In Response to Kaley DeBoer

So what I question is whether or not having a twitter account or a Facebook page for a company is actually beneficial? Do you believe social media marketing is beneficial, or do you think it hasn't quite reached it's maturity enough to be successful?

I believe that if done correctly, social media marketing can be extremely beneficial.  The problem is that most companies don't know how to use social media marketing to its full potential, or even correctly.  If businesses would like to have their own social media pages, they need to first study the process and make sure they know how to use it correctly and professionally.  They should be hiring a professional in this field to keep tabs on and control their social media sites.  

Harvard Business School posted the following article with statistics showing us just how little business actually know about using social media correctly, http://hbr.org/web/slideshows/social-media-what-most-companies-dont-know/5-slide.

Were you surprised by any of the statistics HBS provided us with?  Why or why not?

The Internet and Marketing Research

With improvements over the years in technology, it is no surprise that marketing research would also be affected.  Market researchers can now use the Internet to conduct online surveys, focus groups, panels, research, etc.

Web Survey Systems allow researchers to create and conduct surveys online.  Unfortunately, they will not provide you with a sample to survey, but they will give you the tools to conduct your survey.  One specific website on which you can do this is http://www.surveymonkey.com/.  This website will help you design, collect, and analyze data.

It is important to remember when conducting any survey that you should ask the correct questions when surveying a sample.  On their Youtube channel, SurveyMonkey provides us with a video entitled "5 Questions to Ask for Survey Success."  The five questions they believe we should ask are "How?" "Where?" "Who?" "When?" and "What?"

After viewing this video, do you agree with their rational?  Why or why not?

In Response to Kaley Deboer

Do you think the cleverness of this commercial is a beneficial way for a company to advertise, or do you think the commercial puts too much emphasize on the other product over the one it is actually trying to promote?

I think that the cleverness of this commercial could be beneficial for a company, but I think that mostly it puts too much emphasis on the other product.  Because the majority of this commercial was focused on the Pillsbury Dough Boy, most of the time I spent thinking about the Pillsbury products that I could be eating.  GIECO only brought the focus onto themselves for a short time at the end.  This advertising might work if the major company chose to use a less iconic symbol, but because the Dough Boy is so iconic all the viewer can focus on is Pillsbury products.

What other commercials can you find where this type of advertising was used?  Do you believe that these commercials were successful or unsuccessful?  Why or why not?

Sampling

Primary data collection is data that is collected directly by a specific researcher for a specific problem that they would like to solve.  One popular type of primary data collection is sampling.  Sampling occurs when the researcher gathers information from the subset of a population to make inferences.  It is important to remember when sampling to randomize who you gather data from or  you have the possibility of gathering false results.

The most famous case of false information gathered from sampling was the Literary Digest Poll in the election of 1936.  The Literary Digest send out a poll to 10 million subscribers.  They received approximately 2.3 responses back.  These responses predicted that the Republican candidate, Alf Landon, would win by a landslide, when in reality Franklin Roosevelt ended up taking home the win.  So why was the Literary Digest incorrect?  They gathered information from a similar, select group of people.  This group of people was mostly upper class, and so it can be assumed that they would probably vote for the Republican candidate.  Had the Literary Digest send out their poll to a randomized group of people they probably would have gotten a more accurate result and avoided the embarrassment that this poll caused them.  You can read more about this famous incident here - http://www.jstor.org/stable/2749114.

When sampling there are two types of error that can occur, a sampling error and a non-sampling error.  A sampling error occurs in the difference between the truth of the target population and its sample estimate where as the non-sampling error is a measurement error - which are mistakes made by the researcher such as recording the information incorrectly, gathering it incorrectly etc.  For more information about sampling error visit this article - http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/sampling-error-means/story?id=5984818#.UXf8iLWG2c5.

What are some other famous incidents with sampling and non-sampling errors in history?

In Response to Melissa Moriwaki

How do you think this will effect doughnut customers? Will they still think of Dunkin Donuts when looking to find a doughnut if DD's isn't marketing towards doughnut eaters anymore? How will this effect Dunkin Donuts?

