Economic Community of West African States

bad experience with a type of car might never be persuaded to purchase a kind of car again, no matter how attractive the price offer. Customers can generalize a negative attitude toward whole categories of goods and services or even groups and communities. People who eat organic foods might have negative attitude about non-organic foods. Similarly, someone who got sick from eating too much of ice cream as a child might have the attitude that all dairy is bad. Negative experiences will adversely…

concentrate throughout the industry. In addition, adverse weather conditions may affect the supply of other agricultural commodities from which key ingredients for our products are derived. For example, drought conditions in certain parts of the United States may negatively affect the supply of corn, which in turn may result in shortages and higher prices for HFCS. An increase in the cost, a sustained interruption in the supply, or a shortage of some of these ingredients, other raw materials,…

Unfortunately, some companies have mismanaged their greatest asset—their brands. This is what befell the popular Snapple brand almost as soon as Quaker Oats bought the beverage marketer for $1.7 billion in 1994. Snapple had become a hit through powerful grassroots marketing and distribution through small outlets and convenience stores. Analysts said that because Quaker did not understand the brand’s appeal, it made the mistake of changing the ads and the distribution. Snapple lost so much…

He turned a little sideways in his chair to drink his mug of coffee. At the table on his left the man with the strident voice was still talking remorselessly away. A young woman who was perhaps his secretary, and who was sitting with her back to Winston, was listening to him and seemed to be eagerly agreeing with everything that he said. From time to time Winston caught some such remark as 'I think you're so right, I do so agree with you', uttered in a youthful and rather silly feminine voice.…