Full articles for online reading:

Consumer Perceptions of Bundles
This paper examines a common marketing tactic called price bundling, defined as the practice of
marketing multiple products and/or services at a bundle price. Recent articles published in the
popular press have documented the current wave of bundling activities in several industries and the
managerial need for a better understanding of the theoretical foundation of this practice. There has
been considerable debate in behavioral research on bundling regarding whether, when and why
price bundling per se enhances or derails consumers’ perceptions of the offer. Multiple theoretical
perspectives have been advanced that offer different, sometimes conflicting, predictions.
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Niches At The Edges: Price-value tradeoff, consumer behavior, and marketing strategy
As one of the marketing mix variables, price plays an important role in influencing consumers’
perception of products, increasing demand, attracting customers, and promoting brand loyalty,
among other things. Research in marketing shows that the perception of reference price (price
considered reasonable or fair by consumers) can be altered by changing how price is presented to
consumers. Research also shows that consumers respond differently to price discounts. The
perception of the price-value tradeoff and its relation to consumer behavior has not been
adequately explored in the literature. This study attempts to fill this gap.
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Spotting The Disguises and Masquerades
Revisiting the boundary between editorial and advertising
With the proliferation of advertising and new technologies, advertisers and media professionals
have been challenged to cut through the clutter to emerge with innovative and economical ways to
communicate messages to their target audience. However, some innovations in advertising and
creative adaptations of some advertising formats may blur the distinction between advertising and
editorial. It is feared that the rise in blurring may dilute the impact of both editorial and advertising
effectiveness. For advertisers, the problem lies in the message.
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The Enduring Influence of TV Advertising And Communications Clout Patterns In the Global Marketplace
A fundamental measure of marketing effectiveness is the influencing power of communications
contacts. In recent history, television has been one of the most powerful contacts with consumers.
The advent of digital and web-based channels created speculation about weakening TV and
suggests that its clout has waned. To the contrary, this study’s data show that TV continues its
global hold as a dominant contact.
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Television: Back to the Future
What scientific knowledge do we have about TV? This paper reviews how well certain empirical
generalizations have held up over 40 years and uses this knowledge to construct an empirically
grounded opinion on the future of TV advertising, encompassing:
• Is there program, and/or channel loyalty?
• Do genre specific channels attract segmented audiences?
• Why have ratings dropped?
• Why is TV advertising more expensive?
• Will DVRs destroy the advertising model?
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Maximizing Media Synergy For Cost-effective Brand Building
Perhaps the catalyst was the Internet, whose evangelists screamed ‘the end is nigh!’ for TV and
talked of engagement versus interruption, true measurability and the long tail. Perhaps the advent
of PVRs made the TV world wobble. Maybe the recession has made the hunt for efficiencies keener.
Whatever the cause, the multimedia debate has been invigorated and the demand for evaluation
has grown.
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Buyology – Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
Author: Martin Lindstrom, Doubleday/Broadway Business (2008)
Buyology – Truth and Lies About Why We Buy is a state-of-the-neuroscience-practice analysis and a
discussion of how understanding of the brain’s various functions can provide insight into how
consumers make purchase decisions. Lindstrom defines “buyology” as “the subconscious thoughts,
feelings, and desires that drive the purchasing decisions we make each and every day of our lives.”
And, he says, neuromarketing is “the key to unlocking” buyology: “If marketers could uncover what
is going on in our brains that makes us choose one brand over another – what information passed
through our brain’s filter and what information didn’t – well that would be key to truly building
brands of the future.”
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Free – The Future of a Radical Price
Author: Chris Anderson, Random House Business Books (2009)
Chris Anderson is Editor-In-Chief of Wired and the author of the 2006 bestseller, The Long Tail.
Free is essentially an elaboration of Stewart Brand’s famous declaration that “information wants to
be free.” The digital age, Anderson argues, is exerting an inexorable downward pressure on the
prices of all things made of ideas.
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