Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 24

Marketing - Essay Example Stuffed animals need stuffing. By looking at the raw material inputs that are used in stuffed animals, it was thought that these hole punch scraps can be used as alternative. The major concern in deciding on which products to choose, where the hole punch scraps can be useful is the question of volume. Hole punch scraps can only be valuable if they are sold in huge volumes. The answer to this question has been found on the stuffed animals alternatives for raw material inputs. Hole punch scraps are waste materials, that in essence when they are manufactured they are very minimal in terms of costs. The materials that are used to stuff animals like â€Å"straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials (Wikipedia 2010),† are naturally produced for the stuffing, thus maybe more costly to manufacture. The demand for these products come from children and adults who look for comfort objects (Fisher 2010). From a psychological perspective, the fascination for comfort objects has sprung up during the late 1800s when life is hard and comfort objects like stuffed animals tend to cheer people up for unique psychological situations (FoxNews.com 2008). The origin of stuffed animals businesses is traced back to practices of taxidermy, where skins of hunted animals are stuffed in order to mimic their appearances even when they are no longer alive. The demand for these products can be traced to a need using Maslows hierarchy of needs framework (Kotler & Armstrong 2004). A comfort object provides the consumer with security and partly, some social needs. During unique situations such as personal tragedies, problems and moments of loneliness, and stressful events, comfort objects somehow provide the feeling of having company as well as the feeling of being safe holding something (FoxNews.com 2008). Pricing is a