With the closing of several Facebook stores in the past year – including GameStop, The Gap and Nordstrom – is it safe to assume that Facebook’s future as an ecommerce platform is doomed? Despite the initial buzz, brands are realizing that Facebook may just be a place for people to hang out – and not to shop.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57380888-93/facebook-not-a-virtual-shopping-mall-after-all/
A new study suggests that while online dating has gone mainstream (25 million+ monthly users worldwide), the “scientific” process of selecting from hundreds of potential dates may create a “shopping” mentality in which a person can develop overly narrow and unrealistic criteria for a mate.
http://www.futurity.org/society-culture/online-dating-dumps-the-stigma/
Marketers have long assumed that consumers rationally weigh the costs and benefits of every possible choice before deciding what to buy. As it turns out, shoppers don’t think as much as they think they do. The Yale Center for Customer Insights shares the four secrets to engaging the irrational shopper.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ravi-dhar/psychology-shopping_b_1280341.html
By Karen Leitze, EVP/ MARC USA Director of Research and Strategic Planning in collaboration with Peter Boatwright, PhD and Jonathan Cagan, PhD, PE
The “versus” puts these elements in opposition. But successful companies understand that, in truth, there is no conflict. Consumers clearly operate emotionally as well as rationally.
These are the beliefs we at MARC USA and our partners at Carnegie Mellon University, Professors Peter Boatwright and Jonathan Cagan, share and employ consistently to build powerful emotional connections between our clients’ brands and their customers.
Luxury jewelry brands use mobile marketing tactics to ignite emotions and drive transactions through interactive apps.
http://www.luxurydaily.com/emotive-mobile-advertising-imperative-for-jewelers-this-st-valentine’day/
Luxury Daily January 23, 2012
This mobile photo-sharing app has become a social-media phenomenon, allowing new and established brands to showcase what’s really going on behind the scenes at their companies.
http://adage.com/article/digital/brands-puma-ge-flocking-instagram/232121/
Advertising Age January 17, 2012
Google launches emotive TV and video ads aimed at telling its story in hopes of evoking curiosity and emotion from viewers.
The New York Times January 1, 2012
