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- Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
- Sprache: Englisch
Master's Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 8 (1,7), Maastricht University (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Department of Marketing), language: English, abstract: One notable trend that can be observed in the 21st century is the increasing visibility of objects that stem from or look like products of past times. In nearly every market segment consumers nowadays can find products from bygone decades. Concerning automobiles, for example, the industry offers the New Beetle of Volkswagen, a modernised version of the Mini Cooper of BWM, and the PT Cruiser of Chrysler. With regard to furniture, consumers witness the reoccurrence of beanbags, inflatable chairs and fringed carpets (Flokati), just like the ones that were popular during the 70ies. Fashion companies like Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) and C&A (founders: Clemens & August Brenninkmeyer), as well as sports wear producers like Adidas and Puma, offer clothes that look like the fashion from the 60ies or 80ies. Taking a closer look to the German market, the TV broadcasts 80ies TV-shows, such as for example “Die 80er Jahre Show” (translation: The 80ies show) or the “Comeback Show”. Add to this, nightclubs and cafes are even decorated with 70ies wallpaper. Furthermore, the beverage industry offers soft drinks and syrups that were popular during the 70ies and 80ies such as TRiTOP, Bluna and Afri Cola (Eberenz, 2003; Seidel, 2003). Sometimes, these products are just nostalgia styled like the PT Cruiser. The vehicle looks partly like a “1920s gangster car, part[ly like a] 1950s hot rod and part[ly like a] London taxicab” (Ball, 1999). However, other products appear with the name of a once very prominent brand. These brands had either completely disappeared from the market or had become for some reason unfavourable in the eyes of consumers and sales levelled towards zero.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2005
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Brands in the Retrospective
A consumer motivation study
University of Maastricht
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Nora Henning Student of International Business Supervisor: Sonja Wendel Department of Marketing Final Thesis
Maastricht, May 2004
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Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958)
(Responsible for Research and Development at General Motors, Quote taken from Horx, 2003)
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4.2.2.1 Communal nostalgia 41 4.2.2.2 Personal nostalgia 42
4.2.2.3 Historical Nostalgia 42
4.2.3 THE QUESTFORAUTHENTICITY 44
4.2.4 QUESTFOR AUTHENTICITY AND RETRO BRANDS45
4.3 ADDITIONALINFLUENCING FACTORS46
4.3.1 IDENTITYAND RETRO BRANDS46
4.3.2 INDIVIDUALISMAND RETRO BRANDS48
4.3.3 BRANDFAMILIARITY AND RETRO BRANDS49
4.3.4 PERCEIVEDQUALITY AND RETRO BRANDS50
4.3.5 UPDATINGAND RETRO BRANDS514.4 CONCLUSION 52
5 METHODOLOGY 53
5.1 INTRODUCTION 53
5.2 PRIMARYDATA AND SECONDARY DATA53
5.3 QUALITATIVEVERSUS QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH54 5.4 RESEARCH APPROACH 55 5.5 ANALYSISOF THE RESULTS57
