[Closed] Marketing - does it work on you?

[canofworms]You need to ask TJagain about that one...[/canofworms]

Has been known...

Yeah I'm terrible for it. Will see a Burger King advert at 10pm and instantly want a burger.

Even writing that makes me want a burger.

If it has the letters PSA at the start of it it seems to work on me 😁

Marketing works a lots of levels.  At its most basic, if you were unaware of the existence of supermarkets and their products you would be dead.  So you have become aware of these and have a preference for certain products.  So it is therefore certain that marketing has "worked" on you.

I want a burger.

Great video. It absolutely makes me want a Porsche, but then again I wanted one anyway (Turbo S dreams).

Marketing absolutely does work on everyone - even those who claim marketing doesn't work on them - you're just a different type of target customer that different marketing works on.

I used to try and be the 'Ah marketing doesn't work on me at all' type and then one day I sort of realised all the types of products I buy/aspire to own have all similar types of marketing/appeal. I'm just a different type of consumer. And that's ok.

To a very minimal extent ie brand recognition on occasion. location of shops.  thats about it.

i don't buy new consumer goods, I purchase by ascertaining my needs and then establishing what meets those needs then I buy it.  I have never clicked thru on an ad on a webpage, I have never bought something because I have seen it advertised.  I have never bought new furniture, cutlery, crockery, pots and pans, curtains or any of the trappings of a consumerist lifestlye

I simply do not join in the consumerist game and contrary to what many on here think there is a whole load of folk like me out there

How can I be marketed to when I don't buy new consumer goods and don't aspire to ownthings.  Not materialistic at all

I promise not to turn this threadinto a 4000 post troll fest as I did the last one 😉

I am very suggestible … I want a burger right now …

I purchase by ascertaining my needs and then establishing what meets those needs then I buy it.

So, by looking at marketing materials? Marketing isn't just adverts at bus stops...

there is a whole load of folk like me out there

Indeed, which goes back to what I just said - you're just a different type of target market/consumer.

How can I be marketed to when I don’t buy new consumer goods and don’t aspire to ownthings.

Well how do you choose your second hand goods? Resale value is an important part of many brands marketing strategy (look at cars, 'buy it for life' items like Henry hoovers, Le creuset, etc). Secondary markets drive initial sales and uphold brand image. Targeting particular customer segments (IE: those who like their stuff to last a long time so it can be bought/sold 2nd hand) is equally part of a marketing strategy.

Marketing isn't just cheesy adverts and jingles on the radio. It goes deeper into product strategy to identify who organisations want to aim their products at (which informs functionality/features).

You're being marketed to. But that's okay.

I purchase by ascertaining my needs and then establishing what meets those needs then I buy it

Dont you ride a bloody BMW?

Maybe it does

Maybe it doesn't

Maybe it's Maybeline?

All this burger talk. Hungry now. Had an amazing burger from the local pub recently.

Damn.... burgers

I no longer have the BMW.   I bought it because it fitted my needs / criteria.

How do i chose my secondhand goods?  I go for a wander around the charity shops.  I have bought 3 properties complete with contents tho so never have bought much.  I don't even look at the brands.  I usually buy on personal recommendation.  Bike parts?  Its years since I bought anything but consumables which come from the most convenient source.

I may be being marketed to but it has virtually no impact upon me.  But I know this is hard for those of you in the industry to understand.  Same as its hard for me to understand why people join the consumerist game.

I may be being marketed to but it has virtually no impact upon me.  But I know this is hard for those of you in the industry to understand.

It seems like it might be you not understanding the impact of the, completely unavoidable, marketing you're bombarded with from the moment you open your eyes in the morning.

I bought it because it fitted my needs / criteria.

So criteria = "wants" and you recognise that little BMW emblem yes?

We all are, that's why they do it.

@plyphon - that is pretty much how the argument went last time.

It was a most amusing thread and TJ got to the stage where he said he'd refuse to buy a washing up liquid on offer (even if it made more financial sense) as he was so immune to marketing (IIRC).

I too refuse to pander to our marketing overlords.

Because I'm worth it.

It was a most amusing thread and TJ got to the stage where he said he’d refuse to buy a washing up liquid on offer (even if it made more financial sense) as he was so immune to marketing (IIRC).

lolz, I do love TJ's willingness to take on the views of others 🙂

I have an EBike, gravel bike and fat bike.

I'm a marketing departments wet dream.