I agree with the CEO of Dunkin Donuts when he says that "beverages are the holy grail of profitability."  For most people, a trip to Dunkin Donuts means picking up their morning coffee or tea.  We, as consumers, can see the shift in Dunkin Donuts marketing to that of beverages just in their "America Runs on Dunkins" commercials.  These are focused on beverages rather than on donuts.  Although Dunkin Donuts is switching their marketing focus to beverages, I believe Doughnut eaters will still look towards Dunkins to get their doughnuts (at least in New England).  The company is automatically advertising doughnuts just in their name.  

New Englanders look to Dunkin Donuts for not only their coffee but for many of their breakfast needs on their commute to work.  There aren't many other well-known doughnut shops in the region and where customers are already loyal to Dunkins and their coffee I don't believe that Dunkins needs to advertise their doughnuts to bring in customers.  They will come no matter what, considering the reputation and legacy of Dunkin Donuts in New England.

I think that the only effect that not marketing doughnuts anymore will have on Dunkins is that they will actually be more profitable.  They will be able to spend more money advertising their coffee, sandwiches, and new products that will bring customers in, and those customers may end up buying doughnuts anyways.

Do you believe that outside of New England Dunkin Donuts will be effected by this advertising choice?  Also, do you believe that the doughnut market will ever actually become obsolete?

Promotion

Promotion is defined by our textbook as "communication by marketers that informs, persuades, and reminds potential buyers of a product in order to influence an opinion or elicit a response."  There are eight objectives of promotion which are as follows:
      1. create awareness
      2. stimulate demand
      3. encourage product trial
      4. identify prospects
      5. retain loyal customers
      6. facilitate re-seller support
      7. combat competitive promotional efforts
      8. reduce sale fluctuations.

There are several different parts that make up the promotional mix.  They are advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and social media.  The promotional mix is used to meet the needs of the target market and fulfill the organization's overall goals.  Organizations may use just one part of the promotional mix to reach their target market or they may use a combination of parts.

Advertising is "any form of impersonal, one-way mass communication about a product or organization that is paid for by a marketer."
Public Relations is "the marketing function that evaluates public attitudes, identifies areas within the organization the public may be interested in, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance."
Sales Promotion is "marketing activities that stimulate consumer buying and dealer effectiveness."
Personal Selling is "a purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other."
Social Media are "promotion tools used to facilitate conversations among people online."

I personally believe that companies that will succeed the most at promotion are those that utilize a combination of the parts of the marketing mix.  With different industries though, there becomes the need to be more active in one part than another.  For instance, in the auto sales industry personal selling would be the  tool that should be utilized the most by marketers, but the other tools are also important to bring in customers.  Therefore, they may focus more energy on personal selling than the other tools, but they must not forget about the others.

Do you also believe that a combination of multiple tools in the promotional mix is the best way for marketers to reach their target market or do you believe that there is one tool that is the most important no matter what the industry?  Can you find an organization that has utilized just one of these tools in the promotional mix that has been successful?

In Response to Sarah Allen

How do you think marketing managers choose the appropriate price for a product? What factors do they take into consideration when setting a price?

I believe that the first step in choosing a price is figuring out the minimum price the product must be sold at to make a profit.  Therefore, the managers must take into account the price that it costs to product each product, as well as figuring out what the break-even point is.  They must then take into account the external environmental factors and find out what customers are willing to pay for similar products.  I believe that they also must take into account how much profit they are looking to make.  After all of these factors are taken into account, they may then be able to distinguish an appropriate price for the product.

If it product is priced too highly then the product won't sell.  On the other hand, if the product is priced too low than there won't be much of a profit, it any, made of the product.  Therefore, the price must be set appropriately.

What are some products that have failed because of an inappropriate price point?

Elasticity of Demand

Elasticity of demand is the consumer's responsiveness or sensitivity to changes in price.  If the demand is elastic a change in price will either increase or decrease consumers' buying.  If the demand is inelastic a change in price will not make a significant change in consumers' buying.  The price elasticity of demand is equal to the percent change in quantity divided by the percent change in price.

Products that are considered to have elastic demand are products that we don't necessarily need to have, but rather items that we want.  Some examples of these products are candy, shoes, purses, televisions, etc.  We don't need to have these items so if the price went up a ridiculous amount, the demand for the might decrease and less of these products would be bought.  If the price of these products went down, the demand for them might increase and more of the products might be sold.

