Stan. – Attitude

Some of us may have already passed our moody teenage attitude by now, but no matter what, as consumers we have attitudes towards brands (and sometimes still our parents). But are these attitudes genuine? I think not!

An attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way with respect to a given object.” (Algie, 2019)


What does this mean in a day to day context? Let’s say you want to buy a streaming service, because you have been to your friend’s place and you watched something on Netflix together. Your Netflix and Chill may have been a good time, and that creates a learned predisposition. Thus, an attitude is created where you think of Netflix first and this is favourable towards the service. Using this example, the following diagram is an appropriate explanation of how attitudes are formed.

Sources of Influence on Attitude Formation (Solomon et al., 2019)

This diagram states that we form our attitudes on our surrounding environment, such as family and friends or the ever-present media. This is a fairly simple concept in consumer behaviour. A more product specific attitude theory is the “Hierarchy of Effects”.

Hierarchy of Effects

Figure 8.1 – Four Hierarchies of Effect (Solomon et. al., 2019)

The hierarchy of effects explores the sequential relationships of a consumer’s thoughts, feelings and decisive behaviours (Solomon et. al., 2019). It organises the process of how a decision is made based on learning, feeling and doing. Above is the diagram. Why do we need this diagram? It is used to predict consumer behaviour and influence behaviour to allocate a certain brand into their lifestyle (Wijaya, 2015). To apply this theory back to Stan., this would be an experiential hierarchy process due to Stan. being a hedonic purchase. This means that the entertainment factor weighs on the consumer’s decision making process, meaning the affect is the first step – “feel’. To accommodate for this process, Stan. offers free trials for one month which allows consumers to “feel” or try out the product so that they can then “do” or “learn”. Ultimately, the hedonistic purchaser is analysing or trying to appeal to their emotional reactions. Thus, marketers influence the marketing message to affect the attitude evoked unto the consumer, this is called emotional contagion (Solomon et. al., 2019).

(Solomon et. al., 2019)

The Hierarchy of Effects model is based off the structural models of attitudes. This shows how all stages of attitude formation are interrelated and how there is no particular order.

Affect = Feel

Conation (Behaviour) = Do

Cognition = Learn

However, there are some setbacks with the the HOE model as discussed by Smith. Consumers must begin with no awareness of the advertised brand using the HOE model (Smith et. al., 2008), which is not feasible with big brands in modern society. This is because the model attempts to create an attitude, but if there is already awareness, there is a form of attitude whether it is small or large. Therefore, the model works off of advertising to appeal to the consumer goal so a marketer aims to “orient cognitive resources toward processing the ad and brand” (Smith et. al., 2008). It is mainly an advertising model , and it was developed for traditional mass media which may pose issues within modern society (Poh, 2002) . The basis of this whole model is exposure and how they feel about the product, which can be very difficult when they have already been exposed minimally, or even almost subliminally due to the amount of advertisements viewed daily. This model is still highly relevant in consumer behaviour, I just wanted to raise a problem found in my research!


Reference List

  • Poh, D.M.H. and Adam, S., 2002, January. An exploratory investigation of attitude toward the website and the advertising hierarchy of effects. In AusWeb02, the Web enabled global village: proceedings of AusWeb02, the eighth Australian World Wide Web Conference (pp. 620-631). Southern Cross University.
  • Smith, R.E., Chen, J. and Yang, X., 2008. The impact of advertising creativity on the hierarchy of effects. Journal of advertising37(4), pp.47-62.
  • Solomon, Michael R, Russell-Bennet, Rebekah & Previte, Josephine 2019, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having and Being, 4th ed., Pearson Australia, Melbourne, VIC.
  • Wijaya, B.S., 2015. The development of hierarchy of effects model in advertising. International Research Journal of Business Studies5(1).

