It's the Final

After reflecting on the past semester and what I had learned in Consumer Behavior particular, I came to realize that I look at advertising and commercials completely differently now. Before I would see a commercial and be your typical consumer who would just blankly stare at the screen and later purchase that product without realize what the company is actually selling. For example, learning about the four models of consumer learning made me start understanding advertising and how a consumer learns through different models. Also, surveying and using the information to form a targeting strategy allowed me to understand more about making commercials and why companies use certain information and exclude others. Consumer Behavior class showed how advertising is not only based on the consumer needs but there is a lot more that companies have to take into consideration.

Peace, Love, Consumer Behavior!

Reference Groups

JCPenney is a well-know department store that is highly trusted in the fashion industry. Using reference groups is part of JCPenney's marketing strategy. Reference groups are persons, groups, and institutions one uses as points of reference. There are three forms of reference group influence and JCPenney's Back to School commercial uses the normative influence which occurs when a consumer's decision or action is based on his or her desire to conform  to the expectations of someone else. In the ad for JCPenney, the expectation is to have fun and be dressed to impress on the first day of school . The ad shows teenagers having fun and dancing around with their friends, dressed in stylish new clothing. An important aspect of a teenagers' life is fitting in and looking cool around your friends. The targeted audience for this ad and the reference group influence used all makes sense by showing the clothing and the teenagers having fun with friends and fitting in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V-0pW-tZX8

Ladies, it ain't easy bein' independent

My primary VALS type is Experiencer and my secondary type is Innovator. When we took the survey in class, we took a vote to see how many people were Experiencer and majority of the class fell into that category. The reason for that would be our age group and our generation. We are impulsive consumers and we want to have the latest and greatest of the product. The defition of Experiencer says that we spent a large portion of our income on fashion, entertainment and socializing. And I am a prime example for that. I spent more than half of my paycheck on clothing and I always feel like I don't have enough. I always feel the need to see the latest movie or go out to the best restaurants. I do believe I am Experiencer and I do place looking good and having "cool" stuff up on my priority list. 

My second VALS type is Innovator. The first sentence of the definition of Innovators is "take-charge people with high self-esteem". I do a lot at Roger Williams and I like being in charge of projects or at work. I am a perfectionist and I like to make sure that everything is getting done the right way. Also Innovators are "change leaders" and embrace new ideas and technologies. I recently invited Will Perez, a Brown medical student involved with medical programs in Haiti to come and speak with Roger Williams students. The idea was all mine and I organized the event. I loved how many students showed up and how it was a different program from anything we had done before at our school. Also, Innovators are conserned with image, not as evidence of status or power but as evidence of their taste and independence and I fit that category very well. I don't do projects or events because I want to be popular on campus but I want people to look back on the things I've done in life and say that I've made a change. 

I think the VALS types that I had fit my personality lifestyle very well and I agree with most things that the defition explain about each one. 

Peace, Love, Innovator/Experiencer

Brite Lites, Milf Town

Milford, CT is a second city in Connecticut, right on the coast 45 minutes away from New York City and 10 minutes away from New Haven. I did not grow up in Milford, however I went to high school there and I consider Milford to be my hometown. Milf town, as most of my classmates would call it, is a city with two high schools, always into sports and very family orientated. The primary PRIZM clusters for my hometown were the Brite Lites, Li'l City, Home Sweet Home, Young Influencials, Pools & Patios and Second City Elite. All of those have something in common and that's that most of the families are younger with some or no children who work white collar jobs and spent their weekends grilling by the pool. We are small city with a big heart, as our slogan would indicate. We have a gorgeous downtown area where familes spent weekends watching and feeding the ducks, as well as shopping in the little boutiques around the main street. Most of the families would in the New Haven greater area or the New York/Stamford area. However, they love coming back to Milford to relax, quickly shop at Stop & Shop and relax by the pool. As I've said earlier, many of the teenagers refer to Milford as Milf town. To my generation Milf means Mother I Like to....(I think you get the point), this relates to my town's PRIZM because my town has a lot of young families with attractive spouses who my generation would consider Milfs. I think you can get the reference and how it pertains to the PRIZM cluster of my town.

