The Earning Effects of Marketing Communication Expenditures during Recessions - Assignment Example

Assignment List Affiliation Interview two shoppers about a recent experience in which each purchased items totaling over $200. Have them describe the shopping experience in detail. Keep track of the number of feelings that they mention. What emotions did they mention? Do you believe emotions played a role in the shopping value they received from the experience? Explain. Shopper 1: While interviewing shopper 1 regarding a purchase totaling $200 and above, three things were observed. Firstly, the shopper was attracted to a boutique by its flashy display and fancy arrangement of products. The shopper describes that her love for shoes attracted her to a certain pair of shows that matched her mothers’ favorite, Prada. The price tag on the pair of shoes was $519.99 at the time of purchase and did not include offers as some other versions have. The shopper emphasizes that the only reason that attracted her to the shoes is because they looked so beautiful and she could not pass the chance of acquiring such exquisite pair of shoes. For this shopper it is evident that emotion played a major role in making the decision to purchase the pair of shoes. The association of the shoe design and brand with her mother’s attraction to the same shows that the shopper was acting emotionally rather than analytic. The shopper does not mention having been attracted to the pair of shoes by its perceived quality or the need to purchase the shoes. Shopper 2: International trends affect a range of individuals and especially customers that follow these trends. Shopper 2 bought the Samsung Galaxy Note4 at an online price of an unlocked device of $770. For a phone, the shopper feels like he spent too much but the same time explains that the decision to buy the Note 4 was a result of long hours or analysis of the functionality of different makes and brands. Since the shopper is an academic researcher, the choice to buy the costly device did not have any emotional attachment to it. The lack of emotional attachment is associated with the fact that the shopper had been sampling different devices and eventually settled for the Galaxy Note 4. 2. Think of a recent purchase that you believe included a significant amount of risk for you. What type(s) of risk were involved? How did you attempt to minimize risk? (If you did not attempt to minimize your risk, explain your thinking.) One of the most recent purchases did not involve a product; it rather involved buying a service. In order to be efficient in moving from work to school and then back home requires some form of organized means of transport. With reference to the fact that I own a car, I thought I would have my car checked for malfunction and some tweaking to be performed. Ordinarily, I thought car maintenance was quantifiable service but I was wrong. At the service center, I described my issue and what I needed done. The manager at the center drafted a blue print of the bill and handed it over. The bill was $811, which included both consultation and actual servicing. By describing the issues I needed fixed in my car, I thought that a standard price rotter or menu would be provided. Since I am no expert in the maintenance of vehicles I took the risk of believing the manager will administer each of the services required and paid for. With reference to some unobvious maintenance requirements, I could not argue with what seems like genuine opinion regarding the applicability of the identified service requirements. In order to minimize the risk of having paid for service that may not be provided, I asked how much time the car needed to be in the service dock the moment the servicing starts. I was instructed that after an hour’s time the car will be serviced for 3 hours. In order to limit the risk of losing funds and not having a service resembling the value for my money, I excused myself from attending part-time work to ensure that each of the documented services to the car were conducted as I witnessed. My presence at the servicing center provided me with the insight I needed to ensure that the service provided and the amount paid for it matched. 3. Ask a friend to describe a recent unsatisfactory experience that he or she had with a company. What emotions did he or she feel? How did he or she deal with the situation? Warrants and guarantees are extended covers for goods which can be damaged in a repairable manner. Companies use warrants and guarantees to convince customers that the company is reliable and responsible for any damage caused to products either through manufacturing error or through use. Based on the promises that tech companies offer to their customers, my friend bought the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, a Samsung smartphone with screen warranty. The warranty covers at least one free replacement incase the phone’s screen broke. While at another friend’s party, my friend’s phone fell and broke its screen. Following the 2-year warranty provided for the device, my friend was happy to note that the warranty was still active since he had only used the device for 9 months. After taking the phone to the local dealer, following the company’s policy, my friend was instructed to leave his phone behind such that the main branch within the country can handle the case and replace the screen. Promising my friend to have his phone ready in 7 days, the company did not call for a month until my friend was forced to visit the dealership again. After inquiry, my friend learned that the good news was that the phone had been repaired but for the bad news, I was delivered to a different branch and no one ever collected the device. Following this incidence, my friend described the experience as having been uncertain, unexpected, and primarily a case of negligence for a big company like Samsung. 