Ladies Have You Heard? By Doris Thomas Lancaster Extension Home Economist DEAL RATIONALLY WITH ADVERTISING Approximately $29 billion per year is spent on ad vertisements and com mercials and sixteen hun dred of these reach each American daily. The pur pose is to persuade you, the consumer, to spend your dollars for a particular product or service. Advertising has a tremendous influence on consumers’ decisions. This is why it is extremely im portant to analyze ads m order to distinguish between emotional and rational appeals. Certain terms and techniques are often used to appeal to the consumer. For example, “wholesale prices” are often advertised, but how likely is it that you will be able to buy mer chandise at genuine wholesale prices? Sometimes the ad offers a free gift with the purchase of an item in order to entice you to enter the store or order by mail. The price of the “free gift,” however, is usually included in the price of the sale item. V One practice to lure consumers into a store is fictitious pre-ticketing. An extremely high price tag is put on an item with no in tention of selling it for that price. When the $9O item is advertised for $45 the con sumer has the illusion of a 50 percent reduction. “Lead” or “loss” items are used to lure customers inside a store. These are legitimate items advertised at a good price, possibly below cost. These items may be scattered so that you must look and walk through the whole store. Most people buy more than the “lead” item. The “lead” serves two purposes, bringing potential buyers into the store and tempting them to make purchases. You may be drawn into a store by an ad offering a product at a fantastically low price. When you get there the salesperson may try to switch you to a higher pnced item, making it sound so much better that the original item sounds wor thless. Or he may use other tactics such as saying the sale item is sold out, is on Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 4,1980—C1S back order, or came m. This is referred to as a “bait and switch” tactic. There may be situations where sales people try to sell you a higher quality item because it honestly fits your needs better. This technique is called “selling up” or “trading up”. If the ad vertised item is in stock and appears of good value and the salesperson doesn’t" downgrade it, the “bait and switch” method is not being used. It is your free choice as a consumer to decide which item to buy. Each time you are in fluenced by advertising and a decision is to be made, analyze the situation. Being aware of advertising’s tactics and understanding its emotional appeals will help you be a wiser consumer. PROTECT CHILDREN THIS HALLOWEEN WITH HOME FLAME RETARDANT TREAT MENT „ Don’t take chances protect your children from possible disaster this Halloween by making sure their costumes are treated with a flame retardant finish. A flimsy costume can catch fire instantly if it comes too near an open flame. Costumes which are not purchased with a flame retardant finish should be given a home treatment. For 100 percent cotton fabrics, mix seven ounces of borax, three ounces of boric acid and two quarts of hot water. The soluation may gel as it cools but if this happens merely reheat it. Dip the dry fabric into the solution. You can also spray on this treatment. Make sure however that the fabric is completely saturated with the solution or it will not be effective. Press the costume with a warm, not hot, iron when partially dry. To treat rayon or easy care cottons, dissolve 12 ounces of diammonium phosphate in two quarts of water and stir the mixture until it is clear. Dip the dry fabric into the solution and press it with a warm iron when the fabric is almost dry. You may purchase these chemicals at most drugstores. Remember that this treatment is not permanent and needs to be repeated each year and after each washing. The costume is not made fireproof by this treatment. It will still char and crumble when exposed to fire. have a nice weekend.. SHARE SOMETHING- I
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers