9.7 End of Chapter Activities
9a. Thinking About the Content
What are your key takeaways from this chapter? What is something you have learned or something you would like to add from your experience?
9b. Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
- Have you ever written a letter of complaint? What motivated you to do so? Did you receive a response?
- Please consider one purchase you made recently. What motivated you to buy and why did you choose to complete the purchase? Share the results with your classmates.
- Are you more motivated by emotion or reason? Ask ten friends that question and post your results.
- Select an online advertisement that you find particularly effective or ineffective. Why does it succeed, or fail, in persuading you to want to buy the advertised product?
9c. Applying chapter concepts to a situation
Dealing with a customer claim
Fatimah is an international student who works part-time at Starmart Supercentre. After three months with the company, she is promoted from a Sales Associate to a Fulfillment Department Supervisor. Her primary responsibilities in her new role include addressing customer concerns and coordinating the tasks of the associates under her supervision.
During her first shift as a supervisor, she is called by an associate to deal with an angry customer. The customer wants to return a dress that he bought for his wife two weeks ago. He mentions that he purchased the wrong size, and it is too small for his wife. The customer is returning the dress outside of the seven business days allowed for returns, and the tag is also missing. Fatimah calmly explains to him that they are unable to accept the dress as it goes against the company’s policy.
The customer refuses to leave the store until a refund is issued because the dress is expensive, and he has no use for it. Fatimah wants to assist the customer but is fearful of going against the company’s policy.
What should Fatimah do?
9d. Writing Activity
Watch this video from TED.com on How to use rhetoric to get what you want. Summarize the video. Which technique do you normally use to persuade friends, family, teachers and managers? Do you use the same techniques?