Motivation

The topic I am discussing is needs and motivation – needs become motives when aroused to a sufficient level of intensity.

Needs can be based off Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs:

• Physiological needs
  • Food, water, shelter, clothing, sex
• Safety and security needs
  • Protection, order, stability
• Social needs
  • Affection, friendship, belonging
• Ego needs
  • Prestige, status, self-respect
• Self-actualisation
  • Self-fulfilment

Goals are the sought after results of motivated behaviour in which all behaviour is goal orientated.  Marketers can research motivation in order to display positive or negative forms of advertising:

• Positive motivation – a driving force toward some object or condition
• Negative motivation – a driving force away from some object or condition

My personal experience with motivation had occurred when I became exposed to vegetarian campaigns that had changed my perception and had subconsciously created a need that I wanted to fulfil.  The need was based of Maslow’s self-esteem level where I wanted to feel a sense of success in my life (which I didn’t realise then).

I had been exposed to negative motivation in the form of videos, print advertising and online content that I hadn’t noticed previously.  Here is a short collaboration of advertisements that allow a negative motivation force to occur.  As you can see it is driving you away from an object (meat products) or condition (feeling like the person in the video).

From advertisements like this, I had created a generic goal to become vegetarian due to the negative motivation via advertising.

Motivation can provide marketers with insight into qualitative research through motivational research which allows an insight into unconscious or hidden motivations, this is used through projective techniques, metaphor analysis and story-telling.  None of the methods are completely reliable on their own, researches will use a combination of two or three techniques to assess the existence or strength of consumer motives.

References:
– Schiffman, L, O’Cass, A, Paladino, A & Carlson, J 2014, Consumer Behaviour, 6th edn, Pearson Australia Group, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

More information about motivational research & Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
– Kassarjian, H H 1971, ‘Personality and Consumer Behavior: A Review’, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 409-418.
– Lester, D 2013, ‘Measuring Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, American Marketing Association – Psychological Reports, vol. 113, no. 1 pp. 15-17.

Sensory Branding

Roxana Maria (2013) – “the use of human senses in advertising can be the solution in creating stronger images for brands in the consumer’s mind”

Sensory branding is the establishment of an emotional connection between the consumer and the brand by the use of the five human senses in relation to the consumer buying process.

Sensory adaption occurs when consumers become over familiar to certain sensations; being accommodated to a certain level of stimulation.  Companies are worried that viewers will get too accommodated with print ads and commercials which will allow the consumers to sub-consciously ignore stimuli without even realising.  Ads may no longer provide sufficient input that consumers take notice of.

Advertisers try to differentiate the execution of their advertisements in order to maintain impact.

Danish author Martin Lindstrom says that “a total sensory experience would at least double, if not triple, the consumer’s ability to memorize the brand

The five human senses are:

• Smell – this can allow a sense of brand or production recognition when used correctly, McCains ‘smell-vertising’ had taken over various bus stops in the UK with a 3D potato that released the aroma of oven-baked jacket potato.
• Touch – the McCains campaign also used the idea of touch as the 3D potato was a heating mechanism giving off heat to bus stop users
• Taste – Starbucks had used the taste of coffee with a promotion surrounding the social aspect of drinking coffee with friends
• Sound – The use of ‘Brand Sound’ is an intentional sound that communicates and reinforces the qualities, tones and values that are best aligned with the brand promise and brand experience’ – a well-defined brand voice, brand music, sonic logo etc.
  • McDonald’s uses a Brand Sound of their iconic ‘da duh da duh da’ to allow consumers to recognise the sound with the brand
• Visual – packaging can be visually appealing and is one that arrests one’s attention over a brand, if you do not like the package of a product and you know nothing about it, there are doubts that you would ever try it.

A brand association can be established from certain senses that allows recognition when used in marketing techniques.

References

Roxanna, M 2013,’The Impact of Sensory Branding on Consumer Behavior’, Journal of Media Research, vol. 3, no. 17, pp. 50-74.

