Markets Turbulent - Essay Example

1. Introduction 1 Background Competition in every field has made the markets turbulent and selling relies on how the product or the brand is projected. Consumers are attracted through advertising and promotions. The first impression that a consumer attains through advertising influences his purchasing decisions. To create a positive impression, companies try to create a distinctive brand image for their products. For instance in the promotion of General Motors’ Chevrolet trucks, they emphasized the image of “Like a rock” (Kim, Han & Park, 2001). Human characteristics are associated with a brand to emphasize the quality of the product. It is generally believed that brands have personalities just as humans do. Brand personality is seen as a valuable factor in creating an attachment and bonding with the product in the same say as human create attachment and bonding. The similar measures of personality attributes and factors are used in the promotion of brands. Since it is commonly used by a wide variety of products, this research would aim to ascertain to what extent having a brand personality increases consumers’ brand loyalty. 1.2 Research rationale The definition of brand personality differs and so do the attributes that are applicable across different nations. Literature is available on how a brand owner could use brand personality as a way to build and maintain brands. Literature is also available on the packaging as a means of building brand personality. Brand image differs across goods and services. Very little literature is available on celebrity endorsement enhance the brand image and builds brand personality although it is often seen to be very effective. The researches conducted so far express the need that brand personality represents an extensive field for research. Celebrities like David Beckham are lending their names and the brand owners are capitalizing on this concept. It is essential to determine to what extent celebrity endorsement helps in creating brand image and establish the brand. 1.3 Research problem To what extent is celebrity endorser important in building brand personality and how these influence consumers’ decisions? Because of the diverse literature available, it is important to understand how the consumer perceives the brand. 1.4 Research aims and objectives How is the brand personality communicated through advertisements? Are all of the Big Five personality traits equally useful in attracting consumers? To what extent do consumers consider brand personality important in their purchasing decisions? How important is a celebrity endorser important in influencing consumers’ decisions? The first questions deals with the different forms in which brand personality is communicated. This includes packaging, advertising, positioning etc. The Big Five personality traits that influence personality traits have to be studied in detail as authors have diverse opinion and priorities in this area. Again, these could vary across products and hence a detailed study is considered essential. The third questions deals with consumer’s preference for different aspects of personality in choosing a product. Do they give importance to the packaging, to the advertising, the advertising media or to the sales team? What according to them is the most essential feature which gives the brand its image? The fourth and the most important question is the choice of having a celebrity endorsing the product. Does this have more preference over other features of brand image? How does a celebrity succeed in creating an impact on the consumers? 2. Literature Review Marketing communications play a very vital role in developing brands. A brand is not merely a name, logo or a slogan. It is the customers’ perception of the stimulus when the brand is presented (Berry & Lampo, 2004). Branding implications differ across goods and services. In the case of goods the focus is on the brand where in the case of services like airlines, it is the company that is important. Services can again be labour-intensive or equipment-intensive. A labour-intensive service brand can only be as strong as the people performing the service. Three important guiding principles suggested for developing strong labour-intensive brands are orchestrate the clues, connect emotionally and internalize the brand. A brand personality is a very important feature in developing a strong brand identity. Brand personality has been defined as the outward face of a brand, its characteristics most closely associated with human traits (Upshaw, 1995 cited by Wallenklint, 1998). The perceived personality of the person is associated with nearly everything associated with that person which includes the neighborhood, friends, activities, clothes and manner of acting. Brand personality ahs also been defined as “the unique set of human personality traits both applicable and relevant to brands” (Milas & Mlačić, 2007). Buyers choose brand products the way they choose friends. They choose brand products they want to be associated with. A charismatic personality signifies a strong, deep, long-lasting relationship between the consumer and the brand personality. When a memorable personality in commercials announces a catchy slogan or highlights unique qualities of a product, it is sure to attract attention. If the personality projects