Lecture One: Introduction

Today's lecture was all about introducing us to the 'Understanding the Customer' Module with Ruth. We talked about what we are going to cover this year and our assignments etc including setting up this blog.

We first talked about the fact that in the west we as people are defined by our possessions and not by our personality or the people around us. We are very materialistic and this is what Marketers and Advertisers play on by convincing us that not only do we want their products, we NEED THEM! Then we will not be happy until we have this product because we think that if we have this product we will have the life of the person in the advert or on the picture.

To show a person's stereotypical view of a person by their possessions we were asked to bring in a possession that belonged to us but not to tell anyone what we had brought. The possessions were then handed out to groups of four and we had to determine what type of person owns this and to decide on who it might be in the class. This proved an interesting experiment because we all defined a persons social status, class and personality and sometimes we were completely off. This however is in our nature because we do decide peoples class, interests and personality on what they own. This is not out fault though, this is how we have been conditioned to perceive people by the media and advertising agencies.

Russell W. Belk a professor of marketing says that:

" Possessions are an important component of sense of self. The most direct form of evidence is found in the nature of self-perceptions. Additional, especially striking evidence is found in the diminished sense of self when possessions are unintentionally lost or stolen. More evidence in the role of possessions in sense of self comes from anthropological studies of the way possessions are treated ritually and after death.”

What he says is very true. You may not think it is but here's an example. Say you just lost your mobile phone, the fact is a mobile phone is just a piece of technology to allow you to communicate to people on the move, take photos and play music. But then you start to think about all of the friends numbers you can't remember, all of those holiday photos and your friends birthday photos that you haven't put on the computer yet and all those text messages that you kept because they were close to your heart. Suddenly you get that feeling in your stomach that feels like you have lost a piece of yourself. This is what Belk is talking about.

It ties in with the concept of 'WE ARE WHAT WE HAVE' with was what we moved onto. We have moved on from the concept that we are what we are seen to be which is know as the 'ME' concept to the 'MINE' concept which says we are defined by what we have. It is a mix of these that determines what type of person we are.

Now below is a video of the new Nokia Phone Commercial which i think shows a relevance to my phone example above.



It is a fact that people buy possessions to make a statement about themselves, to impress others, to make them jealous or just to show off the wealth. So I ask you:

Who are you?

What do people think about you?

What do your possessions say something about you?


Finally I have a clip from the film Fight Club (1999) where Edward Norton has a short rant based on consumerism. Enjoy