Reduce Divorce Rates in Urban Areas - Essay Example

?Marketing Strategies Consumer Behavior Academic Year 2009/0 Discussion and Section # of Reducedivorce rates in urban areas In today’s busy world, relationships have become very trivial to some and it is this reason that accounts for a rise in divorce rates in urban areas. However in order to keep our future generations intact by inculcating in them good cultural values, it is essential that they grow in the presence of both their parents. Increase in divorce rates however is making this gradually impossible (Robbins & Judge, 2004). In order to apprise couples and individuals about the importance of marriage and a healthy married life, social activists should implement some strategies. There are various ways through which couples in urban areas can be reminded of the consequences of divorce on them as well as their children for those who are parents. Using operant conditioning, a strategy can be devised to curb the growing divorce rates among the urban population. It is however important to first identify who the target market needs to be. In urban areas, the population that is more vulnerable to divorce comprises of couples who are either very busy individuals engrossed in their daily work and have little time for their counterparts or those who have placed very little importance on the lasting concept of marriage. The latter group very conveniently shows inclination towards another individual despite their existing marriage mainly because they feel that they can break a marriage easily. Once the target market has been identified, the next step is to devise an appropriate strategy. Through, Operant conditioning which draws out the link between the behavior and consequence, individuals can be made aware that their behavior of divorce can result in severe consequences for themselves, their counterparts and the children in cases where they have been born. Operant conditioning is the most suitable strategy here mainly because it accentuates the consequences of a broken marriage that can greatly help individuals in understanding that divorce is a major step that should not be undertaken in response to meager issues (Peter & Olson, 2004). Advertisements which portray such consequences can be used as a marketing tool. Celebrities who have born such consequences can be interviewed and they can give out a message to these individuals to think before making such a big decision. Furthermore, for busy individuals, it is important that peaceful cafes in central areas are utilized. This way working couples can take time out for lunch and meet up at these cafes. This will allow them to spend more time with each other. Moreover restaurants, cafes cinemas and hotels should be encouraged to introduce couple deals and discounts which will allow more couples to spend some quality time with each other. Since positive reinforcement is necessary to ensure a health marriage, in addition to providing outdoor entertainment to couples, it is important to encourage the use of marriage counselors. This will allow them to come across each other’s strengths more often making them less reluctant to end their marriage. Sometimes couples fail to communicate with each other properly which results in misunderstandings and intense disagreements. Marriage counselors can help couples in instilling in themselves some qualities and characteristics that are necessary for a successful relationship. Hence in order to reduce the divorce rates, marriage counselors should be advertised and promoted through television, radio and print media (Daft, 2001). Also organizations should be encouraged to conduct events where employees are invited with their counterparts. This way it will allow both individuals to be part of each other’s professional lives as well allowing them to understand each other better. An employee who has a good marriage is less likely to face any personal problems and therefore will fully concentrate on work. This will help organizations in improving their productivity. The success of a marketing strategy to curb divorce rates is difficult to measure. But it could be determined from the data that is available. For instance the number of divorce rates in city last year compared with the divorce rate this year or feedback from couples consulting marriage counselors. This kind of data can help in determining the impact of the strategy. Reduce overeating in US With increase in problems related to health as a result of obesity, it is important to spread awareness among the general population regarding the consequences of overeating. In this case, the target market is individuals who usually get an upsized meal at a fast food chain or those whose grocery basket comprises of whole lot of junk food or people who are obese and heavy weight (Peter & Olson, 2004). Once the target market has been identified, a strategy can be devised to decrease overeating in the U.S. Classical conditioning could be used in this case to link specific behavior patterns with certain stimuli. In this case a conditioned stimulus can be established which could be an excessive food whereas an unconditioned stimuli could be a particular disease such as obesity which is the result of overeating. Where in the U.S. the trend is to upsize meals or purchase large drinks and fries at fast food chains, it will be difficult to change the eating habits of the general population. Restaurants will have to be encouraged to charge more for upsized and large meals. This way people will be less reluctant to buy large sized meals thereby limiting the food intake. Furthermore, with the help of classical conditioning, it needs to be established in the minds of the people that overeating will always lead to an unhealthy life. Advertisements and billboards depicting obese people and the consequences of eating more will link overeating with a distorted figure, bulging tummy, early death, immobility etc. this will dampen any desire to eat more among people. Once this image has been established in the minds of the population, they will begin to respond by eating adequate amounts of food and resorting towards healthy eating habits. In this case a negative reinforcement would be the most appropriate tool to spread awareness about overeating and its implications. People constantly have to be reminded that overeating is bad for them. Only when they start identifying ‘bad’ and ‘overeating’ together, later even when the idea of ‘bad’ of