Select three criticisms of promotion, and provide defenses to refute them.
What will be an ideal response?
Even though promotional activities can help customers make informed purchasing decisions, social scientists, consumer groups, government agencies, and members of society in general have long criticized promotion. The student may pick any three of these six criticisms:One common criticism of promotion is that it is deceptive and unethical.Laws, government regulations, and industry self-regulation have helped to decrease most intentionally deceptive promotion; customers may be unintentionally misled because some words have diverse meanings. The vast majority of promotion is not deceptive.Promotion is also criticized for raising prices, but in fact it can lower them.When promotion stimulates demand, higher production levels may result in lower per-unit production costs, which keeps prices lower; when demand is not stimulated, however, prices increase owing to the added costs of promotion. Promotion fuels price competition, which helps keep prices lower.Some critics of promotion claim that it manipulates consumers by persuading them to buy products they do not need, hence creating "artificial" needs.Many marketers capitalize on people's needs by basing their promotional appeals on these needs; however, marketers do not actually create these needs. If there were no promotion, people would still have basic needs such as food, clothing, transportation, social, and physiological needs.Another frequent criticism of promotion is that it leads to materialism.Because promotion creates awareness and visibility for products, it may contribute to materialism in the same way that movies, sports, theater, art, and literature may contribute to materialism. If there were not promotion, it is likely that there would still be materialism among some groups, as evidenced by the existence of materialism among some ancient groups of people.Every year, firms spend billions of dollars for promotion. The question is whether promotion helps customers enough to be worth the cost.Customers learn about products through promotion, allowing them to learn about products and make more intelligent buying decisions. Promotion helps create competition..Finally, some critics of promotion, including consumer groups and government officials, suggest that certain products should not be promoted at all.Some critics suggest that promotion of possibly unhealthy products should not be allowed at all; others argue that as long as it is legal to sell such products, promoting those products should be allowed. In a society with commercial freedom of speech, there will always be diverse opinions.
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a. 20% b. 30% c. 40% d. 50% e. 60%
During the second war in Iraq, there were media clips of Iraqi civilians pulling down statues of Saddam Hussein. Such images are highly symbolic of the fact that the power of Saddam’s regime is no longer perceived as __________.
a. Illegitimate b. Legitimate c. Hiding weapons of mass destruction d. Useful to the US government and its allies
Brice works in sales, but none of the sales reps in his office are allowed to have laptops. Brice knows that if he could get his hands on a laptop he could sell more than anyone in the office. He secretly figures out a way to sneak a laptop in his office and immediately his sales start to soar. This action by Brice is a direct example of which OB concept?
a. Cognitive dissonance b. Politics c. Commitment d. Ethic reciprocity
Which of the following statements is false?
A) More than half of private health care expenditures are covered by private insurance. B) Over the past decade the cost of health care has risen twice as fast as other costs. C) Most private health insurance is employment related. D) The private cost of nursing home care is more likely to be covered by private insurance than prescription drugs.