AllHallowsEve

Attention: Sorry Mods. Put this thread in the wrong section by accident. Please move it to the appropriate section. Thanks.

We are studying the subject of "customer" vs. "consumer"

I figured since I am into DVD's this would be a topic to cover for myself.

Are you a dvd customer or consumer?

Customer meaning you know exactly what you want. You build you collection around your likes and interests. You are not pressured by hype, tv ad's, others opinions, etc.

Consumer meaning purchasing event titles such as "Lord of the Rings", "Star Wars", "Seinfeld", etc., just for the sake of owning them even if you dont like them. Other examples include purchasing solely to impress others, gathering gigantic collections you never touch, buying new releases every single week without knowing anything about them, etc.

Personally, I used to be a big consumer. I don't very much care for shows like The Simpsons and Seinfeld, but bought them because they were hot titles. I really can't explain what came over me. It's like I saw others buying them on their release date so I had to have them too. I used to buy new releases without viewing all the time. I have really curbed this (mostly due to buying way too many movies that stunk), but understand the mentality.

Ravid

By your definition I'm a customer.

Occasionally I'll browse the used stores for titles that grab my eye, but mostly I have an idea of what I'm going to buy before going to the store. I don't buy as a substitute for renting. This doesn't mean that I don't blind buy, but I reserve for blind buys the films that I'm fairly certain I'll like a lot. I don't buy DVDs unless I'm pretty sure I'm going to watch it a few times. And I definitely don't buy DVDs just because everyone else buys them.

teamwinfan

A little from column a, a little from column b.. I buy most things around my collection interests... but I am a total opinion whore and wouldn't hesitate to buy a film that has been praised by a lot of people without knowing too much about it, but I still try to do research on titles to make sure the movies will be of at least some interest. I also have a huge collection that is comprised of a lot of sealed DVDs, but this is more because I haven't gotten around to watching them or never seem to be in the mood to watch. Lord of the Rings was a perfect example.. I own all three of the extended sets, sealed.. just because I never feel like sitting around to watch one for 4 hours. One of these days I'll have a huge geek-out marathon and watch all three though...

movieguru

Well rather than going to the movies a lot a just buy the DVD so I can veiw the movie. Don't know which category that would fit under.

ShallowHal

I seriously doubt anyone will post that they buy DVDs to impress people, even if they do.

The Bus

I buy whatever threads in this forum suggest I should. When some says a bon mot at my expense, my comeback is always "But I have ____ DVDs!"

slowcloud

True, true. It's like asking if you are an astute, intelligent free-thinking individual or a dumb-ass braying sheep. I personally think I'm the former.

GIjon213

I would have to say Customer. Every movie in my collection is a movie that I like. Rarely do I blind buy, and when I do it is only if the genre is one to my liking, or, friends and/or critics who I trust and I believe have the same taste in cinema as I do highly recommend it. I would say that 60% of my buying is new releases of movies I have seen and have enjoyed. 35% would be movies I have seen in the theatre and have enjoyed. And the remaining 5% would be blind buys from recommendations.

Deadman36g

Ok, I will be honest...

When I first started collecting I was 100% customer. I would say the the first 300 dvd's I bought were this way. But last year this all changed I started making more money, dvd prices started going down and I started making about 7-10 blind buys per week.

Now I did do research of course, I would read up on the film, check DVD-Compare to make sure there wasn't a better version of the movie on a different region, and if it had a 7.0 rating or higher on IMDB.com it was mine.

Matthew Zolton

For the record, I am a dumb-ass braying sheep....

But, I am a dumb-ass braying sheep who is a customer, not a consumer. I have a relativly small DVD collection (I think around 150+), and have a a specific list of titles I am interested in. Hell, I even trade or sell movies that I love, if I haven't, or don't forsee watching them again for a long while (like right now I'm trying to get rid of my LOTR EE, because I don't think that I will sit down and ever watch them again, even though they are REALLY cool sets, and look great.

I think that there are a lot of consumers on this website that will never admit it. It is tough for me to believe that anyone can have 1500+ DVDs, but be defined as a customer (unless your "very specific goal" is to own every DVD on the market).

ShallowHal

Age is a big factor, though. Someone who is 35 or 40 has seen alot more movies than I have, just like I've seen more than your average 18 year old. I'm not a big fan of 80's comedies, but someone 10 years old can love them because they grew up with them, and then also like the slew of unrated comedies out today.

I could easily own 500 DVDs, so it's not a stretch to think someone 10 or 20 years old can own 1500. Whether they'll ever watch them all is another story, though.

speedy1961

Heck.... I'm 44 and I own over 4000 DVDs.

