Monthly Archives: August 2013

Stephen Fry once quipped, “It’s a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés that cliché is untrue.” I read that quote four times and it still makes my head spin. I don’t like clichés. For the most part they’re said without much thought; copied because they sound  compelling, or simply because they’ve been said so many times people think they must be true.  I see them as a kind of linguistic flatulence. As someone who listens intently to song lyrics I can also be completely alienated by an otherwise decent tune when the writer lets a little lyrical gas go. He or she finishes a verse, or even worse a chorus that I’ll have to hear repeatedly, with a phrase so predictable that I could sense it coming from a mile away, even though I’ve never heard the song before. You know the kind of thing, they […]

When in a purchasing situation, the mental faculties of a consumer are said to reside in one or both of two separate “systems”. System 1 is a subconscious (meaning automatic) stimulus response and impulse oriented system. This relies strictly on immediate and automatic decisions made without the interaction of critical thinking. System 2 is conscious, rational process and logic oriented thinking and this is the executive control system. System 2 is the controlling agent of system 1 and this is where decisions are made and control is exercised. The executive control system is developed, maintained and functions much like a muscle in the human body. And like a muscle, this system draws its energy from glucose in the blood stream. The very act of making decision has shown in studies to draw heavily on this resource and as a result will deplete it over time. So what is the result? […]

Years ago, between the ages of 16 and 20, I had a part-time job in a sports shop. It would have been an ideal job for someone like me, who is so keen on sport, were it not for the fact that each week a tempting new product would come into the shop. It was my duty to spend some time getting familiar with it, and that process often led to strong consumer desires of my own. Most of the money I earned went back to the shop! But, even all that time ago, I did learn some things about consumer behaviour. One of the things I recall the shop’s owner telling me was that some customers, “just need to be told.” Over the years his experience had shown him that sometimes people didn’t want equivocal advice, they wanted someone they could trust to make the decision for them. More […]

It’s often said that if you’re thinking of buying something it’s a good idea to ask people you know what they would recommend. And I agree. But it’s also a very bad idea too. It’s a good idea because getting a recommendation is easy to do and it gives some degree of experience to factor in to a purchase that will otherwise be based on whatever the company or shop selling it wants you to focus on. On the other hand, people tend to eulogise about products they’ve bought recently in a way that has always made me a little suspicious that they’re simply justifying a decision they’ve taken. Psychologically speaking that’s a healthy thing for them to do; who wants to be riddled with doubt each time you buy something (even though you’ll never know whether the other options would have served you better!). Recent research looking at brain […]