MKT DB 1 Responses

M Martinez
Hello Everyone!
Before taking this course, I had no idea I even had brand behaviors, let alone knew about them. So, going through the reading and learning about concepts, like Behavioral Primacy Effect, really interested me and opened my eyes. Behavioral Primacy Effect is utilizing a brand, for example a grocery store, because you always used that specific brand growing up. I feel, the further we go in this course and my knowledge increases, it will not only help me in this class but help me in my future endeavors as well.
The brand I have chosen for this unit’s discussion board post is; Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation. I have always been a nerdy guy that has been playing video games since I was little. Even though I played Nintendo consoles as well, PlayStation has always been my go-to brand for console gaming. I have had nothing but positive childhood experiences with PlayStation, stemming from the amazing one player stories, for example: Metal Gear Solid; Crash Bandicoot; Spyro; Twisted Metal; Shadow of the Colossus. To newer games: Uncharted; Last of Us; Rachet and Clank; God of War; and even Spiderman. To tie in another reason with these games I just listed, these titles are only exclusive to PlayStation. No other gaming console has these games. Meaning if consumers did not have a PlayStation, they could not enjoy these amazing single payer games. Another major reason why I’m drawn to PlayStation is, because my Uncle got me into gaming, specifically with PlayStation. Which would be a Tribal Influence.
A major competitor to PlayStation, is Microsoft’s Xbox. Everyone has their preferred console and both consoles’ consumers always talk crap about the other and each of their consumer thinks their console is better. In this console war, stemming from the early 2000’s, Sony has always been on top in the past, especially with their PS2 being the highest selling video game of all time. Sony might be king of the global sales, however in the US demographic Xbox is actually in the lead with majority of the market share with its new Xbox Series X/S Console in since the new generation consoles launched. ‘According to a recently released study by GamingSmart, the PS5 currently owns over 65 percent of the video game console market share, whereas the Xbox Series X/S hold a little under 35 percent. However, in the United States, Xbox holds the majority of the market share with 50.18 percent of the gaming populace owning a Series X/S, compared to just 49.8 percent of people owning a PS5, barely beating out Sony in the US.’ (Sullivan, 2021) A potential reason for this is because Microsoft is an American developer. 
           Starting off the points of parity between the two consoles start with the price. Both standard PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles sit at a price tag of $500. Another couple reasons are their resolutions hit up to 8k, frame rate up to 120 fps and both have 4k UHD. Although both have exclusive, they do share a lot of games and are really starting to incorporate cross platform gaming. There are also some points of differentiation as well. Starting from PS5 has all digital console, where it does not utilize the disc feature. Where Xbox Series S is a smaller console compared to the Series X. The Xbox Series X has a leg up on Sony with some better hardware, with a better GPU and more storage with 1tb compared to PS5’s 825gb. Although, in my personal opinion, PlayStation has better single player exclusive games compared to Xbox, Xbox does have its unique Game Pass. This monthly subscription allows the Xbox consumer to download an abundance of games that came out from past generation of Xbox consoles. 
k mcbride
Hello All! I hope everyone is as excited about this class as I am!!
Identify one well-known brand and describe what draws you to that brand. You must analyze your own brand behavior using concepts from this week’s readings and lectures. Sharing demographic traits that may explain the brand attraction is necessary.
A well-known brand that I will be discussing is Amazon. I will be honest, I enjoy shopping and finding good deals. Since the Covid pandemic I have been doing more shopping online, especially since Christmas. I do not think I stepped foot in more than 2 stores the entire holiday season. I am drawn to Amazon because of the convenience, price, and customer reviews. Amazon makes it easy for consumers to pick up a smart phone or other device and shop for the latest item or anything the consumer is searching for. I even buy cleaning products online at Amazon. The shipment times are also now faster than ever with Amazon Warehouses popping up and Amazon prime allowing consumers to get items fast and hassle free such as same day delivery. I live in a busy metropolitan area where there is an abundance of stores to choose from, but with that also comes long lines and sometimes higher prices. Amazon has been around for a while, but I really have just discovered how much there is to buy on there. Amazon also allows consumers to exchange and send items back easier than that of brick-and-mortar stores. 
Describe a major competitor of the brand and compare the two brands in terms of   positioning.
A major competitor of Amazon includes online stores and Walmart. In terms of positioning all offer consumers the opportunity to buy their products online and have them shipped directly to the consumer’s home. Grocery stores have even started delivery services to compete with whole foods that provide discounts through the Amazon prime membership. The difference in the three though is that with Amazon you can buy just about anything and online stores will limit the consumer to only what is offered at that store. Walmart has a larger variety, but they still lag behind Amazon in terms of products offered and delivery times. I believe Amazons point of difference is centered around the fastest delivery compared to other stores. This provides a service that is beneficial and desirable to consumers. I see the main point of parity as the Amazon Prime membership. While many consumers have it, many also believe they can save that monthly fee and buy at the store. It may be a negative issue for some, but for others it is worth the convenience of getting products delivered to their door, having more options, and for many items, saving money. (example: I bought a side view mirror for my car on Amazon buy entering the year, make, and model and saved $60 dollars. by having the Amazon Prime membership I got the item in 2 days) 
S Shelton
The study was carried out by Nguyen & others (2019) and aimed at determining the effect of consumer personal factors and knowledge on green marketing practices of food stores on their decision to purchase organic foods within emerging markets. The researchers had high levels of ethical consideration in carrying out their study. The research sample consisted of 609 organic meat consumers in Vietnam. The method used for collecting the data was customized and validated, with respect to the needs and preferences of the customers, within the four targeted areas. Customization and validation of the data collection instrument were possible based on the customer information collected by the researchers on the targeted subjects. The consumers were first approached and briefed about the study, covering its purpose, objectives to be achieved, uses of the research results, and any ethical issues inherent in the study. The targeted consumers accepted to take part in the research process after developing the necessary knowledge about the study, and therefore, they were able to come up with accurate and factual information in relation to the topic under study (Nguyen et al., 2019). 
The study was good mainly because it followed all possible ethical practices, primarily educating the subjects about the research and obtaining their consent without any cohesion or force. From the study, I have learned that adhering to ethical practices and guidelines during a research process creates a good relationship between the researchers and the respondents, thus enhancing the quality, reliability, and validity of the obtained research results. 

C Strother
 Hello classmate, this is our very first discussion board and I am eager and excited to continue forward with our journey in this class. This article that you read seems to be very interesting. Not only because the study was done on diversity of the workforce and organizational performance but because it was done from an ethical standpoint.  I believe you explained what the article was about in a very well detail-oriented point of view. After reviewing your discussion board post in my opinion, I do not believe the research study was fully conducted properly and hard to get a true answer because not every organization responded for the research. The researchers identified ninety organizations like the article said from Delhi-NCR and Chennai regions, and only forty organizations responded for the research, which is not all the organizations within the company; although responses were received from all categories of employees found in those companies. Although they included minority groups, female, male, socially disadvantaged, and disabled employees, this was not every organization within the company so we can not fully come to a true definitive answer from a research study standpoint. Thank you for sharing.