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Critical Thinking Exercises

1. 
Your roommate in the dorm talks on his cell phone incessantly while you’re trying to study. Since you’re a broke college student and it’s too cold to walk to the library, you decide to explore the marketplace for used noise-canceling headphones. How will you locate the best, most-affordable market offering to meet your needs? Describe how marketing messages may guide your steps in this process.
2. 
All consumers have needs and wants. You likely felt a state of deprivation this morning—hunger—and decided what you wanted to eat for breakfast. Do a bit of research to discover how your breakfast preference (want) compares to what a college student living in Osaka, Japan, might want to satisfy their need for sustenance.
3. 
Because relationships are so important in marketing, multiple tools have been developed to help manage customer relationships. Many technological advances assist marketers in their efforts. Promotional strategies include utilizing social media posts, websites, advertising, public relations, and sponsorships to communicate with the target audience. One of the most effective tools in planning/calendaring these promotional contacts or touch points is a Gantt chart. Do a bit of research on Gantt charts so you better understand this scheduling tool that also visually illustrates linkages between promotional activities and progress toward a marketing goal. List and discuss five benefits of using this CRM planning tool. Finally, in your research, did you discover an alternative method to visually depict a marketing project schedule?
4. 
In 2016, Amazon announced it was building its own logistics and shipping business in an effort to put the brakes on rising delivery costs. The overall goal was to deliver Amazon packages as well other packages from retailers and consumers in order to cut delivery costs in half. By 2021, Amazon was shipping 72 percent of its own packages as well as packages for Walmart and eBay. Read more about the effort.

With this new shipping venture in mind, answer the following questions:

  1. How is Amazon’s decision to enter the logistics and shipping industry a move toward improving customer loyalty and equity?
  2. How will Amazon’s new delivery service benefit Amazon?
  3. How do you predict Amazon’s rivals in this distribution channel have responded?
5. 
Is it OK for companies to profile customers and predict their purchase behavior? Every time you, as a consumer, visit a website, your “cookies” are gathered and used to better understand your shopping behavior. Several years ago, Target’s analysts developed an algorithm based upon Target customer buying behavior that predicted pregnancy. Those predicted to be pregnant—based upon the products they bought—were sent targeted marketing materials. The angry father of a high school student accused Target of erroneously sending his daughter a sales flyer for baby products. Supposedly, the daughter was pregnant. Read more about the incident.

How do you feel about companies gathering intimate details about you for marketing purposes? Do you believe these companies develop a better relationship with you as a result? Despite being accurate, was Target’s pregnancy-predicting algorithm ethical, invasive, or somewhere in between?

 

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