Blog 4 - Wal-Mart's Controversial Use of RFID

Wal-Mart is making a strong effort to try to implement RFID systems in many of its stores. However, the large retailer is experiencing resistance to RFID implementation from the public. Many consumers are concerned about having their privacy invaded or identity stolen. “Retail inventory and supply-chain-management programs (such as Wal-Mart’s RFID initiative beginning April 2004) will be limited to pure back-office applications unless user companies link the presence of the technology to tangible consumer benefits” (Eckfeldt 79). Wal-Mart needs to look at different ways in which the use of RFID can benefit its consumers and communicate those benefits to its customers. One of the technology’s greatest benefits to customers is the large reduction in out of stocks (Hardgrave 181). This provides the customer with great value because they have more confidence that the Wal-Mart they go to will not run out of items that they want to purchase. Wal-Mart should do its best to reduce its consumers’ risk through public education and technical means (Eckfeldt 79). Wal-Mart can improve its RFID implementation if it provides its customers with peace of mind, consumer convenience, and improved service.

WHAT DOES RFID DO FOR THE CONSUMER? By: Eckfeldt, Bruce. Communications of the ACM, Sep2005, Vol. 48 Issue 9, p77-79

This article talks a lot about how RFID solution providers need to look through the consumer’s eyes if they want their RFID system implementations to be successful. It gives some ways that solution providers can improve their efforts to implement RFID in retail environments. The article focuses on the importance of educating the consumer about how he or she can benefit from RFID and thoroughly explaining privacy policies. “Successful applications overcompensate for whatever privacy fears they may involve. Consumers accept the risk of being tracked and their activities being monitored if they feel it’s worth the benefits the application provides” (Eckfeldt 78).

MEASURING THE IMPACT OF RFID ON OUT OF STOCKS AT WAL-MART. By: Hardgrave, Bill C.; Langford, Simon; Waller, Matthew; Miller, Robert. MIS Quarterly Executive, 2008, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p181-192

This article discusses one reason why Wal-Mart can rationalize the implementing of RFID in its retail supply chain. Wal-Mart paid to have a study done to measure the impact of RFID on out of stocks. The results show that the technology greatly reduces the number of out of stocks.

This topic is interesting to me because I am a loyal Wal-Mart consumer and I am concerned with how RFID system might affect the prices Wal-Mart charges me, my privacy, and my loyalty to the company. If Wal-Mart’s RFID system’s benefits outweigh its drawbacks, then I will most likely continue to shop at Wal-Mart once the giant retailer has changed all of its stores over to being RFID-enabled.

I am also interested in this topic because, after my graduation from the University of Texas at Austin, I will be working full-time as a manager-in-training at a Macy’s retail store in San Antonio. In the future, Macy’s might be able to copy Wal-Mart and use RFID systems in their stores as a powerful business tool. It could have various effects depending on how Macy’s decides to implement it and advertise it to its consumers.

Blog 3 - Experiential Framework

In class, we learned about how marketers try to create a valuable customer experience through their promotions and advertising. Our discussion in class about the ironic differences between Unilever’s two brands, Dove and AXE, got me thinking about how successful AXE is and how the brand got to be so popular among a broad range of males. It also made me think about the reasoning behind my personal purchase of AXE products. Many males are willing to pay the premium for this national brand’s products.

I am one of those men who are willing to pay extra to get AXE’s products. I have bought body sprays, shower gels, and deodorant sticks. I currently use these products on a daily basis. Many of AXE’s competitors’ products are less expensive and do exactly the same things for the consumer: make the consumer smell great and clean the consumer’s body. Other than AXE’s products being attractively packaged, AXE’s products have no clear superior tangible benefits and features over its competitors’ similar products.

I like to think of myself as being a very price conscious and logical person so it is kind of crazy that I have so many AXE products. There must be some reasons why I am willing to pay the premium for this national brand’s products. AXE packages its products to make them look sleek and sharp-looking. However, the main thing that comes to my mind first when I think about AXE’s products is Unilever’s cleverly funny AXE commercials. I strongly associate the brand’s commercials with the product. The majority of these commercials shows a guy who uses AXE and shows him being chased around by beautiful women.

