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(Dimson, 2015)
(Explore adidas, n.d.)
Both advertisements are just showing the product and nothing else but their elements are making different appeals to customers. Nike is showing a strange looking model where the sport is not clear. The effect is to look into the ad closer to find out for what sport is the shoe. This is a strong catch-on for any sports shoe customer. It challenges the imagination and is invoking a challenge to the viewer.
The other appeal is it is invoking science when it has the word ‘gravity’ boldly emblazoned. The message connotes of the sentence that there is a new technological advancement of Nike on sports shoes that demands attention. The implication is that the new technology will improve your jumping ability and this brings to mind sports like basketball, volleyball, soccer, etc rather than to running. The small print reveals the name of the technology, which is powerless and makes the exaggerated claim of a vast improvement of jumping ability when you wear it. The ad targets serious players of sports whose main criterion for shoes is an improvement in performance. The shoe is not specific to a sport so subtle message is that no matter what your sport is, there would be a Nike model that would have this technology. The advertisement is more on Nike’s new technology that can be in its many models.
The Adidas also has a key word in ‘history’ and it is appealing on sports stars’ credibility to promote its shoes. Two history-making sports stars are mentioned and the message is if these great players and all those many others within the 40 year span chose to wear Adidas, then so should you. Adidas boasts of popularity that spans both geography and time: 40 years and three countries in two continents: Muller is from Germany while Messi is from Argentina but playing for a Spanish club. The ad is obviously for only one sport which is soccer, but there is a hint that Adidas has been able to convince other stars in other sports to wear their shoes. Basketball and tennis easily come to mind.
I find the Nike ad more effective because the appeal is more personal where you can imagine yourself suddenly jumping higher and gaining an advantage over your opponents. With a new technology being introduced, you also feel that you are paying for more value. It is also futuristic which makes it a cooler proposition for young people like me.
Assume that a friend asks you to solicit donations for a local charity of your choice. Outline your approach and presentation as a salesperson would.
My chosen charity would be for the nearest senior home, which would have a charity fund for elderly people who have been abandoned by their families. I would approach this as a salesperson would using the sales stages of prospecting, getting the appointment, qualifying, presenting, handling objections and closing (The Six-Step Selling Cycle, n.d.).
Prospecting is identifying the ideal candidates to give to this charity. These would be people who would be at least 25 years old of any gender and preferably of Asian descent. They would surely have elderly grandparents or parents who are starting to age. Asians are good targets because of their cultural tradition of close familial care for their elderly. They generally abhor sending parents to senior homes so sympathy is high for this group. The prospect must have a job or is in an affluent family.
Getting an appointment would simply be mentioning the nearest home for the elderly who is supporting abandoned elders. This is an immediate proposal which should provoke an immediate response of interest or disinterest. The second immediate message is that any amount would be accepted. Absence of a rejection at this point would mean you have successfully qualified the prospect and are now allowed to proceed to presenting what the home is doing for the elderly. The presentation would simply be describing the services of the senior home in detail. If there will be objections, you may need to get more information from the senior home and come back to close the “sale” by getting the donation.
Some finance experts advise consumers not to worry about rising gasoline prices, the cost of which can easily be covered by forgoing one takeout meal a month, but to worry about how high energy prices will affect the rest of the economy. Explain what this means.
All economic activities which directly or indirectly use fuel oil will be affected. They may have to increase prices as well and this would be felt by ordinary consumers. Hardest hit would be the transportation industry where there would be fare increases in planes, ships and buses for both passenger and cargo transport. For the smaller population who works for the oil and energy industry, the opposite effect will be felt as there would be lower local and foreign demand.
Energy that comes from fuel oil products is still dominant compared to other forms like solar and wind energy; economies are still dependent on it. Higher prices of fuel oil will generally increase most of free-market products and services. Higher prices in the economy can lower overall demand and the economy shrinks by a certain amount. A continuous decrease in overall demand can lead to a recession. A recession would lead to a more serious problem of job losses.
Go online to a shopping site you use regularly and note the prices for different types of products. Does this furm use psychological pricing or product line pricing? Are there any other pricing strategies you can identify? Do any of these strategies make you prefer the site over a competitor's site?
I like buying from Alibaba (Alibaba, n.d.) but I noticed early on that many prices use some sort of fractional pricing where they show a wide range for the price of a lot where the lower price is very attractive. It is very rare that the actual price of an item is even near the lower price. This is definitely psychological pricing which almost always catches attention for an attractive price. The effect is to click on the item and look further at the actual prices. They are betting on the chance that if a price is low enough for you, you will buy even though it is still higher than the low “bait” price. There is also the more common “9” pricing where the price ends in “9” whether as a whole or decimal number. This is the classical charm pricing.
I appreciate one of the site’s features which is effectively product line pricing. There is a filter for three kinds of suppliers: Trade Assurance, Gold Supplier and Trade Assessed. Not all offers have these certificates and those that have usually have higher prices. I usually buy from any of these three groups and so far, those purchases have been satisfactory. Being able to buy for low prices in any of these groups gives the best value-for-money.
I have also notice some suppliers showing ads of different brands of the same product and they have varying prices with one of them was much lower than the rest. I immediately look into the lowest priced offer because it is a clear bargain. This is anchor pricing where price comparisons are shown to the buyer.
I appreciate all these kinds of psychological pricing techniques in Alibaba because they catch my attention and prompt me to verify the complete product offer. It sometimes annoys me that they waste my time but it is worth the bargain that I sometimes get.
References
Alibaba. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2016 from https://www.alibaba.com/products/F0/laptop/----------------------------------------------------------N.html?spm=a2700.7724838.12.1.Dgqqva
Dimson, J. (2015, November 5). Mocdern Day Kicks on Vintage Nike Ads. Retrieved August 19, 2016 from http://ballislife.com/modern-day-kicks-on-vintage-nike-ads/
Explore adidas sports, adidas making, and more!. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2016 from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/257620041156235215/
The Six-Step Selling Cycle. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2016 from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-sixstep-selling-cycle.html
