Tag Archives: ethics

by | Saturday, July 20, 2024 · 9:26 pm

Ads on United’s In-Flight Screens Target Individual Flyers

Think that you can escape targeted ads when you are flying? Think again – particularly if you are flying United Airlines. United has begun showing personalized ads on its 100,000+ seat-back screens!

Passengers on United will see still-image ads while swiping through options on their screens. They also will have to watch a 30-second commercial before watching any shows or movies. And, using passenger information, flyers will get personalized ads based on United’s information about them. For example, it might be ads for the cities you live in, cities you are visiting, your age, income level – and even different ads depending on if you are flying coach or first-class.

United is the latest example of a company using customer’s data to sell personalized ads. It joins other companies – such as Walmart, Uber, Instacart, and Home Depot –  that use customer data for targeted advertising. Think about the data these companies have about consumers – address, birth date, credit card, purchases, income levels, and much more.

In United’s case, the airline even created a media network (called Kinective Media) to handle passenger information and sell ads to companies such as Norwegian Cruise, Macy’s, IHG Hotels, and more.

Like many other companies, United allows travelers to opt-out of the ads, but first you have to know it’s going on – and how to opt-out.

Come fly with me…

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the ethics of United’s new advertising plan.
  2. View United’s data privacy policy: https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/customer-data-privacy-policy.html#opting-out
  3. View United’s opt-out page for in-flight ads: https://uniteddigital.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_88OQmAbr20oeHn8
  4. Show Kinective Media by United Airlines website: https://kinectivemedia.com/
  5. Divide students into teams. Have each team select a target market that might fly on United.
  6. Next, develop in-flight ads to show to that target market.

Source:  Grothaus, M. (10 June 2024). United Airlines wants to show you personalized seatback ads: Here’s how to opt out. Fast Company; Haggin, P. (7 June 2024) The ads on your United Airlines in-flight screen are getting a lot more specific. Wall Street Journal.

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities

Tagged as , , , ,

by | Sunday, June 23, 2024 · 8:39 pm

An Easy Way to Give to Charities

By this point in time you have undoubtably been exposed to ‘checkout charity’. You know what I mean. It’s when customers are asked to ‘round up’ their purchase, usually only a small amount, when they are completing a purchase. The benefits to charities have been enormous as the volume of low-amount donations quickly add up.

According to Engage for Good, in 2022 in the U.S., more than $749 million was raised by 77 point-of-sale fundraising campaigns. That was a 24% increase from the amount donated in 2020. Each of these campaigns raised at least $1 million. And, over 30 years the total reached $6.7 billion!

The latest user of checkout charity is the world’s largest pizza-maker, Domino’s. The company will use the tactic to meet a pledge for $174 million (over the next 10 years) to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Why are checkout charity campaigns so successful? Several reasons come to mind. One is that consumers already view their purchases in whole numbers, so the mark-up feels natural. (For example, a purchase at $49.60 already feels like $50, so consumers don’t feel a pinch at the additional cents.) Another reason is it makes consumers feel good in an quick, easy way.

A downside of these campaigns is that these quick donations don’t create any meaningful connection between charities and consumers. Also, many consumers are skeptical of how their donations will be used.

Care to round up?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the use of checkout charity programs.
  2. View video about checkout charity: https://youtu.be/ilH7gtygP6s?si=kfXXUheT-On2wx2c
  3. Poll students: What have they seen? Does it influence them to contribute to charity?
  4. Divide students into teams. Each team should develop a research project revolving around the topic of checkout charity.
  5. Discuss the process for conducting market research. The student teams must address each step of the process for their project (Problem definition, research plan, data gathering, develop findings, recommend marketing actions).
  6. Research questions can address how often consumers donate, if they know the charity, or just give to help out or feel good about their actions.
  7. For reference to a research project, view: https://jpna.org/index.php/jpna/article/view/854/529

Source: Binghamton University (13 May 2024). More than half of Americans give to charity at checkout, survey shows. Phys.org.;  Neuman, S. (10 March 2024). That spare change you donate at checkout is adding up to millions for charities. MPR News.; Pollard, J. (23 May 2024) Domino’s betting on ‘checkout charity’. Associated Press.

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities

Tagged as , , , ,

by | Wednesday, February 28, 2024 · 7:56 am

Are you ready for Temu?

Remember this year’s Super Bowl ads?

While most ads were for brands that consumers already know and buy, there were FIVE 30-second ads (at a cost of roughly $7 million per 30 seconds, plus another $15 million in coupons and giveaways) from a somewhat new-to-America Chinese company named Temu which promises prices so low that customers can “shop like a billionaire.”

The Super Bowl ads seem to have paid off already as Temu’s app rose to second place among the most downloaded free apps on Apple devices. But what is Temu and why should we care about it?

Basically, Temu is an online discount marketplace that sells low-priced items ranging from clothes, to home products, to technology products. In addition, customers earn store credit for promoting it on social media, or playing games hosted on its website.

A big difference (besides the low prices) is that shipping can take 23 days since products come from outside the U.S. Another problem is the level of customer complaints, possible unfair/unethical labor practices, as well as data privacy concerns about the information it collects. Part of the company’s success is also based on its use of a loophole in import laws which allows it to skip import taxes based on the low price of individual items, not bulk shipment.

Temu is actually the U.S. version of a giant e-commerce Chinese company called Pinduoduo (now renamed PDD Holdings, Inc.) and sells to more than 750 million users/month. Temu launched in the U.S. in fall of 2022 and now has more than 50 million active users, up 300% year-over-year.

Will shop on Temu?  

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: Who has used Temu? What do they know about it?
  2. Show video about Temu: https://youtu.be/LYU7QEGsBtE?si=Ij7UuDjar4RKUxhs
  3. Show Temu website: https://www.temu.com/
  4. Divide students into teams and have each team compare prices on Temu versus prices on Amazon or at other ecommerce retailers.
  5. What are the main differences?
  6. Have students prepare a positioning map for Temu versus its competitors. What are the risks?
  7. OPTIONAL: Either the professor or students can place an order on Temu to observe the handling and product quality for themselves. A caveat: Be very aware of data that may be collected by the company before deciding to go ahead with buying.

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,