5.6 ASSESSMENTOF THERESEARCH 58 5.7 CONCLUSION 59
6 DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS 60
6.1 INTRODUCTION 60 6.2 NOSTALGIA 606.2.1 PROPOSITION 1A 60 6.2.2 PROPOSITION 1B 61 6.2.3 PROPOSITION 1C 61 6.2.4 PROPOSITION 1D 626.3 AUTHENTICITY 656.3.1 PROPOSITION 2A 65 6.3.2 PROPOSITION 2B 676.4 IDENTITY 686.4.1 PROPOSITION 3 686.5 INDIVIDUALISM 716.5.1 PROPOSITION 4A 71 6.5.2 PROPOSITION 4B 74
6.6 FAMILIARITYWITH THE BRAND NAME756.6.1 PROPOSITION 5A 75 6.6.2 PROPOSITION 5B 77 6.6.3 PROPOSITION 5C 786.7 PERCEIVED QUALITY 79
6.7.1 PROPOSITIONS 6AAND6B 79 6.7.2 PROPOSITION 6C 806.8 UPDATING 826.8.1 PROPOSITION 7 82
6.9ADDITIONALFACTOR: CHEATING84 6.10 CONCLUSION 85
6.10.1 INITIALTRIAL OF RETRO BRANDS BY OLDER CONSUMERS85
6.10.2 ONGOINGPURCHASES OF RETRO BRANDS BY OLDER CONSUMERS86
6.10.3 INITIALTRIAL OF RETRO BRANDS BY YOUNGER CONSUMERS87
6.10.4 ONGOINGPURCHASES OF RETRO BRANDS BY YOUNGER CONSUMERS89
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Table of Figures
FIGURE 2.1: ROLESOF BRANDS FROM THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE(ADOPTEDFROMMEFFERT, BURMANN & KOERS, 2002) 16
FIGURE 2.2: ROLESOF BRANDS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A COMPANY WITH RESPECT ONLY TO FIRM INTERACTIONS WITH CONSUMERS; NOT COMPANY INTERN(ADOPTEDFROMMEFFERT, BURMANN & KOERS, 2002) 18
TABLE 3.1: CONFRONTATIONOF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LINE EXTENSIONS AND RETRO BRANDING TO SHOW31ANALOGIES
FIGURE 3.1: SYSTEMOF OBJECTIVES FOR RETRO BRANDING(ADOPTEDFROMCASPAR, 2002) 35
FIGURE 4.1: CONCEPTUAL MODELOF FACTORS THAT HAVE AN INFLUENCE ON THE INTENTION TO BUY RETRO52BRANDS
FIGURE 6.1: INFLUENCINGFACTORS FOR OLDER RESPONDENTS:“WHYWOULD YOU BUY A RETRO BRAND?”63
FIGURE 6.2: INFLUENCINGFACTORS FOR YOUNGER RESPONDENTS“WHYWOULD YOU BUY A RETRO BRAND?”64 FIGURE 6.3: AUTHENTICITYPERCEPTION OF RETRO BRANDS(OLDERRESPONDENTS):“INHOW FAR WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THESE BRANDS ASAUTHENTIC?” 66
FIGURE 6.4: AUTHENTICITYPERCEPTION OF RETRO BRANDS(YOUNGERRESPONDENTS):“INHOW FAR WOULD YOU66DESCRIBE THESE BRANDS AS AUTHENTIC?”
FIGURE 6.5: GENERALBUYING BEHAVIOUR DESCRIPTION OF OLDER RESPONDENTS:“WHATDO YOU LOOK FOR IN67YOUR GENERAL BUYING BEHAVIOUR?”
FIGURE 6.6: GENERALBUYING BEHAVIOUR DESCRIPTION OF YOUNGER RESPONDENTS:“WHATDO YOU LOOK FOR68IN YOUR GENERAL BUYING BEHAVIOUR?”
FIGURE 6.7: REASONSWHERE A RELATIONSHIP IS SEEN BETWEEN TODAY’S SOCIETY AND THE TREND TOWARDS RETRO BRANDS(OLDERRESPONDENTS)70
FIGURE 6.8: REASONSWHERE A RELATIONSHIP IS SEEN BETWEEN TODAY’S SOCIETY AND THE TREND TOWARDS RETRO BRANDS(YOUNGERRESPONDENTS)70
FIGURE 6.9: REASONSWHY RETRO BRANDS ARE SEEN AS A POINT OF DIFFERENCE BY THE OLDER RESPONDENTS72 FIGURE 6.10:REASONS WHY RETRO BRANDS ARE SEEN AS A POINT OF DIFFERENCE BY THE YOUNGER RESPONDENTS73
FIGURE 6.11:FAMILIARITY WITH THE BRAND NAME OF A RETRO BRAND POSITIVELY INFLUENCES THE BUYING INTENTION(OLDERRESPONDENTS)76
FIGURE 6.12:FAMILIARITY WITH THE BRAND NAME OF A RETRO BRAND POSITIVELY INFLUENCES THE BUYING INTENTION(YOUNGERRESPONDENTS)76
TABLE 6.1: FAMILIARITYWITH THE BRAND NAME OF A RETRO BRAND DIMINISHES THE RISK PERCEPTION(OLDER 77AND YOUNGER RESPONDENTS)
