For the purposes of this paper, it is important that we take the time to define a few terms.
Marketing
The process of creating a product, distributing the product, pricing the product, services and ideas I order to facilitate satisfactory exchange relationships in a dynamic environment. (Funeral Service Marketing classroom notes- Gary B. Double Instructor)
cremation
The reduction of the dead human body to inorganic bone fragments by intense heat in a specifically designed retort or chamber. (Funeral Directing & Funeral Service Management Ralph L. Klicker, PhD.)
Answering the ever challenging question concerning the marketing of any product, let alone cremation can be a time consuming and challenging process. Long hours studying statistics often lead the average person to hopelessness and despair. What sets apart good marketers from the rest of the very average people of society is their ability to touch and trigger sensory nerves and create a demand, or a perceived demand for a product.
We are looking closely at the product of cremation. When taking the time to examine current trends concerning the job of marketing cremation in the Untied States of America in the new millennium, it is impossible to do so without coming across some very fascinating facts. (See appendix) Before exploring these facts and statistics, it should be noted that before the time of Christ (before the Common Era) it was customary for people to be cremated. Greek people felt that because a death occurred something evil, or bad must have been within the remains of the ounce living person. It only made sense to burn the evil or bad elements that caused the death to occur.
At the time of Jesus¡¦ death, cremation was sti...
... middle of paper ...
...e increased cremation rates that we are seeing today. There is no quicker way to drive a consumer away from a product or service than to make them feel ripped off.
As future funeral industry laborers, we need to be mindful of this very issue and not allow this issue to resurface itself. We need to give our families value for their dollar whether they should choose cremation or a traditional funeral. When families and friends walks away from a service that you worked hard to organize, it should be in your best interest to have all who attended to have no doubt in their minds that they got everything and than more out of their now justified funeral bill.
This paper leaves off where another one could and probably should start. The topic would be: ¡§How to Completely Satisfy a Funeral Consumer¡K Beyond There Own Expectations.¡¨
The article was an enjoyment to read. It provides an insider's view of what goes on in the mortuary, where not many people can access. It deals with a subject which people do not usually seek information on but are nonetheless intrigued by. The style lessens the formality of the subject, which makes it less scary to deal with. The descriptive language is effectively used. The expression of the author's feeling and thoughts encourages empathy from the reader with the author.
Since each funeral home is for the majority independent, the “leader” is either the owner or the manager. The position is achieved th...
In the past four decades the cost of a funeral service has risen 1,328% (Boring) and that’s not just because Morticians wanted to out of pure greed. One must take into account that modern mortuaries are much more of a business than before. Prior to 1970, the majority of funeral homes were were independent, family run. Today about 14% of funeral homes are run by a publicly traded corporation (Boring) meaning there’s a plethora of capital involved in these businesses now. The homes are built better and by professionals rather than by individuals with some tools, the home’s are extremely more sanitary since there’s more than likely no one living in these funeral homes unlike before, and the quality of the products these services are providing is greater than before.
“In most human society's death is an extremely important cultural and social phenomenon, sometimes more important than birth” (Ohnuki-Tierney, Angrosino, & Daar et al. 1994). In the United States of America, when a body dies it is cherished, mourned over, and given respect by the ones that knew the person. It is sent to the morgue and from there the family decides how the body should be buried or cremated based on...
To better understand if these numbers represent commonalities in the funeral services industry it is essential to compare SCI to its closest market
In “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain,” Jessica Mitford presents an intriguing, if unnerving, argument for the generality of death and the funeral business specifically in the United States. She explains that the role of the funeral director has evolved to the point that he (or she) “has put on a well-oiled performance in which the concept of death played no part whatsoever”. Embalming plays a principal role in this exhibit because it is the method through which the funeral industry can present the deceased in a manner that will make them appear as presentable or “not as dead as they should look” as is possible, given their limitations. Embalming and presenting the dead has spawned a vast supporting market into which, Mitford notes, Americans
When a person dies, as many have over thousands of years, a main concern is how to dispose of the body. It would be easy to toss the deceased in a forest and so be it, however, it remains important aspect to cherish the dead and treat their body with respect. Both western and nonwestern cultures method of disposing the body incorporate sculptural aspects; whether it is in cemeteries, tombs, sarcophagi or repurposing body parts to make sculptures.
