Collaborative Consumption: The Fashion Community

When a consumer walks into a store they know what products they want to buy,

How will a consumer decide whether to purchase a good? When a consumer purchases a good, what does this reveal?

The truth is that as consumers we are prone to being taken advantage of and more specifically, ripped off. How this occurs is quite simple. It is the technique of persuasion that forces people to do things, believe things and in this case purchase things that are not necessary. Tactics to persuade people can range from rhetoric devices to the structure of the message itself. Rhetoric devices, such as logos and pathos, and the structure of the message come together to ultimately persuade people to buy into things that they normally wouldn’t buy. Pathos appeals to emotion and logos describes the idea of logical reasoning. Then comes the structure of the message itself which enhances an idea to its full potential. The main purpose of these techniques in literature is to serve as writing strategies to convey an idea in words. Two examples of authors utilizing writing strategies to persuade readers that stores and advertisers manipulate shoppers take place in “The Science of Shopping” by Malcolm Gladwell and “Attention, Shoppers: Store Is Tracking Your Cell” by Clifford and Hardy. The author of “Attention Shoppers” uses the writing strategies of pathos, logos and the structure of the writing better than the author of “The Science of Shopping” to persuade readers that stores and advertisers are manipulating shoppers.

Due to the general perceived lack of differences between brand alternatives and low involvement for the product, the most applicable response hierarchy model for canned tuna is that of a low-involvement hierarchy. Consumers will go through influenced by advertising but does not attempt to validate against his or her personal attitudes or belief. As such they may be positively affected by advertising which will translate to purchase behaviour. Attitudes for the product will be formed after consuming the product.

For companies to be able to market products or services effectively, an understanding of how consumers behave and make decisions is necessary (Poon and Joseph, 2001). There are several theories that relate to this area, including economic theories as well as psychological theories. Earlier studies in theories concerning consumer behavior were developed through economic theory, for example the conception where consumers advance rationally to make best use of their satisfaction in the process of buying. More recent research shows that consumers are influenced by different types of reference groups, such as family, friends, advertisers and role models. Terms like impetuous purchase, mood, situation and emotion are applied more commonly in

What choices are driven

think the consumers want (or what they think they can tell them they want), to

36. A consumer's belief about a product may have a positive or negative effect on his or her attitudes about

This analysis includes two articles focusing of the paradox of choice, “More is More: Why the Paradox of Choice Might Be a Myth” by Derek Thompson and “The Paradox of Choice” by Barry Schwartz. "More Is More: Why the Paradox of Choice Might Be a Myth" started off with an example on jams. Researchers presented many types of jams to attract shoppers. In one experiment six different types of jams were presented for the shoppers, the other experiment presented twenty-four types of jams. There were much more sales for the twenty-four types of jams than the six types of jams. Derek Thompson, the author, went on to explain that having options make us more confident in the choices we make. Another research was conducted, where participants were asked if they would buy the only TV that was at a Best Buy store, even if it was what they were looking for. Only nine percent of the participant said they would buy it, because they want to compare that television to other televisions to see if they are getting a good deal.

Consumerism is a description of society’s lifestyle in which many people embrace to achieve their goals by acquiring goods that they clearly do not need (Stearns, 7). The idea that the market is shaped by the choice of the consumers’ needs and wants can be defined as a consumer sovereignty (Goodwin, Nelson, Ackerman, Weisskopf, 2). This belief is based on the assumption that the consumer knows what it wants. Contrary to this logic, marketers convince us that the consumer does not know what they want. The consumer has to be told what they want or be persuaded by advertising items in a matter that demonstrates the reason a product makes their life easier or will improve their life instantly. As one of the most successful entrepreneurs,

Consumers will be more likely to buy the other product if they have bought on-not less likely."

structure underlying this model, along with a rationale for how the consumer domain provides a

Everyday, every minute, and every second consumers are making decisions on whether or not they should purchase a given product. The product could be as small as a candy bar to as big as a car. The processes that flow inside the mind of a consumer when making a decision is both psychologically and economically based. So, understanding the process is central to making rationally based decisions. However, this decision is not only important to the consumer purchasing the product, it’s also of important significance to the marketers and policy makers. Reasons why making decisions can be so difficult is that the consumer is dealt with many alternatives, and with the rapid pace in technology this is making it more difficult.

With regards to the first two categories, the selection of the product and the consequence purchase is rational and functional. A

The first step to understanding why we make these sometimes-irrational decisions is gaining knowledge on the brains reactions. In order to make sense of these decisions, we must understand the different impacts certain influences have on us. “Neuromarketing is the window into the human mind that we’ve long been waiting for.” (Lindstrom) He hopes his research will shed some light on this very topic.