Study Task Three - Harvard Referencing and Triangulation

Reed, A (2002), Exploring Links Between Brand Names and Consumer Lifestyle, Available at: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/exploring-the-links-between-brand-name-and-consumer-identity/ (17^th Oct 10:55am,) describes how  lifestyle, gender, age, peer group, role models etc heavily influence consumer purchase-patterns, playing a huge part in the advertising efforts and designing efforts of brands. He says for example “The Harley-Davidson brand is revered as an American icon, a symbol of free-spiritedness, among other things. From 1988-1995 annual shipments of Harley motorcycles more than doubled. The brand is not dependant on traditional marketing techniques. Most auto companies are selling transportation; Harley-Davidson is selling a lifestyle.”

·      Talks about how prior research shows consumers purchase patterns and how being unknowingly exposed to “identities that link to the clear preference for the brand” and how “the consumer is thinking about themselves as possessing that identity.”

Pal, R (2016) Relation Between Brand Image and Consumer Preference, Available at: http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketing/16235-relation-between-brand-image-and-consumer-preference.html (17th Oct 11:14am.)

·      Talks about brand loyalty

·      Pre-purchase and post purchase marketing for the brand through consumers (word of mouth, coming back to purchase again etc)

·      Social image performance, sentimental attachment to the brand

·      Consumer Behaviour, looking at:

1. Economic Man: In this customer is totally rational and take decisions based on his own- interest which depends on the utilisation of product. People make the decisions integrated marketing communications (IMC) because of the social environment to which they belong.

2. Behaviourist Approach: Behaviour is a response to an external and internal stimulus and customer actions are based on unconscious drivers. Here, customers react as per already learned ways from the past. This is described by classical and operant conditioning.

3. Cognitive Approach: Here the customer is regarded as the information processor. Before making any purchase decisions, customers search actively and obtain a lot of environmental as well as social knowledge about the product. It also explains the complex behaviour and responses. Two behaviour model described are perspective and analytic.

4. Psychodynamic Approach: It explains the behaviour of the consumer is driven by instincts and which can influence the customers unconsciously. Assumed that most of the features of the behaviour of customers were formed in the early days of childhood.

5. Humanistic Approach: It explores the individual customer’s experiences and behaviour instead of having a general conclusion. It investigates the gap through behaviour perspective between customers intended purchase and outcome of the purchase.

Triangulation example:

Explaining the links between brand names and consumer lifestyles, Reed, from Wharton University talks about how gender, age, peer groups, role models and everything in-between directly affect consumer purchase patterns and in turn can create a sentimental attachment of the brand by the consumer. Reed, A (2002) Exploring Links Between Brand Name and Consumer Lifestyle, Available at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/exploring-the-links-between-brand-name-and-consumer-identity/ (17^th Oct 10:55am.)   Leading on from this, Reena Pal talks about how these purchase patterns and consumer lifestyles create a brand loyalty and how this in turn affects marketing strategies. Pal goes onto say how this brand loyalty leads the consumer to post-purchase market, being through word of mouth to peers, or brand loyalty, by coming back and purchasing goods/services the brand provides. The Nike brand is prime example of a logo/brand that has established itself through methods such as word of mouth and an incredible brand loyalty by consumers.  The article by Reena also explains 5 different types of consumer approaches and their interaction with the brand, being interaction by their own will, an interaction triggered by a separate stimuli, reacting to the brand based off of pre learned ways from the past and interaction that was formed from the early days of childhood, instinctive interactions which effect the consumer unconsciously.