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Influencing Consumption, For Good

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 | Posted by Scott Magee

After the first evening of class (umm, hooray!) I left feeling a little beside myself. We discussed high level design theory and touched on the drivers of consumption from various influences. I’ve cyclically entertained a degree of self-loathing of my marketing background/application as being seedy and disingenuous. Driving consumer behavior to buy more widgets can feel empty over time.

Does “compelling” store signage truly equate to increased sales at the register?Does a known manufactured obsolescence equal regular intervals of repeat customers or a recurring revenue stream?

These thoughts (and many others) are precisely the reason why I applied to AC4D. I for one welcome my design theory overloards.

1 Comment »
  • http://www.sodelightful.com Christina Tran

    I agree! One thing that stuck with me from last night was the constant reframing of questions. When I get emotional about something or find myself labeling something “wrong” or “bad,” that logjams my thinking. But if we are able to say, “let’s assume everyone has the best intentions. What are the best things that have come out of consumerism? Or marketing? Or weapons? Or [fill in the blank]?” then we can start to better see the complexities of the issue. And it’s more worthwhile to start thinking of using all the different sectors as more tools toward our goals to design for social impact. These include marketing and government policy.