My Ideal Self: How I Would Like To Consume

Blake Lively: gorgeous, great actress, married to Ryan Reynolds.
Enough said.

This semester, we have discussed at length what the ideal self is, and how we try to find him/her. Since a picture is worth a thousand words (who even came up with that phrase anyway?), I'll share an assortment of photos from my own Pinterest boards, and why they represent my ideal self. In other words, these pictures represent how I wish I could consume.

My ideal self would purchase one of these bad boys.
Which also means I would have a pool so that I could
actually use them.

Ideally, I'm mega rich and have my own balcony off of my bedroom. And a giant bedroom that I don't actually NEED.   

I have this for my pool too.

My hair naturally has this much volume.

I wear party dresses everyday, just because.   

I also spend my weekends casually ziplining into the Gulf of Mexico. 

Keurig: Thoughts and Product Review

Since I'm convinced that coffee is the single greatest invention on planet Earth, I finally caved and bought myself a Keurig. I've wanted one for so long, but could never justify spending the money on one, because when it comes down to it, the $8 coffee pot that my roommate picked up at Walmart last year does just fine.

But.... It's a Keurig. Who wouldn't want one?

I still can't entirely justify spending the money on one, but my Christmas shopping for everyone on my list was MOSTLY done. And sometimes you just can't help but buy yourself nice things because, well, you deserve it. Plus, I got a free $20 Target gift card with the purchase. Double win.

I've had mine for about 2 weeks now, and I think it's the bees' knees. The only downside is having to spend anywhere from $9-$12 on a pack of the K-cups that are needed to brew your cup of coffee, but I've found that if I don't use my Keurig every single day, I won't burn through my K-cups as quickly (obviously), and that I'm cutting back on my sugar and caffeine consumption at the same time. It brews a cup of coffee (or in my case, I've been really hooked on chai lattes) in 90 seconds, which if you ask me, is pretty impressive. And your coffee comes out piping hot, and stays warm for a relatively long amount of time, which can't be said for the $8 coffee pot (sorry, Julie).

Though I haven't had my Keurig for long, I can honestly say that I have no complaints thus far. The only thing that would have been nice, though not necessary at all, would have been a wider selection in the color of the Keurigs at the local Target. However, I went with basic black over the silver or the red.

Though this purchase was definitely spur-of-the-moment, I wouldn't say it was an impulse buy because I had wanted one for so long, and I have no buyer's remorse. All in all, an expensive purchase, but one that I know will end up being well worth the money.

Pinterest: What It Says About Its Users

Aside from coffee (which I previously mentioned in my About Me post), I am absolutely obsessed with Pinterest. Anyone who says that the site is dumb is just kidding themselves, my boyfriend being a prime example of this. However, I have noticed that the percentage of females relative to males who use the site on a regular basis and have an account is extremely high. 

I think this may be due to the fact that while females typically like shopping more than males do, Pinterest also heavily features pictures of fashion, weddings, and babies, which are three things that males have little to no interest in. (Not to say that males don't LIKE those subjects, but looking at picture after picture of them probably doesn't peak their interest very much). At least not the guys that I'M friends with. 

This Pinterest pattern consumption relates well to gender roles in today's society. Females are typically softer, gentler, and more sexualized. They tend to take a deeper interest in fashion and makeup because they value their appearance, and how they present themselves to the world, as per social norms. Males are more aggressive and tough, which is the opposite of Pinterest, to say the least. This may be why very few males use Pinterest and engage in the site.

The ideal self is also represented through the boards of Pinterest users. Speaking on behalf of my own boards, I have "My Style", "Dream Home", and "People" boards that I frequently pin to. While some of these pins relate very well to my actual self, many of them are more associated with my ideal self, whether they are pictures of clothes I wish I owned, or celebrities whose hair I really admire. While I am happy with my actual self, Pinterest highlights aspects of my life that do not actually exist, but that I sometimes wish did. 

Pinterest is a great time killer and an excellent source to use for inspiration for just about anything. It allows users to share recipes, DIYs, and products that they love, and store them all conveniently in one place so that they can reference them later on. It is a great indicator of what we consume, why we consume, and how we sometimes wish that we COULD consume. In other words, Pinterest is Consumer Behavior Central.

Do Holidays Make For Better Tips?

So as I've already mentioned in a previous post, I am a server at a restaurant here in town. As soon as November hits, we all collectively prepare for what is known as our "busy season". Colder weather, Christmas music, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday never fail to draw more business in, and I'm not sure if it's because it's the "season of giving", but we've all noticed that our tips get bigger around this time of year.

One might think that with the increase in consumption that takes place during the holidays, what with buying presents upon presents for our friends and family, that people would be a little stingier with giving out those 20% tips when they go out to eat. However, the opposite is true. Customers tend to give MORE than the standard 20% tip!

Now I'm not saying that on every table I'm pulling in 25-30%. Some people are just bad tippers, and don't understand that giving a 10% tip isn't cool. But overall, the holidays and the busy season brings out the generosity in the general public. Maybe some of those people are generous year round, but I think that a large majority feel that they owe a duty to themselves and others to spend more of their disposable income than they would in say, June or July.