Products that are considered a necessity, instead of just a want, are products that have an inelastic demand.  For instance, one product that has an inelastic demand is oil.  Oil is a necessity.  No matter if the price goes up or down oil still must get bought.  Therefore, the demand for oil is inelastic.

Can you think of some other products that have an inelastic demand?  Do you believe the consumer has any control over prices of products with an inelastic demand?  Why or why not?

In Response to Melissa Moriwaki

What is your opinion on these April Fools Day products? Are they helping the brands? Why or why not?

I was amused watching the commercials for "Bacon Flavored Scope" and "Skinny Skinny Jeans." Although I was amused, I'm not sure whether these April Fools commercials are helping the brands or rather hurting them.  As Melissa pointed out although we all believe these commercials to be jokes, the companies give off an impression that keeps them in the back of our minds, which might help gain customers in the future.  I wonder though if this impression for some will be negative and actually work again the companies.  If customers are given the wrong impression they may lose faith in these brands and chose to take their business elsewhere.  On the other hand, with a little bit of a sense of humor the commercials may actually want to shop these brands after viewing the commercials.

I think that these amusing commercials can both help and hurt the brands, it just depends on the customer that views them, and their sense of humor.  After viewing these I wonder if there are any more companies that have created April Fools Day commercials in the past.  If so, what were those brands/commercials and did they help or hurt the company?  What was the end result?

Levels of Distribution Intensity

There are three different intensity levels of distribution.

The first level is intensive.  With an intensive level of distribution, a company aims having their product available at every outlet.  The level of customer service needed to sell this product is reduced.  Products that are distributed intensively often become convenience items.  Some products that are distributed intensively are chips, soft drinks, magazines, etc.

The second level of distribution is selective.  With a selective level of distribution products are distributed by screening dealers to eliminate all but a few in a selective area.  Products distributed at a selective level become specialty items.  Some products that are distributed at a selective level are televisions, computers, iPods, and telephones.

Finally, the third level of distribution is exclusive.  With an exclusive level of distribution products are distributed by one (or very few) dealers in a given area.  Products distributed at an exclusive level are usually specialty/luxury items.  Some products that are distributed at an exclusive level are Rolex watches and Rolls Royce vehicles.

What are some more products distributed at any of these given levels of intensity?  What are some advantages/disadvantages to items being distributed at each level of intensity.

In response to Kaley Deboer

Do you feel one channel of distribution could be more beneficial to a company, or do you feel it will always vary depending on the company, product, or service?

Although all of the channels of distribution could be beneficial to a company because they offer different benefits, I believe that the one that could be most beneficial to a company is a direct channel - where the product goes directly from the producer to the consumer.  

I believe that it is beneficial because it could cut costs for the company.  For example, instead of the price getting jacked up due to transportation costs, etc. a company could sell their product at a lower price if it went directly from the producer to the consumer.  The could also create less inventory because they could create products only when they are ordered by the consumer.

The other channels of distribution are also important, have each have their own benefits, but I believe that because of the cost cutting a direct channel could be the most beneficial to a company.  Do you agree with this, or do you believe that another channel is more effective?

Target Marketing Strategies

A target market is a group of people for which an organization designs, implements, and maintains a marketing mix for.  The organization plans to make the marketing mix meet the needs of that specific group of people, which results in mutually satisfying exchanges.

There are three strategies used in target marketing.  The first is an undifferentiated strategy.  In an undifferentiated strategy there is one marketing mix for everyone.  It is also known as mass marketing, and it satisfies most customers with just one marketing mix.  The second strategy is a concentrated strategy.  In a concentrated strategy an organization targets their marketing mix on one market segmentation.  It is also known as niche marketing and it satisfies a specific group of people.  Finally, the third strategy is known as a differentiated target strategy.  In a differentiated target strategy an organization focuses their marketing mix on  several market segments.  There is a distinct marketing scheme for each of these segments.

A product that can be marketed with an undifferentiated strategy is milk.  Almost everyone drinks milk so it can be marketed to everyone with a single marketing strategy.  On the other hand, baby food is pretty much only consumed by babies, so it would be appropriate to use a concentrated strategy focusing in on a target market of parents.

What are some other products that you can think of that can use an undifferentiated strategy to market their products?

