COME TO CABARET!
Creating Brand Awareness of Gijs Nillessen
COME TO CABARET!
Creating Brand Awareness of Gijs Nillessen
Jelmer Wind University of Groningen Faculty of Economics and Business
Specialization Marketing Master Thesis August 2008 Prunusstraat 49 9741 LB Groningen 0624128810 jelmerwind@hotmail.com s1274929 Supervisor: W. Jager
Management Summary
While the underlying principle of word-of-mouth marketing is well-established and acknowledged, the internet fosters new marketing strategies, one of which is viral marketing. At the core of this emerging form of marketing is the transmission of marketing messages through various Internet-based channels by peers (Woerndl et al, 2008). This study addresses critical factors of the diffusion and adoption of a service by means of viral marketing, finally creating brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, a young and talented artist.
The objective of the this study is to gain more understanding about the factors that influences the creation and enlargement of the brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, focusing on word-of-mouth, and make recommendations how to enlarge it. In order to reach this objective a research question is formulated: To what extent can the brand
awareness of Gijs Nillessen, using viral marketing, be enlarged?
The second chapter of the research will cover the theoretical framework. Central to this part is the enlargement of brand awareness; the objective of this research. Different types of branding will be thoroughly discussed. Consequently, appropriate conclusions with regard to brand awareness will be provided. Accordingly, a concise overview of campaign management will be discussed, followed by recommendations with regard to the creating of a marketing campaign. Before proceeding however an overview of literature within the field of campaign management is given.
The following two sections cover arts marketing and word-of-mouth, both central issues to this research. The arts marketing section defines segments of people that can be targeted by Gijs Nillessen. The segments given are; functional or cultural benefit, symbolic benefit, artistic benefit, emotional benefit and social benefit. An overview of reasons for attending a theatre show is provided and will accordingly be used as input for the survey.
up word-of-mouth referral in a campaign, which makes it an important element in order for a campaign to succeed. Finally, advantages and disadvantages of viral marketing are provided in order to shed light on elements important in creating a successful viral marketing campaign.
The conclusion of the research is that in order to enlarge his brand awareness by use of a viral marketing campaign Gijs Nillessen should target people in the groups of artistic and functional or cultural benefit.
The group of social interaction is less significant but also a good target group to enlarge brand awareness. An important note has to be made with regard to the significance of gender. It appears that gender plays an important role in creating word-of-mouth referral and therefore interesting with regard to the enlargement of brand awareness.
The campaign created for Gijs Nillessen should encourage viral activity and address ethical and legal issues. In an openly viral way it should be clear who Gijs Nillessen is and what service he can offer. As mentioned in the literature section, Gijs Nillessen should make his innovation observable. People are more likely to adopt when the innovation is visible to them.
Preface
The master thesis is the last obstacle on the road towards becoming a master of science. Luckily, the topic of my thesis serves a twofold purpose. Firstly it covers my interest in marketing management and secondly, it offers the opportunity of helping a friend one step forward towards becoming a famous artist. After my supervisor had granted his approval, I started my master thesis in January of this year. The generous amount of time I have spent on this thesis has mostly been filled with pleasure. It has been an interesting experience examining the factors of influence with regard to the spread of word-of-mouth. On top of this, it has been even more interesting to shed light on the power of word-of-mouth in this particular business. Despite having had to face several difficulties, I managed to collect all necessary data and make recommendations with regard to the enlarging of Gijs Nillessen’s brand awareness. Of course, the proposed theory should be put to the test in the “real” world, but this thesis provides solid ground to work with. Firstly, I would like to thank Gijs Nillessen for his input concerning the cabaret world. Without his help I would not have been able to get access to shows and theatres in order to collect the data. Secondly, my gratitude goes out to my supervisor, Mr. Wander Jager. Without access to his expertise, his help and critical feedback I would not have been able to finish my thesis in a decent, scientific manner.