This goes back to holiday rituals, and how Christmas is now a time of year where presents, generosity, and money come to mind more often than religion does. By default, most of us associate the upcoming holidays with saving our income so that we can spend it on others. Not that there's anything wrong with that- how could setting aside our own desires and selfishness for a few months of the year be considered wrong? Some may argue that we should strive to be more willing to give all year round, but if that were the case, I think that the "season of giving" would lose it's allure and "magic", if you will.

All in all, the holiday season is all about giving, which means that if you're a server like me, it's pretty awesome. And to be honest, I'm going to keep the generosity chain going, and spend taht extra tip money on presents for my friends and family.

❤❤❤

Black Friday..Already??

So I went Christmas shopping with my roommate last week, and everywhere we looked, we felt bombarded with sales promotions.

"30% Entire Store!"
 "FREE gift (with $75 purchase)"
 "BOGO! Entire Store!"

The list went on and on. It didn't matter where we were: the mall, Target, World Market... Anyone and everyone had some sort of sale taking place, almost as if each company was saying "Well XYZ might have a sale right now too, but we're having one and you should come shop with us instead!".

Even last Sunday's paper had Black Friday ads for multiple stores. With marathons, you train really hard for quite some time beforehand in order to prepare yourself for the big day. This is also true of Black Friday; you train really hard by comparing prices on that LCD flat-screen Sony, checking to see when each store opens, how many TVs each of the stores has, etc. In reality, Black Friday is just one huge marathon that consumers spend the whole month of November training for.

We as consumers are so greedy and eager for a deal, that we'll arrive at a store at 4 a.m., push and shove a horde of strangers around, and fight to the death (sometimes literally) just to get a discount. Sure, some of these deals really are unbeatable, but why do we become so materialistic? I think this goes back to the feelings of losses and gains explained in the class-required book, Nudge. The feeling we get when we have lost out on something is almost twice as intense as the feeling we get when we gain something. This principle would explain why everyone goes into an almost frenzied state on Black Friday- if they miss out on that deal on the flat-screen, they will feel an intense sense of loss.

So just be careful this year on Black Friday when the crowds go wild in order to satisfy the potential feelings of loss and of "what could have been".

SoundBot: Thoughts and Product Review

I'm not really one for gadgets, but when I saw the SoundBot bluetooth speaker on Pinterest, I decided to spend the $14.99 on Amazon and go for it. 

While I definitely saw the benefits of buying one, I also think that part of the reason I bought it was because I fell into the category that a lot of consumers find themselves in, which is that of "But if I DON'T buy it, am I missing out? What could I be missing out on?" The pain of a loss is often much greater than the feelings of joy that result from a gain, and I can testify to this.

One of the more obvious reasons that I bought it was because it was waterproof AND had the little suction cup to stick to your shower wall. Cool right?

Obviously I know that I can just use my phone to listen to music while showering, but with my last phone, the steamy hot air from the shower caused a layer of condensation to form on the top of the toilet tank where my phone was resting, and water seeped into my phone speakers. Needless to say, my phone spent the night submerged in a bowl of brown rice. Luckily, the rice sucked the moisture out, and my speakers worked normally again. I didn't want to chance it again though with my new phone, hence the SoundBot purchase. Better safe than sorry. 

So far, the SoundBot works really well! All I have to do is turn it on and connect it to my phone via bluetooth, so I can still listen to Pandora while my phone sits safely in my room. I have the option to turn the volume up or down, change the song, and even answer a phone call if someone calls while I'm in the shower. Kinda weird, but I guess it's nice to know that I have the option. One thing that I know I'll forget about is that you have to charge the SoundBot every now and again (duh). Having an indicator has to how much battery life is left would be the only feature I would add, because while having 6 hours of play time is awesome, I'll never be able to gauge how much of that 6 hours I've used. 

Overall, the SoundBot is by no means a necessity, but it is a nice "luxury" item to have. 

Song Covers: My Consumption Style

♫You know what I love? Song covers. Know what I love even more? Liking song covers more than the actual song. ♫

{Music to me is like breathing- I don't get tired of 

breathing, I don't get tired of music.- Ray Charles]

At any given point in time, I always have a song or a melody running through my head, and on countless occasions, I've caught myself humming and singing under my breath. While I love music and fall in love with the original songs first, I always find myself searching for a cover not long after. 

Why? I think it has a lot to do with keeping my options open. People love having options, and are afraid to eliminate their options, "just in case". We don't want to miss out on opportunities, so we keep these "doors" open for as long as possible. I also think we keep our options open so that we don't become bored too easily. If I listen to the same song over and over, even if I love it, I'll inevitably get sick of it. However, listening to different versions of the song gives a new perspective and can make the song seem brand new again, while still remaining familiar. 

While the lyrics and basic melody are the same, the artist's voice and personal touches make it their own, which is why I love covers so much. I get to experience my favorite songs in new ways, and in some cases, end up liking them more than I ever liked the original.

 I also think that this behavior on my part is due to how much I associate the music I listen to with social situations- for example, if I'm hanging out with a group of friends and I hear a song (cover or not), I'm more likely to associate the song with friends, laughter, and happiness. If I hear a song while I have a headache or am upset, I'm more likely to not like the song, and associate it with negative attitudes and pain. These situations are both examples of linking products to my lifestyle.






The setting, the music, and myself define my consumption style. 
So I'm going to keep finding covers, keeping the doors open, and letting the music flow in. ♫