Towards the middle of my essay when I start discussing how Harford’s concepts relate to my question about Wegman’s tomato pasta sauce, I try to bring up the concept of price-sensitivity several times in different paragraphs. This relates to the first strategy, Repeat key Words or Phrases. Because I feel like price-sensitivity is relevant to explaining my question, I connect it several times throughout my explanation of Harford and how it relates to Wegman’s sauce.
“So how exactly does Wegman’s relate to the ways of the economy? In Tim Harford’s book, The Undercover Economist, Harford explains several key economic terms like price targeting, leaks, and price-sensitivity using familiar businesses strategies. Harford provides an example of Starbucks coffee and the various locations Starbucks chooses to place itself at. Starbucks are typically located in areas where there are many people who need a convenient coffee fix. These consumers, many of whom are in a rush on their way to work, are looking for any cup of coffee that is located where they are headed. If a Starbucks is positioned in a place where consumers are price-blind, or ignore how much an item costs, then they will make a great deal of money. In addition, Starbucks products all cost around the same price to make, but it uses different methods to target their customers who are price-insensitive. Offering a variety of alternatives to customers, such as various drink sizes or adding whipped cream and different syrups to your drink allows Starbucks to have customers self-incriminate, thus showing if they really care about price or not.
How exactly does Wegman’s target it’s price-sensitive and insensitive customers though? There are many different brands of pasta sauce that it would seem to be a challenge to get people to buy their organic brands first. As Harford explains with his Starbucks analogy, stores cannot force people to pay prices that they don’t wish to pay. Providing customers an area like an organic section allows Wegman’s to determine who is actually price-sensitive and who isn’t. The prices of classic pasta sauce, while not extraordinarily expensive, still vary tremendously from costing around $1.50 up to around $7.00. So Wegman’s offers a variety of cheap to expensive sauces, but making it easier to fool customers into choosing the more expensive options by altering the location and look of their products.
Harford also discusses leaks, or potential holes that could negatively impact a company’s marketing schemes. There are several leaks to what Wegman’s does when marketing it’s tomato sauce. As Harford explains, it can be very challenging to get price-insensitive people to avoid buying a cheaper option, specifically when it comes substantial buying decisions. However, Harford expands on this idea further on when he states that supermarkets in particular have specific strategies from avoiding even the most price-insensitive customers from thinking about buying a cheaper option which Harford claims happens often. Supermarkets focus on certain customers who unknowingly self-target by making their value products more unattractive than their more expensive options. As Harford states, “...the packaging is carefully designed to put off customers who are willing to pay more. Even customers who would be willing to pay five times as much for a bottle of lemonade will buy the bargain product unless the supermarket makes some effort to discourage them.” (p.Harford, 51) This is what Wegman’s does when it created it’s cheap, non-organic value pasta sauce. The design as I explained earlier, looked cheaper and less attractive. Their organic sauce however looked clean and fresh- it looked like a product people would actually want to buy.”
I think to fix this section I could possibly incorporate more ideas and terms because I am lacking in that area. If I added more, I would be able to connect these terms to more material. I also think I need to be more specific in my detailing of the prices of the products and by doing so, I could mention these differences throughout my other paragraphs to emphasize my point.
The seventh strategy is to define a concept for the reader. I attempt to do this in various sections of my paper when explaining Tim Harford’s ideas. This can be seen in my paragraphs about price targeting and sensitivity as well as leaks, all of which are terms I think are essential to explaining my research question. In the first paragraph I use Harford’s Starbucks example to to describe how consumers can be price-blind, which I give a definition of, but notied that I do not explain price-insensitivity or self-incrimination. Although it may be easier to understand what they mean because I provided context clues, I never really explain them which is very problematic. I think the details in this paragraph are important because my research is about determining how Legman’s persuades it’s consumers to purchase more expensive organic options, so if I want to have an effective research paper, I need toe explain my terms better so I can convey my point correctly. I also, think these concepts should be explained earlier on in my essay because these definitions do not come until about halfway through after I have described my evidence I collected.
