The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, by Barry Schwartz, is focused on the analysis of personal behavior in relation to decision making. As the title implies, the author emphasizes the main point that more choices actually lead to less of an ideal experience. In recent years, choices have become almost unlimited, and this has led to an increase in unnecessary stress placed on the consumer. The availability to make decisions in virtually every aspect of life creates a new level of responsibility on individuals. Decision making can lead to an enormous group of positive and negative feelings. Some of which include satisfaction, happiness, regret, disappointment and even depression. It is important to explore the broad category of decision making …show more content…
The use of advertising plays a huge role in the explanation of decision making. Schwartz contradicts some of the methods we learned in class. He states that life would be easier if products were less personalized. In class, we discussed that target markets should be specific. Another connecting communication principle is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. In class we discussed how these needs can all be met within our lives. In the reading, Schwartz states that when we make decisions, we can become satisfied. Also contradictory, he states that, in time, the consumer will become less satisfied with decisions they have made, even if the decision has met expectations. The Paradox of Choice has multiple points that can be considered the big take aways. First, choosing is not an easy procedure in daily life. The consumer must learn to be careful and choose strategically. Second, when making decisions, one cannot expect to get maximum results. Sometimes settling for less is necessary. Finally, the decision maker must account for loss, and be prepared to experience negative results from some decisions.
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The first part highlighted choices that individuals must make on a daily basis. I do not agree with this. Any book will become outdated. I believe the first part of the book served the intended purpose. It showed a variety of examples that related to the evidence presented. The only communication principle that we discussed in class addressed by the reviewer was the use of social media. Joly states that she believed three calls to action were the greatest points to take away from the reading. She gathered that Schwartz’s message was overall geared to inform us to choose when to choose, satisfice more and maximize less, and learn to love constraints. I agree with the take aways she chose to mention. Although, I do believe there was one more major take away. Schwartz mentioned that we should regret less when we make decisions. A great portion of the reading was focused on regret, and it plays one of the largest roles in decision
Peter Kreeft says that there is a moral jungle in the world. The perversion and sin is enticing us every day, and if we lack of will and perseverance, we may fall in an immoral life. Nowadays, subjects like abortion, AIDS, rape, drugs and violence are torturing us. Our soul may be destroyed by the greed for money and riches. The twentieth century was supposed to be peaceful and prosperous, but the man invented The World War; therefore, genocides and starvation appeared. However, there is a being who encourages us to be moral people, and he is God. Bad times are no excuses for bad choices and bad lives. Moral rules and ideals are not designed for good times but for bad times. For example, the laws of a country are most needed when there is corruption and negligence. Bad times are for good people and good people are for bad times; only in a bad world can we become good. Therefore, times of crisis serve us to rise up and fight against them.
Overall, his claim that males respond best to simple, seemingly straight-forward advertisements was well thought out and supported through sufficient evidence. Gladwell successfully provided the proper amount of evidence supporting his claim and had he showed opposing views or views of the consumer it only would have added to an already successful paper. This essay is a perfect example of the importance of a thorough introduction to provide the reader with a concise synopsis of what the paper intends to covers. Had Gladwell excelled in both areas he neglected, this would be an extremely interesting, thought-provoking look into the world of advertising.
Before starting this reading assignment I never thought to question why I make the decisions I do in such a short amount of time. After reading Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, written by Malcolm Gladwell I have a better understanding of how we as individuals perceive and react to information. This book provides insight on how to critically asses and understand the way our minds operate on a deeper level. The book consists of 6 chapters, each providing insight on how the decision making process works and how it affects what we do with every second of the day. Throughout each chapter there are subsections with personal stories, case studies, or examples that help provide an alternative view on how the decision making process is carried out under normal circumstances.
The author of this book Bruce Barton was a partner in a successful advertising firm during the 1920’s. This was a time when the industry of advertising was under going some major changes. These changes had a lot to do with a number of factors the first of which being the post war prosperity this meant people had more money than they ever had before. Another one of these factors had to do with the high number of teens who were now attending high school, this proved to be important because it created a whole other market which hadn’t existed before. One more factor was the advances made in transportation and communication, these advances allowed goods, people, and information to travel long distances relatively quickly intern allowing companies to grow large enough to spread their services nationally. Still another important factor was the invention of financing, this allowed people to pay for durable objects (large objects that would last a couple of years) with affordable installments or payments. But the biggest changes were the actual advertising practices themselves, many of which were pioneered by Barton and his associates, and didn’t become norms in advertising until after the release of Bartons book “The Man Nobody Knows” in 1924. This book served not only as a manual on how to advertise more affectively but also as an example of good advertising itself.
