Comprehensive Case Study

Section 1

     AutoTrader.com is a website that has been used as a marketplace for new and used cars available to dealers, auctions, and private party sellers.  The marketing research for Autotrader.com was used to show traffic trends and legitimate buyers and sellers of vehicles on the website.  This research was then used to go to larger dealers and vehicle manufacturers to show autotrader as a legitimate business venture and a good spot to not only buy and sell, but advertise for a manufacturers vehicles.  Dealers would then pay to advertise their vehicles on the website which is mutually beneficial for the dealer and the website.  The more dealers advertise on the website, the more people go to the website for trusted dealers and deals on vehicles which increases the views for the website and the business for the dealers.  

     Autotrader collected massive amounts of data through surveys of dealers and customers to determine what the market was looking for and what was being marketed.  They found a trend of consumers trusting third party sources like autotrader.com for their car buying needs as opposed to dealers, largely because of the stereotype of the "Greasy used car salesman" who would do anything for a sale.  

     My most recent car purchase was several years ago.  I personally went to a dealer that was a reputable dealer in the new area that I was living in.  As I had recently moved to a new area (which is not uncommon in the Marine Corps) I did a personal survey and asked people I worked with who they trusted and bought their cars from.  Based off of that information, I found a good dealer and a good deal on a new car.  

Section 2

There is certainly considerably more inundation with marketing and advertising than there was 25 years ago.  Not only is there consistently more advertisements per media platform, but there are many more media platforms.  The past 25 years has seen great enhancements in technology from the speed and size of computers going from behemoths in giant server rooms and processing little more than several megabytes per minute to now pocket sized computers that everyone in the world seems to have, capable of processing a gigabyte every second in some cases.  This immediate access to all sorts of media allows for a far greater reach of advertisements and also far less censoring for a target audience.  With almost every teenager and young adult having a cell phone, tablet, or laptop that they can use almost anywhere, there is no escaping advertisements.  As more advertisements use celebrity endorsements to show products being consumed by popular figures and icons of a younger society, it absolutely targets children and teens which can lead to them being pressured into buying these things with their allowances or money from a first job.  There could be a referendum to ban advertisements altogether for sugary drinks, or put a limit on the amount that can be purchased as a readily available drink or snack.  Instead of selling Pepsi or Coke in liter bottles already cold at every gas station and grocery store, have it limited to the 8 oz cans that are a more appropriate serving to reduce sugar intake.  Another advertising strategy to reduce childhood and teen obesity would be to change the celebrities who endorse the products from the most popular icons among children and teens to something catered to an older audience.  These companies who produce sugary drinks and snacks that are high in energy and low in nutrition should instead be targeting a more able minded audience with icons from their time.  If a kid saw an ad for Coke featuring Sean Connery or George Clooney, they would be far less likely to want to go out and get one than if they saw Justin Timberlake or Channing Tatum.
     I believe that there are many factors in childhood obesity and there is no one cure or preventative measure, but I do believe that celebrity endorsements are a large factor in the decision making process for consumers, especially a young consumer who may not fully understand the consequences of their decisions.  It is ethically, I believe, the responsibility of the marketer to target the proper audience.  However, from a business standpoint, a company is in business to make money, not to save the world.  From that stance, the companies are just doing what they can to gain a competitive edge in the market.  It is not just one market or one company that is using these targeting techniques, therefore it is a strategy that will continue until there is some sort of legal action to prevent it.  It would be foolish for a company to not exploit a means of selling more of their product, no matter who the final burden falls upon.