Further reading on sensory branding:

Regarding sensory attributes and purchase intent in relation to wine purchase:

Mueller, S & Szolnoki, G 2010, ‘The relative influence of packaging, labelling, branding and sensory attributes on liking and purchase intent: Consumers differ in their responsiveness’, Eighth Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, vol. 21, no. 7, pp. 774-783.

Sensory marketing of perspectives of consumer and firms:

Bertil Hultén, Niklas Broweus and Marcus van Dijk . (May 2009). Sensory Marketing . [Online] Available at: http://www.palgraveconnect.com/pc/doifinder/10.1057/9780230237049. (Accessed: 22 May 2015).

Social Media Influences on Consumer Behaviour

Facebook, blogs, twitter, trip advisor, YouTube and more are all websites that are currently influencing consumer behaviour.  Consumers are gaining their information on brands, companies and products on online sites with user-generated content, consumers are trusting recommendations of peers which allows social media to be a platform of purchase power and knowledge.

Consumers create reviews/ratings regarding service value, price and product quality.  Online word of mouth marketing is a growing market as it is seen as more credible and accurate than traditional marketing and costs nothing for consumers whilst providing consumer insight (Nirmala, 2013).

“Functions of social media involve affecting and influencing perceptions, attitudes and end behaviour, while bringing together different like-minded people” – Vinerean & Cetina & Dumitrescu & Tichindelean (2013).

As a consumer, I consulted the review section on companies Facebook pages in order to gain an insight on the quality of service and products provided to ensure I am getting the best possible outcome when purchasing.  If I am looking for a place to stay I consult trip advisor to provide me with real-time consumer experiences on places they stayed or visited as I believe I am being provided more accurate information rather than the company telling me their hotel is clean and has quality service. As if a company is going to tell you about the horrible service and dirty bathrooms they provide.  If I am wanting to buy a new makeup product I consult YouTube on a review of a video of a known YouTube makeup person that provides non-paid reviews on products.

Consumers are most likely to post a negative review on social media when a bad review or an amazing review over an average or normal experience with a product, service, brand or company.  Consumer loyalty can vanish with the smallest mistake which can have an online broadcast potentially affecting the company.

As you can see, Facebook allows consumer-generated content to be posted to company pages in order to get a consumer insight on products or services.  This was done by doing a basic Facebook search of ‘UOW Uni bar’, ‘His Boy Elroy’ and ‘Kinn Thai Wollonong’ through my iPhone.

References

– Nirmala, K 2013, ‘An impact of social media on consumer behavior: A study’, International Journal of Logistics & Supply Chain Management Perspectives, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 467-471

– Vinerean, S & Cetina, I & Dumitrescu, L & Tichindelean, M 2013, ‘The effects of social media marketing on online consumer behavior’, International Journal of Business and Management, vol. 8, no. 14, pp. 66-79.

– Forbes, LP 2013, ‘Does social media influence consumer buying behavior? An investigation of Recommendations and Purchases’, Journal of Business & Economics Research, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 107 – 113.

Interview – Perceptions of Illegally Downloading

My BCM210 group consists of Eloise, Sarah and Jacob. We are all extremely interested in TV series and watch them frequently which made us question how people are accessing their favourite TV shows.  They could be accessing these via:

• Downloading Illegally
• Streaming online, i.e. YouTube
• Streaming via a paid service, i.e. Netflix, Foxtel
• Australian Free TV

We want to know what are people’s perceptions on illegally downloading and if they are different depending on age, sex or location and if advertisements affect these perceptions.  Coming up with questions was a bit tricky due to ethical issues of the illegal side of the topic. We can’t just have people telling us about their illegal behaviour!

A few focus questions we thought we would ask are:

– What type of effects do services such as Netflix or Foxtel have on illegal downloading?

– Why do you think people illegally download?

– Do you think anti-downloading advertisements reduce illegal downloading? Why?

– Do you know of the consequences of illegally downloading? Name a few?

– Have you heard of the ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ lawsuit?

Since the lecture our group hasn’t had a chance to trial these questions, but I did ask a few to my friends and family just to get an idea as to how they will work.

