To Sell or Not to Sell

When it comes to John Smith selling the names of the prospective car buyers from his marketing survey I think that money wise he should sell the names. $8,000 dollars could make a big difference in his business while also helping to pay his employees. This decision however, is not from an ethical perspective. The American Marketing Association posts this on their website. Honesty and respect is very important to them and selling the names of people to the car dealership could very well betray their trust in the company and cause legal issues toward John's firm.

ETHICAL NORMSAs Marketers, we must:

1. Do no harm. This means consciously avoiding harmful actions or omissions by embodying high ethical standards and adhering to all applicable laws and regulations in the choices we make.
2. Foster trust in the marketing system. This means striving for good faith and fair dealing so as to contribute toward the efficacy of the exchange process as well as avoiding deception in product design,pricing, communication, and delivery of distribution. 
3. Embrace ethical values. This means building relationships and enhancing consumer confidence in the integrity of marketing by affirming these core values: honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect, transparency and citizenship. 
   
   
   Would you sell the names to the dealership? Do you think it is ethically wrong?

In Response to Drew's Post

Drew asks the question, "What do you think about the Boston Strong Campaign? Would you wear a Boston  Strong T?"

I think the Boston Strong t-shirt campaign to raise money for victims of the attacks this previous week is a great idea. Boston is one of the strongest communities, and being a part of that community it is very refreshing to see everyone come together to support one another. This t shirt campaign just reiterates this idea revolving around Boston and supports those who were affected. It is a win win idea in which victims benefit from donations from the shirts and people get to openly show their support and love for the great city of Boston. I would definitely wear a Boston Strong shirt and would be happy to pay the price to contribute to helping out those in need.

How do you feel about this campaign? Is there anything that you would change about the campaign?

In Response to Drew's Post

Drew asks the question, "What do you think of the commercial? Do you find it humorous or offensive?"

I honestly find the commercial kind of humorous. It is something that I did not expect coming from a K Mart commercial because it is seen as a family oriented discounted store. When I saw it for the first time it did make me laugh and I thought it was a creative humorous idea. However, I can see how some people would be a little against it if they had younger kids watching it. Younger kids tend to be very observant and repeat things that they hear. Other than that issue I think that the commercial should continue to be aired because I think it will make a lot of people laugh while leaving an impression that there is now an option to "ship your pants."

Fenway Park Lowers Beer Prices for Fans

Going to big sports events to support your favorite teams is always a good time. Most people like to relax and watch the game with some beers. However, the price for a beer is a whopping $8.50. This price is extremely high and usually prevents me from getting more than one. Fenway park realizes this issue and has announced that beers and other concessions will now be served for $5.00. This is a fairly large change in price and the park hopes to lure more fans to the 17 - game home schedule. Concessions and beer are a big seller at these big sports events and it is important for the park to market towards everyone making their needs more affordable.

Have the high prices at big events ever kept you from purchasing beer? Would you be more apt to buy them now that the price has gone down?

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2013/03/red-sox-lower-fenway-concession-prices.html

In Response to Drew's post

Drew asked the question, "Have you ever purchased a product just for the status it may have?"

I think that when I was younger and in high school status was more important than it is now. Before it was all about what clothing brands all the "cool" kids were wearing. During this phase, I would try to purchase the brands that kept up with the latest fashions or fads. Pretty much every type of product has a high end brand. For example, in the watch industry Rolex is at the top. In the computer industry, most people would say that the Mac is at the top. One major clothing competitor is UGG boots. You can walk through pretty much any college campus and see a large amount of girls wearing them mostly because they are comfortable but you have to admit that they do come with a certain status. I remember talking to somebody and having them say, "wearing UGG boot knock offs are not the same as wearing the actual brand." Thus implying that the status is all that matters. Below is a picture of an authentic pair of UGG boots on the left and a knock off brand on the right. They look pretty similar, but the knock offs are significantly cheaper than the original pair. I will admit that, when I was in high school I did was authentic UGG boots and made it a point to save the money up to buy the "real thing." I think status is something that has become very important to a lot of people. This applies especially to younger kids. They want to have the best of the best to fit in, and I can't help but notice that this may be due to the rising importance in status that they are observing around them and in the media.

Do you think status is something that has increasingly become more important to people? Is status a large contributor to you when you make a purchase?

UGG Boot

Knock Off

Pipeline Transportation

Today in class we discussed the various ways to transport goods from point A to point B. One of the ways was pipeline transportation. I was unsure of what exactly it was, so I looked it up. The definition of this is, "the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes using compressed air can also transport solid capsules." Pipeline transportation can be utilized for a number of different goods that include, oil or natural gas, ammonia, biofuels, coal, ore, hydrogen, water and beer. As far as beer is concerned, one major brewery in Germany uses the pipeline to transport beer to large stadiums because of the fact that it uses one central tank. Overall, this method is used mostly for liquids and not solids, however, solid capsules may be utilized in rare occurrences. 

Do you think that transportation through a pipeline is beneficial, had you heard of this method before?

The Marketing of on Demand Movies

When we are searching for movies whether it be on demand, or at red box what makes us choose the movie we choose? I know for me, by the time I actually reach a decision I've spent quite a while debating which ones look good, and which ones will satisfy my search. Some factors that may play an important part are, the cover of the DVD, the overview of the movie, and the previews that are viewed before purchase. Usually people will be drawn to less "cheesy" looking covers because they often times are seen as bad movies. People have a job to make the movie seem appealing so that people will watch the movie. If this job is not done, viewers will be detracted from the movie due to the bad exterior looks and the preview that is shown.

Have you ever noticed what persuades you to purchase a certain movie? Are you more drawn to better, more detailed cover art over messy and unnatractive covers?