Charity- Giving To Charity

IF THE TEAM WORKS, THE DREAM WORKS/ SMARTIES

IN AID OF THE BRITISH HEART FOUNDAION

I do not very ofetn give money to charity however, when I do I feel good within myself!

Today's lecture was aimed to demonstrate an understanding of key characteristics of buyer behaviour in consumer market and demonstrate an appreciation of the differences between high and low, consumer involvement.  In addition, this report aims to use these foundations to hold an effective charity, fundraising event having analysed two focus groups. 

During the primary research, two focus groups were carried out.  They were aimed at students and adults thirty and over.  In order to gather effective, reliable information, it was important to select people from different ethnicity, backgrounds, occupations and that were within the age limit.  The focus group concluded of five males and five females that met the requirements and enabled a difference in trends of charitable giving, for both of these genders.  When running a focus group, a number of things should be taken into consideration, such as the setting.   The layout and arrangement of the chairs were carefully sorted, to ensure that the participants would feel comfortable allowing them to give honest responses.  In the first focus group, there were ten students.  Their chairs were placed in a circle with one of the group member’s chair, also facing the participants.  The reason for this was to ensure that each participant had an equal opportunity to discuss their views, as well as the person beside them.  The participants faced each other which effectively increased the level of involvement and freedom to speak.  Two of the group members then asked questions that had been written prior the meeting and made note of the responses (see appendices).  This same routine was used for the adults that were observed.  Although, generally the task was successfully carried out, there are a few points that depict faults with the way in which the participants were treated.  To relate the students as one of the target audience, informal/ colloquial language could have been adopted, to warrant more honest answers.  In addition, there were some questions that may have been biased and therefore, not suited for both age groups.  In this case the question asked was: “What charity do you usually donate to?”  This question relates more to the over thirties as they are more likely to have a specific or regular charity, that they donate to.  The disadvantage of only two group members being present also reduces the chances of an attentive survey research.  Had there of been another group member present, it would have increased the chances of a more in depth, one to one analysis.  To add, certain key points may have been expressed but due to the group being down by one member, these points would have been missed.

Researches showed that women aged thirty and over are more likely to give to charity or have an affinity for a particular charity.  It is evident that in advertising, marketers use the soft nature of women, to their advantage when promoting a product or service.  Women who are more emotional and tend to show more emotion than men, are likely to respond to adverts to do with child welfare and things that address the five senses.  When promoting a product or service, it is important to know your target audience.  The group chose the ‘British Heart Foundation’ because of the commitment one of the group members felt, towards this charity.  Although, this charity may not be the best to use, when targeting an audience, it can however, be seen as advantage.  Rather than holding an event to raise money, there is also the idea of holding an event to raise awareness of a charity and the work that they do.

 

Generational Marketing

This week we looked at Generational Marketing.  Marketing is targeted at the generation of the customer i.e childhood or adulthood.  A definition is below:

'Generational marketing is an approach to product development, CRM, communications and marketing that recognizes generations as archetypes. The approach also respects that the four generations experience each life phase (childhood, young adulthood, midlife and elderhood) during “seasons” of societal attitudes and values that differ from what other generations experienced at the same life phase.'

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 characterestics, 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 four popular generational categories that most marketers tend to focus on.
They include:

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

If a marketer was to target my generation it would be the image provided below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE3d2GHBuvQ&feature=player_embedded

Group Conformity, Opinions Leaders and Peer Pressure

Everyone as an individual, has a group that they belong to.  Each group has its own membership criteria and actions and marketers can target these groups.  If your in a group you obviously want to belong or need something. This is where we looked at Maslows hierarchy of needs.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

It is a human instinct to crave acceptance.  When I was in secondary school, everyone had a pair of boots.  Because of the look and fame that came with it, I wanted a pair too. 

The boots were a big hit, all through out secondary school.  They were not necessarily targeted at teens because my mum also had a pair as well.  However, the marketers catered to a wide audience! 

Marketers have to know what groups their target market fit inbto, in order to be able to make good sells. 

Learning, Memory and Nostalgia

Learning and Memory

People learn in different ways.  Teaching skills therefore, need to be adapted to how people learn, in order to effectively teach someone.  In the same way, when advertising a product, advertisers need to know how to appoint a message with thier target audience.  "Every time an advertisement or commercial appears, the objective is to have the reader or viewer learn something and remember what he learned."  Thefreedictionary.com defines learning as "The act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill."

There are two different types of learning:

Behaviourist Approach
-Behaviour is a response to a stimulus

• Classical conditioning (Pavlov) 

Is a reflexive or automatic type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.

• Operant Conditioning (Skinner)

A process of behavior modification in which a subject is encouraged to behave in a desired manner through positive or negative reinforcement, so that the subject comes to associate the pleasure or displeasure of the reinforcement with the behavior.  Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behaviour and a consequence for that behaviour.

Cognitive Learning
-Consumer as complex problem solvers

• Latent Learning

Type of learning that may not be immediately apparent until there is some reinforcement or incentive to demonstrate it.

