Nike has expanded its product line well beyond the original running shoes. It now includes models for virtually every type of sport or physical activity. Visit the Nike web site (www.nike.com) for a complete listing of the models it sells. Moreover, Nike continually introduces new models; on average, Nike introduces a new shoe style every day of the year. Discuss the pros and cons of this continual churn of new attributes and new products. How do you think consumers react to this?
4. Discuss Nikes typical advertising strategy in terms of the types of means-end connections it creates in consumers. Bring in an example of a current Nike ad to analyze and draw out the meaning connections you believe this ad is likely to create in a consumer.
5. Not everyone finds athletic shoes highly involving, but some people do. For example, kids who are “into shoes” often talk in staggering detail about the characteristics and benefits of the currently popular models. Identify some intrinsic and situational sources of involvement for athletic shoes, and describe some of the likely means-end chains for the most involved consumers. Discuss how Nikes advertising strategies might differ in marketing a shoe to highly involved and moderately involved consumers.
