Sunday, April 22, 2012
Wherever I go I am surrounded by people trying to persuade me. When I am on facebook, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper in print and online, and even when I am talking with my coworkers, family, and friends. For every decision that we have to make, there will be something there trying to persuade us, even something as simple as trying to decide what to wear. There are even times when we go looking for someone to persuade us what to buy, like when I am trying to decide what camera I want to get next. I will go to a professional reviewer or even go to amazon or another online store that sells the camera that I am looking at and try to read the reviews to determine what the pros and cons of the camera are, if there is anything that I haven't already considered, whether they think that the camera is worth the money or if another model is better, and if I there is any issues with the camera. If persuasion wasn't a part of our day to day lives we would end up making a lot of uninformed decisions, or even not caring about something that should be important to us.
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Hi Michelle!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. We definitely cannot escape people or media trying to persuade us to make descisions. It is interesting how you pointed out the fact that these influences can actually be a good thing. Typically when I think about something or someone telling me what to do, I automatically jump to the conclusion that it is wrong and that I should be able to make decisions completely on my own. What I was overlooking was that when other people are influencing me, they may not neccisarily be just looking looking toward to their own interests (i.e trying to sell me something) but looking to mine (i.e giving me a review about a camera I was looking into getting, so that I could make a good decision.)
I couldn't agree with you more. Our whole lives are made up of the desicions we make. From what to eat for breakfast, to what doctor to see. And like you, I always do my research before buying most products, and rely heavily on reviews. And I never thought about it before, but reviews are really what can persuade me the most. Some people will write such lengthy information about a product...what is good about the product, what isn't and if they would recommend it or not. However, when I am in the comfort of my own home reading reviews, I don't feel rushed into making a decision. But when I go someplace like best buy and start looking at cameras, it doesn't take 30 seconds before there is a staff member there telling you pro's and con's of cameras, and it can all be very overwhelming. Persuasion is everywhere in our day to day lives, from food vendors and our own family members, it can be pretty chaotic. But as long as you slow down and think things through, you will always make the right decision for you...and if not, lesson learned (hopefully).
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