a feeling of trust, consumers look for the same trust in using the product. Such is the association created with brand personality. The increased focus on the value of brands has led to organizational consequences for many companies. It has led to the creation of many brand management posts. It has led to a deeper understanding of theories in building and maintaining the brand. McDonald (1990) contends that new product development and introduction in the market can meet with success if money is spent earlier in the development process. A brand should carry such an image that it is easily distinguishable from others. It should create specific consumer expectations and that it should provoke the action to either buy the product or avoid it. To create such a strong brand image people use human attributes in promoting the products and call it brand personality. The image of the brand can arise from different factors like the product itself, the packaging, the salesmen, the technology, the advertisements, the target audience or the product application. Such attributes are as real as human characteristics. IBM for instance is sober, serious, responsible, masculine, smart but rigid and hence these characteristics cannot be used to promote children’s creative computing toys. Biehl (1993) also agrees that brand image is composed of the image of the provider, the user and the product itself (cited by Caprara et al., 2001). Brands have meaning in themselves and add meaning to a person’s life. Five distinctive characteristics or features of human personality have been identified as important in defining brand personality. These include extroversion (preference for social interaction and for activity), agreeableness (compassion and care for others), emotional stability (ability to cope with negative emotions), openness to experience (acceptance of new ideas) and conscientiousness (preference for goal-oriented activity). These help to identify the main characteristics of brands’ personalities in the perception of consumers. Caprara et al contend that it may not always be possible to describe the brand with the same personality characteristics as used to describe humans but Fennis and Pruyn that it has proven helpful in explaining the relationships between people and their brands. According to Aaker the Big Five personality traits include sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness (cited by Fennis and Pruyn, 2007). Traits that are made accessible by situational cues may affect consumers’ brand choice. Different traits can have different effects on brand attitudes based on brand’s personality. There are some others who feel that a brand should extend and image of being trustworthy, dependable, caring and understanding. The Big-Five model of personality description has emerged as a result of the acceptance of a lexical approach to human personality as an important branch of personality psychology. While this model has been accepted in America, studies in Japan and Spain show varied results. Researchers believe that personality is a viable metaphor for understanding consumers’ perception of brand images. There are several brand personality drivers divided in product and non-product related characteristics. Product categories affect the personality. For instance, a bank projects a stereotypical banker personality while Speight beer or Nike shoes project ruggedness and masculinity (Wallenklint, 1998). Products attributes also affect the brand personality. If the brand is light like the Weight Watchers, then the brand personality is described as being slender and athletic. While some people believe that brand reflects value, acceptance and loyalty for some others packaging is only one expression of the brand. Packaging can reinforce the brand definition. Modern packaging allows consumers to minimize their human interaction in the market place. Consumers are now able to get information from the labels for which they previously had to depend on the sales staff at the store. trust was build on the packaging and overtime the manufacturers started targeting the emotions of the consumers. It was believed that brand personality projected through packaging should be in alignment with that which reached through the advertisement. If both projected the same image the customer would feel reassured and differences would unnerve him. Frost (2005) feels modern packages are bundles of contradictions. The package design and the brand personality of the product must converge to appeal to the emotions of the consumer which would provoke the decision to buy. User imagery is also a powerful driver of brand personality as Levi’s uses the idealized pictures of both women and men in their advertising with which the consumers are supposed to identify themselves with (Wallenklint, 1998). Sponsorship events also influence the brand personality. Symbols too have a intrinsic distinction ability which gives them the ability to be registered as trademarks or brands. Marlboro-man and Johnnie Walker are successful examples in this category. The country of origin has a strong significance in building a brand while celebrity endorsers is the most popular way of building brand personality. This creates positive brand associations. For mature brands advertising reinforces its position while for ageing brands there is a need to reposition the brands to make the brand personality more relevant to the target customer. 