Consumer Engagement with Self-Expressive Brands - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2440 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Did you like this example? Consumer Engagement and Brands 1 Consumer Engagement with Self-Expressive brands: Brand love and Word of Mouth (WOM) Abstract Self-expression in brands nowadays is being understood as the capability of the brand to allow the customer to alter it as per his own identity The following study strives to understand consumer engagement with self-expressive brands leading to brand advocacy by consumers using positive Word Of Mouth and Brand Acceptance. Its main objective is to determine whether brand advocacy for self-expressive brands is performed well with Word of Mouth or by Brand Acceptance. This study will be carried out using surveys, interviews, internet depictions and several research studies already conducted in this regard. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Consumer Engagement with Self-Expressive Brands" essay for you Create order Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. Background of the Study 1.2. Problem Statement 1.3. Research Questions 1.4. Objective of the Study 1.5. Significance of the Study 2. Literature Review 2.1. Previous Works 2.2. Literature Gap 3. Conceptual Model 3.1. Variables of Interest 3.2. Appropriate Model for the Study 4. Research Methodology 4.1. Population 4.2. Sample and Size 4.3. Data Collection Method and Sources 4.4. Instrument 4.5. Time Schedule 5. References Consumer Engagement with Self-Expressive brands: Brand love and Word of Mouth (WOM) 1. Introduction 1.1. Background of the Study Consumer engagement is being considered nowadays as an important research topic as it is proving to be providing an improved academic insight into the behavior of consumer in complicated, shared and co-creative environments (Koller, 2009). In theory, consumer engagement is understood to be larger sphere of relationship marketing (Kozinets, et. al. 2010). It is considered largely that consumer engagement is merely the detail of relationship marketing theory. Specified interactive consumer experience formulates consumer engagement. For this reason consumer engagement holds the central position in the marketing system (Kozinets, et. al. 2010). Consumer engagement has been defined as the degree of the presence a customers physical, cognitive and emotional aspects in their relationship with an organization. Consumer engagement with self-expressive brands has an amplified effect. 1.2. Problem Statement Self-expression in brands nowadays is being understood as the capability of the brand to allow the customer to alter it as per his own identity (Keller, Parameswaran, Jacob, 2011). For instance, Freestyle fountain drink machines, were recently introduced by Coke in order to provide its customers with the option to mix selections from more than 100 choices into a drink of their own making. Other than expressing his identity through choice in the brand a customer can also express his identity by modifying the brand. Examples of such a modification can range from selecting the ringtone that one prefers to the personalizing the desktop of a computer. Self-expressive brands have also increased due to the fast increase in social networking platforms and communication between individuals (Keller, Parameswaran, Jacob, 2011). This study strives to understand consumer engagement with self-expressive brands leading to brand advocacy by consumers using positive Word Of Mouth and Brand Acceptance. 1.3. Research Questions The following two questions will be answered in this research: Does Word of Mouth prove to be a better method of Brand Advocacy for consumers engaged with self-expressive brands? Does Brand Acceptance prove to be a better method of Brand Advocacy for consumers engaged with self-expressive brands? 1.4. Objective of the Study The objective of the study is to determine whether brand advocacy for self-expressive brands is performed well with Word of Mouth or by Brand Acceptance. 1.5. Significance of the Study The importance of this study can be understood by the need to understand the impact of rapidly rising areas of self-expression on the sale or promotion of a given brand as it is directly affecting it. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Previous Works The social identities of consumers are enhanced by the environments provided by Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter which allows them to voice their opinions and discover others that share the same opinions (Keller, Parameswaran, Jacob, 2011). Their identities are further expressed, in fact they become capable enough to develop new personalities with the help of virtual reality games, such as Second Life and The Sims. This unparalleled access to personally relevant self-expressive schemes and information raises a potential question; how the rapid growth in the means of self-expression does affect the opinion and decision of the customer about the product (Koller, 2009). This self-expression causes the consumer to develop love for Brand. According to Wirtz, et. al. (2013), Brand love is a predecessor to brand loyalty and satisfaction is an ancestor to brand love. Consequently, brand love ensues as the strong connection between brand loyalty and customer satisfaction (Keller, Paramesw aran, Jacob, 2011). If a person keeps being satisfied with a brand over a longer period of time, then it can be said that satisfaction will get changed into an affecting and passionate connection with the brand. This connection is more like affection, devotion and love. Ismail, Spinelli (2012 state brand love as a mixture of feeling, sentiments, and