bi’kutuMutluluk
surprise box subscription system for emotional satisfaction
( a box of happiness)Scuola del Design M.Sc. in PSSD December 2016 Thesis project by Aslıcan Aydın Academic Tutor Valentina Auricchio
Politecnico di Milano Scuola del Design M.Sc. in PSSD December 2016
surprise box subscription system
for emotional satisfaction
Thesis project by Aslıcan Aydın Enrolment Nº 786168
Academic Tutor Valentina Auricchio
“Emotional design turns casual users into fanatics, ready to tell others about their positive experience.”
ABSTRACT
English
The term ‘New Economy’ is frequently used for the dot-com bubble of the late1990’s and early 2000’s. The term refers to transition from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy. From this period a few internet companies has survived and became some of the world biggest and most innovative companies, such as, Facebook, Amazon. While a few of the dot-com companies survived, many of them failed.
Today’s ‘New Economy’ is similar to the dot-com bubble in terms of succession rate and capital need. Now it is called start-up ecosystem with its innovative new type of companies, for example, online retailers, crowd-funding, mass customisation, social media, sharing economy etc. E-commerce always has been a big market for the ‘New Economy’. However it evolved in time. At first the most important feature of e-commerce was the convenience. With e-commerce the customers can compare prices, features, availability and the service. These features are now granted at almost all e-commerce websites. After the basic features, some layer of sophistication is added like daily deals (groupon.com), private shopping (gilt.com),
Why we buy what we buy? Is it always logical? What about how we feel?
Curation is the next layer of sophistication added. Since some of the e-commerce sites became overcrowded with too many options, why not mindful and skilful hands that we share a common sense should not pick for us. For example Lovli.it which curates Italian Design products. The curation layer gave a start to subscription services for curated products. Since each subscription system targets different niche market segment, they created their own communities. Communities are people and as people we are emotional creatures and we need interaction. This brings us the last level of sophistication, the emotional level.
This thesis examines the emotional and psychological drivers that effect our online shopping behaviours, focusing on subscription services. The purpose of the thesis is to provide an answer to the following questions: Is it possible to sell emotions (specifically happiness)? Can surprise be used as a marketing tool (nature of subscription model) to sell emotions?
In order to answer this question a literature research has been conducted that covers the market trends, consumer demographics in Turkey, the factors that effects decision
making, studies about happiness and surprises.
The outcome of the research is implemented to design-based subscription box service ‘Bikutumutluluk’. Bikutumutluluk ( a box of happiness) became a successful small business that promises just to bring little happy moments.
This case study shows the experiment creating an
emotional brand that can provoke the sentiment of happiness for its customers. While better explaining the dynamics of a subscription company in marketing, customer satisfaction and operational contexts, the case study provides insights to answer the question: Can happiness be bought?
ABSTRACT
Italiano
Il termine ‘new economy’ viene spesso utilizzato per la bolla dot-com degli late1990 e nei primi anni del 2000. Il termine si riferisce alla transizione da un’economia di produzione a base di un’economia basata sui servizi. Da questo periodo alcune aziende Internet è sopravvissuto ed è diventato parte del mondo più grandi e più innovative aziende, come ad esempio, Facebook, Amazon. Mentre alcune delle aziende dot-com sopravvissuti, alcuni non.
Oggi la ‘New Economy’ è simile alla bolla dot-com in termini di tasso di successione e necessità di capitale. Ora si chiama ecosistema di start-up, con il suo innovativo nuovo tipo di aziende, ad esempio, i rivenditori online, crowd-funding, personalizzazione di massa, i social media, consumo collaborativo ecc
E-commerce è sempre stato un grande mercato per la ‘nuova economia’. Tuttavia si è evoluta nel tempo. All’inizio la caratteristica più importante del commercio elettronico è la convenienza. Con l’e-commerce i clienti possono confrontare i prezzi, caratteristiche, disponibilità e il servizio. Queste caratteristiche sono ora concessi a quasi tutti i siti di e-commerce.
Dopo le caratteristiche di base, qualche strato di sofisticazione è aggiunto come offerte giornaliere (groupon.com), lo shopping privato (gilt.com),
Perché compriamo ciò che compriamo? E ‘sempre logico?
Che dire di come ci sentiamo?
Curation è il prossimo livello di sofisticazione aggiunto. Dal momento che alcuni dei siti di e-commerce è diventato sovraffollato con troppe opzioni, perché le mani non consapevoli e abili che condividiamo un senso comune non devono scegliere per noi. Per esempio Lovli. it che curati prodotti del design italiano.
Lo strato curation ha dato un inizio di servizi di abbonamento per i prodotti cura. Dal momento che ogni sistema di abbonamento diversi target segmento di mercato di nicchia, hanno creato loro comunità. Le comunità sono persone e come persone che sono creature emotive e abbiamo bisogno di interazione. Questo ci porta l’ultimo livello di sofisticazione, il livello emotivo. Questa tesi esamina i driver emotivi e psicologici in tal senso i nostri comportamenti di shopping online, concentrandosi su servizi in abbonamento. Lo scopo della tesi è quello di fornire una risposta alle seguenti domande: E ‘possibile vendere emozioni (in particolare la felicità)? Può sorprendere essere utilizzato come strumento di marketing (natura del modello di abbonamento) per vendere emozioni?
Al fine di rispondere a questa domanda è stata condotta una ricerca della letteratura che copre le tendenze del mercato, la demografia dei consumatori in Turchia, i fattori che il processo decisionale effetti, gli studi sulla
felicità e sorprese.
L’esito della ricerca è implementata per la progettazione basata su servizio di scatola di abbonamento ‘Bikutumutluluk’. Bikutumutluluk (una scatola di felicità) è diventato una piccola impresa di successo che promette solo per portare piccoli momenti felici.
Questo caso di studio dimostra l’esperimento la creazione di un marchio emotivo che può provocare il sentimento di felicità per i suoi clienti. Mentre spiegare meglio le dinamiche di una società di sottoscrizione nel marketing,
soddisfazione del cliente e contesti operativi, il caso di studio fornisce spunti per rispondere alla domanda: la felicità può essere acquistato?