Stan. – Motivates to Procrastinate


If you have a streaming service, why do you have it? This is a simple question but so important for marketers to consider. Understanding consumer behaviour all comes down to understanding the “why?”. To answer the question, I have Stan. to increase the amount of entertainment options I have (TV shows and movies), support the Australian entertainment industry, and if I am honest, to have a platform to fuel my procrastination. This answer is called motivation. All of these aspects motivate me to purchase a streaming service.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Where does human motivation come from? Blythe states that human needs generate our drive, and consequently our motivation (Blythe, 2008). This can date back to the simple model of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow’s theory states that you must fulfil human basic needs to attain self-actualisation, with most individuals not meeting this criteria. For an entertainment service such as Stan., it is hard to appeal to Maslow’s theory due to it not being an actual “need”. However, Stan. can use this theory to place their service as an appeal to pleasure. Maslow does not allocate pleasure or entertainment within his hierarchy, therefore I assume it to be a part of self-actualisation through creativity. Please leave your comments and opinions on this issue in the comments.

This is simple diagram of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Kenny, 2018)

To continue this discussion, Maslow evidences in his diagram that our physical and functional needs are highly significant, but it is essential to recognise that humans are severely influences by social needs, aesthetic attractions and pleasure (Blythe, 2008). This relates to the concept of hedonism. Hedonism explains the human seek for as much pleasure in life as possible, but this can also come with a catch for the consumer. These hedonic needs are described as subjective and experiential, appealing to social acceptance, pleasure and even fantasy (Solomon et al., 2019). How can we gain as much pleasure out of our products with as little risk or issues as possible? Marketers aim to diminish concerns of risk in consumers by shifting communication approaches, which are recognised as motivational conflicts.

Motivational Conflicts

Purchase decisions often include numerous motivations, with consumer behaviour being influenced by both positive and negative motivations, creating conflict (Solomon et. al., 2019) which could potentially jeopardise a sale. Below is a table that explains positive and negative motivations (Solomon et.al., 2019):

Positive GoalNegative Goal
Referred to as an approach goalReferred to as an avoidance goal
Positive Motivation
A driving force toward some object or condition.
Negative Motivation
A driving force away from some object condition
Approach Goal
A positive goal towards which behaviour is directed
Avoidance Goal
A negative goal from which behaviour is directed away.

Motivation conflicts is when two goals or more are within the same purchasing decision.

Approach-Approach Conflict:
A person must choose between 2 desirable alternatives
Approach-Avoidance Conflict:
Exists when consumers desire a goal but wish to avoid it at the same time
Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict:
A consumer must choose between 2 undesirable alternatives.

To bring this back to the brand Stan., a consumer would want to appeal to their hedonistic need of pleasure through entertainment. Therefore, the positive motivation would be entertainment with a variety of choices, but the consumer would want to avoid the negative motivation of a monthly price for potential shows the consumer is not attracted to. Considering the approach-avoidance conflict the consumer is experiencing, Stan. offers a solution to the conflict through a free trial of the service for a month. This allows the consumer to trial to product to decide whether their positive motivation is satisfied, as well as avoiding the negative motivation of paying for an unsatisfactory service. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Reference List

Stan. – TV with Personality

You are what you consume?

No. You are what you watch.

– Me, 2019

In all seriousness, purchases are always made with intention. Our intentions are influenced by our personality, needs, social desires and self image. But what do we consider the self? Self-concept is how we evaluate ourselves based on the attributes, believes and attitudes that we believe are appealing (Solomon et al., 2019). As consumers, this will influence us to purchase items and services that will get us closer to our self-proclaimed ideal identity. This all breaks down into self image:

  • How do we view ourselves?
  • What do we need/want to improve?
  • How do others view us?
  • How do we want to appear in-front of others?

This creates a divide in products available to us – will we buy the Gucci slides or the Kmart thongs? What can we buy to replicate the psychological goddess/god of ourselves that we have created?

This may sound like it applies to only luxury items and maybe even “ego-boosting” products, but this is actually prevalent with all purchases. You see this with many families where they only shop at Woolies, Aldi or Coles. With such similar items, it seems ridiculous. But, ultimately it is all about aligning yourself with brand image creating a great self-image.

Self-Image

To understand consumers, marketers must dive into psychology. This helps understand the most important question of consumer behaviour – WHY? There are different types of self images that manipulate consumer behaviours.

Actual Self-ImageHow a consumer views their own identity
Ideal Self-ImageHow a consumer would like to manipulate their identity
Social Self-ImageHow a consumer assumes others see them
Expected Self-ImageThe 5th type of self-image (will explain more!)
Ideal Social Self-ImageHow a consumer would like other consumers to view them

What is expected self-image?

