The shift towards affirmation

The Shift from Aspirational to Affirmational Marketing

Aspirational Marketing

Affirmational Marketing

Factors Affecting Marketing

Consumer Research

Recommendations

Limitations

Conclusion

Agenda

What’s common here?

ASPIRATIONAL


Prompts you to become someone else

Promises success OR change in persona

Assume you are not there yet

A Fantasy ride


`88 Scott was designed for a certain kind of individual. Successful. Informed. Quintessentially Urban ………………. is the embodiment of personal success and style. Maybe it`s the time to let the world know that you have arrived`


Encourages people to embrace their own individuality

Celebrates personal success

Reinstates that individual & brand are tied through common values

You`ve arrived


“You sell”

Want to be unique

Self-esteem to narcissism

Technology advancement

Ego Boom

Consumer Behavior

Religion

Financial Status

Social Education

Culture

Gender

Marketing

Factors influencing Marketing

Is Affirmational Marketing against religious beliefs?

Religion

Rise of self-help books

Affirmation

Reassurance

Validation

PermissionEducation

Different generations

Baby Boomers Generation X Millenials

Idealists Hard-working Stressed

Self reliant Self focused Accept Diversity Reject Rules

Techno-wise Sophisticated Celebrate Diversity Re-write Rules

Generations

Illustration

Shift towards Affirmational

Coca Cola final message

India (2011)US (1990)

US (2011)

Coca Cola going GLOCAL

Cultural Implications

Hofstede Cultural Dimensions

Culture is playing an important role in establishing the shift in marketing

Greater the power distance, greater the sense of collectivism, greater is the shift towards aspirational marketing

As societies evolves marketing strategy needs to change

Social Status GenderCulture

Hypothesis needs to be tested

• Aspirational marketing versus affirmational marketing – the difference in perception according to

• Gender

• Age

• Nationality (culture)

• Level of religious beliefs and

• Education

• *Income

Hypothesis needs to be tested

Sample size – target 50, actual sample size 54 respondents

Gender :

Male : Female = 40.7% : 59.3 %

Age: 18-30 – 92.6 %

North America

33%

Europe22%

Asia35%

Latin America

6%

Africa4%

Nationality

Survey Time

Level of religious beliefs

Not religious or less religious than average 50.1 %

Cannot really tell about their level of religious beliefs 20.4 %

Religious or more religious than average 29.8 %

Gender factor does not affect customer preferences to large extent

Age group (18-30) is more receptive to affirmational marketing and less receptive or neutral to aspirational marketing

Affirmational: Higher rate of positive responses for North America

Aspirational: High preference rate for Asian customers

Level of religious beliefs does not affect customer preferences

Education Level (Bachelor’s/Master’s) by assumption broaden customer horizons to be open to innovation

Survey Findings

Age, income, education affect receptiveness to affirmational marketing

Culture but not religion as an influence

Range of consumer preferences within the same culture

Insights

Adopt mix of aspirational / affirmational marketing

• Extent of each depending on factors

Recommendations

Gender Religion Financial Status

Culture Social Education

Implementation

Customization

• “illusion of choice”

Customer-generated content

• Product features

• Brand

Democratic process leads to higher customer loyalty

#1: One way is not the way

LIMITATIONS

Nike “Real Women”

Nike “Make Yourself”

Limitations

#2: Customers decide what is affirmative

LIMITATIONS

Company

Customers

Customer’s did not perceive Tata Nano as an affirmation of their economic status

Limitations

Mattel, which stopped Body Shop’s real women campaign, is forced to introduce Bald Barbie

#3: Influence of Strategy depends on Customers

LIMITATIONSLimitations

Difficult to use affirmational marketing in TV industry

#4: It does not apply to every industry

Limitations

Affirmational marketing cannot be ranked on a black and white scale

It is a grey area where success depends on combination of several factors

• Determine influence of factors like Religion, Gender, Target Customer Generation, Culture, etc.

For a future marketing manager, it is necessary to Research Consumer Behaviour and use managerial judgement

Conclusion

Generational segmentation

GenerationsBirth Years

Approx. % of US population in 2010

Some characteristics

Marketing strategy

Baby Boomers 1943-1960

22-26% Idealists, stressed, hard-working

Aspirational

Generation X 1961-1981

12-18% Skeptical, better-educated, self-focused

Affirmational

Generation Y / Millennials

1982-2001

24-27% diverse, techno-wise, striving to get ahead, strong egos

Hybrid?

Appendix A

• Sample size – target 50, actual sample size 54 respondents

Survey

Appendix B

1. Do you consider different commercial campaigns in order to make a

decision whether to buy a product or not?

Yes/No

2. Please indicate on the scale from 1-7 the level of importance of the

TV commercial for you in decision making process for the final

purchase?

Important-not important

3. Do you agree with a statement “TV/Online commercials in general

are really powerful means of communication between a customer

and a company”?

Yes/no

Survey Questionnaire

Appendix C

Commercial #1• LINK• Please evaluate the first commercial on the scale

from 1-7 according to your preferences (Like-dislike)

• Based on your customer experience, please rank the following statements, according to your first impressions after watching the given commercial (agree-disagree)• Inspires to buy the product• Looks artificial • Reflects modern woman needs• Shows current trends in cosmetics marketing• Doesn’t show the real beauty of women• Doesn’t provoke any feelings

• Please, indicate the geographical region where this commercial would be successful in your opinion (more than one answer is possible)• North America• Europe• Asia• Latin America• Africa• Middle East

Commercial #2• LINK• Please evaluate the second commercial on the scale

from 1-7 according to your preferences• (Like-dislike)• Based on your customer experience, please evaluate the

following statements, according to your first impressions after watching the given commercial

(agree-disagree)• Inspires to buy the product• Looks artificial • Reflects modern woman needs• Shows current trends in cosmetics marketing• Doesn’t show the real beauty of women• Doesn’t provoke any feelings

• Please, indicate the geographical region where this commercial would be successful in your opinion (more than one answer is possible)• North America• Europe• Asia• Latin America• Africa• Middle East

Customer preferences to online commercials

Appendix D

• Gender

Male/Female

• Age

• 18-25

• 26-30

• 31-35

• 36-40

• 41-45

• 46-50

• More than 50

• Nationality (Please choose a region)

• North America

• Europe

• Asia

• Latin America

• Africa

• Middle East

• Please indicate on the following scale (from 1 – not religious at all to 7 – very religious) how do you consider yourself according to your religious beliefs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

• Education

• High-school

• Bachelor degree

• Master’s

• PhD

Demographics

Based on our hypothesis assumption, we designed the survey with the following demographics testing in order to analyze the correlation between gender, age, nationality (culture), level of religious beliefs and education

Appendix E

Survey results - General questions

Appendix F

Customer preferences comparisonCommercial#1

Appendix G

Customer preferences comparisonCommercial #2

Appendix H

The shift towards affirmation

Business

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