Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Power of Habit [Chapter 7]

Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups

In Chapter 7 of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg discusses how researchers and statisticians at major companies like Target take extensive steps to learn and understand the habits of American shoppers. Duhigg reveals that many well-financed stores spend millions of dollars researching and collecting data on their customers.

The chapter concentrates in part on "a mathematical mind reader" who utilizes his skills "deciphering shoppers' habits in order to convince them to spend more" (184). Researchers discovered "consumers going through major life events" often shift their shopping patterns, and for major retailers trying to appeal to those going through major changes, "pregnant women are gold mines (192). Companies invest considerable energies into identifying and influencing new parents for they understand that winning them over as customers can translate into large profits over the course of many, many years.

Based on the material covered in the chapter, what's something particularly fascinating or even unsettling that you discovered concerning the steps that major retailers take to collect data on and draw the interest of potential customers? Why did you find what you identified especially fascinating or unsettling? 

5 comments:

Yasmyn K. said...

Overall, an unsettling aspect of the major retailers is the fact that they are predators and we, as consumers, are their prey. The major retailers exploit the unsuspected shopper by "getting know" the typical consumer by data/statistics. The shopper's well being or best interests are not in consideration. What is truly important to the retailers is ultimately making money off of people. It is something to "know" everything about a person based on their present state of mind, instead of really knowing/understanding that person. Scary...

Anonymous said...

Robyn R

I think it's important to keep in mind that at the end of the day these major establishments like Target, Walmart, etc. are businesses. Their number one goal is to make profit. In order to attract consumers they might have to do extensive research and gather data in mischievous ways. I'm not saying that it's right, but we as consumers have to understand that they are going to do what they believe will benefit them. They are seeking way and analyzing the system to determine what factors they can implement or change to bring in the greatest amount of profit.

Monique Williams said...

I initially had some mixed emotions when reading this section. I do grasp that it is a business, and businesses goal is to make as much profit as possible. Getting consumers to purchase their goods are their main goal, and that is why they are using researchers and statisticians. In my opinion, they are being strategic by keeping track of their consumers. While I may not agree with the fact that they are comparing women to gold mines, I do realize that businesses are not too concerned about getting to know their clients, instead they just want to make sure that their products are appealing to their customers.

Jacquelene G said...

One thing that surprised me was the fact that retailers study shoppers so intensely. Retailers use a variety of resources such as videotapes to study customer habits. I also found it surprising that retailers figure out each individual shopper’s preference and especially focused on those with shopping lists. They also gave each guest a number that kept tabs on the customers. This was unsettling, because it was almost if the retailers invade our privacy in order to market items.

Jac`quelene G.

Ke'Asha jones said...

I did not find to much of this unsettling except for the women as gold mines thing, because working for a retail place you know that they are constantly strategizing to get consumers to buy buy buy and that is through surveys and just getting to know the demographics of the area the store is centered around. I think business wise this is very smart but it can be a little unsettling.