4. Find a print ad those appeals to each of the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy. Is there overlap between levels? Is this good or bad? Maslow’s hierarchy levels provide five distinct stages that an individual has to go through to be an accomplished individual. Marketing on the other hand, provides a similar set of stages that a marketing communication strategy must meet. Looking at an advert that has been circulating in the print media, it is evident that all of Maslow’s hierarchy levels are met by the iPhone 6 Plus magazine adverts. Since the advert seeks to draw attention to the product Apple Inc. tried to sell to the customers, it meets the levels that focus on the customer. The first and the bottom stage on the Maslow’s hierarchy includes physiological factors which require the application of motivation. The advert provides motivation to customers to buying the new Apple Phone by pointing the unique features of the product. At the same time, the advert shows the competitive advantage over rivals with reference to design. Secondly, the ad shows that a user is safe in terms of security of personal details and phone itself. Third, Apple Inc. has been using voice commands and voice responsiveness as competitive advantage in its line of products. The use of Siri and the communication of the feature in the ad provides customers with the feeling to develop love and devotion to the pocket assistant. Fourth, with reference to the high price, which is not meant to be a positive strategy, the ad shows a price tag associated with elites and heavy spenders. The ad drives the esteem of target customers making them believe that the ownership of the product would make them much confident and productive. Lastly, self-actualization is the fifth level in Maslow’s hierarchy which the ad touched lightly on. The ad shows that owning an iPhone 6 Plus places one at the top of his performance. However, the ad does not clarify how the device competes with rival devices of its league. 5. Pick a product and determine an advertising message for consumers. Develop a tag line and a magazine ad (without the aid of a computer) by using creativity and not artistry. What can you build into your advertisements that will boost the chances that target audience members will “take in” the ad and send it along to short-term memory for processing? Are there elements in the ad that can be used to facilitate later retrieval of your message? Most of your “potential” customers will purchase this new product at their supermarket or drug store. What additional things can you do at the point of purchase that will help consumers retrieve the advertising message information from long-term memory? Due to technological advances and investment in research and development, companies have been able to manufacture different types of television sets. The latest installment and the choice for a product to advertise is the OLED line of televisions. As a tag line to market the product and to install short-term recall of the product is ‘OLED, the Entertainment Experience of Your Life’. With reference to the product technology, the ad will be able to communicate to various levels of customers by providing grounds for the customers to “take in” as much as possible to enable them to recall the ad. The information on the ad will be used to ensure that a potential user is drawn to the product and eventually makes the decision to make a purchase. For inclusion in the ad is a number of appeals to attract and influence the decision of customers to make a purchase. Through the use of images and text to show and describe the product at hand, the advert will be making use of ethos to provide a concise context and merit for opting for OLED technology. Irrespective of the price issues that may seem obvious following the fact that the technology is new and the acquisition of the technology by customers is rather slow as previous-technology television sets are still functional and within their product life cycle. For long-term memory, the advert will ensure that a comparison in appearance and features is explicitly delivered to distinguish former television technology and current OLED technology. 6. During an evening of television viewing, write down all of the advertisements you see. Note how many ads can be classified as fear appeals, sex appeals, or humor appeals. Of these ads that you have classified, which ones do you think are most persuasive? Why? Which ones did you like? Which ones did you dislike? Does your attitude toward the advertisements affect your attitudes toward the products being advertised? Attack adverts have been around for a while. An example of company cold-war to win customers is producing adverts that not only focus on the product or service in question but also providing an insight on how close alternatives do not compare with the product. Apple Inc., in promotion of their iPhone 4S released an online advert in which their primary goals was to lure customers from buying the rival Samsung Galaxy S3. In the advert, Apple used an iPhone to demonstrate how the size of a phone’s screen may affect the usability of the phone. In the ad, Apple claimed that it was logical and a matter of common sense to have a device that fits within the palm. Apple’s point was drawing from the fact that Samsung Galaxy S3 had a 5.1 inch screen while the iPhone 4S had a screen of 3.5 inches. Apple targeted Samsung in this advert and aimed to discourage customers from buying big-screen phones, a trend that Samsung has capitalized on. Secondly, the Galaxy Unpacked is an official Samsung Electronics’ campaign for promoting its flagship devices. Samsung, this set of adverts provides an insight into the current products and how well fitted they are for daily usage. However, a series of non-official adverts have sprung responding to Apple’s attack ad. In retaliation, Samsung airs online adverts to promote the Samsung Galaxy S3. In its advert, Samsung shows a group of anxious customers waiting outside an Apple Store where an individual surprises the lot with the capabilities and features of his Galaxy S3. Apparently, the S3 owner was also in the queue waiting to buy an iPhone for a friend of his. In both cases, the adverts have a humor effect on the customers as they involve multinational companies comparing products side-by-side and making fun of each’s other lack of features or lack of compactness. In both adverts, my attitude for the Apple iPhone changed in that the message in the advert sounded as if the company was ruling out that every owner of a large-screen. 