Re: [projectvrm] Is VRM an Ideologically-inspired Dead-end?

[Katherine Warman Kern < >]

Katherine Warman Kern

On Mar 22, 2013, at 7:49 AM, Chris Savage 
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 wrote:

> Been offline for a couple of days (combination of nontrivial cold plus 
> nontrivial day job).
> 
> But...
> 
> If you are right about that, does it have any implications for what VRM 
> can/should do?
> 
> Chris S.
> 
> On 3/19/2013 8:04 PM, Don Marti wrote:
>> begin Chris Savage quotation of Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 11:02:45AM -0400:
>> 
>>> (3) Vendors can induce people to buy stuff via what they learn from
>>> tracking -- maybe even more stuff than the people would buy in the
>>> "Gold Standard" scenario -- and thus make extra money by tracking,
>>> even though people are less happy as a result of being (in this
>>> case) manipulated into buying crap they don't really need or want.
>> I'd have to agree with number three.  People's
>> budget-making selves are always pulling tricks on
>> their stuff-craving selves to keep the unmindful
>> purchasing down.  And sellers are taking sides with
>> the stuff-craving self against the rest of the
>> individual.
peer influence is also a cost effective and less evil strategy. Isn't that 
what Amazon is emulating when they say other people who bought x bought y?  
(I'd bet they experimented with other alternatives which more likely to 
trigger the creepy reaction.)

Why not pivot the purpose of third party tracking from serving Vendors to 
serving Customers. Reveal what their peers (personally or psychographically) 
are thinking/doing or not (some women pay a huge premium to be assured they 
won't see someone else in the same dress). I suspect this is the most 
efficient way to facilitate discovery and increase receptivity.  It emulates 
natural behavior on a broader scale, making it an efficient use of time and 
money for both customers and vendors. It may even be designed to be a fun 
discovery process.  It is more trustworthy than social media where crafty 
folks are gaming the system to manipulate influence.  

Bottom line - it capitalizes on the number one reason people buy 
non-essential things - affiliation. 

It is VRM on steroids number-wise.  A bevy of empowered customers who choose 
to affiliate with each other, instead of one here and another there hoping 
someone is listening. 

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