TABLE 6.2: FAMILIARITYWITH THE BRAND NAME OF A RETRO BRAND POSITIVELY INFLUENCES THE INITIAL TRIAL/SPONTANEOUS PURCHASE OF THE BRAND(OLDERAND YOUNGER RESPONDENTS)78
TABLE 6.3: THEQUALITY PERCEPTION OF RETRO BRANDS(OLDERAND YOUNGER CONSUMERS)80
FIGURE 6.14: JUSTIFICATIONOF A HIGHER PRICE OF RETRO BRANDS COMPARED TO COMPETITIVE OFFERINGS(YOUNGERRESPONDENTS)82
TABLE 6.4: EVALUATIONSOF OLDER AND YOUNGER RESPONDENTS CONCERNING THE UPDATING OF RETRO83BRANDS
FIGURE 6.15: INFLUENCINGFACTORS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS IN THE INITIAL TRIAL OF A RETRO BRAND(OLDER 86CONSUMERS)
LEGEND6.1: DEFINITIONOF THE STRENGTH OF INFLUENCINGFACTORS 86
FIGURE 6.16: INFLUENCINGFACTORS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS FOR ONGOING PURCHASES OF A RETRO BRAND(OLDERCONSUMERS)87
FIGURE 6.17: INFLUENCINGFACTORS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS IN THE INITIAL TRIAL OF A RETRO BRAND(YOUNGERCONSUMERS)89
FIGURE 6.18: INFLUENCINGFACTORS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS FOR ONGOING PURCHASES OF A RETRO BRAND(YOUNGERCONSUMERS)90
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all of my supporters during the last time. Everyone who helped me make the last months of my study a rather pleasant than awful time.
First of all, I want to thank my mother Gabi Grosskopf and my stepfather Wolle Hesse. They have been there for me nearly 24/7 and helped me a lot when my motivation was down. Especially their late-breakfasts on Sundays always gave me a valuable break. Thanks to my “little” brother Jonas, for helping me with all my computer-, but also inspiration-related problems. Thanks to my boyfriend Nicolas Tschechne, who supported and helped me especially in the beginning of my work to see the essential, but also provided me with the ambition to keep on, being the aim to meet him Down Under (Hello Australia!). Thanks to my father, Lutz Henning for his efforts to make everything evident again and bringing me back on the path, which also is true for Anna Maria Schulz. Thanks also to my friends, but especially Friederike von Natzmer, Judith Rösing, Kirsten Schmäing, Vanessa Sauer, Philip Rawe and Daniel Asselmann for consulting me repeatedly, and being there. Of course, I am very thankful to all my interview partners, who gave me one hour of their valuable time: Daniel Asselmann, Antonia Buller-Audick, Sebastian Eggert, Jutta Finke-Schneider, Gabi Grosskopf, Regine Grosskopf, Jonas Henning, Lutz Henning, Oliver Henze, Wolle Hesse, Sandra Oberliesen, Judith Rösing, Christine Schlering, Kirsten Schmäing, Anna-Maria Schulz, Kathrin Sommer, Ulrike Tschechne and Wolfgang Tschechne. Furthermore, I thank my correction readers Friederike von Natzmer, Kirsten Schmäing, Philip Rawe and Nicolas Tschechne for providing me with valuable critics and motivations. I hope ‘too many cooks did not spoil the broth’.
Moreover, I want to thank Sonja Wendel, my supervisor for this thesis, who always provided me with valuable recommendations and material for my work, but who also made the meetings in Maastricht very motivating for me to carry on.
Finally yet importantly, I also want to thank my grand parents Hanna and Dieter Grosskopf, who “always knew that I would succeed”.
