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Just this past week, I needed to purchase a new computer. It has been a few years since I last purchased a computer and I expected to be bombarded with choices. Did I want a desktop or a laptop? How much memory and speed did I want? How much memory and speed did I really need? What screen size did I feel was necessary? And the list went on and on.
Surprisingly, despite all the choices, I selected the computer I wanted relatively quickly. My decisiveness impressed not only myself, but also my far more knowledgeable husband. I put my selected computer (desktop) into the cart and confirmed what, if any, additional accessories I needed/wanted.
But I had one more choice to make and this one was far more difficult. I had to select a color.
There were six choices. SIX! I hadn’t expected to have color choices for a desktop computer. Every desktop computer I had ever owned or used, up until now, had come in the standard and sleek color of silver. Silver was a choice. I discarded this one rather quickly. The next color choice I considered was orange. I didn’t really care for the tone of the orange. I crossed that one off the list as well. I started looking at the color options from different angles and kept going back to the purple. I like purple. Purple is fun. I chose purple. It showed as unavailable. I moaned. My frustrated husband might have said something like “It’s a computer. Any color makes it work the same.” I wasn’t convinced.
To streamline the remaining color choices, I opted to filter them by what was immediately available. Ironically, the red, blue and green, my remaining choices, popped up. Hmmm? I like red. It’s my favorite color. But there was something about this red that wasn’t working for me. I discarded it. It was now between blue and green. The blue was nice, yet the green felt more dynamic and, perhaps, better suited for the space. After all, green means growth. I certainly wanted to use the computer as a means of creating growth so green felt right. But I really liked the blue one. Hmmm? After a bit more back and forth, I concluded that I liked the green one best. My husband gave an ‘at last’ sigh.
The next day, we went to the store to pick up my new computer. The sales associate brought us to the display of the laptop computers to confirm that what I ordered was, indeed, what I wanted. I confirmed that my selection was correct.
But I couldn’t help but notice that there was also a purple computer sitting on the display shelf. Immediately I started to mentally reconsider my choice. I still liked the green but maybe I wanted purple now? Hmmm? I asked the sales associate why the website had indicated purple wasn’t a choice when here it was? He replied that, at the store, the purple only comes in the higher memory and speed option. I figured that made sense because purple is associated with creativity and that type of computer work often requires more memory and speed. Something to consider for my next one?
Marketing. Genius!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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