Transcript Consumer Education

Chapter 7
Section 7-1
Advertising, Marketing, and Selling Techniques
 People who sell you
products have many
techniques they use to
get you to actually buy
the product.
 These techniques are
often used because
THEY WORK!
 Have you ever
experienced any of these
techniques?
Food Styling
 Advertisements for food
have a “food stylist”
construct the food to make it
look appealing.
 They use glue, paint,
scissors, pins, cardboard,
etc. to make that food look
the best it can.
http://www.youtube.com/v/fUjz_eiIX8k
Photo Editing
 Magazine covers and
advertisements for items are
often edited to look even
more “amazing”.
 They will edit movie stars and
even models to make them
more attractive and often
thinner.
 Just like food styling, they can
often edit photos to improve
lighting, colors, etc. so that
the product looks better.
Reciprocity (Guilt)
 If you give someone something of value for free, the
consumer feels an obligation to return the favor.
 Example: getting a dollar in the mail to complete a
survey. They person may feel bad taking the dollar and
not completing the survey.
 Example: sending free address labels and thanking them
in advance for their donation to the charity.
 Example: sending Christmas cards to customers so that
in the future they feel bad for not visiting your store for
awhile because that gesture was so nice.
Scarcity
 Scarcity works by telling the consumer that there is a
limited amount of the item available.
 Example: When you see “Available for a limited time
only.” Consider the Disney “Vault”.
 Example: Going out of business sales.
 Example: “Hurry, quantities are limited.”
Bandwagon
 Bandwagon involves getting prospective customers to
believe that “everybody’s buying this.”
 Have you seen or heard these examples of advertisers
using the consensus tactic?
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“Join millions of people buying this product”
“Record Sales”
“Unbelievable response!”
“Newest creation sweeping the nation”
Endorsements
 Companies often
hire famous people
to endorse their
products. They
hope that if you
will take the
celebrities word
and trust that this
product must be
great.
Sex Appeal
 Using photos of very
attractive men and
women sells products!
 Beautiful people,
beautiful products!
Slogans/Jingles
Slogans
Jingles
 Slogans are what a company
 A jingle is a short tune used
comes up with so that it
sticks in your mind and
makes you more inclined to
remember that product and
buy it later.
 Examples:
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They're gr-r-reat!
Taste the rainbow
life's short, play more
Good to the last drop
in advertising and for other
commercial uses. The tune
often sticks in your head.
Slogans can be part of the
jingle.
 Example:
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State Farm Commercial
Testimonials
 Testimonials will use ordinary people to give you their
approval of a particular product or service.
Loss Leaders
 Loss leader is a product sold at a low price (at cost or
below cost) to stimulate other profitable sales. They
use the loss leader to get you in the store and hope you
will buy more products.
Bait and Switch
 Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud, most commonly
used in sales. First, customers are "baited" by
advertising for a product or service at a low price;
second, the customers discover that the advertised
good is not available and are "switched" to a costlier
product.
Section 2
Sales, Rebates, and Coupons
 Sales will decrease the price of an item without having
to use a coupon.
 Rebates are when you usually have to mail in a proof of
purchase and a particular form and then the company
will mail you the rebate check!
 Coupons can reduce the price of a product and save
you money. You cut coupons out of newspapers,
magazines, or print them from the internet.
Sale
Rebates
Coupons
 Extreme couponing is hard and
takes A LOT of planning.
 Coupons have an expiration date!
 Be careful to not start buying
things you don’t use just because
you have a coupon for them.
 Sometimes coupons require you
to buy a lot (maybe 5) before you
save anything. Only do that if you
are going to use the product and
not let it expire on your shelf.
Layaway
 Layaway is a way to
purchase an item
without paying the
entire cost at once.
You will pay a portion
of the cost first, then
continue to make
payments until the
item is paid off. Then
you can pick up your
item from the store!
Sweepstakes
 Entering a free drawing to win a
prize. You must win that prize by
chance, not skill.