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1 Introduction
1.1 General introduction to the topic
One notable trend that can be observed in the 21stcentury is the increasing visibility of objects that stem from or look like products of past times. In nearly every market segment consumers nowadays can find products from bygone decades. Concerning automobiles, for example, the industry offers the New Beetle of Volkswagen, a modernised version of the Mini Cooper of BWM, and the PT Cruiser of Chrysler. With regard to furniture, consumers witness the reoccurrence of beanbags, inflatable chairs and fringed carpets (Flokati), just like the ones that were popular during the 70ies. Fashion companies like Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) and C&A (founders: Clemens & August Brenninkmeyer), as well as sports wear producers like Adidas and Puma, offer clothes that look like the fashion from the 60ies or 80ies. Taking a closer look to the German market, the TV broadcasts 80ies TV-shows, such as for example “Die 80er Jahre Show” (translation: The 80ies show) or the “Comeback Show”. Add to this, nightclubs and cafes are even decorated with 70ies wallpaper. Furthermore, the beverage industry offers soft drinks and syrups that were popular during the 70ies and 80ies such as TRiTOP, Bluna and Afri Cola (Eberenz, 2003; Seidel, 2003).
Sometimes, these products are just nostalgia styled like the PT Cruiser. The vehicle looks partly like a “1920s gangster car, part[ly like a] 1950s hot rod and part[ly like a] London taxicab” (Ball, 1999). However, other products appear with the name of a once very prominent brand. These brands had either completely disappeared from the market or had become for some reason unfavourable in the eyes of consumers and sales levelled towards zero.
One of the most well known examples of these revived traditional brands is the already mentioned VW New Beetle. The brand was reintroduced in 1998; about 20 years after Volkswagen stopped producing the original Bug (Naughton & Vlasic, 1998). Since its reintroduction, sales proof very successful, already 600.000 models have been sold. Other very successful examples of currently reintroduced or “re-discovered” brands - so-called retro brands - in Germany are TRiTOP, Ahoj-Brause, Afri Cola, Brauner Bär ice cream, and Crème 21, amongst others. If one considers this multitude of revived brands, it seems that managers can reintroduce nearly any ancient brand successfully on the market. Indeed, there are several advantages for a company if it revives a brand, especially when compared to the introduction of a completely new brand. However, there also exists a certain challenge for a firm, as to
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how to make a brand popular again, which was for some reason no longer attractive for consumers. Thus, it is important for a brand manager to know how consumers evaluate these revived brands. Managers need to know what makes these so-called retro brands valuable for a customer to buy. Furthermore, a brand manager also faces the challenge of how to consolidate two potential consumer groups: those who still know it from their youth and those who are too young to remember the brand from its first time on the market. This final thesis aims at exploring the factors that influence consumers to buy retro brands. These factors can then be regarded as an anchor for marketing managers on how to handle the elements of the marketing mix. More specifically, this concerns which decisions marketing managers have to consider with respect to the revived brand itself, its promotional programme, its pricing strategy, as well as its distribution. This leads to the following problem statement:
1.2 Problem statement
Which factors influence consumers to buy retro brands, and how do these factors affect decisions concerning the marketing mix?
1.2.1 Sub questions
1)How can retro branding be defined?
2) What are the opportunities and risks for a company in reviving a brand? 3) What are the influential factors for a consumer’s intention to buy retro brands?
The first sub-question is essential to clarify what retro branding is. In order to explain this, the concept of a brand in general has to be understood, as well as its role for consumers and companies. In this context, the notion of brand equity is essential, as it supports to define the strategy of retro branding. Furthermore, retro branding has to be distinguished from similar sounding or similar concepts.
The second sub-question further explores the strategy of retro branding and integrates it into the existing brand management literature. Retro branding’s analogies with the strategy of line extension are pointed out. Based on these analogies, the opportunities and risks for a company to revive a brand can be derived from the advantages and disadvantages of line extensions. Finally, to answer the problem statement, it is crucial examine the influential factors concerning the intention to buy retro brands as they are presented in the existing literature. These factors are addressed in the chapter answering the third sub-question.
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1.3 Delimitations of the study
The underlying thesis explores the popularity of retro brands from the customer perspective in order to conceptualize implications for management how to handle revived brands. Researchers such as for example Brown, Kozinets and Sherry (2003) addressed the issue of retro brands from a consumer perspective as well. In essence, they analysed retro brands with the help of a netnographic study. More specifically, they investigated chat room postings over a three month period. The study focus was on two very prominent, internationally well known brands, namely the VW New Beetle and theStar Warsmovies. As these brands gathered a great international community of fans over the years and are therefore examples that represent a special era in world history, their study has to be seen in a more widespread and global context.
