题目内容
Despite the fact that businesses believe celebrities(著名人士)have a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers,researchers have discovered that this does not seem to be the case.British and Swiss researchers conducted a study showing that advertisements featuring endorsements(认可)by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people.The difference is that regular people prefer to purchase goods that are bought by other regular people.
In a sample of 298 university students,researchers presented a magazine advertisement for a digital camera that included an endorsement by an imaginary student saying the camera was “hot” and his “preferred choice” The same advertisement was shown to other students, but with a difference:the camera was endorsed by a famous person in Germany.The researchers also measured how important it was for consumers that the purchased products make a good impression on others.
While the students said that both advertisements were beneficial,the one made by the student topped the celebrity one if students aimed to impress others with their purchases.More than half of the students,who admitted to purchasing products that would impress others, said they were influenced by the student advertisement.Only 20%said the celebrity one would affect their buying decision.For those who do not buy to impress,only 5%focused on the student advertisement.
Professor Brett Martin from the University of Bath's School of Management,explained that the findings can be used not only in Germany,but in other countries as well.“Our research questions whether celebrities are the best way to sell products,”said Mr. Martin.“Celebrities can be effective but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from an ordinary person.This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy.”
56.The underlined word “pull” in the first paragraph means______________.
A.physical force B.influence C.value D.communication
57.According to the research, common consumers tend to buy fashionable products endorsed by__________.
A.people who resemble them
B.common people whom they know nothing about
C.a person who doesn't buy to impress others
D.famous persons
58.Those who don't want to buy a product to impress others ________________.
A.are less interested in the celebrity advertisement
B.are actually influenced by neither of the advertisements
C.are mostly affected by the student advertisement
D.pay less attention to the student advertisement
59.The passage mainly wants to tell us that___________________.
A.celebrity endorsements fail to have expected effect
B.companies spend too much money in advertising with celebrities
C.student's ads are more reliable than celebrity ones
D.companies can't keep up with the buying trend
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Over three million people will do their Christmas shopping entirely online this year without once visiting an actual shop, a poll (民意调查) has found. Overcrowding and long queues in shops are forcing people away from the high street as the hassle (烦扰) of Christmas shopping becomes too much.
The number of people turning their backs on the high street is almost one million higher than it was last year, according to the poll by YouGov. Last Christmas 2.4 million shoppers did not do any of their shopping in actual shops. The figure this year is predicted to be around 3.4 million, equal to around 7 percent of the adult population.
Over a third of people said that the main turn-off about shopping on the high street is 0ver-crow-ding. Meanwhile almost a quarter said that long queues at the cheek-out are the worst thing about it.
Of the 2.065 people pored, even those who are stir taking to the shops plan to spend less time in them this Christmas. Around 31 percent of shoppers who plan to spend at least some time on the high street will spend less than half of their shopping time in actual shops, using the rest of the time to shop remotely via the internet. This compares to 28 percent of people last year. Meanwhile the proportion of people spending over half of their shopping time in high street shops has dropped from 41 percent last year to 39 percent this year. Just 2 percent of people said that they are looking forward to dealing wi.th store staff this festival season.
Guy Boxall, senior product marketing manager at Casio Business Solutions Division, which commissioned the research from YouGov, said that despite the fall in people visiting the high street,humans are "social creatures" who actually like spending time together.
"Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers (零售商) should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away," said Mr. Boxall.
【小题1】According to the poll, in this year's Christmas
A.about 7 % of the population will do both online and actual shopping |
B.about 31% of shoppers will do half of their shopping in actual shops |
C.about 39% of shoppers will do more than half of their shopping in actual shops |
D.over three million shoppers will quit actual shopping just because of the long queues |
A.Something that makes people lose heart |
B.Something that makes people lose face |
C.Something that makes people lose interest |
D.Something that makes people lose courage |
A.retailers should reduce their in-store goods. |
B.retailers wiR be pessimistic about the result of this research. |
C.retailers should focus on the advantage of in-store shopping. |
D.retailers will make more profits this Christmas than last Christmas |
A.Concerned. | B.Doubtful. | C.Approving. | D.Objective. |