Expected self-image is a new concept which is based on how consumers expect to view themselves in the future with a new product or service (Solomon et al., 2018). To marketers, this is useful as they can build upon an individuals existing self-image and appeal to their ideal self-image AND their social self-image to develop an attainable product/service that will seem to improve their future.

Actual Self-Image + Use of Products and Services = Expected Self-Image

Okay, yeah – but how does this apply to Stan.?

GLAD YOU ASKED! Stan is just a streaming service in Australia right? Wrong. Stan. is more than that. Stan. is an entertainment service that is a hub of personality builders through TV series and movies where we can go “OMG RuPaul’s Drag Race is amazing” or “This is my third run of the entire The Office series.” Whatever you use Stan. for – you do you, boo. Ultimately, marketers create brand image with personality, which consumers notice and use to self express to define their own self-image (Phau, I. and Lau, K.C., 2001).

For example, I use Stan. because I define myself as an Australian who wants access to a multitude of TV shows. I need quick entertainment and I do not have the attention span to watch a movie, which I personally believe that Netflix is better at (even though Stan. just won the rights to Disney movies). That is my self-image. Who I want to be is someone who is familiar with with random quotes from peculiar, yet entertaining TV shows and I want to be able to host marathon nights with my friends. That is my ideal self-image. As simple as it is, this is what Stan. needs to target. Insecurity and self-esteem creates social self-image, such as: “What if my friends don’t like Stan. and thinks I am a loser for not watching Netflix?”. Again, this can influence your decision making as you may not purchase Stan. as it has less TV shows and isn’t as globally recognised. Ultimately, Stan. wishes to create a position in your future with their service, creating an expected self-image.

You can only get The Office on Stan. btw – just for you Stan. haters.

References

  • Phau, I. and Lau, K.C., 2001. Brand personality and consumer self-expression: single or dual carriageway?. Journal of Brand Management8(6), pp.428-444.
  • Solomon, Michael R, Russell-Bennet, Rebekah & Previte, Josephine 2019, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having and Being, 4th ed., Pearson Australia, Melbourne, VIC.

STAN – Episode 2: Learning

When we think of learning we usually think of schools, education, opinions and knowledge. We often forget that we are constantly processing information and forever learning from the stimuli around us. As consumers we are always learning about products on the market, about brands and what they stand for, as well as learning about what we apparently “need”. Marketers use learning concepts within their campaigns and advertisements to trigger the psychological process of learning, boosting their brand awareness within the consumer who is often unaware of the process.

What is Consumer Learning?

The process of individuals acquiring and consuming products and services, which creates knowledge and consumer experience to apply to future purchases.

Figure 4.2 – Consumer as a black box (Solomon et. al, 2019)

Behavioural learning theories state and assume that learning is based on external stimuli such as exposure and experience. This shapes the concept of the consumer as a “black box” meaning that the stimulus is given, the consumer views observable stimuli which then shapes the response given (Solomon et al., 2019). This is supported by two main behavioural learning concepts: classical and cognitive. Today I will only bore you with one aspect of classical conditioning: instrumental conditioning.

Instrumental Conditioning

Instrumental conditioning occurs when a consumer is searching for a positive purchase to avoid negative outcomes.

A behavioural theory of learning based on trial-and-error process, with habits forced as the result of positive experiences (reinforcement) resulting from certain responses and behaviours) – B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

To example this through STAN, say a consumer is looking for at home entertainment. There are many options but this could bring a lot of risk opportunities. Brands are hoping to create reinforcement within the consumer – a positive/negative outcome that influences the consumer to continue using their product as a response to a stimulus. Home entertainment is FILLED with options, such as Netflix, Stan, FreeView, Foxtel, YouTube and various social media. Why would you choose Stan? What positive reinforcement is there?

Figure 4.3 – Types of Reinforcement (Solomon et. al, 2019)

The main aim that a marketer wants to create within the consumer is positive reinforcement when the condition is applied, as seen in the top left box above. Stan uses this through a free trial.

