Monday, 21 May 2007. The day that we toured the streets to get opinions from the public about Mystifood. We had several developments along the way as well and our story is no less from interesting.
The day started off at Southern Cross station, where we took the role of student researchers and went around carrying a huge ass camera, a small folding table and mystifood. We planned to hide the professional looking packaging and reveal it only after our interviewee had tasted the flavours. Although we did expect to be waved off by passerbys who claims to be extremely busy, there were a hand full who took a glimsp at the 3 suspicious looking bottles on the table and made a face while walking away. It was especially so when we mentioned that it was a taste test and gave very vague information about the product. Our first customer was curious enough to walk up to us asking about what was going on, however we suspected he was wanting to get into our camera because he started telling us his life story as a pro-skater. After performing the test and asking for his opinions on the taste, we went on to the real questions. Be reminded that the whole taste test was purely created to heighten the illusion that this company actually exist.
We asked him how he felt about the idea of spraying on food and would he spend money on it when it was out on the shelf. He immediately linked the food spray to body spray and but went on to say that it was a brillant idea. He had a look at the packaging as I was explaining how the actual aerosol food spray would work and the illusion was complete. He was prepared to part with his money to try the product out when it is available in IGA (or so we say).
We understood that it was a sensitive trust issue when it came to testing a suspicious food product, so we changed our tactics by placing the packaging right in the front of the table and the sprays behind them. We had some people who were more interested in looking at the packaging rather than testing the product. This was a really interesting because we realized that when we had a booth set up behind us, their eyes would scan the table first for something believable before engaging into it.
Relating this back to our topic of choice, people as a whole are so used to seeing media around them that they would turn away from you if you only had a verbal concept. In their minds, they have a certain expectation to what is 'real'. Having watched the news and live reports day after day, some people will tend to believe what the news reports to be a fact. When the news stations decided to do a report on Global warming and showed what is believed to be evidence of the climate change, people responded to that after watching images and footage of the signs to this calamity. Seeing is believing so they say and the media has been able to make use of that. We are not saying that global warming doesn't exist. All we are trying to prove is that media does have the power to affect your choice. How?
Well. After being chased out from Southern Cross station by the station security for having that huge ass camera, we decided to go up a tram and actually set up our booth right in the middle of the carriage and do our interview right there. Although it was a total wacky idea, we reckon we could get a better chance of someone participating in our survey since people can't give the excuse that they were in a rush to go somewhere. We managed to put up our booth right infront of this one guy, who was staring at us the whole time we were setting up the booth. Who can blame him? We were right in his face. We started explaining what was happening and similiarly we had the packaging laid out nicely right infront of the table. We did the whole test and managed to get him comfortable enough to talk about how he felt about the product and the idea of it. Although he was quite negative about the product, he was willing to try if the taste were stronger and had a better range of flavours. Right after that, we had the tram inspectors coming up onboard and we were threatened with a heavy fine. Thanks to the whole 'student researchers' play, we got away scot free but then we decided not to risk getting caught twice.
However, this proved an important point. Media is everywhere. On the floor of the streets, on the doors of a tram, in you face at the urinal to even on the ceiling while you stretch your neck to take a break on your ride home. When we did the survey in the tram, we were performing the same role as the advertisements stuck above the windows. Being trapped in that space for a certain amount of time gives media a chance alter your perception of they have to say. Even thou we did not get a good response about our product, now there is one more person who knows the 'existance' of mystifood.
We went back into the city and continued our usual survey off the streets in the same way and the responses were pretty much the same. A fair bit of busy people and others interested in the packaging alone. And from those that we manage to convince to try our product, none of them actually raised the question of whether this was a real product. We believe that whole set up (i.e cameraperson, actual packaging, taste test samples) had pretty much bought over the trust of people. Basically, people are attracted to aesthetics, which gives them a choice to approach. After the attraction comes the facts which are presented in forms of verbal and/or visual materials, which gives the choice to believe.
Somehow its like getting someone in America to invest money on a holiday resort in Indonesia and all that are presented to them are video footages of the place and paper proposals. The investors are not invited to take a flight down see to the actual place before closing the deal, but rather was shown visionary illusions of the future. Media played a role in hopes of convincing and affecting that investor's choice. Could global warming be a scam of the same nature? Are the measures recommended by the media a visionary illusion to improve their own status?
