Consumers wants to be wined, dined and made to feel special by the brands they use, according to new research conducted by Deakin University’s Dr Paul Harrison.
Harrison’s research, which surveyed 700 consumers over a period of two years, has found that most consumers pass through a three-stage cycle of affinity—optimism, infatuation and loyalty – when purchasing niche products—that is similar to the blossoming of a romance.
And, as much as couples must work hard to maintain the “spark” in their relationship, marketers of niche brands such as Crumpler and Mooks must also find different ways to reignite the romance between consumers and their brand to prevent them from straying to other brands said Harrison.
“In the third stage (the loyalty phase), customers are open to competition from other brands—a bit like the seven-year itch. When you couple this with the huge amount of choice that customers now have, it’s not surprising that they exercise their options,” Harrison said.
Harrison told B&T the initial study had been restricted to looking at products and brands that stand out as being different but was confident the research could be extended to profile brand affinity for large consumer brands in the future.
Harrison believes his research will enable marketers to better identify when consumers of a particular brand are at their most optimistic, their most loyal and when they are most open to competition.
“Apart from being able to predict the different stages of affinity, my research found that in some cases brand affinity has more influence over future intentions to buy a product than the typically measured factors, such as component satisfaction and service quality,” Harrison said.
Harrison’s research also showed that people warm to niche brands, such as Virgin Blue, Mooks or Crumpler, because they are viewed as different and people want to associate themselves with a like-minded group.
“The counterpoint to that is that once the brand is too popular it stops being individual, and the group who were initially drawn to it will move on,” Harrison said.
It is during this stage that Harrison believes is most important for marketers to woo their customers and make them feel special again.