passion. Another researcher of Batra, Ahuvia, Bagozzi (2012) define it as it is the thing which has long term loyalty to the brand along with feelings and passion. Followed by this, it is believed that loving a brand, not simply satisfaction, is a step on the road to loyalty. For this, marketers need to make a plan to have ways to make satisfied customers love a brand and become loyal customers (Batra, Ahuvia, Bagozzi, 2012). Once brand love takes hold of a consumer his first impulse becomes brand advocacy which can be done by two methods; Word of Mouth and Brand Acceptance. For many years, word of mouth (WOM) has been known as a main power on what people identify, believe and do. Earlier, interpersonal influence was worked on. The book Rhetoric (Aristotle, trans. Roberts, 1924) highlights the influential and convincing implication of three artistic proofs a speaker controls: ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos is the ethical and personal appeals of a speaker (Ind, Iglesias, Schultz, 2013). It consists of various ways in which a speaker can plan his/her characteristics in an attempt to bring forth belief on the listenerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s part. Pathos includes the emotional pleas of the speaker. Logos are the base of logical discussion. Alamgir, et. al. (2011) point out the impact of word of mouth on consumers through his influential review of derived connection between social sciences and consumer behavior. Expertsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢View (2013) works on WOM to persuade ignorant experimental subjects, in spite of clearly noticeable proof to the contrary, marketing management agreed that advertis ing is one of some pressures on a personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s attitudes and not that much important than such persuasion as personal observation and peers (Brodie, et. al. 2013). In general, this research works as a foundation that declare WOM as more powerful on behavior than other marketer-controlled sources. Undeniably, it has been examined that WOM can be more significant and dominant than neutral print resources like Which and Consumer Reports. It has been analyzed that WOM has a great impact on various situations: consciousness, expectations, awareness, feelings, behavioral intentions and attitudes. Fournier, Lee (2009)wrap up with the view that WOM is more essential than advertising when one wants to increase awareness of an innovation and in making safe the decision in order to test the product. Silverman (2011) concludes that this was because of the elasticity and source reliability of interpersonal communication. He figures out that WOM was nine times as effective as adv ertising at changing adverse or nonaligned tendencies and implementing more affirmative, activists, and positive approaches (Schmitt, 2012). Brand acceptance is the instinct of the customer that comes after he decides he appreciates the brand and falls in love with it (Chu, Kim, 2011). It encompasses the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ability to accept the brand because of its name or reputation rather than judging it by its present or current state. For example, the brand Mcdonalds would never be tested for the hygiene of its products because it is renowned in the world to serve the best quality of all (Hollebeek, 2011). Another type of acceptance that customer adheres is the minor default or flaw in the brand that the customer chooses to overlook in order to maintain a regular consumption of the product (Chu, Kim, 2011). This should not be intermixed with Brand forgiveness as that entails a deeper meaning than acceptance. 2.2. Literature Gap One of the notions that should have been discussed here is that of the Brand Forgiveness. It poses a vital gap in literature which needs to be studied. Brand forgiveness pertains to the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s love for the brand being so extensive that he overlooks the fault in the brand or its marketing or its make (Vivek, 2009). It is the step that comes after Brand loyalty because once a customer has indentified a brand the question that faces him is whether or not to make continued used of it. With regard to consumer engagement with self-expressive brands, Brand forgiveness ought to have been kept in mind. 3. Conceptual Model 3.1. Variables of Interest 3.2. Appropriate Model for the Study As this study focuses on the brand advocacy by two methods namely Word of Mouth and Brand Acceptance, it has been inspired by a conceptual model described below: Engagerà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ is a strategic framework for evolving and measuring effective and an encompassing marketing engagement. It expresses the new ways brands and communications have adopted. It generates experiences that are much more strong and involving (Gambetti, Graffigna, 2010). It displays explicit instruction and insight to improve brand relations and increase prospective sale and profit ratios. For contemporary research in brands, Engager provides a great framework. It is a qualitative and quantitative approach both for proper understanding of the customers in the new, modern and rapidly growing world (Gambetti, Graffigna, 2010). Global insight and several studies have been taken into account under this framework. To obtain positive impact on decision making and engaging in fruitful relations, Engager has recognized nine major key areas. 4. Research Methodology This study will be carried out using surveys, interviews, internet depictions and several research studies already conducted in this regard. 4.1. Population It will take the lively population of Islamabad from Pakistan. 