| BLOG 10: THE END |
SAY IT AIN’T SO...
I cannot believe that this semester has come to an end. It went by much quicker than I thought it would. I have to honestly say that this marketing class has been the most enjoyable marketing class I have taken during my time at UT. Actually, this is my last marketing class that I have to take (minus the MKT 370 required capstone course!) and I am really glad to end on such a good note. Over the course of the semester, I have learned so much about marketing and about myself through the class lectures, podcasts, blogs, articles, and especially the group project. I was able to see how marketing methods, theories, and concepts affect my everyday life!
PARADOX OF CHOICE
When Professor Walls first lectured on paradox of choice, the only examples I could think about were grocery aisles filled with medicine and shampoo. I only thought about the paradox of choice as a problem when dealing with actual tangible objects. However, working on the group project showed me how paradox of choice can even affect intangible objects, such as an idea.
The very first assignment that we had to work on as a group was to pick a segment to focus our whole project around. There were no real boundaries so the possibilities seemed quite endless. There were so many segments to choose from that our group had such a hard time deciding on one. We constantly struggled to choose between teen girls, retired old grandparents, and first time expecting parents (and this is just the narrowed down version of the list we wanted to work on). We finally ended up choosing expecting parents just because we thought finding people that would fit this segment would be the easiest.
After we made the final decision and worked on our project all semester, I have always kind of regretted our decision. Sometimes I feel like we made the wrong choice and that we should’ve picked the old retired grandparents. When I feel this way, I think about how paradox of choice can lead people into feeling a sense of regret because opportunity costs are involved. Knowing that a sense of regret might brew due to the paradox of choice...I often have to shake it off and remind myself that our choice was a great one and that I’m just going through a normal regretful stage and to not take it so harshly.
I AM SUCH A GENERATION Y-ER
Another interesting thing that I learned after working on the group project is that I am such a Generation Y-er. If you read my blog 1 post about Generation Y and their products...you can see that I believe that I am a little above average when it comes to being a true Generation Y-er. After working on this group all semester...I would say that my 7 self has become a level 8.5 Generation Y-er! So, why the increase you ask? It’s simple...my life has become even more relied on technology!
All semester, I hardly ever made or received a phone call from my group members. If I needed to reach any of them...I would Facebook, e-mail, or even chat with my teammates online! Even if I urgently needed to hear back from them...I would wait online all day in case they decided to chat online or respond to my e-mails. Looking back, I could’ve saved so much time just picking up the phone to call them. I don’t know why I didn’t do it. OH, WAIT A SECOND! I do know why I didn’t call them on my phone. It’s not that I’m stubborn, it’s because I’m a GENERATION Y BREED!!!!
Also, my team’s approach to collecting data proved that I was supporting and getting sucked into the Generation Y trend! Originally we had wanted to collect responses from our segment through personal interviews but we ended up just having them answer all of our questions through an ONLINE survey! We even asked that they make digital copies of their journal pictures so that they could send it to our e-mails!
I really need to take a time out with technology before I lose all human contact. Connecting through the web is not a healthy way to live my life! I could’ve saved myself so much trouble and stress from waiting impatiently to hear back from team members and respondents if I just had the common sense to meet with them face-to-face or even talk to them through the phone! This has definitely become a reality check and I am going to force myself to spend less time on the internet now.
FULL OF EMOTIONS
Overall, the class has been a very enjoyable experience. This project was stressful at times, but I feel like I really was able to apply marketing methods (segmenting, sampling, surveying, evaluating data, etc.) to the actual big team project. I thought the most fun thing to do throughout the project was to evaluate our collected data. The data consisted of a photo journal and a list of responses to our survey questions. I would not normally put that much thought and look for trends in responses, but this project has taught me how to look at responses in a new light.
My teammates were a definite blessing. I know that I can be a very dominant member, but I was fortunate to have a team where each member really wanted to contribute to the project. This made me way less of a dominant person, and I felt that each of us were able to contribute and balance out the other members of the group. Furthermore, when evaluating the target’s responses to our surveys and photo journal requests, we all took part in this event. Things that I would’ve never thought of considering or would’ve missed otherwise were spotted by other group members. We were able to generate so many ideas because everyone had a different way of thinking how the consumers felt. This was extremely beneficial because we were able to build off of one another’s ideas. Also, as mentioned before, they really had me see just how much I relied on technology and how my life would be so much easier if I didn’t depend on technology as much.
As far as Professor Walls goes...he was awesome. He opened my eyes up to so many different marketing topics that I found to be so interesting. He made me want to go to class because he never seemed to bore me. My team was fortunate enough to receive the help of Professor Walls on our project since he was a part of our segment. Also, Professor Walls is someone that truly supports his students’ ideas and goals. Never once did Walls turn down my ideas or make me feel like I was silly for asking certain questions. Instead, he would always make me feel like my ideas and questions were actually of importance and ingenious! And let’s face it...we all love to feel like we’re doing the right thing! I cannot thank Professor Walls enough for his help and constant support throughout this semester and I know that I wouldn’t have enjoyed this class as much had Walls not taught it! |
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Name: Tina Bui
Major: Marketing
and Communication Studies
Email: tina.u.bui@gmail.com
Birthday: January 29th, 1988
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