TABLE
of Contents
Part I :MARKETING EMOTIONS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Design and Emotions
1.1.1. Levels of Emotional Design Visceral Level
Behavioural Level
Reflective Level
1.1.2. Product Emotion Cycle
1.1.3. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 1.1.4. Walter’s Hierarchy of User Needs
1.1.5. Factors Effecting The Need for Emotional Design
Human Touch
Emotions and Memory
Welfare and Design
2. MARKET
2.1. E-Commerce
2.1.1. E-Commerce in Turkey
Female Online Shoppers in Turkey 2.1.2. Global E-Commerce Trends Anticipation Marketing
Social Shopping
Cutting out the Middleman
Artificial Intelligence
Predictive Analysis
Curation 2.2. Subscription Box Market 28
2.2.1. History of Subscription Box Market
Case Study: Birchbox
2.2.2. Current Subscription Box Market
Subscription Box Shoppers
18 18 18 19 19 19 19 20 20 21 21 21 22 23 23 23 24 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 28 28 31 32 35 2.2.3.The Reasons Behind the Subscription Services Self-Gifting and Social Media Surprise Effect
Shopping makes happy
Curation It’s addictive 2.2.4. Turkish Subscription Box Market Beauty Boxes Child Development Men’s Essentials Design, Novelty and Gifts 3. MARKETING
3.1. Utilitarian vs. Hedonic Shopping
Utilitarian Shopping Motivations
Hedonic Shopping Motivations
3.1. Social Shopping
3.1.1. I Saw It, I want It
3.1.2. Why Do We Like Social Media? 3.1.3. Social Media and Emotions
3.1.4. Social Media as a Medium to Show-off 3.1.5. Social Media as a Medium to Advertise
Metcalfe’s Law
Social Media Marketing for Subscription Boxes 3.1.6. Social Media as a Medium to Sell
3.1.7. Social Media as a Medium to Purchase 3.1.7. Social Media as a Medium to Purchase
3.2. Emotional Branding
3.2.1. The Ten Commandments of Emotional Branding
3.2.2. Strategies to Create an Emotional Brand
Designing for Positive interactions
Creating Rituals
Creating a Story
Creating a Brand Personality
Creating an Enemy: Us vs. Them
Creating Personal Relationships
3.2.3. Emotional Branding Pitfalls
3.2.4. Emoji for Emotional Non-Verbal Communication
36 37 37 37 38 38 39 39 39 40 40 41 41 41 41 42 42 42 43 43 44 45 46 46 48 48 49 50 51 51 51 52 52 52 53 53 54
Emojis in Customer Service
Emojis in Advertising
3.3. Marketing Emotions
3.3.1. Buying Happiness
3.3.2. Marketing Happiness
Attracting Customers with Happiness
Creating Emotional Connections Using Happiness
3.3.3. Marketing Emotions’ Pitfalls 3.4. Marketing Surprises
3.4.1. Surprises and Human Brain
3.4.2. Marketing Surprises
Uses of Surprise in Marketing
Factors that Affects Surprise Related Customer Satisfaction 3.4.3. Marketing Surprises Pitfalls
Part II :BIKUTUMUTLULUK
1. IDEATION
1.1. Why Bikutumutluluk?
1.1.1 Design brief: the pain 1.1.2 Exploring possibilities
1.1.3. Input from the research
1.1.4. Bikutumutluluk: an innovative way to sell what we design 1.2. What is Bikutumutluluk? 1.2.1. The definition 1.2.2.The Corporate Identity Brand Persona The Logo Fonts Colour Palette Illustrations
Tone of the Brand
Customer Service 1.2.3.The Box Content Motto Cards Paper Products 54 55 58 58 62 64 64 66 67 67 70 70 72 73 76 76 76 76 78 78 79 79 80 81 82 84 84 85 87 88 89 90 92 Fabric Products Accessories Magazine Partner Product Joker Craft (Optional)
1.3. Who is Bikutumutluluk for?
1.3.1.Defining the Target Audience
Target Audience Type 1: The white collar woman
Target Audience Type 2: The future white collar woman Target Audience Type 3: The Gift Shopping Young Man 1.3.2.Personas
1.4. How does Bikutumutluluk work? 1.4.1.The Main System Actors
1.4.2.Monthly Action Cycle
1.4.3.Map of Touch Points 1.4.4.Customer Journeys 2. IMPLEMENTATION 2.1 .Prototyping 2.1.1.Prototyping Strategies 2.2.Implementation Challenges 2.2.1.Online Challenges Online Platform Payment System Online Presence 2.2.2.Offline Challenges Product Sourcing Networking Labour Force 2.2.3.Legal Challenges
Distant Sale Regulations Compliance
Taxes and Invoices
Intellectual Property 2.3.Marketing Strategies 2.3.1.Paid Marketing 2.3.2.Free Marketing 94 96 98 100 102 103 104 104 105 106 107 108 112 112 114 116 118 122 122 122 128 129 136 137 138 138 140 141 144 144 144 144 145 146 147 149
2.4.Pricing 2.5.Budget
3. VALIDATION
3.1.Milestones & First Reactions
3.1.1.Actual Website Demographics 3.2.Traction and Growth
3.3.Quarterly Learnings Developments
3.3.1.Early-Stage Business Model Canvas
3.3.1.Later-Stage Business Model Canvas (Reflected Learning) 3.4. Customer Feedbacks
3.4.1.Rewiews and Reactions
3.4.2.Survey Results
4. CONCLUSION
4.1.Why Do We Buy What We Buy? 4.2.Why Do Women Buy Bikutumutluluk?
4.3.Is Bikutumutluluk a needed service?
REFERENCES LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF IMAGES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
APPENDIX A: survey questions and answers
APPENDIX B: customer comments on social media
APPENDIX C: bikutumutluluk ‘s concepts, boxes and products
APPENDIX D: bikutumutluluk ‘s partners
APPENDIX E: bikutumutluluk ‘s collaborations with the artisants
150 151 152 154 156 158 160 160 162 164 164 166 167 167 169 170 171 175 176 176 180 181 200 201 219 221
Methodology and Processes
This thesis is composed of 2 parts. Part I is dedicated to research. Part II is the case study.
Part I: Research consists of 3 main subjects: emotions, market and marketing. Research about emotions shows various theories about relationship between objects and people. Research about market gives background information and current situation in the related market. Research about marketing focuses on various techniques and applications in marketing for emotions. All the subjects are supported by examples and cognitive experiments.
Part II: Case study consists of 4 sections which explains a different stage of the service system. The 4 main sections of part II are ideation, implementation, validation and conclusion. Ideation section answers why, what, who and how questions. Implementation section explains realization of the service. Validation section is consist of reflected learnings from the service. Conclusion section is the critical evaluation of the service system.
Aims
Key Research
The aim of this thesis to apprehend the relationship between commerce, design and emotions with a special focus on subscription box business model. The intent is to explain how these factors support and empower each other in creating successful brands by investigating possible reasons behind people’s purchase choices, and provide an answer to the question ‘Can happiness be bought ?’.
