Xbox Study Shows Microsoft Makes Children Distrustful

Of all the useless pursuits in the world this would have to be one of the biggest waste of time I've heard of in a while. Someone has paid a marketing company to do a study on how children react when shown the Microsoft and Sony logos. Rather than ask the children how it makes them feel the market research company got them to write a short story prior to being shown the companies logo and then to write another after. They would then use a computer program called text-mining software to analyse the words used in each story. This software then analysis the words used in each story and makes a judgement based on how the person is feeling.

The researchers said, "Our findings confirm that brand advertising can increase positive attitudes and perceptions. The reverse is also true. Some ads actually decrease brand trust in the target market. That's why it's more important than ever for marketers to pay attention to psychological profiles and the power of the subconscious mind."

After being shown the Microsoft logo the boys who were shown it felt more self confident but distrustful. This sounds like the perfect description of Microsoft. They are the largest software manufacturer in the world but who really does trust what they release. There hasn't been a single operating system released by Microsoft which was not full of bugs which needed to be fixed by numerous patches over time. Why did Microsoft need to pay someone to tell them this? Isn't it blatantly obvious? (or just blatantly obvious to everyone who doesn't work for Microsoft). I could have told them this and they could have paid me a lot less than some overqualified psychologist. Maybe when you have as much money as Microsoft you've got to spend it on something. Over analysis of market placement is a good way to do it because it looks like you are, at least, getting something for your money without actually doing anything constructive with your money.