“So how exactly does Wegman’s relate to the ways of the economy? In Tim Harford’s book, The Undercover Economist, Harford explains several key economic terms like price targeting, leaks, and price-sensitivity using familiar businesses strategies. Harford provides an example of Starbucks coffee and the various locations Starbucks chooses to place itself at. Starbucks are typically located in areas where there are many people who need a convenient coffee fix. These consumers, many of whom are in a rush on their way to work, are looking for any cup of coffee that is located where they are headed. If a Starbucks is positioned in a place where consumers are price-blind, or ignore how much an item costs, then they will make a great deal of money. In addition, Starbucks products all cost around the same price to make, but it uses different methods to target their customers who are price-insensitive. Offering a variety of alternatives to customers, such as various drink sizes or adding whipped cream and different syrups to your drink allows Starbucks to have customers self-incriminate, thus showing if they really care about price or not.”
I do a better job in defining concepts in my paragraph about leaks because I make sure that I provided a clear definition and related it back to my research. I included quotes from Harford himself to support my ideas so the concept is better understood by people who read the paper. Again, this idea could be introduced earlier on in my essay, and perhaps another example of a leak that doesn’t relate to my research could help effectively explain my research.
“Harford also discusses leaks, or potential holes that could negatively impact a company’s marketing schemes. There are several leaks to what Wegman’s does when marketing it’s tomato sauce. As Harford explains, it can be very challenging to get price-insensitive people to avoid buying a cheaper option, specifically when it comes substantial buying decisions. However, Harford expands on this idea further on when he states that supermarkets in particular have specific strategies from avoiding even the most price-insensitive customers from thinking about buying a cheaper option which Harford claims happens often. Supermarkets focus on certain customers who unknowingly self-target by making their value products more unattractive than their more expensive options. As Harford states, “...the packaging is carefully designed to put off customers who are willing to pay more. Even customers who would be willing to pay five times as much for a bottle of lemonade will buy the bargain product unless the supermarket makes some effort to discourage them.” (p.Harford, 51) This is what Wegman’s does when it created it’s cheap, non-organic value pasta sauce. The design as I explained earlier, looked cheaper and less attractive. Their organic sauce however looked clean and fresh- it looked like a product people would actually want to buy.”
I also employ strategy 13 or Spatial Patterns in my essay when describing the layout of Wegman’s. Spatial patterns are used to describe a space you’re discussing in detail.
“I decided to do my observations while I did my own shopping so I could get the feel of how a shopper would interpret the area better. On your way inside, Wegman’s effortlessly pushes you to the right side of the store. Most people who go to Wegman’s for their weekly grocery shopping would go this way because produce, meat, and baked goods are all on this side. Once leaving these sections, there is a dairy aisle that leads the consumer into the larger section of the store. The first thing you see as you enter this section is the organic food aisle making it almost impossible to miss. Although it is in plain sight, many people could just walk past it, so how does it differentiate from the rest of the store? Wegman’s already does a great job of leading people to the section, and does an even better job of making it a place the consumer wants to be. Surrounding this area are all enticing things such as fancy teas and yoga mats, and even the labels on the foods are beautiful and eye-catching. This section feels calmer than the rest of the store.”
As you can see I try to utilize this in my third paragraph of my essay when explaining the importance of the organic section in Wegman’s. I try to set up the paragraph as vividly as possible so if someone who had never been to the Ithaca Wegman’s before could visualize the store. I start off by describing walking into the store and how the consumer is encouraged to go to the right because that is where all of the essentials to cooking, such as produce, dairy, and meat, are located. By going this way, the consumer has to eventually pass by the organic section which is right past the dairy section and is very hard to miss because it is a distinctive area. I think this paragraph does a lot what I want it to- it sets up the area where my research will be taking place, and allows the reader to create a strong mental image. However, in the there is a way I could use this strategy could be used more.It was recommended in my feedback on my essay that I should discuss the context of the products and how they communicate quality. I could discuss the types of things this section has and how they look because I do not do that in this section at all.
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