After watching the film, The Joneses, I would categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling. The Jones family uses in-person interaction to sell products and services. They are the sales representatives and the personal connection between buyers and a company’s products and services. In the movie, the family isn’t a real family, they are marketers that influence groups of people by being the first to know about or use something. They impersonate a family and show off the nice things they have to friends and neighbors, so that these people are influenced to purchase more and more of the products.

There are several similarities between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of different brands and companies. Many brands use social media marketing to get their brands name out. This occurs all the time on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, TikTok, etc. Like the Jones family, companies aim to create buzz, foster communities, as well as facilitate two-way communication. Brands will have social media influencers promoting their products in photos and videos they upload onto their platforms. Brands know these influencers have the power to attract a lot of consumers to buy their products. The Jones family targets people in groups as well. For example, the “father” would go golfing and meet people he could promote golf equipment to.

I think that the way products are marketed in this movie is unethical. The Jones family lies to all the people around them, making them think they are a real family. The only reason they are talking to and getting to know their friends and neighbors is so they could keep increasing in sales. They are manipulating everyone they know by building relationships with these people. Once a relationship is built, then trust is built. This is unethical because they aren’t worth anyone’s trust, the life they are living is a complete lie.

If I was friends with someone in the Jones family before finding out their secret, I would feel like I have someone I could always rely on. I would feel very appreciative of them, want to be like them and life a similar life to them. After finding out their secret, I would feel ashamed and would be hurt by their dishonesty. The fact that they were using me would bother me very much. After going through something like that, I would probably develop trust issues. It would take much more convincing for me to trust people moving forward.