.9 External search on more complex need to satisfy

Psychology and marketing are two intertwined concepts that work hand in hand with one another. The theories of marketing can be best understood with the application of psychology, which leads to an understanding of consumer behavior. The decision of more complex consumer needs to be based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that defines the psychological health and development of human beings through the hierarchy (Foxall, Goldsmith and Brown, 1998). The chosen complex need in this section is the self-actualization need. Self-actualization need of consumers may not be required for complete psychological development but is essential for an individual to be fully realized.

Therefore, the need concerns realizing and obtaining an individual’s full potential thus making it a complex need to achieve. The need is manifested through an individual’s desire to accomplish everything by becoming the best of all. Therefore, meeting this need is far complex as the ultimate achievement of the need is in an individual’s eyes. Consequently, it is hard to appeal to this need, as there are high chances that a product or service offered by a given company does not comprise a whole of consumer’s identity (Yalch and Brunel, 1996). Therefore, realizing this need would require that the company create a brand that represents achieving self-actualization while helping its consumers reach to the same level.

For instance, the marketing communication for sports companies should inspire consumers in achieving the physical type of self-actualization where customers are required to get through the physical pain of training if they are to achieve the desired results. Therefore, a brand can help an individual attain the desired level of self-actualization need by becoming a source of inspiration. Thus, the type of information required in achieving this need includes creativity, honesty, and strong moral and ethical standards. A brand needs to know if an individual is problem-centered, creative, hardworking and responsible, and whether or not they pose the highest level of honesty and moral standard. Understanding this information would help a brand gear towards achieving the need for self-actualization.

3.7 Classic conditioning

Classical conditioning is a type of learning that has been widely discussed in the school of thought known as behaviorism (Olson and Fazio, 2001). The kind of learning process occurs through the association between one’s environment stimulus and the natural stimulus. Thus, behaviorism entails learning through interaction with the environment such that the environment is seen to shape behavior. Operant conditioning, on the other hand, involves using punishment and reinforcement to alter behavior thus creating an association between the behavior and its consequences (Olson and Fazio, 2001).

From the example given n Nike advertisement, the operant conditioning can be witnessed when an individual subjects themselves to intensive practice and training without giving up. From Nike’s ad, one thing noted is that an athlete or sports person can achieve greater strides by purchasing Nike shoes. The advertisement represents an unconditioned response that is an unlearned naturally occurring response to some stimulus thus considered classical conditioning. The mood and feeling presented in the ad is pride and ability. Pride and ability have been paired with Nike products as one gets certain mental images r memories on events similar to what they wish to do with the Nike products. Intensive training sessions for different sports categories using Nike products has been associated with excellence in the specified sports category.

Thus, positive reinforcement has been employed in the advert where a satisfying consequence has been introduced following the desired behavior, which is excellence in sports. Nike has incorporated positive reinforcement together with its products such that an individual would associate the products with the motivation to participate in the training session. Classical conditioning has been presented in the sense that the use of Nike products such as shoes and training kits have been linked with efficiency and success in the desired sports segment. Music has also been associated with training session as ones the radio is turned on people feel the urge of playing and participating in a training session (Gorn, 1982). The primary examples of instrumental conditioning witnessed in the advert includes press-ups and morning runs which are associated with excellence in basketball raising the urge to keep on participating in the associated training activities.Additionally, running over cars and pulling heavy loads while running has been associated with excellence in football and boxing sports.

4.17 Dove campaign for real beauty

Brands that are concerned with building female self-esteem have also succeeded in growing their business. Self-esteem has become a topic of interest among researchers with women reporting lower levels of esteem than men do. The dove’s advert explores the gap between how others perceive people and how each perceives themselves (Wadron, 2019). Women were subject of two portraits drawn by FBI trained forensic artist. The first portrait was that of their description and the second was that of strangers’ observations which presented surprising results.

The second video also presents how distorted the idea of beauty has evolved. The videos have successfully brought out the issue of women and self-esteem as they describe how one perceives themselves and how other people view them. The film by dove presents the profound disconnection between women’s perception of themselves and the perception of others.The advert was a success and effective as the artistic presentation of one woman from the viewpoint of themselves, and that of others showed surprising results of how women have low trust in their beauty. The advert was also viral increasing the company’s visibility in the global market as consumers are usually interested in products or advertisements that make them feel good. The self-esteem based ad by Dove had the most significant emotional impact making customers perceive its message while attaching the brand to genuine perception as it portrays what women are thinking of themselves and others.

The Dove campaign was also a success as studies showed that a small percentage of women considered themselves beautiful thus a persistent and present need in the customer base (Johnston and Taylor, 2008). Therefore, to attain the highest level of the customer base, Dove offered what customers already wanted which implied their support for women and the body issues they struggle within in their daily lives. Dove successfully changed message from how women can become beautiful from the second video to women are already beautiful in the first video.

The greatest success of the dove campaign is based on the promotion of respect and personal strength among women enabling customers to seek the brand that helps solve the problems they perceive through a change in perspective and acceptance. Dove also won several prestigious advertising awards for the real beauty advert, which added to the company’s credibility. Therefore, a combination of emotional appeal and problem solving led to enormous success for dove as it used self-esteem marketing technique(Dye, 2009).

