- Would you categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?
I would categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling because they were using the product and demonstrating how or when to use the product. For example, they use their own plates for dinner or parties to serve the guests which makes the guests/potential customers see the quality of the plates.
- What similarities do you see between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of some of your favorite brands? Give an example.
The similarities I see between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the brand that I liked use the same way of marketing tactics. Sellers influence a buyer to buy the product by sending their products to influencers/celebrities for free just to promote and sell their brand which can be somehow manipulative. For example, CeraVe is a skincare brand that is constantly promoted by celebrities and influencers resulting in an increase in the sale of their products.
- Based on what you read in the course materials and what you observed in this movie, do you think the way products are marketed in this movie is ethical?
The way products are marketed in the movie “The Joneses” is unethical because they are selling just for the sake of it, there is no evidence that the product is good, and it’s based on mind games where sellers use manipulation to convince that their product is worth buying. For example, the daughter Jenn was promoting diet pills to girls in high school which can compare to the real world where the same kind of diet pills or beautifying products are promoted/sold to customers by claiming good results without any evidence.
- How would you feel if you were friends with someone in the Jones family before you found out about their secret? What about afterward?
If I were friends with someone in the Jones family before I found out about their secret, I would wonder what they do for a living to afford this kind of lifestyle. Afterward, I wouldn’t be able to trust them, I wouldn’t consider them a friend because I would feel betrayed. It’s like deceiving someone just to sell the product and they are friends with me just to benefit from the relationship.