7. Consider all of the Facebook groups that you belong to, or the tweets that you follow on Twitter. How do/does this behaviour(s) say anything about your attitudes toward brands or products? Among the groups and Tweets I follow on Facebook and Twitter include online marketing, news blogs on products, and online shops. Based on the type of the groups and Tweets I follow, I have identified that I am attracted to information backed up with evidence. Partly, some of the information to back up the attractiveness of a product include feedback from users as well as curiosity of adherent users. In this case, the feedback part provides the user with information regarding a first-hand experience with the product. In this case, the groups I follow on Facebook provide an elevated amount of information regarding a product. Obvious defects and known problems are addressed by non-affiliate parties. Among the non-affiliate parties include customers who try and provide feedback base on the functionality of the products as well as how personal needs are met by using the product. On Twitter, I follow Tweets such as company tweets, celebrity tweets, and technological movements’ tweets. The reason for following celebrities on Twitter is to rely on their judgment regarding various products in the market. Whether or not these celebrities tweet about products or not, their image and video uploads show the type of products they have experience with and are proud uses of. Following this behavior, I figure that my attitude towards new brands and products is mostly negative and unless supporting views to back up the products’ promotional claims are present, making the decision to purchase such product is nearly impossible. 8. Perform an Internet search of one of your favorite celebrities. Focus on finding the number of products that he or she endorses. Do you think that these endorsements make sense? What makes you think that your celebrity would be a good endorser for these items? Jay Z is an American song writer, producer, and rapper whose net worth is slightly above $500 million-mark. Jay Z has endorsed a number of products among them Reebok, HP, Samsung Galaxy, Hublot, Brooklyn Nets, Budweiser, and Rhapsody among others. Based on the rapper’s character and approach in endorsing the products, most of the endorsements make sense and appeal well to customers. For instance, in endorsing HP, Jay Z claimed to have been impressed by the company’s innovation and the role it played in facilitating education with its line of products. Jay Z offered the company a deal to hire him to endorse the company’s products following its success in making impressive laptops (Graham, & Frankenberger, 2011). However, some endorsements do not make sense as they conflict with the desired effect. By endorsing a product, Jay Z aims at promoting the sales of the products while at the same time offering genuine information regarding the usability and advantage of such products. In the case of Hublot, Jay Z was initially endorsing Audemars’ Pigeut watches before jumping to endorse the Swiss brand, Hublot. This approach shows that either Jay Z like the two brands of products equally or due to business nature of the endorsement, the termination of a contrast coincided with the begging of another. However, besides the case with Hublot, Jay Z qualifies as a good endorser as all the instances he has endorsed a brand, its sales tend to skyrocket. Additionally, the celebrity also endorsed Barak Obama in his presidential campaign in 2008. 9. Find a website that promotes one of your favorite products or hobbies. In what way does the content of the website influence your attitude toward the product? Does your attitude toward the website influence your attitude toward the brand? Sam Mobile is a website name for the www.sammobile.com which promotes Samsung smartphones. The website is not dedicated to any specific smartphone by Samsung but rather promotes all Samsung smartphones. The website appeals in three major ways. Firstly, the website provided information about all recent smartphone releases. The website shows what devices are available to the market while at the same time offering information through tutorial videos regarding the usability of the devices. Since the website and the company are not directly affiliated, the website refers to press releases by Samsung Electronics. With a blog-like format and ability to post comments, the website also collects user data to analyze the interest rate for the devices. The site also provided numerous links to other websites which provide related information for the products under review. My attitude towards the website differs with the same about the products. A website is only a platform that connects customers or users with manufacturers or sellers of products. However, provided that many more websites provide similar information, my attitude towards the website is that it provides reliable information of a targeted product line. While other websites provide general information, Sam Mobile only focuses on Samsung devices. My attitude towards the products on the other hand is not affected by the website as the product and the information provided differ in sense of tangibility. For the product, a user’s experience is the best approach to providing insight on the functionality of a product. The information on the other hand, does not change the preferential characters of specific users. In some instances, customers claim that the information offers by websites may discourage buying because it is either flawed, biased, or too brief. This awareness invites customers to try the products they like as well as new products that they do not have experience with (Samsung Mobile, 2014). 10. What characteristics can be used to encourage unplanned and/or impulse purchases? Is it morally right or ethical to take steps to encourage unplanned or impulse purchases? Prepare a short essay defending your choice. To encourage impulse buying various characteristics, among them excellent design, executive approach, reduced prices, and availability of the products; can be applied. Customers fancy affordable products and this plays the role of convincing them to buy the product before prices go up. Additionally, exclusive designs attract customers to make impulse buying as the ownership of exquisite products boosts their esteem. For a business model, strategies encouraging higher sales through impulse buying are ethical. These strategies or steps are ethical to the business model as they aim at sustaining the business with elevated sales. Additionally, the approach is beneficial in that it measures the business ability to appeal to customers (Prins, & Verhoef, 2007). References Graham, R., & Frankenberger, K. (2011). “The Earning Effects Of Marketing Communication Expenditures During Recessions.” Journal of Advertising, Vol. 40, No. 2; pp. 5-24. Prins, R., & Verhoef, P. (2007). “Marketing Communication Drivers of Adoption Timing of a New E-Service among Existing Customers.” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 71, No. 1; 169-183. Samsung Mobile. (2014). “Samsung unpacked Episode 2 Up Close – Galaxy Note 4 Hands on.” Accessed online on March 12, 2015 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0lvuDAgvi4. Read More