Values

“Values are our ideas about what is desirable” (Wilkie)

Values are a key aspect when customers decide on what products, brands or companies to use. There are a wide range of different values that can be brought upon companies, with environmetal issues and recycling, organic produce or those which don't use animals for experimentation. These values can come from many different triggers throughout someones life, this can include family lifestyle and the way in which they were brought up, and also their family values.

Kahle's made a list of values that were seen to drive someone's lifestyle these were:

1. Self Respect
2. Excitement
3. Being Well Respected
4. Self-fulfilment
5. Sense of accomplishment
6. Warm relationship with others
7. Security
8. Fun & enjoyment
9. Sense of belonging

These are all key when reaching certain goals within your lifestyles, they help to realise what you need to reach those end states. Laddering techniques are the ways in which people will buy or use specific products to lead to some of Kahle's list of values. It means that people have goals to achieve these end states, and by reaching those they use certain products, laddering techniques enable us to identify the links between functional product attributes & desired end states. An example of this would be slim-fast diet products including milk shakes and even full meals with low calories to reach and end state of weight loss.

These laddering techniques can help marketing agencies to create a USP and marketing strategy to enable them to reach a specific target audience by way of knowing the 'end states'. There are two main different values that is key within marketing these are terminal values which are relationships with others and family, where as instrumental value is where a product is used to 'show off' an example of this would be the typical stereotype of a care being used to attract women a 'babe magnet'.

Gender Differences in Direct Mail

The way in which companies can reach out to audiences reguarding direct mail they have to think about who they are and the differences in gender.
People react to stimuli in different ways depending on whether they are male or female, in most research it is seen to be that females react better to emotional messages with a story whereas males prefer factual styles that are straight to the point.

•A re-written “factual” letter for men generated a response 85 per cent better than the original ‘female/emotional’ pack.
•When the ‘male/factual’ version was sent to women response rate was 15 percent lower

There are also language preferences between gender when looking at direct marketing, women tend to prefer conversational style writing with bold colours whereas men reacted more to factual, straight to the point language with more neutral colours to highlight the writing not the picture behind it. Examples of this can be seen below where the advert for women had lots of text and they had to work out the story whereas the one aimed at males was a bold picture with a few lines for description.

From both of these adverts we can immediately see the difference in the way advertising is used for different audiences and proves most theories correct when relating to different genders. This all links to the way people then buy products where females like to look at a range of products to find the best one possible, and they will shop around however men are more likely to find the product that stands out to them or is the most popular.

Family

Family
Family is a key demographic for marketers as they can target many different products that are involved within the family home and life cycle, whether they are a young couple or middle aged with children their needs and values change. Decision making can come from more than one person and influences can be made in order for products or services to be bought.

There are different definitions of the family:
* Nuclear Family - father, mother & children who live together
* Extended Family - nuclear family plus other relatives such as grandparents,
* Family of Orientation - the family you are born into
* Family of Procreation - the family founded through marriage

Recently there have been many different changes that have occurred to the typical definition of the family, there are more single parent families and births out of marriage and a definate increase in 'step' families. These factors can all influence how marketing agencies contact their audience and the way in which and how they advertise their products.
There is also been a large increase in working mums which means that there is more than one person bringing home a wage it can lead to them having more money to spend, women now account for 44% of the workforce.

A family’s needs are affected by the number of children, their ages & whether one, two or more adults are employed outside the home. There will always be one key decision maker, it has typically been the female within the house however there are factors which can affect this. These can be, who has more time at home or cultural influences. Although a product may be seen to be for either children or a man the actual people that a marketing organisation may be targeting will be the the mother or the partner. This is because they will be the buyer of the product and not the user the have the most influence on buying many products.

The typical family buying organisation is:
*Gatekeeper
*User
*Influencer
*Buyer
*Decider

Children have a large influence in the buying process they tend to watch more television and therefore they have more access to advertising this can also be by way of magazine and the internet. However if they find something they want they will then go to their parents who will then buy it for them, children are highly influencial and are always looking to something or someone to aspire to therefore the inclusion of celebrities can have a higher affect on children.

Generations

Generational Marketing
The method of marketing to a specific generation is affecting the way that we promote and sell products and services. We are all a product of our generation. Each generation have their own characteristics, because of this as a marketing target we can usually categorize by generations by the way that we act and speak as well as our belief systems.
There are different groups that can be associated to a particular date, these can say alot about who those people are and also what their attitudes are like towards marketing and values. Many marketing companies look at 'generations' for a target audience.
1.Millenials or Generation 2001ers, born after 1980
2.Baby Busters or Generation Xers born between 1965 and 1980
3.Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964
4.Mature Citizens born between 1909 and 1945

This diagram shows when certain generational groups date from and the populations of those different groups. We can see that at some of the groups there is a large fluctuation in population and baby booms, these started from after the WW2 because of this you are then faced with another rise in population in the 60's because those who were born after the war are now reproducing.