In response to Kaley DeBoer

However, what I question is whether or not one of the market segmentations is more beneficial is establishing a target market or does it depend on the product? Or do all of the above segmentations need to be considered at once when a market is determined?

I believe that all of the segmentations (geographic, demographic, psychographic, benefit, and usuage-range)  play a crucial role in determining a target market.  If marketers were to just focus on one segmentation because they felt it was more important than another, they could miss out on a key factor that is important in establishing a target market, and they could possibly lose out on customers.  For instance, if a company were to focus solely on geographic segmentation (segmenting the market by region or country, market size, market density, or climate) they might miss out on a key factor about the demographics in that area that are key to creating a target market like age, gender, income, ethnic background, family life cycle, etc.  An example would be if a target market was created for a high cost product in an area because it had an appropriate climate, but the income of the people of that area was very low, so the people in that area really would not be able to afford that product.  Therefore, it would be more valuable to consider all the factors when determining a target market.  I also believe that the product also plays a key role in who the target market is.

Are there any examples you can think of when a company focuses too much on one segmentation and eliminated a key segmentation which ended poorly for the company? 

One-to-One Marketing

One-to-one marketing is defined as "an individualized marketing method that utilizes customer information to build long-term, personalized, and profitable relationships with each customer" by our textbook.  The goal of one-to-one marketing is to reduce costs and increase revenue.  It is a huge commitment. but can be an advantage to those companies who practice it.

Although most businesses use a mass-marketing approach, it is more efficient for some businesses to use one-to-one marketing to increase share of customer. The difference between mass marketing and one-to-one marketing is that mass marketing increases your odds of getting customers with a less specific focus on a specific people where as one-to-one marketing focuses on specific communication opportunities with each individual customer.

There are four trends that lead to continuing growth of one-to-one marketing.  Those four trends are personalization, time savings, loyalty, and technology.  Personalization focuses on each consumers specific wants and needs.  Time savings involves consumers saving time because they now longer need to shop around and making purchasing decisions.  When loyalty is earned consumers with continually buy from the same company.  And finally, new technology offers one-to-one marketers a more cost effective way to reach out to their consumers.

Can you think of any companies who practice the one-to-one marketing approach instead of the mass-marketing approach?  Has it been beneficial to that company?  Why or why not?

In response to Jonathan Tomachick

Do you find yourself doing the same when you shop? Have you ever had to cut another shopping trip short because of splurging for sale items the week prior?

Just like many other consumers, I get caught up in sales.  I work in a grocery store and I constantly find myself leaving work with items that I didn't intend to buy because I noticed during my shift that they were on sale.  The funny part is that the majority of the time I don't even end up using what I bought so I ended up actually wasting money instead of saving it.  

I have never found myself having to cut shopping trips short because of prior weeks sales, but rather I find myself having to cut shopping trips short because of the current weeks sales.  

One thing that working in a grocery store has made me wonder is how much is enough when it comes to sales.  I have watched a lot of people come in and buy a ridiculous amount of sale items, or items that they have coupons for, that I know they will never be able to use.  Just because an item is on sale does not mean that the item is necessary.  

I definitely believe that here in America we buy items just because they are on sale, and not necessarily because we need them.   Can you think of other countries where this is true?  Can you think of other countries in which their culture prevents them from buying lots of items that they don't need just because they're on sale?

Perception

Psychological factors influence consumers' buying decisions.  These psychological factors include perception, motivation, learning, and beliefs and attitudes.  Consumers use these factors in interact with their world.  Psychological factors are the only influence of consumer behavior that can be affected by the person's environment.

One psychological factor that I would like to specifically focus on is perception.  Perception is defined as "the process by which people select, organize, and interpret stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture."  Basically, perception is used by consumers to produce meaning; it's how they see the world and how they discover that they need help in making a purchasing decision.

There are three parts to perception - selective exposure, selective distortion, and selective retention.

Selective exposure is what consumers use to decide which stimuli they are going to pay attention to and which ones they are going to ignore.  Selective distortion happens when information conflicts with a consumer's beliefs or feelings so the consumer changes or distorts the information.  Finally, selective retention is when a consumer only remembers the information that supports their personal beliefs and feelings.

