Friday 27 June 2014

Friday Research: Early Adopters Might Lead Your Customers To Smoke And Mirrors

When Will You Use This?  


Planning and developing product and services launches, innovation projects.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 


Early adopters, who live, eat, and breathe everything fresh and new, can be invaluable for your brand. They can start a great sales rollercoaster with spreading the word and encouraging others to try the product.

However, early adopters with a high need for uniqueness may experience a communication dilemma: should I or should I not tell other about this cool new product? As once others adopt the same product, the level of differentness will radically decrease.

Current research* examines early adopters’ communication dilemma and how it leads to the “share and scare” strategy. The research reveals that sometimes early adopters use “share and scare” strategy and share information about their adoption with others, yet scare them out of adopting it, e.g. by focusing on features that diminish the innovation’s appeal for later adopters, such as its complexity, high price, or radicalness.

Limited Edition beats the Fear of Imitation?






Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    


This research shares a few tips to help you accomplish successful innovation launches. As authors suggest, "first, by launching a limited edition of an innovation, or premium versus common editions of the product, managers may diminish early adopters’ fear of imitation, because imitating them will be impossible. Second, managers can adjust the content of marketing campaigns to fit the needs of different adopters over time. For example, at launch, managers may appeal to early adopters with a high need for uniqueness by highlighting the product’s uniqueness and scarcity, and in subsequent stages, appeal to later adopters by emphasizing the product’s commonness and popularity. Third, managers can completely prevent the communication dilemma and the consequent “share and scare” strategy by appealing to early adopters with a low (rather than high) need for uniqueness. By focusing on benefits of the innovation separate from its uniqueness—such as functionality, hedonic value, or cognitive challenge—managers will appeal to early adopters who have a strong need to recommend the innovation but not to scare others."



*Moldovan, Sarit, Yael Steinhart, and Shlomit Ofen. "Share and Scare": Solving the Communication Dilemma of Early Adopters with a High Need for Uniqueness, Journal of Consumer Psychology: July, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with early adopters? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Tuesday 24 June 2014

Tuesday in India: Now You Really Want To Ask Your Boss For Monday Off


"I haven’t had this bad of a Monday since last Monday."

Mondays are hard so who wouldn't like turning the most godawful day of the week into the most stimulating one?

The adventure lifestyle gear manufacturer High Sierra has launched the #TakebackMondays campaign to help mumbaikars cope with Monday blues.

Looks fun!



P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!


Friday 20 June 2014

Friday Research: Could "Out-Of-Stock" Be Another Trick In Your Marketing Book?

When Will You Use This?  


Planning and developing marketing strategy for your products.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 


Smart companies might have noticed that sometimes consumers more desire those products that are "currently unavailable".

Imagine a man called Peter who goes into a store to buy an iPhone. He comes directly to a salesperson and asks for the specific model of iPhone. Unfortunately, a salesperson informs that the desired model is out of stock. Now, there are a few possible ways Peter might react to this information: he might desire that iPhone model even more (increased product desirability) or he might feel frustrated with the store (increased source negativity).

Current research* examines how consumers respond when formerly unavailable products become available after being out-of-stock. To qoute the authors, "we examine what happens when consumers’ freedom of choice is restricted and subsequently restored." Before we go deeper into the studies, it's important to note what authors describe as high and low reactance individuals, that is "individuals who are high in reactance (e.g., young adult males) respond very strongly restrictions of their freedom of choice, and experience strong product desirability in response to stockouts. Individuals who are low in reactance do not experience product desirability in response to stockouts. However, both high and low reactance individuals respond to stockouts with source negativity toward the store."

It is interesting to go through all the studies in this research, designed to investigate the restoration of freedom.

"Study 1 used a shopping scenario. Individuals imagined going to purchase their favorite snack food at a local grocery store. In the control scenario, they purchased the item and left the store. In the stockout scenario, the item was unavailable and they left the store. In the restoration scenario, the item was initially out-of-stock, but had been restocked when they walked back through that aisle on the way out of the store. After these scenarios, we measured individuals’ satisfaction with the store and the snack food item, and measured their individual levels of reactance. As anticipated, compared to the control scenario, in the stockout scenario, all individuals were dissatisfied with the store, but high reactance individuals also felt more positive toward the unavailable (desirable) snack food item."

