Crossing the Finish Line

As the semester is coming to a close, so is the content of my blog. I really enjoyed making this blog and wish very much I would have started sooner! 

Consumer behavior is a very interesting topic and one that takes a lot of thinking outside of the box. You are basically acting as a psychiatrist trying to predict how and why consumers make their decisions. This semester took a lot of creative thinking and group work which I think was very beneficial.  The books and articles that I talked about fit in nicely to the content of the class and allowed for a better understanding of the material. I was very happy to apply the concepts learned in class to the real life situations I have been in throughout the semester. Learning more about consumer behavior has made me so much more aware of my decisions and habits. I had a great time in this class and making this blog for you all, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Weathering Grocery Shopping

Unfortunately, I had to do some grocery shopping today; probably one of my least favorite things to do. As I was going through the isles, I realized that I've had some different shopping habits as the weather got warmer. More cold items and brighter colors filled my basket and it made me think about how my grocery decisions really do change as the weather outside does. 

Sure sure, buying habits change during seasons like buying snow shovels in the winter and gardening shovels in the summer, but groceries? It was never something that crossed my mind. I always thought I was the consumer who bought the same things over and over again every time I went to the store, but apparently I don't. A lot of this could be due to seasonal foods like fruit. I buy a ton more fruit in the summer than I do in the winter, which I think is true for many of us considering there is more of a variety in the spring/summer. 

While I wanted to find some research on this, I came across this link. It talked about how marketers can predict what consumers will buy just by looking at the Weather Channel. Just seeing what the weather will be like that day can hint that people may be buying more sunscreen or bug spray. Another topic the article talked about was temperature. The warmer the consumer felt, the more they were willing to spend because they felt a sense of comfort. 

These seem to be things that make sense when you think about it, but that's just it, it is something I haven't thought about as I shop!

The Most Immaculate Building on Campus

As I am finishing up the last bits and pieces of my junior year, I am starting to look at my schedule for my senior year and I became very excited that a majority of my classes are in the new College of Business building, Jabs Hall. Now, this is not your average building, it is designed to provoke creative thinking and allow students and faculty to work in an open environment. And by open, I mean open; almost everything is made of glass! 

This building as absolutely immaculate and I am very exciting to be spending most of my time in it for the next year and half. It has two fireplaces, plenty of seating, group study rooms, and even a cafe. They definitely went all-out with this building and I think us students will get out of it everything that the designers intended us to. 

All-Time Favorites (#1)

For my all-time favorite ad I am choosing the Dove Beauty Campaign. Now this isn't exactly an aired commercial but went viral for a very good reason. This is definitely longer than a regular commercial ad but if you have the time please watch it all; it truly sends a fantastic message. This was such a great move for Dove especially in our society today, where the media is constantly trying to tell women how they should look, causing massive body image issues for women of all ages. It has been so impactful and effective, and has opened the eyes of many men and woman. I have always been a fan of Dove products but this made me love the company even more.

All-Time Favorites (#2)

For my second favorite commercial ad, I think the Subaru: "They Lived" commercial gets some major credit. When I first saw this ad, it had such an impact. Two words are repeated throughout the entirety of the commercial and it is still one of the most effective ads I have seen. It just proves that you do not need some over the top, ridiculous ad to make such a big impact on consumers. Subaru did a great job here of pulling at heart strings of families everywhere. I could imagine that their sales went up after this commercial aired because effectively makes consumers think, "would we live?"

All-Time Favorites (#3)

For my next few blog posts I am going to do a 3 part series that rank some of my favorite commercials that I've seen. I am going to start out with my number 3 favorite and work my way to number one throughout the day!

My #3 pick is the Android: Friends Furever ad. Goodness, I love this ad, it just makes me so happy! I mean, how could it not? A ton of very different animals coexisting happily truly gives you some feelings. I wouldn't exactly label this ad as "effective" because I didn't know what this ad was advertising for a very long time. However, after seeing many ads now days that are extremely odd and often have me asking, "How many people had to approve that ad before it could run?", it is truly refreshing to see something so kind-hearted and loving.

Did You Take the Bait?

So awhile ago in class we talked about clickbait titles. You know, those titles that make something sound so exciting but then leaves you hanging so you have to click on the link? Yes those! I find myself falling into the trap time after time, so they obviously are effective. Today, as I was scrolling though my Facebook feed, there was an article about one of my favorite bands that read, "Did the Band Really Break Up On Stage!?" As I went into a mild panic, I clicked on the link and right below the title it read, "The Answer is No If You Were Wondering!" These things drive me crazy for multiple reasons.

Reason 1, most of the time the title is misleading and does not actually mean what we think it means. Sometimes the content of the article has absolutely nothing to do with the exciting title and we are just left wonder why.

Reason 2 is when the article and the title are related but the "exciting news" isn't really all that exciting. This is also a huge disappointment for me because the title causes so much build up but does not live up to what it was suppose to expose. Maybe someday I'll quit falling for them, but I just can't help my sense of curiosity.

And the Sprinting is Over!

As we wrapped up our final day of the design sprint yesterday, I would say we came up with a good solution. We created a budgeting app that the customer will may a monthly fee for. They will see a calendar of each month and the expenses that will come out on whichever day of that month and letting them know how much money they will have left after all of the expenses are taken out. They will have to link up their bank account info but the app cannot withdrawal any money from it. The consumer will also receive daily notifications on the smartphone with how much money is available for spending that day so they can never go over budget. 

I'm sure there are similar apps out there like this, but it can also split the bills between roommates and offer incentives when the user is within their budget for the month (say, put into a drawing to win concert tickets). With these incentives it will nudge the user to want to use their money wisely and not go over their budget. 

Our final for this class is to not only present our app but more than anything we have to show our three day process of how we reached our solution. I like that we have to do this because the process was the most important and tasking part, we really had to get creative and solve problems in ways that we were unfamiliar with. I enjoyed this process very much and have a good hunch that I will be using it again in the future!