This document discusses how people's tastes and preferences are signaled through the products they choose. It explores how things like clothing brands, food, music and activities can indicate personality traits like openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. While tools now aim to understand this data, humans still better grasp the cultural contexts and combinations of items that communicate deeper meanings. Personal choices have emotional dimensions that reflect identities people want to project.
5. w b -b ?
r ?
b ?
become associated with hipster culture? There are so many different cuts of jeans these days - no
6. heir association with hipsters. Everything from food and beverages like sriracha - a tasty, spicy sa
he attention of a group of people who would simultaneously make and break them due to high e
r ff p r r
• sriracha • unflattering retro
gianormous
• PBR (pabst blue
ribbon)
glasses
• kanye west
• mustaches & beards
• indie bands you’ve
• trucker hats never heard of +
anything that
Pitchfork says to
• ironic tees love
• old skool pumas/
vans + Toms shoes • Iceland
7. let’s talk about
enes that leads to the creation of the context around these ostensibly neutral products that are t
8. a LOT of content to the web in highly public ways. Where we are going, where we are, what we a
life logging
location connections
short posts posts
photos food questions/answers
9. chologists have been working on since the 60’s: Taste Signaling. Miller says that ‘many products
on, we’d put them in a JOURNAL, not online. But what I love the most about this phenomenon is t
“ - ”
“Many products are signals first and material
objects second.” Geoffrey Miller
10. hics, people who like this like that...and these computer programs don’t understand that: a. we a
yet...
are stupid
11. hering houses on the web to find out what they know about him and, as it turns out, the answer i
“Google’s Ads
Preferences believes I’m
a guy interested in
politics, Asian food,
perfume, celebrity
gossip, animated
movies and crime but
who doesn’t care about
“books & literature” or
“people & society.” (So
not true.)”
Joel Stein
Your Data, Yourself
Time Magazine, March 21, 2011
12. so back to the
nals. When it comes to what people are trying to tell us through what they are posting publicly, w
13. b
there is
in anything we CHOOSE to post.
built in radar for this stuff. The tools we use to post where we are at, what we are doing, what w
14. he sender. She is saying ‘I’m cultured’ - raw fish is an acquired taste - ‘I’m open’ - to new exper
b :
“i’m cultured”
“i’m open”
“i’m adventurous”
15. iple checkins from others at the same place. This person is an extrovert - karaoke? Really? Only t
ng to be a freelancer. Wednesday morning at 3am?
b :
“i’m an extrovert”
“come join me!”
“i’d like to quit my day
job!”
16. was gorgeous. I post my runs and all sorts of stuff about my fitness all of the time. I tell people
b :
“i’m athletic”
“i’m committed”
“i’m conscientious”
“i’m kinda awesome”
17. whelmingly daunting artificial intelligence type of thing to do, right? A sort of “Dave, what are you
?
can data have
we can read it (as humans),
but can computers?
18. ed in psychology circles, are what the academic community has generally agreed upon as the five
b v
the
indicators
19. then Extroversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. OCEAN! Or CANOE for the Canuck pyscholog
b v r (BFI)
• O - Openness
• C - Conscientiousness
• E - Extroversion
• A - Agreeableness
• N - Neuroticism
(also rearranged as CANOE for the Canuck psychologists)
20. r
HIGH OPENNESS
You enjoy having novel experiences
O - 93 and seeing things in new ways.
HIGH CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
C - 69 You are well-organized, and are
reliable.
E - 89 HIGH EXTROVERSION
You are extremely outgoing, social,
and energetic.
A - 57 MID-LEVEL AGREEABLENESS
You are neither extremely forgiving
N - 11 nor irritable.
LOW NEUROTICSIM
You probably remain calm, even in
tense situations.
overted, mid-level agreeable (don’t mess with me, cause I seem easy going, but I am pretty toug
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/results/?oR=0.95&cR=0.694&eR=0.844&aR=0.694&nR=0.281
21. High openness indicates an appreciation and desire for a variety of experience.
p
appreciation &
desire for a
variety of
experience
22. They also eat a wider variety of ethnic foods. People who aren’t as open are the laggards. They st
p
• early adopters
• frequent travelers
• foodies/ethnic foods
vs.
• laggards/buy when
‘proven’
• big brand driven
• chain restaurants
23. self-discipline,
responsibility,
and aiming for
achievement
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lostmymind/92967452/
24. hings done tools, sporting equipment, runkeeper and Suburu’s reign prominently amongst the h
• sport equipment/
healthy food
• organizational tools
• self help books
• subaru/mini vans
vs.
• late night check-ins
• fast food & single
person ready made
dinners
• motorbike/sportscar
25. r vr
tendency to
seek
stimulation
in the
company of
others
26. ally rocked Poison. Extroverts have lots of friends, go out often and tend to buy more bright colo
r vr
• clothing that makes
you stand out
• dines/drinks out
frequently
• lots of friends/
tweeting/check-ins
vs.
• lurkers
• jeans and tees
• homebody
27. ghly agreeable types are focused on the good of community rather than being focused on person
r b
focused on
good of
community
rather than
being focused
on personal
gain
28. r agreeableness means you want the best deal available, tend towards suburban lifestyle as you g
r b
• green/eco products
• local made
• collaborative
consumption
vs.
• best deal available
• urban/suburban
• tend towards
privatization
29. r
tendency
towards
anxiety,
suspicion +
need for
security
30. going on on the web and be more likely to take prescription drugs to aid in anxiety and ant-depr
r
• security purchases
• privacy concerns
• anti-depression
medication, etc.
vs.
• risk takers
• simple passwords
31. do skinny jeans have emotional properties or do they need to be combined with other products (like PBR) to signal something
how would a
p measure up?
r
32. his is not scientific. Just thinking out loud about how this may work. But it needs to work because
?
basic data:
denim, style no., brand,
price, vendor, size, etc.
BFI score:
O=85, C=35, E=85, A=45,
N=35??
basic
data cultural context:
combination with other
items, geography, era,
taste data etc.
cultural context
33. w f w
br p,
v
Because we DO identify with some brands on a deep emotional level
34. w f w
pr p,
v
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poptartjen/4176952513
35. ...w r ’ w
pp ?
http://www.orkposters.com/heart.html
36. contact:
rbuyosphere
ceo,
e. tara@buyosphere.com
p. 514-679-2951
t. @missrogue