Most liked posts in thread: An explanation of fanboys

I think I have both of those categories covered. I probably still hold the record for most aliases still active and not found, also.

 

Fanboys to multiple personality disorders.......an interesting lot we are indeed. LOL

 

hehe.. don't knock it... you should see me argue both sides of the issue... all by myself.

 

No knock....heck must be nice to have a party without inviting anyone......not to mention that your girlfriends get a gang bang everytime! Lol

 

You are talking street cop vs detective. They are taught not to ask those silly questions, as it generally just pisses off the motorist, but some tend to do it anyway. I remember one asked my friend, "show me you pilots license". He did and the cop was really in a pickle at that point.

Jim

 

Well that just the opposite of our local PD. They actually have training on how to ask leading questions just like those. So if it goes to court they can testify to what the answer was.

And Jerry, still have a few other unused aliases available too..........

Just in case I ever wanted to make a run at the record !

 

whoa.. started typing a reply... then realized that I was about to take it WAY of topic.. :lol:

 

Call me Fanboy or Brand Loyal... It doesn't matter...

Here's how I see it. I chose to buy a MINI after being around 'em for five years and after owning 7 different BMW models since 1976. Was I influenced? Yep. Am I glad I bought it? Hell yes! I drive a Chevy truck too because my Dad had Chevys when I was a kid. He wound up driving Fords beacuse of a company preferrence. I guess my early impression stuck (and they are a better truck) :lol: I vote as I see it best for all affected. I choose my beer, wine and restaurant after taking someone's suggestion. I choose to buy what I like if I can remember the name. I choose to remain in California because it's always great to come back home. And, moreover, I choose to live in the USA because I can. Have I made some bad choices and been influenced from an outsider in the past? Absolutely! Will it happen again? Absolutely! Did I piss someone off? Yep. Will that happen again? I'm sure it will. Do I Drive Too Fast? YES I DO! Irrespective of all that, choices are what they are. Like the color of your car, for example. Did you choose the color or did the dealer? Well, I guess the local BMW dealer does since they must think we all love some form of a silver car... Afterall, what is - is, and what isn't -just hasn't happened yet...

The fact that we all have differing viewpoints, likes and dislikes, the power to influence and be influenced, etc. is the magnetism that keeps the world spinning on its axis... Label us however you like, scientific studies aside, we're all a little ut:

I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong." Dennis Miller.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere... Isn't it? :beer

 

Very well said!!!

Where the heck would sports be without fanboys, how much fun and exciting would going to a football, basketball or a race be for that matter, if all in attendance sat apathetic to who was in the lead, would they still be called fans or merely seat warmers??

Besides, Freud and most of his descendants are a can of mixed nuts at best....

Oops there I go taking sides.......

 

Now if you really want to explore the whole fanboy-hater thing as applied here we could delve into the subject of "Pschologica Denial"....... LOL

 

I am pretty close. One of my aliases was banned for making fun of my Mininuts group. Seems I was being disrespectful towards myself.

 

Slightly different take...

so the same stuff that goes into Fanboy-ism is shared with how we create the perception of value. While it's fairly benign on the internet, this really goes into some very important questions that have real, and significant, consiquences in our everyday life. Like how we make major purchases, how we choose to price our home. What posessions we have and choose over other options. Really, it's fascinating....

One of the very powerfull concepts in purchasing decisions is that of the anchor price. You see it all over the place: MSRP is a way it shows up. No matter what price you end up paying, we all have a tendancy to say if we bought for less than MSRP we have gotten more value for what we paid than if we'd paid the same amount without knowing what MSRP was! This is why a $25,000 car with a $2k rebate sells better than the very same car if it were priced at $23,000 to start with! And the most fascinating of all, if you put a very expensive item on a menu THAT IS NEVER BOUGHT, the average amount per transaction at the restaurant actually rises. (This one really surprised me, but makes sense once you think about it).

