Family Purchasing

Intergenerational influences are created throughout the family life cycle as new generations of consumers are loyal to brands that have been used throughout the family, for example the use of cosmetics, or even funeral homes (Wilkie, W. 1994). The large quantity of brands and products used throughout a household is why marketing strategies are developed to target the group, yet mainly the consumer that will have the ultimate purchasing decision over the group (Martinez, E. 1999).



Brassington, F. (2007)



The way in which purchasing decisions are made was studied by Field (1969) and determined influences made over husband, wife and child:

• Discernment - technicalities
• Price - Expensiveness
• Satisfaction - users of the product

Marketing to Children

"We are coming for your children.."

(Guardian, 2007)

Brassington (2007) states that a reason for targeting and marketing to children is used because business want to cultivate a brand loyalty from as early as possible with the consumer. This technique is apparent with marketing ploys devised at MacDonalds, where Happy Meals are promoted using movies and t.v. shows to encourage sales and growth, by as much as 10% (Burk Wood, M. 2004).

Throughout the year children emplore the use of 'pester power' with their parents, after peer pressure from school and friends, in order to get the latest toy or fad (BBC, 2011). Children are often influencers or co-deciders regarding the purchase of consumable goods, personal products and even vacations (Sharma, R. 2008). Another interesting theory is peer influence creates desires and that in turn leads to selective viewing of commercials and creation of requests (Smith, G. 1997).

Groups, Opinion Leaders and Peer Pressure

"Conformity is the process of maintaining or changing behaviour to comply with the norms established by a society, sub-culture or other group."

(p154 Kendall, D. 2010)



The term 'reference group' can also be applied to social groups, and has a less distinctive or pressurised influence on the consumer. Solomon (2010) describes the term to have reference to informational, utilitarian and value-expressive influences, which could best describe the relationship or impact that parents have on children as early consumers. For example, when a child reaches the life cycle stage of becoming independant the supermarket that their parents shopped at would be the most likely choice as they have been influenced by the preferences of others through social interaction. Another way of looking at reference group would be to categorise them (Blythe, 2008);

• Primary Groups (friends, family)
• Secondary Groups (sports clubs)
• Aspirational Groups (groups we want to join)
• Dissociative Groups (do NOT want to be a part of)
• Formal Groups (members only clubs)
• Informal Groups (moral support)
• Automatic/ Category Groups (age, culture, gender)
• Virtual Groups (forums, blogs, social networking)

All of these groups are not mutually exclusive but all affect the individual through social interaction, and all express a need for compliance to be 'one of the gang'.



Mean Girls (2004)

Solomon Asch (cited in Forsyth, D. 2010) tried to explore why a unanimous majority was so influential on the individual and why having a partner helped to relieve the pressure of social outcast. Whilst there is a certain amount of peer pressure from a number of people within a group it is also limited, a strength in numbers that becomes less influential no matter the scale; "there is a marginally decreasing effect of increased supplies in people" (Latane, 1981. cited in Forsyth, D 2010) as shown in the graph below.

A report by Isabelle Chaney (2000) into opinion leaders, and whether or not to use them for market segmentation, identified that opinion leaders should be isolated and used as a tool for establishing marketing stragies and disseminating information via a word of mouth channel. This technique has in fact been used by The Washington Herald (2007), who target opinion leaders of industry to engage and influence major topical debates and then spread the word about new ideas and concepts, whilst constantly in the glare of the media.

My Timeline - Events 1990 - 2011



Death of Princess Diana
31st August 1997



Spice Girls Break Up :'(
November 2000

 

World Trade Centre Bombings
11th September 2001

 


Invasion of Iraq - WMD's
March 2003

 

London Bombings
7th July 2005




Madeleine McCann Missing
29th April 2007




Prince William Marries Kate Middleton
29th April 2011




Osama Bin Laden Killed by US Miliary
1st May 2011



A Pandora's Box of Subjective Views

Values are difficult to define, Jocano (1993, cited in Tiempo, 2005) brings to light the Fillipino definition; objects, ideas and actions, consisting of price, worth, importance and consequence. The Westernised view of values is summed up by Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (1995) to represent consumer beliefs about life and acceptable behaviour, expressed via motivations and avenues in which to attain these goals.