Has TJ (or indeed the forum) figured out the difference between marketing and advertising yet?

Marketing is when BMW decided to make a motorbike that TJ would like, and pitched it at the right price point.

Advertising is taking out full page glossy ads trying to persuade you to buy said bike.

It's perfectly possible to buy something based on rational criteria - I'm sure TJ does this and I try to do it.  However it's NOT possible to buy something without being subject to marketing, because the products themselves exist because of marketing.  The price you pay - that's determibed by marketing.

What you describe TJ is fine and admirable, but you are talking about *advertising*.  Although:

don’t aspire to ownthings

And yet you still do. Did it happen by accident? 🙂  You mean you don't aspire to own stuff for the sake of it - fine, good, nor do I.  But one day you thought 'I fancy a tandem'.  That's aspiration.  Otherwise how did you end up owning one?

I love the fact that you guys simply refuse to attempt to understand my position or how I live my life.  None so blind as those that cannot see.

Go on - give me an example of how I am affected by marketing and how it influences my decisions?

Yes and no. Like tj I never click through on adverts on web pages, in fact I'd be hard pushed to say what any are actually advertising as I just skip over them. Similarly I'll skip over "advertorials" in magazines. Rarely watch commercial TV, when I do I'll skip the adverts.

During the last recession someone mentioned on another forum about a shop chain going into administration. I commented that I'd never heard of them with the response that they were a nationwide, well known "brand". It turned out that I'd been in to one store and that I was wearing a pair of trousers I'd bought there! Some astute brand awareness there.

There are going to be brands that anyone in a Western society will know of: Apple; Microsoft; McDonald's; etc. That doesn't mean to say that they will ever be customers - I've been "inside" a McDonald's just four times in my life for example and only ever eaten one Big Mac (one too many). The other international fast-food chains have seen even less of me. Their marketing obviously works.

I love the fact that you guys simply refuse to attempt to understand my position or how I live my life.

No, we do understand.  I actually hate the fact that in this situation you are being thick as mince, and are unaware that we've acknowledged your point and are trying to point out [i]something else[/i].  You don't realise this and are still arguing the original point.

TJ do you understand that marketing and advertising are different concepts?

Yes molgrips - I understand the two.  and no - you simply keep on trying to tell me I do things that I simply do not.  I am not being thick here.  there is a comprehension gulf.  It seems beyond many of you to understand a lifestyle like mine.

so give me an example of how marketing affects my decisions.  Brand recognition on occasion but not ver often.  Location of shops I'll grant. Beyond that?

I am with @molgrips on this – and going back to the last epic thread, @tjagain even refused to accept that anything could sway him or make him perceive something differently (ie, typefaces, colour etc). I recall a clown and comic sans in an undertakers' logo being used as an extreme example.

<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> and are unaware that we’ve acknowledged your point and are trying to point out something else.  You don’t realise this and are still arguing the original point.</span>

In what way have you acknowledged my point and what is the other point yo are trying to make.  Explain in words of one syllable as I am obviously thick as mince 😉

How about give me an example of how marketing affected my decisions - other than of course if you consider the atttributes of something tobe marketing?

When buying something I decide what attributes it needs to have then buy something with those attributes

If you have bought any product in a supermarket you have been the subject of marketing.

The marketing department is made up of propositions development, branding and advertising. Propositions development take the raw products, eg washing up liquid and package them up for different demographics.  For TJ the basic own range perhaps.  This is all the work of marketing, and you are their target market.  Next is the branding, you will chose the basic packaging, cheaper product as you view it as a commodity.  The branding team develop the packaging with you as their target market in mind..

Perhaps the advertising doesn't work, but you have been sucked in by 2/3rds of the marketing department every time you lift a product off the shelf.  Infact the advertising team is usually quite small, so probably more than 2/3rds 😀

I bought it because it fitted my needs / criteria.

How did you establish that it had the attributes that fitted your needs/criteria?

@molgrips well said.

TJ - you said you bought two properties, right?

Well how did you decide to buy those properties? Dare I say... marketing? (Shop frontage, website, daily mail - all part of a marketing strategy)

When buying something I decide what attributes it needs to have then buy something with those attributes

and what if two products have identical attributes.

I did not know there was a difference between marketing and advertising. I think my question applies to both - am I allowed to change that now?
I think if you think a product is of good quality - then you have been influenced by marketing/advertising, unless you are capable of designing that product.
Ergo - If you are not a motorcycle design engineer with a a decent background in engineering and manufacturing quality, then choosing a BMW to fit your needs means that at some point you have believed what they told you that their product is superior to KTM's or Honda's.
That is marketing/advertising then?