is absent, they will resist overeating. This is how classical conditioning can be used to prevent excessive eating habits in the U.S (Robbins & Judge, 2004). The success of this strategy can be measured through the data on fast food and average food a grocery basket comprises of. This data can be obtained from restaurants and supermarkets and a decline in such items will determine the impact of the strategy. Get 40-50 year old women to try a new Estee Lauder perfume that smells like white lilies An Estee Lauder perfume that smells like white lilies will be able to attract middle aged women if they are made aware of the pleasant smell it emanates. Some form of attraction towards this smell needs to be created in the minds of the target market which in this case is the middle aged women. Classical conditioning would be the most suitable form of strategy to use in this case. A conditioned and an unconditioned stimulus can be paired together to depict a positive pleasance that the perfume emits. A conditioned stimulus could be white lilies whereas an unconditioned stimulus would be beauty, peace or tranquility. Since white lilies symbolize freshness and elegance, this idea needs to be conveyed to the target market vividly (Daft, 2001). In this case consumer involvement will also be high since the product will be directly used by the consumer. The consumer will therefore want to be sure that the use of this perfume elicits a feeling of beauty and elegance. Since the target market is a particular age group, the product can be marketed by allowing these individuals to smell the perfume. Free samples at salons and tea parties where women of these age groups are often found can be distributed. Moreover, advertisements will need to also depict a certain sense of classiness by showing elegant and graceful women using this perfume. Celebrity endorsement is an effective form of marketing where certain celebrities of this age could endorse the product to remind the consumers that it is this distinct smell that gives them the celebrity aura about them. Also, the product’s uniqueness can be reinforced by making its smell last in the consumer’s heads. In that case even if the consumer does not see or smell the perfume, the mere image of lilies or the color white which can be used in the perfume’s advertisement will simply remind the customer of the new Estee lauder perfume. Billboards showing lilies or using the color white can therefore serve as good reinforcement tools (Peter & Olson, 2004). The effectiveness of this strategy can be determined by the sales of the new perfume. If it is readily sold, the marketing strategy would prove to be effective. Get consumers to switch from T-Mobile to Verizon wireless With its flexible packages and attractive rates, Verizon wireless can entice a large number of customers. Since in this case the target market is the existing T-Mobile users, it is important to offer them features that are greatly distinct from T-Mobile. Customer involvement becomes lower if the alternate products are difficult to differentiate from each other and in order to improve customer involvement, the marketing strategy will have to clearly distinguish Verizon Wireless’ features from that of T-Mobile’s by clearly indicating to customers the advantages of using Verizon Wireless over T-Mobile (Millington, 2007). In this case operant conditioning will be the appropriate strategy where a certain consequence will be linked with a certain behavior. For instance the advertisements for Verizon Wireless will have to focus on its strengths such as strong signals and the ability to operate the service in even the most remote areas. Furthermore, Verizon Wireless is more suitable to people who would not want to be charged a high amount for termination of the contract whereas T-Mobile charges a high amount if the contract is terminated. Moreover, where Verizon Wireless provides a flexible contract for either 1 or 2 years, T-Mobile is not so flexible in its offerings (Millington, 2007). A strategy can be designed to entice T-Mobile customers by allowing them to experience this service. Once the customers are aware of the results of Verizon Wireless, they will be more inclined towards this service. This can be done by giving them a free trial which could last from 2 days up till a week during which the customers could use the Verizon Wireless service for free. This would help them in drawing a comparison between the packages and services being offered by T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. In addition to giving free trials, consumer behavior needs to be linked with a certain consequence. In this case this relationship could be established by offering customers rewards or bonus minutes on the use of a certain prescribed minutes. But since T-Mobile also offers similar rewards, Verizon could go a step ahead and offer free gift coupons or other rewards. Advertisements should be explicit in their portrayal of the benefits of Verizon Wireless and they should highlight the benefits by indirectly comparing its services with other networks. The strategy should focus on comparison of the two services to stress on the advantages of Verizon Wireless. It should also focus on the ability of Verizon Wireless users to enjoy high speed web browsing and emailing, a feature differentiates Verizon with T-Mobile (Daft, 2001). Such measures would entice the existing T-Mobile users into using Verizon Wireless. Therefore with the right strategy customers can be attracted towards a product that will be able to serve their needs better. The impact of this strategy however can be determined by the number of new customers Verizon Wireless acquires; customers who previously used T-Mobile. If more T-Mobile customers switch to Verizon Wireless, the strategy was certainly effective. References: Daft, R. (2001). Organization Theory and Design, 9th ed. Chicago: South-Western. Millington, Steve (2007) Verizon Wireless Versus T-Mobile Cell Phone Service, Associated Content Technology Journal, 1-2. Peter, Paul & Olson, Jerry C. (2004) Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy 8th ed, California: Winter Ventures. Reinforcement: positive and negative (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2009, from Science Clarified: http://www.scienceclarified.com/Qu-Ro/Reinforcement-Positive-and-Negative.html Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2004). Organizational Behavior. New York: Pearsons. Read More