Please answer the following questions in complete sentences. Please number responses that relate to each question.
1. With respect to the articles assigned and any other articles/research that you are able to draw upon, do marketers have an obligation to avoid marketing to vulnerable consumers as defined by Craig Smith and Cooper-Martin in "Ethics and Target Marketing: the Role of Product Harm and Consumer Vulnerability"? How should businesses handle those deemed to be vulnerable?
2. Do you agree that cohort segmentation is effective in developing communications for various consumer groups? Explain why or why not.
3. "Whether a company grows, survives, and makes a profit could depend upon how their products or services are defined." What does this statement mean to a company or to consumer perception?
4. Selden and McMillan, in "Manage Customer-Centric Innovation—systematically," contend that customer-centric innovation will better sustain a company. Using your own experience and other resources, do you agree? Provide examples and supporting evidence from multiple sources to support your position.
5. Define integrated marketing communications (IMC) and discuss the importance of teamwork in achieving a successful IMC effort. Provide examples of how this concept would apply to a specific organization. Use the Schultz and Kitchen article on "Integrated Marketing Communications in U.S. Advertising Agencies: An Exploratory Study" for reference.
6. Regarding "Make Your Dealers Your Partners," why do you think the Caterpillar system works? Identify characteristics that seem to be unique to Caterpillar and make their system successful. Explain how these unique characteristics contribute to the success of Caterpillar.