Location & Consumers

Within the last four years I have had the opportunity to live in numerous locations, two of which were Minnesota and Montana. Having this personal experience of living in different geographic locations has sparked my interest in the ways that consumers purchasing decisions and behaviors differ based on where they live. When I moved to Montana from Minnesota I didn't expect to feel the culture shock that I did. I now see that the shock that I experienced was directly linked to the difference in consumer culture and behavior between the two states. The greatest difference that I noticed was the difference in outdoor wear preferences.

Now, both Minnesota and Montana are outdoorsy states that face a severely cold weather for majority of the year, except the three short months of summer. So when I was packing up my things to move to Bozeman my Freshmen year I figured I could just throw all of my outdoor wear, clothes, and shoes in my car with no need to shop for anything new. For the most part I was right, the things I brought fit the weather seasons perfectly, but what I didn't take into play was how the social environments differed from place to place. By social environment I am referring to the fact that because Bozeman's outdoor style is mountain based, it differ greatly from Minnesota's lake based style. For example, I had never, ever, heard of Chaco's until coming to Bozeman. When I first heard people on my dorm floor talking about them I simply asked, "what are Chaco's?" It's safe to say that every single one of them looked at me like I was a complete idiot or mentally insane. To embarrassed to ask them again, I decided to retreat to my dorm room and Google it. Once I saw that what they were referring to was an odd looking pair of sandals, I realized that Montanans style may not be as similar to Minnesotans as I had thought.

These different styles are a product of the brands that associate themselves within a given social environment, based on geographic location. Now, I am sure that there are Minnesotans that have heard of Chaco sandals before, but being that I grew up close to the Minneapolis area I had never actually been exposed to them. What I mean by this is that because Chaco prides itself on being a sandal that can handle nearly all outdoor activities, it has no reason advertise greatly within city areas. Therefore, it aims its advertising efforts towards outdoor communities, where consumers are looking for the versatile sandal that it offers.