How Professional Marketers Manipulate Customers Into Buying More Than They Really Need free essay sample

We don’t have an internal value meter that tells us how much things are worth. Rather, we focus on the relative advantage of one thing over another, and estimate value accordingly. (For instance, we dont know how much a six-cylinder car is worth, but we can assume its more expensive than the four-cylinder model). And that’s how marketers manipulate us. In this case, we may not have known whether the Coke at 12k was a better deal than the Burger option at 22k. But we certainly knew that the Burger-and-Coke option for 22k was better than the Burger option at 22k. In fact, we could reasonably deduce that in the combination package, the Coke is FREE. Person 2: Most people don’t know what they want unless they see it in context. We dont know what kind of racing bike we want—until we see a champ in the Tour de France ratcheting the gears on a particular model. We will write a custom essay sample on How Professional Marketers Manipulate Customers Into Buying More Than They Really Need? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We dont know what kind of speaker system we like—until we hear a set of speakers that sounds better than the previous one. We dont even know what we want to do with our lives—until we find a relative or a friend who is doing just what we think we should be doing. Everything is relative, and thats the point. In the case, the decision between the Coke-only and Burger-only options would take a bit of thinking. Thinking is difficult and sometimes unpleasant. So the M D’s marketers offered us a no-brainer: relative to the burger-only option, the burger-and-coke option looks clearly superior. LET ME OFFER you this visual demonstration of relativity. As you can see, the middle circle cant seem to stay the same size. When placed among the larger circles, it gets smaller. When placed among the smaller circles, it grows bigger. The middle circle is the same size in both positions, of course, but it appears to change depending on what we place next to it. This might be a mere curiosity, but for the fact that it mirrors the way the mind is wired: we are always looking at the things around us in relation to others. We cant help it. This holds true not only for physical things—toasters, bicycles, puppies, restaurant entrees, and spouses—but for experiences such as vacations and educational options, and for ephemeral things as well: emotions, attitudes, and points of view. Person 3: CAN WE DO anything about this problem of relativity? The good news is that we can sometimes control the circles around us, moving toward smaller circles that boost our relative happiness. If we are at our class reunion, and theres a big circle in the middle of the room with a drink in his hand, boasting of his big salary, we can consciously take several steps away and talk with someone else. If we are thinking of buying a new house, we can be selective about the open houses we go to, skipping the houses that are above our means. If we are thinking about buying a new car, we can focus on the models that we can afford, and so on. We can also change our focus from narrow to broad. Let me explain with an example from a study conducted by two brilliant researchers, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. Suppose you have two errands to run today. The first is to buy a new pen, and the second is to buy a suit for work. At an office supply store, you find a nice pen for $25. You are set to buy it, when you remember that the same pen is on sale for $18 at another store 15 minutes away. What would you do? Do you decide to take the 15-minute trip to save the $7? Most people faced with this dilemma say that they would take the trip to save the $7. Now you are on your second task: youre shopping for your suit. You find a luxurious gray pinstripe suit for $455 and decide to buy it, but then another customer whispers in your ear that the exact same suit is on sale for only $448 at another store, just 15 minutes away. Do you make this second 15-minute trip? In this case, most people say that they would not. Person 4: But what is going on here? Is 15 minutes of your time worth $7, or isnt it? In reality, of course, $7 is $7—no matter how you count it. The only question you should ask yourself in these cases is whether the trip across town, and the 15 extra minutes it would take, is worth the extra $7 you would save. Whether the amount from which this $7 will be saved is $10 or $10,000 should be irrelevant. This is the problem of relativity—we look at our decisions in a relative way and compare them locally to the available alternative. We compare the relative advantage of the cheap pen with the expensive one, and this contrast makes it obvious to us that we should spend the extra time to save the $7. At the same time, the relative advantage of the cheaper suit is very small, so we spend the extra $7. Person 5: This is also why it is so easy for a person to add $200 to a $5,000 catering bill for a soup entree, when the same person will clip coupons to save 25 cents on a one-dollar can of condensed soup. Similarly, we find it easy to spend $3,000 to upgrade to leather seats when we buy a new $25,000 car, but difficult to spend the same amount on a new leather sofa (even though we know we will spend more time at home on the sofa than in the car). Yet if we just thought about this in a broader perspective, we could better assess what we could do with the $3,000 that we are considering spending on upgrading the car seats. Would we perhaps be better off spending it on books, clothes, or a vacation? Thinking broadly like this is not easy, because making relative judgments is the natural way we think. Can you get a handle on it? I know someone who can. He is James Hong, cofounder of the Hotornot. com rating and dating site. (James, his business partner Jim Young, Leonard Lee, George Loewenstein, and I recently worked on a research project examining how ones own attractiveness affects ones view of the attractiveness of others. ) For sure, James has made a lot of money, and he sees even more money all around him. One of his good friends, in fact, is a founder of PayPal and is worth tens of millions. But Hong knows how to make the circles of comparison in his life smaller, not larger. In his case, he started by selling his Porsche Boxster and buying a Toyota Prius in its place. 4 I dont want to live the life of a Boxster, he told the New York Times, because when you get a Boxster you wish you had a 911, and you know what people who have 911s wish they had? They wish they had a Ferrari. Thats a lesson we can all learn: the more we have, the more we want. And the only cure is to break the cycle of relativity.

