Giannis
Staff member
@Giannis
It's very simple. The market today - and so the business - is always driven by demand & supply. They both have to be there & co-exist so the markets work.
And new segments emerging is a common thing. Existing segments becoming saturated, and people wanting something new. Something that combines one or more worlds ... Not just in automotive industry but elsewhere too. Smartphones with cameras replacing simple point-and-shoot digital cameras - so manufacturers are now making ultrazoom compact cameras, or CSCs - which are more affordable (although not as good and useful) as DSLRs. And same case with desktop computers, notebooks, tablets etc ... It depends what for you need the tool. Sometimes tablet is enough , sometimes you need a desktop PC, while in most cases a notebook will do the magic. Same functions, different nuances, different shapes, different performance figures etc As said: it depends what you need / what you want. Sure in most cases people want more - way beyond actual rational needs.
Sure new products "create needs" - either due to customer's inability to recognize what she/he really needs, or due to advertising: where manufacturers target consumer's emotions and trick him/her by images & promises that a certain product would satisfy a certain need best (although there are other products that could do that as well - as good or even better). So, sure ... targeting / manipulating with human emotions creates / boosts desirability of a certain product / brand. Nothing new here. Therefore consumer behavior & consumer psychology is a very important factor withing the field of marketing.
But in the end it's THE CONSUMER who makes the choices. Nobody else makes them for him/her. It's not like somebody points a gun to your head and forces you to buy something. It's ALWAYS YOUR OWN decision what you buy. Sure it depends on how well you know & understand yourself & your needs & wishes & fantasies etc, and how well you really know the product. If you buy something just because somebody else says it's good for you and suits you well (but it actually does not), then you either don't know yourself (which is indeed a very scary implication) or you don't really don't know the product you are buying - which today is mostly your own fault since in many cases you can try/check it first before you buy it.
So, it only gets as ridiculous as ridiculous the folk is in general. Marketing & sales guys just play the game that's there. It's limited by the customer and his/her mind. So, having a f...ed up mind is not anybody else's fault but your own in the end ... and perhaps your parents', and your family in general, your teachers, your ... Certainly not manufacturers' or marketing folks' fault. They just turn you against yourself ... if they can. But in the end it's you and only you who makes a good or bad (purchasing) decision.
I think crying about how manipulated we are by marketing / advertising / sales guys who make us buying things is just a lame excuse. Because it's hard to admit when making a mistake - and it's so much easier to blame someone else for it. And it feels good too.
And yes, it's a game. A game of trade, a game of business, and a game of human greed & vanity. Games as old as humanity itself.
More or less, I understand and agree with most of what you wrote.
But don't expect from someone, who as far as his combined telephony and photography needs are concerned, has a simple Nokia and a Nikon DSLR, instead of a 50 MPixel smartphone, to like this overflow of "alternatives".
Τ, as you may have understood after all these years of posting here, I have a very "narrow-minded" approach to the automotive industry. I can't find meaning in cars that try to be jacks of all trades, as they are masters of none. I can understand BMW's point of view, when deciding to go ahead with such a car (4er GC), but I can't understand why a consumer would buy one. Based on my personal system of values and needs' hierarchy, models like this, don't really have a reason to exist.
Then again, this comes from a guy that despises convertibles due to their limited structural rigidity. But that is an outcome of my personal experiences, I am a civil engineer, I calculate structural rigidity of structures for a living...
Anyway, it's a game, if I may use your words, and I refuse to be a part of it. Up until some point, I used to ignore vehicles like the X6, four-wheeled consumer products, which I couldn't understand. Now, I'm feeling that trying to find something that fits my automotive values is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Don't expect me to like it!
