Social Consumers

This week we are discussing what areas we ‘consume’ information from, and how our actions online produce a social footprint of who we are.

My largest footprint would be in social community, I post status updates, pictures, check-in to restaurants and various other businesses that I enjoy going to. Each place and picture has a meaning behind it, which is why I share it on Facebook with friends and family so that they might share my experience even when they aren’t with me. I do have a little footprint in social commerce, I have ‘liked’ every business that I want to keep up with or that I have purchased products from, my purchases would tell you I enjoy shopping for clothes, shoes, accessories, but I also take my time and only choose a few items that I can get a good amount of use out of. I don’t really have footprints in social publishing until I started taking Integrated Merchandising Channels, which caused me to start writing this blog, and I finally join Instagram. I don’t have any footprint in social entertaining because as I said before I’m not that into games in general.

If I were a brand, my digital brand name would be, gourmetsocial. I enjoy going out with my husband and friends to restaurants and bars that provide a gourmet experience, and getting to tap into the social aspect of being influenced by your surroundings. I along with my husband have a passion for good quality food, and I find the history of wine and spirits interesting. Both food and mixology have become very artistic in the last couple of years; people are becoming more interested in quality and presentation, and the art that goes into creating the perfect meal or cocktail.

I would have to say yes and no to being a social media addict, because the first thing I do when I wake up every morning is check Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, followed by email. I can’t imagine my day without checking these sites/apps, or even spending hours on any given site on a regular basis. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming the amount of information that’s being transmitted to you through a feed to the point where you would just rather not be on any site, so there are times when I might be bored or feel like I can’t keep up with all this information so I need a break to refocus.  

The target audience for the Fashion Merchandising Organization (FMO) would be its members, the campus community, alumni, and other organizations. The geographic segmentation of this target audience would be students or faculty that live near USM Hattiesburg, or previously lived in the area to attend school. The demographic segmentation would be male and female, ages 18-45, who have received a college degree or are currently seeking to obtain a degree, and who have a passion for fashion and/or marketing. The psychographic of the target audience would be college students and college graduates who have a passion for fashion, but may just be starting out in the working world, and our faculty who like to see us succeed in activities that compliment our course work. The benefit segmentation would be individuals who want to expand their experience in fashion, gain a group of friends that could help them increase their knowledge of the industry, and create job connections for the future.

The majority of our target audience is a part of several online communities such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn. They participate in ‘liking’, sharing information, commenting, posting status updates, and posting pictures, just as they would tell a friend that they had a good experience at a business and what they have been doing with their family or at work lately. Social technology plays a big role in our target audiences’ life; they use it every single day on many different platforms to connect for a variety of reasons relating to them personally and professionally.

Thanks for reading my blog! Hope to have you back next week.