This is the first page on the Stan. website which evidences their positive reinforcement – “try us for free and get the biggest deal in entertainment”

“The Biggest Deal in Entertainment” is the desired outcome for the consumer, being drawn into Stan as a potential service to fulfill their need. Customer satisfaction is the desired outcome for Stan, as this is the positive reinforcement needed to maintain their business (Solomon et al. , 2019). This is the heart of instrumental conditioning. Through the consumer using Stan’s free trial and enjoying the TV shows and movies they watch, this is customer satisfaction. They are being rewarded and they have positive reinforcement, strengthening the connection to the brand. If the consumer learns that they do enjoy the content of Stan, they can continue watching and pay for a subscription for $10. They will be continually rewarded with positive reinforcement to maintain their brand loyalty with the addition of new content – for example, Disney on Stan.


As loyal as one may be to a streaming service, it doesn’t mean they can’t use another such as myself who uses BOTH Stan and Netflix (shocking, I know). I have learnt that both services are rewarding to me and I have positively reinforced by Stan through the addition of Disney and classics such as Parks & Recreation, The Office and Community. But no one can take away Netflix’s influence with their originals such as Black Mirror, Bird Box and Big Mouth! Either way – I am a loyal consumer of both services.


References

  • Solomon, Michael R, Russell-Bennet, Rebekah & Previte, Josephine 2019, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having and Being, 4th ed., Pearson Australia, Melbourne, VIC.

STAN – Episode 1: Perception


Perception – What do you see?

Perception is when an individual views and processes stimuli, which they then organise to create intelligible knowledge of the world. This process is prevalent in everyday life – thus, it is a part of consumer behaviour!

So, the most important thing to understand for perception is STIMULI. This triggers human senses, which is used by marketers to entice a consumer to their product (Solomon et al., 2019). Therefore, if it appeals to the senses, it more than likely appeals to the customer.

SENSORY SYSTEMS
VisionVisual elements in advertising, store design and packaging
SmellOdours can stir emotions or create feelings such as happiness
/hunger
SoundResearch has analysed effects of: background music & speaking rules
Touch Shown to be a factor in sales interactions
Taste Ethnicity affects taste preferences

However, it can be hard to reach the consumer. The diagram below shows the perceptual process which describes how consumers can block marketer’s advertising intentions. The issue of social media is the loss of attention spans due to constant streams of information being available within seconds, minimising the amount of attention needed to acquire knowledge. This reduces the impact of advertising, as consumers can easily block out messages and sometimes don’t even need to block them out. Personally, I use ad-blockers on my laptop to reduce the amount of advertising I view, as well as regularly culling emails into spam folders.

STAN, an Australian streaming service, recognises the issues of reaching consumers. They may issue messages/stimuli, but even then selective exposure and attention may filter the message out of sight and out of mind. Their first advertisement was aired on Channel 9/Fairfax television, which involves many cut scenes, bright colours, and consistent sounds (background music). It is an original ad which is not traditional in any sense, which then breaks the selective exposure and selective attention of the consumer.

Designing Effective Advertisements (Solomon et al, 2019)

  • Unique stimuli
  • Middle portion of the ad is easily forgotten
  • Encourage immediate rehearsal
  • Chunking
  • Amount of info transferred is a function of the time available for processing
  • Provide relevant cues

Using this guide, analysis of the STAN advertisement proves why it was used as an initial advertisement. It has plenty of unique stimuli which entices and perhaps confuses the consumer, encouraging them to watch more and understand. There are relevant cues throughout the video, with STAN written on various objects in blue, such as on the white pony – this creates salience. Furthermore, the end is a simple blue screen with information on STAN, which can be processed within the time and can be used by consumers to learn more about the service that will be provided, encouraging immediate rehearsal. The middle portion of the ad can be viewed as repetitive and easily forgotten, thus the featuring of Rebel Wilson is to provide humour and confusion, creating more interaction and attention grabbing techniques to ensure the viewers stays to the end.

Perception controls how viewers unpack and interpret the advertisement, which can be difficult with such an abstract advertising campaign for STAN. It is important to recognise that perception relies on both:

  • Physical Stimuli – eg. sight, smell, audio etc.
  • Inherent Predispositions – expectations, motives & learning

This means that if someone has inherent predispositions of gaining a new streaming service, or they are aware of a new incoming brand, this STAN ad would have made complete sense in conjunction with the physical stimuli. However, if it was just physical stimuli, many people would just view the advertisement as confusing with little knowledge about the service.


