Branded Flash Mobs, Youtube and the Effects of Viewer Attitudes on Brand Equity
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DOCTORAL THESIS EXPLORING BRANDED FLASH MOBS A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF BRANDED FLASH MOBS ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND BRAND EQUITY 2014 PHILIP STANLEY GRANT Division of Industrial Marketing, INDEK KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden ii DOCTORAL THESIS EXPLORING BRANDED FLASH MOBS A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF BRANDED FLASH MOBS ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND BRAND EQUITY 2014 PHILIP STANLEY GRANT Division of Industrial Marketing, INDEK KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden Supervisors: Professor Esmail Salehi-Sangari Professor Leyland Pitt iii iv EXPLORING BRANDED FLASH MOBS: A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF BRANDED FLASH MOBS ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND BRAND EQUITY ABSTRACT The desire of every marketer is to develop and maintain strong customer relationships. One way this can be accomplished is through effective advertising. Marketers have recently begun to brand flash mobs as a way to effectuate strong brand relationships. Even so, it is unclear whether or not the branding of flash mobs supports or frustrates this pursuit. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to help marketers understand the potential impact that branded flash mobs may have on consumer behaviour and brand relationships. Since these interactions are complex we need to observe the convoluted whole from untangled vantage points. Marketing scholars and researchers must then attempt to understand the latent opportunities and unsuspecting dangers when branding a flash mob. Toward this end, four distinct research papers were used to examine the phenomenon from four different perspectives. The aim of the first paper is twofold. First, it deductively seeks to understand how to categorize branded flash mobs within the marketing literature through an historical and cultural analysis of the phenomenon. Exploratory in nature, this study then employs a mixed methods approach to understand how marketers are currently using flash mobs, and more importantly, if branded flash mobs are an effective tool of communication and persuasion. In the second paper, a field experiment was conducted to assess the impact of a branded flash mob on consumers’ emotions, consumer experience, and connectedness in a public market. In-depth interviews were used to capture the data. Shifting perspectives, the third paper seeks to understand why some branded flash mobs fail to ‘go viral’. Using of a number of focus groups, participants were asked to watch several branded flash mob videos and discuss their willingness to share them online (e.g., email, Facebook, or Twitter). Toward a better understanding of the impact of branded flash mobs on brand equity, the final paper evaluates viewers’ attitude toward the ad. Using netnographic techniques (Kozinets, 2002), 2,882 YouTube comments from three virally successful branded flash mobs ads were examined to understand how branded flash mobs affect brand equity. Responses grouped into one of four archetypical attitudes, each of which has a distinct impact on brand equity. Motivated by the potential for widespread exposure at a relatively low cost, marketers continue to produce branded flash mobs. Sometimes they are fresh and creative, while at others they are out of tune with the spirit of the phenomenon. This thesis uncovers the impact of these efforts on consumer behaviour and brand equity, and concludes with a guide for managers to consider when planning their next branded flash mob. An acknowledgement of the limitations and an outline for directions of future research are also presented. v vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “If there are discords, we must play them as beautifully as we know how.” -Herbert von Karajan, conductor, Berlin Philharmonic I offer my gratitude to the faculty, staff, and my fellow students at KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, who have collectively created a learning environment that has been stimulating, challenging, and rewarding. More specifically, I extend my appreciation to Dr. Leyland Pitt, who has shown the attitude and substance of a genius: he continually and persuasively conveyed a spirit of adventure in regard to research and scholarship, and an excitement in regard to teaching. Without his supervision and constant help this thesis would not have been possible. I also offer a very sincere and heartfelt thank you to Dr. Esmail Salehi-Sangari for his grace and encouragement on this thesis, as well as my academic studies. His wisdom and guidance kept me from ever feeling disoriented. To Dr. Mark Carpenter, I express my gratitude for his support on many issues: statistical to theoretical, philosophical then rhetorical. In addition, I render thanks to my co-authors, and fellow PhD students, from whom I learned the most. I am indebted to them for their generosity, cooperation, and at often times, tolerance, on issues both practical and academic, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Finally, I thank my wife Donya, my parents, my family, and my many, many friends for their inexhaustible patience, love and support. vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: Overview of the Research ............................................................ 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 3 1.2 GENESIS AND EXPLANATION OF THE PHENOMENON .................................. 5 1.2.1 Constructive Evidence of a Phenomenon ............................................. 6 1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 8 1.3.1 Crowd Psychology (Mob Mentality) .................................................... 8 1.3.2 Guerrilla Marketing ......................................................................... 9 1.3.3 Music and Marketing ..................................................................... 10 1.3.4 Consumer Behaviour .................................................................... 11 1.3.4.1 Interaction, Involvement, and Engagement ................................ 11 1.3.4.2 Consumer Coping .................................................................... 12 1.3.5 Viral Marketing ............................................................................. 13 1.3.6.1 Attitude toward the Ad (Aad) ................................................... 14 1.3.6.2 Attitude toward the Viral Video Advertisement (AV) .................... 15 1.3.7 Brand Equity ................................................................................ 15 1.4 THE INVESTIGATION: A SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH .............................. 17 1.4.1 Four Perspectives on the Impact of Branded Flash Mobs on Consumer Behaviour and Brand Equity ............................................ 17 1.4.2 Paper 1 ....................................................................................... 17 1.4.3 Paper 2 ....................................................................................... 22 1.4.4 Paper 3 ....................................................................................... 24 1.4.5 Paper 4 ....................................................................................... 30 1.4.6. Overall Research Design ................................................................ 34 1.4.7 Overall Research Methodology ........................................................ 36 ix 1.4.8 Conclusion to the Introduction ........................................................ 37 CHAPTER 2: THE INDIVIDUAL PAPERS .......................................................... 39 2.1 Paper 1 Understanding Branded Flash Mobs: The nature of the concept, stakeholder motivations, and avenues for future research .................... 41 2.2 Paper 2 Operatic flash mob: Consumer arousal, emotion, and connectedness.. ....................................................................... 63 2.3 Paper 3 When the persuasion attempt fails – an examination of consumers’ perception of branded flash ............................................. 81 2.4 Paper 4 Branded flash mobs, YouTube and the effects of viewer attitudes on brand equity .............................................................. 105 CHAPTER 3: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND CONTRIBUTIONS ....................... 129 3.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCLUSION ................................................. 131 3.2 CONCLUSIONS TO THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..................................... 132 3.2.1 Findings in Response to Research Question Part A: Impact on Consumer Behaviour ................................................................... 132 3.2.1 Findings in Response to Research Question Part A: Impact on Brand Equity .............................................................................. 133 3.3 THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE THESIS .................................... 135 3.3.1 Branded Flash Mobs: A Guerrilla Marketing Technique ...................... 135 3.3.2 Tools to Understand and Measure the Impact on Brand Equity .......... 137 3.4.1 Managerial Implications for branded flash mob producers: ............... 141 3.5 SUMMARY AND SUGGESTED FUTURE RESEARCH .................................... 144 4.1 REFERENCE LIST .............................................................................. 147 x LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1 - One Million YouTube Hit Club - Top 10 __________________________ 6 Table 2 – Sectors: Branded Flash Mobs by Industry _______________________ 7 Table 3 – Branded Flash Mob Type and Location __________________________ 7 Table 4 - Sample of Focus Group Participants ___________________________ 27 Table 5 – Branded Flash Mob Videos Shown During Focus