(Ignoring the tedious TJ bating and responses)... I'm not a big sucker for ads, but one got me the other day (not that I'll ever actually [i]buy[/i] the product) - the Audi S4 (or was it S6?) ad on TV.  I positively hate the sound of cars, people who like the brrrm brrm of engines are weird and just liking what they're told to like, I reckon! But this ad showed a lovely looking car with all these clunks and brrms and noises and I thought 'YEAH! Want!'

That's about it for TV ads though. Online sales I'm a massive sucker for. I so wish I could float above it all like a lofty TJ-being.

Do you understand that marketing and advertising are different concepts?

Ultimately both are trying to get you to 'buy' something (sometimes that something might be free like a concept)
ANYWAY....

Marketing absolutely does work on everyone – even those who claim marketing doesn’t work on them – you’re just a different type of target customer that different marketing works on.

I used to try and be the ‘Ah marketing doesn’t work on me at all’ type and then one day I sort of realised all the types of products I buy/aspire to own have all similar types of marketing/appeal. I’m just a different type of consumer. And that’s ok.

So MOST [b]advertising[/b] has a negative effect on my "buying" so in the context of advertising vs marketing I'd say I have a pretty good correlation between how annoying, intrusive I find advertising and marketing of something.

I feel the most effective marketing/advertising is making me aware of a product or service I didn't know existed but even then if it does so annoyingly I'll cut off my nose to spite my face. I also work on a general rule that goods or services are overpriced by the amount spent on advertising.

I guess I too in marketing for say NetFlix.... however that was in my case triggered by Sky's marketing and advertising. I ended up with Netflix basically due to a search for "what can I replace Sky with" (a bit over summarised but)

I also ended up with an Amazon box and prime for the same reason...

The marketing of Sky made me feel I wanted as little association with Sky as possible. (and I don't mean just advertising)

What advertising I did find working is the "recommended for you" type advertising.
Mainly this seems to work because it makes me aware of something I would have wanted to know about anyway and most often costs me no actual money.

There is a VERY long list of products and manufacturers I will avoid due to their advertising... but it amazes me that its done so crudely...
Anything at the cinema I pretty much write off... its pissed me off before I even see the advert as I'm say here waiting for the film I paid to see. This is quite a conscious decision for me... but surely most people having been forced to sit through 30 mins of adverts would unconciously do the same?

Like wow I'm thirsty now.... but if Coca Cola just advertised I'm going to be looking for a product I'm sure isn't made by them... which due to my ignorance probably stops me buying other products in case they own it.

In the same way I wouldn't ever buy another PSA car.... (despite having owned several)... due to constantly getting ads I can't dismiss when watching YouTube...
Yeah I wasn't looking to buy a car anyway and having 30 seconds interruption to the video on the Turbo's goes beyond inconvenient... cripes I mightiest well jump off the bike and go and get a coke!

AIUI:

Marketing: getting the product to the market. Putting it in a place where someone will buy it. Deciding a price at which people will buy it at. Giving it features that people (the market) want.

if that market is one person, lets call him JTagain, a good marketing team will put that product in the shop at the end of his road, priced at less than all the competitors, with equal or more relevant features that JT wants.

A bad marketing team will try to sell JT a helmet through a shop in Mosul, for £3000.

Advertising: telling the market that the product exists, where they can buy it, what it does, how much it is etc. either overly with billboards and TV ads, or more subtly, sending cars for top gear to test, bikes to mags etc

Now, where can i get a burger?

Go on – give me an example of how I am affected by marketing and how it influences my decisions?

I got you to buy a Rohloff off me 😀

I'm mostly immune to it, then occasionally I'm a complete sucker. There was an advert on here for the Parrot Disco fixed-wing drone - I'd never seen it before, never considered wanting a drone let alone a fixed wing one, but I bought it.

Slowster

<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">"How did you establish that it had the attributes that fitted your needs/criteria?"</span>

I go and look at it 😉

djglover

<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> Next is the branding, you will chose the basic packaging, cheaper product as you view it as a commodity.  The branding team develop the packaging with you as their target market in mind..</span>

Nope - what I do is buy the product that comes closest to the attributes I want.  If no product does I don't buy anything.  I don't buy on price.  I buy on what it is.  The only thing on packaging is I prefer minimal packaging

Plyphon.  the first property was bought via a estate agent - but again I knew what i wanted, i waited until as suitable property ( on one of 3 streets) came up for sale and I bought it.  so the only bit of marketing was being aware it was for sale.