I found everyone knew about illegal downloading but did not think about the consequences as it is such a regular occurrence, I think we may have to modify a few questions to make sure they can still be answered when the participants are unsure.   The participants I asked were interested in the topic and gave some interesting insight on the issues and how they perceive the topic, it was a good experience.

I think asking an array of people will give us more of an idea of perceptions based on demographics, we would like to find out if the difference of perception in age groups varies dramatically and if the location of the participant alters perceptions as people from regional areas may not be aware of the issue or they may be more aware of the issue than others.  We are also curious to find out if people have heard of the current lawsuit regarding the ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ film that has been granted access to computer addresses of users who illegally downloaded the movie and if this has changed perceptions and awareness of the consequences.

I believe this will be an interesting topic to pursue and I am looking forward to the focus group to gain more knowledge about the topic.

Illegal Download’s Effects on Entertainment Industry

The text I am analysing is “Illegal Download’s Effect on Entertainment Industry”, the text is meant to answer a question and add research on a given topic as it poses known questions throughout the article and then answers the posed questions.  It is also adding more information to the topic of illegally downloading where it goes over main points of how piracy works, prevention and effects of piracy which have all been further elaborated on elsewhere.

The author who wrote the article is the administrator of Wall Street.com where no biographical information is provided, which makes me question their credibility.  The author’s opinion is clear as they display only positive effects of piracy and do not mention the negative effects at all.  The author has referenced statistics regarding the effects on the entertainment industry to display how the U.S music revenue has increased by 9% even though piracy has increased.  HBO references were used to display how the piracy boost effected the company in a positive way as they find it ‘flattering’ rather than hurtful to their profits.  These sources playa great role in the article as it supports each statement the author makes and somewhat legitimising their words.

The author has organised the text by breaking it up into headings which allows for an easy read and a flow of text.  The author’s position of the topic is made clear throughout the whole of the text as each segment of the text supports one another.  The organisation is driven more by the content and the need of the audience as it allows the content to be explained in an effective manner which reduces time for audiences.

The overall conclusion gathered from the text was that the piracy is enhancing the entertainment industry as it allows content to be shared widely over a large platform where people are purchasing the music from digital means of in-app purchases due to the company’s wide accessibility.  The text is also concluding that companies like when people pirate and it their content such as HBO.  The text is very limited as it doesn’t cover the cons of piracy which may significantly out-weigh the positives the author is listing.  Similarities between HBO’s position regarding downloading is similar to other texts as they are frequently providing positive information on the popularity piracy is gaining them.

References

– Admin, 2013, ‘Illegal Download’s Effect on Entertainment Industry’, Wall Street, 04 March, viewed 26 March 2015, <http>://www.wall-street.com/2013/04/03/illegal-downloads-effect-on-entertainment-industry/

The “Monster” Study 1939

Ethics can be defined as widely-agreed moral principles of what is deemed as right and wrong, what is proper and improper, this can be subjective as people will have a different perspective of what is right and wrong (Weerakkody 2008).

“Ethical research ensures the research is doing the right thing by the project, its participants and society at large.”(Weerakkody 2008). It tries to remove any potential harm that may be caused to participants during or after the research, it addresses issues such as informed consent and a highest degree of privacy.  It also reduces the chances of individual researchers or their employers facing future legal action which helps protect the organisations reputation (Weerakkody 2008).

‘The Monster Study 1939’ was a stuttering experiment involving 22 orphan children in Iowa, conducted by Wendell Johnson at the University of Iowa.  The experiment was used to gain research to identify wether telling nonstuttering children they stuttered would create a stutter and if telling stutterers that their speech was fine would produce less stuttering.

The children were placed in experimental groups where half were given positive speech therapy of praising fluency, the other half were given negative therapy including patronizing the children for each speech imperfection and telling them they were stutterers (Silverman 1988).

Many of the normal speaking children who received negative therapy throughout the research suffered from negative psychological effects as well as some retained speech problems throughout the course of their life.

