di Anni del consumismo
Marketing represents a controversial field in economic studies: some consider it as science others as a joke of economics (economy) itself. However, these are the extremes. Neither I can’t say that it’s science, nor I can say it’s not, but in any case, it’s playing a fundamental role in management. A company that wants to increase its turnover, can’t renounce to onerous investments in marketing. Allow me to add that, in my opinion, it doesn’t always encourage fair competition between companies.owever, besides all more technical aspects that strategy and marketing could involve, today, I want to focus my attention on the effects that these fields of the so called new-economy are reflecting on our daily lives. We don’t even realize it, but we are victims of marketing, every single day: from the moment we go out to buy bread in the morning, to the moment we choose our “favorite” book before going to bed. Strongly speaking, what I’m trying to say is that we are ” the market’s puppets ”. Have you ever noticed the order of the products on display in supermarkets? Have you ever thought that by displaying them in such way, they are trying to create new needs in your mind? We usually go there, knowing exactly what we want to buy, what’s missing at home, but, at the end, we reach our cars full of shopping bags and most of the time full of things we really don’t need ! Then, when check our shopping list, we find out that we forgot to buy essential thing like milk, water and sugar The layout of supermarkets or drugstores, in general, are studied in a sly way: they create, in the majority of the cases, a forced tour (itinerary). At first, we find indispensable articles, divided in categories, of course.
This is quite logical, I mean. However, before reaching the tills we are forced to pass through departments that sell various and not so indispensable products: body care, make-up, technology, home care. But the “tricks” continues: products on the shelves aren’t casually positioned. They usually put the more expensive ones at head height. In this way, if we don’t pay enough attention to the price of the product, we’ll waste a lot of money, in other words, if you want a good bargain, you have to look down at the lower shelves in order to find the same kind of product, but of cheaper brands.And what about the fake promotions that manufacturers have already printed on the boxes? How can they be so sure that the amount they send to retailers will be sold before the end of the promotion? It’s clear that it’s only a way to let us think that the purchase of that product is a bargain! But sales don’t sum up all the functions of marketing. Companies used to spend lots on money on market forecasting, advertisements, and on the analysis of customers’ tastes or needs but now, things are quite different as the world of the web is turning tables also in this field thanks to the net-economy. We cannot underestimate the importance of the reviews that are whooping up on the web, above all thanks to Youtube. It is becoming a trend: what happens is that people buy things and then they pass on their opinions by uploading them on Youtube or similar sites, acting as one of your best friends.
Companies pay lots of attention to what their customers think about their products (even if we are never sure if they are real customers or actors), and speculating in such way , they get publicity for free, and moreover, they get to know about costumers’ impressions and wishes without spending money on surveys. Nevertheless, these reviews have a deep influence on our shopping too. We’re tempted to buy things if someone else suggests them. As a result of this word-of-mouth we all buy what the main brand companies want. For this reason, I think that individual choices in the real meaning don’t exist anymore. A new age of standardization is taking place, even if we try to deny it: It’s the new age of serial shoppers!
