Scott Wasden's Blog

Recently, in class we have discussed the factors of consumer behaviour.  After reviewing a few blogs from fellow classmates I came across an interesting one, https://blogs.ubc.ca/seanbmcnulty/, titled consumer behaviour. This post offers a statistical analysis of the popularity of facebook and some of its’ usage patterns.  A site such as facebook with its mass population is a key resource which can be tapped

to push information to customers.  Some may even argue facebook is the most popular media site, however it is only a small piece of the social media spectrum, as there are many others such as twitter, myspace, etc.

There is one common device that has the ability to bring all these  similar social phenomena together.  Cell phones are all around us and I would beg to say they are deemed a “necessity” to todays society.  Of course many including myself,  are set on having the smartphone (blackberry, iphone, etc) which has the capabilities of accessing these social media sites anytime or anywhere.

Not only do these devices allow for social media access but have also been transformed into a valuable marketing tool.  Starbucks for example has recently introduced an easy pay app for blackberries and the iphone.  This system allows for customers to load money onto their mobile Starbucks account and then pay at the till with a quick and easy scan of the app barcode.  With this mindless  speedy payment method Starbucks hopes to increase customer satisfaction and the overall shopping experience.  Yet, recently  issues such as privacy and security have been brought to the forefront with an increase in online trafficking.  How do you think consumers will respond to Starbucks tactics? Personally I feel it is a great idea and will only increase Starbucks already strong foundation.