The ethical standards put in place today would deem the study as unethical research, the principles are:

• Autonomy – or self determination
• Non-maleficence
• Beneficence
• Justice

If ‘The Monster Study’ had occurred today it would breach the principals ‘non-maleficence’ and ‘beneficence’ which operate together as researchers must weigh the possible benefits of research against harmful risks (McCutecheon 2015).  In this case the possible benefits would have allowed researchers to find out if negative and positive speech therapy altered children’s speech.  Jonson did not weigh the negative risk of the psychological effects of negative speech therapy on fluent children which also allowed some to create speech problems growing up.

Anonymity and informed consent are two guidelines that have been breached in this circumstance as the children’s names were used in the release of results, it breaches confidentiality and anonymity of the participants which could have allowed further psychological damage.  As the participants were orphans the idea of consent is questioned as they may not have individually agreed upon being participants and they did not have individual designated guardians to decide if the study was appropriate.

Ethics is extremely important in research as it creates a distinct line between using participants as test subjects and actual human beings.

References

– Weerakkody, N 2008, ‘Research ethics in media and communication’, in Research methods for media and communications, Oxford University Press Australia and New Zealand, South Melbourne, Vic., pp. 73-91

– Silverman, H 1988, ‘The “monster” study’, Journal of Fluency Disorders, vol. 13, no. 3, pp.225-231.

– Mcuctheon, M 2015, ‘Research Ethics’, powerpoint slides, BCM210, University of Wollongong, viewed 25 March 2015.

Research! Research! Research!

Berger (2014, p.31) states “Because of the way the human mind works, we are, in a sense always doing research – but not always doing scientific and scholarly research”

I personally didn’t realise how often I researched every day questions or products. I have been on the lookout for a fitness watch but can’t decide which one to get so I find myself on Google reading a crazy amount of reviews, going into the retailers and receiving more information as well as word of mouth information from my peers.

They are all forms of research!

So, what is media research? Berger (2014) states research means to “search for, to find”, it is about looking for information about something.  Media is a form of mass communication which can range from digital media, social media platforms, newspapers, radio and television. My understanding of media research is gathering information about a medium, formulating a theory or use a known theory to gain understanding of the nature of the medium as well as gather more information.

Qualitative and quantitative research is a commonly used feature in media research as qualitative is used by applying the right theoretical concepts correctly which includes research of:

• Popular culture case studies
• Philosophy of communication
• media criticisms
• interpretations

Quantitative research can be measured numerically as information gathered is data based using:

• Experiments
• Content Analysis
• Questionnaires
• Surveys

We were also asked what aspects of media would we like to research, at this stage I am currently unsure, and I’ve just been thrown this concept of media research after having little known information prior to this subject.  If I were to choose a topic right now it would be social media platforms and how information transitions from one person to thousands in the matter of seconds, it is so interesting that with a click of a button you can reach people without even trying.

I would like to research about charity appeals that use social media platforms to raise awareness of issues that we may not have heard of otherwise.  The ‘KONY’ campaign is an example of how social media platforms were used in order to create awareness as it quickly became an overnight trending topic (although it wasn’t exactly credible) and was a main topic in conversation the following day.

Or if I didn’t do that I would like to research about how magazines use social media platforms for articles and if they receive more customers online or with a physical copy.

– Ange

References

Berger, Arthur A. 2014, ‘What is research?’, in Media and communication research methods : an introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches, 3rd ed., SAGE, Los Angeles, pp. 13-32

McCutcheon, M 2015, ‘What is Media Research?’, powerpoint slides, BCM210, UOW, viewed 11.3.15.

Do the characteristics of individuals increase downloading?

The text I have chosen to analyse is “Illegal Downloading, Ethical Concern, and Illegal Behavior”, the authors are:

Kirsten Robertson, Lisa McNeill, James Green and Claire Roberts.

