When people visit a historical place, they wonder what happened long time ago. They sometimes enjoy watching an exhibition such as changing royal guards in Seoul (above). In the historic place at the Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, however, young visitors go beyond watching an event; they march in the parade with soldiers. This immersive experience will give the visitors an unforgettable piece of memory.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JpWEr7WbLA]
Imagine that you are looking for tenants. Typically, you go to the websites of flea markets (e.g., Craiglist or Kijiji) or newspaper. You rarely pick up and open the classified section of the printed newspaper.
However, I recently met a funny ad in the classified section of the printed Washington Post and, thanks to it, enjoyed the newspaper a lot (see below). I enjoyed this ad because I did not expect to meet a humorous ad on the printed newspaper which is supposed to be serious. If I meet the same ad online, I might not laugh because online websites are not as serious as printed newspapers. Contrast works! 🙂
Color determines food judgment. According to Hoegg and Alba (2007), for instance, the brightness of an orange juice affects people’s taste discrimination more strongly than its brand name (e.g., Tropicana or Winn-Dixie) or its price information. Food judgment is probably influenced by the hue and saturation of the food as well.
Recently, I find some stores selling blue-colored iced tea. This unexpected color may attract significant attention among those who do not drink teas or who is visually attentive such as kids. However, most adults around me infer it as a poor-quality fake beverage because, they believe, tea is supposed to be orange rust or brown regardless of its temperature. This suggests that changing the color of a given product enables designers and marketers to pursue a new market by sacrificing their traditional market.
Surprisingly, there exists a green wine called Vinho Verde in the world! 🙂
Street people are the people who live a public life on the streets of a city. Some ask us to view them as our community members (e.g., Homelessguide) and others consider them as business opportunities (e.g., Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid). Regardless of our objectives whether we want to help them or make money from them, we need to understand street people more deeply.
From the psychological point of view, their behavior differs depending on where they live. Most street people whom I have seen in Seoul have avoided interacting with me; they hide themselves from public. In contrast, many street people I have met in Toronto have tried to interact with me; they ask passers-by for change and sometimes chat briefly. It seems that social issues (e.g., losing faces or keeping distant from people) are more critical to relatively passive, Asian street people whereas economic issues (e.g., making money) are more desperate to relatively active, North American street people.
If their behavioral difference comes from how WE treat them, we should not ask street people to change their behavior: Instead, WE may need to change the way we treat them. In particular, Asians including me may need to invest social resources (e.g., smile) rather than economic resources (e.g., money) to befriend street people.
