Scintific Paper

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

GROUP 6

Sai Alekya

Sachin Kudva

Shriram N

Sriram Swaminathan

Sudipta Mondal

Tony Joseph

SUMMARY

The article mainly emphasizes on how the bottled-water industry has grown in the U.S by persuading majority of the people to buy it. First, the author, Charles Fishman, compares three major production places for bottled-water – Fiji, Poland Spring in Maine & San Pellegrino in Italy. The author focuses on the irony that while more than half of the people of Fiji do not have access to pure drinking water in Fiji, the country still contributes more for packaged drinking water. He also throws light on the fact that though majority of the Americans have access to drinking water via tap water they still prefer bottled water. This is a sign of hedonic behavior. Because bottled water is used only on the basis of comfort. The major persuading fact used by these firms is that bottled water is pure, especially showing cognitive advertisements by disclosing the source of the water. The explanation carried with the projection of certain facts which show how the bottled water has replaced carbonated drinks in many places. This can be attributed to the fact that many people prefer water over carbonated drinks which gives a healthy advantage. But in the long run there aren’t any exclusive benefits of drinking bottled water when compared to tap water. This leads to the conclusion that people are paying for something that is available at free of cost. Then the author moves on with explaining the environmental impacts of using a plastic bottle. Since majority of the companies used plastic bottles with carbon content, the piling of these has increased. This can have an adverse impact on the environment. He doesn’t forget to mention that the companies have reduced the carbon content to an extent making the bottle light to an extent. By doing this more and more people buy this owing to the lightness of the bottle which results in increased sales. He moves on and explains guilt feeling that could be associated with Fiji water. The author’s words throws light on the fact that the Fiji water company pays almost three times more to its laborers who otherwise would be starving without a job. Hence, there is no way for the consumers to feel guilty about buying water from a starving nation. Overall, the article portrays how various dimensions of production and sourcing of bottled water have been used for persuading people to buy more bottled water.