The intention of the marketer is to attract as much attention to boost sales and brand image, however it is key to always analyse advertising campaigns and releases to ensure that perception is acknowledged and it will appeal to people of many backgrounds. The campaigns must contain stimuli that will spark interest within the consumer, as well as appealing to their inherent predispositions. What we see as consumers is always influenced by the marketers, but also our own perceptions!

References

  • Solomon, Michael R, Russell-Bennet, Rebekah & Previte, Josephine 2019, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having and Being, 4th ed., Pearson Australia, Melbourne, VIC.

Dinner and Decisions.

As consumers, we often feel overwhelmed by advertisements and company’s attempts to sway our purchasing decisions. I have always felt pressured to buy certain brands and products due to lifestyle advertisements and expectations placed upon me as a young adult. However, I learnt that as a consumer, we consciously and unconsciously involve ourselves in consumer decision making.
Decisions seem simple, meaning that you just have to choose between one thing and all of it’s alternatives, yes?

Myself and I arguing over what is for dinner.

Not particularly, as there is an underlying process that all consumers fall into. To explain the concept of consumer decision making, I will use an example that is relevant to all uni students – how do I find dinner without moving a muscle?

The market is confusing with so many brands to buy from, often causing customer confusion. The environment may have too many similar stimuli (brands that offer the same benefit with little difference), complex stimuli or just even too many brands, which leads to loss of orientation (confusion) and could ultimately result in the abandonment of the purchase. As someone on a budget, I often abandon difficult purchases as I find it too hard to fit into my financial plans when a sale is confusing.

This explains the process through a more extension diagram by Matzler Et al. 2007.

This confusion happened to me when deciding what to eat due to the wide variety of brands to choose from: Deliveroo, UBEReats, Eatnow and Menulog. However, I was hungry so I did not abandon my quest. There are three levels of consumer decision making – extensive problem solving, limited problem solving, and routinised-response behaviour.

  • Extensive Problem Solving -There has been no former thoughts and criteria to evaluate brand/product options, and haven’t even narrowed the options down yet.
  • Limited Problem Solving – There are basic criteria for evaluation, yet there are no preferred options.
  • Routinised-Response Behaviour – There is experience with the consumer, meaning they have their opinions, preferences and criteria prepared. Could purchase out of habit, or may need a bit more information.

As I usually cook from home to save money, I needed extensive problem solving as: (1) I didn’t know how to differentiate the delivery brands, (2) I didn’t know how many brands there were, and (3) I was just hungry and needed to eat, so I thought I didn’t have any criteria.

Unconsciously I started the process of consumer behaviour. There are three steps, and they are psychological.

  • Step 1: Need Recognition.
    • My need was to eat – and fast!
  • Step 2: Pre-purchase Search
    • This involved me using my memory to determine what food sources I already knew (my memory being an internal source of information) and to then research externally for more information if this did not suit my need.
  • Step 3: Evaluation of Alternatives.
    • View what options I had and evaluate them based on two forms of information – the evoked set (consideration) and criteria I have formed for myself.

So, step one was already complete as I was hungry… however, I also wanted the food to be relatively cheap, delivered fast, not have a large delivery fee and to actually provide the food I was craving. By looking at the process, this is my CRITERIA. To then continue the process, I had to do some external research. This research involved me downloading the food apps Menulog, Deliveroo and UberEats. Why? Because these where the ones advertised to me most… and had coupons available online (I am poor, okay?).

I had realised that I was hungry for Vietnamese food, so I scoured the apps for participating restaurants. To my delight, I found that UberEats and Deliveroo had restaurants that aligned with my criteria. This is when I thought about risks, which are always faced by consumers prior to purchasing items due to uncertainty and unforeseen consequences.

Personally I was worried about the product and delivery not being worth the expense (a financial risk), feeling guilty/useless about not cooking (a psychological risk), or that I will no longer want the product because it took so long (time risk). As a consumer with a need, I continued seeking information on the apps and was reassured when they had delivery times, clear prices and food descriptions with the occasional image. Step 2 was complete!