3. Research Methodology 3.1 Research philosophy Any decision is based on a body of knowledge. This body of knowledge is produced through research. By applying the appropriate methodologies and the research method, the body of knowledge can be established and advanced with confidence. While research is considered important there is no consensus on how it should be defined because research means differently to different people. Research is basically a systematic method of investigation which increases knowledge. Research relies on facts and experience, data, concepts and constructs, hypotheses and conjectures, and principles and laws (Amaratunga, Baldry, Sarshar, & Newton, 2002). Research methodology is the procedural framework within which the research is conducted. The methodology would depend upon the topic to be researched and the specific research questions are the primary drivers. 3.2 Research approach A clear perception of the theory at the beginning of the research helps to design the right research project. Arguments should be evaluated in different ways because primarily arguments have different roles and purposes and people assess according to the purpose in their mind. At times arguments provide useful information depending on one’s knowledge of how the world works. In a different setting, one can take an abstract approach and ask what follows from a given set of information and then decide on the outcome. Arguments can be evaluated in two qualitatively different ways – in terms of their deductive correctness or in terms of inductive strength (Rips, 2001). Logical positivism employs the quantitative and experimental methods to test deductive generalizations (Amaratunga et al.,). This requires independence of the observer from the subject being observed. Hypotheses have to be formulated in advance for subsequent verification. The explanations in this method are reduced to the simplest possible elements in order to facilitate analysis. The phenomenological method uses qualitative and naturalistic approaches to inductively and holistically understand human experience in specific settings. This approach tries to understand and explain a phenomenon rather than search for external causes or fundamental laws. In the case of this research we shall apply the inductive or qualitative method of research. The inductive method concentrates on words and observations to describe people in natural situations. The quantitative approach places great stress on numbers that represent opinions or concepts. Qualitative research would help to understand how consumers prioritize ideas. 3.3 Research design To design a research it is essential to know the business, determine what you need to learn, select the right tools and then establish clear action standards. As far as this research is concerned, the qualitative method or the inductive method of research is preferable because a lot of literature is available, with diverse opinions and it is essential to understand what is happening. Qualitative approach explores human behavior and the search for understanding through people’s actions (Porter, 1996 cited by Maggs-Rapport, 2001). The researcher observes and records events and relationships through text, dialogue, participant observation, photography and video. The analysis of data then throws light on a participants thoughts or relationships, clarify a specific human experience or improve understanding of a complex phenomenon. The qualitative method would help to observe feelings, thoughts, intentions and behavior. To collect data I would use in-depth focused interviews in which the respondent would be interviewed for a short period of time. The interview will have structured questions. Taking large samples would be impractical and small studies over a period of time would help establish facts. It would enable to understand the totality of the situation and multiple methods can be used to establish different views of the phenomena. As studies can be conducted over a period of time, it would give a realistic view of the change process of over time. This makes it powerful for studying any process. This method has been established to be best strategy for discovery, exploring a new idea or developing hypothesis. Additional help will be obtained from secondary data through literature review. A literature review provides the meaningful context of the project within the universe of already existing research (Obenzinger, 2005). It sets the basis for discussion or analysis or contemplation of implication and the necessity for further research. Literature review distinguishes what has been done from what is to be done. Previous perspectives can be synthesized and a new one gained. Due to the vast amount of literature available, only the most significant texts will be selected, which itself implies a process of evaluation and prioritization. 