PB1A- Coupons
One textual genre that most people, if not everyone, are familiar with, is coupons. Coupons attract any type of person but mainly people who are looking to save money; however, there may be some people who just happen to stumble across their Sunday paper or store ad before a shopping trip and score some discounts for things already on their list. As stated before, a coupons main purpose is to save people money, but they are also a good advertising tool. People may decide to try a different brand of a product because it is on sale and if they like that product better odds are they will continue to buy it. However, there are some people who buy products for the sole reason that they are on sale. The context of a coupon is that it is presented at checkout for a specific item and it must be deducted from the customer’s bill. Although this is true, there are many rules, per say, that accompany the use of a coupon. It must be used before the expiration date, which is most often a month after it is published. Most often exclusions apply which basically means that you may only buy a certain type and size. Using manufacturer’s coupons, there will also be a limit to one coupon per purchase. The style of a coupon is for marketing purposes and oftentimes on a coupon, especially with food items, there will be a list of suggested uses. The tone of most coupons is persuading and appeals to the senses when using slogans like, “Great for snacking!” or “Light, crisp, refreshing taste!” Besides acquiring the discount itself, the tone is an important part of the use of coupons. The style is like a fishing rod, whereas it attracts the attention of the consumer, and the tone is the hook because it reels the consumer in with the promise of a delicious or trustworthy product. Conventions of a coupon are: most are for discounts below one dollar (manufacturer’s coupons) with a barcode, bogo sales, regular bargains such as 2 for $5 sales, and chances are if you use coupons, you are probably an extreme couponer. If a group of people are asked what they think of when they hear coupon, the first thing that comes to mind will probably be a manufacturer’s coupon or some other conventions listed above. But in fact, there are many other types of coupons that might not even be considered a coupon. Getting free shipping on online orders, getting a certain percentage off of an order, and basic discounted prices are all derivations of coupons. A coupon doesn’t have to have a barcode and a person who uses coupons doesn’t have to be an extreme couponer; however, these are the immediate conventions that are thought of when talking about coupons.
So what makes this thing this thing? According to Google, a coupon is a voucher entitling the holder to a discount for a particular product; therefore, a coupon is basically anything that allows a person to pay for one thing or more than one thing for less than it was originally priced
Torie, you made a great choice on the genre, everybody is familiar with what coupons are and have most likely used them before. This was an enjoyable read, definitely more enjoyable than mine. As a fisherman myself I enjoyed your fishing rod analogy, and it worked perfectly for what you were comparing it to. I kind of disagreed with the statement “chances are if you use coupons, you are probably an extreme couponer”. I think a lot of people use coupons, and that extreme couponers are in the minority when it come to coupon users. I liked how you explained the different types of coupons that people normally wouldn’t think of as coupons. Other conventions you could have included could be thing like enlarged text, which is used to grab people attention. Also certain keywords are used a lot like free, sale, save, or best price.
ReplyDeleteTorie, this is a great genre to pick because I mean, who these days doesn't like coupons?? Saving money? I think yes. I like the way you brought up the tone of the coupons because that certainly isn't what I would've thought of but the way that you tied in their slogans really does help establish their style. Everyone loves to save money and the way that you present the idea of coupons really allows people to better understand how they work and the idea behind them all.
ReplyDeleteTorie, I really liked you example of a textual genre on coupons. It is very similar to what I wrote about (sale signs) because of the same way they stand out and attempt to bring in customers through the doors. Coupons are a great example of a genre because of the way they would help a person save money on an item they’re looking for. I liked how you referenced that coupons can hold exclusions notifying the person ahead of time. I also agree with how you described the tone of coupons as they do use persuading lines and phrases that would attract customers. No one would ever say no to using a coupon so this article definitely shows how coupons can be seen as a textual genre to bring people into stores and save money.
ReplyDeleteTorie, I really like the choice of genre you chose to analyze for this PB. I have never really used coupons before, but this PB has really shed light on how good some of these coupons are. Some of the deals offered by the coupons can really save me some money. I also liked how you included lines like great for snacking straight from the examples to help support your argument. I also like that you explained the different types of coupons because I have always believed that there was only really one type of coupon.
ReplyDeleteTorie, I really liked your choice of coupons as a textual genre. I rarely uses coupons but after reading your post, I felt like I might need to use coupons more often. Since I'm a college student now, I need start saving money more often and coupons are huge key to saving money.
ReplyDeleteI think coupons are an interesting choice for textual analysis. I actually work at CVS so I know WAYYY to much about how coupons there work and when customers receive coupons. I can agree with everything you stated, especially about the fine print. Usually the couponers know the rules and fine print, but when people who don’t usually use coupons try to use them they don’t work. I also like the fishing rod analogy because many times customers will use a coupon for their purchase, and then in their receipt is yet another coupon so they use that coupon and the cycle continues. It’s designed to “hook” the buyer in.
ReplyDeleteTori, I agree with you that coupons are not just for people who are looking to save money, but they are also a good advertising technique. If a potential customer notices that what they normally buy isn’t on sale, but a different, similar product is, they more often than not will choose to try out the item that they can save money on. Even if you’re not generally looking to save money, who doesn’t like saving a couple bucks here and there? And I agree, the immediate convention I think of when I hear the word, “coupon”, is a barcode. I think it’s something that we are all used to. When we hear, “free shipping”, we typically don’t think of that as a coupon, and more as a freebie.
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