Second property I approached the owner and asked him to sell.  No marketing involvement at all in that.  None.

The BMW motorcycle - secondhand of course.  I had the money to buy a bike.  I knew the attributes I wanted.  shaft drive, upright riding position, ABS.  I went round all the motorcycle shops until I found a bike with those attributes and bought it.  the only marketing involvement is that there was a shop ( unless you consider the engineering attributes to be marketing)  what badge was on the tank was irrelevant to me.

TBH, i think the title is misleading to a degree.

Advertising "works" (or not) on people.

Marketing doesn't work as such, it's just giving a segment of the population for the advertising (and product) to actually target.

So to be unaffected by marketing is actually impossible, as someone somewhere has identified you as a "grumpy old git type 4" and designed a range of products around you. So when you search for criteria for buying products, they'll make sure their product covers GOG Type 4 (as well as dozens of others).

If that makes sense.

Advertising, on the whole, bypasses me completely. The adverts i do get to see, usually have the opposite effect. As they are geared up around a different consumer type.

Dammit, too slow, three other people said the same thing.

i go and look at it

How did you know it was for sale, and where to go to buy it?

Ben - you know the main reason I bought it off you?  So someone I knew from here got the profits.  I could have got one marginally cheaper elsewhere.  that and your reputation as a good bloke and your willingness to think laterally about making it fit.  is that marketing?

In short, yes.

The four Ps of marketing:

Product (or Service).

Place.

Price.

Promotion.

that and your reputation as a good bloke and your willingness to think laterally about making it fit.  is that marketing?

Yes.

Edit to fix the quote, good lord this new website is bad.

<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;"> I knew the attributes I wante</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;">d.  shaft drive, upright riding position, ABS.</span>

Just to disappoint you slightly, the reason that a shaft drive, upright riding position bike with ABS even exists is because someone in a marketing department decided that there was a market for it. Probably someone at BMW.

Type 4 Grumpy Old GIts would buy them.

what I do is buy the product that comes closest to the attributes I want.

But how do you choose those attributes when shopping? "Cleans faster'! 'More economical'! '500% FREE'! 'Tastier 100% beef burger'!

TJ has never been influenced by any kind of moustache based promotional material.

Nope.

Never. 😉

[URL=

of TJ not succumbing to advertising, taken yesterday [/URL]

Plyphon.  the first property was bought via a estate agent – but again I knew what i wanted, i waited until as suitable property ( on one of 3 streets) came up for sale and I bought it.  so the only bit of marketing was being aware it was for sale.

Second property I approached the owner and asked him to sell.  No marketing involvement at all in that.  None.

Well that first example is textbook marketing 101. The estate agent had a product, they identified the target market (you!) and priced it accordingly, and brought it to market via their store frontage/website/back of Razzle magazine.

The second one I'll give you.

HOw do I chose those attributes when shopping?  I look at what it is.  Not at what it claims to be.  sometimes this is the same thing.  sometimes it is not.

Look this is a ridiculous debate.  You guys simply seem incapable of understanding my position.  It seems impossible to you to understand how I live my life.

I fully accept after the last debate that rather than having no effect on me it has minimal effect that I consciously try to minimize.  I also understand that my way of thinking is so alien to many of you that you seem unable to understand how I operate.  Much marketing and advertising actually has a negative effect on me.

I shall drop this now as last time it got very heated adn I pissed of a load of folk.  Please try to accept that you do not understand how I l;ive my life.  How many of you have never bought a new piece of furniture?  A car? Used the same razer they were given 30+ years ago.  Never bought cutlery, crockery, pots and pans?  never bought a new piece of hi fi, never bought a pair of curtains?    Its a lifestyle you seem both unable and unwilling to understand.  I accept I don't understand yours.

LOlz at PP 😉  that really is a bit uncanny

I'm going to start a business selling Rohloff hubs. I could sell them for the absolute cheapest I can, or, I could sell them for more money, having spent years building a reputation as a good bloke to deal with in such matters, who uses a bit of lateral thinking to making things fit, post on a forum now and then....

Both approaches will get me sales, which do you think I should go for @TJagain? Which business would you choose to buy from?

