week9--- sales promotion and personal selling

 Apple uses promotional methods using special short-term techniques to persuade members of a target market to respond or undertake their products. Examples of certain methods Apple uses for sales promotions are money back guarantees, lower purchase price and rebates. Apple store display all the products and customers can try any of them.This lets consumers get comfortable with the products and familiarize themselves with it. This is a major consumer sales promotion that Apple has developed.
  During special consumer promotions, Apple has its certain auditions in which they target directly.Apples promotes their Mac book laptops for college students. When students show their school I.D, they pay for a Mac book book and get any free Ipod they desire and a free printer. I think this is a good promotion method because I was one of its targeted audience who purchased this great deal.

week8 -- Advertising and public relations

  Advertising is one-way mass communication about a product or organization that is paid for by a marketer. And public relations is the element in the promotional mix that evaluates public attitudes, identifies issues that may elicit public concern,and executes programs to gain public understanding and acceptance.
  In the past two decades, Apple Inc. has become well known for its advertisements, which are designed to reflect a plan of marketing their products to creative individuals. Every time apple has new product spread to the market, they will design the advertisements to promote products. Customers can see those advertisements many places. Apple Inc. has good public relations. Their advertisements show customers that how the product is. Or in their website, customers can know the functions and price of the products they want. Customers understand and accept apple inc. 

week 7 --- Retailing

  Retailing means all the activities directly related to the sale of goods and services to the ultimate comsumer for personal, nonbusiness use. We are involved in retailing everyday, when we shop for groceries, clothes, books and many other products and services.

  Apple store is a retailing store, there are over 300 stores in worldwide. also, apple is a speciatly store, they stores. Apple stores use large open 

tables to display company products, making it easier for visitors to play with them. For this reason, consumers can play the products they want to buy, they could know the products better.  Make sure they like it, then but it.  For example, on March 11th, the first day of selling I-pad 2. There was a big table and displaying I-pad 2. Consumers around that table to play with this new product. They can first time to know how is I-pad 2 different from i-pad 1. And try to know new functions on it.

week 6 --consumer decision making

      Consumer behavior processes a comsumer uses to make pruchase decisions. Usually, people plan to buy a new product, they will follow these steps. Need recognition,is consumer want to buy something. It occurs when comsumer are faced with an imbanlance between actual and desired states that arouses and activates the comsumer decision-making process.Like, people see I-pad 2 is coming, they want to buy one. The second step is information search, while people see I-pad 2 's ad. They will do some research for this new product, trying to know it better. The next step is evaluation of alternatives,from the research, consumers know about I-pad 2 better. They 'll think about if it's necesary. They 'll compare I-pad2 with others. Then some of them will be purchase. The last is postpurchase behavior.
         There are some factors influencing consumer buying decisions, social factor is one of them to effect consumers buying I-pad 2. Usually there is a new product in Apple Inc comes, many fans go for lines and buy it. The ohter is induvidual factors, they want to have a better lifestyle. So that they buy everything new. Also, cultural factors and psychological factors are important. They may effect people's decisions to buy products.