In fall 2004, sears and kmart announced a merger of their operations. the new company, known as sears holdings, will be based at sears headquarters outside chicago. while the new company will operate both sears and kmart stores, "several hundred" kmarts will be converted to sears. the companies currently operate about 3,500 stores combined. kmart is known for its in-store special offers which it signals with blue lights. recently kmart has been losing ground to industry goliath wal-mart stores inc. the troy, michigan based kmart has a history stretching back more than 100 years from its start as kresge dime stores. to compete, kmart has introduced super k stores which offer thousands of name brand products for personal use, home and auto, as well as full service grocery stores.
(jackie sindrich and michael erman, "no sure way seen to keep kmart's blue light shining," reuters, aol online, january 4, 2002.
parija bhatnagar and chris isodore, "the kmart sears deal,"cnnmoney, money. cnn. com, november 17, 2004.)
one person receives a direct mail piece from super k that offers a free t-shirt with a super k logo on it and thinks the offer is pretty cool. another person receives the same direct mail piece and thinks that anyone who would display the name of a grocery store on his or her clothing must be unsophisticated. the differing interpretations are most likely the result of
a. differing content.
b. the rules and regulations of the direct mail medium.
c. incorrect target marketing.
d. the salient social networks of the recipients.