I hope the folks that paid for the recent study doing by Publicis on the influence of family and friends didn't pay a whole lot. Seems like a big duh! to me. As reported in AdAge today, the Publicis arm ZenithOptimedia group reports that family and friends are the biggest influence on shoppers' buying decisions. But we knew that, right?
As we are bombarded with more and more information on what is the best, the most glamorous, the fastest, the whitest, etc., we are more and more overwhelmed by the onslaught of it all, and less and less able to sift through the noise to make an informed decision. Thus, most of us have retreated to the place our ancestors occupied, when they talked to neighbors and friends and family members before buying the new tractor or set of pots and pans. It was all they had. Then came the Sears Roebuck catalog delivered to their doorstep, then advertising on all sorts of media became the norm, and then the internet joined the noisy throng. It's enough to make you stop your ears and bandage your eyes.
Ultimately, it's all about who you trust, as Stephen Covey tells us in Speed of Trust. In the buyer's case, most of us rely on a trusted few for deciding on purchases of everything from soap for the laundry to a mattress for the bed to a new car. Expanding on that word of mouth power is a challenge for most companies and everyone is still trying to find the right formula.
Meanwhile, technology has made the "talk to those you trust before buying" routine even more central to the purchase decision. You'll know this first hand if you accompany a teenager on a trip to the mall. Before that new pair of jeans gets to the cash register, before the new dress is in the shopping bag, it will more than likely have been captured on a cell phone camera and sent to a friend for the final OK.
Looks like we've come full circle, only now we use technology to get the good word from our buddies. It's still all about conversation and how to influence that conversation is as much an art as a science.
It has always been true, whether in individualistic or collectivist oriented cultures, family and friends are the best advisers for many purchasing decisions where the following factors will play to various degrees:
- social acceptance and fit
- product quality, endurance, price
- inter-relational fit (within the context of physical space, interaction and complementary fit with other objects, and time fit [long v. short term]).
What do you think?
Posted by: mvellandi | April 10, 2008 at 03:54 PM