I suppose it's what I'd call unmarketing. Just doing a reasonable job and mostly relying on word-of-mouth is really getting other people to do your marketing for you.

Ben, that would be them doing your advertising for you.

I'm not really clear on the difference, TBH 😉

"The only thing on packaging is I prefer minimal packaging" A marketing department selecting mono-colour designs and plain fonts to distinguish from a different brand that is probably the same product

"so the only bit of marketing was being aware it was for sale." the Estate Agent boss decides to use the standard method of boards and shop front as well as putting the houses on rightmove

"unless you consider the engineering attributes to be marketing" Yes!

One more.  ON buying the tandem

I saw someone in a race in france using them and they were laughing so much they fell off.  I thought.  "that looks fun maybe we should get one".  I joined an online forum for tandem mountainbikes to get info and someone offered me a suitable secondhand one.  I bought it.  Not much marketing there.

I knew the attributes I wanted. shaft drive, upright riding position, ABS.  I went round all the motorcycle shops until I found a bike with those attributes and bought it.  the only marketing involvement is that there was a shop ( unless you consider the engineering attributes to be marketing)  what badge was on the tank was irrelevant to me.

BMW's decision to design, manufacture and sell that bike (with those attributes you wanted), was a marketing decision. They knew that there were a lot of potential customers (of whom you proved yourself to be one) for a bike with those attributes, and they calculated that such a bike would be profitable for them.

It's fair enough to say that the badge was irrelevant to you, but don't be dismissive of others buying based on the badge. The BMW brand (=badge) has a reputation, which is something which it has taken years to build up, and which they will be at pains to maintain and develop. It's quite reasonable for some people to use the brand, or its reputation, as a basis for making a decision about which maker or model to purchase. In a sense, the badge is a short cut for the customer to make a decision. They, like you, do not have the time, money and information to understand everything good and bad about the product (unless you are an automotive expert with several degrees and access to workshops to dismantle bikes and test and compare them). So rather than angonise over it, they decide to get a BMW. If they are happy with it, who's to say their decision making process was any worse than yours?

i give up

The only thing on packaging is I prefer minimal packaging” A marketing department selecting mono-colour designs and plain fonts to distinguish from a different brand that is probably the same product

Point missed.Minimal packaging is not the same as plain packaging

<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;"> unless you consider the engineering attributes to be marketing</span>

Missed that, and yes, the attributes set are absolutely utterly determined by marketing.

All we get to do in engineering is to tell them which ones are physically impossible.

Then (some) use them in their advertising.........

I fully accept after the last debate that rather than having no effect on me it has minimal effect that I consciously try to minimize.

Conciously trying to minimize something that's meant to work on a subconcious level - good luck with that!

final post.  can you guys answer this.  How many of you in 40 years since leaving home have NEVER bought a single piece of furniture or home furnishings new?   ( bar one set of bedding)  Have NEVER bought any new cutlery, crockery or pots and pans or other piece of kitchen equipment.  Have NEVER bought a new piece of audiovisual equipment?

There is a gulf of comprehension here because you do not understand my lifestyle or my values

Minimal packaging is also a marketing decision. As is plain packaging.

Anyone know where I can buy a used hair shirt?

It's doesn't matter if its new or not. Marketing still decided what it was going to be. What it was going to look like, what attributes it was going to have.

But, TJ, you have bought a house, or 2, plenty of people have never bought one of those, are they better at being unaffected marketing than you?. The product itself doesn't matter, what we are talking about is the process used to sell it or get it to market and, in some cases, that's you.

(not trying to bait you, but you do seem to be saying/doing everything other than accepting you might not be totally on the money here)

I shall drop this now as last time it got very heated adn I pissed of a load of folk. Please try to accept that you do not understand how I l;ive my life. How many of you have never bought a new piece of furniture? A car? Used the same razer they were given 30+ years ago. Never bought cutlery, crockery, pots and pans? never bought a new piece of hi fi, never bought a pair of curtains? Its a lifestyle you seem both unable and unwilling to understand. I accept I don’t understand yours.

I'm nowhere near as extreme as you ... as in I have a new razor a couple of years old that was a present from my bother and I have on occasion bought new pans...

However I never have or do I think will ever buy a new car or new furniture outside of a folding chair for <£15.... or new HiFi - TV or buy curtains not material

I'm not entirely certain that's a lifestyle... I once got a new bike back in the 80's... non of my current bikes were bought new... they were all bought because that is what was there 2nd hand... My kid got a new frame and fork because it was cheaper and reduce over 50%... and he got a new fork on his other bike because it was cheaper than a used one (also discounted over 50%)

It’s doesn’t matter if its new or not. Marketing still decided what it was going to be. What it was going to look like, what attributes it was going to have.

