Seven Philosophers Journal Entry Business Strategies
Perhaps, all people want to know for sure what are they buying. When a price is high, and a quality of that product is low, every person might feel frustration and disappointment. Of course, it is not a tragedy and it is always possible to return the product and get the refund, but still the pleasure is spoilt. Some people wonder how it is possible to be that naive and to buy something that is not of a good quality. However, certain marketing strategies that are actively used nowadays, can explain many cases like this one.
The Internet is an indispensible part of lives of the majority of modern people. As the result, people often look for the reviews and the feedback from other customers about something they wants to buy. The number of such reviews on every possible thing in the Internet is great. It seems like every person who has bought a camera writes about it to help the others make a right choice. The problem is that traditional buzz marketing has transformed to something enourmous with the appearance of social media, blogs and Internet shops. The reviews from the exprets, from the average customers appear there constantly. The main problem is that sometimes it is impossible to understand whether the product is really good, or positive reviews were paid by manufacturer. The same thing can be said concerning the negative feedbacks, left by customers or competitors (Hartman, 2013). The main goal of buzz marketing is to create a rush around the product, so that everyone will know that such item exists and it is popular.
I had to buy a present for my friend not so long ago and I decided that a smartphone will be the best choice. I had a limited sum of money, so I could not buy a flagman phone from top companies like Samsung or Apple. For this reason I started reading comments and feedbacks about the telephone I chose in the Internet. There were many reviews both from the average customers and from the professional reviewers who publish such things regularly. When I finally decided to buy this phone, as according to the reiews it offered a good quality for reasonable price, I was happy. However, the pleasure was gone when I gave the present to my friend, he unpacked the new gadget and we did not manage even to turn it on. As I found out later, the battery was dead.
From this moment I started thinking that all these reviews and comments in the Internet are fake, and the knowledge about buzz marketing from the chapter made me even more sure in it. In fact, it is the lies, that is pardoned because everyone wants to sell their production and the customer should be vigilant. In my opinion, it is awful from the ethical point of view that the lies is forgiven, because it is nothing but business.
Buzz maketing strategies are an indispensible part of selling the product. The reality of the market is tough and people often choose between something good and something extraordinary good for the minimal sum of money. Before I decided to chose a phone, I did not realize that everyone is the potential victim of lies that is implied in buzz marketing. Not all people can understand all details about the product they buy and it seems unethical to me to cheat them. I need to understand that it is an indispensible part of work in this sphere and to distinguish personal desires from business, which is quite difficult to make.
References
Hartman, L. (2013). Business ethics: decision making for personal integrity & social responsibility. McGraw-Hill Education.