(Marketing) Bait and Switch Tactic

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

sekali-kali mau bikin tulisan agak serius tentang dunia
sekitar (terkait dengan strategi marketing)

Ibu-ibu ada yang pernah melewati
jalan pasar minggu-lenteng-tanjung barat menuju Margonda?

kalau pernah, pastinya sering dunk ya liat mobil boks atau mobil bak terbuka
yang menjual buah-buahan musiman

buah yang dijual berganti-ganti jenisnya
kadang mangga, jeruk, semangka, duku, apel, dan lain-lain

nah kalau sekarang buah yang paling banyak dijual adalah buah melon

para penjual buah ini mereka memasang price tag murah-murah deh
melon 5000 (murah kan?), atau mangga (6000 sekilo), de el el

tag harga segitu siapa yang ga menarik hati coba? hehe

Tapi jangan salah, kadang sebagai pembeli kita musti pinter-pinter deh

karena biasanya price tag yuang murah seerti itu
ternyata bukan ditetapkan untuk semua melon yang dijual

tapi hanya untuk melon yang berada pada bagian depan
kalo yang dijual mangga, maka harga murah yang ditulis besar-besar itu
untuk mangga yang kecil-kecil

kalau mau yang bagusan, harganya akan lebih mahal
tentunya daripada yang ditulis
weleh weleh

nyebelin? yah muungkin juga
kan kita taunya itu harga ditulis 5000 per buah
tapi pas mau beli ternyata melonnya kecil bener, mana tega juga makannya
atau kalo buat oleh-oleh, mana tega juga ngasih melon sekcil itu coba

merasa tertipu?
yah begitulah

kalo di dunia marketing
teknik yang dilakukan sama penjual ini disebut sebagai "bait and switch tactic"
Bahasa sederhananya adalah penjual atau retailer memasang harga yang rendah dalam price tagnya, tapi ketika konsumen datang untuk menanyakan produk yang dijual murah tersebut, konsumen akan dibawa pada produk lain yang harganya lebih mahal. nah kosnumen disasrankan untuk membeli produk sejenis tapi dengan kualitas yang dijanjikan lebih bagus, harganya? yah bukan harga yang ada di pengumuman tadi
yang eye catching kelihatan dari jauh

dari seg i etika?
kalo mau dipikir pai akal dan hati sih
saya bilang ini sih memang "tipu-tipuan kecil-kecilan"
ya ga?
tapi kalo dari segi hukum di Amerika sono, taktik ini sih katanya wajar
tapi memang bisa juga dianggap ga legal,

Bait and switch tactic ini masuk kedalam ikan yang salah (false advertisin) atau bahas okemnya 'iklan yang menipu"

Though the law forbids the bait and switch, it is commonly used, and one can find examples of it in virtually any advertising circular for major department stores, electronics and computer stores, and automobile retailers. The purpose of the bait and switch tactic is to get customers to visit a store or business by advertising very low prices. Once the customer is in the store, the salespeople attempt to offer the customer items at higher prices.

The bait and switch begins with the bait, an advertisement for a product at what seems like an extremely low price. Sometimes these products, such as a mattress, are of very low quality. Other times, the price may apply to one specific style of, or model of an item. In general, the bait is stocked in very low numbers. In some cases, only one or two of items are available at the low price.

Once the customer has walked into the retail establishment, the bait and switch moves to the switch. The salesperson will inform the customer that the store has sold out of the advertised item and offer a similar item at a higher price. Alternately the salesperson may push hard to be certain the customer understands that the lower-priced product is of inferior quality, and try to sell a better quality product at a higher price. Bait and switch may also be used to bring in customers with bait, low prices, and also raise prices of unrelated items that customers might also pick up at the time.

To avoid prosecution for bait and switch tactics, advertisements frequently place in small print that the store does not allow rain checks, or that the item is limited to the quantity in the store. Reading the fine print of an advertisement can often alert customers that the advertisement is clearly employing a bait and switch tactic. In auto sales, one will often see a new car, priced below high blue book. The customer should be aware the price refers not to all cars of this type in the auto retailer’s inventory, but usually to one car, which is quickly sold.

With resolve, a customer may ignore salespeople and purchase the low-priced item, but quality of the item should be carefully evaluated before deciding on a purchase. One may also want to avoid purchasing other items from a retail store where the prices seem higher than usual. It may be less costly to purchase needed items from a store that does not practice bait and switch techniques.

When a true bait and switch scam exists, the store can be sued for fraud. However, such lawsuits are frequently not successfully resolved without a great deal of time and documentation. What customers can do to reduce bait and switch sales is to report this activity to the Better Business Bureau in the US.