"The Overspent American"

     This movies was a real eye opener. Americans work the most hours than anywhere else. We have started to work more and more hours since the 19980's and the 1990's. People use to just want a small house with a white picket fence and two kids in the house. Now it has turned into people wanting mansions and getting massive amounts of property and more kids. Things in the our eyes are getting more expensive and we need more of it.
     This is why we work so much. Working more hours means we are going to get a hire income which then relates to spending more money on all of the things that we want then relates into working more to make more money. People are trying to make their lives full of luxuries and things they don't necessarily need. People are so wrapped up in getting more and more things that the credit card deabt is increasing among Americans. They don't have enough money to pay for the things that they want so they just swipe their card. Debt is incresing while personal savings are decreasing. The saying use to be, "Keeping up with the Jones." Now it's, "Keeping up with the Gates."
     This is very tough to break because people are competing with each other. It is very hard to stop spending money, especially if you are addicted to it and you think that you need everything that you want and everything that your friends have. Some people aren't going to be able to stop. I don't think people are going to be able to stop because they are so caught up in competing with everyone else that they are going to spend it all to make it to the top.

What is your opinion on this matter? Are Americans doomed to continue spending all of their money?

Surveys

How usefull are surveys in the work place? Sometimes when i fill out surveys, I think one of two things. I am going to fill this survey out with giving my honest opinion or I will fill out this survey just to get it done with and out of my way. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks these two aproaches. So if a boss gives their employees surveys or feeback paperwork, how is the boss suppose to know which ones are filled out honestly or just completed to be done with it. The boss can only think that everyone filled out the surveys with honesty. I think that if people filled them out correctly, then they can be a very usefull tool. They can see how the boss is doing with employees or how the new policy is working with everyone. They give the person giving the survey a chance to recognize a problem and potentialy fix it.

How you usually fill out surveys? Honestly or just to get it out of the way?

In response to the John Smith case

Total population: 307,006,550
Male: 148,535,646
Female: 152,925,887

This case was very hard to pick a side. There are some benifits and there are some draw backs. If Smith gives the names of the people that said likey or very likely, then he will get the $8,000 which would help his company out substantialy. If he gets the $8,000, then he won't have to lay off any of his employees. On the other hand, it all kind of depands on what kind of paperwork that the survers signed. The information that they gave could be confidential or is could be used at free will. If it was free will then i think Smith should sell the names. Even if the company calls those survers and talks to them about buying cars, they survers could just say no and hang up the phone. If they signed the paperwork that said that their information would be kept away from anyone and everyone, then Smith shouldn't sell the names because that would be illegal. I think it all depends of the survers information confedentiality.

At the end of the aisle.

At the end of the aisle in the grocery store and in wal mart there are products for a good deal. That is why they put them at the end of the aisle. They are there so people will see them and realize how good of a deal it is and most likely buy the deal. I am sometimes a victum of these deals some times. They are at the end people pass by and they see them. I was wondering if there are any other strageties that go in the grocery store and in wal mart. I have heard that they put the cheapest products on the bottom of the self and the good priced ones at eye level. I was wondering if there are any more of the strageties that go into stocking the shelves at places like these.

Do you know of any more strategic moves the people pull in the grocery store?

In response to Jacob's "Marketing a new product."

Yes, i think who ever is in charge of marketing should be responsible for getting the information out to the public. That is the point of their whole job. They need to let the people know about the product and what qualities it has and how is benifits people. If they didn't do their job, then people about never find out about the product and have no need for it because they don't know what it does.

Do athletes make a difference?

A lot of the commercials now have athletes advertising their product. For example, Gatorade has many athletes in their commercials. Normally when I watch things like that, I think to myslef "Well I'm not going to drink Gatorade because Kevin Garnette does. I'm going to drink it because it tastes good." I usually think that the athletes presence in a commercial isn't going to change my mind. It isn't going to make me want to drink Gatorade that much more.
I can however see why they use athletes. Younger kids that want to play in the NFL and the NBA look up to those players and want to be like them. So when those young kids see the commercials with their heros in them, then they are going to want to drink Gatorade because their hero does. So they are roping in the younger crowd.

Do you think athletes presence in commercials make a difference? Would companies do as well without them?

In response to Cory's "Mascots are creepy."

I think that mascots are for both kids and adults. Kids when they think of the Red Soxs, they might get the image of Wally and for them Wally is fun. Sometimes they get high fives from them or get their picture taken. They definently provide comidy for adults. I think their biggest reason for being is to give the team and image. When people see the Red Soxs they see Wally and vise versa.