SITUACIÓN TRIBUTARIA

their consumption behaviors may differ depending on the particular role they are playing. State whether you agree or disagree with this statement, giving examples from your personal life. Try to construct a “stage set” for a role you play, specifying the props, costumes, and script that you use to play a role (e.g., job interviewee, conscientious stu- dent, party animal).

2 A company introduced a teddy bear for Valentine’s Day called “Crazy for You.” This toy aroused the ire of mental health advocates because a straitjacket restrains the cud- dly bear’s paws and the stuffed animal comes with institu- tional commitment papers. Supporters of the company’s decision to keep selling the bear say opponents are too “politically correct.” 68 _{What do you think?}

3 Nonprofit organizations routinely rely on generous cor- porate donations, and it’s common to name facilities after benefactors. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio is no exception; its name recognizes the insurance compa- ny’s $50 million donation. Now the hospital is adding the Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Department and Trauma Center and there is also the Limited Too & Justice Main Lobby. Abercrombie & Fitch is notorious for its use of allur- ing young people. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood opposes this partnership. The group’s director commented that “Abercrombie & Fitch is really among the worst of corporate predators. A company with such cyni- cal disregard for children’s well-being shouldn’t be able to claim the mantle of healing. . . . And, personally, I find it very concerning that they named their hospital after an insurance company.” 69 _{What do you think? Is this over the}

line, or does it matter where the money comes from as long as the end result is beneficial?

4 From time to time advertisers use dark humor to get their messages across, as when a lonely calorie, repairman, or robot considers suicide. Or, an ad may imply that shop- pers are “mentally ill” if they buy retail. Are these appeals a

legitimate way to communicate a message, and if so under what circumstances?

5 Name some products or services that your social group uses a lot. State whether you agree or disagree with the no- tion that these products help to form group bonds. Support your argument with examples from your listing of products that your group uses.

6 List the three stages in the consumption process. Describe the issues that you considered in each of these stages when you made a recent important purchase.

7 What aspects of consumer behavior would interest a financial planner? A university administrator? A graphic arts designer? A social worker in a government agency? A nursing instructor? 8 Critics of targeted marketing strategies argue that this

practice is discriminatory and unfair, especially if such a strategy encourages a group of people to buy a product that may be injurious to them or that they cannot afford. For example, community leaders in largely minority neighbor- hoods have staged protests against billboards promoting beer or cigarettes in these areas. However, the Associa- tion of National Advertisers argues that banning targeted marketing constitutes censorship and thus is a violation of the First Amendment. What are your views regarding this issue?

9 A 2007 book bemoans the new wave of consumer- generated content, labeling it “the cult of the amateur.” It compares the social networking phenomenon to the old story about the monkeys: If you put an infinite number of monkeys in a room with an infinite number of typewriters, eventually they will (by hitting keys randomly) reproduce all the major works of literature. In other words, the large majority of user-generated content is at about the same level, and the future of professionally produced, qual- ity work is in doubt. 70 _{Do you agree or disagree with this}

assertion?

10 A firm called Global Rainmakers Inc. (GRI) announced a partnership with Leon, a large city in Mexico, to deploy iris

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHALLENGE

■ DISCUSS

5 What do we mean by an exchange?

6 Why is it important for businesses to learn about their heavy users?

7 What is database marketing?

8 What is popular culture, and how does this concept relate to marketing and consumer behavior?

9 What is the primary difference between Transforma- tive Consumer Research and other kinds of consumer research?

10 This chapter states that “people often buy products not for what they do but for what they mean.” Explain the meaning of this statement and provide an example.

11 What do we mean by the term global consumer culture ? 12 What is the difference between C2C and B2C e-commerce? 13 The economics-of-information perspective argues that ad-

vertising is important. Why?

