Consumer Behavior - MKT-3910

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1. I think this is unethical from a consumer point of view. Changing the size of a product and not changing the price is not a good marketing move. It can be misleading or deception. Some people would feel cheated or not getting the most out of what they paid for. The lack of transparency could be bad for the business and its audience. Companies can shrink the size of the product due to costs, but not being honest with their customers is not good for their reputation. I noticed a lot of makeup brands or skincare brands change their package to make it a "sleek" look but in reality they shrunk the tube inside the bottle and there is a lot less product in their. I have always thought "oh maybe they needed to do this to change the packaging" but never though of it "wow I paid the same price for less product" This may be a good example, but we all know Starbucks and their Tall, Grande, Venti situation. I tested this theory out myself and I was shocked! Someone made a video about how Starbucks charges more for different sizes but when if you get a tall iced coffee and transfer it to a grande its the same serving and same with grande into a venti cup. Even with the ice... I one time strained my Starbucks drink to see how much liquid there was without the ice and It didn't even fill half way in the cup. Honestly all Starbucks sizes are probably the same but they're all different prices. However, if you think about it if you get a venti instead of a grande its like 30 cents more so I don't know why there are people complaining about the servings.

2) Ethically, I do not think that shrinking the amount of product in a package without lowering the price of the product is a good move for marketers to make. I think transparency is key when it comes to marketing products, but we all know that a lot of marketers aren't always good at providing that. I think a lot of marketers believe that the consumer will not notice a difference. "A psychophysicist named Ernst Weber found that the amount of change required for the perceiver to notice a change systematically relates to the intensity of the original stimulus. The stronger the initial stimulus, the greater a change must be for us to notice it. This relationship is Webers Law" (84). Weber's Law is able to describe why people may not notice a size change in their products. This idea theory may apply to some people, however, I think there is always going to be someone who will be able to point out the change. Another explanation for the shrinking amount of product within a package can be due to the fact that some marketers are striving to be more eco-friendly. Studies have shown that people are willing to pay more for brands who are actively making an effort to better our Earth by using more sustainable practices while creating their products. These marketers are known as "green marketers." This may sound good to some people, however, some marketers are really just tricking the consumer into thinking they are taking a sustainable route, when in reality they are simply changing the design of a package to make it smaller and contain less product. "Because of pressure from powerful retailers such as Walmart that want to fit more bottles on their shelves, the size of detergent bottles is shrinking significantly" (85). Retailers are forcing marketers to shink their products in order to comply with their storage situation. Overall, this is a tricky situation to solve, but I do believe that marketers should be more transparent with their consumers about changes to their products. If there is less product people shouldn't have to pay as much, but if the product is truly eco-friendly, consumers may not mind paying the higher price.

3) Nostalgia is the sentimental feeling for the past. Usually associated with someone familiar or a familia feeling. I feel like when I see a video that I have seen years ago and forgot about it, it brings back so much nostalgia and feelings. Even when I am home in Egypt with my family and my grandma gives me a glass coke it brings me back to the old days and its a good feeling. All the memories hit all at once and I feel the same things I did then. The one ad I want to bring up is the Coca Cola Ad and their advertisement. Let me take you guys a couple of years back when they came out with the Coke cans and bottles that had names on them. I remember finding my friends names or my family's names and I would immediately purchase the coke bottle. I remember not being able to find my name...(obviously.. Ponsay) and I would always be upset that everyone would take pictures with their coke bottle. I feel like if they were to bring that back this summer it would bring so much memories. Another one I was thinking about is how Netflix brought Bob Ross series and it made everyone go crazy. At one point the Bob Ross memes became popular and then Adobe used a marketing strategy and used Ross's look likes for tutorials. Even apple had Sesame Street in one of their ads and it was so cool to watch because they usually have famous people or influencers in their ads but they brought back Sesame Street into their marketing strategy.