MKT201 – Buyer Behavior
Chapter 1
Supplementary Examples
1
Nike Advertisement
2
A print ad touting
Nike's Air Dri-Goat trail running shoe
"Right about now you're probably asking yourself, 'How can a
trail running shoe with an outer sole designed like a goat's
hoof help me avoid compressing my spinal cord into a Slinky
on the side of some unsuspecting conifer, thereby rendering
me a drooling, misshapen non-extreme-running husk of my
former self, forced to roam the earth in a motorized
wheelchair with my name embossed on one of those cute
little license plates you get at carnivals or state fairs,
fastened to the back?’"
3
A print ad touting
Nike's Air Dri-Goat trail running shoe
Cooper, an internationally recognized expert on wheelchair
design and mobility research, and a wheelchair athlete who's
won medals at the 1988 Paralympics in South Korea and
other major competitions, said:
"The Nike advertisement was extremely offensive and
demonstrates a high degree of ignorance about people with
disabilities. Unfortunately, the apologies by both Nike and
their advertising agency only further illustrate their
insensitivity to the issues of importance to people with
disabilities and their families."
4
A print ad touting
Nike's Air Dri-Goat trail running shoe
Nike's original apology appeared in an Oct. 24 press release. It
concluded with the sentence: "A former Nike president, Bob
Woodell, suffered a spinal cord injury and is confined to a
wheelchair, and we have a Disabled Employee Network."
An Oct. 25 apology by Dan Wieden, co-founder and CEO of
Nike's advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy, stated: "We
have hurt a group of people for whom we have enormous
admiration. These are men and women who demonstrate
more courage in a single day than most of us will in our
lifetime; who accomplish more, inspire more, and have far
more reasons to be proud."
5
A print ad touting
Nike's Air Dri-Goat trail running shoe
Nike's original apology appeared in an Oct. 24 press release. It
concluded with the sentence: "A former Nike president, Bob
Woodell, suffered a spinal cord injury and is confined to a
wheelchair, and we have a Disabled Employee Network."
An Oct. 25 apology by Dan Wieden, co-founder and CEO of
Nike's advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy, stated: "We
have hurt a group of people for whom we have enormous
admiration. These are men and women who demonstrate
more courage in a single day than most of us will in our
lifetime; who accomplish more, inspire more, and have far
more reasons to be proud."
6
A print ad touting
Nike's Air Dri-Goat trail running shoe
Nike has since issued a new apology on the nikebiz.com web
site: "Down to a man and woman, every Nike employee is
personally embarrassed by this ad and we vow to learn from
this mistake and grow both personally and professionally."
Cooper dismissed this apology, too, citing Nike's track record
of running controversial ads with subsequent apologies.
7
A print ad touting
Nike's Air Dri-Goat trail running shoe
In 1999, a Nike TV ad showed children in-line skating
alongside trains. After viewers complained that children
might try to imitate that stunt, Nike pulled the ad. During the
Olympics, another Nike TV ad parodied the "Texas Chain
Saw Massacre" by showing runner Suzy Hamilton
outsprinting a masked man wielding a chainsaw. NBC-TV
withdrew that ad following complaints, and Nike again
apologized.
"I think these ads are meant to be offensive," Cooper said.
"There's a pattern here: You run an offensive ad that
generates controversy and a lot of free publicity, then you
stop running the ad and issue an apology."
8
World famous brands (2008)
The top 10 brands according to an annual survey by Business Week & Interbrand:
Rank 1 – Coca-cola
Rank 2 – IBM
Rank 3 – Microsoft
Rank 4 – GE (General Electric)
Rank 5 – Nokia
Rank 6 – Toyota
Rank 7 – Intel
Rank 8 – McDonald’s
Rank 9 – Disney
Rank 10 - Google
9
Examples of Everyday Ethics
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The ATM spits out an extra $100 in your favor. Keep the money and
your mouth shut?
At a restaurant you notice your friend’s wife engaged in some serious
flirting with another man. Tell your friend – and possibly ruin his
marriage – or mind your own business?
You can avail yourself of a free wireless connection by accessing the
account of your next-door neighbor. Silly not to?
Your colleague is forever taking credit for your and other people’s
work. Is it ok to exact a little revenge and for once take credit for her
labors?
Your friend is on her way out the door for a significant date and asks
whether you like her blouse. Do you tell her the truth: It’s hideous?
Is it all right to laugh at a sexist joke?
10
Culture Jamming

As people in global societies increasingly enjoy the freedom of private
life, it becomes increasingly difficult to communicate about many broad
concerns. The personalized society enables people to choose
individual lifestyles and identities that often lead to disconnection from
politics. Many citizens become receptive only to consumer-oriented
messages about tax cuts, retirement benefits, or other policies
targeted at particular demographic social groups.

Practitioners of culture jamming argue that culture, politics, and social
values have been bent by saturated commercial environments

Culture jamming presents a variety of interesting communication
strategies that play with the branded images and icons of consumer
culture to make consumers aware of surrounding problems and
diverse cultural experiences that warrant their attention.
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Culture Jamming



Adbusters is the organization that has the
objectives of discouraging rampant
commercialism (e.g., Buy Nothing Day & TV
Turnoff Week)
Employ the strategy of Culture Jamming to
disrupt corporate efforts in cultural landscape
http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/blackspot Blackspot Campaign
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Perspectives on Consumer Research


Many researchers regard the field of CB as an
applied social science; CB knowledge is used to
improve the effectiveness of marketing practice
Positivism (modernism)
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–

Stress the function of objects/products
Believe consumers are rational people
Interpretivism (postmodernism)
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–
–
We each construct our own meanings
Consumption of products = diverse experiences
E.g, Volkswagen Beetle advertising campaign “Humble Little Car” :
tried many ways to turn the Beetle’s homeliness, smallness, and lack
of power into positive attributes
13