14 Give two examples of important legislation that relates to American consumers.

15 Define social marketing and give an example of this technique.

16 Name two different disciplines that study consumer behav- ior. How would their approaches to the same issue differ? 17 What are the major differences between the positivist and

scanning technology it developed to make Leon “the most secure city in the world.” The city is creating a database of irises. It will automatically scan criminals’ eyes when they are convicted, though other citizens will have the op- tion to choose whether to have their data included. When residents catch a train or bus, or get money from an ATM, they will submit to an iris scan rather than swiping a card. They won’t have to present identification at a bar or a li- quor store. The police will monitor these actions, so (for ex- ample) a convicted shoplifter might not be allowed to enter a certain store. The company’s CEO claims, “There’s a lot of convenience to this—you’ll have nothing to carry except your eyes. In ten years, you may just have one sensor that is literally able to identify hundreds of people in motion at a distance and determine their geo-location and their intent—you’ll be able to see how many eyeballs looked at a billboard. . . . You can start to track from the point a person is browsing on Google and finds something they want to purchase, to the point they cross the threshold in a Target or Walmart and actually make the purchase. You start to see the entire life cycle of marketing.” So, lots of conve- nience and enhanced security may be in our future. Is the tradeoff in terms of our privacy worth it, or is “Big Brother” knocking at the door? 71

11 Will the Web bring people closer together or drive each of us into our own private virtual worlds? Wired Ameri- cans are spending less time with friends and family, less time shopping in stores, and more time working at home

after hours. More than one-third of consumers who have access to the Internet report that they are online at least 5 hours a week. Also, 60 percent of Internet users say they have reduced their television viewing, and one-third say they spend less time reading newspapers (those that still remain, as many fold due to a lack of readership and ad- vertising revenue).

However, a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported that more than half of users the group surveyed feel that email actually strengthens family ties. Users reported far more off-line social contact than nonusers. 72 _{These results argue}

that people spend more time than ever with others. It’s just that they form strong relationships over the Internet instead of in per- son. But the author of the first survey disagrees. As he observes, “If I go home at 6:30 in the evening and spend the whole night send- ing e-mail and wake up the next morning, I still haven’t talked to my wife or kids or friends. When you spend your time on the In- ternet, you don’t hear a human voice and you never get a hug.” 73

A follow-up study found that it works both ways: extroverts tend to make even more friends on the Web, whereas introverts feel even more cut off from the rest of the world. This has been termed the “rich get richer” model of Internet use. 74 _{What’s your}

take on this issue? Is our wired world turning us into digital her- mits, or does it help us to expand our boundaries by interacting with other people whom we might not otherwise meet? What are the good and bad consequences of this profound change in how we interact with other people?

■ APPLY

1 Will consumers trade lower prices for less privacy? Car owners now can let insurance companies monitor their driving, using a new technology, in exchange for lower rates. Customers who sign up for Progressive’s TripSense program get a device the size of a Tic Tac box to plug into their cars. The device tracks speed and how many miles are driven at what times of day. Every few months, custom- ers unplug the device from the car, plug it into a computer, download the data, and send the data to the company. Depending on results, discounts will range from 5 to 25 percent. In Great Britain, a major insurer is testing a program called Pay as You Drive. Volunteers will get a device the size of a Palm computer installed in their cars. The gadget will use global positioning satellite technology to track where the car goes, constantly sending informa- tion back to the insurance company. Cars that spend more time in safer areas will qualify for bigger discounts. 75 Of course, the potential downside to these efforts is that the insurance companies may be able to collect data on where you have driven, how long you stayed in one location, and so on.

Conduct a poll of 10 drivers of various ages in which you describe these programs and ask respondents if they would participate in order to receive a discount on their insurance premiums. What reasons do they give pro and con? Do you find any differences in attitudes based on de- mographic characteristics such as age or gender?

2 While you’re talking to car owners, probe to see what (if any) relationships they have with their vehicles. Do these feelings correspond to the types of consumer/product at- tachments we discussed in this chapter? How are these re- lationships acted on? (Hint: See if any of the respondents have nicknames for their cars, or if they “decorate” them with personal items.)

3 Many college students “share” music by downloading clips from the Internet. Interview at least five people who have downloaded at least one song or movie without paying for it. Do they feel they are stealing? What explanations do they offer for this behavior? Try to identify any common themes as a result of these interviews. If you were devising an ad campaign to discourage free downloading, how might you use what you have learned to craft a convincing message?

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