Apparently, these commercials were able to make some type of positive impact on me and influence my buying decisions. Even though I am mature enough to know and realize that there is not a special product out there that I can put on that will make all the girls go crazy for me, I have still purchased an assortment of AXE products. I am fairly loyal to the AXE brand. When I use the AXE products, I actually feel better than when I use other brands’ similar products. It somehow adds some pep in my step. Maybe I want to experience what those guys in the AXE commercials are experiencing. For most guys, the thought of having a bunch of gorgeous girls all over them is synonymous with being in paradise.

I have to give props to the marketers at Unilever. They know exactly what they are doing. Their strategy has worked and probably will continue to work until they run out of ideas for their commercials. Unilever’s marketers have created a valuable customer experience. I have developed a relationship with the AXE products that I buy. Unilever has figured out what motivates most males to buy body products. Through the company’s comical TV commercials, Unilever has successfully attached a message (men can be chick magnets if they use AXE products) to their AXE line of men’s products.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if I found out that the person who created the “AXE effect” was a man who fantasized about being jumped by a bunch of girls after he put on a special smelling product. As a consumer, I am getting all of the typical tangible benefits (a great smell and a clean feeling) that come with body products along with the intangible extra value of receiving the “AXE effect”. For the extra intangible benefits, AXE is able to charge the consumer more for its line of products. It is quite genius if you ask me.

Blog 2 - Consumer Decision Making

Barry Schwartz hits on many great points in his “Paradox of Choice” podcast. Before listening to his podcast, I had not deeply thought about the many negative effects that occur due to our currently broad range of choices. It was very interesting to hear his perspective. As a consumer and as a person, I related to almost everything that he was talking about. I have grown up in a time and in an industrial society in which people have practically unlimited choices. I have found that the easiest and least stressful choices in my life are the ones in which there aren’t many options to choose from. After thinking about it for some time, it is hard for me to identify a single product category that I can easily choose from.

I am a very picky person so I usually have a difficult time making choices in a quick and speedy manner. Needless to say, I have been a victim of the paradox of choice too many times to count. For example, I have spent hours deciding on which pair of shoes to buy due to the vast array of brands and styles to choose from. It is sad, but true. I like to buy shoes that have the right fit, the right brand, and the right look. Barry is right. After I buy a great pair of shoes, I still somewhat regret making the decision to buy those shoes. This is because I have the feeling that I could have done better. For me, this regret (sometime small and sometimes large) occurs with the majority of products that I buy. I am not as happy as I could be. Almost after every purchase I make, I feel somewhat dissatisfied with my choice. Is this because I didn’t find a pair of shoes with awesome features? Nope. Instead, this occurs because I have almost unrealistic expectations. These expectations come from the fact that there are simply too many shoes to choose from.

I really like how Barry related the paradox of choice to people’s entire lives. It really is quite true. Nowadays, most people are caught up in a very chaotic, fast-paced lifestyle. People want things done yesterday. The recent surge in technology has only added more fuel to the fire. Our lives are filled with making so many choices it can make our heads spin. This is not healthy mentally or physically. It takes a toll on our minds and on our bodies. Having a very large number of choices has its perks, but I believe that its negative results outweigh its perks. Because everyone is so preoccupied with thinking about choices in their lives, they forget to and probably don’t have time to “stop and smell the roses.” I agree with Barry when he says that complicated choices actually make us worse off. Our industrial society needs to somehow have fewer choices if it wants to allow its members to live their lives to the fullest. This would be possible with fewer choices because people would have much more free time to relax and spend more time with the people that they care about the most.

Here’s an option: maybe America should look into implementing some form of income redistribution that Barry touched on in order to reduce the number of choices in our lives. I think people would be happier and enjoy life more in the long run. Maybe then people would be able to “stop and smell the roses.”