Personal Selling entails marketing a product that you have face-to-face with a consumer. In the Joneses, they have portrayed the use of Personal Selling. It might not be the ideal method that we know but essentially, they were doing the same thing. They marketed the products they wanted to sell by portraying a lifestyle that used each product. They met with people in person and spoke about the products.

I see some similarities between Jones’s tactics and the brands I use today. An example would include the Kardashians, they are paid to market products because they are famous and portray a “rich happy family” lifestyle. There is no guarantee that the products they use are good, but people will want to buy the products because of their lifestyle. They do the same as the Joneses, which would include hosting social events wearing and using the brands they like, and portraying a family lifestyle that’s always happy.  They are using the tactic of self-marketing a happy lifestyle. Who does not want to be happy? And therefore, these products would seem to contribute to their happiness, which would make people want to purchase them.

The way products were marketed was certainly unethical because it was based on a lie. The family was not real, and neither was their opinion of the products they were using. There is no real certainty that the products are true to their purpose. However, it was portrayed so based on a misconception.

If I were a friend of the Jones family, I would feel betrayed and also foolish to simply believe that happiness is based on a lifestyle and the products they were selling. I would also feel disappointed in myself for believing a lie and not researching the products myself.