Jelmer Wind
Table of contents
CHAPTER 1 – PROBLEM STATEMENT... 7
1.1INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND PROBLEM... 7
1.2–PROBLEM STATEMENT... 10
1.3THEORETICAL AND SOCIAL RELEVANCE... 10
1.4LIMITATIONS... 11
1.5STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS... 12
CHAPTER 2 – THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 13
2.1INTRODUCTION... 13 2.2BRANDING... 13 2.3CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT... 16 2.4ARTS MARKETING... 18 2.5WORD- OF –MOUTH... 21 2.6INNOVATION DIFFUSION... 23
2.7THE INNOVATION – DECISION PROCESS... 26
2.8VIRAL MARKETING... 30
2.10CONCEPTUAL MODEL... 36
CHAPTER 3 – RESEARCH DESIGN ... 37
3.1EXPLORATORY VS.CONCLUSIVE... 37
3.2MEASUREMENT AND SCALING... 39
3.3QUESTIONNAIRE AND FORM DESIGN... 39
3.4SAMPLING... 41
3.5PLAN OF ANALYSIS... 42
CHAPTER 4 – ANALYSIS OF THE DATA ... 43
4.2CRONBACH’S ALPHA... 46
4.3CRITICS... 46
4.5FACTOR ANALYSIS... 48
4.6REGRESSION ANALYSIS... 52
CHAPTER 5 -- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS... 59
5.1CONCLUSION... 59
5.2RECOMMENDATIONS... 61
5.3 LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ... 62
APPENDIX A : FREQUENCIES AND DESCRIPTIVES... 68
APPENDIX B : FACTOR ANALYSIS... 69
APPENDIX C: REGRESSION ANALYSIS ... 71
Chapter 1 – Problem statement
1.1 Introduction and background problem.
While the underlying principle of word-of-mouth marketing is well-established and acknowledged, the internet fosters new marketing strategies, one of which is viral marketing. At the core of this emerging form of marketing is the transmission of marketing messages through various Internet-based channels by peers (Woerndl et al, 2008). This study addresses critical factors of the diffusion and adoption of a service by means of viral marketing, finally creating brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, a young and talented artist.
After reaching several finales of large cabaret festivals, Gijs Nillessen is now facing some problems. The world of theatre is a hard and unpredictable industry to make a breakthrough. The common assumption is that a beginning artist has to win festivals to get famous. A retrospective on the list of winners of the Leids/Gronings cabaret festival, the most well-known cabaret festivals in the Netherlands, shows that only a few winners manage to gain national acknowledgement.
The assumption of Gijs Nillessen is that brand awareness is playing a major role in this intangible service. People are going to the theatre to watch a performance of a well-known “name” and impresarios offers contracts to artists who have made fame. In order to get a contract, and create brand awareness, you have to be a good and talented artist, but winning one of the main cabaret festivals in the Netherlands indicates that you are.
the term is positively awe-inspiring. “It’s not magic...but it feels like magic” (Corning, 2002). However, "the debate about whether or not the whole can be predicted from the properties of the parts misses the point. Wholes produce unique combined effects, but many of these effects may be co-determined by the context and the interactions between the whole and its environment(s)."(Corning, 2002). In the case of Gijs Nillessen this resides in nothing else than the non-random, or correlated, interaction between parts. These non-random or correlated relationships create a differentiated structure which can, as a system, interact with other systems. If this organized form of complexity vis a vis other systems than the subject system arises, it can be said that his success will emerge in the cabaret industry without any “guiding hand” (Weaver, 1948).
1.2 – Problem statement
According to Baarda en de Goede (1992), is the utilization of not realized opportunities, for example the expanding of your market share, a fundamental idea of doing research. The research objective is formulated in order to collect knowledge and understanding which can possibly contribute to the solution of the problem.
Research objective:
To gain more understanding about the factors that influences the creation and enlargement of the brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, focusing on word-of-mouth, and make recommendations how to enlarge it.
In order to reach the objective a research question is formulated. This question is formulated in cooperation and with the approval of Gijs Nillessen.
Research question:
To what extent can the brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, using viral marketing, be enlarged?
Sub-questions:
• What is brand awareness?
• What does the art consumer value?
• Which factors influences the speed of diffusion in a viral marketing campaign? • Which key issues critically influence viral marketing campaigns?
1.3 Theoretical and Social relevance
Social relevance
measured. This means that there should be a representative reflection of the population. Reliability refers to the extent to which a scale produces consistent results if repeated measurements are made and generalizability refers to the extent to which one can generalize from the observations at hand to a universe of generalizations. The objective of this research is to get a valid measurement instrument to measure the factors that influence the creation and enlargement of the brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen. Reliability here refers to the precision of the measurement instrument and the research will be representative if there is a good reflection of the population.
Theoretical relevance
Research of Woerndl et al. (2008) has synthesized the emerging body of literature on viral marketing and in doing so, developed and tested five factors; the overall structure of the campaign, the characteristics of the product or service, the content of the message, the characteristics of the diffusion and, the peer-to-peer information conduit that are critical for viral marketing campaigns. The validity of the synthesis is underlined by a viral marketing typology which differentiates between social communication with viral elements, unintentional viral marketing and commercial viral marketing. For each form of viral marketing critical aspects emerge which are tested by way of using the three cases presented. In their conclusion they state: “In terms of the model and the typology developed, future research could test the validity of the model in different context and settings”. Next to this they raise the question: “At what speed do different messages spread, what factors increase/decrease message diffusions?”