I'm sure I'm subject to someones marketing... but not the ones who created the products... My TV is a Samsung (I don't actually watch it but it's my brothers old TV) ... I'm typing this on a old computer I was given... Its a Mac but because that's what I was given... etc.

Someone on eBay did some "marketing" on selling bikes I bought.... but can you say that was thought out "marketing" when 2/3 were zero other bids...

There is a gulf of comprehension here because you do not understand my lifestyle or my values

TJ, I get it: you make your purchasing decisions based on price vs. value, and for you value is all about fitness for purpose (not about any associations the brand may have with a particular type of consumer or lifestyle).

However, many marketing departments will similarly target people like you with that perspective. In other words they know that some customers will not be won over by fancy packaging, celebrity endorsements, advertising campaigns etc. - only by the ability of the product to fulfil its function and be good value. So they will design, manufacture and sell such products accordingly.

The fact that you will buy second hand rather than new does not mean that you exist outside that system of manufacturers and consumers. Many products have a second hand market. Indeed, good quality furniture should last more than one lifetime. In contrast very cheap, badly made furniture will probably never last long enough to be capable of being resold. The decisions of one manufacturer to make good quality furniture and another to make rubbish that falls apart, are marketing decisions. By limiting your purchases to second hand, you are just weeding out many poor quality products and improving the ratio of price to value.

you simply keep on trying to tell me I do things that I simply do not.

No, I'm not telling you what YOU do, I'm telling you what BMW do!

They decided to make a bike with upright position, shaft drive etc because they thought it would sell.  THAT is marketing.

Persuading you to buy one is advertising.  You may be immune to advertising, you may not aspire to lots of material posessions, that's all great and lovely - you do not need to keep going on about this.  I understand it, I get it, it's a laudible aim, great.

But if you buy ANY manufactured goods, you are responding to the company's decision to produce it.  You buy the thing you want, they make the thing you want.  Do you agree?

Slowstr - almost there in your understanding - thanks - one of the few who want to.  Price is little to do with most of my purchases.  I decide what I want, I find what I want.  I buy it.  The marketing has very little do do with my decision to buy only on ( from your definition of marketing) the availability of that product

The main marketing decisions that affect me are location of shops

My armchair has broken.  I know what I want in a new one.  I have been looking for one for a while and can't find one.  So I repaired the broken one rather than buy something that does not have the attributes I want.

Marketing may have led to that product being available on the secondhand market.  But that is its only effect on my decision making that it is avaiabl

Ok - really - folk are getting exasperated and I get fed up with folk ( not you) who are unwilling and unable to understand a lifestyle alien to them so really I won't answer any more points.

Marketing has minimal effect on me 'cos 1) I do not buy new goods very often.  and 2) I make decisions based on my own criteria I buy for what that thing is not what it is marketed as.  sometimes these are the same, sometimes it is not.  I do my very best to look behind the marketing and to minimize / mitigate its effects because I do understand much of how it works and many of the tricks used to persuade one to buy that product.

I'll bite.

Nearly 10 years since I smoked a cigarette. Every time I see Don Draper light one up I wish I had one. Play with my Zippo every time I come across it when rooting for something. Smoking adverts and placements in media definitely have a pull on me.

I see a Tesla and I want it. Probably due to virtue signalling in part and in part because it seems like a cool car. Other cars, not so much.

Bikes. Not sure why, but I'd like to own an Ibis one day. Is it Brian Lopes? Or maybe because my mate Colin rides one? Who knows. There's just something about them.

Cameras. I see a beautiful photo and look for the EXIF data. I desperately want a Canon 5D or 1D someday.

Social media, probably not as much as it used to. I thoroughly recommend reading "Hooked" by Nir Eyal. It really helps understand how they keep us engaged with the product, and products in general. I have a pretty bad compulsion to check certain websites several times a day. Maybe in part to feel connected to society and in part to just consume information/entertainment.

So yeah. Marketing works on me. It probably works on everyone. Only difference is some people are more aware of it than others I guess?

Much marketing and advertising actually has a negative effect on me.

So buying decisions are affected by branding etc?

