Ethics and Marketing: How Much Do Consumers Really Care?

According to the latest research there is a huge gap between consumer attitudes and reality. While on paper, or during survey conditions, consumers may be very heartfelt about their purchase intention toward ethical products, this passion does not reflect in their behaviour. It has been found that when faced with lower prices, superior customer service, or convenience, customers are more likely to shop with what is cheap and easy, as opposed to following their own conviction under artificial conditions.

Take retail shoppers: When asked what is most important to them, 40% stated that they wanted great customer service and 25% stated that they want their need met, as opposed to the 4% that cared if it contributed to society’s well-being and the 0% that was primarily concerned if it is honest in its dealings.

Why all the discrepancies in research and behaviour? Maybe it is just a question of outdated survey methods and validity errors..

Here's A Nice Spot

nice spot

courtesy of shots

Ethical Advertising: Advertising to Children with Puppets

It is interesting to think that the colourful, fun characters from Sesame Street were originally used in television commercials in the 60s. Jim Henson had been running a highly successful advertising shop at the time, and when the show was first conceived, the producers found the most creative minds from advertising to help them build this masterpiece of child education. In fact, every episode of Sesame Street was meticulously engineered under the scrutiny of child psychologists and scientists to ensure that it would hold a child’s attention, often using techniques borrowed from television commercials. The concept was to teach children to read using the same tactics that they would use to sell them cereal.

Big Bird was originally a seven-foot dragon to sell La Choy. Cookie Monster was created to sell Frito-Lay, and Grover was used in promotional films for IBM. From these commercial beginnings grew the most effective staples of children’s education on television for the next three decades.

What Your Mom Would Feed You If Your Mom Were A Man

Cheetos

Here is a great, original concept.

Welcome Amber Gehrts and Beware The Beast

Creative Wonders would like to officially welcome to the fold our new Production Coordinator Amber Gehrts. Amber has been keeping order out front for the last 3 months now, but it has come to my attention that we have not officially added an Amber Gehrts page on our website, or had an Amber Gehrts mention on this blog. So, to make it official, Creative Wonders welcomes Amber Gehrts on this ominous day.

In case you didn’t know, today is the 6th day of the 6th year of the 6th month.

Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number.

Ethical Advertising: Kids With Guns

This ad was banned for encouraging violence in kids. It's a pretty accurate depiction of video games and everything that video games stand for in youth. But it has moms everywhere up in arms.

It all links back to the age-old censorship debate. If this was shown at a gallery would it be banned as well and if it were, wouldn't everyone be rattling sabres about nanny and police states?

If advertising is a reflection of a culture, then this ad, and the reaction it created, is spot on.

What do you think my readers?

Xbox 360 - Standoff

(courtesy of iFilm)