Perception plays a huge role in marking because marketeers have to pick up on consumers' perceptions of products and play on them to help sell a product.  For instance, if consumers feel a specific way about how the packaging of a product should look, if marketeers pick up on this and change the product's packaging to match what the consumer perceives as something they want to buy, a product will be more successful.  Pricing and quality of a product can be dictated by consumers' perceptions of what they should be as well as quality and reliability.

When naming, packaging, advertising products, etc. companies should keep perception in mind.  You don't want to create a great product but have it flop because the name was associated with something that people perceive as bad, or the consumers' perceptions of the packaging were negative.

Can you think of any products in which consumer perception caused them to flop?

Response to Melissa Moriwaki

If logos had always been more simple, without hidden messages or clever abstract symbols, what effect do you think it would have on brand recognition today?

As I looked through the logos on the website that Melissa shared, I kept thinking how simple,yet clever these logos were.  I also thought about how these clever logos actually made me want to utilize the product or service that these companies were providing, even though I hadn't even heard of a lot of them.  With their hidden messages and clever abstract symbols I found that these logos were extremely memorable.

I believe that without hidden messages or clever abstract symbols brand recognition would not be the same today.  Of course we will remember the logos of really large, popular companies such as the McDonald's Golden Arches, but for brand recognition smaller companies need to get whatever competitive edge they can.  If these companies didn't use hidden messages and clever abstract symbols they would be easily forgettable.  Had the logos on the website not have been so clever I wouldn't have thought twice about them.  But, because these companies took the time to make clever logos they have made themselves memorable.  People take an extra second to look at the logo and understand it.  If it's funny sometimes they show others.  The logo then becomes recognizable to them because it made an impression.   Without the clever logos small companies may not be remembered.

What is a company that has made a lasting impression on you with a hidden message or clever abstract symbol in their logo?  Even if that company produces a product or service that wasn't quite as good as the competition, were they more memorable to you because of their logo?

Hyundai Assurance Buy-Back Program

In class this week we discussed how Hyndai had successfully created the Hyundai Assurance Program.  The program went on for 26 months and helped increase auto-sales for New Hyundais during the recession.  It helped assure people that it was okay to buy a new car because if they lost their job they would be covered. Although this program only lasted for 26 months in 2011 Hyundai started a new assurance program.

Hyundai's latest assurance program is the Hyundai Assurance Buy-Back Program.  Where before Hyundai guaranteed that they would take your car back if you lost your job, they are now assuring the price of your car for a trade in 2-4 years from now.  They give you a projected residual value for a later date when you go in to buy your new car.  When you actually go to trade in your Hyundai they view the actual residual value and the one that they projected when you bought the car and you get the higher of the two.  The only catch? You must keep your car maintained at the Hyundai authorized dealer.

These programs that Hyundai has created has increased their sales above the market's increased sales.  Other factors that have also increased Hyundai's sales are better designs, better reliability, and better mileage than before.

I found an article from CNBC describing the program called Hyundai's Latest Assurance Program Could Be Trouble for Competitors.  The following link can bring you to it to read more if you are interested,
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42748675/Hyundai039s_Latest_Assurance_Program_Could_Be_Trouble_for_Competitors.

What other companies have taken on programs like this?  Were they successful?  Why or why not?

Response to Katie O'Hurley

I think that humor is an excellent technique to use in commercials because it gets the viewers attention and makes them want to buy and support that product.  I think that creating a figure for the company such as Flo is also a strong advertising technique because it makes the company recognizable.

One company that I uses humor in their commercials as an advertising technique is Doritos.  They haven't done it with just one commercial, but they have a history of using humor as an advertising technique in their commercials.

Both of these commercials were shown this year during the Superbowl.  As you can see they chose to use humor, and did it successfully may I add, in multiple commercials on the same night.

What are some other techniques that are utilized in advertising?  What are some specific examples of these techniques?

Global Marketing

Global Marketing is defined by our textbook as "marketing that targets markets throughout the world."  Global marketing benefits companies by promoting growth opportunities, promoting innovation, fostering the marketing of better, less expensive products, raising productivity and living standards, promoting competition, and offering access to foreign capital and global export markets.

