Today I’m going to discuss my impressions from two articles. But first, I’d like to point out that I wasn’t able to post this a few days ago because I could not prove to the internet in England that I was over 18 years old and this site was blocked. Pretty crazy when you think about how much American teenagers use these sites.
First, “Web Video: The New, New Thing,” I was initially amazed to see that a higher percentage of people watched advertisement videos than news or funny videos, then I realized the time frame was different between the two statistics. The fact that 15% of Google searches are image searches did surprise me. I wouldn’t expect this percentage to be anywhere near that high. I guess the younger generations must be more visual than I am. I am surprised that so many people successfully navigate the world of web videos. Personally, I am so overwhelmed by the shear volume that I will only look at clips which are recommended by friends. I feel that Barnes and Nobel has discovered a viable solution to this. Their Iphone application allows users to view books grouped not just by genres, but by best seller lists, book club recommendations, friend’s recommendations, and so for. Adding this feature to web video sites would make them far less intimidating for me.
Second, “Why the Groundswell, and Why Now,” which I found to be a very interesting article about the care that companies need to take when dealing with negative comments on the internet, and how these complaints can snowball. The most interesting insight was that the internet was not a sandbox that can be walled off anymore. This is not a fact that I feel like most people or corporations have yet realized. The other thought I had was how the instant price comparison provided by the internet will harm traditional gimmicks. Companies, such as appliance manufactures, would offer a deal where a customer could get a refund if they found a cheaper price in the next week or so. This was based on the assumption that the amount of work to do this was excessive and a customer would do this very rarely, but would assume they got a good price. This is still offered, but no longer seems viable in a world where a consumer can compare prices quickly on their phones while in the store. Companies need to come up with new strategies to keep customers when prices are so transparent.
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Susan,
ReplyDeleteI share your frustration. I just finished typing a message to you, clicked "post comment" and it was lost. I'll try to recreate my message.
First, I agree that some of the complexities that appear to be purposely built-in to deals (such as rebates) may not work any more. Shoppers should become more aware of what's happening with information being shared online.
Second, the instant price comparisons are changing the behavior of some retailers. Some appliance dealers now offer to comparison shop online while you're in the store. Also, there's an application for the iPhone that promises to let you get competitive prices and product information while you're standing in a retail store shopping.
Frank