In the world of the marketer, to establish the core values of the business is to unlock the door of corporate success. By understanding a the values of the consumer, the business is able to target itself predominantly within the market by creating a value/ mission statement, as well as a five step plan which will produce a marketing plan, largely helped by the use of 'value proposition' (Dunbar, I. McDonald, M. 2004). It has become increasingly well known that segmentation according to product or region (one size fits all approach) is not effective when compared to segmentation via needs and types as individualistic sales techniques can be delivered to create and maintain strong relationships.





Determine Value Proposition (McDonald, M. Dunbar, I. 2004)

Another technique designed to assess the image of a brand is called 'Laddering'. "Laddering exposes the meaning structure, which the respondent uses to decide upon an action, usually the purchase of the product" (Van Riel, C. Fombrun, C. 2007), and the most important question used by the laddering techique is why?

 'Psychographics examine the motivations people have in purchasing products and the lifestyle they have and desire' (Kahle, L. 2000) and to analyse these motivations, Kahle devised a list of values that included self-fulfillment, excitement, security and sense of belonging. This list is very well known to marketers however, a system devised by Rokeach (Engel, J. Blackwell, R. Miniard, P. 1995) shows extensive lists of values that fall into either Terminal (desirable end-states) or Instrumental (modes of conduct). By ranking Rokeach's values in order of individual preference, it is soon determined which product or service market contains the interest for each consumer.

 Below are my answers from a test taken to assess the type of person I am in regards to ownership, media preferences, demographics and hobbies (Strategic Business Insight, 2011).

Values at work



I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught..

"Any more than transient modification of behaviour which presumably results from past experience and not from organic change"

Wenger, Jones and Jones, 1956

(cited in Hilgard, E and Marquis, D. 1961)



This definition provides an overall reference to the process of learning, however 'not from organic change' or instances where learning has not taken place, according to Jim Blythe (2008), refers to the following circumstances:

• Species response tendancies (instincts or relexes)
• Maturation (behavioural changes according to hormonal changes)
• Temporary states of the organism (tiredness, hunger, drunkeness)
• Damage to the brain (surgery, disease or injury)



The Connectionists

Classical conditioning is the explanation used by perhaps the most recognised of learning theorists, Ivan Pavlov. His experiments revolved around the conditioned reflexes of dogs, where the basic principle contained two ideas or objects that were connected by prospects of a reward or punishment being given as the result of a certain action (Chisnall, P. 1995)

The Law of Effect was also developed, alongside classical conditioning, by Edward Thorndike in 1905 using experiments he designed involving cats and the 'puzzle box'. This experiment involved placing the cat inside a puzzle box, with a string and push pedal as the only method of escape, and leaving a bowl of food on the outside. After engaging in seemingly odd behaviour, the animal would release the door and go on to eat it's prize, leaving Thorndike with the view that the random process of trial-and-error had been adopted, and only when accessing the food did the animal realise the successful behaviour (Nevid, J. 2009).

Operant conditioning is another form of behavioural or associative learning, created by Burrhus F. Skinner. The theory is dependant on the 'organism' performing everyday activities, however, when encountering a re-inforcing stimulus, the organism's behaviour will be rewarded or re-inforced to increase the probability of the behaviour being repeated (Coon, D. Mitterer, J. 2010)





Latent Learning is a process through which there is no obvious reward yet information is retained, only to be recalled at a later date when necessary. Goodenough, McGuire and Jakob (2010) explain latent learning through this example: "an animal can learn important characteristics of it's environment during unrewarded explorations to use the information later. Even though the knowledge is not put to immediate use, it can later become lifesaving."

Observational Learning, as described by Solomon et al. (2010) is the process of learning whereby people watch the behaviour of others  and recognise the reinforcements associated with such activity. An example for this could be foreign language lessons, as evident in a clip from My Big Fat Greek Wedding...

Try it yourself...how do you learn?

The Diary that we all carry about with us

"It seems that without learning, new memories could not be developed, and without memory, old learning could not be manifested"

(Kendrick, D. Rilling, M. Denny, M. 1986)

Shiffman and Kanuk (1994) organise the minefield that is memory by creating 'storehourses' in which information can be categorised according to it's relevance. The consist of:

• The Sensory Store; An 'after image, very short lived, but crammed with more information needed'.
• The Short-term Store; The rehearsal stage of remembering, the 'looking up a phone number only to forget it as soon as you look away'.
• Long-term Store; The 'first grade teacher', even though forgettable at the time, easily retainable throughout week, months and years.

