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Ethel's Chocolates Case Study

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Assignment.1: Case Study Ethel’s Chocolates Course: Marketing 100 Date: 11/02/2011 Ethel’s Chocolate Lounges date back to the seventeenth century London. Back then, Ethel’s had luxurious surroundings and the elite members of the society would socialize there as they relax in its upscale environment. Later, the Americans flooded the market with cheap chocolate bars for the masses, of which people lost taste in. Mars opened Ethel’s Lounge in 2005, on learning that the upscale retail outlets’ chocolate sales grew by almost 20 percent in just two years. I believe the customers that have chosen Ethel’s did so using the Limited decision making process. Spending 25 or 30 dollars at Ethel’s is not as serious as buying a 25,000 to 30,000 thousand dollar vehicle. According to Lamb (2009), “Consumers making extensive decisions spend lots of time researching the company and their products.” That won’t happen in this instance. The average person will ask a few friends about Ethel’s or do a quick Google search at most, that eliminates the extensive decision making process. For many Americans, a chocolate lounge is a new and unusual concept, and the specific franchise “Ethel’s” is unfamiliar, meaning that the public won’t automatically make purchases at an Ethel’s just because it’s in the area. That eliminates the routine decision making option. Some may not have the extra funds, and may question whether people will view them negatively for consuming that expensive chocolate in order to socialize. Others it is all about jumping on the newest trend. Several factors may influence a consumer to spend his time and money at the Ethel’s. First, the consumer’s decision may be based on social class influence. This means the group of people that have similar social rank with the consumer. The U.S. is a society with social classes. Its criteria are; education, income,

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