Step 3 is the evaluation of alternatives which involves the evoked set, which is a list of brands/restaurants that I am considering, and the criteria. Using these sources of information, I had two set options; one from Deliveroo, and one from UberEats. The inept set includes excluded considerations, which would be MenuLog in this situation. Deliveroo won the evaluation as I already knew the restaurant that I was buying from (brand loyalty, habitual decision making) and it met my criteria by being under $15, free delivery due to a coupon and arriving in under half an hour.

Using this extended example of student struggles, I now understand that as consumers we do have a choice in our purchases and it often follows an unconscious process. Marketing isn’t everything, but it sure helps (thanks Facebook for telling me to get Deliveroo for free delivery)!

References

  • Matzler, K., Waiguny, M. and Fuller, J. 2007, ‘Spoiled for Choice: Consumer Confusion in Internet-Based Mass Customization’, Innovative Marketing, vol. 3, no.3, pp. 9.
  • Solomon, M 2018, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being, 4th edn, P. Ed, Australia.

Haul Videos: Excessive or Expressive of New Consumerism?

The rise of social media marketing has brought us a whole new set of tools to create more outreach to customers, bringing attention to brands on a global platform. Through #trends and tags, those active on social media are in an abyss of advertising. One aspect of advertising and social media engagement with consumers to brands that intrigues me is the rising phenomenon of haul videos.

Haul Videos – What are they, and why do they matter?

In a basic statement, haul videos are uploads of content where an individual (often a lifestyle blogger, a beauty/fitness influencer, or commentary person) buys a large amount of products – a “haul” – and then uses/tries on products to then comment on. The danger of haul videos is the content creator, as many can be sponsored by the brand they are “reviewing”. This destroys the intended purpose of haul videos:

To provide an honest opinion that will aid other consumers in purchasing these products, and to decide whether they are for them.

So, if consumers are aware that the haul video they watch may possess biased opinions, why do they continue to watch them? The appeal is no longer the product, but it is rather the content creator. Social media has shaped digital marketing from just selling products into selling a lifestyle. I consider this to be reflective of engagement marketing. As stated by Rafiee, V. & Sarabdeen, J (2013), companies now directly engage customers to become involved in the evolution of their brand. Thus, it goes “beyond the purchasing experience” and creates “behavioural manifestations” that the company has created as product focus. To better understand this, I analysed the fitness industry and it’s influx in Instagram advertising and greater YouTube presence.

Below is an example of a haul video by Whitney Simmons.

The most prevalent brand which is within fitness haul videos and Instagram promotions is Gymshark. It’s marketing consists of images and videos of fitness icons and models who promote an active lifestyle, whilst wearing the Gymshark collection. I personally as a female who strives for that figure and an increasingly balanced life am sucked into the appeal of the promotions. Haul videos are constantly popping up using this brand with famous fitness bloggers such as Tammy Hembrow and Whitney Simmons. I cannot ignore noticing that most of these haul videos do not have an active demonstration of how the products function in a gym environment, but mostly are commentary on how they fit the body. To me, this examples how the content creators are focusing upon the product as a vehicle to create a certain lifestyle, not product performance.

To continue upon engagement marketing, Gymshark outreaches to followers to wear their products in hopes that they will be a representative of the brand. Endless tags and features of the brand in individual’s photos create this appeal and dream that one day they will become a Gymshark model.

Haul videos in my opinion are not just innocent sharing of product purchasing, but rather a platform for creators to relay engagement marketing to consumers. Furthermore, haul videos allow consumers to alike themselves to content creators as they recognise the creators as consumers also. This continues the aspiration of achieving a certain lifestyle through perhaps appealing to insecurities or goals of consumers, which secures engagement and behavioural ideals with a brand.


References

Jordaan, Y. & Ehlers, L. (2009). Young adult consumers” media usage and online purchase likelihood. Journal of Family Ecology and Consumer Sciences, 37, 24-34.

Rafiee, V. & Sarabdeen, J. 2013, ‘Social media marketing: the unavoidable marketing management tool’, 21st International Business Information Management Association Conference (IBIMA), pp. 933-942.


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