Defining Psychoborg Through Michael Jackson Morimura Essay Example

Defining Psychoborg Through Michael Jackson Morimura Essay Example Defining Psychoborg Through Michael Jackson Morimura Essay Defining Psychoborg Through Michael Jackson Morimura Essay Defining Psychoborg through Michael Jackson Morimura As an artist, one’s art may be used to depict emotion, used as an outlet for expression, or even to convey a distinctive message. Whether this may be appreciative or analytical in its purpose, Yasumasa Morimura’s depiction of the pop-icon, Michael Jackson, are certainly radical in his piece Psychoborg, from 1994. As a matter of fact, there is a clear resemblance between Michael Jackson and Yasumasa Morimura himself because he uses his art in order to identify himself and construct the Other, distinguish a transformation to create a multifaceted disposition, and creates no divergence between culture, race, and gender. In his works, the Japanese artist, Yasumasa Morimura, incorporates images of himself inserted into other famous western paintings and photographs using the computer. In this particular piece, he uses a photograph of Michael Jackson in three different poses, and inserts his face into each one. By doing so, Morimura is removing himself from his own body, characteristics, and identity, which in return embody the disposition of Michael Jackson himself. The composition being divided into 3 distinct parts, well divided into the general rule of thirds, also creates balance amongst the 3 characters depicted in this photograph. It allows for the viewer to be able to distinctively notice three different dimensions in the main character. The first pose (starting from left to right) being a photograph of something superhuman which distinguishes both Morimura and Michael Jackson as individuals with animal qualities and symbolize the embodiment of someone or something other than himself. In the second pose, we see Morimura and his hands firm in a rigged pose, however his face is relaxed, seeming solitary and calm. And in the third pose featuring the character as â€Å"the freak† refers to both â€Å"Morimura and Michael Jackson as â€Å"cyborgs† rather than humans. Similarly to Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, â€Å"it is the tale of the double, the man with two selves and two souls. † Subsequently, this explains that Michael Jackson, which very similarly to Morimura, both utilize artistic methods in order to identify their Other. Through this piece, we can see that Morimura dissects his individuality and identity while placing it into another individual helps indentify himself as a charact er with dual personalities and multiple dimensions. As Joonsung Yoon states, â€Å"his artwork reveals that photography is able to deconstruct and reconstruct his own self in a new way which constitutes and realizes the self, and of our contemporary way of seeing our own absence. † We can see that Morimura uses his artwork to draw similarities between his subject(s), Michael Jackson(s), in which he is able to distinguish and establish his â€Å"Other†. As well, the photograph being black and white provides high contrast and distinction within the image. This allows the viewer to be able to differentiate the background from the 3 characters themselves, which draws attention to the rigged poses of the 3 characters. This also suggests that the one character, both Michael Jackson and Yasumasa Morimura, are in or are experiencing transformation. As this piece depicts, Morimura and Michael Jackson both being: creatures, calm, and freaks as well. The artist, Morimura believes that adaptability and flexibility are both important characteristics that both he and Michael Jackson both posses. In fact, the artist even â€Å"explained his intentions by saying he believed all people had a common desire for transformation. † By showing the different stages through diverse and contrasting poses in this piece, the viewer is able to understand the transition of the transformation in both Morimura and Michael Jackson; Morimura specifically because he is literally in transformation through his portrait being inserted into another mans body in this photograph. Michael Jackson, however, shows this through his variety of expressions figuratively through his poses. Therefore, through the transition of different poses displayed in Morimura’s piece, Psychoborg, it is clear that both individuals have numerous and diverse attributes, which are identified through transformation in his piece. In the piece Psychoborg, Morimura also breaks the barriers between race, gender, and culture. Yasumasa Morimura being of Japanese origin, places himself in the body form of an African American man, which transcends racial segregations. Joonsung Yoon expresses how Morimura â€Å"shuttles back and forth between Eastern and Western cultures. One side of the piece identifies the Western culture through the character’s outfit and attire. The piece also suggests Western cultural fragments because it is not a painting