Probably a number of you (like myself) try to systematically block advertising from your life (not watching ad-supported TV, not listening to ad-supported radio, not subscribing to magazines nor daily newspapers, immediately trashing any direct mail advertising, using ad-blocking software on the internet…). [Advertising is overwhelmingly either boring or very unpleasant]
If so how you do find out about interesting new products you might buy?
If I happen to be at Sears for a particular tool I need, I’ll take a few minutes to browse around and see what else is there. Likewise at other stores, like Bed/Bath/Beyond or Williams/Sonoma, or REI.
I ignore most advertising, but like Machine Elf I look for things at stores, or on-line, or hear about them from others.
Sometimes I hear from word of mouth. One guy tells me about AppleTV. I google it. I buy it. In general, however, I don’t have a need for “new products I might buy.”
Gadget web sites. Amazon reviews, especially the part that shows what people looking at the item you’re looking at ultimately bought.
I sign up for emails from certain companies or stores I am interested in.
Other than that, not knowing something exists probably means I didn’t need it anyway. If I do need something, I can then look for it or research it.
It saves money in the long run.
I’m not going to say that advertising has no effect on me. But if there’s something I need or want, Google can help me find it. And this forum has caused me to buy a few things.
I would honestly say I don’t find out about interesting new products. If I have a problem to solve or just something I’m trying to do I will search out the best tools for the job on the Internet or by asking around. But I honestly don’t often see a new product and decide I need it.
Incidentally, I probably pick up on new products in advertising more often than I realize, because I fail to block out all of it. But one thing I’m genuinely clueless about is the advertising itself.
After I canceled cable there was a gradual progression where advertisers swapped out old ads I had seen with new ones I wasn’t watching. More and more often someone would casually mention that new commercial and I had no idea what they were talking about. Now that it’s been years I’m still really interested in how often people will mention an ad or commercial as if everyone has seen it, and here I am completely oblivious to the whole ad campaign.
I haven’t watched television (not counting in restaurants etc) in years. Not that I don’t watch the programs, of course, just in other ways that don’t include (normal) advertising; mostly online, if you know what I mean. I also don’t get a newspaper, don’t subscribe to magazines, and only rarely listen to the radio.
Which means that basically, the only advertising I see is online ads and billboards. Billboards tend to advertise places and people more than things, so that rules that out.
Fortunately, most of the things advertised on television are things I don’t want anyway: I don’t need a ‘texting family plan’, I don’t need baby diapers (or adult diapers), and I certainly don’t need a Carnival Cruise. In fact, at least 90% of the stuff advertised everywhere is stuff that I would never buy even if it were free! Well, ok, maybe free, but you know what I mean.
Online advertising falls into two basic categories:
Stuff that everybody is supposed to want, like detergent and tampons. Un-aimed advertising from reputable companies that I can pretty much ignore, and do. I know what toilet paper I like, and adding flowers to it or a scent or aloe-vera or whatever the fuck they’re going to come up with next, makes absolutely no difference in what kind I’m going to buy. Unless they stop making plain ass-wipe, I’m gonna keep buying the plain ass-wipe, because it’s something to wipe my ass with, and I really don’t need anything fancy for that.
Targeted advertising, which determines my interests by my browser history. Which means that every time I buy something online, I get advertising about whatever it is I just bought. I have to wonder if the people who invented this concept really thought it through first… :smack:
:::sniffle::: Porn advertising and Spam (stuff nobody in their right mind would fall for) which is usually found on the less-than-reputable websites mentioned previously.
Which means that I find out about stuff either in the store itself, or online thru websites like this one, FARK.com, The Awesomer, The Worst Things For Sale, and so on.
And that’s just fine by me.
You don’t miss what you don’t know about. There’s so many new things that no one really NEEDS. They just make you WANT it. So if you stop exposing yourself to the marketing, you’ll find you can save a lot of money, and your lifestyle doesn’t suffer one bit.
