I have a dollar in my pocket.
It represents a lot to me
I worked hard to get it
And I have so many needs
I have a dollar in my pocket
What can you promise me?
What will you give me?
In exchange for it.
Sound the bell. Set the wheels in motion. This woman has a dollar and she is looking for a place to spend it. So begins the mad rush to promise, sway, and enlighten, whatever it takes to get that dollar. Is it wrong? No. It is business. So how does the “Average” consumer arm himself or herself with the proper defense to make a good decision and get the most out of that dollar?
To the unprepared consumer, “Attack” is exactly what advertisement may feel like. In reality it is not. It is how businesses make money. They spend overwhelming amounts of money to research and target the consumer. Their goal is to convince the consumer, that you just cannot live a happy productive life without their product. They use any means available to do this, and in some cases, have invented ways of learning more about you in order to market their product. There are few ,if any, limits to how far they can go to do this. They use Television, the Internet, and your children's schools.
Our Text book, “Common Culture” there is an article about sales speak by, author Roy Fox suggesting that big business touches every aspect of our lives. It is unavoidable. He criticizes two major companies for donating electronic equipment to schools in exchange for free advertisement. At first, I was alarmed. This was unfair and not in the best interest of the school system. After doing a little research on my own, I have since changed many of my thoughts. Yes, there is advertisement involved, but there are also learning tools that would not otherwise be available due to budget restrictions placed on public education. So your son or daughter is exposed to some advertising in exchange for opening a door to a whole new world full of knowledge just waiting for a download. You might ask about the child that goes home to his single mother and states, “We need a computer.” The fact that she cannot afford one is not a fair question. I interviewed a man in sales, Mike McDonald, and he had this to say. Should society, as a whole, wait around for everyone to have the same buying power before we move forward? This is a difficult question, because, I too, am a single parent. But Mike also states, “Didn't big business step up to the plate and offer your child's school free computers in exchange for a little advertising?” Not a perfect world, but at least the child still gets exposure to something Mom cannot provide at home. When she can afford to get a computer, where do you think her loyalties lie? They lie with the company that gave her son or daughter the educational advantage that she could not afford. Why not. There is no right or wrong to it; it is just business.
When you are armed with the proper information, you can counter the “Attack” of Advertisement to the point that being a consumer can actually be fun and challenging. The opposite side of the coin leaves one to be a victim of society. The choice belongs to the consumer.
Another aspect to this dilemma to consider, how does the “Average Mind” work? Consider one is preparing for a trip? Suitcases are lying on the bed and one is trying to project every thing he or she will possibly need for this trip. Clothes, make up, toilet articles, every thing needed to have a comfortable enjoyable trip. Hoping not to have not forgotten any thing, the suitcases are closed. From that moment, throughout the remainder of the experience, those suitcases become luggage. Lug it outside and put it in the truck. Lug it through the airport to check it in. Some of it still has to be to lug onto the plane, where it has thrown it over the head into a storage compartment, hopefully with out knocking out any one that is close to for the remainder of the flight. The plane lands; one goes through the whole process in reverse, until having collected it all, it is again lugged around to find a cab, or some means to get where one is going. At the motel, same process, until one is finally sitting on the bed at the motel wishing he or she had never brought so much junk.
Apply this same thought process to the “Average Mind”. The baggage would be the learned behaviors, family history. Everything that one has experienced in life, as well as his or her family, goes with them everywhere they go. The good, the bad, there is no difference. Each new exposure triggers a memory whether good or bad, and plays a role in every decision they make. With that type of mindset, anyone would feel a little raw from over exposure to amount of products, and advertisement that are in the market today. So how does one make informed decisions? How does one arm himself with the proper information needed to make sound decisions? Exactly the same way Big Business does. Emotions should be eliminated. A fine example of this would be the Barbie craze that we have read in detail. Here is a simple equation in human nature: Controversy + Curiosity = Purchase. It might be ironic to discover that the Feminists that have written so much about the Barbie experience were employees of Mattel. It is something that happens all the time.
It is the consumer's job to be informed. As our instructor, Cecelia Rosales, has said repeatedly, “Knowledge is Power”. The responsibility for that knowledge falls on the consumer. You use your personal experiences, along with researching a product. i.e. reading labels, comparing prices and service…., we can make better decisions. We also need a good understanding of our own needs and resources. Key phrases we have heard all our lives, “You get what you pay for” or “Buyer Beware” are worth understanding. Therefore, in light of that knowledge we must include questions like, do I need this or just want it. Is it in my price range? Am I giving up too much quality for a cheaper price? Is it worth it to wait and budget my resources to get what I want instead of having it now and settling for less quality.
In closing, I would like to include a quote from Herbert Spencer, found in the Book “Alcoholics Anonymous”
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”
