Article 1

Summary of key issues

The article focuses on the issue of unsustainable products in the market. Most of the
companies claim that consumers actually show their interest for purchasing sustainable products
but they actually do not purchase the sustainable one. This factor emphasizes the companies to
produce more and more unsustainable products. The products which should be having high
degree of efficacy have low share in the sustainable market. These products consist of laundry
products and sanitary napkins. These kind of products need to be more sustainable as compared
to others but their share in the sustainable market is continuously falling down. Consumers are
also voting against the unsustanability of products. The article concludes that brand managers
should not be given corporate leadership if they are claiming that the demand of sustainable
product is very low. The companies which are offering sustainable products should be supported
by investors. Marketing of products can play an essential role in promoting sustainability of
products. It is the responsibility of companies to make the people aware about the sustainability
of products. The companies should also speak to the customers to align values with their
shopping.

Explanation of importance of issues and their implications

The key issues of the company throw light on importance of sustainability of products.
The main issue that has been discussed in this article is about the claim of the companies
regarding the less demand of the consumers for sustainable products but it is not true. The
customers always prefer sustainable products but the companies try to merge the statements and
mislead the customers. In 2018, the sustainable products accounted for 16.6% of the market. If
we compare the sales of sustainable and non sustainable products, the sales of former have
grown by 5.6 times as compared to later. But there are some specific sustainable products for
which the sales have not increased as it should be. These products fall under the category of
laundry and sanitary napkins. The products for which the sales have grown are toilet napkins,
facial tissues and milk products and canned juices. The issue is important to consider because it
is essential to make the people aware about the sustainability of products to increase the sales of
the products. Laundry and sanitary napkins are essential products which is the major
requirements of every household. Thus the companies should adopt proactive approach regarding
the sustainability of these products.

Reflective Analyses
The above article has made me able to understand about the strategies adopted by the
companies to maintain their situation in the market. The article briefs that the companies used to
get the corporate leadership for their unsustainable products by claiming that people these days
are not interested in purchasing sustainable products. But as I have studied in marketing theory
of 7 Ps of market, it is essential for a company to make sure about product, place, people,
physical evidence, process, place and price before introducing their product into the market.
Thus it becomes essential for such companies to alter their marketing strategies to make the
people aware about sustainable products. At least the daily use products offered by the company
should be sustainable. This article also helped me to understand about the share of sustainable
and non sustainable products in the total market. I analyzed Porter’s five forces model for this
market and concluded that the market of sustainable product depends upon buyer’s power. Thus
it is essential to make the people aware about the importance of the sustainability of products to
increase its share in the total market in the long run.

Article 2

Summary of key issues

The article revolves around the authenticity of products these days and the response of
customers towards this authenticity of products. The main focus of the article is regarding the
intensity of customers for the payment of the product. Does the customer ready to pay more for
the genuine product? According to this article, there are two different meanings of authenticity.
One meaning is the uniqueness of the product and the other meaning is the values offered with
this product. When a company is offering a value based product, it offers true expressions. This
study revolves around the reaction of customers towards these two types of authenticities in
different way. The researcher conducted a survey to know about the point of view of customers
towards these two types of authenticities. The results of survey concluded that customers were
ready to pay more for the food with values. They also like the authentic food offered by the
restaurants, but they do not want to pay high amounts for their food. They just want to give good
rating but they don’t want to pay more. Thus the article reflects the customers prefer true value
expressions rather than authenticity.

Explanation of importance of issues and their implications

The main issue reflected in this study is about the value of authenticity. The restaurant
which focuses on presenting their dishes in unique way attracts the customers but they cannot
impress the customers as the restaurant offering true value expressions with food can. Thus the
restaurants offering authentic food need to change their marketing strategy so that they can
attract the customers towards their true value expressions. The customers will be ready to pay
higher for such kind of services. Customers can easily recognize the difference between
authencity and the true value expressions by the restaurants. The only reason behind the more
popularity of true value expressions among customers is that being true to others is a social
category. Thus managers of the restaurants should be careful towards the pattern of appealing to
the customers. It is obvious that the authenticity leads to better reputation of company but
authenticity in combination with true value expression can bring better reputation as well as high
revenue to the company. The concept of authenticity is a bit complex; thus managers need to be
very careful regarding the decision of adopting type of authenticity.

Reflection
Through this article, I have learnt about the importance of authenticity in marketing. This
article explained about two different type of authenticity. As per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it
is important for every business to consider the self-actualization, esteem needs, social needs,
safety needs and physiological needs of customers. I observed that the restaurant managers can
understand about the need of customers regarding the type of authenticity through this model.
First of all, it is required for the restaurant managers to decide about the way to measure the
requirement of the customers regarding their need for authenticity. They should also focus on
attracting the customers through their attractive marketing which mentions regarding the type of
authenticity offered through their services. In this way, the restaurants can make the customers
able to differentiate between the two types of authenticities and the restaurants will be able to
increase their revenue by offering true value expression authenticity to the customers.