The Apple Brand and Information Cascading
http://techland.time.com/2012/05/07/six-reasons-why-apple-is-successful/
Apple is a world renowned company that sells a variety of products. Its icon is iconic in its own right and people around the world recognize their products. The Apple iPod was one of the most successful products to be sold in the last 20 years. The amount of conusmers that purchased them is astonishing. But why is this? There are a variety of mp3 players on the market yet some how the iPod rose to the top. Its dominance is seen by the near extinction of all other mp3 players on the market as well as the imitation techniques of many other companies looking to duplicate Apples success. There is no concrete data to show that Apple created a superior product to its competitiors. In fact many experts have arguedt that there are superior products to the iPod in existence at a comprable price if not cheaper. However, people simply prefer to purchase the iPod. What expains this phenomena. One likely explanation of this phenomena is information cascading.
Information cascading by definition is when people observe the actions of others and then make the same decision that the others have made, independently of their own private signals or inclinations. This in laymen’s terms means that individuals are making a choice because the majority of their peers are making the same choice. It implies that the majority must have some knowledge of the product that I do not have so it must be the optimal choice. However, we know that this is not always the case, it is possible that this could be a mere instance of group think. The author of this article notes 6 different reasons for Apples vast success in the tech industry. The very first reason is that for every product created, the people creating it must actually want the product themselves. Apple is a giant company that employs some of the best and brightest minds. Most of the time we are finding that these are young “hip” individuals. This means that they are “in the know” and as a result so are their respective networks. People want Apple products because theyre just that, Apple Products. Everyone knows what Apple is and everyone knows someone that has an Apple product or that has used an Apple product. Its what the majority wants so its what the majority buys. The iPod craze took off, followed by the iPhone and iPad craze. Apple has become a mainstay in the tech industry with all of their products showing the same patterns of market saturation. The rest is history.
-El Blanco