4.2. Sample and Size Through random sampling, we will choose a sample of 100 youngsters aged between 18 to 25 years, belonging from middle to upper classes of the population. 4.3. Data Collection Method and Sources The data will be collected using questionnaires in the survey, interviews and internet depictions as primary tools while researches conducted by other authors will be treated as the secondary source of data. 4.4. Instrument SPSS Statistics is software through which one can manage and calculate a wide range of statistics. The clearest use for SPSS is to use the software to run statistical tests. SPSS has all of the most broadly used statistical tests included in it (Hollebeek, 2011). Thus, now people do not have to do any mathematical equations by hand. SPSS is used to have more accurate results that can be justified. SPSS will be used to analyse the collected data. Different tests, like reliability, correlations, Anova and other suitable tests will be run on the collected data to come up with the results. 4.5. Time Schedule Sept, 14 1st week 1st week 1st week 2nd week 2nd week Tasks Define aims and objectives Make research questions Draft research method and strategy Review literature Completed research proposal Further review of literature Construct survey Conducted surveys Analyze data Results and conclusions Prepare draft report Write dissertation 5. References Alamgir, M., Nasir, T., Shamsuddoha, M., Nedelea, A. (2011). Influence of brand name on consumer decision making process-an empirical study on car buyers.The USV Annals of Economics and Public Administration,10(2), 142-153. Retrieved from: https://annals.seap.usv.ro/index.php/annals/article/viewFile/295/302 Batra, R., Ahuvia, A., Bagozzi, R. P. (2012). Brand love.Journal of Marketing,76(2), 1-16. Retrieved from: https://www.rotexcontrols.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/artikel-5.3.pdf Brodie, R. J., Ilic, A., Juric, B., Hollebeek, L. (2013). Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis.Journal of Business Research,66(1), 105-114. Chu, S. C., Kim, Y. (2011). Determinants of consumer engagement in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites.International Journal of Advertising,30(1), 47-75. Retrieved from: https://j.pelet.free.fr/publications/reseausociauxnumeriques/Determinants_of_consumer_engagement_in_electronic_word-of-mouth_ (eWOM)_in_social_networking_sites.pdf Expertsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢View, B. (2013). Brand Identity Development and the Role of Marketing Communications.International Research Journal,11(1), 61-78. Retrieved from: https://www.fm.upr.si/zalozba/ISSN/1581-6311/11_061-078.pdf Fournier, S., Lee, L. (2009). Getting brand communities right.Harvard business review,87(4), 105-111. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/download/getting-brand-communities-right/R0904K-PDF-ENG/R0904K-PDF-ENG.PDF Gambetti, R. C., Graffigna, G. (2010). The concept of engagement.International Journal of Market Research,52(6), 801-826. Hollebeek, L. (2011). Exploring customer brand engagement: definition and themes.Journal of strategic Marketing,19(7), 555-573. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0965254X.2011.599493 Ind, N., Iglesias, O., Schultz, M. (2013). Building Brands Together.California Management Review,55(3). Retrieved from: https://majkenschultz.com/wp-content/uploads/Acade mic%20Publications/Building%20Brands%20Together.2013.pdf Ismail, A. R., Spinelli, G. (2012). Effects of brand love, personality and image on word of mouth: The case of fashion brands among young consumers.Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management,16(4), 386-398. Keller, K. L., Parameswaran, M. G., Jacob, I. (2011).Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity. Pearson Education India. Retrieved from: https://cerita-silat.mywapblog.com/files/course-syllabus-gestion-d.pdf Koller, V. (2009). Brand images: Multimodal metaphor in corporate branding messages.Multimodal metaphor,11, 45. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com.pk/books?hl=enlr=id=dodSTYriz2ICoi=fndpg=PA45dq=Consumer+Engagement+with+Self-Expressive+brandsots=DvJILFmRDzsig=3WUm4100DJ_LCSWd_I1HxEL-tKY#v=onepageq=Consumer%20Engagement%20with%20Self-Expressive%20brandsf=false Kozinets, R. V., De Valck, K., Wojnicki, A. C., Wilner, S. J. (2010). Networked narratives: understanding wo rd-of-mouth marketing in online communities.Journal of marketing,74(2), 71-89. Retrieved from: https://www.etnografiadigitale.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Networked_Narratives_JM2010_Final_SM.pdf Schmitt, B. (2012). The consumer psychology of brands.Journal of Consumer Psychology,22(1), 7-17. Retrieved from: https://www.183degrees.com/JCS%20Jan12.pdf Silverman, G. (2011).Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing: How to trigger exponential sales through runaway word of mouth. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com.pk/books?hl=enlr=id=NBO-l59EPuUCoi=fndpg=PR5dq=Brand+love+and+Word+of+Mouth+ots=uqs7wDoAMlsig=k9UvAg1xRtyL1KHnYJPGZbDJrWQ#v=onepageq=Brand%20love%20and%20Word%20of%20Mouthf=false Vivek, S. D. (2009).A scale of consumer engagement(Doctoral dissertation, The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA). Retrieved from: https://acumen.lib.ua.edu/content/u0015/0000001/0000096/u0015_0000001_0000096.pdf Wirtz, J., den Ambtman, A., Bloemer, J., HorvÃƒÆ ' ¡th, C., Ramaseshan, B., van de Klundert, J., Kandampully, J. (2013). Managing brands and customer engagement in online brand communities.Journal of Service Management,24(3), 223-244. Retrieved from: https://bschool.nus.edu.sg/Marketing/Jochen%20papers/WirtzetalJOSM2013OnlineBrandCommunities.pdf