Jingle, Jingle-Bracelet girl

Thinking about a possession that is closely tied to my sense of identity was hard and stressful. However, I took a little survey and asked my friends about what's the first thing that pops into their head when they think of me and the survey was unanimous-my bracelets. I have 13 bracelets on my hands currently and every single one has a meaning in my life. On my left hand, I have two friendship bracelets from my roommate, Erica that I have had for 2 years now; a bracelet from Mexico, which I got on a trip with my parents over winter break; a Bulgarian bracelet; my Pandora bracelet; a white stone thin bracelet from my aunt and two bracelets(one pink, one turquoise) from the previous summer. On my right hand, I have a red string which is against bad luck and bad fortune; a blue and gold friendship bracelet and a Spirit chain bracelet from Orientation Team; a thick multi-color bracelet from a friend who went to Hawaii and a black and gold friendship bracelet from my good friend, Shannon.

Now you have a visual of all my bracelet, I guess I should explain why they are so closely tied to my identity. I adore jewelry and I like having a lot of bracelets on my hands. However, most of the bracelets that I have, have a deep personal meaning and value in my life. I like to have my friends close to me and some of my bracelets represent just that, my friends. Also, people now just listen to the jingle that my bracelets make and assure I am in close proximity. I suppose one day I will take most of them off but in the near future, they are not going anywhere.

I hear a lot of times people make comments if their phones are not near them that they feel "naked" and I feel the same way without my bracelets-naked. I don't hide behind my bracelets, quite the opposite actually. I express myself through them. They are wonderful conversation starters and people love playing with them. I, on the other hand, love them and consider them a very valuable part of my identity and well-being.

Peace, Love, Bracelets =)

Priming

Ever wonder, what you want to do before you die. Me neither, until a show on MTV became a huge part of my life and made me realize how much time we have on our hands and how that time could be occupied by doing things you would have never thought of doing before. The Buried Life is a TV show on MTV that started with four guys from Canada who decided they wanted to accomplish 100 things on their list before they died, the catch was for every things crossed off their list, they would help someone on the road achieve something on their list. They kept a video blog which they then sold to MTV and that's how I was exposed to the best show. You are probably wondering at this point, how is this priming. Isn't it obvious? By showing a show like that, MTV is priming us, (the teenagers), to start looking at our life in a different light. We become more involved and we start thinking in terms of what exactly do I want to achieve before I die, how can I not waste my precious time I have left and why am I not helping other people around me do the same. After watching the show for the first time, I told all my friends and we all started our bucket lists and now, a year later, we are all patiently awaiting the second season of the show and we have crossed out plenty on our own lists. This is a prime example of priming.
So please, go on your computers and begin your list of things to do before you die and don't forget to help out other along the way.

Peace, Love, What do you want to do before you die?

Joining In/Staying Out

Before I began writing this particular blog, I had a conversation with  my friends about all the different groups we all belong to. I am a college student, a New Englander, a now generation member, a student leader, a hippie/fashionable woman, an active humanitarian and more. One that stood out for me was a hippie/fashionable woman. I love fashion and I am highly attracted to clothing that has a story or clothing that expresses my mood in a particular day. The group that I belong to is the Peace Generation, as I would like to call it. Our symbol that we identify with is the Peace symbol and we all believe in peace and love. I purchase clothing from various different stores but I try to purchase things that have a better cause than just making me look "cute". For example, the brand TOMS shoes, is my favorite shoe brand. The founder, Blake Mycoskie is also a part of the Peace Generation and his brand is all about giving back to the world. For every pair of TOMS shoes sold, a pair of shoes is donated to child in need. The shoes come in various colors, patterns and designs but the general aspect of them is the comfortability and the good feeling that comes after purchasing them. Our community, (The Peace Generation), associates with companies that offer comfortability, as well as a good cause and of course fashion sense. Something that stood out when I was reading Walker was that you don't have to participate in the community  in order to be a part of it. The example he used was about skateboarding and the community around it. With the Peace Generation, you don't have actually believe in peace and try your hardest to help the world in order to be a part of the community around it and wear TOMS and feel accomplished. 

A group that I don't belong to is the J.Crew generation. J. Crew stands for clean, beautiful shapes that are professional looking and bright colors all into one. The brand the group associates with is J. Crew. The stores all around the country are very "preppy" like with a professional spin. The reason why I don't belong to this group is not because I don't like the clothes, and I am an owner of J.Crew clothing, but the style is not me. I love the way their clothes look on certain people but I don't seem to fall into that category. Maybe one day, I will be a J.Crew follower and look like the girls in the magazine ads but for right now I will stay true to  my believes and sense of style and stay a Peace Generation child. 

Peace, Love, Joining In/Staying Out