Morbid Funeral Home, Inc. is an accrual basis taxpayer who sells preneed funeral contracts. Customers pay Morbid in advance for goods and services to be provided at the contract beneficiary’s death. Under state law the payments are refundable if the contract purchaser requests them any time until the goods and services are furnished. Morbid, for both financial and tax accounting purposes, includes the payments in income for the year the funeral service is provided. Morbid insists that the amounts it receives under the contracts are customer deposits. The IRS agent insists that the payments are prepaid income that is subject to tax in the year of receipt.
In the essay “On the Fear of Death” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross focuses on dying and the effects it has on children as well as those who are dying, while in Jessica Mitford’s “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” focuses more on the after fact when the deceased is being prepared of their last appearance. Both authors, point out that the current attitude toward death is to simply cover it up. A successful funeral is when the deceased looks “Lyf Lyk” in Mitford’s Essay, but in Kubler-Ross’ it is dying at a peace with oneself, no IVs attached. Both authors feel that the current views of death is dehumanizing. Mitford points this out with the allusion that the funeral parlors are a theatrical play, while Kubler-Ross comments “I think there are many reasons
Less work for them to do if family members chose for their loved one to be cremated
According to the textbook, memorial services are becoming increasingly popular in many Protestant churches. This coincides with my family’s faith; we belong to a local Presbyterian church. The memorial will take place at The West Metro Chapel, part of the cremation package through Newcomer Funeral Homes and Crematory. This will reduce the costs significantly, consolidating the facility rental fee to only $675. Considering their will be no open casket or closed casket display the cremation will take place shortly after death, making the date of the service more flexible ensuring everyone who wants to attend the service can make it. Cremating the body will also be universally ideal for any condition the body is in from the cause of
Imagine yourself as a mortician, certified as an embalmer, retort operator, funeral director, and a funeral cosmetologist. You get a call late at night, there’s been a terrible accident and someone has died. You arrive at the hospital and are directed to a small room where the body of the deceased is being held. There’s blood all over the sheets as the doctor and coronary assistant zip up the body bag and inform you the body was badly mangled in a car accident, which is going to make reconstructing the deceased very difficult. Your assistant puts the body on the stretcher and loads it into the hearse while you talk to the wife of the deceased man. She tells you they plan to have a funeral so you give her your card and a reassuring word before leaving the hospital and driving back to the funeral home. Now your job begins, not only will you have to reconstruct this man’s disfigured body, but you must meet with the family, discuss funeral arrangements, and deal with the family’s emotional trauma that comes with losing a loved one. Although working in the funeral business can be emotionally draining, it’s a satisfying feeling to see mourning families able to say goodbye to their loved ones. Despite the fact that working so closely with the deceased can be chilling, Mortuary science can be a thrilling field to work in.
The elders have asked for a moral opinion. What is one to say? If the belief that the man must be buried is one deeply ingrained in the hearts and minds of the community, then a decision to cremate him would cause an uproar. On the other hand, if there are some who sympathize with the man, either decision might cause a schism within the community. The ultimate action would have to depend on much more than the culture's belief about burial. It would have to take into account the culture's beliefs on individual rights, freedom of belief, and the validity of the man's will. It would also have to take into account the moral implications of carrying out a man's dying wish and the repercussions of violating a sacred social institution. This is not a decision to be taken lightly, but by stepping back and weighing the options carefully, one can come to a conclusion which would be the most moral given the situation. I say most moral because there really is no right choice here. Any action taken will most definitely be wrong to at least one group of people. Here no plea can be made to universal morality because neither belief in its specific sense appeals to any pure moral intuition. People on the other side of the world might have neither the belief that the man should be buried, nor the belief that his ashes should be spread. Each person's choice would be too influenced by his own cultural morality, and so nobody would really have a right to judge.
Cremation: Cremation reduces the human body into cremated remains within a matter of hours. The process is quick in comparison to traditional body decomposition through the burial method. Cremation, especially when planned through a funeral home that
I was very excited to take Death and Dying as a college level course. Firstly, because I have always had a huge interest in death, but it coincides with a fear surrounding it. I love the opportunity to write this paper because I can delve into my own experiences and beliefs around death and dying and perhaps really establish a clear personal perspective and how I can relate to others in a professional setting.