• Emotional Design
• E-commerce Market
• Subscription Box Market
• Social Shopping
• Emotional Branding
• Happiness in Marketing
Part I :MARKETING EMOTIONS
Research
IMG 1
Bookworm Box Inspiration
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Design and Emotions
people’s relationships with objects
Martin Lindstrom explains how we value object with this example: Let’s say you received a grey stone as a gift for your birthday; if you think it is an ordinary stone you say thank to the gift-giver reluctantly. But when the gift-giver says it is a special stone from Berlin Wall that has an emotional value, it presents the end of the cold war and kept for years as a momentum, then you would thank candidly (2008). This example shows that the value of the things depends on the feelings that we have for them. Emotional design is a way to design objects and services that people will value. Emotional design is about designing services that users would say ‘I love it!’ rather than simply say ‘I use it’. Emotional design creates profound experiences, thus loyal and enthusiastic customers.
Design has the power to enrich our lives by
engaging emotions through image, form,
texture, color, sound, smell.
-Tim Brown
1.1.1. Levels of Emotional Design
Norman claims products evokes emotions on 3 different levels which are visceral, behavioural and reflective levels.
Visceral Level
refers to visual attractiveness of an object.Behavioural Level
is about functionality.Reflective Level
is the most complex level, it is about the reflection on the object through personal experiences, memories and associations.Donald Norman mentions that in the design world we tend to associate design with beauty. So we design attractive things but the reason why we like attractive things is our emotions. Emotions reflect our personal experiences, associations and memories. With the feelings governing our liking it is possible to love an ugly object or hate what is considered attractive (2004).
PRODUCT ...changes the way we feel
...affect the way we behave
...affects the way the product behave EMOTIONS BEHAVIOUR FIG 1 Produc-Emotion Cycle interactiondesign.org
1.1.2. Product Emotion Cycle
There is a relationship between the product and the person who interacts with it. The Product-Emotion Cycle shows the changes that occur during user-object interaction. Every-time when a user interacts with an object user’s feelings changes then his/her behaviour changes; in response to user’s behaviour change, objects behaviour changes as well This cycle continues as long as the user uses the product. Donald Norman states that if the product does what is needed, if it is fun tu use and easy to satisfy goals with it, the result is warm, positive effect (2004). For example, a cup of hot tea on a cold day causes a positive emotional response, since it makes you feel warm and cosy. This pleasurable positive response
then can change our behaviour with the type of tea or the specific tea cup. When the user uses the same tea cup the second time, user behaviour towards the cup is different which changes the emotion again then changes the behaviour again (Interactiondesign.org,2016).
Emotional design is based on creating meaningful relationships between the user and the product. It is also a part of the shift from design to design thinking; creation of products to relationship between people and products; from there to relationship between people and people (Brown,2009)
1.1.3. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, first a psychological needs must be met, which are the most basic needs: to breath, sleep, eat. The next need is safety which is need for accommodation, income, health. Then there is the need for belonging: feeling loved, being connected to other human beings. After that there is esteem which refers to a sense of self, respect for others and confidence to excel in life. The ultimate need on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is self-actualisation which refers to need to be creative, solve problems and follow a moral code (Walter,2011).
1.1.4. Walter’s Hierarchy of User Needs
Aaron Walter remapped Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to needs of users (2011). According to this remapped pyramid a consumer product first should be functional that it should complete the task it is designed for. Then a product should be reliable, it should function over and over again without any problem. Next, it should be usable: the user should be able to learn how to use the product easily and it should meet the ergonomic needs as well. The last need is that a product should be pleasurable after meeting the other needs. In order to provide a better experience; after meeting the essential needs, a product should give pleasure, fun, joy, delight (Walter,2011).
Psychological
Functional
Safety
Reliable
Love/Belonging
Usable
Esteem
Pleasurable
Self-actualisation FIG 2Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
FIG 3
Walter’s Hierarchy of User Needs
Human Touch
Industrial revelation lowered the production costs and increased the product efficiency. Production companies became big profitable corporations which are missing the human touch. However, emotion is also a need for consumer goods. Websites like Etsy and Kickstater gives artists, craftspeople and DIY inventors the opportunity to sell the products they have designed and created. Their customers love the experience and the fact that they support the independent craftsman, creative thinking and small businesses by buying a product with a story. Artists, designers and architects of Arts and Crafts movement believes that preserving the human touch is not optional, it is essential (Walter,2011). Instead of having a machine made the product, knowing that there is a person who made it evokes emotions and makes the experience more valuable. Likewise, as opposed to corporate food industry Tim Brown states that the growing popularity of farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture, the slow-food movement suggests that consumers crave for a different experience. Instead of merely consuming, people want to create their own experiences.
Emotions and Memory
Emotional experiences makes a profound imprint in the long term memory. John Medina explains the science behind the memory and emotion: emotionally charged events persist longer in our memories. We remember those kind of memories with higher accuracy. Because when brain detects an emotionally charged event, amygdala releases dopamine which helps processing the memory and creates a memory of high importance. Medina uses the analogy ‘ a chemical post-it that says remember this’ to explain emotionally charged memories (as cited in Walter,2011).
Furthermore, Walter defines emotional design as insurance to maintain audience trust. He claims emotional design makes the user product/service relationship similar to human relationships. Like human relationships, when the user who has a committed relationship with a brand, product or service, she/he does not act on logic but acts on gut feeling when deciding whether to maintain ties or not when something goes wrong (Walter, 2011).
Welfare and Design
As Hierarchy of user needs suggests before considering the top of the pyramid, the needs on the base of the pyramid should be met. Daniel Pink argues that once our basic needs are met, we tend to look for meaningful and emotionally satisfying experiences ( as cited in Brown, 2009). Hollywood movies, video games, gourmet restaurant, destination shopping, eco-tourism have grown in the recent years; and their value lies in the emotional resonance according to Brown (2009). This theory explains why art flourishes and beauty becomes more important when there is common welfare in the societies. Money can deploy artist and designers, so that it can buy art and design object which people value emotionally. Because as Lindstrom states our brains perceive the things that we branded (in this case designed or made by someone famous) more special and valuable. Special and valuable is often expensive and a study that conducted at Stanford University and California Institute of Technology showed more expensive products increases our liking of it (2011). In order to be able to afford special and valuable, welfare is essential.
Furthermore, on Maslow’s pyramid, from bottom to top needs became less vital. Therefore, the top levels of the pyramid may be defined as wants instead of needs. If we consider emotional design as a need at esteem and self-actualisation level on the Maslow’s pyramid; emotional design may be considered as a want. Wants can be compromised under circumstances. Those circumstances are most likely to be welfare related. In order to be able to want the top of the pyramid, welfare is essential.
