Posts tagged Consumer Behavior

What happened when I learned my blog was featured in the top 100 Dubai blogs?

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior

My blog was recently featured in the “Top 100 Dubai blogs” list by feedspot. When I first learned about it, I was very excited since my blog is quite new. It went live on May 2019 so that’s just a few months ago.

I was thrilled and so I started sharing this news with others.

– First, I was working late at the office, so I told my colleague who I barely knew.
– Then, I told my close friends on WhatsApp.
– Then I shared it on my blog’s social accounts pages.
– The next day I was having a conversation with my partner at work and so I shared the news with her.
– She then shared the news with the workgroup on Whatsapp.
– After that, people at work started telling other people.
– And then the next day, I shared it again on my personal social accounts pages.
– Then my friend shared it on her facebook page.

In this process, not only did I share the news, but others, both close and not too close to me started sharing the news — offline and online. Ironically it was shared more offline than online. Not surprising to me though, I know why, thanks to Jonah Berger.

“Research by the Keller Fay Group finds that only 7 percent of word of mouth happens online.” — Jonah Berger

I started wondering, what in this news made me and others have the urge to share it with others… I mean from a consumer behavior perspective.

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Are credit cards a blessing or a curse?

Consumer Behavior Spending money 2 Comments

The moment you start getting your first paycheck and setting up your bank account, you find yourself bombarded with credit card salesmen trying to make you sign-up for one. 

For the most part, they are free, so you say, “why not?” 

But then again, you find yourself approached by some other banks who want you to sign-up for their credit cards as well. 

“With our credit card, you get miles, you get free access to airport lounges, you get special discounts and offers, you get to pay now for specific merchants and install the payment in 6 months with 0% interest rate, you get, you get… and then you get some more.”

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How exactly hard is it to say “No”?

Consumer Behavior Self development

A few weeks ago, a colleague mentioned two things he likes about me. One of them is my ability to say, “No.” 

My response? 

Flattered. If you know me, you would know how much I like compliments, but then again, which girl doesn’t? 
Although flattered, I wasn’t really sure if that was a good thing, of course in other people’s opinions, not mine. I know I do say “No” when I want to say “No” and it does come easily to me. Perhaps it’s because I like to put myself first. Some people call that “selfish”, but if my well-being is “selfish” then be it. 

While I know I can say “No”, I witness a lot of people who say “No” with all their body and heart, but yet, still do whatever someone else has asked them to do. In some negotiations, from the bottom of their hearts, they don’t want to do it, yet they do. 

The scenario below may sound familiar.

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The reason I bought ice-cream, chocolate, and honey I didn’t want

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing Sales skills Spending money

Just to be clear, I love ice-cream, chocolate and honey. 

– Ice-cream makes a good day beautiful
– Chocolate is practically an addiction to me
– … And I use honey either for my avocado smoothie or my morning oatmeal

That doesn’t negate the fact that I have bought those items when I didn’t need them at the time.
Sometimes it’s just about maintaining a healthy diet and staying slim. 

In an earlier blog post when I started the #savingmode journey, I spoke about how I bought ice-cream even though I didn’t want to. Well, I wanted the red-velvet ice-cream, but it wasn’t there. I just bought ice-cream because I was given so many samples to try. It wasn’t a calorie justified decision. 

I didn’t know why though I bought the ice-cream anyway.

But now I do.

I also didn’t know why I bought the peanut milk chocolate at the supermarket, even though I promised myself to only get dark chocolate to stay, well, “healthy”. 

I didn’t know why did I buy two jars of honey while I was on a tour in Georgia. I mean I am not having any home-made breakfast while I am on vacation.

Why did I make those purchases even though at the time I didn’t really want to? 

I just found out.

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This is how we get tricked into buying expensive “stuff”

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing 1 Comment

…

The principle that Sharon used in her letter with her parents is called “human perception, the contrast principle”, where the order of how things are presented to us affects our perception on the way we see things and the difference between them. 

Example,

You hold a glass of water at room temperature after holding a hot glass, you will perceive it colder than it actually is. 

You hold a glass of water at room temperature after holding a cold glass, you will perceive it hotter than it actually is.

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It basically explains every time we got intrigued to buy products/ services just because they say it has been reduced from AED 1,299 to AED 899. We think we got a good deal because we have “saved” so much money in this deal. Our brain has set the baseline for the produce as AED 1,299, the higher price, and so we place a high value on the product. When we see AED 899, we immediately think we just saved AED 400. In reality, though, we actually just spent AED 899. Whether or not we had this budgeted for our purchase is not the primary influencer in making us think it’s a good deal… or making us buy the product. 

Perhaps your budget was only AED 700. You would be thinking, “Technically speaking, that “great” deal is AED 199 more than my budget, but then again I just saved AED 400.” 

In this scenario, you didn’t save AED400. You just spent AED 199 more than my budget. 

Our thinking process deceives us into thinking it’s a good deal. 

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Ok, maybe I could be confusing you here… so to set the ground clear, let’s answer this question:

How do marketers trick us into buying expensive products?

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10 Psychology Tricks that Make You Buy more at the Supermarket

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior Spending money

Supermarket Psychology: Product Placement is not Random

Supermarkets. Pretty standard, right?
It’s the one place everyone has been to and goes to on a weekly basis. Except, this isn’t the point. The point is, whichever supermarket you visit, it still has the same old basic arrangement of products. Try recalling the supermarket’s layout. So the veggies and fruits are placed at the entrance, meats, and cheeses at the back (always at the back), and let us not forget candy is at the cashier no matter what. Do you think it’s just a coincidence that all supermarkets happen to have the same design?

How many times have you bought goods you didn’t intend on buying when you first stepped into the store?

The arrangements of products inside a supermarket are not random; they are mainly categorized and organized in this way to indulge you into buying more. They are carefully designed psychological tactics to play with our shopping experience.

Why don’t we find out about some tricks? Shall we?

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Traffic fines… and the Year of Tolerance | Tales of an Excessive Spender

Uncategorized

One way to save money is to avoid traffic fines. 

One speeding ticket will cost you nearly 160 USD… A parking ticket costs about 50+ USD even if God forbid you only forgot to renew your parking for 10 minutes. 

It hurts. Traffic fines hurt… especially, when you wake up to a text message in the morning with your fine. You thought you were driving all safely and by the rules… until you see that text message, and start recalling… Where did I speed? What did I do?

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The Money Illusion… is it enough? | Tales of an Excessive Spender

Uncategorized

Talking about my pursuit of savings with one of my friends, and he tells me one thing, there is no “Baraka” here… in Dubai, when it comes to money. “Baraka” means you don’t get the most out of your money in Arabic… or in other words, you get the money, spend it, and don’t know where on Earth did it go.  

He just came from New York a few months ago and even though he is getting paid more here, he tells me, he can’t save. He was able to save though in New York.

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I couldn’t be a minimalist and here is why

Consumer Behavior Spending money 2 Comments

If you know me, and I guess you might not, you would know how much clutter I have. Whether that is in my apartment or in my car, you will find things everywhere… practically, left and right… On top of every chair… and pretty much on any spot, you could lay your eyes on. 

I think at some point in my life my mom gave up, called me “creative” and then starting laughing about it. At least we can laugh about it… right?

A few years ago, I talked to a friend who has become a minimalist and she told me how liberating that feeling was for her.

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