Thread: A Bunch of Sheep

Originally Posted by gregs656

I promise each and every one of you that you fall for advertising every day of some description or another. It's the nature of the beast.

+1.

Everybody falls for it in subtle ways. Guess what: Everyone thinks of himself as a free thinker. But we aren't. We may be vigilant about certain things because we know about them, yet there is a ton of things we fall for.

Store design for example is a science. I watched a documentary a couple of weeks ago where they did tests in various stores to increase sales of specific products by changing the color of certain things, placement of the product, price, and even by putting different offerings or box sizes next to it. At one point they increased lingerie sales with 30% just by adding a chocolate scent to the air that was so faint nobody could even smell it.

The conclusion is that marketing works if done smartly, because it bypasses concious thought. It works on you too.

Even here on SRP it works. You think a Livi is really that much better than a wapienica when it comes to shaving? Or a handmade damascus razor? No it doesn't. But people still think it does. The Livi regrinds are even a better example. They cost as much as a Robert Williams custom (assuming similar specs) yet they are just a bunch of reground old blanks. If -I- said I'd found a bunch of old blanks, ground them and put them in wooden scales, noone would pay the same. Yet Livis name makes people buy them. And how about those ducks. Or the ridiculously expensive eschers.

Here's another thing: in an experiment, researchers found that the vast majority of people thinks they are at least of average intelligence or a couple points above it. Yet that can't clearly be true. We always think better of ourselves then we are.

I'm almost the other way. If its endorsed by some celebrity, I'll go out of my way to avoid it!

When I buy training shoes, I get the cheapest ones that I can find that are comfortable. They're going to get trashed anyway, so why bother spending £150 on them just because David Beckham wears them?

As others have said, I tend to research the best option and then shop around for the best price for the item in question.

I find if something is really hammered to death, it just gets annoying. Two examples I can think of here in the UK are the "Compare the Market" and the "Go Compare" adverts. Both are websites for choosing insurance, both adverts are ear-wiggy (they stick in your head) and both are very annoying after you've heard them 50 times a day! The problem is that they are on both TV and radio as well, no escape!

I definately think kids are more affected than adults, I still remember the latest and greatest toy being plugged in the Christmas run up!

But over the last 10 years or so, I've stopped paying attention to it. I've never been the sort of person who has to have the latest thing, I'd rather wait a year or two for the price to come down and get the upgraded version into the bargain!

Its like the iPhone. I didnt bother getting one when they first came out with the standard version, which was IIRC about £180 for the handset on top of the £35 a month for the contract.

I got the 3G version the other day though, and I didnt pay for the handset! So two years down the line, I got a better version for less money. Works for me!

I dont mind adverts on TV so much, because I usually have one of my guitars with me when I'm watching telly, so I just jam along to the adverts. Its good fun coz they're all in different keys, tempos and styles so it really gets you thinking. The other plus is that, because I'm listening to the jingle, I'm NOT listening to the words!

Most shows I like, I tend to buy on DVD just to avoid the ad breaks. House is a classic example, its a 40 minute show, made an hour long by the four ad breaks they have in it. Drives me nuts! So I just get them on DVD, so I can watch them when I want free from adverts.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Guess what: Everyone thinks of himself as a free thinker.

Many many people do, it's a curious thing that so many people deny their own human nature. That so many people find it a repulsive idea that they are some how influenced by out side forces.

There is not a species on the planet where one sex does not advertise to the other.

I'm not a sheep, but I am still a kid.

Yes, I'm sure ads affect me to some degree, but I don't think they affect me too much. I try to do objective research, to whatever extent that is possible.

I think advertising doesn't have much effect on me.
Every now and then i've gotten so ****ed of commercials that i've decided not to buy the product that has stupid or otherwise irritating ad. Of course this wont work always but i try to keep this principle in my mind.
The same goes with taxicabs, busses and private cars etc that have ads in their sides. If i see someone speeding or otherwise driving stupidly i try to ignore those products or services they are advertising. The same goes with companies that are known of paying less than minimum wages to student workers. Their services and products are not for me if i can easily find an alternative.
I am well aware that i'm not immune to advertising but i try to keep its influence as little as possible. My silent protest or sort of.

Originally Posted by Sailor

i've decided not to buy the product that has stupid or otherwise irritating ad.

But see, the problem is that your consumer decisions are still predictable because now they know you'll buy the opposite of what they irritate you with. As long as that's the case, the advertisers will find a way to exploit and manipulate you to the point that the purchases you make will actually be no other than the choices they've made beforehand for you.

You need to do what I do. I flip a coin before every decision I make, so that way it's totally random. I use a new coin each time too, just to be on the safe side. If you want a truly random coin, it needs to have certain characteristics, send me a private messages for details on how you too can own a randomizer flipping coin so that you will not fall hapless prey to vulture advertisers

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

But see, the problem is that your consumer decisions are still predictable because now they know you'll buy the opposite of what they irritate you with. As long as that's the case, the advertisers will find a way to exploit and manipulate you to the point that the purchases you make will actually be no other than the choices they've made beforehand for you.

You need to do what I do. I flip a coin before every decision I make, so that way it's totally random. I use a new coin each time too, just to be on the safe side. If you want a truly random coin, it needs to have certain characteristics, send me a private messages for details on how you too can own a randomizer flipping coin so that you will not fall hapless prey to vulture advertisers

Flipping coins every time i want to buy something would make me schizophrenic (if not already). Maybe i should have wrote 'ignoring the ad' instead of 'deciding not to buy' except in certain products.

We are all influenced by ads in our life until some point, but i think it is usually easy to lessen this influence just by ignoring ads, if possible.
There are certain products that i wouldn't ever purchase because of the irritating ads (Audi, BMW, for example) and then there are products that i might or might not buy - ads wont change my mind.

Baah! I am not a sheep, that is shear nonsense; I am wild and wooly, and I can give ewe a whole flock of reasons why that is so.

~Rich

Advertising lets me know a product is out there, so yes it is effective for me. Celebrity endorsements mean nothing to me because i know they are getting paid to do it, and really i could care less who owns a particular product.

I rely on the good old internet for research, i know that if 60% of the people give something 5 out of 5 stars that its a pretty darn good product.

I don't know if its because I'm cheap or not but as a general rule of thumb if i plan to spend over $50 on a product i generally research what i am buying.

These are cool. I saw em on CSI-NY.