You have see for yourself and look to the future to what the population will be like in 1o years or how it currently is. Just go to this hyperlink: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/populationestimates/svg_pyramid/uk/index.html

There are many different aspects for marketers to consider when looking at generations as a target audience these include:
*Values
*Self-concept
*Nostalgia
*Group Membership
*Perception
These are key to being successful in generating the right product/service that will suit audience as it can create a relationship and build brand name and awareness.

Our task in the lecture was to look into one of the generational groups, ours was to look at over 50's and we decided to look for the 'young olds'. We were to find out their perception of the internet, what their favourite brands are and why, the population within the UK and their value system.
We found that their favourite brands tended to be those that had been around for a long time and they were seen to be reliable they included Marks and Spencer, Debenhams and John Lewis. On and online poll we found these were favourites because of the fact that you could find pretty much everything in one place, if you have grandchildren, children and friends you could buy everything there rather than having to look in many different shops. We found that Marks and Spencer have highlighted this and used it to their advantage creating nostalgic advertising to target the audience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFVivTXlaEo this shows a typical summer picnic which is popular with older women and will creat many memories.

Another advert which is very in toe with the over 50's generation is the 2007 christmas advert with Antonio Banderas it creates and old school black and white 'Marylin Monroe' film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l8XIoauB6Y
Saga holidays was also very popular with the over 50's category for the reason that they regard travel as hugely inspirational and is one of main spending priorities, and many emmigrate abroad.

With a population of 21 million in the United Kingdom it is a great generational groups for marketers to target, they are very influencial on friends and family and if they like a product they are more likely to stay with that, and will use mainly large branded names because of reliability. This group may be harder than other to change their views and opinions on products if they have been using something for a long time they find it reliable they are less likely to change.

Groups!

Marketers use groups of different types of people to target for particular products. By belonging to different groups consumers can be persuaded to either dress a certain way, buy a particular product or listen to a genre of music. These groups can stem from values you have or the places and people you may mix with.
With the use of Kotler et al and theory we move on to the social and cultural aspect of buyer behaviour which includes social class, culture and reference groups.

Groups
A group is two or more individuals who
–share a set of norms,
–have role relationships,
–and experience interdependent behaviours.
Groups of people can influence the way we learn and how we behave.

There are many different groups types these can include:
1. Ascribed-Born into
2. Peer-People of equal standing
3.Associative-Realistically belong
4.Contrived-Formed for a specific purpose
5.Reference-Looked to for lifestyle
6.Acquired-Moved into
7. Aspirational-Like to belong
8.Disassociation-Hate to belong
Some of these different groups can have a different effect when it comes to influencing decisions about products or brands. For example peer or associative groups are those in which you belong to with people of similar values, therefore it may have a greater influence than others.

There can be negative representations of different brands because of the groups that the product is associated with and many companies try to move away from those stereotypes and re-invent the brand. One of the biggest examples of this within Britain is that of Burberry and the infamous chav stereotype.

Burberry started as one of the most up market designer in the UK with a large flagship store in Knightsbridge, London and the likes of Kate Moss being the face of the brand. However the famous check mark of the Burberry brand was mass produced on a large scale for the group of 'chavs' lowering the brand image and decreasing the sales. One of the most famous pictures is of Eastenders star Daniella Westbrook dressed head to toe in the check including her little girl.

Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954)
This theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and desires by comparing themselves to others. is the idea that there is a drive within individuals to look to outside images in order to evaluate their own opinions and abilities. These images may be a reference to physical reality or in comparison to other people. People look to the images portrayed by others to be obtainable and realistic, and subsequently, make comparisons among themselves, others and the idealized images
•we look to the behaviour of others to provide a guide and to reassure our self-evaluation.
•Consumers are selective about whom they use for benchmarks.
There have being many theorists who have looked into the idea that people can change and act in a certain way due to their surroundings and the situation they have been put in. For example lack of structure and discipline.

http://www.prisonexp.org/
Dr Zimbardo took upon an experiment in 1971 in which twenty-four undergraduates were selected out of 70 to play the roles of both guards and prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Those selected were chosen for their lack of psychological issues, crime history, and medical disabilities, in order to obtain a representative sample. Roles were assigned based on a coin toss.