3.4 Data collection Both primary and secondary data collection would be essential. Secondary data like the literature review allows a quick and easy collection of general information about the subject of advertising, brand personality and marketing communications. This would familiarize us with the main trends in the industry. On the basis of this, questions can be structured for the in-depth interviews that would be conducted. The questions would have to be asked about the perception of the brand and then it would have to be categorized on the following basis: a. Those that have actually made purchases under influence of the celebrity endorsement. b. Those that wanted to make a purchase but could not afford it. c. Those that could not make the purchase but did recommend to others. d. Those that have been recommended into purchasing by others. e. Those that prefer different characteristics in the celebrity for the product that they are using. 3.5 Data analysis strategy Data analysis consists of data reduction (this starts early in the analysis), data display and conclusion drawing and verification (Miles & Huberman 1994 cited by Weerd-Nederhof, 2001). Data reduction refers to selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting, and transforming raw data collected during interviews. Data display is a visual format that would display the data systematically so that the user can draw valid conclusions and take appropriate decisions. Better displays lead to qualitative analysis. Display should have the sequence of building the format, entering data, drawing conclusions, writing analytical text, and cycling onward to revised or new displays. I wid reduce the data as interviews are conducted and then for drawing conclusions patterns have to be formed, contrasts would have to be looked into, which would clarify relationships and make the understanding coherent. Once the constructs are measured and relationships verified hypotheses can be shaped. 4. Expected outcomes The outcome is expected to add knowledge to the existing literature of which there is no conclusive evidence of celebrity endorsement enhancing the brand image and boosting sales. The research would guide the firms in future when taking a decision on using celebrities to create brand personality. It would also identify the gaps between expected traits of the celebrities and the actual personality traits that are being exploited by the brand owners. There can be no ideal solution that can be applied across products and firms. This strategy would depend upon the product, the region where the product is to be launched, and the size of the region. The firms would have to undertake thorough analysis of the personality traits that appeal to the consumers. It would help managers to gain insight into how brand personality could strengthen brand identity. They would learn how to humanize the brand as consumers confirm their own image through the use of a particular brand. 5. Limitations and conclusion There is no unique research method and each method has its own difficulties. Qualitative research method is known to have constraints as it tends to neglect the social and cultural construction of the variables studied. The categories listed for research may not be comprehensive or may require further sub-categories. Participants may not be willing to give the right information. While a lot of literature is available on brand personality and the traits that consumers look for in their purchase decisions, celebrity endorsement is an area which necessitates further research. It would certainly add to the existing knowledge and help the brand owners and the brand managers determine their marketing strategy. The same celebrity cannot be used for different products and hence this study would also throw light on the human characteristics that can be associated with the product type. References: Amaratunga, D., Baldry, D., Sarshar, M., & Newton, R., (2002), Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the built environment: application of mixed research approach, Work Study, . Vol. 15 No. 1 2002, pp. 17-31 Berry, L. L., & Lampo, S. S., (2004), Branding Labor-intensive services, Business Strtaegy Review, Vol. 15 Issue 1 Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., & Guido, G., (2001), Brand Personality: How to make the metaphor fit? Journal of Economics Psychology, 22 (2001) 377-395 Fennis, B. M., & Pruyn, T. H., (2007), You are what you wear: Brand personality influences on consumer impression formation, Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 634–639 Frost, R., (2005), Packaging your brands personality, 08 Aug 2007 Kim, C. K., Han, D., & Park, S. B., (2005), The effect of grand personality and brand identification on brand loyalty: applying the theory of social identification, Japanese Psychological Research, Vol. 43 No. 4 195-206 Maggs-Rapport, F., (2001), `Best research practice: in pursuit of methodological rigour, 09 Aug 2007 McDonald, S. S., (1990), BRAND EQUITY: WORKING TOWARD A DISCIPLINED METHODOLOGY FOR MEASUREMENT, 08 Aug 2007 Milas, G., & Mlacic, B., (2007), Brand personality and human personality: Findings from ratings of familiar Croatian brands, Journal of Business Research 60 (2007) 620–626 Obenzinger, H., (2005), What can a literature review do for me? 08 Aug 2007 Rips, L. J., (2001), Two Kinds of Reasoning, American Psychological Society, Vol. 12 No . 2 pp. 129-134 08 Aug 2007 Wallenklint, J. H., (1998), Brand Personality as a way of developing and maintaining Swedish brands, 08 Aug 2007 Weerd-Nederhof, P., (2001), Qualitative Case Study Research: The case of a PhD Research Project on organising and managing new product development systems, Management Decision, 39/7 (2001) 513-538 Read More