2.1.1. E-Commerce in Turkey
The size of e-commerce market and the number of people who uses e-commerce depends on internet penetration. When the internet penetration levels are low e-commerce shoppers are more likely to be early adaptors mostly defined as urban, tech-savvy people. When the internet penetration levels increases the variation of services that are provided increases as well, thus a wider range of people starts to use different services.
In developed countries internet the average internet penetration level is around 77%, in those countries the percentage of online retail to total retail is 5.5% on average. However the internet penetration level in Turkey is even lower than the other developing countries. In Turkey internet penetration level is around 49%, and the percentage of online retail to total retail is 1.3% and only 24% of the internet users are e-commerce shoppers (Deloitte Consulting,2014).
2. MARKET
2.1. E-Commerce
Overview
51%
FIG 4Internet Penetration in Turkey (2014)
Deloitte Consulting
FIG 5
E-Commerce Market size in Turkey in 2015
eticaretmag.com
24%
10.1
billion TRY e -c o m m e r ce sh op p er s n o in t er n e t p e n etra tion 13% furniture home appliances 40% electronics 16% clothing 11% books&music 2% foodFemale Online Shoppers in Turkey
While Turkish women focus on the visuals for deciding to buy a product, men focus more on the price. While women search for the brand, men search for the product (Eticaret Mag, 2013).
Turkish women’s favourite day to shop is Thursdays, the second favourite is Mondays. Working women generally shop at noon between 12.00-13.00. They are more brand loyal, they follow campaigns more, and more effected by
FIG 6
Age and Gender Distribution of E-commerce Shoppers in Turkey
statista.com
e-mail marketing campaigns. They tend to recommend a brand on social media more than men(Eticaret Mag, 2016).
2.1.2. Global E-Commerce Trends
E-commerce is still a rapidly growing market. More and more people are shopping online and the way that they shop online changes and evolves in innovative ways to make the shopping experience better than the previous one. Some significant trends in e-commerce are listed in order to show the direction that e-commerce evolves.
Anticipation Marketing
In the course of a year the peak sales dates are almost fixed. Even if the peak sale dates might vary slightly for each market sector, for consumer goods Christmas time and Black Friday sales are the most important ones. Some companies uses these dates to increase anticipation and raise expectations. They start publishing campaigns for those dates prior to their competitions in order to gain advantage (Absolunet,2016).
Social Shopping
Social shopping aims to connect like-minded people who has similar shopping habits and tastes (Nations,2016). Social shopping websites allow their customer to be more involved in the processes, enable them to choose the best products and share their own experience.
Cutting out the Middleman
Price advantage is an important reason that convince customers to shop online. Cutting out the middleman is a way to reduce prices by avoiding commissions (Absolunet,2016).
Example
Example
Example
Amazon starts advertising for Black Friday as of November 1st. It creates a sense of urgency for the whole month instead of just for 2 days by offering special deals for special groups on daily basis.
Aliexpress.com gives buyers opportunity to buy directly from Chinese manufacturers. The only middleman in the process is Alibaba itself unlike conventional commerce that a good changes many hands.
Fancy is a website that sells products curated by a global community. It is a combination of Etsy and Pinterest.
IMG 1 Fancy.com
Curation
Curation in e-commerce is a equivalent of shopping from exclusive boutiques. It helps its users to discover products that is a better fit for their own personality (Beal).
Example
Quarterly is a subscription box service that sends a box every 3 months that is curated by the experts in their fields or celebrities or other influential people, such as a biohack box curated by famous health and wellness experts.
IMG 3
Quarterly Box by Tim Ferriss
fourhourworkweek.com
Predictive Analysis
Predicting the customers’ next purchase or their interests is a major trend in e-commerce. Many e-commerce companies try to make sure that the customer sees what she/he needs without any clutter or destruction. The offers changes for each customer to fit their specific needs. Companies utilizes from databased to retrieve information about their customers and use these information to offer more focused offers. They
Artificial Intelligence
More and more services stated to use chatbots. Ordering products by using chatbots is almost a social activity and it can be done by using social media as well. Therefore, the brands that speaks to the younger generation and fashion brands are enthusiastic about trying chatbots.
Example
It is possible to order a burger from Burger King by texting to its chatbot via Facebook messenger (Absolunet,2016).
IMG 2
Burger King Chat Bot
newcydiatweaks.com
use information like age and gender of the customer, their previous purchases, previous product searches (Absolunet,2016). Google and Facebook stores those information as well in order to provide a better service for the advertisers and to make sure their users gets the
information that they are interested in. Anticipation Marketing
Trend Characteristics Mainstream Example Design-focused Example
Black Friday sales
Limited Quantity Special Sales Daily Deals
Subscription Boxes
Market Places Lower Prices
Directly Connected to Maker
Burger King chat bot
Inspobot celebstyle trendbot Instant customer Service
Smart Suggestions
User Created Content Active customer Interaction
Personalization Personal Interest
Personalized Discovery
Google Adwords Tailored offers
Cutting out the Middle Man Artificial Intelligence Social Shopping Curation Predictive Analysis TABLE 1
Innovative Trends in E-commerce
2.2.1. History of Subscription Box Market
Subscription business model is in our lives since the early 20th century. We are all familiar with subscription systems; we need to use many of them in our everyday life. We subscribe to our cable company, newsletters, magazines, online games, GSM service…. etc. The list is long. Now, in addition to those subscription services that we used to, there are subscription box services that are booming since Birtchbox emerged in the market on 2010. Birtchbox is the first cosmetics samples subscription box and it is still the largest subscription box company in the market with a million subscribers around the world (2015). Before birtchbox there were subscriptions for premium cigars or wine. The oldest wine club in America, Wine Of The Month Club, was founded in 1972 as the original mail order wine club; it still continues its operations as an online wine subscription service. Even before the Wine of the Month Club, the Book of the Month Club was founded in 1926, as a strategic brand to promote new books. As the club grew in number of subscribers their selections perceived as prestigious and some of the books which are selected by the club became some of the most popular books of all time like ‘Gone with the Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell.
