The topic is The Morality of Manipulation What is manipulation in marketing & pr
ID: 429005 • Letter: T
Question
The topic is The Morality of Manipulation
What is manipulation in marketing & product management?
Explain your understanding of each type in the Manipulation Matrix: Peddler, Dealer, Facilitator & Entertainer.
Name a product that you have used, or that you are aware of, where you feel the marketer/product manager was a Peddler, Dealer, Facilitator & Entertainer. Choose one product for each type. Support your answer with an explanation.
End with a summary on your general opinion on the morality of manipulation in marketing & product management.
Explanation / Answer
Manipulation matrix can be defined as a tool that is used to determine the value of any product to the consumer. This helps the company in positioning the products accordingly to the needs of the customer which in turn generate the profits to the company.
There are two questions that are to be analysed before building the manipulation matrix.
Depending on the answers, one would fall in any of the four categories, they are:
The facilitator:
Facilitators are the ones who answer yes to both the above questions. These are those people whom a customer can completely rely upon because these are some of the persons who experience a particular problem in their life and then find a solution to that problem. They have both the knowledge and experience in what they are dealing with and they would be ready to answer to all the queries of the customers accordingly.
One of the examples for a facilitator can be the founders of Ola Cabs in India, Mr. Bhavish Aggarwal and Mr. Ankit Bhati. They founded Ola Cabs based on a personal experience which they faced when they were left stranded by one of the cab drivers in the middle of nowhere in one of the cities of India.
The Peddler:
Peddlers are the ones who answer No to the first question and Yes to the second question. Peddlers don’t use the products, but they have the best intentions of improving the lives of customers. Trying to solve without understanding the needs and demands of the customers can be little crucial to the peddlers because of their inability to corelate themselves with the situation and experience of the consumers.
One of the examples for a peddler can be the pharmaceutical companies that build their products hoping to change the lives of their customers, but still they don’t use their medicines on themselves at all.
The Entertainer:
The Entertainers are the ones who answer Yes to the first question and no to the second question. These are the ones who use their products but they realize that the product adds little value to the lives of the consumer and might not be of any use too. These products are made keeping entertainment in the mind and targeted accordingly.
One of the examples of the entertainer can be the social media and communication apps such as Instagram, Snapchat etc. they are developed keeping entertainment in mind. One should make use of the craze among these products as quickly as possible before the products comes to the end of the lifecycle
The dealer:
The dealers are the ones who answer no to both the questions asked above. These are the ones who know that their product doesn’t add value to the lives of the customers and also they don’t use the products themselves.
Some of the examples of dealer products can be stated as tobacco products, alcoholic beverages that don’t add any value to the lives of consumers and also aren’t consumed by the makers.
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