Looking back on this semester and learning about consumer behavior for marketing, I am now more aware of messages that I see in advertisement. The packages, the display, the placement of items are all purposeful and something that I will definitely be more inclined to notice while I shop, especially this holiday season. My friends always joke about what an impulse shopper I am, but now after learning the characteristics about impulsive consumers, I completely fit this mold. I definitely have a sense of need to buy something when I see something that I absolutely love. This class was interesting in the sense that a lot of the topics that we discussed in class I could apply to my own life. We we needed to construct an associated network web, it really made me realize that I take consumerism seriously. I am very motivated to buy and consume in this world. I have become more aware of these habits because of this class. I have now recognized by values and beliefs as a consumer and why I am more inclined to buy a particular item or believe a particular ad because marketers intended for me to do so.
Another important skill that I am glad that I learned in this class was how to properly create a survey in order to analyze the results properly and to compare different brands to one another. As a public relations major, one of the keep elements in created a public relations plan is research and this will definitely be a huge help when researching for my next class. Also, for Advertising this semester with Professor Ferris-Costa, I used the ESRI Business Analysis software to apply to the business we were creating an IMC plan for. Not only will I take away these skills learned in this class, but I can now apply these skills learned in other classes to further my knowledge on the subject material.
Another major idea that I will take away from this class is the idea of McCracken's "project." I found this concept to be very true about a person's life. I now look at my own life in this sense as a series of goals and how I deal with these goals is how the journey of my life project progresses. I just found this concept to be very true and right on. This is also another reason why I enjoyed this course because of concepts such as these that I could apply to my life and take on as a student and as a person.
Overall I would recommend this class to Marketing and Public Relations majors alike. I feel that any one could relate to this class in different ways. I definitely have learned a lot despite my tests grades in this class! I will definitely take away more than I came with to this class. I feel that I am now a more knowledgeable consumer since my first blog post from the beginning of the semester. Overall, I really enjoyed the content of this class this semester.