Dogs and their crazy owners

Bozeman is a very pet oriented city... there are equally as many dog stores as there are human stores! my roommate recently got a puppy, and i realized how crazy dog people truly are. The difference in dog accessories is just as bad as going to the mall for people. the colors of dog bed, collars, even clothes is amazing! I think that going into the business of selling dog accessories in businesses such as bozeman is a great booming business. I was thinking that in a town like Sheridan it would be great to open such a store.

Demographics of grocery stores

I went to Smith's the other day and I had a realization that in Bozeman there are a lot of grocery stores! my roommates and I made a connection to consumer behavior.... Smith's attracts all the single men and bachelors... Rosaurs attracts all the women and single moms.... and Albertsons is the family/super saver people.... all these people are the consumers that make up most demographics in Bozeman. Ironically... Smith's is where we shop, which shows us that we are more of the type of girls that relate to the single men.... which is funny because 90% of our friends are guys.

Its amazing how the "feeling" of the grocery store determines the consumers and how they spend their money. though all the grocery stores are pretty similar... the prices and the level of "organic"ness is what makes the difference.

The Co-Op

frequently at the Bozeman Co-op, you see see some very colorful people. by Colorful, I mean people who either A) don't care who sees them, or B) Care A LOT about who sees them.... Today, I saw some very interesting people purchasing some interesting things. One thing that people at the coop seem to do a lot is care about what other people see them buying as well as care about what other people are buying. They are constantly looking over their shoulder to look whose watching.

According to takepart.com "new market analysis by the organization also reveals that organic’s appeal now extends far beyond a certain, um, stereotypical demographic: whatever you want to call the slice of American pie that contains white people listening to NPR while driving to Whole Foods in their Subarus with an “I’m Ready for Hillary” bumper sticker pasted over “HOPE” on the back"

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/04/21/who-is-buying-organic

Drinking by the Label

I recently read an article from NPR that was called "Drinking with your Eyes," Its interesting how labeling plays such a big part in the food industry. Wine is the most common thing that tricks the consumer into thinking something tastes better or a certain way by simply putting a certain type of label on it. Something that is labeled in a more "natural" brown looking package is perceived to be healthier, where things that are brightly colored, like candy usually is, are thought to be not as healthy.
by accommodating the consumer's wants and ideas, the businesses are ensuring their successful selling. I will totally admit that I buy by label, which definitely gets me in trouble sometimes, but 60% of the time it works every time.
Here's a link to the original article.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/10/10/231458853/drinking-with-your-eyes-how-wine-labels-trick-us-into-buying

Pinterest

As of recently, Pinterest is beginning to play a huge roll in the retail marketplace for businesses! Pinterest is a place for consumers to find things they like in a "catalog" online and link it directly back to the producers website. It is a very visually pleasing site, because its not just one kind of product unless you search for one product specifically. 

This is becoming a place for businesses to focus their social media efforts and push their products the the front of their customer's vision. 

The consumer behavior aspect really is interesting, when someone finds a product that they like, their first idea is How much? and where do I get it? Pinterest gives consumers the answer they want! 

Visually pleasing images are what determines the number of pins and how much interest there is in the product. 

my only thought it, How long will it last? whats going to take its place? I wonder how the people behind Pinterest would answer that. 

wild horses

According to Wikipedia, Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. 
I am relating this to the current wild horse situation in the United States. 
The organizations that are all for saving the wild horses and the organizations that those organizations are trying to shut down are all trying to cater to the consumer's wants and needs. It is interesting to look at the ideas that consumers use to relate to the subject, they put so much more emotion into their processes when there are animals involved. Even though if you look at it from an economical stand point, the only right way to fix the problem is through horse slaughter. BUT, that industry has been shut down by the people who are trying to save the horses. By using emotion to appeal to the consumer, those organizations have created a following that only sees horses that are oppressed by the government and trying to live wild and free; when in reality, they are skinny and sick and dying because there is nobody to take care of them. 
I think that consumer behavior is what is playing a big part in the situation and there needs to be a balance established with both sides. 

faces in advertisments

My roommate, Nevada Watt (the half Canadian  is an amazing silversmith. As of lately, i've been helping her put her designs on her website and we discovered something interesting. With the Ball caps she sells, people only buy them if there are faces in the photos people buy the caps off of. We tried taking photos of them backwards on someone to where just the back of their head is showing, but people wont buy them! this is an interesting consumer behavior because you don't realize how much the face in the advertisement actually plays into the purchasing of the product. I think that when people see someones face, smiling in the ad it is more personal to them, where if it is the back of their head they don't even notice it. there is no emotion or feeling in the photo.