[Community] Growing the Community

[Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller]

Am 18.06.2013 um 17:51 schrieb Bob Ham:

> On 2013-06-18 15:31, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote:
>> Am 18.06.2013 um 17:06 schrieb Bob Ham:
>>> On 2013-06-18 14:24, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote:
> 
>>>> The
>>>> mass market just looks at price, next on price and again on price.
>>>> I.e. the lowest price wins. Freedom: what is this good for? Openness:
>>>> what this is good for?
>>> 
>>> To me, this argument doesn't hold up in light of the Fairphone.  You could add to the above: Fairness: what is this good for?
>> 
>> I assume if someone is just looking for a low price (and that is what
>> "the masses" are)
> 
> To me, the Fairphone shows that "the masses" are not just looking for a low price.

Well, it attracts a small percentage of the world population. But that is something different from "the masses".

Marketing science language asks: what is your "target group". If the answer is "the masses", it means a (big) portion of world population that looks for lowest price and minimal features. There are niches where people accept to pay more for better features (tangible and non-tangible). But by definition they are small(er).

Generally Fairphone goes into the same "niche" as "Fair Trade" e.g. Coffee.

As a side-note: Do you know that there are complete cordless phones (incl. charger, cables, manual, package) sold at 9,99 USD and GSM phones for 12.95 USD?

Maybe it is just a sophistic interpretation of words ("masses") where we appear to disagree...

Nikolaus