To Jenna (and Von)---"gullibility" and American regions

Submitted by Straight_Talk_Luigi (United States), Apr 12, 2010 at 22:24

Hi Jenna--

To start, let me just first clarify that Von made an interesting point in a response as to why she disagrees with me that people from the South or the Great Plains may be seen as more gullible.

What I was trying to say was that people from these are targeted because they are seen as nice and hospitable. I suppose you may have heard that a Midwest farmer will give his shirt off his back to help his neighbor. These really are cultural stereotype, but I have seen enough cases to determine that they often pretend to be from small towns, specially in MN, SD, ND, TN. That does not mean they won't hit the megalopolis of the Northeast or LA, but it seemed to me they really went out of their way to be from small towns.

On a personal note, I would sooner trust someone from the South, Midwest or Middle America than a know-it-all from the political class anyday.

To elaborate, my thought is that is a general marketing scheme. Typically, scammers and even marketers that come in all shades of gray try and target people who have money. People who live in suburban areas and certain parts of large cities have the most money. They are frequently beat over the head with all kinds of promotions, and because they are hit with everything under the sun, they tend to more adept and keen towards such offers.

Now, that does not mean that people who live in the Plains or South do not have money. North Dakota has a lot of billionares, for example.So, there are, of course exceptions to the rules.

But the point is that they are going after a more or less untapped market.

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