http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005129.html#more
(Moom lights the blue touchpaper and runs away)
Seriously, though, there are some very interesting conclusions from this marketing report on Americans' attitudes to the environment. Not that I'd make sweeping generalizations about anyone who might read this ;) - but some of the points remind me of comments made about why people buy SUVs, in terms of acknowledging that most of our consumption is mediated by a deeply reptilian and nonrational part of our brain. In partricular, there were some interesting comments made on that subject in the comments after Jessica whatserface's thing on cupholders...
6 comments:
When you have 5 kids in a car pool going to a karate and chess class in January in a foot of snow or driving rain over typicaly narrow suburban streets in our area, you realize there's nothing wrong with buying SUVs. That it's more "in" than a minivan is a function of marketing to be sure. And that it's more expensive to run than a minivan is a failure of current technology, which will surely be addressed over time.
And, it is not reptilian to want to keep up or exceed the Joneses -- if anyting it's primate :)
Very interesting and thought provoking, Matt. It shames me that most Americans live and treat the environment as they do. Truly. And you do not want to get me started on the war.
I loathe and detest SUV's.... not the people that drive them........ but the action and the repercussions the earth endures... Most of the time, when I see one, it is occupied by one person.
I am not slamming you, theircompetitor ........ but am expressing my opinion based on observations of myself and my many earth conscious friends. Far too many Americans think of so many things as disposable. It has become a norm in this society. Even though it is a state law here to recycle cardboard, you see people putting them in the dumpster bins all the time..... Recycling, bicycling, walking, public transit, composting, etc.... should be mandatory and I wish there was a special HUGE tax on Hummers and on SUV's that aren't used for carpooling, filling with 5 kids, etc... at least a large percentage of the time.
**Edit...... I am fully aware many are unable to ride a bike or walk, etc... so, of course, there are exceptions...
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Thinker/Striver
Your primary VALS type is Thinker, and your secondary type is Striver.
The primary VALS type represents your dominant approach to life. The secondary classification represents a particular emphasis you give to your dominant approach.
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My SUV is a hybrid :)
I think that people want to be and feel free, and marketers surely take advantage of it. But marketers include those sending out GreenPeace brochures.
A car is a huge investment for most people. You buy it for the carpooling, and for the trips to Sam's Club every other week, and for the camping trip once a year, or the ski trip to Vermont three times a year. You cannot judge its utility by seeing one person in a Hummer commuting. In our highly suburban town most people have two or three kids and a dog -- they're not fitting in a Prius.
Again -- SUVs mostly replaced minivans. It was a great recognition on the minds of marketers that this would be far more palatable to Dads. There is nothing wrong with this idea or this business strategy. That they are uneconomical directly affects their owners, and market economies work to adjust that -- as they had with plummetting SUV sales recently.
To mee it feels like a convenient pinata.
I got "Thinker/Striver" on the test as well.
Innovator/Experiencer
Your primary VALS type is Innovator, and your secondary type is Experiencer.
The primary VALS type represents your dominant approach to life. The secondary classification represents a particular emphasis you give to your dominant approach.
Innovator/Achiever, apparently. Doesn't sound like me ;)
I really didn't mean to have another thread about SUVs - I think we've done that subject to death elsewhere. I only mentioned them because it's the only case I've come across where the guy who masterminded their success (at Ford, anyway) explicitly rubbished any pretense of rationality in the purchase and focused on the reptilian hindbrain (his words, not mine). I think the same is true in a lot more areas of our lives than we're willing to admit to - or to put it another way, we do a lot more post-rationalisation than we care to admit. I wouldn't want anyone to think that I viewed SUV owners as any more reptilian than the rest of us ;) - it's just a convenient example.
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