The original Santa before Coca-Cola 

Nostalgia

Memories, memories, memories...



Think back to when you were a child. Or when you had your first pet? Made your first friend at 'big school'? Smiling yet? 

Solomon (2010) suggests that nostalgic triggers help the consumer relate back to their original identity when current situations threaten to change the environment. With that kind of emotional reaction to a product, marketers can entice the consumer back into the past with feelings of joy and youth. A particularly emotional television advert was created by John Lewis in 2010. The advert was played during economic recession, when people tend to be more nostalgic, and emphasised the brands heritage as it has been a part of peoples lives for many years (Marketing Week, 2011). The effectiveness of the advert is also enhanced with the use of colour and music to grab attention. The song is very emotive and relates to consumers in different segments, whilst the use of red as a main colour evokes love, warmth and romance. Smell could also provoke stimuli with the birthday cake images and the outdoor scenes in the country, showing an idyllic lifestyle

Brands that use nostalgia to provoke consumer stimuli have products which will have affected people throughout their lives. The desire for nostalgia by the consumer is intensified because of the lack of predictability and opportunity in current society (Blake Project, 2010). When reflecting back on childhood there was always an element of risk with new experiences and challenges, presenting excitement in a yet to be explored world. Examples of these brands are Cadbury's, Marks and Spencer and Coca-Cola.

Marks and Spencer captured the imagination of the consumer by going 125 years back in time to when the company was created. No-one from that era is alive anymore so the feeling is traditional yet vibrant and, by casting Twiggy as the persona of the advert, the older generation can remember back to when she was a young, enigmatic model  in the 60's. One of the first sentences spoken is that the M&S "changed us Brit's lives' forever, bringing in a taste of the exotic", which re-vitalises the brand image and brings an element of risk to the consumer by "changing their lives forever".  Other adverts that create a nostalgic scene using props are those for Audi and Cadbury. By creating a childish play set with car races and old vehicles, the consumer can easily relate back to when they had enormous fun playing with toys, and who doesn't remember sitting at school waiting to have their hideous uniform photos?



Self Concept

One man's rags is another man's riches...

Solomon (2010) describes how 'props' are important to the [gender] role which we play, props that vary across 'constellations' of products and services. He defines self-concept by "people see themselves as they imagine others see them", and also that, as part of that image, jewelery, shoes and clothes also have an impact. By creating these roles for men and women, marketers can launch their products at the category of people that they think the product will have greatest impact in an environment where people are becoming less satisfied with what they already have.


Research conducted by K. Hamilton and L. Hassan (2008) has shown that there is a strong link between the 'social role' and the 'self' and that other consumers influence the construction of personalities. This could be interpreted as peer pressure, when the circles that we travel in are affected by everyone in it, also other groups around it, and we are influenced into buying things our 'self' wouldn't normally consider. An example of this would be celebrity fitness DVDs, showing the 'before' and 'after' footage, almost what 'we' do and could look like, to fit in, if we bought this DVD.

Consumers can also strive to achieve their desired social role and so, through the acquisition of possessions, they can symbolize their personality through what is expected, a theory known as symbolic self-completion (Gollwitzer et al., 1982). This theory links to Solomons theory of having props to create an image, and the 'constellation' of products is effectively the the symbolic personality for the consumer.

Personality

"The inner psychological characteristics of individuals that lead to consistent responses in their environment"

(Jobber, 2010)

Perception is involved in every aspect of human life and affects judgements, awareness and social effectiveness. People differ in how they perceive the world because of differences in interests, values and motives, aka personality (Myers-Briggs Foundation, n.d.). There are so many factors that influence a development of personality starting from culture and class, to family, beliefs and lifestyle. Each personality is unique however can be categorised into sub-groups using research based indicators. The most well known psychometric test was developed by Myers-Briggs, which has consequently helped others to develop similar methods of deducing personality types. After taking the test, each candidate is given a 'type' that will describe certain traits (click of the picture above to see different outcomes). A few tests are listed below if you fancy seeing your own result:

http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/

http://www.personality100.com/page/registration/userreg.xml

https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/personality/

The relevance of personality in marketing and consumer behaviour all comes down to branding. The effectiveness of a product with the targeted audience relies on whether the company has selected the most suitable consumer for it's goods. This is very relevant to brand personality as the consumers characterise the brand on how it is perceived (Jobber, 2010) and the more the consumer can identify with the product, the more likely it is that they will purchase it. J Aaker (1997) developed the "Big Five" which differentiated brands into product categories; Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication and Ruggedness.The brands below carry very a distinctive personality and image:

Other research into personality shows different methods for categorising people, which even relies on body size like the work by William Sheldon in the 1940's (see Figure 1). More experimental work into personality relating to body size is from Ayurvedic medicine in India which is at least 5,000 years old (Neill, 2005). This research may not be the most accurate of determinants but it is interesting to see what early scientists thought created a personality.