"In studies 2 and 3, individuals went on multiple shopping trips using a computer-based shopping interface, and chose jellybean flavors from different stores. To make the study realistic, they received their chosen jellybeans. On the restoration shopping trip, individuals were told that the store was out of their favorite flavor, and they would not receive that flavor on the current trip. They were told they would have to make a second choice, but at the last minute, the shopkeeper discovered some additional stock of their preferred flavor. We compared individuals’ satisfaction after this restoration shopping trip to a control shopping trip where they received their favorite jelly beans immediately, and to a stockout shopping trip where they did not receive any jellybeans. We again measured individual levels of reactance. As before, high reactance individuals were more satisfied with the store after the restoration shopping trip than they were after the control shopping trip; they were also more likely to return to the store on a subsequent shopping trip for jellybeans. Low reactance individuals showed the opposite results."

"Study 4 examined how individuals high and low in reactance respond to restoration of freedom when they receive different reasons for the initial stockout. Individuals imagined shopping for jellybeans. In the restoration conditions, they told that their chosen jellybeans were out-of-stock either because the store failed to order jellybeans last week, or because the jellybeans were popular. In both cases, as in the prior studies, their chosen jellybeans were later discovered, and they received these. Compared to a control shopping trip, as before, low reactance individuals responded negatively to the restoration shopping trip—regardless of why a stockout happens, low reactance individuals dislike stores and products after having their freedom restricted and then restored. As before, high reactance individuals responded positively to restoration of freedom in the product popularity condition. In contrast, however, they responded negatively in the store failure condition—this condition strengthened their negativity toward the store, overwhelming their positive desire for the jellybeans."



Passing by and thinking, is this really out of stock or they need to push other products too?



Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    


"Only a few left", "Disappearing fast", "Stock for 1 day only" and similar selling slogans have been used as a strategic tool in many companies' marketing. This research confirms that "some individuals (those who are high in reactance) are happier to experience a temporary stockout than to have an uneventful service encounter. In short, high reactance individuals reward firms, but low reactance individuals punish firms, for restricting and restoring their freedom."

Carefully used (not over used) scarcity marketing can be great. Creating campaigns for a limited amount of customers or valid only for a limited amount of time can beautifully boost the sales of your products. Be creative!



*Moore, Sarah G. and Gavan J. Fitzsimons, "Yes, We Have No Bananas: Consumer Responses to Restoration of Freedom.” Journal of Consumer Psychology: April, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with customers' reactions to "out-of-stock"? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Tuesday in India: Somewhere Coca-Cola Bottle Caps Are As Good As Money

Coca-Cola and me. No love lost.

And while I might hate their drink, I admire their marketing.

This time again: natural brilliance.

Coca-Cola had set up phone booths (as a part of “Hello Happiness” campaign) for South Asian workers all over Dubai so they were able to call back home more often.

What makes those booths special is that they accept Coca-Cola bottle caps as currency instead of coins.

 Pretty cool.

 

P.S. Just wondering how much is Coca-Cola bottle in Dubai? As workers are kind of forced to buy bottles to make calls. Precious money is still spent...

P.P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

Friday 13 June 2014

Friday Research: What's The Real McCoy Behind Luxury Shopping?

When Will You Use This?  


Developing promotional campaigns for your luxury brand or products.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 


The luxury goods market has been increasing for many years.

There are many reasons why consumers purchase luxury goods - a sense of status, wealth, and exclusivity being a few of them.

Current research* investigates psychology of pride in luxury goods shoppers and shows that there are two ways pride operates: there is Authentic Pride (feeling which motivates a desire for luxury purchases as a signal of accomplishment) and there is Hubristic Pride ("feeling that one derives from displaying those same products" or snobbery).

This study reveals that consumers purchase luxury brands' products in search of heightened feelings of accomplishment, however, other people perceive it as a signal of arrogance (rather than accomplishment).


Luxury Goods: Sign Of Arrogance or Accomplishment?


Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

 

If you're selling luxury goods, there are a few tricks to add to your bag. As authors note, "luxury brands are sometimes positioned in a manner associating them with snobbery, for instance contrasting their wearers with laborers of lower status professions. Others, such as Rolex’s “A crown for every achievement”, suggests its product is a marker of accomplishment. Our research shows that although consumers indeed associate luxury goods with both accomplishment and snobbery, the former is more motivating in creating consumer desire. Beyond purveyors of luxury goods, the growing obsession among some consumers to acquire luxury brands, particularly when they cannot reasonably afford them, is also a concern. For those interested in helping consumers better regulate their expenditures and avoid additional debt, our results speak to the psychological factors that motivate consumers to buy products that may make their lives economically precarious."

*McFerran, Brent, Karl Aquino, and Jessica L. Tracy. Evidence For Two Facets of Pride In Consumption: Findings From Luxury Brands, Journal of Consumer Psychology: April, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with marketing luxury goods? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Tuesday in India: This Woman’s Place Is Definetely In The Kitchen

Fight for gender equality is still very much on in India.

That's why I welcome and applause every brand's effort to tackle this issue.

Today I'm sharing an ad from Havells Appliances. As they say, it encourages you to always respect women and in every role.

Nice concept. Beautiful remake of the classical song. Great branding.

 

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

Sunday 8 June 2014

Sunday Video: Why Comparative Pricing Is A Tricky Affair?

You might feel safer choosing the same-old-easy way and implementing Comparative Pricing in your marketing strategy.. 

Hold on.

Watch this video and learn some important aspects that will help you form a better pricing strategy.

 



P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

P.P.S. Apologies for the poor sound quality. I haven't brought my beautiful little equipment to India and had to use whatever was nearby :)

Friday 6 June 2014

Friday Research: The Big Marketing Fight - Time Vs Money

When Will You Use This?  


Developing promotional campaigns.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 


Time and money, the concepts deeply integrated in majority of today's ads, can affect consumer’s product evaluation strategy and lead to a specific product choice.

Current research* investigates time and money concepts and their importance to the consumer.

Authors show the difference between two concepts, stating: "as an important tool to gauge personal success and the ultimate media of exchange of goods and services, money is a tangible resource with its value being precise and relatively consistent across transactions. As a result, people are highly motivated and able to process money-related information in an analytical manner. By contrast, everyone receives relatively fair treatment in terms of time as we are all granted 24 hours per day no matter how we spend that time. Hence, compared to money, people are less motivated to process time-related information."

In life consumers are often required to choose between spending time to save money (e.g., buying separate products to prepare the dish) or spending money to save time (e.g., paying more for express delivery). This study reveals that increasing the salience of customers' time or money expenditure may change not only their distribution of resources, but also the products chosen.


Time is Money? Your Customers Don't Think So.

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

 

Current research might help you identify the evaluation strategies most likely to be adopted by consumers, and to highlight the aspects of an offer that will positively influence your consumer choice. As authors suggest, "for instance, the concept of money may be central to industries such as banking and luxury goods, whereas time may be more salient to educational institutions and delivery-services. Similarly, certain promotional programs put more emphasis on time investment (e.g., loyalty programs) while others focus on cost saving (e.g., coupons; see Lee & Ariely, 2006). Our research suggests that when time is made salient, it might be a good strategy to emphasize non-alignable differences, a unique verbal feature, or the overall attractiveness of an option. In contrast, when money is made salient, focusing on attribute-level advantages is crucial to marketing success."

*Lei Su, Leilei Gao.Strategy Compatibility: The Time versus Money Effect on Product Evaluation Strategies, Journal of Consumer Psychology: April, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with integrating time and money in the promotional material? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Tuesday in India: I Love the #4amFriends. It's So Bad.


I always get great shakes about well-executed prank videos.

It's a powerful way to attract people's attention and even go viral.

But some pranks are meant to go sour. Especially, when it's evident that they lack inventiveness, presentation and.. well, are simply staged (aka Fake pranks).

Recently Airtel in India created a prank video to promote their night packages. And it felt like all sizzle and no steak for me.

It's more than obvious that the whole concept is copied from the wonderful Carslberg's friendship test prank. And then towards the end some paranormal experiences are thrown in, perhaps an inspiration from publicity stunt for the remake of "Carrie" (remember Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise?).

Watch and decide for yourself.

 



P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!