Cultural Discussion - Coupons

Cultural Discussion — Coupons

What is a coupon? ______________________________________________________

Types of Coupons:

One type of coupon allows you to reduce the cost of an item. For example, Pizza Hut (in Japan) often gives away coupons (on their menus) which allow you to take ¥600 or ¥800 off of the price of orders of ¥2500 or ¥3500 yen or more.

What other types of coupons are there?

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Coupons in Japan:

What types of businesses use coupons in Japan?
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Which types of business never use coupons in Japan?
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Where do you get coupons?
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Which kinds of coupons have you used?

Are you more likely to buy something if you have a coupon for it? Why? Why not?

Why do you think companies give away coupons?

Coupons in America:

Here is some news about coupon use in America:
“Americans took 3 billion coupons to retailers last year, a 33% drop from 2000, according to NCH Marketing Services Inc., a Deerfield, Ill.-based coupon processor. At the same time, the average coupon value has risen from 79 cents to 89 cents.”
(Washington Monthly magazine, April 1, 2006)

Answer these questions about this news:

• True or False Americans are using coupons more than before.
• True or False Americans can save an average of 10 more cents per coupon compared to the past.

Americans use coupons the most often in grocery stores or supermarkets. The coupons they use are given away by the makers of various brand name products. For example, Hershey’s chocolate company will give away coupons for their candy. These coupons usually are given away with newspapers (especially the Sunday paper) but you can get some coupons by visiting web sites and printing out the coupons. For example, a Hershey’s coupon from a web site is shown at below:


(Teachers: Click this picture to bring up a larger one which is more legible on a new page.)

Try to answer these questions about the coupon:

How much must you buy in order to use this coupon?

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If you spent $20 on chocolate, how much would you save with this coupon?

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Finding Coupons:

Coupons are so popular that there is a web site that lets you find all the coupons that can be used in your city. This web site is www.valpak.com. When you visit this web site, you enter your city or town’s zip code (postal code) and it shows you all the places which you can get coupons from. You can click on the links and print out the
coupons that you want to use.

Here is part of a page of search results:

(Teachers: Click this picture to bring up a larger one which is more legible on a new page.)

Would you use a web site like this? Why? Why not?

FYI:

Wikipedia's definition of a coupon is here.

Types of coupons (use this list for the second question in this lesson to augment what the student has said):

• Buy one (item), get another (item) free.
• Price reduction by %. (e.g., 10% off the retail price)
• Price reduction by a set amount of money. (e.g., $1.00 off the retail price)
• Free shipping.
• Free gift with purchase (of an item). (free toothbrush with purchase of toothpaste)
• Free extra service with the purchase of a service. (e.g., free cleaning of the inside of
• your car with purchase of a car wash and wax)
• Free food item or drink with meal purchase at a restaurant. (e.g., free Coke with
• purchase of a lunch set at a fast food restaurant)

Which type of coupon is most useful in your opinion? Which is least useful?

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