#consumer-behavior

Walking into a drugstore (Kruidvat) to get one item, day cream, and finding myself stand in front of the cashier with my arms folded and my chin pressed down to keep all the items in front of my chest from plummeting to the floor. What happened?

I went into the store expecting to buy one simple item, assuming to spend less than 30 seconds between the isles. Seeing the long line at both cash registers, I decided to take my time browsing the products. As I stood in line I saw a little blue can that read Zeeuwse Babbelaars remembering my parents and I were looking at the same candy in my grandmother's nursing home a couple of days prior I decided to buy the little can as a surprise. As the line progressed (slowly) I passed the Point of Sales (POS) display, with all the weekly sales. This mountain of last minute 'persuadables' caught my eye immediately, "you mean I can shop, without losing my spot in line?" I picked up a three-pack of fruit syrup (Roosvicee) that we like to put in smoothies and my dad mixes with buttermilk and a family-pack of After Eight chocolate mints, which we like to eat after dinner with coffee.

Just realized that I don't use the same shampoo two days in a row because someone made me believe that continually using the same shampoo is somehow bad for your hair. Now regardless of this being true or not, I believe(d) it and haven't washed my hair with the same product twice in a row since, meaning that I always need to have two bottles of shampoo at hand.

Using this manipulation of belief, what other perceptions can marketers alter to double sales, or even use? I know Axe once had a great campaign where they turned two Axe "flavors" into one new one by using them together, thus doubling sales AND consumption.

Surely this can, and probably has been, used for other products like: tooth paste (day and night products), deodorant (no one should smell the same every day), and other cosmetic products. We live in an age where consumers want variety in most choices they make (food, clothes, entertainment), why not shake-up the products you use in your daily routine?

Monday December 24th: 9am - 11am

Woke up to the sound of the alarm on my Sony Xperia P, used the Facebook Messenger app to chat to my girlfriend, followed by checking: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, & played a couple of rounds of MindFeud. All these actions involving my smart phone have become a morning routine and I do them almost automatically.

Weighed myself on my electronic Tatung scale that I brought over from my appartement in Taiwan and recorded my weight digitally on an app called Libra and also on paper, out of habit. I see I've been losing weight for the past four days!

Went downstairs to have two cups of freshly ground coffee using LaVazza Classico beans, one with Campina milk (1,5% fat) and one with Chocomel Light brewed in our Jura machine. I don't usually put chocolate milk in my coffee in the morning, but we happened to have some in the fridge so I decided to try something different. My breakfast consisted of three pieces of Wasa whole wheat crackers with Bonne Maman jam, which I like because of it's "home made" brand feel/look. The crackers seem like a healthy and nutritious breakfast option. Although I've never put much value in a balanced breakfast, the fact that I've been losing weight makes me continue this particular breakfast routine.

Went upstairs and put on a CD: Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city on my Denon stereo, which was my father's old stereo that he gave to me. Brushed my teeth using an Aquafresh toothbrush and toothpaste (Ultimate + Whitening) I've always used this brand and the "promise" of whiter teeth made me choose this particular product.

Took a shower and washed my hair with Andrélon, which is top-of-mind when I think of shampoo, body with Axe Africa, same brand and smell as my deodorant, and face with Eau Thermale Avène, which my girlfriend recommended I use and left behind for me as she bought way too many bottles to bring back home (they were much cheaper in France than in Asia). Afterwards I shaved using De Vergulde Hand shaving cream and brush and a Gillette Fusion razor. I recently made the switch from shaving foam to an old fashioned brush and cream because I found myself waisting a lot of foam. The brush also seemed like a more "mature" way of shaving. The reason I chose the brand? Because it's what my father uses.

Used Kruidvat day cream for my face, as it's a cheap moisturizer that get's the job done, and L'Oréal indestructible gel for my hair. I chose L'Oréal because that's the brand I used in college and I realized I used it in college because it was the only European brand I could relate to while shopping in Taiwan. All the other brands were usually Japanese and I had no idea which brand would suit me best, which is why I reached for something I was familiar with.

Dressed in Pull & Bear blue jeans and a Solid Snake T-shirt from Uniqlo, because this close to Christmas I tend to revert to my younger years and felt a video game shirt was appropriate.

For a school project I will keep up an online "diary" of my complete daily consumer behavior for at least a week and post what decisions I make and why.

Although I like to believe I am a free-thinking and special, one-of-a-kind individual, the internet has taught me that all my believes, preferences, likes, dislikes, and quirks are shared by others. The whole world is filled with like-minded people who eat, sleep, live and, love in similar ways. This means my behavior as a consumer must be similar to that of other consumers. That's why this blog will profile my decisions in an extremely scrutinizing way to produce a detailed consumer profile that can be used by marketers for whatever purpose they see fit. I'm basically whoring myself on the internet for the benefit of commercialism

Via Twitter I will keep up list of products, brands, and services in the form of a stream of consciousness, I'll post my inner dialogues in order to justify all choices I make and hopefully give an insight into what goes on in the mind of a consumer.

I will start the process by posting a detailed bio with background info in order to shape the demographic.