BUS 3500 January 27

I really enjoyed Chapter 3 – breaking down the categories of Gen X vs Gen Y, tweens and Baby Boomers, really did shed a lot of light on behaviors and focus of those groups. I was probably most surprised though by the emphasis on the power of women in the marketplace. Women heads of household, women with discretionary spendable income, being primary decision makers in the purchase of a wide range of products… I had not realized it was that powerful of a group. I don’t think marketers really give the group as much weight or respect as they should, in that case. The differentiation between morals and ethics was also helpful to clarify – Dr. Jay Black in my mass media ethics class says an easy way to think of it is that Ethics are from the neck up and Morals are from the neck down. Finally, the Method campaign, and overall corporate message – was so impressive – corporate social responsibility without losing the aspect of economic responsibility. As in the definition of exchange, people are willing to pay a little more for something they perceive to be of higher value to them… including the effect a product has on the environment… value to them personally in their homes and also to the generations of the future.

BUS 3500 January 20

I felt better after taking the Chapter 1 quiz – I missed two questions and when we went over the quiz results in class, I could see where I was off base – so I do hope we go over the quiz answers weekly – that really helped. There was so much to do and discuss in class that we were running out of time, and nobody seemed to mind. There is an issue in the Logan classroom in that we don’t have ready access to the microphone – it’s a delay thing, maybe to avoid noise, but as a result, it’s harder for our people to chime in quickly and participate verbally. I sent a question through on blackboard, asking if we could perhaps give more people a chance to chime in by alternating locations, for either the questions or for the opportunity to volunteer for special assignment projects. This week’s readings look interesting – the whole topic of ethics/morality in marketing is intriguing. I’m currently taking a Mass Media Ethics class and there is some overlap, but marketing has its own special applications and challenges. This is a class topic for which I really do see applications in business and also in academic and personal aspects of my life. The concept of social responsibility is something that I don’t know if I would have really considered before examining the potential application of ethics to the subject.

BUS 3500 January 13

A snowy night, the first class of the semester, and a glimpse of what is to come – I spent the evening wavering between dropping the class and sticking with it – moments of positive anticipation but also moments of dread, unsure if I’m up for the challenge. I’m excited about the aspects of social media in marketing – I have a basic understanding of facebook, twitter, linked-in, for business and personal use, but have only viewing experience for you tube. The quiz that was handed out left me pretty shaken. I knew virtually nothing – and feeling very inadequate, I almost left then and there. I decided to stick it out though and by the end of class had decided that perhaps my lack of knowledge on that subject matter was exactly why I should stay – there is much to learn, and much from which I could benefit. Using that class time after the quiz to walk us through the semester schedule, the grading process, and the class assessment process we do each week online helped bring me back down out of panic stage – and now having done that myself at home today, I am ready to proceed – First order of business: read Chapter 1 of the text and do the Chapter 1 quiz. Maybe I can do this after all.