Jordyn Declemente

11 October 2019
Marketing Principles
Consumer Behavior Journal

Entry 1
1. There was an incident in which a company treated me like a one-time transaction that
will never escape my mind. The business was Universal Studios in Orlando and I was purchasing
a frequent fear pass to Halloween Horror Nights last year. I was going with a friend of mine who
could get me a discount that couldn’t be used for an online purchase. To avoid waiting in a line
at the ticket gate, we decided to purchase our tickers over the phone. I gave them my credit card
information to pay and my email in which they were supposed to send me a confirmation, I did
not receive such confirmation. When we got there and tried to pick up our tickets, the staff said
they were unable to locate them and I would have to buy another one. This angered me because
it was the error of Universal for not sending me a confirmation and losing my ticket. The only
proof I had of purchasing was from my bank statement but apparently that wasn’t enough proof.
I was forced to buy a new ticket and sort out the missing money with my bank. I thought maybe I
could’ve gotten scammed over the phone but when we looked back at the call log, it was in fact
the official Universal phone number, and my bank account also said I had made an official
purchase from Universal.
2. What Universal could have done to prove to me that they valued my business was either
try harder to locate my missing ticket or replace my ticket free of charge upon seeing proof of
my purchase. I found it a little troubling that they offer a service to buy tickets over the phone yet
they made such a major error with my order.
3. Some of my favorite relationship marketing programs are those of Walgreens and Ulta
Beauty. They have a system in which you can earn points as you make purchases and those
points will eventually turn into money you can use. For example, I can make a purchase at
Walgreens and ask if I have any points and they will sometimes say I have a few dollars I can
take off my purchase. This is always effective because it brings me into Walgreens instead of
CVS every single time. Ulta has a program that works the exact same way which has me often
times going out of my way to shop there because I feel like I’m saving money. A competitor of
Ulta, Sephora, has a similar points program but instead of redeeming your points for monetary
credit, the points add up to free gifts. I don’t find this as effective because I would rather save a
few dollars every time I shop as opposed to saving up for a small gift that most of the time I
didn’t want in the first place.
Entry 2
One of the persuasion shortcuts that has gotten me to buy a product is the short cut of
authority. This short cut is basically the idea that a consumer is more likely to buy a product if
they are told to by someone who has supposed knowledge or power. This is usually the case
when I am buying cosmetics. The first people I usually ask are people who work in cosmetic
retail and that I know had tried many products. What they tell me I should buy might not
necessarily be the best option but I trust them because they spend so much time selling these
products and in my mind they know what works best. For example, last time I got my hair done,
my stylist recommended I use a heat protectant. Instead of doing research on which ones are best
I bought the one she recommended without thinking twice. The next shortcut is liking. This is a
persuasion method in which you are likely to buy something because you see similarities of
yourself within the product and/or salesperson. A personal example I thought of for this was an
online shop I will often times make purchases from called “igirl”. This shop is run by a popular
online fashion icon who I feel like I can related to a lot and I see a lot of similar characteristics
between me and this person. Because of this, I will sometimes go out of my way to buy products
from this shop because of my genuine liking for the products, the salesperson, and the brand.
Igirl also does a frequent promotion in which you can buy a personalized bundle. You can send
in a brief description of what your style is, and a stylist will send you a custom outfit. This is a
service I probably wouldn’t purchase from just anyone, but I am considering getting on from
igirl because of the liking shortcut. I know I have similar characteristics to the company and
person selling the products to me, that I wouldn’t be worried about ordering something
essentially random from them. The last shortcut is consensus. The video reminded me of an
interesting example for the persuasion short cut that I have not personally fallen for but I have
seen so many people start using this product because of the shortcut that I feel the need to discuss
it. Consensus is the idea that if others (especially similar others) are doing it, then we are more
likely to do it ourselves. I have seen this be the case with metal straws recently. I really despise
the idea of metal straws and I don’t think many people are very conscious of the use for them. I
think the whole idea is a trendy fad that people are easily falling for because they feel as if they
are saving the planet in some way because they are omitting plastic (even if they’re using their
metal straw in a plastic cup). I think most people have made the switch because of consensus.
They see other similar trendy people using the product so they feel the need to use it themselves.
Entry 3
This journal has to do with Facebook ads and how we are advertised to on Facebook. Though I
don’t personally use Facebook, I can relate by the fact that I see ads all across the Internet on my
phone, and often to a creepy extent. The first category is ‘your activity across Facebook
companies and products’. I don’t have a Facebook, so I don’t know if I can answer this one. But
what I can talk about is the Instagram discover page. The discover page always targets me by
showing me posts similar to other accounts I follow, never leaving me bored. These posts will
often include advertisements for products I sometimes own. The second category is ‘your
activity with other businesses’. I get fast food ads a lot on my phone, but one fast food chain I
went to for the first time last week is called Krystal. I had never heard of if until recently, but
after I went there for the first time I have seen several ads for it in my phone browser. Next is
‘your activity on other websites and apps’. Ever since we did that assignment of Dollar Shave
Club and Harry’s in class, I have seen several Instagram ads and even email ads from them since
I was on their websites in class for an extended period of time. Last is ‘Your location’. Whenever
I go home for a break, it will take my phone a few days to realize I’m not in Lakeland anymore
and I will continue to get local ads. That is usually when I notice this the most, because it feels so
out of place to get a Lakeland ad when I’m not in the area any more.