However what birchbox did wasn’t only sending a box full of samples but to bring the physical shop experience to e-commerce. Their purpose is also enable their
customers to experience the product and buy the full size versions from their website. It grow rapidly, so that many competitors have followed. Most of them were replicas of birchbox without e-commerce part of it. The concept evolved in time, and a lot of entrepreneurs started to see an opportunity. The possibilities for the subscription are limitless. There are examples of socks subscription, subscriptions for the pet products, exotic food subscriptions, subscription boxes for custom made clothing, action figure subscription….. The list is endless. They emerged after the success of the Birchbox but their purpose and perception is totally different. That kind of specialized boxes are not longer for trying out samples. While some of them are to satisfy a need like groceries, monthly shaving supplies for men or tampons for women (they are generally consumables), the others are to surprise their customers with their curated items.
2.2. Subscription Box Market
Overview
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 1926 1972 record clubs tobacco clubs about 200 subscription boxes in mysubscriptionaddiction.com directory (Baskas,2016) about 2000 subscription boxes in mysubscriptionaddiction.com directory (Baskas,2016) TABLE 2 Sudden Expansion of Subscription Boxes Aslıcan AydınExample:
BirchboxBirchbox is the company that started the subscription box boom. Birchbox was founded to provide a solution for online cosmetic shopping. Most women prefer to buy a cosmetic product after testing them because cosmetic shopping is very personal. Before buying a product women want to see the colour on their skin, smell the product, check the feelig of the product on their skin. In brick and mortar shops, there are professional staff that helps to make the right choice, however online shopping was lacking this experience and women had to stick with the products that they already know. Birchbox wanted to bring this testing experience to online shopping by sending beauty product’s samples in a monthly box. So that, women can discover the new products and comfortably order them. Birchbox succeeded its mission and it achieved more. People liked subscription service better than cosmetic shopping. Anticipation, curiocity, discovery and excitement made the service more and more desired. Boxes started to include full size products, special
IMG 4 Birchbox
Mysubscriptionaddiction.com
edition items, etc. The style of the boxes changed, then they offered a subscription for man as well. The company rapidly grew and inspired many more subscription bx services. After the success of bitch box an endless number of subscription box services in very different field occurred. Some of them provides: chocolates, razors, food, pet products, underwear, tampons, craft materials, books, stationary, etc. The list is endless and the spark for what became a huge market and a successful business model is Birchbox .
FIG 7
Birchbox’s Growth
2.2.2. Current Subscription Box Market
In January 2013, there were only 700,000 monthly visitors to US subscription box sites, in January 2016 the number of visits risen to 21.4 million monthly which means a 2,963% increase in 3 years (2016).
Subscription box market is still rapidly growing. There are subscriptions for everything imaginable. Below is the segmentation of subscription box services in US, UK, and Australia including 127 leading sites (Fetto,2016).
In 2012 Liz Cadman started a blog to review the boxes that she subscribed to. Hundreds of subscription services are catalogued on her site, and only a small minority of them has failed. As reported am January 2015 on fastcompany, Cadman stated only 8 of the beauty box services have undergone out of hundreds that popped up since 2012; and there are 151 food boxes featured in her website and only 16 of them have been cancelled (Segran, 2015). Subscription box services are quite popular in US, however compared to online retail shops they still have a small market share. Nonetheless retail segment for the subscription boxes has grown 3000 percent from 2013 to 2016 while leading online retail websites grew by 168 percent during the same period in US according to Hitwise. The subscription box service was born in US, and still the interest for the subscription boxes are more than twice as much in US compared to any another country. Having said that, other Commonwealth countries catching up, such as, UK with 197 percent year over year growth (Fetto, 2016).
Google trends analysis on FIG X shows the sudden increase of the number of searches for the key word ‘subscription box’. Number of searches for subscription box is almost non-existent before 2010 when Birtchbox was founded. After 2012 the number of searches sky-rockets which proves the interest of the people for the concept.
FIG 8
Subscription Box Sites by Product Category in US, UK, Australia
Hitwise
FIG 9
Number of Online searches for the Keyword ‘Subscription Box’
Google Trends
Since 2010, many new subscription brands have been emerged, and some established brands entered the competition like Amazon, Target, Adidas.
Example:
Amazon Subscribe & SaveAmazon’s subscribe&save allows the user to pick whatever they want to be delivered and a time schedule and it provides 15% discount and free shipment. Amazon also ships limited edition beauty sample boxes time to time.
IMG 5
Amazon Subscribe&Save
Example:
Adidas Avenue AAdidas’s subscription service is called Avenue A and it delivers a curated selection of sneakers, apparel and other workout gear to female athletes quarterly for 150$. The items in each box are curated by famous celebrities.
IMG 6
Adidas Avenue A Curated by US Soccer Phenom Morgan Brian
adidasavenuea.com
Media Interest:
progressive news, lifestyle blogs with a predominant human interest or celebrity focus
Demographics
above average incomes High education levels 25-to-44-year-old age multicultural urban neighbourhoods
culturally-minded active, health-conscious lifestyles
Media Interest:
news blogs with provocative headlines written for social sharing
FIG 10
Subscription Box Shoppers
Hitwise
2.2.3.The Reasons Behind the Subscription Services
Blowze is a subscription service that sends a tissue box with a different design every month. On its website, they explain why they believe in subscription boxes with an info-graphic. IMG x is the part of the info-graphic on which they explain what makes subscription boxes great.
IMG 7
Blowze Info-graphic part 1
blowze.com
IMG 8
Blowze Info-graphic part 2
blowze.com
IMG 9
Self-Gifting on Social Media
Self-Gifting and Social Media
Subscription box services are not always based on needs. The main reason that everybody is attracted to the concept is the psychology behind it. It is about rewarding yourself with a small treat. As Kit yarrow mentions on her article on psychology today, self-gifting is more acceptable nowadays in our me-centric society. The messages like “you are special” or “you deserve it” resonates either in the schools to improve student’s self esteem or from commercial campaigns to sell their products (Yarrow, 2102). We can observe the reflection of this message on social media with selfies becoming so popular and sharing everything about your life became acceptable. As an extend of sharing everything about your life, sharing those self-gifts as a reason to be excited and happy increased the popularity of the concept on the social media.
Example
Surprise Effect
Another reason behind the rise of subscription boxes is the attraction of the unknown. The fact that the content of the box is unknown created a sort of guessing game.
By using social media and email marketing, subscription box companies can evoke curiosity; they can keep their customer excited by sharing small clues.
Shopping Makes Happy
A study conducted at the university of British Columbia, Canada by Aaron Weidman and Elizabeth Dunn might provide another perspective to understand the success behind the boxes. The purpose of the study is to understand how people felt in the moment, say the first weeks with a new sweater or tablet computer. To answer this question, they assessed the real-time, momentary happiness people got from material and experiential purchases, up to five times per day for two weeks. Material purchases consisted of items such as reindeer leggings, portable speakers, or coffee makers, and examples of experiential purchases were a weekend ski trip, tickets to a hockey game, or spa gift cards. The study showed that while experiential purchases bring intense happiness during the experience; the material purchases brings small doses of happiness over weeks (Society for Social Psychology,2015).
