What does your choice of scuba gear say about you?

[FinnMom]

It many others think like I do, there may well be a disconnection (failure to match) between what folks are thinking when they reply to each of these:

When some people answered "true - it tells you a lot" they may have been thinking about how well the gear was squared away (no danglies, no trendy gadjets, no snorkel), what gear (backplate & wing, nitrox/trimix tags, worn compass & computer hung onto the gear). The "about me" survey probably reflects what we expect others might think of how our gear is old fashioned, barebones, worn, and not color-coordinated.

 

[RJP]

RJP, I'm sorry, I may not be a marketing god so you may want to ignore my comments here. I find fault in the study you linked. If they find a borderline geriatric patient "Mick Jagger" to be "COOL" I must be a goddamned rock star!

I'm willing to assume they didn't use a current photo in the study...

 

[Michael Guerrero]

I think the question you've highlighted is pretty imprecise and could lead a respondent to answer either from a fashion perspective or a function perspective. I also think the meaning can be misconstrued with respect to whether you're asking if their choice of gear says a lot about what kind of diver they are or what kind of human being they are.

If you ask me if my dive gear says a lot about what kind of diver I am and diving I do, I'd say yes. But I would relate that to my configuration (doubles, deco bottles, etc.) and not my choice of brands.

If you ask me if the brand/color of my dive gear says a lot about the way I dive I'd say no.

If you asked me whether my dive gear says a lot about the kind of human being I am I might say neutral, since the redundancy helps mitigate risk, but since I also engage in inherently risky diving by diving deep-ish and with overheads and decompression. But at the same time I may be inclined to say no because I may not feel it has anything to do with what kind of person I am.

If you ask whether my choice of dive gear says a lot about the kind of consumer I am I'd answer yes.

But given the questions above, I really wouldn't know how to answer the question based on what you're looking for, and so you would have no way of drawing any reasonable conclusion about my response. I may in fact, based on your wording, answer the first question with one intent in mind (e.g., configuration) and the second with a different intent in mind (e.g., the kind of human being I am).

 

[RJP]

But given the questions above, I really wouldn't know how to answer the question based on what you're looking for, and so you would have no way of drawing any reasonable conclusion about my response. I may in fact, based on your wording, answer the first question with one intent in mind (e.g., configuration) and the second with a different intent in mind (e.g., the kind of human being I am).

Somewhere in this thread I explained why the question was very purposefully worded the way it was, and why it doesn't matter why you answered it the way you did. The question was designed to find out if people draw conclusions about other divers based on the gear they use... full stop. The answer to that was a resounding "YES." The question was not designed to find out what those specific conclusions might be.

 

[TMHeimer]

I vaguely understand the point of surveys and marketing strategies, why questions are worded as they are, etc. as my wife is into that attempting to set up a successful internet business that targets certain portions of the population. I have an old BCD and my original wetsuit (bought used). I may replace them soon, but have been reluctant to because I feel I really shouldn't with our current financial situation and/or I'm a cheap Scottsman (speaking of stereotyping). So, what does that mean? For assisting with classes, I use shop stuff anyway. Much as I have some understanding of this stuff, I pay little attention to it. I believe I bought a couple of disco cassette tapes in 1992 (still have them, along with a couple of $4 Walkmans) by mail because of an ad I saw on TV. Can't recall any other time in my adult life that any ads ever effected me. But I'm not the norm (my wife will DEFINATELY confirm that), thus we have experts to target specific audiences.

 

[ermaclob]

the only thing my dive gear says about me is i blow way to much money on scuba.

 

[KeithG]

I vaguely understand the point of surveys and marketing strategies, why questions are worded as they are, etc. as my wife is into that attempting to set up a successful internet business that targets certain portions of the population. I have an old BCD and my original wetsuit (bought used). I may replace them soon, but have been reluctant to because I feel I really shouldn't with our current financial situation and/or I'm a cheap Scottsman (speaking of stereotyping). So, what does that mean? For assisting with classes, I use shop stuff anyway. Much as I have some understanding of this stuff, I pay little attention to it. I believe I bought a couple of disco cassette tapes in 1992 (still have them, along with a couple of $4 Walkmans) by mail because of an ad I saw on TV. Can't recall any other time in my adult life that any ads ever effected me. But I'm not the norm (my wife will DEFINATELY confirm that), thus we have experts to target specific audiences.

I agree. There is a school out there that thinks they know us & hence they think they know how to word a survey in-order to extract our inner thoughts & desires. They are so wrong.

They do understand the sheeple. And the sheeple can be controlled. I am not sure that they really know if the sheeple is their target market or if us real people are it?

There are many, many examples of abysmal failures at mass market solutions. So I am happy to retain my belief that i am an outlyer and they have no clue. I am still not sure who "they" are. I will retain my tin foil hat for the short term.

 

[RJP]

There are many, many examples of abysmal failures at mass market solutions. So I am happy to retain my belief that i am an outlyer and they have no clue. I am still not sure who "they" are. I will retain my tin foil hat for the short term.

Are there "sheeple"? Of course. Are there outliers? Sure. However, unless you always purchase the cheapest, generic, store brand of everything... you're probably not one of them. (And even if you buy the cheapest, generic store brand of everything... guess who's marketing spell you've fallen under.)

No one is everyone's target audience, but everyone is SOMEONE'S target audience.

Don't assume that "advertising" is the only tool that marketers use to get you to make irrational financial decisions with a smile on your face. Marketing is comprised of "The Four P's"
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion

Years ago I worked on a personal care brand that was squarely targeted at people who like to believe they cannot be squarely targeted. They came up with a brand name that sounded like it wasn't a brand name, packaged the brand in boxes that were carefully designed to look like they weren't carefully designed, spent a lot of money developing a logo that looked like they didn't spend any money developing, did months of market research to ensure the product didn't smell or taste "too" good, and used PR and word of mouth promotion to promote the fact that they didn't promote the brand, which was why it was cheaper than the name brand products. Which it was. Sort of.

You see, it may have been 25 cents cheaper than the list price of the big-name brands... but the client never discounted the product, they never used coupons, it was never sold in discount stores, and the stores that did sell it never put it on sale. Net-set... this cheaper "non-brand" brand actually cost more. Accordingly, those who purchased this brand did so based on the almost pure self-esteem benefit of being able to continue to believe that they aren't easily manipulated by marketers. And to gain this emotional benefit, they paid more for the privilege of buying a brand that wasn't "marketed" to them. Frankly the whole thing was much easier - and far more profitable - than convincing sheeple to buy cheap products that smell good and are nicely packaged.

Which brand tin-foil hat do you prefer?

[video=youtube;LiATK9ADF0U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiATK9ADF0U[/video]

 

[Searcaigh]

I'm a cheap Scottsman (speaking of stereotyping).

Have you never met a Yorkshire man!

BTW Scotsman has only one T, but at least you did not call yourself Scotch!

 

[Michael Guerrero]

The question was designed to find out if people draw conclusions about other divers based on the gear they use... full stop. The answer to that was a resounding "YES."

Did you expect the answer to be anything but a yes? People make judgements about others based on their appearance, regardless of context. Why would diving be any different?