In our most recent COMM 101 class we learned about marketing research. There are many reasons why businesses conduct primary research and collect secondary research, but it boils down to this: research improves important decisions. When it comes to marketing, those decisions can have to do with packaging, aesthetics, advertising techniques, and more.

The Consumer Decision Journey; Image Source

These factors will affect the consumer’s decision journey (pictured above). When making a purchase in a certain category the consumer will first consider an initial set of brands, evaluate and narrow down, then finally make a purchase decision. The next steps involve experiencing the product, advocating for it (or not), and bonding with it. Bonding is arguably the most important step, as consumers who bond with a product are more likely to make repeat purchases.

Any change in a product’s marketing could drastically effect any of the steps in a particular consumer’s decision journey. This is why effective, specific research is necessary to know how to market a product in the most effective way possible. Something as simple as a change in color scheme or packaging material could tremendously improve the consumer’s opinion on a product. But without marketing research, there’s no way for a company to know what that simple change could be in their specific case.

Maria Starko’s Blogpost discusses a quinoa bowl restaurant in California called Eatsa.

Eatsa; Image Source

The restaurant is unique because it “allows customers to get a meal without interacting with a single person”. Customers enter an order into a computer, and receive their food out of a cubby in the wall. The only human workers in the restaurant are the cooks. The post got me thinking; how far could automation like this go? The viral video “Humans Need Not Apply” clams that there isn’t really a limit to how far it could go. At first that thought didn’t sit with me well. What will we do when there are no jobs left for us?

It is human nature to want to get the most work done with the least amount of effort. Two hundred years ago Eli Whitney’s cotton gin made separating cotton fibers from the seed an automatic instead of a manual job.

Cotton Gin; Image Source

Now Eatsa is making something as personal as waiting tables an automatic instead of a manual job. Is that really so bad though? Within the next 20 years, we can expect nearly every aspect of the transportation industry to be automated. Divers, captains, and pilots will be replaced by a machine that does their job better and at lower cost. More and more jobs get taken over by automation every day, but unlike Ms. Starko, I don’t think that is inherently bad. We shouldn’t halt our progress as a species simply to reduce unemployment rates. We should work towards a more sustainable, productive future. If that means that some electrical employees are going to take over along the way, it’s fine by me.

Websites like Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and Indiegogo have ushered in an era where a startup company with a unique, creative, revolutionary, or simply fun idea can raise money by the millions in a matter of days. The content on these websites, however, isn’t actually regulated very strictly. Last year, someone made a post called “Potato Salad” with the description “Basically I’m just making potato salad. I haven’t decided what kind yet.” It raised over $50,000.

Said Kickstarter page; Image Source

One of the problems (or strengths depending how you look at it) with crowdfunding is that people make impulsive, emotion-driven decisions. If something seems exciting, people are likely to throw money at it. Startup companies know this, and therefore tend to glorify and exaggerate the capabilities and features of their products. With potato salad, its easy to see what is being sensationalized and what is not. But with something like “Solar Roadways“, it can be much more difficult to tell.

Solar Roadways; Image Source

A seven minute video describes the product’s features. The short version is that Solar Roadways are “Solar panels that you can drive, park and walk on. They melt snow & cut greenhouse gases by 75% ?!!!” Neither of these claims have been tested extensively or proven. While in theory an electric surface could melt snow, according to this video (and many other sources) it would take vastly greater amounts of energy than even the most efficient solar panels can produce to do so. The load bearing capacity, life span, and many other aspects of “Solar Roadways” hadn’t been tested at the beginning of the campaign either. As consumers we need to learn to see through deceiving marketing, and make our crowdfunding decisions logically, not emotionally.