Christmas and Gift Giving

With the holiday season coming to a close and all of the stress seemingly a thing of the past, I have finally found time to reflect on the season. Having such a large and divided family I have three full day and night family Christmas’s to attend, this means gifts, and lots of them. Being uncharacteristically proactive this year on my gift search I was able to divulge a great deal of time and care in my purchasing efforts. First looking to purchase for my girlfriend, as we would be apart for Christmas and need to exchange gifts prematurely to Christmas.

Hoping to surpass last year’s gift I found myself highly motivated to purchase her something special. But in doing so I found myself to be taking on substantial stress and risk as I wanted to ensure it would be just right, while keeping in line with what she would get me. If I surpassed what she had given me I could make her feel bad for not getting enough or it could be too small not meeting her expectation. Using extended problem solving I began my extensive search for information consulting both my girlfriend and store personnel. After all of this I was finally ready to make my purchase hoping I had recognized and met her need.

After purchasing my girlfriends gift I certainly gained purchase momentum quickly buying gifts for the rest of my family. Once my gift gestation stage was complete I then wrapped he presents and waited for Christmas to come.

 Then the actual exchange took place and the reactions I both received and emulated raged quite a bit. Raging from gifts that marked a turning point in our relationships, showing me that the person has finally understood me and knows what I like. To gifts that reaffirmed poor relationships gifting me things that have no connection to me.

Overall the gift exchange process is a complicated one, with a wide range of both risk and emotions but ultimately is an experience unlike another. It allows people to connect and express their emotions through consumer goods and as well effects the economy in a big way.

Personality?

Describing ones personality is no easy task, with a vast number of traits and characteristics constantly shaping the way we interact with the environment, attaching a title to it is no easy task. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to get out of the city and make the 6 hour drive up north to my cottage for a yearly hunting trip. Finding myself with an immense amount of alone time both on the drive and in the forest, I began to ponder what I value most, and what traits I believe construct my personality.

Recalling Ernest Dichter’s, major motives for consumption I found many products I consume often were related to traits I look to satisfy, such as individuality, status, and companionship. Showing me that I may be quite susceptible to advertising efforts.

Looking at Trait Theory I find myself to be neither group of individualist oriented. I enjoy my alone time but still enjoy and often seek out social interaction. I love spending time in the kitchen, finding myself to be quite health-conscious, and avoid working long hours reinforcing my neutrality.

Perhaps the turning point in my self-examination was looking past the theory and realizing, as Freud said “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” I have a need for uniqueness and being on this hunting trip really depicts this point. Driving my habits and shaping my consumption patterns to satisfy this need and desire to have an experience precise to me.

This showing me that my lifestyle is made up of experiences like this trip and really showing me the impact experiencing has on my personality. I value experiences to a high degree, but also hold on to many materialistic possessions, I enjoy nice clothes and a clean car.

After the uneventful, yet thoughtful trip was over I came to the realization that my understanding of my personality is not important. But rather understanding ones values and desired lifestyle is the critical component in understanding why I consume and how.

Attached is a link to a video my friend produced showing the area around my cottage. As well it does a great job contrasting two sides of my personality, the outdoors as well as modern city living.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zOTyRf-FO4

My Car Purchase Decision Making Process

A question all consumers are faced with is how involved they are willing to get in a purchasing decision. I found myself facing this dilemma a few weeks ago when my car of four years finally started to show it was on its lasts days. I had quite an emotional attachment to my car and knew it would be tough to let go and knew the next purchase to replace it would be a very involved one. But none the less it was one I had to make after selling my old car I was left with a little money in which I reinvested into my future car purchase taking on a monetary risk.

I first looked to my rational side. What could I afford, would the car be well equipped for the winter, and would it be good on gas. I then allowed emotion and perception to enter my decision making process examining the social and psychological risks. With a purchase of this magnitude it is clear emotions played a critical role in the decision making process. I needed a car I felt comfortable with, something I would be proud to call my own.

After looking at my rational and emotional appeals I had a picture of what I wanted. A medium size SUV, something good on gas while also allowing for me to feel comfortable and proud of. Finally after all this internal seeking for knowledge I knew it was time to begin my search in the marketplace for a solution.

