Re: [wine] FW: Survey Results: Social Media Effects on Purchasing

To Nicholas: I do not agree. I think the hard sell is alive and well. My evidence is that I just looked up the value of QVC -- the people who broadcast nothing but hard-sell over several 24x7 TV channels -- and their parent company was worth 26.6 billion dollars in 2010. Clearly, somebody's buying! I do agree that those of us who have been exposed to the barrage of noise coming from commercials, junk mail, spam email, robo-calls, etc, have become wiser about how to stem the tide. My wine shopping is dictated largely by experience and by friends' recommendations, with a little room left for recommendations from retailers that I get to know. I put most comments in social media at the level of "rumor" or "scuttlebut". To Jason: I think social media are very appealing but I also find them enervating. After a while, when I have wallowed in my personal reminiscences long enough, I am moved to get up and do something. You are absolutely correct that the wielders of social media work very hard to create an aura of trustworthiness, fellowship, and savvy. You know... "flim-flam". :^) To Ted: I am astonished that you can get anything sensible out of Snooth. I've visited it a few times and I always leave it bewildered and confused. Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: Nicholas Livingston To: Jason Kallsen Cc: wine(a)thebarn.com Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2011 5:29 PM Subject: Re: [wine] FW: Survey Results: Social Media Effects on Purchasing I think the hard sell is effectively dead.