Lunar Threads

http://youarenotsosmart.wordpress.com/2 ... d-loyalty/

I figured you guys would appreciate this.

interesting article

playstation 3
pepsi
mac

That was depressing. An article about how good corporations have gotten at manipulating people.

It's a cool article, and good for an introduction to the topic. I guess I"ve seen enough studies done that I'm not surprised that people do not buy or sell things on a rational basis. Partly it enables me to initially make the choice - something has to tip me over between buying a Nintendo DS and a PSP, like putting particular weight on a few games. Partly it allows me to feel like my judgment was right, even when it wasn't. I would far rather own Fraggle Rock than Tenchi Muyo, and that's the choice I made. Why? Well... because... it's Fraggle Rock.

I like to think I've made my choices because of research and not some "brand loyalty." Thought I will say this, when it comes to my computer parts, I'm very picky and will stick with the products I know. Usually veering off the into the path of the unknown has been rather unkind to me as far as hardware.

Ardent Fox wrote:I like to think I've made my choices because of research and not some "brand loyalty." Thought I will say this, when it comes to my computer parts, I'm very picky and will stick with the products I know. Usually veering off the into the path of the unknown has been rather unkind to me as far as hardware.

Same here. I go with a brand that I know has a good reputation and that I have had no problem with. If it works, why change?

phyco126 wrote:

Ardent Fox wrote:I like to think I've made my choices because of research and not some "brand loyalty." Thought I will say this, when it comes to my computer parts, I'm very picky and will stick with the products I know. Usually veering off the into the path of the unknown has been rather unkind to me as far as hardware.

Same here. I go with a brand that I know has a good reputation and that I have had no problem with. If it works, why change?

But how much of that reputation is actually valid? Even a company as deplorable and as opposed to consumer rights as Microsoft has a great reputation in certain circles (enterprise, games and game development, et cetera.) Odds are, you're using one of their products right now, because they "just work" and are "great for games," and "Windows 7 was your idea."

I judge a company based on the reputation I give it. Everyone complains about Microsoft, but the only problem I have with it is my OS broke (aka, it won't allow updates without reinstall, which is NOT gonna happen). Otherwise, it really does just work for what I want it to.

If I had a lot of issues with Microsoft, I'd probably be running Mac or something.

I go off of what I know works, what I've used and what's tried and true for me. Usually a friend of mine might have a better suggestion and I'll go with it, but I know they aren't just going to be swaying me into the direction of a companies products just because "its the new thing." We aren't swayed that easily. As long as you keep rational about a product and don't just buy it flat out because a company says "it's great for slicing onions" or whatever, then you'll be laughing.

Ardent Fox and phyco, the point is that what you know about a product is tempered by an emotional disposition to it. All of those things you have just said are not facts, but claims. Oftentimes we don't bother to fully reason out the claim. We are satisfied with the claim, whether it is reasonable or not, and despite contrary valid claims. This process isn't a bad thing. It is necessary for making decisions with only a little information. It's why James T. Kirk and Jean Luc Picard can save the day. But commercials can manipulate this process and emphasize certain claims over others. For example, the Mac v. PC commercials argue that PCs suit the needs of cool, laid back people. They argue this without posing a coherent argument.

Decisions being tied to emotion does not mean that you are easily swayed. It can, if you practice certain habits (not researching, buying immediately, etc.). If, however, we recognize that "keeping rational" will always involve some emotional decision, while we won't be in perfect control (sometimes I just like what I like, crave what I crave, without any reason at all), we'll have some.

I guess the most basic way emotion works is that it perceives a difference (whether one is there or not) and then weighs that difference accordingly. It is the man in the desert that comes across two glasses of water that are exactly alike, and manages to choose one over the other. (Or maybe drinks both?) As for my decisions, I prefer Coke to Pepsi because I like that it has more carbonation and is less sweet than Pepsi. I like PCs because I can play more games on them, and I can build one myself. The fact that Steam and other companies have recently begun porting to the Mac many games that I love does not affect this decision at all. I think that recent Sonic games (with the exception of the horrible XBox 360 one) often get a bad rap, simply because it is popular to bash Sonic and Sega despite all the solid games they've been releasing.

I don't need to collect a body of evidence to come up with any of these dispositions, but I couldn't cite a logical train of thought that came up with any of them. Reason would dictate I look at far more facts about the PC and Mac, collect a sound body of data about Sonic games and what's said about them, and so on. I don't have the time.