Prisoners and guards rapidly adapted to their roles, stepping beyond the boundaries of what had been predicted and leading to dangerous and psychologically damaging situations. One-third of the guards were judged to have exhibited "genuine" sadistic tendencies, while many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and two had to be removed from the experiment early

Another example of this is within the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding 1954. In which boys from public school are left deserted on an island and take matters into their own hands with dictatorship and disastrous effects with tribes attacking others and a high level of bullying.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AhIyCCm426c

Gift Giving.

High and Low Involvement

Buyer involvement with purchasing decisions can vary depending on the need nd want of the product. It will also differ if the product is an every day nesessity or a bigger buying decision. For example with Kotler's buyer decision process you can determine the change in high or low involvement products. See the example below:
Low High

Routine Impulse Regular Irregular (small) Irregular (large)

When it comes to products like milk and bread is a need product that you would buy weekly or even sometimes daily and therefore it would be a low involvement product for the reason that you would automatically choose the item where as an irregular product would be high involvement because it could be a house or car. This would mean that you would have to analyse all of the options of the product and maybe look at other brands if it was a car.

Measuring Involvement
Laurent & Kapferer (1985) argue that a consumer’s level of
involvement will be affected by four components:
1. importance & risk
2. probability of making a bad purchase
3. pleasure value of product category
4. sign value of product category

Gift Giving
Pamela Danziger(2004)
Gift shopping is the ultimate in 'emotional consumerism', since gift giving is all about emotionally connecting giver and recipient. Whenever consumer shopping behaviour is driven by emotion, the shopper's goal is to buy a thing to achieve a special feeling, enhance an emotional experience or deepen an emotional reaction. In other words, the gift itself is the means to an end to strengthen the emotional connection between individuals. The challenge for retailers and marketers is how to enhance the 'gifting' experience.The business of gifting for both retailer and marketer hinges on this.

Store choice for gifts is controlled by the left brain, but gift selection is right-brain dominated.
Givers use different criteria when choosing a store to shop for a gift and what to buy once they are there. They select the store based on rational, left-brain factors, such as where they will find the best prices, while they select the gift primarily on emotional, right-brain factors

How are gifts selected?
1. What would the recipient want?
2. What would i like to give them?
3. What occasion is the gift for?
4. How much is the budget?

Many retail stores try to maximise the gift giving process by including added extras for example the option for gift wrapping for example La Senza have luxury bags with scented beads and most jewellery stores will give free gift wrapping not only does this mean the shopper has less to worry about it will also be advertising for those gift receiver and those who see the product.

Nostalgia

nos·tal·gi·a
n.
1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.
2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.

The smell of your mum's perfume or that special song that reminds you of a significant event. Even if you may not have any specific memories or things that instantly remind you of a time in your life. A random smell or outing may just trigger one of those nostalgic moments.
Within marketing companies are always looking to create that nostalgic affect, which may lead to an impulse buy or a bigger brand loyalty.

Nostalgia is linked with memory and how we remember certain things and how and where they are stored within the brain. There are triggers that can immediately refresh memories whether it be of a certain time in your life or even jsut a brand. An example of this would be where a company would use the same type of music and it is therefore linked to that company. For example the McDonalds slogan 'Im Lovin It' whenever that plays you are reminded of the brand. Companies use this as a marketing tool not only to create the feeling of nostalgia for their target audience but to also create a memorable link between the brand and a type of music or feeling.


A typical nostalgic feeling brought upon by an advert of a brand is the Christmas Coca-Cola adverts which always start from around the beginning of december. All of my friends will say that they know it is the start of christmas when that is played on tv. It brings together memories from where they have grown up with the advert, and it almost feels a part of christmas for me http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jAeqQwY1xdE

Nostalgia has been described as a bitter-sweet emotion, where the past is viewed with both sadness and longing.” (Solomon, 2000)

When it comes to nostalgia all of the five senses can be linked to those special moments important in someones life.
*Music or sound can act as a trigger http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_r6b3XD8srM
Whole Again, Atomic Kitten is one song that i always remember from my time at Lord Williams's Secondary school going to netball matches in the minibus with all my close friends. Since then everytime it plays we all start to sing together, it is something that we can all relate to as a time in our lives.
The Spice Girls were also a huge part of my life growing up from the music to films.
*Images . These can be things with fashion for example the iconic trend of the jelly shoes!
*Smells. My mums perfume- Jean Paul Gaultier Classic. There are also many different types of food smells that remind me of certain times or places.