nor was it derived from a painting. The piece represents change within traditional Western art including paintings and drawings into a more radical contemporary movement, which include technological integrations from the computer. Morimura also chooses to incorporate himself into a worldly Western pop icon. Through this, he distinguishes no real distinction because he intertwines and incorporates both the Eastern and Western culture, virtually meshing them into one. Morimura transgresses his cultural territories from East to West†¦however, Morimura is not a Westerner but an Easterner. † Through the combining of a Japanese man into an African American man’s body, we can understand the integration between cultures and races. Yasumasa Morimura’s Psychoborg is a clear depiction drawing the similarities between Michael Jackson and Morimura. Morimura’s piece is extremely effective because the message presented to the viewer take on both the literal and figurative form. Through the incorporation of his own face into the body of another man, he uses his piece to identify his characteristics, and his identity, show a transformation through the multiple poses presented in the piece, and challenge cultural and racial differences between Western and Eastern cultures. Margo, Jefferson. On Michael Jackson. New York: Random House, 2006. Morimura, Yasumasa. Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2009, Encyclopedia Britannica. 28 Oct. 2009 . Yoon, Joonsung. â€Å"SEEING HIS OWN ABSENCE: Culture and Gender in Yasumasa Morimura’s Photographic Self-Portraits. † Journal of Visual Art Practice 2001. 28 Oct. 2009 .

Negative Effects of Outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Negative Effects of Outsourcing - Essay Example As a result, there is a debate concerning the benefits and costs involved in outsourcing (Wikipedia, 2007). This paper discusses some of the negetive impact of outsourcing jobs on US economy and society. Outsourcing jobs to other countries will negatively impact American Society by depleting the availability of jobs in the US, decreasing the level of customer service we receive, and reducing our privacy. There are arguments for and against outsourcing of jobs in United States. Many of them suggest that outsourcing has had a negative impact on the American economy. However economists and government officials who are supporter of outsourcing of jobs to other countries stress the overall benefit and long-term advantages of this practice for the American economy. Unfortunately those who have lost their jobs due to the emerging outsourcing businesses to foreign competition often discover that the creation of higher paying jobs to replace ones that are lost has not occurred. As a result of this there are many who are undergoing mental trauma. There is a great deal of impact of outsourcing on the economy. It contributes to a deteriorating the economy as it contributes to the trade deficit and exports the American knowledge base to other countries. While outsourcing has helped to improve the lives of people in other countries, it should not be done at the cost of creating unemployment in America. Outsourcing of jobs at a lower wage may benefit the company, but it has serious impact on those who loose jobs and deteriorate their living standards. Taking a correct estimation of the costs of outsourcing would establish the fact that keeping jobs in the United States is more competitive than otherwise. Outsourcing has resulted in increasing unemployment problem in America. While those who are in favor of outsourcing argue that as a result of outsourcing, high-value jobs will be created to substituting jobs lost by outsourcing, the facts reveal quite different situation in future. Projections made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2004 have clearly said that outsourcing can only increase unemployment. According to a CNN commentator Lou Dobbs, among the top-ten projected areas of job growth only three categories require a college degree. He also interprets that those who take new jobs will provide only 80 percent of their former pay rate. Some of the statistical data reveal the following facts. Unemployment among America's engineers has sharply increased from 2.0% in 2001 to 4.2% in 2002 to more than 6.0% in the first quarter of 2003. The unemployment problem is even worse for people belonging who have the basic degree in electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor, unemployment among electrical and electronics engineers reached 7.0% in the first quarter of 2003. 6.5% of all computer hardware engineers and 7.5% of computer software engineers were also unemployed during the same period. It is also evidenced that outsourcing has negative consequences for the overall American economy. Even though free trade is often cited as a reason for outsourcing, Dobbs suspects that eminent economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, who regularly advocated free trade, would take a different opinion if they realized that