• Observational Learning

Occurs when an observer’s behavior changes after viewing the behavior of a model. An observer’s behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequences–called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment– of a model’s behavior.

EXAMPLES

Classical Conditioning

Operant Conditioning



Latent Learning

Without actually, having played the game before, contestants can play the game and get the 'hang' of it, from watching previous contestants play.


Observational Learning

Nostalgia

WHAT IS NOSTALGIA???
"Nostalgia is a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family or friends."  (dictionary.com)

Without a doubt, nostalgia can be defined in many ways.  "Nostalgia has been described as a bitter sweet emotion, where the past is viewed with both sadness and longing," (Solomon, 2000) This charcterisation, best fits my personal definition of nostalgia.

Marketers have the ability to connect on more personal level with consumer's by reaching the consumer's memory and triggering nostalgia.

Besides the cartoons, I have included the Dr Martens boots because it is something that makes me nostalgic for my past.  As a kid, I remember going to Covent Garden with my mum and siblings.  My mum took us there when we were due to start a new term at school.  We would all go and get a pair of Dr Martens, for school.  There is also a song by Gary Numan that reminds me of the time that my mum used to take us to Covent Garden.  This memory has a snow ball effect as it also reminds me of the scones that my mum used to buy us, from a near by Marks & Spencers.  I had initially forgotten this experience however, what triggered my memory, was hearing the song by Gary Numan, years later.  I doubt that the song played every time we went to Covent Garden.  That would be a coincidence, but, something stood out around that time, that made me remember the song and link it to that experience. 

The images above are also things that I remember from my past, that make me nostalgic.

Nostalgia can be used effectively, to reach a target market.  My dad would react to an advertisement or commercial and any feature, relating to the Biafran War, which was a civil war in Nigeria that started in 1967 - 1970.  When my dad relives the biafran war through his recollection of memories, he tends to repeat the fact that he was eager to fight, but was too young.  This is what helps him to re-tell his story! I, on the other hand, would react to something from 1991(the year I was born) onwards. 

I have created a timeline with events that marked certain years, in my life:
In 1997, Diana died  - 2004, there was an Indaian Ocean Tsunami - 2001, the Twin Towers were attacked by terrorrists - 2003, War started in Iraq - 2011, The Royal Wedding.

Thinking back, there have been more memorable occurances in my life however, they are not on my time line because they clearly have less significance to the memories I have already stated.  For example, the voting for the next president of America, that saw Barack Obama being elected as the 44th president, after George Bush, is one to remember.  Being the first African, American president, this news was world wide!!!  However, this memory did not initially come to my mind.  Marketers can use nostagia to select people that do and do not fit into their target audience. 
  

Nostalgia affects people in different ways.
WHY DO WE EXAGGERATE NOSTALGIC MEMORIES?
Growing up, people tend to follow the trend of their current generation.  Fashion constantly changed in my mums generation, as much as it has in mine.  Unconsciously, people tend to change with the current trend and any previous experience, becomes a memory.  Depending on how the memory influenced a person at the time, determines how a person will react when their memory of that experience is triggered.  As discussed earlier, Gary Numan's song, made me nostalgic for the times that I went to Covent Garden with my mother and siblings, to purchase Dr Marten's boots.  Indeed, nostalgia can be described as bitter sweet.  This oxymoron depicts the sweet idea of the memory as well as, the bitterness of longing and missing the experience.

Values

Today's lecture was on values and how they can influence the way in which we perceive things. In the dictionary, value is described as "import or meaning, force, significance." Values can be positive or negative. The word 'value' has many definitions anda number of meanings. "Values are our ideas about what is desirable" (Wilkie). In my opinion, values are those things that really matter to each of us. They are the ideas and beliefs that we hold as special. Caring for others, for example, is a value; so is the freedom to express our opinions. The foundation of our values come from our parents and the culture in which we have been bought up. In the early stages of our learning (as children) we are taught even by society, at school, but firstly at home, what is morally right and wrong. For example:

1. Lying is making false statements with intent to deceive.
2. Telling the truth is better than lying.
3. Stealing is taking the property of others without permission or right.
4. Stealing is wrong.

These facts cause us to question whether or not we need religion. However, religion merges itself into our values as it also teaches us what is morally right and wrong. Growing up, I went to church with my parents and siblings and was always cautioned not to steal, lie, fight, or use fowl langusge. If these values were disobeyed , I was scolded for doing so. Therefore, I believe that religion is as compulsary as learning values from parents and society, as within religion, you are taught these values as well.

