(picture not taken by me)

Getting out is something that I rarely do these days as I have over committed myself this semester once again. However, today I managed to leave the house and not feel guilty and decided to go to Somerset Collection in Troy and treat myself. I was going to back out, but I think even my husband knows when I am on the edge of going postal and made me go.

While I was browsing in one of my new favorite stores, White House Black Market, he stopped off at Teavana. We have become regular tea drinkers over the past few months and I absolutely love it! It's more than just a beverage. It's a relaxing mental ritual for me for some reason. I know, sounds like a lot of BS, but it works for me. And truth be told, I'm too busy and lazy to do yoga.

After I left WHBM and dropped $300 on two items that were totally worth it, I found him and we went back to Teavana because he wanted me to look at some tea cups (I love collecting them). The store is not large to begin with and was jam packed with people. It was a bit overwhelming! You couldn't even move. The aromas that were circulating in the air were soooo wonderful. Subtle blends of spice and citrus fruits filled my head as I was trying to make my way to where the tea cups were.

I was drawn to the hand made cast iron cups and the petite saucers that went with them. There were several sales people working the room talking with customers. I heard bits and pieces of conversations. Some were about the history and tradition of different cultures and rituals about tea. Others were about the actual products.

I used to work retail, so I can appreciate the fact that the employees were actually "working" it. And maybe it's the fact that I live and breathe communication as a discipline or that I am learning about marketing and advertising along with communication this term which made me think about corporate advertising and consumer behavior.

The elaborate window display had several teapots and cups staggered on shelves with a huge poster backdrop that stated: DRINKING TEA IS FASHIONABLE.

Is it? Does it make us seem like cultured snobs who snub coffee drinking? Do we appear more sophisticated because we just spent $300 on a teapot, cups, and a few bags of tea? Do we look as "fashionable" drinking tea as we do with our iPods and designer clothes? What do we really buy into? We don't buy the tea. We buy the idea of the tea from Teavana.

I'm not bashing the art of advertising because I appreciate it and think it is quite clever. It's brilliant actually and quite fascinating how consumers respond to it. How we will identify ourselves with products based on perceived self-image and brand congruency.

If we all stop and thought for a moment about what we buy and why we buy it . . . we'd all learn something about ourselves. May sound like a superficial waste of time at first, but it's not.

So maybe you don't care about the latest trends in clothes, technology gadgets, or drinking over priced beverages...but maybe you are brand loyal about other things like cars or ketchup. Maybe loyalty has nothing to do with it and you are a price driven consumer and are willing to sacrifice things that others are not, like quality? Even so, whatever kind of consumer you are . . . there's an explanation as to why you are the way you are. Think about it :)