jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, August 26, 2019 at 7:39:30 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 8/26/2019 7:46 PM, Duane wrote:

You don’t create markets by convincing consumers to need what you want to
sell. Don’t you think it’s possible the suppliers are responding to the
market demand?

That's extremely naive.

Look at SUVs and pickup trucks as an example. Our area just took a
massive economic hit because GM closed the Lordstown plant where the
well-regarded Chevy Cruze was built. Their explanation? Cruze sales were
dropping, SUVs were rising.

But a local investigative reporter dug into the decision. It turns out
it was made back when Cruze sales were at their peak and rising. GM
turned down all advertising for the Cruze and turned up all advertising
for SUVs, specifically because profit per unit is much higher for SUVs.
And by golly, people bought more and more SUVs and fewer Cruzes.

It's naive to think advertising and promotion don't work. If advertising
didn't change market demand, advertising wouldn't be the massive,
massive effort it is.

What product have you purchased because of an advertisement? I almost
bought a Taco Bell taco because I liked the talking Chihuahua -- but I lost interest.

Yes, the market determines our choices, and the market wants to make
money -- and it wants us to chose new options, etc., etc. Bad market! On
the other hand, it did produce flush toilets, smart phones, STI and all
sorts of things I use every day and appreciate. Good market!


No Jay, you’re wrong. You were duped into buying those STI by being
brainwashed into the fashionable new worthless ripoff. Anything after
friction shifters is a marketing trick. You poor dope. You and the rest
of us.

But you can market 'til the cows come home, and I'm not going to buy an
F350, and I certainly don't miss the Chevy Cruze or Chevy anything. I
haven't bought any bike item because of marketing. I was looking for road
discs when they were hard to find. Some things I got because my cohorts
were gushing about it. Some things I got OE because I bought a complete
bike. That's where you get corralled -- buying complete bikes, but that
isn't marketing as much as "here it is, take it or leave it."

This also leaves out lust items and objects of art like custom steel
frames. Those purchases defy marketing and are more like opioids and
opioid receptor issues. I can't tell you why I lusted after a California
Masi or an early Bruce Gordon.

-- Jay Beattie.





--
duane