Yes I’m past the age where it’s exciting to accumulate things. If I decide I have a specific need I’ll think “I wonder if there’s a product that does A and B?” and check first Amazon then eBay. For example: I live in an apartment and was thinking it would be nice to listen to my TV as loud as I wanted at any time so I bought a headphone extension cord only to find out my TV didn’t have a headphone jack. (Duh.) I wondered if there was something that fit onto the stereo outputs on one end and was a headphone jack on the other. Boom. Amazon.com - $1.69 postage included.
This is one of the major ways I come across new stuff, too. “I need . Let’s see if someone makes , or if I have to figure out how to make it myself.” I also come across references to items while reading various stuff online–including threads here–even though I almost never see actual ads.
Generally speaking, most of the things I need and want are either replacements for things I already have, or upgrades to said items. Don’t get me wrong–I like stuff, and I certainly tend to accumulate stuff. I just don’t need anyone telling me what stuff to buy.
I don’t buy interesting new products. By the time I get around to buying anything, the concept has been around for years and everyone I know has one.
If I ever decide to buy a certain thing (say, a hand vac, which I did recently) I usually make my decision via googling what the best options are, and finalize it by reading Amazon customer reviews. So I tend to choose things that have been around for a while.
Like rhubarbin, I don’t buy interesting new products either. I consider all of the first adopters beta testers, in essence. If something is good enough, I’ll hear about it, and by the time I get to it, it will have lots of reviews and comments and I’ll know if it’s really good or not.
Thinking about advertisements I’ve seen lately, despite my attempts at blocking them, they fall into four groups:
[ol]
[li]Processed (often unhealthy) food: Fast food, soda, breakfast cereal. I don’t want or need this stuff.[/li][li]Things I buy very infrequently: Cars, computers, phones. I don’t need to know what the 2014 Dodge Ultramatic or the Samsung Galaxy S 12 does, because I’m not going to be buying either until my current car or phone dies. At that point, I’ll look around and see what the best fit is.[/li][li]Insurance: This market is so regulated that the entrants can really only differentiate themselves by branding, so they spend boatloads on advertising.[/li][li]Movie trailers: I find that I enjoy movies much more when I go in blind, so I try to avoid these. I hear about plenty of movies via word of mouth and Netflix recommendations.[/li][/ol]
So, most advertising isn’t helpful at telling me about the kinds of things I want to hear about.
There are lots of new products I am interested in. New web services, new phone apps, new board games. I find out about them through word of mouth and activity-centric websites that I frequent. Ads don’t help there.
What kind of products of interest would there be out there that I wouldn’t hear about without ads, I wonder? Toasters, mp3 players, the latest Lego game for Xbox 360, the Skoda Supreme, cool new sofa, pot or my favourite artist’s new album? There are word of mouth, articles, reviews, and if I need a new toaster I google toasters, “Oh, that’s an interesting new toaster product.”
Thank god for adblock and public service.
I look for information when I think I might need something or have extra money to buy something I want. I can do that in stores, as some people state, or I can specifically look for it online. I don’t understand the need to find out about new things when I am not specifically looking for them. Maybe before the Internet advertising made sense for the consumer, but it doesn’t now.
i saw an ad on tv (it runs 24/7 on dishTV) for NuWave PIC induction stove tops.
it showed them slice a pan in half, place it on the PIC, then crack an egg and drop it so half went in pan, other half spilled out on top surface of NuWave. The half egg in pan turned white ASAP; while the half that spilled onto the PIC surface stayed clear & cool.
It uses induction, so like a magnet, it only heats up steel items placed on its surface. plus you can dial in an exact odd temp like 475 degrees, and it will hold it exactly.
place a cast iron grill on it, and grill steaks on a picnic table outside with just a 110V extension cord (1500 watts - same as hair dryer).
for about $100…best deal ever. I use it all the time. but I still haven’t seen them in stores.
So w/o TV ads, I would never have known about them.
My life is much better to this this TV ad.