#consumer_behavior

For my first blog I decided to discuss the article I read for my Digital Marketing class: “How Companies Learn Your Secrets,” by Charles Duhigg. I thought this article was interesting because psychology is one of my favorite subjects and the discussion on the formation of habits was insightful from both a psychology and marketing standpoint.

            One of the first things I learned that will be useful for a future career in marketing was the different stages in a person’s life that they begin to form new buying habits. I knew that graduating from college, getting married and buying a first home were pivotal moments for a person’s purchase decisions. However, I had not thought of the impact that having a baby would have on the purchase of other products besides those specifically related to the baby (diapers, formula, a crib). The ability of a company to be able to determine a consumers major life events through internal data and market products specifically towards that person without even knowing them reminds me a little of Big Brother, but at the same time is a great tool for companies to be able to get ahead of their competition and gain a competitive advantage.

            Before I read this article I didn’t realize how crucial habits are in determining if a product will sell or not. The Febreze portion of the article was a great example of how difficult it is to change people’s habits. For example, the people who needed Febreze the most to eliminate odors were the people who did not purchase it because their cleaning habits had already formed and they didn’t see a need to eliminate odors as part of their cleaning ritual. Yet, when the company started marketing the product as a way to feel fresh after the cleaning ritual had ended, kind of like icing on the cake, their sales exploded. This shows that, as a future marketer, I need to be aware not just of my target markets lifestyle, but also of the habits they hold in day to day life and how the product I am selling will not change that habit but easily integrate into it.

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