mbaNEWS: The advertising industry, with all the tools that have played a significant role in the development of the industry these days, such as the digital world and the cyberspace … along with the explosive changes in the age of communication, has played a crucial role in the growth and dynamism of trade in all communities. This role is ponderable not only in the world of business and trade, but also in terms of culture, education, politics, etc.But it can be said that the mainstream of the advertising industry is evident in the field of business and trade. These days the world economy is not based solely on monetary exchanges, and in various societies we are witnessing advertising activities that play an important role in boosting trade and sales of goods and products.These days discount-oriented advertising is visible in the media, but basically whether what is presented in the advertisements as discounts in different forms is consistent with the reality of the business world, or how much such an approach is effective on the audience and sale of the commodity, is the subject of an interview with a professor of the University of Tehran, Dr. Masoud Keymasi, in the field of advertising.The university professor held a positive view about discount-based advertising under the present circumstances of the society and said: “The nature of this action, which aims to develop a short-term stimulus to create demand, is reasonable for organizations particularly in societies where inflation is tangible and commodity prices are higher in inflationary conditions and the purchasing power of the customers has declined.”“Under this condition, the audiences are after managing their costs and business companies and organizations enter into the scene of advertising by considering price cuts with an aim of selling more and earning more. In my opinion this way of stimulating demand and increasing the sales factor plays an important role in the economy.”He referred to the deceptive technique of this method and noted: “Sometimes this price reduction is an excuse to deceive the customer and is to sell the product at a higher price. For example, the price before the discount period has been somewhat much lower, but within a short span of time the company has taken measures to increase the price and in the discount period it seems that there has been a significant drop in the price of goods and commodities.”All throughout the world, regulatory agencies would review the prices before and after the discount period, and the organizations would not be allowed to have such a deal with the audience.“Of course, in some cases this form of doing discounts is quite real and designed and implemented based on the strategies of brands and companies, and the advertising industry is also used to cover such a measure in order to provide a good condition both in term of the brand and the customer.“Advertisement with the discount theme is beneficial both for the customer and the interests of the brands and companies that provide this possibility for their audiences to choose their products at an affordable price. A major part of the commodities of some big and well-known brands would be sold out within a short period of time in seasonal sales after advertising and making announcements and thus customers of such brands would wait for the seasonal discount.”Launching discount websites is another part of this trend which has had many audiences who welcome this type of advertisement.“In Iran, the Consumer Protection Organization should monitor the price trends after and before the discounts. Also, the media, through content analysis and monitoring corporate and business organization advertising, play an observer and informative role.”The university professor, commenting on discount promotions at department stores said: “In the stores, we are faced with a case called commodity groups whose role in the process of sales is different. Some goods have higher sales with lower profit margin; on the other hand, products with higher sales and lower profits are different from the goods that despite low sales have higher profit.”Noting that the task of commodity groups is to create traffic in the stores, he said therefore discount policies and greater sales aim at creating more traffic in the shelves and discounts regulate balance in the stores for selling the commodities with different profit margins.“Of course, in this method, interactions between suppliers and shop owners play a crucial role. Sometimes some brands by benefiting from additional shelves and more suitable space in the stores which enable them to be seen better, offer more percentages of discounts, and sometimes types of payment provide better conditions for price cuts.”mbaNEWS.ir- Nazanin Kaynejad