Figure 1



Gender

Depiction of men and women in advertising

The way marketers create campaigns for specific products has developed significantly through research into sex-types, and it is apparent that relevant message content appealing to gender social roles influences consumers more. Society has created goals that are typically male or female, agentic and communal, and expects each role to apply these goals in life.  Agentic goals are stereotypically male, where self assertion and mastery are traits, whereas communal (female) considered to foster harmonious relationships (Solomon, 2010). For example, women are more likely than men to elaborate on certain message cues that require limited attention and also make greater use of these cues to render a judgement (Myers-Levy et al., 1991). However, according to 'She-conomy' (2009), only 3% of advertising creative directors are women, and, astonishingly, 71% of women feel they are only targeted for beauty and cleaning products.

The above video is a chocolate advert from the 1990's, starring a woman on a train who is given a 'Secret' chocolate bar to look after by a mysterious gentleman, with the storyline carrying links to an Agatha Christie novel; Murder on the Orient Express. The setting is on a luxurious train and with danger and romance adding character to the scene it is obvious that the intended audience is women. With the use of music, clothes and script, a scene can be developed where the female character is portrayed as sexy, smart and an important role in the story.

Appealing to the male audience is a completely different kettle of fish! With a male's receptiveness being less than a woman's it is not a surprise that the same statement can be applied to advertisement (Market Leader, 2009). The Heineken advert below emphasises the difference between the gender roles and plays it's message via simplistic humour to enhance desirability of the drink (Marketing Week, 2010).



In general, male orientated adverts seem to be devoid of emotional depth and hidden innuendo's and contain only one or two features (Moss, 2009). Plain colours, dominant, powerful language helping men to create decisions based on partially digested information and "content without clear benefit is regarded as a waste of time" (Euro Effies on WARC, 2009).

A hidden, almost secretive, message lies behind many female advertisements, to help continue the illusion of women being mysterious creatures. Colours like pink, peach, white and purples infuse the marketing communications with feelings of freedom and glamour. The text tends to be minimal, but voice overs create stories that women relate or inspire to.

Below are some more examples of gender orientated campaigns:

Male:



Female:

Androgynous:



Boys vs Girls

Gender Research



Sex is a biological fact however gender is a learned behaviour (Mayne, 2000). Men and women are taught, through socialisation and mass media, what to look like and how to behave. This coaching starts from an early age as children are influenced in what is typical male or female behaviour. Men are, stereotypically, forward thinkers, leaders and breadwinners in the family, whilst women are the home-makers, cooks and child bearers with slim figures and pretty faces (see below Jell-O ad). These sex roles vary with culture, age or sexuality (Chandler, 2001) but are socially accepted as normality in many environments.

 

Jell-O, 1970 (All American Ads of the 70's)

Masculinity or femininity are not biologically determined traits and vary culturally, but stereotyped characteristics for each gender are also known  as sex-types. Possessing a mixture of male and female characteristics is described an androgyny and there is a distinction between sex-typed and androgynous people (Solomon, 2010).

Finding out which characteristics people have can be assessed using different tools like Bem's Sex Role Inventory (BMSI) or even the BBC's Sex I.D. profile test.

Men and women process information differently based on their distinguished gender identities, so therefore sex (biological) and gender (social) hold important implications for the consumption of advertising (Hogg et al. 2003).

Equality vs. Equality

Over the past 30 years the argument of equality for women has been at the forefront of the Western culture. Feminists would have us believe that women are the same as men and deserve the same opportunities and treatment, however mentally, and anatomically, we are different. With women expected to hold 60% of wealth in the U.S. by the end of 2010 and 95% of household purchasing decisions (CBS Business, 2007), marketers and organisations must continuously refocus campaigns to reflect this statistic in order to capture this wealth.