Question

There are many social criticisms of marketing because many people think that certain
marketing practices can hurt consumers, other businesses and society as a whole.
Identify one example, relevant to the clothing industry as a whole, of cases where each
of the following social criticisms were justified. (Note: you will need to do some research
to find these. You can find examples for the fashion / clothing industry including shoes
and accessories as a whole and not just for The Sneaker Shack). (5)
i. Excessive mark-ups (1 mark)
ii. Deceptive pricing (1 mark)
iii. Deceptive promotion (1 mark)
iv. Low-quality products (1 mark)
v. Poor service to disadvantaged consumers (1 mark)

Answer 1

One of the biggest drawbacks of marketing methods for product and service promotions is that consumers will become accustomed to them over time. For example, if a customer learns that a certain store always offers a 50% discount, the customer will be hesitant to purchase when the store is selling things.