I leave this post in response to my classmate Maggie Lo’s October 8th blog entitled “Station Square’s Attractiveness”, linked to here.
When searching for a good piece to post a reply to, this one caught my eye for a number of reasons. First of all, purple. Who wouldn’t stop to look for a second with a background like that? The second and primary reason was the applicability of the content: the sudden explosion of high-rise condos all over Greater Vancouver.
One of the larger developments is happening at Station Square in Burnaby near Metrotown. Maggie explains the various ways the developers draw in customers for the new high rises:
- Have mailing lists and pre-sale showrooms with sales agents on hand to build a relationship
- Selling the condo units in phases rather than all at once.
- Advertising a sense of community within the development rather than a collection of homes
I thought it would be worthwhile to point out that each of these tactics match up quite nicely with at least one of the Principles of Consumer Behaviour. The first point fits the commitment principle nicely. By having the customer on a mailing list for easy access and building an in-person relationship through pre-sale events, it makes them more comfortable with the sales environment and more importantly they’ve invested time into the relationship. The second introduces the scarcity principle. These are massive 35-57 story high-rises; there are plenty of homes. By selling them in limited quantities and emphasizing that they are going quickly, it creates an illusion that the customer must buy quickly. The community aspect reminds me of the liking principle. The developer emphasizes that there are people just like the customer also looking in the same area and will be living nearby.