But based on your criteria, I fall into the Customer category.

natevines

Consumer, easily

Altimus Prime

By the definition, and in comparison to the majority here, I'm a customer.

In these parts, my DVD "collection" is not one at all, and pitifully small. But to others in the general public, ie the "real world," my collection is very large.

I don't do blind buys. I buy not only what I like, but what I will watch, and watch more than once. Price also factors in. So, to buy, I need to like it, want to watch it, and get a deal. It has to be worth my time, and the space on the shelf. Otherwise, I don't buy.

MovieExchange

I'm a collector. I buy what I want to buy.

lordwow

Customer.

icruise

I wouldn't think very many 10-year-olds grew up with 80s comedies...

Anyway, I'm mostly a "customer" but I have a weakness for cheap DVDs, especially TV DVDs. So I will buy sets of TV shows that I don't love just because they are cheap. I won't get things that I have no interest in or actively dislike, but I have gotten a number of things that were firmly in the "sort of like" category. But with the recent sales, I figure it's worth getting some of these things even if you only watch them once (especially since we don't have cable or any kind of TV in our house).

Holysmoker

I'm a customer. I don't blind buy. However, I have double-dipped.

iamnothitler

Following your definitions...
I was a customer until I first started looking at DVD Talk, when I definitely became a consumer for a while. I was even blind-buying Criterions, which I consider the apex of consumerism. Having passed that initial rush, I'm just a customer again.

NatL

When I first started buying, I considered myself a customer. But looking back, I realize that I was a consumer. Not the "impress my friends" part, but to have the latest releases, sure. Any early adopter knows the difference between the DVD world then and now - the latest releases were really exciting! And we couldn't even rent at first...

At a certain point, though, I looked at my collection and despite having bought every movie "because I liked it," I realized I had put a lot of investment into a lot of movies that I didn't really care that much about. I'd have a movie, for instance, that if I ever really cared about watching again I could always rent it. But it meant nothing to me to buy it and own it.

So I proceeded to start weeding out and selling. Now, a couple of years later, I have really sold out a lot of that "chaff" and replaced it with movies at the right value to me. I can say no to a movie that I might even like a lot because I know that in the long run it just won't be a collector's item to me.

I can't really fathom owning 1000's of DVD's because I can't imagine them all having value - I'd feel spread to thin. Heck, I own close to 300 and am feeling that it is too many! I understand why people do, I guess, but it's definitely not me.

N

majorjoe23

I get to be the first to say "Nice bargain."?

illennium

I have exactly zero interest in DVD as a medium that allows me to own movies that I already like. To me, collecting just the movies one has seen is consumerism (not to mention irrational--nobody limits themselves to films they've already seen when going to the movies, for example). I "blind buy" almost exclusively--at least 75% of my collection consists of blind buys. I don't keep what I don't like (I always break even on the sale, thus eliminating the need to rent), but I also don't limit myself to buying what I've seen--one's tastes are constantly evolving, and to me DVD is a medium that facilitates expansion of taste, rather than simply allowing one to own/collect whatever movies one happened to see in another format in one's lifetime.

I think there's a big difference between this type of informed blind buying and the kind the OP is hinting at, even though by his definition this is considered consumerism because it relies on the opinions and recommendations of film critics and to a lesser extent on the studio name on the case (e.g., I am much more likely to buy a Criterion title because they have proven themselves time and again in selecting which films to release and in providing those films with interesting supplements).

In sum, I don't think the question as posed will yield much salient information.

Matthew Zolton

Yeah, I kindof agree, but I think that your second paragraph is more what I am aiming at. Sure, if I purchased every movie that I liked I could have a massive collection, but my standards for purchasing movies is a little higher than "I remember liking that film, so I will buy it" (even if I never watch the DVD). With a collection of 1500+ DVDs it is hard for me to believe that someone has watched all of those DVDs and REALLY hard for me to belive that someone has watched all those movies more than once.

I personally don't know how someone is anything but a consumer when they buy tons of items that they either have never used, or will probably never use more than once.

This is my opinion though, so I understand that people think differently. I'm not meaning to attack anyone. But the idea of spending that much money on something that just looks nice on a shelf is kindof mind-boggling to me.

Of course I guess that maybe there are people that have THAT much time to watch movies, but I can't imaging ever having that much time.

mr_jbloggs

I had momentarily lost control and became a consumer when I bought Donnie Crappo (IMHO) based on peoples opinons here, then quickly regained control after that.

GameGenie

definently customer but sometimes when all the consumers get something i usually check it out.