Khale's list of values (1983) are:

• Self Respect
• Excitement
• Being Well Respected
• Self- Fulfilment
• Sense Of Accomplishment
• Warm Relationship With Others
• Security
• Fun & Enjoyment
• Sense Of Belonging

In lecture, we had to ask each other which of these values were of more significance to us and why. We used the laddering technique, which explains that people have specific terminal values (end states) (e.g. self-respect) and choose amongst alternative actions to achieve these end states. The results to this exercise did not surprise me, that the majority of us, looked for a fair relationship with others. After this, we did another activity to determine the way in which people see us. We had to put a lion, parrot, elephant and dog, in order of preference. My order went as followed:

Dog>Lion>Parrot>Elephant. The first animal that we put, refers to how we want people to perceive us. As I put the dog first, according to this, I want people to perceive me as, loved, cared for, free and to an extent demanding. I thought that this was quite an accurate perception of what I portray. I like to come across as though I am being cared for and tended to when need be, but at the same time, I love freedom, doing what I want when I want. Overall, I am quite demanding and always stress what I want.






The next one was how we believe people actually perceive us and the second one I had was a Lion. Therefore this showed that I was critical, independent, active, dominant and fearless. When I saw that this was what is believed as what people actually think of you, I laughed because, it did not surprise me. I am familiar with people admiring my independency, but at the same time, people criticise me for being easily angered and fearless, in the sense that I provoke situations because I am not intimidated by the consequences. Despite this, I still try to portray the image that I am loved, I love others and that I like to be free and independent.




The last one was, how we actually want to be despite the influence of other people in our lives. The animal I put for this one was a Parrot. This meana that I want people to see me as free-sprited, passionate, popular and amusing. In my opinion, people in general, want to be seen as caring, fair and sociable.

Personality and Self Concept

People tend to misinterprete, personality and self concept.  Differentiating between the two, can be difficult. 

In my opinion:
Personality is made up from a number of things.  People's beliefs, thought, behavioural traits and overall characteristics, making them unique.

Self Concept "refers to the beliefs a person holds about his or her attributes, and how he or she evaluates these qualities.  While one's overall self-concept may be positive, there may are certainly parts of the self that are evaluated more positively than others."

The actual result of someone's personality, can be drastically different to thier self- concept. 

This image shows Victoria Beckham.  The public and her fans, from the little they know about her life, may see her personality as reserved, sophisticated, moody and very high maintainance.  Despite this being her apparent personality, her self concept may depict her as a loving, bubbly down to earth and eco friendly, person. 

In another case, I found where it is possible for personality and self concept, to match.

Ozzy Osbourne has a very wild character! He is very outspoken, explicit in his vocabulary and gaudy.  This is how I perceive his personality to be.  And it does not differ much, from his self concept, how he sees himself. 

According to Kotler's table of 'Major influences of buyers/ business buyers', personality and self concept come under, PERSONAL.  All this links to marketing in Aaker's  model. 

Brands have personality and effectively associating a brand with someone's personality, could enhance sales.  When selling a product or offering a service, the consumer's aspirations are targeted; how/who they would like to be. 

Gestalt Theory - Perceptual Set

When promoting a product, marketers allow the consumer to interprete for themselves, the unexplained parts of their advertisements.  From this, we are able to create something whole from an incomplete message, warranting us to pay more attention to what we see, encompassing the consumer's brain.  "Because the brain's capacity to process information is limited, consumers are very selective about what they pay attention to" (Solomon et al, 1999, p47) 

This is called the gestalt psychology concept which is broken down into four stages.

Closure
The law of closure says that, in an otherwise complete figure, we will tend to add it.  A triangle, for example, with a small part of its edge missing, will still be seen as a triangle.  We will "close" the gap.


Stimulus Ambiguity
Avertiser's create an image that is not necessarily related to a shape that can be recognised, so the customer will have to put in into context, in order to make sense of it.  This automatically, generates the consumer's attention.

Simultaneously, the consumer considers how possible it is for sausages to kill someone, if wrapped around their kneck .  At the same time, they try to gather what is being advertised.  It is only until they see the small print "OBESITY IS SUICIDE," that they will have a clear idea.  Effectively, these grab the viewer's attention, up until they feel they have analysed the advert enough.  These are manipulative traits that Gestalt's psychology is based on. 

Figure-Ground
This law describes, the innate tendancy we have to perceive one aspect of an event, as the figure or fore-ground and the other as the ground or back-ground. 

There is only one image here, yet by changing your attitude to how you view this, you can see two different things.  One image, depicts a timer and the other, two men facing each other.  To add, it is hardly possible to see these two things, at the same time. 
TEST YOURSELF!!!
Below, is another image. What do you see???

In this image, there is a young lady sitting down, with her head turned and by looking at it with a different attitude, you will see an elderly woman, looking raather upset.
TIP!!!  
As what most people see first, is the old woman, use your hand to cover the right hand of her face.  It may take you time to realise, but by covering that side of her face, you will see the lady sitting down with her head turned.  It even works, vice versa.  By covering the young woman's face, you will see the older woman.

Grouping
Instantly, the brain groups things together that are similar in shape and colour.  In order to have a visual effect on theconsumer, advertisers group their products, together. 

These products all, roughly  have the same shape and colour and are all of the same brand.  This is more likely to generate attention, than if these objects were to be standing alone.