There is a reason why people are always happy in the world of commercials. By associating positive feelings with the product, the advertisers hope to use classical conditioning to seduce customers.... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Huxley, Aldous. A. & Co.
In the end, I find that Robert Scholes is correct in his conclusion that commercials hold a certain power, with which they can alter our decisions whether or not to buy a product. Through visual fascination, we are offered images we could never have on our own; through narrativity, we are told what to think and how to think it; and finally through cultural relativity we connect with the rest of the world. When these three forces are combined by advertising, our brains cannot help themselves, we allow ourselves to become brainwashed by corporate America. This is why Robert Scholes feels that Reading a Video Text should be taught in school.
The decision-making model not as simple as selfish or self-interest, it’s the “theory of human choice based on scientific principles of observation and experiment”, but not “postulation and deduction” (page 397). Observation reflects it has been learned or acknowledged from patient look or research about the cause and effect, experiment means it has been thought, be consider the pros and cons. Even though it might not be think over and think through, it must be different than “creating something out of nothing”. There are four princi...
The process of making a decision for many is a disconcerting responsibility. While for others, making a decision is second nature. According to Browne et al., "Decisions are streams of choices. These streams contain bits of information, events, and choices (1998, p. 50)." The authors go on to state:
Conclusion Companies are better able to market their products to consumers if they have a good Understanding of the consumers and the basic purchase decision process. By understanding the consumer and the type of purchasing behavior associated with different products, marketers are more likely to create a marketing campaign that positively impacts the consumer’s purchasing decision.
Every company wants to understand why people decide to buy its products or others. Firstly, we have to understand why people buy certain kind of product. People buy products because they need them. A need is activated and felt when there is a sufficient discrepancy between a desired or preferred state of being and the actual state. (Engle£¬Blackwell and Miniard. 1995. p407 ) For example, when you feel hungry, what you needs is some food. It is very important for marketer to understand the needs of consumers. All the consumers may have the same needs, but the ways which they satisfy what they need are different. Here is a example, Chinese people would choose rice when they feel hungry, whilst British people may choose bread to satisfy their needs.
Do the poor in this country have a choice not to be poor? Do the less fortunate have the same access to opportunities as the middle and upper classes? Do government programs designed to help the impoverished actually keep them in the lower ranks? These are all difficult and controversial questions. Conservatives and Liberals constantly battle over these issues in our state and federal governments. Local and national news media provide limited insight to the root causes and effects of the nation’s poor. There is obviously no simple solution to resolve the plight of these often forgotten citizens. Most of us associate poor as being in a class below the poverty line. In fact there are many levels of poverty ranging from those with nothing, to those with enough to survive but too little to move up. I believe many of our nation’s poor are so by their own doing. I will share observations and personal experiences to support the argument that being poor often is a result of individual choice. One needs merely inspiration and perspiration to move up the socio-economic ladder in the United States. We live in the land of opportunity where anyone with the drive and determination to succeed often can.
In conclusion, I believe that the advertising can affect and manipulate consumers to buy things they do not actually need. Nevertheless, if we want to buy something, our decision-making processes will be additionally influenced by our income, relatives and lifestyle.
Advertising generally tries to sell the things that consumers want even if they should not wish for them. Adverting things that consumers do not yearn for is not effective use of the advertiser’s money. A majority of what advertisers sell consists of customer items like food, clothing, cars and services-- things that people desire to have. On the other hand it is believed by some advertising experts that the greatest influence in advertising happens in choosing a brand at the point of sale.
We make choices every hour, every minute, and every second of our lives; whether big or small our choices are slowly putting us in the direction we choose or end up. Many of us do not realize what contributes to the choices we make and why it affects others the same way if affects us and because of this many authors and writers have written stories and articles about coming to terms with making a choice and how to better ourselves when it comes to decision-making for the future.
...maintain that advertising exists primarily to create demand among consumers. People have certain types of wants and needs, and they are perfectly capable to discover it for themselves. People today just need food, clothing and shelter everything else is superfluous and additional stuff. Advertising are able to create demand that would not exist just by manipulating people’s min and emotions. Advertising is master in manipulate reality and fantasy, by creating “magic show.” It is true that advertising has been a powerful mechanism that distorts our whole society’s values and priorities. On the other hand, advertising educate people about several issues. In political terms, it moves mass of people and persuade them to vote for a candidate. And, of course, in terms of economy, contributes in the development through the consumption of the costumer.