The Easily Manipulated Consumer and the Three Retail Outlets MODcast 1 | Page 4

Follow the MODcast with the transcript.
Click here to listen to the
MODcast on YouTube.
It was a few days before Christmas, a long,
long time ago in a land far, far away.  The
Easily Manipulated Consumer (who I will now
refer to as the E.M.C.) was eager to start his
last minute Christmas shopping. 
His
particular shopping needs involved buying
presents for his wife.  The E.M.C. liked to
think he had good taste but this was not
necessarily the case as he often fell victim to
advertising and smooth talking salespeople.  
He eventually ended up at the congested
mall and quickly grew tired of walking
around.  He decided he must devise a good
strategy to get through the crowds of people
as quickly as possible so he could accomplish
his task.  He decided to focus his attention on
three popular retail outlets and buy his wife
an outfit.  The three stores he chose were
Uberzombie & Snitch, Airplane Tale and
Whole-Toaster.
        The E.M.C. decided to start his search at
Uberzombie & Snitch.  Uberzombie was a
very trendy brand but, it also had a
reputation for over-charging.  However, the
E.M.C. didn’t want his wife to think he was
cheap so he began his search there.  He
looked around the store and was soon
assaulted by a salesperson.  The E.M.C. was
an easy target for the salesperson as he
looked uncomfortable being in the women’s
clothing section and the salesperson knew it.
She would be able to sell anything to him at
record speeds.  The salesperson started her
sales pitch, indicating the latest fashions and
most expensive products to the E.M.C., who
was only half listening because he was
looking around the store frantically for
something he could afford and his wife might
enjoy.  Eventually, the salesperson showed
him a lovely, yet over-priced leather jacket. 
The salesperson was clever and told the
E.M.C. how he would be very appreciated by
his wife for such a purchase and as he was
easily manipulated, he agreed.  While at the
counter, paying for the jacket, the
salesperson tried to get the E.M.C. to buy a
matching purse as an add-on sale.  Again, she
used the strategy of the appreciative wife. 
She was successful.  Quickly the E.M.C. left
the store realizing that he was no match for
the high-pressure sales approach of the
salesperson.

Three
Transcript
     The E.M.C. had decided that Uberzombie
was indeed too expensive and he felt a little
taken advantage of as he had already spent a
most of his Christmas budget.  However, he
forced himself onward to the next store,
Airplane Tale.    He thought, there he could
buy some things at more affordable prices as
it had this reputation, and he was correct.  All
the things in Airplane Tale were much
cheaper than Uberzombie and this made the
E.M.C. very happy.  The only drawback to the
more accessible prices was that the store
was much more crowded and there was
absolutely no help from salespeople. 
Everything had already been picked over but
there were still a few choices left to choose
from.  He decided he could buy some basics
here like socks, simple t-shirts and
undergarments.  He was successful but it
took up precious time.  He left the store
feeling good that he had made some sensible
purchases but somehow felt that he had
been cheap for buying his wife things from a
known budget retailer. 
        The E.M.C. was shaken at this point.  He
was confident of his gift from Uberzombie,
but sad with the price and unsure of his
presents from Airplane Tale, but happy with
the price.  He was hoping he could complete
an outfit for his wife at Whole-Toaster which
was considered a mid-level brand.  It wasn’t
as expensive as Uberzombie and not as
cheap as Airplane Tale.  As the E.M.C. was a
middle class man, he felt that this was the
best choice for him.  Again, like Uberzombie,
he was attacked by the salespeople, but even
more viciously because he had the
uncomfortable look and his hand were
already filled with bags.
This meant a
customer in the mood for buying.  The
salesperson helped him find some nice pants
and some shoes. 
Unfortunately, the
employee again tried to push other products
on him at the register.  This time they
managed to sell him a bracelet too but at this
point the E.M.C. didn’t care. 
He was
exhausted and just wanted to go home, and
so he did.
     By the end of his shopping trip the E.M.C.
had doubled his expected Christmas
purchase budget.  This would mean January
would be a difficult month for paying
household bills. He consoled himself with the
idea that Christmas was just once a year. 
After sitting down and rubbing his aching
feet for awhile he started to think to himself
about how he would rate his performance at
the mall and concluded he did pretty good
because he examined his purchases more
closely and decided that he made some good
choices.  He then looked at the washing
instruction tags which included the location
of fabrication and saw that all the clothes he
purchased were made in Vietnam.  This did
not matter too much to him as many quality
clothing brands were produced in Vietnam. 
What he did not know was that all the
clothes were made in the exact same factory,
by the exact same workers and using the