--- too tired .. next please Zzz.. ---
The day started off at Southern Cross station, where we took the role of student researchers and went around carrying a huge ass camera, a small folding table and mystifood. We planned to hide the professional looking packaging and reveal it only after our interviewee had tasted the flavours. Although we did expect to be waved off by passerbys who claims to be extremely busy, there were a hand full who took a glimsp at the 3 suspicious looking bottles on the table and made a face while walking away. It was especially so when we mentioned that it was a taste test and gave very vague information about the product. Our first customer was curious enough to walk up to us asking about what was going on, however we suspected he was wanting to get into our camera because he started telling us his life story as a pro-skater. After performing the test and asking for his opinions on the taste, we went on to the real questions. Be reminded that the whole taste test was purely created to heighten the illusion that this company actually exist.
We asked him how he felt about the idea of spraying on food and would he spend money on it when it was out on the shelf. He immediately linked the food spray to body spray and but went on to say that it was a brillant idea. He had a look at the packaging as I was explaining how the actual aerosol food spray would work and the illusion was complete. He was prepared to part with his money to try the product out when it is available in IGA (or so we say).
We understood that it was a sensitive trust issue when it came to testing a suspicious food product, so we changed our tactics by placing the packaging right in the front of the table and the sprays behind them. We had some people who were more interested in looking at the packaging rather than testing the product. This was a really interesting because we realized that when we had a booth set up behind us, their eyes would scan the table first for something believable before engaging into it.
Relating this back to our topic of choice, people as a whole are so used to seeing media around them that they would turn away from you if you only had a verbal concept. In their minds, they have a certain expectation to what is 'real'. Having watched the news and live reports day after day, some people will tend to believe what the news reports to be a fact. When the news stations decided to do a report on Global warming and showed what is believed to be evidence of the climate change, people responded to that after watching images and footage of the signs to this calamity. Seeing is believing so they say and the media has been able to make use of that. We are not saying that global warming doesn't exist. All we are trying to prove is that media does have the power to affect your choice. How?
Well. After being chased out from Southern Cross station by the station security for having that huge ass camera, we decided to go up a tram and actually set up our booth right in the middle of the carriage and do our interview right there. Although it was a total wacky idea, we reckon we could get a better chance of someone participating in our survey since people can't give the excuse that they were in a rush to go somewhere. We managed to put up our booth right infront of this one guy, who was staring at us the whole time we were setting up the booth. Who can blame him? We were right in his face. We started explaining what was happening and similiarly we had the packaging laid out nicely right infront of the table. We did the whole test and managed to get him comfortable enough to talk about how he felt about the product and the idea of it. Although he was quite negative about the product, he was willing to try if the taste were stronger and had a better range of flavours. Right after that, we had the tram inspectors coming up onboard and we were threatened with a heavy fine. Thanks to the whole 'student researchers' play, we got away scot free but then we decided not to risk getting caught twice.
However, this proved an important point. Media is everywhere. On the floor of the streets, on the doors of a tram, in you face at the urinal to even on the ceiling while you stretch your neck to take a break on your ride home. When we did the survey in the tram, we were performing the same role as the advertisements stuck above the windows. Being trapped in that space for a certain amount of time gives media a chance alter your perception of they have to say. Even thou we did not get a good response about our product, now there is one more person who knows the 'existance' of mystifood.
We went back into the city and continued our usual survey off the streets in the same way and the responses were pretty much the same. A fair bit of busy people and others interested in the packaging alone. And from those that we manage to convince to try our product, none of them actually raised the question of whether this was a real product. We believe that whole set up (i.e cameraperson, actual packaging, taste test samples) had pretty much bought over the trust of people. Basically, people are attracted to aesthetics, which gives them a choice to approach. After the attraction comes the facts which are presented in forms of verbal and/or visual materials, which gives the choice to believe.
Somehow its like getting someone in America to invest money on a holiday resort in Indonesia and all that are presented to them are video footages of the place and paper proposals. The investors are not invited to take a flight down see to the actual place before closing the deal, but rather was shown visionary illusions of the future. Media played a role in hopes of convincing and affecting that investor's choice. Could global warming be a scam of the same nature? Are the measures recommended by the media a visionary illusion to improve their own status?
--- too tired .. next please Zzz.. ---
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