Packaging serves many purposes, one of which is a place to put a label. For food product this label includes nutritional information. The Nutritional Labeling and Education Act of 1990 made this type of information mandatory. Many of the ingredients are pretty straight forward, water sugar, sodium etc. Then of course there are all those chemical names. But one ingredient has always been difficult for me to understand, natural flavoring.

The FDA defines it as follows: The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in subpart A of part 582 of this chapter, and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfCFR/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=501.22
I think I’m more confused now. Does this make any sense to anyone? Should ingredients be clearer?

In response to Caitlyn’s post.

Many companies are having issues with profits and stock prices, in large part because of the increase in payroll taxes. These taxes hit twice, the consumer has less money to spend and the employer has to pay more.  Wal-Mart is very good at reading customers' shopping habits and adjusting quickly. You may see stores adjusting inventory toward lower-price items and smaller-packaged goods trying to maintain customers. I don’t think Wal-Mart is down for the count.

NAFTA

Government policies are complex and the information we receive about them is sometimes bias. Our text, Lamb, Hair, McDaniel (2013). Marketing What’s Inside, paints a picture of increased prosperity for all involved.  I found a couple of web sites that paint a very different picture. The links are below so rather than repeat the information I will just summarize.

*The US was able to move jobs to lower cost Mexico. Outsourcing.

*Mexico lost 1.3 million farm jobs because they couldn’t compete with the low priced products      coming from the U.S.

*Mexico environment deteriorated because the agribusiness used more chemicals to try to increase crop outputs.

*Mexican truck travel is limited to 20 miles within the US however, U.S. trucks, although they do not comply with restrictions imposed by the Mexican government, have unlimited access across Mexico.

Does free trade mean fair trade? There are a lot of web sites with a lot of information, you decide.  

http://useconomy.about.com/od/tradepolicy/p/NAFTA_Problems.htm

http://www.citizen.org/documents/NAFTA_10_mexico.pdf

In Response to Haley's post

Haley asked,Have you ever found yourself being persuaded to purchase a product after noticing the ads while surfing the internet?

I have mixed feelings about these targeted ads. It is invasive for “someone” to know exactly what I have been searching for on the net. Privacy is important to many people. But does it really matter that “they” know you are looking for a new pair of shoes?

I have looked at some of these ads but I have never bought anything because of them. Information is important in the buying process. Knowing what is available can help you make the best buying decision.

Should these types of targeted ads be restricted from children? How do they know the age of the person doing the shopping?

Purchasing Power

Marketers bombard us every day with messages about products and services they want us to buy. These messages use many different techniques to try to get us to spend our money on their products. Much of the money we spend is used for necessities, food, clothing, and shelter. The money we have left over is considered “disposable income”. Regardless of our reasons for spending our money, most of us have a finite amount that we can spend. Many of us strive to increase the amount of money we earn so we can increase our spending on the things we want rather than the things we need. Purchasing power is important to marketers. The more money we have, the more we can spend.

President Obama has a plan to increase the minimum wage to $9 an hour. Will this increase our purchasing power?

In response to Haley’s post.

Outsourcing and the difference between the cost of the product and the wages of employees is not the only point that can be made. In 1960, the average chief executive earned 40 times as much as the average worker. By 1990, the average CEO earned 107 times as much. In the following decade, this ratio rose to 525:1 before settling back to 301:1 in 2003. Chief executives play an important role in the success of their business, but without the employees in the trenches there would be no company.

Should this pay gap be smaller?

Purchasing with emotion.

Like many Americans I spent Sunday watching the super bowl, not because I like football, because I am always curious to see the commercials. I usually hate commercials, but occasionally there is one that peeks my interest. Mixed in with all the junk Sunday, there was one commercial that it getting a lot of attention, excerpts from a decades-old speech from a radio broadcaster, Paul Harvey. He first delivered the speech at an FFA convention in 1978. The speech also ran in Paul Harvey's syndicated newspaper column in 1986. In the introduction, Harvey disclaimed authorship.

How is it that words as intense as these have escaped the public’s attention?  The commercial brings to light what most of us know but few want to admit. That the farmer is a unique individual and the life they live can by no means called easy and for many even profitable. So rather than pat Dodge on the back for making this commercial, why not pat a farmer on the back and tell them you appreciate what they do. The two minute piece has amazing words and beautiful photographs but they are not enough for me to buy a Dodge.

Personal products, such as clothing and perfume, are associated with higher levels of emotion than nonpersonal products. Rational purchases have little emotion in the decision making process.   How do emotions factor in your buying decision?