The underlying study, in contrast, is mainly examining only national specific examples, such as“Crème 21”, “TRiTOP”,“Ahoj”, effervescent powder, “AfriCola”, “Bluna”lemonade and“Brauner Bär”Ice Cream. These brands are only available on the German market or in German speaking countries. Thus, this study has to be seen on a more narrow and national level. During the interviews, international retro brands were talked about as well, such as the VW New Beetle and Adidas. However, the respondents only used them to exemplify or contrast certain themes.
Concerning the individual factors of the conceptual model presented in Chapter 4, similarities can often be found in their descriptions. Either in the descriptions of the typical behaviours concerning these factors, or concerning what the brands might represent. This might be because the factors are interrelated, thus depend on each other or influence each other. In fact, all factors are based on descriptions of consumer behaviour or ways of thinking, which makes it even more difficult to grasp them in isolation from each other. Therefore, in some cases it is cumbersome, to see the clear differentiation between one factor and the other. For example, the two factorscommunal nostalgiaandidentityare quite similar in their descriptions of what a brand represents. Another example is the factorauthenticity,which has many similarities to the description ofidentity.In fact, much authenticity-searching behaviour of consumers is intended to (re)connect with identity (Lewis & Bridger, 2000).
Furthermore, due to the complexity of the topic as well as its unexplored nature, probably not all variables or factors have been taken into account for the development of the conceptual model in Chapter 4. In addition, this also made the definitions of, or propositions about, potential interrelationships between the factors difficult. Therefore, no links between the factors are identified in the conceptual model (Figure 4.1). Consequently, the qualitative
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study, which is based on this model, did not consider these links. However, due to the openended questions, some factors became clearer through the descriptions of the respondents. In addition, some interrelationships between the factors could be identified during data analysis.
1.4 Contributions of the study
The contributions of this research are twofold. On the one hand, it has an added value to academic literature, on the other hand, it offers suggestions for business, more specifically, brand management.
1.4.1 Theoretical contribution
The emergence of retro brands is a topic, which has only sparsely been researched until now (e.g. Brown, Kozinets & Sherry, 2003, Brown, 1999, 2001a). This will become clear also during the fourth chapter, where the existing literature on retro brands is examined. Most of the applied literature is only of theoretical nature derived from expert interviews published in newspapers, as well as from books; however, not from empiric research. This study will thus explore the topic further to contribute more insights to the limited existing empiric knowledge. More specifically, it will study retro branding from a consumer perspective. In particular, consumers will be asked to frame their motivations, which may influence them to buy retro brands. Furthermore, this thesis integrates retro branding into the existing brand management literature. More specifically, the underlying study considers retro branding as a special type of brand extension. Although this has never been researched and thus not been proven, the author here adopts the view of Brown, Kozinets and Sherry (2003) that retro branding can be regarded as a special form of brand extension. The reasoning for this will be clarified in Chapter 3.
1.4.2 Practical contribution
The practical contribution of this study is to offer realisable suggestions for managers with respect to the introduction and management of retro brands. Whilst studying revived brands from the perspective of the consumer, the results are used to conceptualise implications for management, which elements of the brand should be stressed in the reintroduction campaign and further management of the brand. Concerning this, implications are given related to the four elements of the marketing mix: product, promotion, price, and place.
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1.5 Outline of the study
The underlying first chapter introduced the topic and posed the problem statement of the study, as well as relevant sub-questions to answer this problem statement. Furthermore, the delimitations of the study were pointed out and the theoretical as well as practical contributions mentioned.
In the following, chapter two discusses the first sub-question on how retro branding can be defined. First, the concept of brands in general is explained, as well as how they differentiate from products. Second, the roles brands play for consumers and for companies are discussed. Finally, retro branding is defined and differentiated from similar sounding concepts. The third chapter gives an answer to the second sub-question of what are the opportunities and risks for a company in reviving a brand. First, changing conditions within the field of brand management are examined. Then, retro branding is integrated into the existing branding literature strategy, and its analogies with the strategy of line extension are pointed out. From this, the opportunities and challenges for a firm concerned with the revival of a brand are pointed out.
