- Our Wall Street Journal article for next week is “Gillette Sharpens Its
Pitch for Expensive Razor: As Shoppers Pull Back on Spending, Company Tries New
Tactic To Persuade Skeptical Consumers to Spend More for Fusion?” by Ellen
Byron, Oct 06, 2008, p. B9. If you have
an online subscription to the Wall Street
Journal, you can access this article directly at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122325275682206367.html?mod=djem_jiewr_MK
. If
you do not have an online subscription to the WSJ, please see instructions at the end of this e-mail on how to
access the article for free through the Crocker Library’s ABI/Inform database.
The
article will NOT be distributed in class.
This article will be covered on the final exam for the course and not on Midterm II. In preparation for our class discussion next
week, you should be prepared to:
- Discuss Gillette’s traditional
business model. Do you see parallels in
the business models of other products—possibly in very different markets—being
sold to consumers today?
- Identify and discuss the message
that Gillette attempting to suggest value even at the current price.
- Discuss how rates of consumer
adoption of the newest razor seem to compare to past rates of adoption of new
razors.
- Discuss the state of world razor
market during the last one year.
- In preparation for class
discussion, you are encouraged to consider other issues, including any
important questions that the article may have failed to address.
- As previously announced, no makeup
assignment is required for missing either lecture and/or discussion during the
past week. During discussion this past
week, those who attended had the option to earn up to two extra credit points
either by turning in some notes or making a presentation on the in-class
assignment. Individuals who did not
attend have the option to attempt these extra credit points by independently
writing and turning in some notes on the assignment, which can be found at http://www.buad307.com/PDF/06-F08--ICA--Attitude_Change.pdf
. Notes should be mailed to attitudes@buad307.com and not to my regular e-mail address. There will be no credit for notes mailed to
my regular e-mail address.
- As a reminder, Midterm II is
scheduled for October 21. If you have a
compelling need for a makeup exam at some other time, please fill out the
petition at http://www.buad307.com/exam_makeup.html
.
- A sample midterm with a key and
sample short answers is available, along with the actual second midterms from
the past two semesters, at http://www.buad307.com/exams.html
.
- Below is a list of selected
scores. Scores not listed are not yet available. Please bring any errors to my attention.
- If you missed this past week’s
sessions, please be sure to pick up the three handouts from last week’s lecture
at the stage during the coming Tuesday’s lecture.
To access this week’s article through the Marshall Library:
- Login to MyMarshall at https://mymarshall.usc.edu .
- Click on “Academics,” then “Marshall Library,” and then “Electronic Resources.”
- Select the "ABI/Inform through Proquest Direct" link.
- Click on the “Publications” tab.
- Click on the “W” link under “Show all publications.”
- Click on the Wall Street Journal, Eastern Edition link.
- Click on October 6, 2008.
- In the list of articles, find the article entitled “Gillette Sharpens Its Pitch for Expensive Razor; As Shoppers Pull Back on Spending, Company Tries New Tactic to Persuade Skeptical Consumers to Spend More for Fusion." If the index structure remains static, this will probably be article #56. To reach this, you would click on the number 6 on the bottom right corner of the screen and then select article number 56.
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