Tuesday, November 1

Topic

  • Just (A) Case Discussion

Objective

  • To discuss when and how companies can overcome consumers’ lay theories about product attributes (e.g., tasty = unhealthy)

Discussion Questions

  1. Read the case and its technical note on food marketing quickly, keeping the following lay theories that consumers tend to use as rules of thumb when they make decisions about food in the back of your mind: inexpensive = unhealthy, healthy = not tasty, and sustainable = not tasty (Doorn and Verhoef 2011; Haws, Reczek, and Sample 2017; Raghunathan, Naylor, and Hoyer 2006). Given JUST’s mission to “develop better-tasting, healthier, and more sustainable foods from plants, then distribute them intensively across a wide variety of grocery and food retail stores at an affordable price” (Yemen, Boichuk, and Cian 2018, p. 2), these lay theories present obstacles that need to be circumvented. Take ten minutes to free write about them. That is, write without regard to grammar, sentence structure, or spelling, and leave your response to this question unpolished after ten minutes is up. This activity should increase your understanding of the topics and get your ideas flowing.
  2. Is JUST Mayo radically better than other mayonnaise in terms of its tastiness, affordability, healthiness, and sustainability? How does it fare against market-share leaders on these product attributes? Answering these questions will require you to collect data and, therefore, to go beyond the information presented in the readings. Focus on one product attribute in your response (the choice is yours), get creative, and be resourceful.
  3. Given your responses to Q1 and Q2, what trade-offs and realities should JUST’s team be conscious of as they work to increase consumers’ perceptions of JUST Mayo along the product attributes of tastiness, affordability, healthiness, and sustainability. As (Porter 1996) describes, “a trade-off means that more of one thing necessitates less of another” (p. 68). Exposing the trade-offs and relative (dis)advantages that exist in a product category is the first step to uncovering the unique competitive position that a company should strive for.
  4. What characteristics does JUST Mayo need to have for it to carve out real estate in consumers’ minds as the best tasting, most affordable, healthiest, and most sustainable mayonnaise in the grocery store? In particular, focus on how JUST could lay claim to this ideal competitive position by making additional changes to JUST Mayo’s packaging. If your analysis suggests that this ideal competitive position is not achievable, focus on making changes to JUST Mayo’s packaging that will highlight product attributes that JUST can hang its hat on.

Assignments Due

  • Answers to today’s discussion questions
    • After signing into Blackboard, submit your answers to this folder
  • Discuss your analysis of the JUST (A) case with your group members before today’s class

Assignments Made

References

Doorn, Jenny van and Peter C. Verhoef (2011), “Willingness to Pay for Organic Products: Differences between Virtue and Vice Foods,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 28 (3), 167–80.
Gibson, Madeline, Luca Cian, and Jeff Boichuk (2018), Food Marketing, Charlottesville, VA: Darden Business Publishing.
Haws, Kelly L, Rebecca Walker Reczek, and Keven L Sample (2017), “Healthy Diets Make Empty Wallets: The Healthy = Expensive Intuition,” Journal of Consumer Research, 43 (6), 992–1007.
Porter, Michael E. (1996), “What Is Strategy?” Harvard Business Review, 74 (6), 61–78.
Raghunathan, Rajagopal, Rebecca Walker Naylor, and Wayne D Hoyer (2006), “The Unhealthy = Tasty Intuition and Its Effects on Taste Inferences, Enjoyment, and Choice of Food Products,” Journal of Marketing, 70 (4), 170–84.
Yemen, Gerry, Jeff Boichuk, and Luca Cian (2018), Just: Positioned to Target Mainstream Tastes? (A), Charlottesville, VA: Darden Business Publishing.