Month: February 2013

An interesting blog post, “Playing Chicken with your Customers” by Shelley McQuade, described two scenarios that reflected the importance of understanding consumer behaviours.

In the first scenario, two customers have an item in hand ready to purchase and trying to find an additional item. After wandering through many aisles, they still could not find the item or any sales person. Thus, they gave up in the end and decided to order the item online instead.  In the second scenario, a customer is shopping online but could not find the “submit payment” button on the website after she made her purchasing decisions.

Both scenarios showed that companies did not make purchasing easier (or easy enough) for consumers. Consumer behaviours can be affected by various factors, including: psychological, social, situation, and the marketing mixes (4 P’s). The first scenario showed the importance of “place” for a product. If the product is not distributed in somewhere convenient for the consumers, they are not likely to buy it. Moreover, they will have a negative impression on the store, and probably spread the words among their friends, which are referred to as negative word of mouth.

The second scenario suggested that companies should make their websites more user – friendly. Depending on their target group, they may face various generations of customers. Older generations such as the Babyboomers, Generation X’s are not as technologically savvy as Generation Y. Therefore, companies should make websites simple and straight forward to make purchasing experience better for consumers.

This article demonstrated the importance of understanding consumer behaviours, which is crucial for companies in order to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage and succeed.

This morning, an article called “The best ads of 2012 (picked by those in the know)” caught my eyes. After I watched all 8 of the presented videos, I would like to share one of them, which I found to be very creative and interesting, and discuss how this ad affects my attitudes in 3 different levels: cognitive, affective, and behavioural.

“Three Little Pigs” – Advertiser: The Guardian Newspaper

Using the famous fairy tale “The Three Little Pigs” as an attention grabber, The Guardian successfully “illustrate a lush vision of multimedia ‘open journalism’”.  Starting from the wolf’s murder, the story creatively linked to issues such as homeowner’s rights, insurance fraud and mortgages, demonstrating the power of media and technology.

Cognitive aspects of this ad include “the Big Bad Wolf being boiled alive”, property rights, and whether or not the wolf had actually blown down the pig’s houses. Interestingly, the ad twisted the original perspectives of the story and changed what I have originally believed in. Before, I have never question whether blowing down the pig’s houses was realistic or not.

The music and graphics presented are very affective as it creates tension. As well, since “The Three Little Pigs” are well-known, I have an emotional link to the story.

In addition, showing how people react to the news of “Big Bad Wolf Boiled Alive” is an example of the behavioural aspects. On the media, it is very realistic that people will continue to express their opinions and link to other issues. Moreover, how the story links to insurance fraud and mortgage problems also portrays the real world.

Overall, I would consider this ad as one of the most memorable ones I have ever seen.