How to be an informed consumer?

Being an informed consumer means that you have enough knowledge about every product that you use. An informed consumer makes informed decisions about buying products/services. Mostly we gather information and research a lot while spending our money on expensive things like Car, Mobile Phone, House but we don't even have time to think about the advantages and disadvantages of the food products we daily buy and use. Similarly many other cheap products are not that much researched. Unfortunately, many businesses try to use the lack of consumer awareness as an opportunity and they sell us the products/services that have negative effect on individual and society.
Being an informed consumer is not a rocket science. In the age of internet and information technology anyone can gather insights about every product. For example if you drink beverages (Coke, Pepsi etc) just be aware of the positive and negative effects of such products.

Advertisers will always try to attract you towards their product but your information can beat the unethical business practitioners.

 Here are few simple steps to follow to be an informed consumer:

1. Refrain from impulse buying. Think before you make any purchase, especially big ticket items. Stick to your budget whenever you shop to keep close track of your spending. Avoid situations where you feel pressured into veering away from rational purchase behaviors. It may even be necessary to avoid shopping trips with your credit card-happy friends.
2. Consider more than one factor when purchasing products. Don't let one great feature cloud your judgment. For example, while price is an important factor, low price alone shouldn't lure you into an inappropriate purchase decision. Important factors such as brand quality, and your individual usage intentions should be taken into account whenever making purchase decisions. Even a "cheap" item needs to have an established purpose before it's purchased.
3. Read the fine print on purchase agreements. Stay informed of current rates and restrictions by paying attention to the details. Failure to do so may leave you with limited warranties and skyrocketing interest rates. Never enter into any contract without a full understanding of all purchase implications. Some manufacturers have strict rules regarding returns time limits.
4. Pay attention to pricing patterns and trends. Since consumer demand often fuels higher prices, avoid buying when product demand is still high. Waiting a few months can save you money and give you time to decide if the purchase is a good deal for you. Take advantage of special incentives such as annual tax free savings weekends and end-of-season clearance sales.
5. Deal with responsible lenders and businesses. Making purchases from reputable establishments could save headaches in the long term. Many consumers are shocked to find the products/services to be fake. 

6. Always ensure that raw materials/ingredients of product has no hazard. This happens mostly in the food sector that we eat unhealthy things and we don't even know what we exactly ate. Your health is the most important thing you are blessed with so never eat/use any food/drink or a medicine without ensuring that it has no side effects. Food products and drinks appear to be very delicious and healthy but without proper knowledge you can destroy your health.

7. Never base your purchase decisions on the information provided by advertisements. The job of marketers is to sell and they can use any means to attract you, so always rely on the research. 

Analysis of Fruiten Junior TVC "Yeh Bachon ka Khel Hai"

Recently CitroPak launched its ad campaign for "Fruitien Junior". Young children are targeted by this brand and this ad beautifully covers them. The ad raises a voice towards a very important social issue of our society.

Before discussing it lets watch the TVC Video:

Fruitien Junior launch TVC from Ahmed Ali on Vimeo.

Career Planning in Our Society
This ad brilliantly covers the social aspect of career planning in our society. When children are young, their careers are decided by family(mostly by parents) instead of asking the child about his/her interests. In our society, being a Doctor/Engineer is thought to be respectable profession and other fields of arts and social sciences are not given their due respect/importance.

Theme: 
 In this ad, the music and colors shown are according to the taste of their target audience. The soundtrack is cheery and funny which gives the theme of happiness. It focuses on enhancing the mood of the audience.
This Juice is said to have no preservatives and flavours but be careful while consuming juices because who knows there might any health damaging ingredient.

P.S: Dont be fooled by any ad and be an informed consumer.

Root Cause of Unethical Business & Marketing Practices in Pakistan

Recently Govt. of Pakistan announced a big cut in the prices of petroleum products. Consumers felt a sense of relief but to their surprise, the petrol pumps remain closed in various parts of Punjab thus increasing the trouble of Pakistani consumers.
 So in this case whose responsibility was it to ensure the supply of petrol? Obviously everyone will say that Govt. is responsible but to be specific which department of the state is responsible for this? There's a regulatory authority called Ogra responsible for this matter. This department has the authority to regulate proper supply, pricing and other matters of the petroleum industry.
                           Similarly for the regulation of electronic media there's a regulatory called PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority). For the regulation of educational standard, HEC is responsible. For the regulation of corporations there is a regulatory called Competition Commission of Pakistan. Several other regulators are present which are playing very little role to eradicate unethical practices.
 Reasons behind unethical business practices

•  Inefficiency and corruption of regulatory authorities
•  Lack of Consumer Awareness
• Profit Maximization 
• Increased Competition
• Lack of moral values in the most of the individuals in the society

                   Another major factor is the lack of consumer awareness in Pakistan. Consumers are mostly unaware of the raw materials and ingredients used by the businesses especially in food sector. Businesses related to food use dangerous ingredients but consumers don't pay attention to it.

        Another factor behind such practices is that as a nation, most of us compromise our ethics, moral values for the sake of money. Due to increased competition in the corporate world and due to the uprise of information technology, consumers have a lot of choices before making a purchase decision. So corporations are using unethical practices to cut costs, to maximize their profits. Govt. authorities are full of corruption.
Everyone is so busy in maximizing individual profits that no one thinks of the whole society. I am not ignorant of the fact that without business our economy will not prosper but if we want to develop our country and bring change in the country we need to put ethics before money. We should give proper attention to the moral grooming of our young generation and we should inculcate a sense of responsibility and ethics in our social circle. Change starts from the individual level and it will take time.

Purpose of this blog

The aim and purpose of this blog is to discuss marketing and business environment in Pakistan. Marketing campaigns will be analyzed on the basis of ethical standards. It will present a critic on the ethical standards employed by the marketers.

Consumer awareness needs to be increased as there are a lot of companies indulged in unethical marketing standards in Pakistan.
So guys stay tuned to this blog