Intended Audience

The text appears in the Journal of Business Ethics, its anticipated readers would be business people, government bodies, university students, people interested in digital content and organisations that run opposing services.  As it is in a business journal it assumes people in the industry would read this especially if interested in ethics, government bodies may read this as it provides information on one of the most current illegal issues.  University students are likely to read this due to growing up in this downloading era.  Organisations such as Netflix or Foxtel may read this to understand characteristics that enable people to download which could be used for marketing purposes or general knowledge.

Purpose of the text

The text is a journal article about illegally downloading music, it attempts to explain the individual characteristics of downloaders and non-downloaders that allow each to either be persuaded or dissuaded by messages that display the illegality of downloading.  The overall purpose of the text is to give further research into the question of why people illegally download as well as introduce a new idea as to if certain characteristics and theories of behaviour influence people to download more or download less.  Further information is provided on similarities of characteristics of genders and how this influences downloading.   The text summarises other author’s ideas through the use of theories in order to get their own idea supported.

Proof/Evidence

The types of proof evident in the article are theories, referencing, government statistics and original research.

The Authors display how intention is linked to downloading illegally due to the perceptions of subjective norms and difficulty of behaviour. These are then defined into individual characteristics to explain why they download or not download. The Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Planned Behaviour and Ethical Decision Making Theory are used to support the author’s ideas in a clear manner.

Original research was carried out by the Authors with a sampling study at a university in New Zealand with the sample being representative of the typical first year student which was not limited by gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.  In this case the research methodology holds most weight in order to get this idea across as it provides factual quantitative information that enhances relating theories.  The proof that is most authoritative for audiences is government statistics and original research as it may be the most accurate and current research in the study.  The least may be certain theories or models as they can sometimes be ambiguous.

Organisation

The text is broken up into sub-headings of: Introduction, theoretical framework, methodologies, results and discussion.  The information is presented in this order to be easily read by audiences, the authors position of the topic is made clear at the end of the article.  I believe the text is organised like this to display the organisations arguments as well as the needs of the audience as it allows the order of events to be followed by the reader to show the process of research that occurred.

Reference

– Robertson, K, McNeill, L, Green, J & Roberts, C 2012, ‘Illegal Downloading, Ethical Concern, an Illegal Behaviors, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 108. no. 2, pp. 215-227

The best retail experience ever!

The best experience I have ever had with buying a product was only the other day when I had issues purchasing running shoes.  I had previously bought Nike runners which ended up being faulty, which became a painful experience when trying to return the item.  I had eventually gotten my money back and needed new runners and went down to Athletes Foot and received the best service I have ever had!

I had explained my situation to the employee and he explained the ease to return items due to their 30 day money back guarantee, the employee had tested my walking style and fitted me to the most suitable shoes in relation to my results which happened to be one of the best runners I have ever purchased.

The employee had also reduced the price to the amount of the previously returned Nikes so I didn’t lose any money as well as throwing in free socks and shoe protector. The service didn’t stop there, he had explained to me how to look after the new shoes and how to enhance the product to suit my running style.  The service was beyond my expectations and I was extremely satisfied with the time and knowledge I was given.

– Ange

Climate Change – PCP

As you aware climate change is seen all over the news continuously regarding the polar ice caps melting and the issues arising in the icy regions of the world but what we aren’t exposed to is the rest of the world that is effected by climate change.  In Australia the news organisations are run by a selected few that govern the news broadcasted in Australia, so of course we are only seeing one side of the global picture because that’s all we are being told.

We aren’t going to question the news sources because they are meant to be the reliable ones with elite-sources – they may not display lies about climate change but they are able to tell stories of what they want.

Climate change has been drastically affecting countries in the Pacific region.  Kiribati is a small island that has been affected by climate change which has created discussion of moving the residents to Australia.  If the Kiribati community relocate to Australia they can be deemed as refugees which is an incorrect term as they can’t live on their island because of rising water levels as a result of climate change. The community want to migrate to Australia without being considered as refugees or as a charity case.

Pacific Calling Partnership is an organisation that is attempting to face the issues and represent the individuals who are effected by climate change. They have attained a legally binding agreement to curb emissions and assist in migration work and training and upskilling workers.