aside from eliminating all unnecessarily repeated sounds, the tactic of haplology makes names more fun to say and look at. Let's say you drove past a sign that read: Toys Are Us. It just looks silly, doesn't it? It also doesn't seem to make much sense. Toys are who? But when a company decides to make it Toys "R" Us, rather than "are", the name seems all the more better. Maybe now the driver will make a quick turn into a parking lot rather than continuing to drive on with a confused look.
Finally, clipping is used to target the rate or pace at which a name is pronounced. It shortens a word or phrase by dropping one or more syllables. FedEx is an example of clipping. Say it out loud: FedEx. Seems to have one syllable, correct? In reality, that name should consist of two syllables, Fed and Ex. That doesn't flow off the tongue very well. FedEx flows quickly and naturally, eliminating any choppy pronunciations and therefore perhaps saving the company from a choppy reputation.
So, apparently there is a lot more thought put into a name than any regular consumer might see. There's a lot of "behind the scenes" work that goes into naming corporates, products, businesses, and brands. The three examples above (three of many more in existence) show how a consumer may be more likely to choose one product over another, or maybe one business instead of another one with the same inventory to sell. But the beauty is that the consumer is not always aware of the naming-schemes set before them. So, what is in a name? Apparently a lot more than Shakespeare even knew.


Source: www.namedevelopment.com
www.dictionary.com

Higher Costs in Raising children Leads to Idealizing Parenthood

While raising a child is both economically and emotionally draining for parents, many parents insist that their children are an essential source of happiness in their lives. Parents create fairytale like images of raising their children as a way to justify the great economic investment that is required to raise them. This relates to justification of investment which we discussed in class. When parents put a lot of time and money into raising their children, they tend to justify their investment and tend to be more positive about it. Even parents of disabled children tend to be very postive about parenting since they put a lot of time and effort into rasing their child.

A study was conducted by psychological scientists Richard Eibach and Steven Mock from the University of Waterloo. There were two groups of parents studied. The first group was primed to think about how expensive it is to raise a child. The second group was primed to think about the costs and benefits of raising a child. Then the experimenters asked both groups a series of questions such as how happy they were spending time with their children and how much time they hoped to spend with their child their next day off of work. The study found that the first group, who had focused on the costs of raising a child, enjoyed spending time with their children much more and planned on spending more leisure time with their children.

The experimenters further discussed that in the past children went to work young and actually were of economic value for the family. During this time the emotional relationship between parent and child was much less affectionate then now. Today, children cost a lot to raise and because of this, there is an increase in the belief that parenting is emotional rewarding.

Sources:
Idealizing Parenthood to Rationalize Parental Investments

Parenting Children with Disabilities Becomes Less Taxing With Time