A consumer's perception of Gotham

5-months' worth of waiting finally paid off.

After countless teaser trailers and spoiler articles, the first episode of Gotham (from the Batman franchise) aired last week. If you have not heard of Gotham - in brief, the series follows a dark story about a young Bruce Wayne before he becomes Batman.

I'm sure you're all asking yourselves "How in the world is this blog related to consumer behaviour?", but I really think the story behind how this show lead me to watch it and other franchises explains it.

One of my favourite TV shows at the moment is Arrow (from the Green Arrow franchise), so knowing that there is a possibility of the two series crossing over made it easy for me to gain interest in Gotham. Actors and online rumours are always teasing the Justice League, a team comprised of the world’s mightiest superheroes to fight against the 'baddest of the bad' – all in one series. And as a consumer, I want to follow every TV series that include these superheroes (Gotham, The Flash, Constantine, Amazon and Hourman).

I was not familiar with Gotham, Flash, Constantine, Wonder Woman or Hourman but after watching Arrow and reading more about these characters, I must admit that I will be a future customer for these characters as well. This follows the concept of perceptual vigilance, a term which suggests that I would not have noticed these series if it weren’t for the Arrow series.

Something which Gotham did well in its first episode of the season was grabbing the attention from its viewers. The use of vision and sound in every scene is very dark, clearly showing how corrupt the city of Gotham actually is. The pilot episode also did a great job of hinting memorable Batman villains (Catwoman, The Penguin, Poison Ivy, The Riddler and possibly Joker and Harley Quinn) who will all have huge roles in the series. It brings out the fanboy in me with big hopes of seeing Batman shining light to his city – keeping me attached to the TV series.

It’s not just about TV.

The combination of crossovers, spoilers and Easter eggs add to the experience for viewers. The anticipation builds up and consumers show interest in engaging online (and through word-of-mouth), creating a social media buzz. We drive traffic, attend events and purchase their products. We even write blogs about it. It’s brilliant marketing, actually.

I already own plenty of Batman clothing but I’m sure while watching Gotham, I will want more. Conveniently, a new Batman video game was announced after Gotham and The Flash, which I now would like as well. And it’s not just the game that I want, but characters from the show that will be playable (Batman, Catwoman, Joker, Harley Quinn, Flash, etc.). How did I become aware of the video game? Through cross-promotion. The video game’s name includes the word “Gotham” so it was very easy for consumers, like myself, to stumble upon the game by accident.

I’m a very picky person when it comes to entertainment but every consumer has their weak points. As a consumer, I am influenced by many different ways. With Gotham, it’s the unique dark approach of the series and the anticipation of crossovers that makes me loyal to the series.

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

Anthony

(P.s. Did you notice, in the blog's header image, that Gotham showed the iconic light without the batman logo? Symbolism.)

Sources:

(Chapter 2, "Perception") Solomon, M. R., Zaichkowsky, J. L. and Polegato, R. (2013) Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, and Being, Sixth Canadian Edition. Toronto: Prentice Hall Canada.

(Pictures)

http://www.comicreelz.com/2013/08/is-dc-looking-to-merge-their-cinematic.html

http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/ad,bus/Recent

#consumer #behaviour #perception #batman #socialmedia