EXPERIMENT
RESULT
Experiential purchases bring intense
happiness during the experience, material
purchases provide small doses of happiness
for longer period.
The subscription boxes are a mix of material and experiential purchases. While providing an intense happiness upon first delivery trough experiencing discovery of surprises; later on with the material possessions it provides little doses of happiness for a few weeks. After those weeks it is time for a new box and experience again the kind of happiness derived from shopping. In conclusion when it comes to buying happiness (the study showed that actually you can) subscription boxes create a win win situation by providing both types of purchase related happiness.
Curation
Other important reason behind the success is as Virginia Lee, senior research analyst with market intelligence firm Euromonitor International states rise of subscription boxes shows us an important trend: when there are too many options available in the shops, people like the curation factor (as cited in Learnvest). Besides helping to choose from too many options, curation also helps with the self-image of the customer when the curator becomes a brand. For example, Quartely focuses on curation and its curators are famous people, its customers wants to have something that is picked by the person that they admire.
It is Addictive
Subscription box services can become addictive like the person who does extreme sports. When we ask them why they are doing such a dangerous sport they say it is due to the adrenalin rush. A milder version of that adrenalin rush also applies to box subscribers. Waiting in anticipation, not knowing what to expect creates excitement. Amanda Doman , site manager at the Illinois
Institute for Addiction Recovery says “The chemical reaction our bodies have when we’re excited and waiting for that box each month—not knowing what it is, but knowing it’s coming—creates an adrenaline rush. When some-thing’s being hand-picked for someone, it’s feeding their self-esteem. It makes them feel unique and keeps them continuing to purchase (as cited in Learnvest).
The chemical reaction our bodies have
when we’re excited and waiting for that
box each month—not knowing what it
is, but knowing it’s coming—creates an
adrenaline rush. When something is being
hand-picked for someone, it’s feeding their
self-esteem. It makes them feel unique and
keeps them continuing to purchase.
-Amanda Doman
(site manager at the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery)
2.2.4. Turkish Subscription Box Market
In contrast to rest of the world, subscription box model didn’t get too much attention in Turkey. There has been a few attampts on 4 different product categories: beauty, child development, men’s essentials, design and novelty.
Beauty Boxes
The first attempt that used the subscription model like Birchbox was a cosmetic box called Vanilya Club founded in 2012. However since it became problematic to find cosmetic samples due to customs and regulations, they shift their focus to cosmetic product sales.
Another cosmetic box service is LilaKutu, they experienced the same problems with Vanilya Club. When Vanilya Club reached its peak, they had 5000 subscribers. They stopped sending boxes monthly and started to prepare what they called discovery boxes which are limited edition boxes that is offered in random times.
Child Development
Other sector that subscription model is being used is development kits for kids. Bardabas was founded in 2012. Then 2 other similar companies followed: Adım Adım Büyüyoruz and Pakolino. Their growth hasn’t been too aggressive. They can still be considered small to medium scale businesses.
IMG 10
Turkish Subscription Box: Vanilya Club
IMG 11
Turkish Subscription Box :Lilakutu
IMG 12
Men’s Essentials
Another subscription box business in Turkey is called Erkek Paketi. It sends basic socks and underwear to its subscribers in the time periods that the customer chose. It provides a rather utilitarian service unlike most of the other subscription box services.
Design, Novelty and Gifts
Bikutumutluluk is founded on December 2014, and operates in design, novelty and gifts sector since.
IMG 13
Adım Adım Büyüyoruz
IMG 14
Turkish Subscription Box: Pakolino
IMG 15
Turkish Subscription Box: Erkek Paketi
IMG 16
Turkish Subscription Box: Bikutumutluluk
3. MARKETING
3.1. Utilitarian vs. Hedonic Shopping
Overview
From a broad perspective there are 2 main types of shoppers: utilitarian and hedonic. We make puchase decisions with a combination of hedonic and utilitarian motivations. Most of the people are not purely utilitarian or hedonic yet closer to one of them on the scale. In order to provide services and products that people would want, it is important to understand the reasons behind purchases.
Utilitarian Shopping Motivations
cheap, needed, convenient
1.Convenient Shopping: Convenience is an important motivation for utilitarian shoppers. Vicinity, product variety, ease of shopping can be factors that effects the purchase decision.
2.Economic Shopping: Utilitarian shoppers tend to be bargain hunters. They follow sales and get convinced by price reductions.
3.Achivement Shopping: It is the opposite of impulse buying. Achievement shopping is an organised activity that what, when and where to buy is set in advance. Shopping becomes a mission. (Patel & Sharma,2009)
Hedonic Shopping Motivations
exciting, pleasurable, gratifying
1.Adventure Shopping: It is shopping for stimulation and excitement. Buying novelty products, trying different and unexpected services can be defined as adventure shopping.
2.Gratification Shopping: Many people shop to create a positive feeling and enhance their mood. They buy small treats and prizes for themselves.
3.Social Shopping: Shopping becomes a social activity when it is done with friends and family. It fulfils social needs.
4.Idea Shopping: Idea shopping is done in order to keep up with new tends.
5.Role Shopping: Buying gifts for others provides pleasure to the shopper.
6.Value Shopping: Finding good deals and bargain hunting is a pleasurable activity for some shoppers.
3.1.1. I Saw It, I want It
Martin Lindstrom shares findings of different studies about mirror neurons on his book Buyology (2008). Mirror neurons is a theory to explain why we smile back when somebody else smiles to us or why do we yawn when we read the word yawn or why do we start itching when we heard the word itch. We imitate behaviours of people around us in our minds unconsciously that is also how we empathise with each other. The same mirror neurons are also responsible for some of our purchases. He gives an example of a woman who passes by a GAP store and sees the display window that displays a perfect model with a perfect style. Even if the woman knows that she gained weight, she wants to be as cool as the model by wearing the same outfit, at least her brain thinks so even if she is not aware, so she buys the same outfit. However what she have bought is not a blouse , jeans and bandanna but an image or an attitude or both of the 2.
In buyology, the author also mention that the concept Social shopping is the shopping experience that is shared with a social network of friends and contacts thorough shares, recommendations and suggestions, and comments on products or services. Social shopping might have different forms, such as social shopping websites, product recommendation websites or shopping from individuals (Techopedia). Social media networks are the essential part of online social shopping. Social media networks can serve as advertisement and commerce
platforms for social shopping activities.
