This is truly fascinating stuff.
I couldn’t dig up the exact image that was shown in class, but it’s generally the same thing.
I should first start off with some background information. I was sitting in class, I think the lecture was about marketing, and a slide comes up with a similar diagram of the consumer decision process stages. Now, because it was quite a long list, my first notion was to ignore it (as I usually ignore a majority of long, complicated slides).
However, since an in-class assignment was involved, I was “forced” to read through it- and was amazed at its accuracy. It got to the point where I was verifying each of my last purchases, ranging from food, to a netbook, to a phone, for about 10 minutes, recounting my so-called psychological processes at the time.
Although the diagram and the analysis of our trains of thought is truly impressive, it scares me to think of how we (as consumers) can be played in the hands of corporate marketing divisions so easily. I don’t consider myself as an impulse buyer at all, but if I adhere so comfortably to the diagram, surely something can be done to tip the scales and entice me to purchase something I normally wouldn’t.
I’ve come to the realization that
1. Marketing is really underestimated sometimes… and
2. I should pay more attention to these complicated diagrams.