Wish someone had caught this on camera for Youtube.
Scene related by reliable witness: an attentive mother and two children (daughter a couple of years older than the son) indicated the selection of puppets available for checkout at the library. “Which one do you choose?” she asked both. The young man didn’t wait for his sister’s preference before declaring, “I want the one she wants!”
Was the little boy so certain of his sister’s astute taste that he knew he’d covet her choice? Or is he, even at that tender age, already convinced of the joys of sharing? Does it matter?
Either way, the wisdom of children again illuminates adult life. Modeling oneself after an exemplar; enjoying communal experience–both are so rewarding.
Had it been published online, this scenario could have invited footnoting in consumer behavior studies. Trolling the library’s Academic Search Complete database for the subject, you’d note how frequently terms like “confidence”, “loyalty”, “narcissism” and “dissatisfaction” describe content, along with the expected “market analysis”, “green marketing”, “brand”, and so forth.
Product selection is as emotional as it is intellectual, partly because we’re offered a mind-boggling array of choices. “I’ll have what she’s having” is a practical solution.
Word of Mouth Marketing or WOMM (which to me sounds like Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber) doesn’t just inhabit business literature. At the library, it’s a favorite customer service strategy. The overwhelmed patron confronted with banks of shelving can note with relief our approachable book “towers” with a few hand-selected titles. If that month’s topic proves not to be a favorite, at least it’s clear that focus and assistance are obtainable. The reference desk slideshow of What We’re Reading Now highlights a dozen or so options; we offer handout lists narrowed to recommended Christian fiction, Sci-Fi classics, critics’ choices, readalikes, etc.
More library WOMM:
Fondly recalling a novel read years ago, the customer had wished to re-connect with it for a long time– difficult without knowing title and author. “It’s about a Confederate hero,” she remembered, “actually, no, more about his wife….” That’s all I needed to hear. I’d seen a review of Allan Gurganus’ forthcoming Local Souls earlier this week, so his 1989 The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (I loved it, too) immediately came to mind. Anyone passing by the ref desk and hearing us gush about it received a massive dose of WOMM.
Hoping to locate the book inspired by Beth Terry’s My Plastic Free Life blog, another patron was delighted to find Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can, Too available. She also recommended Rick Smith’s Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things.
Customer enthusiasm for PBS’ Call the Midwife series on DVD inspired a favorite viewing experience at my house. So here’s a WOMM prompt for other Midwife fans fascinated by depictions of British life in the 1950s: David Kynaston‘s wonderfully informative Austerity Britain, 1945-51; Family Britain, 1951-1957; and Modernity Britain: Opening the Box, 1957-59.