So, once one learned about how this technique is used in the marketplace, one can recognize that they system employed is being used to create a skewed sense of value and take that into account when one is making choices about how to spend one's money. What is more disturbing as one digs into these things is the realization that the playing field is skewed: there are many an organization that focuses on, becomes experts in, and skilled in employing these types of techniques so as to influance buying decisions. This is compared to the buying public that to some lesser degree, on average, is aware of the techniques at play. This is used as a way to skew the market relationship and to herd the buyers like sheep into non-optimal decisions.

Personally, this has changed some of the way that FES approaches some of our engineering customers (FES does contract engineering as well). WE are relatively cheap for what we do. But if we just quote our price point, we get the same pricing fight even though we are "pre-discounted" to some degree. So now, when we approach an engineering engagment, we actuall get quotes from larger, more expensive organizations. We can share this price point with our potential customer, say "this is what it will cost you to do this with company X" and we're quoting at some smaller percentage of that. The end result of this is that we've created the anchor point about what the value proposition is that we're bidding against, as oppsed to the customers "I want this for free" concept where they think that ANY price is expensive.

A lot of these things are rooted in out "design" as a relative value engine, as opposed to an absoulte value engine. So we, whether we want to or not, yearn for some sort of anchor so that we can do our "relative" thing that we are so good at.

Anyway, this concept of "anchor" is just one of many that is discussed in Dan's book (and many other locations as well). While we are somewhat aware of a lot of the concepts illustrated in Dan's book and focused on in the field of behavioural economics, seeing them approached systematically, and in one location, really leaves one with a newfound appreaciation of thier power and prevelence.

Matt

 

Nothing new there Matt... It's all about the customers perception of value. Businesses for years have used a high price point to serve both ends of the spectrum. A high price for those that want to pay more because if they pay more they think they got more and they can tell their friends that they paid more thusly serving their ego. Then for the other end, the business has a high enough profit margin built into the MSRP to lower the price and make those customers happy too, because they perceive a better value because they got a discount and they then can brag to their friends about what a great price they got something for......again serving their ego. Both ends of the customer base are happy and the company made money in the process....serving their ego......

 

The Management of MA would like to announce that our services now have an MSRP of:



Enjoy.

 

Each:smilewinkgrin:

Mark

 

My flying monkey is badder then Nathan's or Lotise's. rrr:

Jim

 

My avatar is a Guerrilla, silly

Mark

 

I don't really agree...

While businesses have always been about marketing a vision, the game is different now. People are taking the time to figure out more about the levers that can and are pulled in how we choose to do what we do. while I do agree that some of it is common sense, a lot of what many think of as "old news" has been refined to a degree that many have no idea about. Heck, most of free market philosophy and what underlies the efficient market hypothosis is directly counter to the stuff that behavioural economists are finding out in controlled, and reproducable environments. but the example of anchor points is just one part of one chapter...

Anyway, for whatever you pay for the book (or check it out from the library for free), the value derived from it far exceeds the time and effort that it will take to read it. Everyone who has picked up the book and read it that I've talked to has given very posative feedback and reccomends it to others.

Matt

 

Wasn't discrediting the book at all Matt.. just saying that business men making a living, some getting rich from it have known about perceptive value for a very very long time. They learned about it in their own controlled study environment, their businesses. Their very livelihood depended on the studies success and understanding what motivates one customer or another to buy your service or product has been the difference in a grand success and the soup line so many times. Books such as this can help some to take a short cut to such understanding.

Brings to mind a story; years ago on lifestyles of the rich and famous, they were doing a segment on a very successful coffee shop in Japan. Customers lined up daily to buy the coffee, expensive coffee. They even had a cup of coffee that cost $5,000.00. Admittedly they only sold a handful of the $5g cup of coffee a month but gallons of the other. All their coffee was served very well but with the primo cup they had this girl come out all adorned in Japenese finery and served the coffee in the finest of China. Well the interviewer ask the owner what was the actual difference in the coffee. He said.. "It cost $5,000.00."

How in tune to the flavor of the coffee would your taste buds be if you paid $5,000.00 for it? Would you savor the flavor a bit more than your last cup of Starbucks?