Because global marketing is such a positive thing and offers so many new opportunities, many companies would like to get involved in the global market.   In class we discussed ten different ways to enter the global market, they are as follows:

• importing
• exporting
• licensing 
• franchising
• contract manufacturing
• outsourcing
• joint ventures 
• strategic alliances 
• direct ownership
• and multinational enterprise

One company that has successfully captured the global market is McDonald's.  They have done this through franchising.  Franchising is a form of licensing in which the Franchiser grants a franchisee the right to market its product with the franchiser's standards in exchange for money.  In other words, McDonald's allows a franchisee to pay them to open up a new McDonald's restaurant somewhere in the world, and in that restaurant the franchisee must have the same menu, restaurant design, uniforms, etc. that McDonald's requires they have.

More than 80% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are operated by franchisees.  They have been recognized numerous amounts of times for their franchises.  Some examples provided by their website are:

• Entrepreneur Magazine – Every year, Entrepreneur Magazine lists its Franchise 500. Over the last several years McDonald’s has been recognized as one of the Top 10 Franchises.
• Franchise Times Magazine – McDonald’s has been ranked #1 on its list of top 200 franchises.
• USA Today – McDonald’s has been selected by the National Minority Franchise Initiative (NMFI) as one of the 50 Top Franchises for Minorities.
• Black Enterprise Magazine – McDonald’s was listed as one of the 40 best Franchises for African Americans.

More information about McDonald's franchising is available at http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/franchising.html.

What are some other companies that have used franchising to enter the global marketplace? Can you find any companies that have successfully gained entry into the global marketplace through one of the other nine methods?

In response to Kaley DeBoer

I believe that it is beneficial for a company to focus on multiple target markets.  If they only focus on one then they are reducing the number of possible customers that they could have.  For example, in class we discussed Dr. Pepper coming out with a new product called "Just for Men."  By naming the new diet soda this, Dr.Pepper is excluding possible women consumers from becoming buyers.  If they focused their target market rather on those looking to drink diet soda, they would expand from just men who want to drink diet soda to men and women that want to drink diet soda.

I feel that focusing on one target market hurts a company rather than helping it.  Can you think of a time where a company focused on too slim of a target market and face unfortunate consequences because of it?

Competition

One topic that we discussed this week in class was competition.  Competition is a factor in a company's external environment.  Competition effects companies because different businesses take away customers from their business leaving them with lower revenues.  As trade barriers get looser global markets are expanding businesses and increasing competition, so businesses not only have to focus on domestic competition, but they now have to worry about global competition as well.

Four different kinds of competition that we discussed in class were brand competitors, product competitors, generic competitors, and total budget competitors.  Today I'd like to elaborate a little bit more on these specific types of competition.

A brand competitor is a competitor with virtually the same product as you.
A product competitor is a competitor with a similar product to you.
A generic competitor is a competitor with a product that satisfies the same needs as your product.
And finally, a total budget competitor is a competitor that offers a product in the same price range as yours that could satisfy similar needs to yours.

To simplify this lets make an example.  Suppose you were Ford and you were selling the Ford F-150 (a pickup truck).  A brand competitor for you would be any other pickup truck such as a Toyota Tacoma or a Nissan Frontier.  A product competitor would be any other car company selling any other kind of large car such as GMC.  A generic competitor could be some other form of transportation that could get you from point A to point B, such as a motorcycle.  And finally a total budget competitor would be some sort of mode of transportation that is in the same price range as the Ford F-150.

What are some other product, brand, generic, and total budget competitors for the Ford F-150?  Can you think of another product and its brand, product, generic, and total budget competitors?
Are there any products you can think of that global competition doesn't effect?

Response to Tammy Chou

"CSR has four components: economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. Which responsibility do you think is right for the society? Do you think different businesses would act upon it?"

I believe that it is a mixture of all four components of Corporate Social Responsibility (economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic) that is what is right for society considering that corporate social responsibility itself is a business's concern for society's welfare.  

Philanthropic responsibilities are about being a good corporate citizen.  Corporations take on philanthropic responsibilities by contributing resources to the community and improving the quality of life of society.  Because large corporations have so much power in society they should take on philanthropic responsibilities.

Ethical responsibilities are about doing what is ethical, which means that a corporation is doing what is right, just, fair, and avoiding harm.  

Legal responsibilities are about obeying the law, doing what is legally considered right and not wrong.  If corporations don't do what is right legally they will most likely have to suffer the legal consequences.