I have no problem admitting I very easily have my head turned by the right kind of advertising. I am protected to some degree, however, by a) a reluctance to spend money on shiny toys and b) a severe case of procrastination, even for things I actually need! These two sides of the purchasing dilemma seem to cancel each other out- I'm very good at aspiring to own the thing but terrible at getting round to it.

As a result I tend not to worry about it too much- if after a few weeks/months/years I still think it's something I would like, it's probably worth considering.

Mologrips - I agreed with that point early on in this debate.

the main influences of marketing on me are availability of a product that meets my criteria and the location of the shop.

They decided to make a bike with upright position, shaft drive etc because they thought it would sell. THAT is marketing.

Persuading you to buy one is advertising. You may be immune to advertising, you may not aspire to lots of material posessions, that’s all great and lovely – you do not need to keep going on about this. I understand it, I get it, it’s a laudible aim, great.

But if you buy ANY manufactured goods, you are responding to the company’s decision to produce it. You buy the thing you want, they make the thing you want. Do you agree?

As I said earlier... out of the 3 bikes I own 2/3 were bought due to them having zero bidders on eBay.

One of these is a XC bike... the other is a DJ bike....both of which have numerous manufacturers producing very similar products with little or nothing to distinguish them from other similar products.

I didn't look for these by the brand or model.... they just are what they are.

My trail bike however I did buy specifically.... but even then the majority of the manufacturers "marketing" was irrelevant... yep they chose a group set but I bought it ANYWAY (as I had some spare pats to remove the supplied group set).... they put on a fork but I bought it anyway... etc.

The marketing that did work was for them to do a deal with demo centres and bike hubs...

The other two bikes though was almost anti-marketing ....the manufacturers decided to make a general XC bike on one and a general DJ/Street bike for the other. Frankly, neither manufacturer was a specific preference (or not) for me....

What got me to buy these bikes was poor marketing... one was simply it was being sold black friday weekend... had zero bids etc. and was a 27.5 XC bike when perhaps they should have marketed a 29er?

The other was marked seller away... and for reasons probably more to do with that specific model being canned after 2 yrs due to bad marketing (the market for a DJ bike with gears being somewhat less than they anticipated) also got no bigs so I got the whole thing cheaper than a pair of used wheels...

I guess my criteria for both was from the manufacturers marketing "not terrible" ...but they missed a point on the product that mass it unattractive but good enough for me?

I wish my business partner was like TJ though - he is the absolute polar opposite of everything TJ believes. He simply must always have the latest and shiniest things (be that purchased through the business or his own stuff). He spends thousands and thousands on stuff like the latest MacBook (he'll make up reasons why his old one wasn't up to the job despite my having an identical one that works fine for me). He recently spent a frankly insane amount of money on a road bike (£7,500) - yes he likes riding, but his last bike was only a year old and cost him £6,000 back then. He makes all sorts of excuses to justify his actions but it's embarrassing (and I constantly wind him up about this). Everything he wears needs to be branded - from £200 handmade jeans through to Castelli cycling socks (when a cheap pair of socks from Sports Direct will do 99.99999% the same job).

If only his wife knew what he spends all of his money on.

TJ thinks everyone's like that.  Especially me 🙂  And only he's different and special.

No moly - you sit in the middle for me and I know a load of folk who think like me.  Bunch of smelly hippies / crusties that we are

the main influences of marketing on me are availability of a product that meets my criteria and the location of the shop.[<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #444444; font-size: 12px;">/quote]</span>

Ok, so you accept that parts of marketing do affect you.  That was my point all along.

What you complain about is advertising and materialistic aspiration, and I agree with you on those.

Here's another question then - if I were to buy an expensive bike - would that be me being fooled by marketing and advertising? Would that be me being materialistic? Or would it be me just wanting good kit?  I do ride quite a bit, after all.

 

Here’s another question then – if I were to buy an expensive bike – would that be me being fooled by marketing and advertising? Would that be me being materialistic? Or would it be me just wanting good kit? I do ride quite a bit, after all.

Surely only you know the answer to those questions...
You could be rolling in money and simply just need something to spend it on.... (for example).

What I find more intriguing following this thread is what if you buy a product simply because of poor marketing?

If you take TJ's furniture for example... he's buying a used but presumably not something of such perceived quality it retains its value but also presumably something that was marketed above being cheap tat that is expected to fall apart.

I find it hard to believe that marketing is aiming for a product that misses the mark and costs more to make but doesn't retain appreciable resale value.