Having a family friend who owns a Ford dealership I was already quite sure I would end up with a Ford. After sitting down and talking with him he showed me a car, a 2005 Ford Escape. Having already quite a high level of product knowledge as well as someone I could trust to guide me in my decision, I found the risk to be well within my comfort level and was ready to quickly make a decision. All my needs were not only being met with this car, but rather surpassing my ideal state comfortably leading me to the final decision to purchase the car.

Reflecting back on this decision I realized involvement in a purchasing decision is not linear but rather quite the opposite. Rational and emotional appeals come into play all through the purchasing decision showing marketers all too well how complex it can be to properly position themselves in the right way at the right time. Yes, I may have been bounded by many rational factors, but ultimately my decision ended up being a fast one and ultimately I acted on impulse drawing from my internal knowledge. 

Selectively Learning

Progressing through life we all form memories and experiences. We collect this information in many different ways and will ultimately permanently change our behavior in some way. This weekend I went home to visit my family and take care of my father’s dogs while he went out of town on business. Having always wanting a dog and more importantly looking to get one of my own in the near future I was excited to see if I was truly ready to purchase and care for a dog of my own.

Having dogs all my life I had considerable knowledge of what it was like to take care of dogs and thought since I had in the past this would be no different. Owning two Newfoundlander puppies I soon came to the realization I could be in for a time consuming weekend. Always having someone in the past around to take them for walks or let them outside I quickly realized I had removed the negative aspects of caring for the dogs which had ultimately led me to only perform responses that avoided me being inconvenienced by the dogs.

I had shaped my behavior to fit my desired outcome that owing a dog was all fun and little responsibility. Producing only positive outcomes and essentially ignoring all of the negative ones I had built a a distorted reality of dog ownership.

Though the weekend was an eye opener on what I was selectively retaining, it also taught me that someday I will be ready for a dog.  Having such vast episodic memories of dogs around the house in my childhood it truly reaffirmed once I have graduated from school and learnt more on what is required of me I will happily make the purchasing decision.

The nostalgia of my two golden retrievers growing up will ultimately never fade, and this is where I hold my deepest roots of my love for dogs. After the weekend was over I headed back to Ottawa and really thought long and hard about the memories I created this weekend and what I had learnt. Perhaps I may not be ready for a dog today but in the future when it comes time to make the purchase decision I will be able to take comfort in knowing what I am getting myself into.

The Value of First Impressions

Whether it the smell of white tea upon entering a Westin Hotel, or the image of grandeur Fairmont Hotels emulate, one thing is certain the sensation upon entering different hotels plays an intricate part on how we will perceive their offerings. Over the winter break I had the luxury to experience for my third time what it is like staying at a Fairmont. This time The Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. Having such a positive initial stimulus from my previous stay I knew Weber’s Law would come into play in shaping my future opinion of the hotel.

Looking to identify and seek out how the hotel harnessed my sensory system, I became more aware than ever of my surroundings. Searching beyond the obvious and into stimuli that may have previously gone unnoticed, subliminally affecting my oppinion of the hotel chain. The first element I came across was the colours shaping my surroundings. Like many hotels, the Fairmont offered familiar shades, providing soft undertones that invoked a sense of tranquility and relaxation. This paints an image of a trade dress of colour combinations that I strongly associated with the Fairmont brand.

I next made the logical transition to the haptic element of my sensory system, judging, evaluating, and forming opinions. I found this crucial in reaffirming my image of quality I had previously formed as well as it further strengthened my connection I had formed with the hotel.

After being exposed to many different elements the hotel had to offer the Fairmont certainly had my attention. I thought to myself, had this experience really been as great as I thought, or had I simply been selective when analyzing the stimuli looking to reaffirm I had made the right decision choosing the hotel. Based on my previous experience I realized during my stay I had selectively chosen to seek out and analyze those factors that would reaffirm my purchase decision. This led me to conclude that since my stays in the past at the Fairmont had been so great, in principle I possessed the attitude that not only this stay, but all future stays will be of equal value to me. Forming the question, how important are first impressions in establishing how we will perceive something in the future, and how lasting are those sensations.

Attached is a video of the hotels chain journey on maintaining a high level of quality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNyJzUQRjFg