Disney Theme Parks: A Closer Look at the Happiest Places on Earth

When I was trying to decide what topic to write about for my current topic report, I wanted to make sure that I was really picking a brand that meant something to me. For as long as I can remember, Disney has been my favorite brand.

The Disney arena that I have the most familiarity with is Disney movies (which I am sure is the case for most people). I was first exposed to Disney movies at a very young age, and I still love to watch all of my favorite characters on a regular basis. It is especially interesting to see how Disney has evolved even since I was a child. The style of movies has moved from traditional cartoons such as The Lion King to computer animations like Finding Nemo.

Although the movies are a huge part of my Disney background, there’s an area that I love even more—the Disney theme parks. I’ve been to Disney World three times, Disneyland twice, and Euro Disney (which is in France) once. My last trip was to Disneyland in 2006, and I can feel myself wanting to scratch an itch by visiting another park in the near future.

I can’t explain what it is about the Disney theme parks that excites me. It is amazing to me that anyone who walks through the gates of Cinderella’s castle (or Sleeping Beauty’s castle if you visit Disneyland) feels a sense of belonging. Whether you’re old or young, you feel like you’re being transported to another time and place when you’re inside those walls. The only word I can use to describe the experience is magical.

Me in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland

To me, the Disney theme parks really illustrate what it means to give customers the best experiences of their lives. For my report, I would like to focus more on the two parks in the US since I have taken multiple trips to both of them. People travel to Orlando and Anaheim from all around the world just to spend a week living in this enchanted world.

I really want to follow the timeline of the Disney parks and explore how Imagineers and “cast members” have worked tirelessly for decades to create some of the most visited tourist spots in the world. And what’s crazy to me is that the parks were created because of one little creature: Mickey Mouse. Who knew that someone so tiny would be the catalyst for the growth of the biggest entertainment company in the world.

Disney "Cast Members"

Even though Imagineers and “cast members” are the most conspicuous employees of Disney—the ones that are interviewed for TV shows or greet guests once they arrive— there are so many other people working behind the scenes to make sure consumers are happy. Not regular happy, but Disney happy. There is a significant difference. Every little thing done at any of the Disney theme parks has been planned for a specific reason, and most of the time consumers don’t even realize it.

Although I think that one of Disney’s best characteristics is that it appeals to both children and adults, I wonder how popular the theme parks are with individuals from the ages of 18 to 25. I know I have always been an avid Disney fan, but do other people my age feel the same way? Another thing I am curious about is how the parks have been able to stay so popular and successful even though so much has changed in our society since Disneyland first opened in the mid 1950s. What are consumers’ motivations for coming to the parks? These are a few areas that I would like to research more.

While initially researching my topic, I found some very interesting articles about the Disney experience and Walt Disney himself. In Walt Disney: Conversations, the author discusses that the reason the Disney experience is sought after is because its founder, Walt Disney, knew how to connect with the American people. After finding a common thread among children and adults, he used that knowledge to create experiences that every person could enjoy. He was also known to be an artist, which meant he found many new ways to portray original ideas. This eventually led to the creation of the Disney theme park, one of “the most important three-dimensional artform[s] of the twentieth century.” King, M. J. (2007, June). Walt Disney: Conversations. Journal of American Cultures, 30(2), 266-268.

Walt Disney

Prego and Afro

This past weekend I watched a TED talk by Malcom Gladwell, which you can enjoy below:


The talk was largely focused on Howard Moskowitz, a psychophysicist who helped Prego create and launch its chunky spaghetti sauce, which helped the company’s sales surpass those of Ragu. The article discussed how Moscowitz basically debunked three assumptions regarding consumers (he zoned in on consumers from the food business, but I think his information can be applied to any industry).

The assumptions and his findings include:
Assumption 1: People know what they want and they will tell you.
Moscowitz: Consumers have no idea what they want! Some of the time they agree with their peers even if they don’t want to, some of the time they tell marketers the "right" information, and some of the time they have no idea what they’re talking about.

Assumption 2: Products experience horizontal segmentation, meaning there are different varieties of the same product and only one can really succeed.
Moscowitz: Different types of the same product exist to benefit different kinds of people. Each group should be catered to and satisfied.

Assumption 3: Every dish is “platonic,” meaning there is only one way to make it. (Like I said, Moskowitz’s research was based on food, but from my perspective, I took “dish” to mean any product.)
Moscowitz: We must go past the idea of “platonic” dishes and cater to variability based on consumers’ preferences. That means there should be changes to products based on each person’s needs.

All of Moscowitz’s ideas fit together to reach one idea: if consumers’ various desires can be discovered and satisfied, everyone will be happier.

