High prices, affordability and social responsibility

Watching the commercial below you'd think that the company in question was all about enabling people to consume.

The small print below the cheery images, however, suggests that that may not necessarily be the case - well not after the consumer had paid 65% interest to the shop.

There are attendant questions around whether or not the products being sold represent utilitarian purchases or conspicuous consumption - for the consumer demographic shopping at Brighthouse. Arguments for the former classification are based on the idea that poorer people may get more of their entertainment at home and therefore may need large televisions more than the well-off.

The paradox of publicity

Kovacs and Starkey (2014) investigate how an increase in status can lead to less favourable quality evaluations. They study reader reviews on goodreads.com and focus on books that either won prestigious awards or were shortlisted. Prizewinning books 'attract more readers once an award has been announced and readers ratings tend to fall faster compared to books that were nominated, but did not win. The authors identify two causes for this effect. Winning a prize can attract a more diverse audience to the book and the fact that a book has won may be off-putting to some readers and thus elicit negative reviews.

Kovacs, B and Sharkey, A. J. (2014) The paradox of publicity: how awards can negatively affect the evaluation of quality. Administrative science quarterly 59 (1), 1-33.

How networking can make us feel dirty

This paper deals with an interesting and little considered aspect of networking, but one which on reflection is all too real. Whereas the positive effects of personal networking have been extensively covered, e.g. emotional support, this paper deals with individuals' more negative perceptions of professional-instrumental networking i.e. climbing the greasy pole. As the authors say, 

““A survey study of lawyers in a large North American business law firm offers correlational evidence that professionals who experience feelings of dirtiness from instrumental networking, relative to those who do not, tend to engage in it less frequently and have lower job performance”. ”

— Casciaro, T., Gino, F., Kouchaki, M. (2014) The contaminating effects of building instrumental ties: how networking can make us feel dirty. Administrative Science Quarterly. 59 (4) 705-735.

How LinkedIn turns us into products

There's the contemporary adage that, 'if you are not the customer, you are the product'. This video shows how LinkedIn turns its users into products for one of its paid-for services.

Customers for everyone

This is a good example of geographic segmentation. This start-up British washing machine manufacturer had initially targeted hotels in America and specifically those located in states where water is expensive, the choice seemed odd. The video explains the benefits of the washing machine and why customers located in certain geographic areas would have a greater need for it.

Emotions and sales promotion

One of the challenges with using sales promotion is that consumers may feel that they are simply being given a financial incentive to make a purchase and there is no emotional engagement with the brand.

This latest McDonalds promotion addresses that head-on:

Starting this week until Feb. 14, McDonald's will be accepting a new form of payment. An ad that aired during the Super Bowl promotes "Lovin,'" a program in which customers can buy their meals with selfies, calls to Mom, hugs, high fives, and more feel-good actions.

 

Priya Raghubir writing in the California Management Review explains the 'Affective route of promotion effects' in the following way:

“Affective influences of a price promotion are the feelings and emotions aroused by exposure to a promotion, purchase on a promotion, or missing a promotion. In the affective routes through which promotions affect sales, the positive effects are either general or specific. The general effects include the ambient effects of the shopping experience due to the hedonic entertainment and exploration effects as per CWL. More specific effects include the inferences consumers makes about themselves, such as feelings of being smart or lucky.24 Promotional communications can highlight these affective states in the manner in which they communicate a deal to a customer.”

— Raghubir, P., Inman, J. J. and Grande, H. (2004) The three faces of consumer promotions. California Management Review. 46:4

Tile

Attach it to things like keys and you can find them via a smartphone app. Phones owned by other users who also have Tile can help locate your stuff. So 'crowd-finding' becomes a positive network externality. But it does beg the question from prospective buyers as to how popular Tile is in their neighbourhood.

Precision

A product communicating brand values to do with precision, humorously.

Canopy by Hilton

I like the concept, not least because Hilton seem to be offering a 'cheap' product but dressed up so that it looks attractive. 

DSLRs in a world of smartphones

I think it's interesting how Canon are pitching their expensive DSLR cameras at people who want to take a little bit more care over their images. It's likely that such cameras are likely to be bought by people who have relatively higher levels of disposable income. However, income alone is not likely to predict who would want to buy such cameras. This is where psychographic segmentation becomes very useful people whose lifestyles values and attitudes predispose them towards wanting to take high-quality photos will be more likely to be interested and this advertisement focuses on them. 

Canon's need to do this is reflected in the following extract from the annual report of their direct competitor Nikon, who also make high-end DSLRs:

We anticipate negative growth in the fiscal year ending March 2014, due to the growing use of smartphones with camera functions. Over the long term, we see the smartphone market expansion as an opportunity: many people become more interested in photography once they start taking pictures with smartphones. 

Nikon Annual Report 2013

Both firms face competition from smartphones which offer similar functionality to their cheaper compact cameras, but this threat from the micro-environment can also be seen as an opportunity because there are now many more people exposed to photography as an activity and some of them may want to take it more seriously and buy more expensive equipment

Introducing the new TV commercial for the 18 Megapixel, 8fps Canon 7D DSLR camera. Take more than photos, take stories. Find out more about the 7D here: http://bit.ly/1n7djcS

Symbolic needs

I am still not entirely sure whether this product is a spoof or not, but it does illustrate Bagozzi (1975) notion of symbolic exchange, 'sellers of goods are engaged, whether willfully or not, in selling symbols, as well as practical merchandise' Bagozzi (1975:36). In the context of this product the symbolism revolves around, in my opinion, the meaning of time.