Consumer Behavior

Writ one paragraph comment for each post:

1)I agree that most Americans no longer trust the accuracy of mainstream media. Marketers are having trouble with their source credibility, which is important and "particularly persuasive when the consumer has yet to learn much about a product" (p. 296). American consumers are more skeptical about being lied to about products and services. Americans believe when marketers use mainstream media, it is only to gain a profit rather than if their product or service is effective and efficient. Consumers will not buy the product or services and may release negative comments to the public about it. This can cause a decrease in sales, resulting in low profit due to mistrust. In order to fix this situation, marketers can start giving PR packages to influencers with good reputations for being honest. These people who receive the packages would increase sales of products through source attractiveness because of "the social value they attribute to a communicator" (p.297). Usually, people trust the influencers they follow, or else they would not be enabling them with follows or likes. They could even test the accuracy of what they say about a product or service to ensure the products perform as well as their advertisements. These are ways to mend the relationship between marketers and American consumers. There can be potential to restore the trust that has been broken.

2)Yes, I agree. Americans are indeed more skeptical of what is being delivered thorough mainstream media due to wrongful manipulation explosion of fake news (296). Source credibility has become a highly important topic for consumers as it is for marketers more than ever before. As a consumer myself, I am concerned with the veracity of the information I see online and in social media, so I take time to read other's people's opinions and reviews. However, there is also the bot barrier, luckily those are easier to identify.This credibility issue is ongoing and according to the text, nearly two-thirds of the mainstream media publish fake news. Undoubtedly, it is a worry for citizens who consume media content but, marketers are to be even more concerned with this problem due to the efforts that may not create a positive response because of the skepticism. In order to improve this situation, the book recommends companies to be sincere when trying to publicize their CSR (297). If consumers sense that the company is acting with good intentions and generously it has the potential to improve the companys image immensely.

3) Fake postings and manipulated product reviews have been an ongoing issue among the digital scenes. As consumers we often rely on other consumer-generated product reviews as a source for the information search stage. Of course, the dishonesty of the product reviews creates a huge and very inconvenient problem for the consumer that could most likely arise in the post-purchase stage. Honest reviews or ratings can save a consumer an unpleasant experience, as it is with uber and lyft who share rider ratings with the drivers so the driver can choose whether to pick a passenger or not (330). Service reviews now go both ways which is called social scoring, (329) so it is imperative to be honest and unbiased when leaving product review now more than ever. To help reduce the number of fake reviews and to help consumers with their purchase process, marketers could try to closely review and monitor reviews. Hiring reputable software that can detect fraudulent reviews and making sure that the marketing practices are transparent are steps that can be taken to reduce the amount of bot or fake reviews. Addressing the issue of fake postings and/or manipulated product reviews requires marketers to take proactive measures and collaboration with technology to detect and remove the fraudulent content

4) Consumer-generated product reviews are a very popular source of information these days. People tend to flock to sites like Yelp, Amazon Customer Reviews, Tripadvisor, etc. when they are considering making a purchase. "As a general rule, we search more when the purchase is important, when we have more of a need to learn more about the purchase, or when it's easy to obtain the relevant information" (326). Making important purchases can be difficult and people want to hear what other people have to say about the product they are wishing to purchase. I am someone who always looks at the reviews before making a purchase because I like to hear what other people have to say about the same item. Nowadays it is easy for marketers to manipulate consumers' opinions by creating fake reviews and sharing them on their websites and social media platforms. A lot of people are able to fall for these fake reviews. In fact, "A survey of 28,000 respondents in 56 countries reported that online user ratings are the second-most trusted source of brand information" (332). While product reviews are a great thing for marketers to incorporate into their marketing plans, marketers need to make sure that they are using honest reviews. Instead of creating fake or fabricated reviews, marketers should be taking notes from their honest reviews and improving upon their products, and catering to the customers. Establishing a trustworthy image is always going to work out better in the long run for a business. With how fast the word can spread through the internet and social media, businesses should always make sure that their marketing campaigns are authentic and do not include fake consumer-generated reviews.