Gladwell’s videocast caught my attention for a few different reasons. First, after reading his article, “True Colors” for class, I thought his work was entertaining. He has a knack for telling a good story. That being said, the lecture I watched was also really engaging since he talked about Moskowitz’s research for well-known companies such as Campbell’s and Pepsi. Hearing about how Pepsi tried to find the perfect Diet Pepsis, not Diet Pepsi, was really eye-opening because I didn’t realize how hard Moskowitz worked to satisfy multiple consumers’ needs instead of worrying about creating one perfect product.

Next, I thought his views were the complete opposite of Barry Schwarz’s views in his lecture, “The Paradox of Choice,” which I wrote about in my last entry. As I mentioned last time, Barry Schwarz wrote that people now suffer from a paralysis that results from having too many choices when trying to purchase products. I felt that Gladwell’s lecture was saying that that idea itself is what Moskowitz was trying to advocate: that people feel happier when they have the ability to pick from a variety of products because they’re more likely to find what they’re looking for.

Also, I also thought Gladwell’s ideas were fascinating because they supported another article we read in class, “Eager Sellers and Stony Buyers.” That article discussed how companies try too hard to come up with new and exciting products that they think will entice consumers, when in fact consumers are only interested in products that they can truly benefit from. I think Gladwell really hit this one on the head when talking about Moskowitz. Like I said before, Moskowitz helped Prego come up with chunky spaghetti sauce. The success of the chunky sauce really skyrocketed because Moskowitz learned how to benefit consumers by learning what they wanted. If companies could just learn that consumers want to get something out of their products (not just fun), they would be much more successful.

Finally, the last thing that caught my eye about Gladwell was his unforgettable hair. Be proud of your afro!

The Paradox of Choice: Another Reason for Consumers to Rip Their Hair Out

I really enjoyed listening to Barry Schwarz’s lecture on the paradox of choice. Essentially, Schwarz talks about how individuals think they are experiencing freedom because they have an endless number of opportunities to choose from. In fact, sometimes as consumers, we have so many different product options to choose from that we ultimately end up not choosing any option at all. And, by some chance, if we are able to pick one of the available choices, we feel unhappy with our choice because we think one of the options we didn’t choose is better than the one that we did choose. Confusing? I think so. I’ll give a personal example.

A few days ago, I was having some allergy issues so I went to CVS to buy some medicine. When I reached the allergy aisle, I was shocked to see how many different types of allergy medicines there were. There were at least three different brand names (Benadryl, Claritin, Zyrtec, etc.), along with the generic brands. On top that, within each brand, there were at least a few different types of medications for people who wanted non-drowsy or nighttime medicines. I literally spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out which brand and type of medicine to buy. I finally settled on Claritin non-drowsy tablets.

I hurriedly came home and took one of the pills, which should have taken effect within 30 minutes. Needless to say, 6 hours later when I was getting ready to go to sleep, the medicine still wasn’t kicking in as well as I would have liked. I was so angry with myself! How was it possible that after spending so much time trying to select from such a variety of medicines that I picked the one that didn’t work!?

That’s Schwarz’s argument. It’s not that the Claritin didn’t necessarily work. It’s just that in my mind, I had set such high expectations for the Claritin that after it didn’t live up to my standards, I felt regret and anger for not choosing another brand. And that anger could only be towards myself because I was the one who decided which brand to buy.

I think Schwarz’s ideas are really enlightening when it comes to consumer decisions. I think his ideas have even bigger implications for marketers. Ask yourself this: how many brands can you think of that only offer one type or version of any product? I honestly can’t think of any. That means that marketers have to work incredibly hard to make their product stand out in consumers’ minds. In department or grocery stores, that’ll be almost impossible for them to do unless consumers already have preconceived notions before entering the store. If a consumer comes into a store similarly to how I did for my allergy medication, it’s really the luck of the draw for which brand he or she will end up picking. That means marketers have to work harder than ever to elevate their brand over the competition.

On the other hand, I do think there is a way for some marketers to take advantage of this paradox of choice idea, and it deals with marketing to consumers online. Like I mentioned in my Generation Y post, it all comes back to technology. If I, as a consumer, am guided through the many choices from which I could potentially choose, I think I would be less frustrated with the choice I end up picking. Usually this guidance doesn’t happen when you physically go to a store because half the time you can’t find any store clerks, but online it is possible. For example, in the picture below (click to enlarge) you can see that when you go to a popular retail website such as OldNavy.com, you have the option to narrow down what’s available by providing the specific sizes you are looking for. Additionally, you can also narrow down the type of clothing you’re interested in, such as pants, tees, skirts, etc., which will make it easier for you to find what you are looking for.



I want to clear something up here. I’m not saying the paradox of choice is a positive thing for consumers if a company has a website. I’m saying that if a brand’s marketers are able to help narrow down consumers’ choices, consumers will be happier with that specific brand because they will have been provided help to shrink down what initially seemed to be an endless list of possibilities. After shopping online, these consumers will be more likely to go to retail locations and purchase products from the company since they were previously satisfied with their online purchases.