Are you being lead around by your nose?
Oh man... I am craving something spicy. Let's order Biryani!
I bet you would have done something like this on occasion and went on to Swiggy or Zomato instantly to browse through restaurants.
A few days back, I was craving for pizza late at night. For a city like Mumbai, there are few restaurants which make really good pizza and are open till late night. Voila, here I am eating hot oozy cheesy pizza at 12 in the night comfortably at my home. These food ordering companies have made it so convenient to order food to my liking at any time I want. It's early morning and you do not want to go out or make breakfast yourself! Well good for you, there are restaurants open near you at 7 AM making hot poha and chai. Feeling lazy! No Cooking December! Here they are, ready at your service just with the flick of a finger on your smartphones.
We like to think we are in charge of the decisions we make. However, more often than not, we are driven by unconscious processes and clever manipulations set by the companies to buy a product. This case is special with regards to food, which is connected to us in a more emotional way and is vital for our existence.
Since long, the companies have been using our data from different sources to target us with relevant ads in a more focused way. In the book 'The Power of Habit' by Charles Duhigg, he shares a case study of Target with the readers. Between 2002-2005, the company was trying to find pregnant women among shoppers. As per their research, those women tend to be more flexible and emotional in shopping during that period, thus labeling them as gold mines for the retail companies.
As our schedule is getting more hectic and we are trying to have a social lifestyle, after returning back home from our offices, we turn to convenience and what's more reliable that Swiggy or Zomato to bring food to our doorsteps within the promised time. Hey! I don't need to get dressed and step out of my home just to have some food. I can just order it at my convenience. I think as the service is getting affordable and our in-hand income is increasing, we have created a habit for us to order away on any small excuse.
While we install the new apps without thinking twice what we are sharing with those companies, our data is being stored up and used by the companies to send relevant notifications and discount offers in the case of Zomato and Swiggy. Like me, many of you must have noticed the time when we get notifications to order. Yes, it's during breakfast, lunch, and dinner obviously. But based on our ordering habits, these food delivery companies send focused notifications of restaurants to order from. It's really shocking that these guys know 'What we eat!', 'When we eat!' and 'What we eat when!'.
Although, we do not have an intention to order initially and when we see that notification, everything goes whoosh! As the Joker said in The Dark Knight, "All it takes is a little push." Well, you know the story.😉
Ahem! I was talking about your order. Yes, you see the notification and go online and place the order. See, how easy that was. This reminded me of a theory I read in my college which goes by 'Pavlovian Theory'.
The story, in short, is about a dog who started to salivate and think about food every time it heard the bell ring. The dog used to salivate every time it saw food and had no reaction to bell ringing. So, for the experiment, every time Pavlov used to ring the bell, he gave food to the dog. This resulted in dog salivating on hearing the bell ring even when the food was not there.
I think those popup notification on food recommendation is like conditioning to manipulate the consumer behavior. What do you think? Whether ordering food is a necessity or desire, we also have to keep it in mind that it can have a snowball effect and put a dent in our finances over a period of time. We have to learn that it is okay with having a craving for something, but not having to act on it.
As our schedule is getting more hectic and we are trying to have a social lifestyle, after returning back home from our offices, we turn to convenience and what's more reliable that Swiggy or Zomato to bring food to our doorsteps within the promised time. Hey! I don't need to get dressed and step out of my home just to have some food. I can just order it at my convenience. I think as the service is getting affordable and our in-hand income is increasing, we have created a habit for us to order away on any small excuse.
While we install the new apps without thinking twice what we are sharing with those companies, our data is being stored up and used by the companies to send relevant notifications and discount offers in the case of Zomato and Swiggy. Like me, many of you must have noticed the time when we get notifications to order. Yes, it's during breakfast, lunch, and dinner obviously. But based on our ordering habits, these food delivery companies send focused notifications of restaurants to order from. It's really shocking that these guys know 'What we eat!', 'When we eat!' and 'What we eat when!'.
Although, we do not have an intention to order initially and when we see that notification, everything goes whoosh! As the Joker said in The Dark Knight, "All it takes is a little push." Well, you know the story.😉
Ahem! I was talking about your order. Yes, you see the notification and go online and place the order. See, how easy that was. This reminded me of a theory I read in my college which goes by 'Pavlovian Theory'.
The story, in short, is about a dog who started to salivate and think about food every time it heard the bell ring. The dog used to salivate every time it saw food and had no reaction to bell ringing. So, for the experiment, every time Pavlov used to ring the bell, he gave food to the dog. This resulted in dog salivating on hearing the bell ring even when the food was not there.
I think those popup notification on food recommendation is like conditioning to manipulate the consumer behavior. What do you think? Whether ordering food is a necessity or desire, we also have to keep it in mind that it can have a snowball effect and put a dent in our finances over a period of time. We have to learn that it is okay with having a craving for something, but not having to act on it.
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