Black Friday

Today, 28^th November, it’s “Black Friday”.

The term Black Friday is known to shoppers and retailers in the USA as both the day after the Thanksgiving holiday and as one of the busiest shopping days of the year (Thomas and Peters, 2011 pag.522). Basically it’s the day where a lot of shops (in-store shops and on-line shops) practice important discounts. I have never experienced this situation, because in Italy it’s not a tradition.

After my morning lecture I went with my friends to the Victoria centre and I realised that Topman store (one of my favourite store on Nottingham) followed to Black Friday. Obviously we entered.

The first things that struck me it was the Black and Red shirt. I love this kind of shirt, because on certain days it reflects my identity. The real price was £60 but today it was only £30 (50% of discount!). I bought it without thinking.

My impulsive behaviour came out with the second products, because the shirt was combined with a parka. I liked the colour and the design of the parka, but also I liked the combination with the shirt. The discount for this product is not really high, but combined with the student discount I paid £58 instead of £85.

The result: today I bought 2 products that I had not planned! This behaviour is very frequent for clothes purchases.

The best influences for this purchases were my personal identity (because I really liked the products and I’m satisfied for that purchases) and the external environment (because the display of the products influenced my decision and also because the price of the products today was very convenient).

Black Friday was a new and good shopping experience and I hope that this tradition will soon come to Italy! 

My second concert in the Capital FM Arena

After one month from my first concert in Nottingham, this week I attended the James Blunt concert. I bought the ticket on-line really at the last minute, because the concert was on Saturday and I bought this ticket on Thursday. Again I decided to buy the tickets on-line because it's the fastest and easiest method. 

But what influenced this purchase? Obviously the first motivation is that I like this singer and his songs. His songs sometimes reflect my personality and my mood so I could not skip this event. This is an example of individual influence.

The second influence is an example of social environment influences. Compared with the first concert, where I went alone, for this I went with my friend. I was influenced by my friend, because he loves James Blunt and his high motivation and high involvement influenced my behaviour and this purchase.

The third influence is linked to the Ed Sheeran concert. I was really satisfied with that performance and situation (not only for the concert, but also for the atmosphere in the Capital FM Arena), and I needed to repeat this emotion. When I'm satisfied with a purchase, especially a service purchases (such as concert, movie ticket, stadium ticket, hotels,…) I tend to repeat the same purchase in the future. I’m really influenced by the emotional experience. This is an example of when post-consumption satisfaction influences my next purchase.

The last but not the least influence is the promotion of this concert. In fact I saw the poster of James Blunt out of the Arena and in the city centre. This is an example of a mass communication methods. Is not the only way that this organization uses, indeed when there is a new event I receive an e-mail with the details. I think it’s a good idea to attract attention.

For those kind of purchases I'm not influenced by the price, because the emotion that I feel has more value than the price.

Again my expectations were respected and the desire to another concert grows!

Technological purchase

This week I spent part of my money on this product. It’s a speaker for the iPhone, Tablet or Laptop. Is so long since I have wanted this technological product but only now I have decided to buy it.

I was influenced by many different aspects, environmental and individual.

First, I need this product because I live with 8 other students and each of them has one similar product, therefore this speaker is necessary to listen to music or to watch movies in my accommodation.

Second, my brother likes music and I think that he likes this product. When I go back home I can share this with him (or this speaker can became a gift for him).

The JBL brand influences my decision, because I have already another product of this company and I’m satisfied with this. With the technological products I tend to be a loyal customer, because I give more importance to past experience when I decide between a new brand or a brand already known.

The last influence, but I think it was the most important, was the price. I paid "only" £49 for this product, but it was on sale because two weeks ago the price was £99. When I saw this promotion I could not resist, because the value of the product was high but the price was halved. I saw the product in the window on Saturday, and I bought it on Sunday! My decision making was very simplified.

After one week I was very satisfied with this speaker and the JBL brand value increases. I would recommend this product to my friends that they too could be affected by my purchase.