On Thu, 2008-09-25 at 01:26 -0700, Vitaliy wrote:
> > The problem is that the people in the market may not know what
> > they want. They trust the advertisement or the salesmen.
> 
> Xiaofan, how often do ads make YOU buy something you don't want?

Just a small nitpick, but Xiaofan did NOT say that ads make people buy
something they don't want, he simply said that people in the market
often don't know what they want, and ads have an influence.

In general this statement is VERY true. People often don't know the
difference between product A or B, and the reason so many billions(?) of
dollars are spent on ads is due to this very point.

While some consumers actually go out and research products with larger
price tags, for many purchases this effort isn't worth it, and the
"subconscious" influence of ads will certainly have some effect. It may
not be an overriding effect. 

In general, past experience with a product (or brand), along with peer
experience with a product (or brand) is likely a much larger factor in a
purchasing decision, but few can deny that there is at least some
influence from ads.

When it comes to purchases where you interact with a sales person their
influence is often VERY large; I know, I used to be one (the dreaded
computer sales person). I was always amazed (and slightly saddened) by
how quickly a potential customer "trusted" my opinion with regards to
what product they needed. I was clearly biased, it was clear to anyone
that the more upselling I got away with, the more I'd benefit (I wasn't
on commission, but there were sales targets and bonuses). 

Personally I did really poorly as a sales person, I'm just not very good
at being dishonest and often I'd actually downsell a customer because it
was clear they didn't need to spend the kind of money they had planned
on.

Just my $0.02. TTYL

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