MURKETING

License to act irresponsibly?

On his blog, Dan Ariely cites recent research that he says has some implications regarding “green” consumption and the idea that one “green” purchase may give us “license” to feel we’ve done our part, we’re off the hook, and we can ignore such considerations in our next action (consumer action or other):
Through a series of [...]

“Payback,” by Margaret Atwood

A while back I promised I’d start writing some about books on this site, since I get so many email requests from people looking for book suggestions. I should clarify that I’m not going to review or even recommend books, per se. I’m just going to write, on occasion, about stuff I’ve read lately — [...]

Advertising, entertainment, and what’s for dinner tonight

If you missed it, I really recommend Michael Pollan’s cover story from the Times Mag this weekend, on food preparation as something we watch on television, rather than something we do. It’s really well done. Here’s one side note that’s particularly relevant to this site:
It’s no accident that Julia Child appeared on public television — [...]

Wants, needs … and donuts.

It’s often said that consumers in the downturn are more often stopping to say: “Do I really need that? Or do I just want it?” And of course they are often answering that they don’t “need” whatever it is after all. This is widely read as a) evidence of new consumer virtue, and b) bad [...]

What the Michael Jackson sales surge is about

Sometimes people ask me why, say, McDonald’s or Coca-Cola or Nike bother to advertise at all. We’ve all heard of them, right? We’ve all decided whether or not we like them. So why waste the money? Here is my answer: Because the simple-sounding issue of salience is very important. And as backup I offer the [...]

The iPhone: Mandatory?

One other note from How Conference tweets that you didn’t have to be there to appreciate. Or maybe to loathe. This dispatch:
@danieleagee: Just heard someone ask someone else, “How do you consider yourself a creative without owning an iPhone?”

Hm.
Maybe the overheard person was kidding.

(Related: Research suggesting mere exposure to Apple logos makes people more creative [...]

Bill Clinton: Alpha shopper

The Times Mag’s cover story this weekend, about Bill Clinton, opened with a scene of the former president shopping, in Peru.
The store owner showed him a selection of shoulder bags for women. Clinton selected one he thought would be great for his friend, Frank Giustra, the Canadian mining mogul, to give to Giustra’s girlfriend. Clinton [...]

Price and utility

Jonah Lehrer, author of the celebrated How We Decide, describes an experiment suggesting a link between what something costs and how well we think it will work.
As it happens, the same experiment is described in the decidedly less-celebrated Buying In. But that’s not why I bring it up. I bring it up because an even [...]

YouTube behavior

In this item about the (to me) creepy-sounding possibility of monitoring what your friends are watching on YouTube, while they monitor you back, I was surprised by this assertion:
Many people go to YouTube without any particular video in mind — they simply go to watch something.
Really? Do you do that?
I’m pretty sure I only go [...]

“The opportunity … to change the story”

I listened with great interest to a recent episode of Speaking of Faith, devoted to changing values in the economic downturn, and titled Repossessing Virtue. Instead of drawing conclusions about how nationwide values have changed, it offered thoughts about how individual values can change. I think there’s a lot to be said for considering the [...]