 The prize can be a car, money, a
vacation, or anything else of value.
 Make sure there is no “entrance fee”,
because that would make it
gambling and not free sweepstakes.
 Some sweepstakes make you collect
things like bottle caps, stickers from
their magazine, and then mail them
in for a chance to win. Be careful of
the accumulating cost of this.
Buying Online
1.
Be secure.
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2.
Use credit cards instead of debit cards.
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3.
Only use sites that are safe and don’t appear questionable.
Do a quick internet search to see if there are any bad reviews from that
site.
Don’t give hackers direct access to your bank account. You can always call
the credit card company if you have been hacked.
Bargain hunt.
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Compare different sites with the same products.
4. Be careful of shipping costs.
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5.
Don’t let them rip you off!
Search for coupon codes.
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You can get $ off your purchase.
6. Print out verification of your purchase.
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Have proof that you bought the item!
Comparison Shopping
 Check different stores for
different prices.
 Compare prices in the
store to prices online.
 Check the weekly sales
flyers for places like
Boyer’s, Weis, and Giant.
 Wal-Mart will match the
lowest price you find!
Bring the sales flyer!
Brand Awareness
 How important is that name brand to you?
 Think of items where you would be content with
buying the generic version.
 Sometimes the generic version is made in the same
place, with the same ingredients, just using different
packaging!
 When you buy name brand, you will pay more. You pay
for their advertising.
Brand Awareness
Brand Awareness
If you bought all of these generic items compared to the name brand items, you would
save $64.00. What could you do with that extra $64?
False Advertising
and Disclaimers
 Be careful of believing
everything an
advertisement claims it will
do. Look for disclaimers!
 Disclaimers-a disclaimer
will let the consumer know
that whatever the product
is claiming to do, may not
actually happen. They are
usually in fine print.
Warranties
 A promise by the company to remedy any problems
you have with the product. (they will fix, replace, or
reimburse depending on the warranty)
 Warranties can come with the product or be bought,
(ex. an extended warranty.)
 Sometimes it is smart to buy the extended warranty
and sometimes it is not needed.
 How long is the free warranty?
 Will the product be outdated if I buy the new warranty?
 How much is the extended warranty and what will it
cover? Is it worth it?
Section 3
Problems with Purchases
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Dissatisfaction
Defective
Unexpected costs
Deceptive pricing
Unsatisfactory repair service
Fraud—dishonest business practices that are meant to
deceive, trick, or gain an unfair advantage
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Telephone and mail scams with fake prizes
Travel packages
Work at home schemes
Fake investment opportunities
Fraudulent diet products
How to Resolve a Problem with a Product
Return to the Place of Purchase—bring sales receipts
and keep calm but be persistent
2. Contact Company Headquarters—if the store you
bought it in cannot fix your problem, then contact
the company who makes the product
1.
How to Resolve a Problem with a Product
3. Consumer Agency Assistance—
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Better Business Bureau can tell you about other
customers who had experiences with the store (better
before you buy)
Consumer Product Safety Commission—report
products that can have malfunctions and be
dangerous
Food and Drug Administration—report products that
have been unsafe
How to Resolve a Problem with a Product
4. Legal Action
a)
b)
c)
d)
Small Claims Court—court that deals with legal
disputes that involve amounts below a certain limit.
There are no lawyers or jury.
Class-Action Suits—if many people have the same
complaint, they may all enter a lawsuit under one
lawyer.
Get a lawyer
Check for a legal aid society—a network of
community law offices that provide free or low cost
legal assistance.
Consumer Complaints
 Make sure you document the process—
get names of people you speak to,
receipts, dates, copies of letters/emails
you send, any fee you must pay
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Cole’s hardware advertises an
amazing lawn mower at a
extremely low sale price. When
you go to the store the sales
person says that they no longer
have them and he makes you
buy the $100 more version.
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Boyer’s is selling gallons of
milk for $1.50. This is really
cheap. They will probably
take a loss for the milk. They
strategically place the milk
in the back of the store.
What technique is this?
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