3.1.2. Why Do We Like Social Media?
Social media is a free medium for self expression. Social media platforms allow their users to create profiles that represent the people who they want to be or who they are in their mind. On social media people can be anyone they want. Mc Mahon states that as individuals we are constantly changing and evolving, social media platforms allows us to edit our identity in a coherent fashion. Especially young people are able try out new identities in their developmental stage until they find the permanent one.
However each social media platform has its own unique traits and relationships with its users which defines the type of users that they attract. For example, according to the study conducted by Hughers et al. (2012), while Twitter users seek for cognition, Facebook users are looking for social relationships (as cited in Mc Mahon, 2015). For example facebook’s algorithm strengthens the week ties: its birthday reminder is a way to tell people that we don’t know very well that we still care about them (Mc Mahon, 2015). Different social media platforms satisfies different social needs.
3.1. Social Shopping
what you buy is who you are
of mimicking is a big part of our purchase decisions. We might experience liking a product that we hated previously just because we have exposed the product too much, started to see it everywhere. The more visible the product, the more people would want to buy it. Effective usage of the social media is a tool to increase visibility of the product.
3.1.4. Social Media as a Medium to Show-off
According to Norman the way we dress and behave, the material objects that we possess, jewellery and watches, cars and homes, are all public expressions of our selves. The products you buy and your lifestyle both reflect and establish your self-image and the images that others have of you (2004). In our days when social media is so dominant, people create and share this public expression of self on social media.
Martin Lindstrom shares findings of different studies about mirror neurons on his book Buyology. Mirror neurons is a theory to explain why we smile back when somebody else smiles to us or why do we yawn when we read the word yawn or why do we start itching when we heard the word itch. We imitate behaviours of people around us in our minds unconsciously that is also how we empathise with each other. The same mirror neurons are also responsible for some of our purchases.
Besides satisfying social and emotional needs, we like social media or we follow it to avoid missing out. Social media provides information constantly, the talks in the social media has also reflections in real life relations. Missing out information might cause exclusion or just the feeling excluded which might have severe psychological effects.
3.1.3. Social Media and Emotions
Social media has power to effect human emotions just like social interactions. While the contents effects the overall mood, number of likes, followers and comment effects self-esteem.
According to a study conducted with University students showed that they Facebook is the most comment activity to switch while studying (Rosen et al. 2013 as cited in Mc Mahon,2015). However, this kind of multitasking provides emotional gratification that is uncalled for (Wang & Tchernev; 2012 as cited in Mc Mahon,2015).
Another study found that when Facebook users asked to edit their profile, they experienced an increase in their self-esteem (Gonzales & Hancock,2012 as cited in Mc Mahon, 2015)
A different study showed that social media not only effects our emotions, it can also manipulate them. The study conducted with Facebook users showed that when they see more negative posts on their feed that tend to post negative things as well and when they see more positive posts they also post more positive things. Emotions are contagious also on social media according to the study (Kramer et al., 2014; as cited in Mc Mahon, 2015).
Example
To explain mirroring, Lindstom gives an example of a woman who passes by a GAP store and sees the display window that displays a perfect model with a perfect style. Even if the woman knows that she gained weight, she wants to be as cool as the model by wearing the same outfit, at least her brain thinks so even if she is not aware, so she buys the same outfit. However what she have bought is not a blouse , jeans and bandanna but an image or an attitude or both of the 2.
3.1.5. Social Media as a Medium to Advertise
Social media have been changing all the dynamics of how we communicate with each other, thus how brands are communicating with us. The offers from traditional media started to be inadequate for the advertisers. Since now the media is not limited to cinema, a few TV channels and a few magazines. Now we have so many choices that we can actually avoid the content that we don’t find attractive. Thus traditional media became obsolete and social media started to emerge as a way of communicating with customers. However, people don’t like to see brands on their social media feeds. So far they are not as influential as celebrities or normal people speak to a subcultural group. For example, when PewDiePie a young Swedish Youtuber that posts video games with a voice-over that are barely edited has over 41 million subscribers, one of the greatest spenders on social media McDonalds has only 204.000 subscribers (Holt,2016). The reason that PewDiePie is so popular is the fact that crowd of video gamers loves him, which is a subculture that became very popular.
Thanks to social media many more people who shares the same interest can communicate with each other and create bigger communities without the limitation of geographical boundaries. Communities can gather around almost any topic: sport enthusiasts, coffee lovers, non-processed food, gaming, etc. And all the communities have some influencers that post the content that gets more interactions.
The brands have 2 ways to use the potential of social media. The first one is having the brand speak to 1 specific subculture, and share content that is so important to them that they will follow the brand, like the contents and share.
Example:
targeted content creationExample:
collaborating with influencersDespite of the media’s push for size 0 models and one type of beauty, Dove stated the “Campaign for Real Beauty”. Now it leads the body-positive content creation and the contents are liked and shared by very big crowds.
The campaign from Under Armour with Giselle Bündchen that shows how wrongly woman power is The second one is again targeting a specific subculture but this time collaborating with the main influencers, such as celebrities, or bloggers.
IMG 17
Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty
cargocollective.com
IMG 18
Under Armour’s Collaboration with Gisele Bündchen
tumuyfit.com
Metcalfe’s Law
The power of social media can be explained by Metcalfe’s Law. According to this law the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system (n2). This means while two connected users can make only one connection, five can make 10 connections, and twelve can make 66 connections (Wikipedia). Likewise
FIG 11 Metcalfe’s Law
Wikipedia
underestimated and that they can achieve whatever they want. The campaign was call “I will what I want”. Bündchen is kickboxing with the voice over a voice over that tells all the mean comments about how incompetent she is. She proves them wrong with the effort that she puts in the workout.
social media network’s effect is greater with each user added to the network. And effect of a campaign is greater with every single share. Powerful campaigns with powerful messages evokes powerful feelings that people would like to share, thus make the campaign visible to more connections.
3.1.6. Social Media as a Medium to Sell
Hand woven scarfs, felt slippers, hand painted porcelains; they became popular again. Maybe we like the cozy feeling of handcrafted products or maybe mass production became boring but somehow we became romantic about our grandmothers’ handmade items. Etsy. an online marketplace for handcrafted and vintage products that had 54 million members in 83 counties (Smith, 2016). With people started to choose starting their own small business over working in a corporate company: hand-crafting became a way to start your own business. Thanks to Etsy many people started their own online shop with their handmade products.
