“Wow, your scarf is so nice, where did you get it? I want to have a similar one!” “Look at his t-shirt! The print on it is so cool, go ask him where I can buy it.” Have you ever asked questions like above? Or have you ever bought a lotion or anything else that your friends strongly recommended? Or have you ever bought anything you just found really nice on I’m sure you have, and maybe quite often!
Social scientists and market researchers find that individuals automatically tend to follow their relatives, friends, coworkers or even neighbors’ consumption behaviors. They love to buy products that well used by their acquaintances (Tanner et al, 2007). Following this well-known theory, it's not difficult to find out in the movie, why do four experienced salesmen move into a high-income suburb pretending to be a typical family, and why they start product placements from the second they settle down. This family team targets their customers whose average income’s over 100,000 USD, and each one focuses on specific customer group and products. The Joneses, presenting, telling and recommending people around what kinds of products they should buy, controls and even leads the entire community’s consumer behavior. They perform a highly functional sales team using Stealth Marketing – an approach that deliberately aims to work below radar (Ahmed, 2000), and that encourages consumers to feel they have discovered the brand for themselves.
Approach Potential Customers
The Joneses approaches potential customers actively. The earlier they impress their customers, the sooner they can begin their marketing plan. Steve compliments Mrs. Symonds and hands Mr. Symonds a bottle of beer. He wants to leave them a nice and memorable image. Also, Kate tours Mrs. Symonds around see if she’s interested in the decorations. There’re many other plots in the movie showing that everyone from The Joneses tries hard to “make friends with” their customers. For example, Jenn praises her girl classmate’s shoes, Mick shares his Kool-Aid with schoolmates and especially Kate keeps approaching and being friend with Melanie, who didn’t like her at first. These approaching movements can help the Joneses to understand customers better, optimize marketing plans and even trigger a ripple effect to people around.
Sell a Lifestyle, Not a Product
The Joneses sales team produces value-processing activities and intrigues consumption by selling a lifestyle. Kate holding a gorgeous upscale bag walking in a well-known salon, Jenn wearing a shiny lip-gloss, Mick playing an exacting Gameboy and Steve playing golf with specific brand – behaviors imply that they’re living a happy life because of these products. People receive this implication and copy their buying behaviors to gain similar lifestyle. Kate did particularly great job holding a wonderful party – an opportunity that she can gather guests together, display them how