Finally, economic responsibilities are about being profitable.  If a corporation isn't profitable they won't succeed.

Businesses should act upon all of these responsibilities because combined they improve society as a whole.
What are some examples of large corporations taking on corporate social responsibilities?

Cause-Related Marketing

Cause-related marketing is defined by our textbook as "the cooperative marketing efforts between a for-profit firm and a nonprofit organization."

One cause-related marketing campaign that I have stumbled upon is a collaboration between Chili's Grill and Bar and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  The Create-A-Pepper to Fight Childhood Cancer campaign was established in 2002 in seven Memphis-area Chili's, and has now become a nation wide campaign.  To participate in this campaign, customers donate $1 and color a chili which gets posted on the wall of the restaurant.  T-shirts and Zip-up hoodies are also sold in an effort to raise more money for the campaign.

It occurs annually during the month of September (Childhood Cancer Awareness Month) and to date the campaign has donated over $41 million to St. Jude.  They have made a commitment to donate at least $50 million, which is the largest donation in the hospital's history.  There is a facility named after Chili's, The Chili's Care Center, which provides state-of-the art technology and care.

To learn more about the cause-related marketing campaign you can visit http://www.stjude.org/chilis.

Chili's Create-A-Pepper campaign has been extremely successful, and there have been no problems with it, it is a clean campaign.  Can you think of any other successful cause-related marketing campaigns?  Where they created selflessly, or did the company have another agenda?

Response to Kaley Deboer

I agree with Kaley that customer satisfaction and customer value can be linked together.  I believe that she made an interesting and valid point by suggesting that customer satisfaction occurs after a product or service is obtained where as customer value is considered before a product or service is obtained.  I would have never thought about it in this way, but I completely agree with the idea.

I also agree with Kaley's opinion that in a perfect world customer value would be evaluated before a product or service is purchased, which I believe would increase customer satisfaction.  They could look at the price and read reviews from other customers about the product or service.  They should also consider if whether or not they actually need the product or service and think about the benefits that the product or service will create for them.  If a customer were to evaluate the value in a product before buying it they may discover that is not in fact going to satisfy them and there would be less customer dissatisfaction.  The exception to this, of course, Kaley mentioned in her post.  A customer may value something higher before purchasing it, and then discover that it doesn't meet up to their standards, which would lead to customer dissatisfaction.

Have you ever had a personal experience where you fully evaluated the value of a product or service before purchasing it ended up being satisfied with your purchase?  On the other hand, have you ever had an experience where you evaluated the value of a product or service prior to purchasing it and ended up dissatisfied?

Blackboard Discussion Question #2

Are customer satisfaction and customer value interdependent or mutually exclusive? Can satisfaction  occur simultaneously with low customer value?

It is my belief that customer value and customer satisfaction are interdependent.  Customer value must exist on some level for there to be customer satisfaction.

            Customer value is defined in our textbook (MKTG) as “the relationship between benefits and the sacrifice necessary to obtain those benefits.”  This means that customers will value goods and services based on their expected quality of the good, and based on if the good is sold at the price that they’re willing to pay.  So if a customer pays the amount that they expect to pay for a good or service and get the quality that they expect from the good or service there is customer value.  Therefore, if a customer paid a high price for an item they expect a good quality item, whereas if the customer pays less for an item, they probably expect it to be of a lesser quality.  For instance, if one were to buy a car they can either buy new or used.  They probably have higher expectations for a new car then they do for a used car, but they would also have to pay a higher price for a new car than a used car.  Even in buying the used car there is still customer value if the quality met the customer’s expectations in accordance to the price. 

            Customer satisfaction is defined by our textbook as “customers’ evaluation of a good or service in terms of whether it has meet there needs and expectations.”  More simply put, customers are satisfied if after they receive a good or service it holds up to their expectations and needs.  Unlike customer value, it doesn't have to do with price.  An item could be cheap but leave a customer unsatisfied because it doesn't meet up to their needs and expectations.  Drawing back on the new/used car example, a customer would be satisfied with car if their needs and expectations were met.  If the customer bought the used car but it turned out to be a lemon they would be dissatisfied because the car didn’t meet their needs or expectations.

            I don’t believe that a customer could be satisfied with a good or service if there is low customer value.  Can you think of a time where you have been satisfied with a good or service when you've had low customer value?