What consumers really want?
Personability v’s Cyberinteractivity

That was the question I posed this time last month. I sit here now with my fingers at the keyboard ready to explore an answer. I sit here now in another foreign room on a newly purchased pre-loved bed surrounded by tour cases, a suitcase, a laptop, and a few bags of miscellaneous items; all of which combined are the totality of my worldly possessions. I sit here now having left my loved ones two years ago to follow a road that hadn’t been made yet. I sit here now and I get to thinking that quite simply there is no competition when pairing Personability and Cyberactivity. The human touch is all that matters in this world.

Last month I had a gripe with the lack of pleasantries on offer from discount airlines. Packing in budget travelers and hitting up the hip pocket left-right-and-centre for anything other than a very-upright seat; the luxury of a mini sized bottle of water is definitely classed in the ‘extras’ column. I questioned the power consumers give to the corporations. I questioned the value for money that online services provide; cutting out the middlemen and the acquisition and application of necessary customer service personnel gives us the cattle-herding process that is discount air travel. I wasn’t satisfied coming back from a mini break more stressed than I was before I left, blaming the industry for not beckoning to my pampered wants. But in exploring’ What consumer’s really want?’ I put forward that the answer lies much closer to the heart than the bank balance. I put this forward perhaps because of the upcoming festive season; because of sitting here having moved today for the sixth time in four months to new living circumstances, readying myself to forge new relationships with new strangers. Perhaps I am missing the stability, security and warmth of my family back home in Perth more than I let on.

I check online now wishfully for a great last minute deal that would enable me to travel the 27 hours from Berlin to hug my family for Christmas. I check online because there in lays the plausibility of my train of thought. When you know, or can sympathise with, the struggling traveling musicians predicament you understand that anything but a last minute online fare is the best chance to afford such a trip. It is here then that I have realized that to answer the question I am exploring here I must change the parameters in which I am working. I can do this because I set the parameters. So, I put it to you now that Cyberactivity is Personability. Well, not directly. Indirectly, Cyberactivity will lead to Personalbility. Not from the airline personnel, but the root of the consumers want will win out – and human consumers want to love and be loved.

Touring again in the last month saw me travel to the Spanish isles successfully writing new material and playing live shows through Berlin. I also managed to fit in some daytime work - enough hours to eat and to pay the rent at my humble abode. So, continuing this journey that I started two years ago with no plan – I still have no plan – is bringing me in touch with beautiful, talented and interesting people from all walks of life, and I wouldn’t trade any experience I have made, good and bad, for anything. I sit here now having moved today in my minimalistic mode to a new bed-sit in Berlin and I find myself not looking through the Ikea catalogue to bring affordable comfort to my situation – but, as a consumer, I find myself online able to reach my loved ones and bring them so much closer than they physically are right now.

Cyberspace and discount airfares, where would we consumers and travelers be without you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

MB


(link to article page / permalink)