4.6 Emotions

The need to create value should be considered the foundation of pursuing emotional connection as a strategy for all companies. Emotional motivators that measure customers’ behavior provide a better gauge of consumer future value to a firm (Magids, Zorfas, and Leemon, 2015).

Creating an emotional connection would require the application of big data analytics to detailed customer data sets by identifying emotional motivators for most valued customers(Magids, Zorfas, and Leemon, 2015). The next step involves the use of statistical models to identify a large number of customers and brands followed by a comparison of people’s emotional motivators with their behavior in purchasing products. The last step involves quantifying the potential value motivators for a specific brand and identifying strategies for leveraging the motivators.

Different kind of emotional motivators exists based on brand and category. Emotional motivators also vary based on customer segments and people’s position in the customer journey. For instance, the desire to feel secure in banking is vital when attracting customers. The potential behind emotional connection driven growth is witnessed across brand positioning, advertising and customer experience(Magids, Zorfas, and Leemon, 2015). There are hundreds of motivators driving consumer behavior. Some of these motivators include future confidence, sense of wellbeing, standing out from a crowd, sense of freedom, sense of thrill, and sense of belonging.

Other types of motivators include protection to the environment, feeling secure, succeeding in life, and being the kind of person, one wishes to become ((Delbaere, McQuarrie and Phillips, 2011). A company can enable its customer to stand out from the crowd by projecting a unique and special social identity while promoting a sense of freedom through acting independently without restriction. A sense of thrill among customers can be achieved by creating an environment of overwhelming pleasure and excitement while promoting exciting and fun events (Loureiro, Ruediger, and Demetris, 2012). A company that affiliates with the customers they relate to or aspire to be like can help them achieve a sense of belonging.

Sustaining that the environment is sacred is one-step towards creating an emotional connection with customers who feel the urge to protect the environment. A feeling of security can be achieved when companies ensure that their customers believe what they have today will be there tomorrow while pursuing goals and dreams without worry(Magids, Zorfas, and Leemon, 2015). Placing emotional connection to work involves targeting the connected persons followed by quantifying the key motivators for the brand and customer behavior. A brand should also consider optimizing investment across departments and different function if it is to maximize opportunities presented from emotional connection.

5.2 Peer ranking data

Peer ranking offers a new form of social data that harness the power of peer pressure in changing the behavior of consumers that focuses on how one’s attitude would adjust if their friend dared them to purchase a given product. When properly presented peer data offers an effective way of changing consumer habits by promoting saving rates (Bolton, 2019). The application of peer data in changing consumer behavior involves knowing the behavior one wishes to change. Companies with clear strategy always have an idea of what action they want to change among consumers such that employing peer data would encourage consumers to participate in activities or change behavior in a way that would promote sales for a given company.

The next step in using peer data to change consumer behavior involves identification of the compelling functional, emotional, and social jobs that might compel an individual to change their behavior (Bolton, 2019). The strategy consists of spending time studying the current habits of customers. The third step involves selecting the type of data to socialize while striking a balance between an individual’s need for privacy and the desire to share things publicly. The last step in using peer data in altering consumer behavior is making the data actionable by motivating people and knowing the best way to achieve it and help them reach their levels.

An example where peer data has been used to alter consumer behavior is the Voya Financial that used the application called CompareMe that promised to increase retirement savings rate by comparing an individual’s rate with that of people in their category of income(Bolton, 2019). Provision of such data compels individuals to work towards ensuring their savings fall in the same class with those they share similar employment characteristics such as level of income.

5.7 Social media

Social media specifically Facebook and Instagram have influenced the consumer behavior especially for people interested in fashion. Inspirations in the fashion used to come from monthly magazines taking time to filter through the clothes (Goh, Heng, and Lin, 2013). The survey shows that many people use Instagram and Facebook arguing that they offer fashion inspirations. Currently, Instagram is the number one destination for fashion discovery altering the consumer behavior to purchase products online as a variety of choices are readily available.

Social media is the number one influencer of fashion shopping among women with many people now opting to buy their clothes online and directly from social media(Goh, Heng, and Lin, 2013). The growth and traffic on Instagram and Facebook have made them become a platform for influencers in shopping habits. The shift to social media has seen consumers look at fellow consumers for advice on their purchasing decisions making Instagram and Facebook an easy destination for such advice. Most Instagram and Facebook users currently make purchase decisions based on what they see while browsing.

Thus, consumers for different products have turned to social media as their destination for online shopping. The use of Facebook and Instagram have as a result affected the consumer behavior as they opt to make them purchases online rather than visiting the stores. The advent of social media likeFacebook and Instagram has resulted in a new landscape of personal connection with many businesses seeking to tap into the trend. The result has been a decline in traditional advertising via mass media with social media putting consumers back to the center of the business world while providing marketers with a new opportunity to interact with consumers.

The current changes in marketing strategy have seen many consumers shift to social media for their purchasing needs. While there are a variety of destinations for the shopping experience, most consumers have opted for Facebook and social media that has seen increased interaction between consumers and other fellow consumers. Thus, consumer behavior has shifted from the perspective of companies with consumers looking at other consumers to determine their purchasing decisions.

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