This trend found it’s place on instagram in Turkey. Many instagram sellers emerged. They sell a very wide range of products from custom made cutting boards to jeweller: designer tableware to hand painted dolls. With more followers those instagrammers sell more and due to instagrams’s suggesting new users to follow algorithm more followers bring more followers. Some of them even started to start new trends. This fact led to 2 important findings. The first one is the importance of instagram as a marketing tool. The second one is the fact that people are looking for something different than they can find in brick-mortar shops. They value drawings (even when they are hand painted and digital printed), and handwork. This knowledge provided insight and guidance when designing our subscription service.
Social Media Marketing for Subscription Boxes
Social media is also a very important driver for subscription box services for one more reason other than the reasons that mentioned before. Since the content is surprise, buying decision is depends on trust. A generation that grew with online shopping created it’s own trust norms. We get friendly recommendations from the people we have never met trough online forums. We follow people we have never met on social media to keep up with the trends. Likewise we share content hoping to help someone or hoping to be followed. We trust the people we follow and expect to be trusted in return. Social media is a way to discover through other’s experiences. Research conducted by Hitcwise showed that the percentage of the traffic coming from social media websites to subscription box websites is higher than online retail shops.
Given this information, subscription box services should learn to use social media more effectively to increase awareness. It starts with analyzing their customers and using the right means of communication. Depending on the nature of the service, target group and the country right social media medium and right language to communicate with the customers should be found. The productive method is sometimes unboxing videos on YouTube, sometimes photographs on instagram or a sponsored content on BuzzFeed (Onedio is the corresponding version in Turkey). After discovering potentials from all mediums, the focus should rely on the right mix of the mediums.
Along with the organic social media growth, paid advertisements on social media is also effective. One way of increasing website traffic is the sponsored posts that targets the right audience the other one is providing free samples for bloggers that are active and effective on the targeted social media platforms.
Example
IMG 20
Littledipperclay Instagram Profile
instagram.com
Littledipperclay makes handmade polymer clay accessories and sells them via Etsy or Instagram. She uses Instagram to increase its visibility.
Example
IMG 19
AtelierGuky Instagram Profile
instagram.com
AtelierGuky sells her products exclusively via Instagram. Her products are not handmade, however she gets her drawings printed on various objects, such as tote bags, coasters, mugs, bookmarks etc. and sell those products.
3.1.7. Social Media as a Medium to Purchase
Buying through the social networks from the people that you don’t know in person is not the most logical way to shop. Because those products are often expensive due to their small scale production techniques, the seller often does not offer a good return policy, especially when the product is custom made, and the sellers are often are not legitimate and they don’t offer too many options for money transaction. Logically all those reasons should scare the buyers off, however selling via social media becomes more and more popular in Turkey. The reasons behind this trend are related to self-actualisation. The products that are offered via social networks can be considered niche; they are unique, authentic or custom made. People like to discover them, new and special products that support their self-image. The sense of uniqueness and feeling special are the main drivers of buying via social network. It is a hedonic type of shopping activity.
3.1.7. Social Media as a Medium to Purchase
Dan Airely states that the gifts are an important social lubricant. ”They help us create long-term friends and create long-term relationships that can sustain us through the ups and downs of life. Sometimes, it turns out that a waste of money can be worth a lot.”(Predictably Irrational, 2010).
Airely mentions a study conducted by Ann Harvey,Ulrich Kirk,George Den-field and Read Montague from Baylor Collage of Medicine(The Honest Truth about Dishonesty,2012). In this study, the researchers tried to find out if a favour can effect
EXPERIMENT:
decision making and favoursaesthetic preferences. They divided participants in 2 and told each group that their participation is sponsored by a different art gallery. Then, the art pieces from these 2 different art galleries were shown to the participants while their brain was scanned with an fMRI device. On the corner of the each picture, there was a logo from the art gallery that the piece is being sold. Then, the participants were asked to rate the pictures on a scale that ranges from like to dislike. Researcher found out that participants liked the pictures from the art gallery that they think sponsored them. Also fMRI showed that when they see a picture from the gallery that sponsored them the part of their brains that is responsible for pleasure is activated. Furthermore, the payment for each participant varied from 30$ to 300$ which effected the intensity of the brain activity. The ones that paid more were more in favour of their sponsor.
Like those art galleries, personal relationships are also effected by favour. For example, liking the one neighbour more because he/she brought a house-warming gift. Gifts and favours are tools to flourish social relations. The pleasure that we receive from receiving the gift makes the gift giver favourable. However, it might oblige the gift receiver to return the favour which creates a back and fort action that is favourable for both sides.
RESULT
Favours and gifts positively affect the
decisions.
3.2. Emotional Branding
from corporations to humanized interactions
Emotional branding is a marketing communication term, first suggested by Marc Gobé in 2001. By definition emotional branding is the practice of building brands that appeal directly to a consumer’s emotional state, needs and aspirations. Even if the concept has named after the Gobé’s book Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to Peoplexx; it has been
existed in the market since the industrial revolution caused the shift for the importance of branding and the trademarks for identification and differentiation of the products. When there are too many options in the market how can we choose? İs it only the price and quality or is there one more level? Why are we loyal to some brands and not to the others? Advertisers are using emotions to connect with customers for long time. İmages of happy people using a certain product or image of a child that melts our hearts or a pet that evokes the love inside us... But what those emotions have to do with brands? We are emotional creatures and we make decisions based on feelings. Feelings are the drivers when we choose a brand over another one.
The study conducted by Dr. Read Montague from Baylor Collage of Medicine in 2003 demonstrated why most people chose Coca-Cola over Pepsi. It was a repetition of the Pepsi Challenge, the marketing
EXPERIMENT:
emotions vs. rationalesstrategy that Pepsi uses from 1975 in which people are asked to choose their favourite coke after tasting to samples without knowing which one is which. More than half of the participants surprisingly chose Pepsi. But Montague used fMRI to find out the reasons behind people’s choices. That part of the study proved the same results as in 1975 that people chooses more sugary tastes, however Montague tested volunteers a second time when they know which coke brand they are testing. 75% chose Coca-Cola and fMRI showed in addition to parts of brain that lightened up for the first part of the test, medial pre-frontal cortex was also lighted up which is responsible for deeper thinking and differentiation. It was the Coca-Cola’s victory because Coca-Cola’s emotional values, such as, its colour, its logo, its commercials. Coca-Cola created and unquestionable emotional identity that beat the rational choice. Rationally Pepsi was tastier but our emotional minds chooses Coca-Cola because of our emotional memories of it. In the light of this information, it is not wrong to say Coca-Cola’s success lies on its emotional branding.