1.4 Limitations
1.5 Structure of the thesis
Chapter 2 – Theoretical framework
2.1 Introduction
The second chapter of the research will cover the theoretical framework. Central to this part is the enlargement of brand awareness; the objective of this research. Different types of branding will be thoroughly discussed. Consequently, appropriate conclusions with regard to brand awareness will be provided. Accordingly, a concise overview of campaign management will be discussed, followed by recommendations with regard to the creating of a marketing campaign. Before proceeding however an overview of literature within the field of campaign management is given.
The following two sections cover arts marketing and word-of-mouth, both central issues to this research. An overview of reasons for attending a theatre show is provided and will accordingly be used as input for the survey. Literature within the field of word-of-mouth will be used in order to analyze the output of the survey. Also, recommendations will be put forth regarding the process through which word-of-mouth creates brands awareness through viral marketing. Furthermore, the process of innovation diffusion will be highlighted. This process is important in speeding up word-of-mouth referral in a campaign, which makes it an important element in order for a campaign to succeed. Finally, advantages and disadvantages of viral marketing are provided in order to shed light on elements important in creating a successful viral marketing campaign.
2.2 Branding
In consumer marketing, brands often provide the primary points of differentiation between competitive offerings, and as such they can be critical to the success of companies. Hence, it is important that the management of brands is approached strategically. A brand can be defined as a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or any combination of these concepts, used to identify the goods and services of a seller (Bennett, 1988).
therefore cannot be transported, the battle of the brands (manufacturer vs. dealer vs. generic brands) is not directly applicable to the vast majority of services (Turley and Moore, 1995). Very few articles have explicitly explored the development of brands and branding of services. Those that do exist tend to contradict each other. Onkvisit and Shaw (1989) encourage service firms to develop multiple brands. Berry et al. (1988) argue that in services, the company name is the brand name and that services do not lend themselves to individual branding the way tangible products do. The research of Turley and Fugate (1992) found that for many service companies, launching different brands is probably not financially possible. This is particularly true for services that are facility driven. A facility-driven service can be defined as a service where the principal encounter is between the customer and the service facility, such as an amusement park or theatre.
The development of a stronger brand plays a special role in service companies because strong brands increase customers’ trust of the invisible purchase. Strong brands enable customers to better visualize and understand intangible products. They reduce customers’ perceived monetary, social, or safety risk in buying services, which are difficult to evaluate prior to purchase. Strong brands are the surrogates when the company offers no fabric to touch, no trousers to try on, no watermelons or apples to scrutinize, no automobile to test-drive.
Next to controlling the process of creating brand awareness there is something called;
External brand communications. This refers to information customers absorb about the
company and its service that essentially is uncontrolled by the company. Word-of mouth communications and publicity are the most common forms of external brand communications. Customers may gain awareness and form impressions about a brand
not only from company communications but from communications about the company offered by independent sources (Berry, 2000).
Turley and Moore (1995) developed specific branding options in order to classify service brand names. Although a completely mutually exclusive classification system for services is impossible (Lewison and Delozier, 1992), there appears to be relatively little overlap in the classification of Turley and Moore. Using this classification, a company can choose between the five different options when selecting a service brand name.
The classification of service brand names is as follows:
• Descriptive brands: the name of the service describes a key benefit or aspect associated with the service.
• Person-based brands: with this approach services are identified by the names of owners, partners or key individuals. Gijs Nillessen will use this kind of service
brand because a person-based brand is the best option for artists.
• Associative brands: this type of service branding uses fabricated words, or words that do not normally have meaning in this context, and then uses promotion to forge them into an identity. Bands will use this kind of classification.
• Geographic brand names: this strategy can be used in several different ways. One approach uses local or regional folklore to create a “down home” feel for the service. Another variant of this strategy is to use words like “American” or “US” to provide a patriotic appeal. Finally, distant geographic names can be used to create an exotic image.
A person-based brand usually uses names of the owners as the brand name. This is very common in professional services, and is particularly common for attorneys. Interestingly, however, this option violates most “rules” associated with selecting a good brand name. Person-based brand names are not short (especially when three or four names are strung together), crisp or particularly memorable. However, this option may serve to personalize and tangibilize an intangible service (Krentler and Guiltinan, 1984).
In essence, service companies with strong brand equity provide a service that customers truly value; perform it better than competitors; and effectively tell their story through communications that create awareness, stimulate trial, and reinforce customers’ experiences. Over time, these companies become famous for their defining excellence, aided not only by their own controlled messages but also by customers’ experiences and word-of-mouth communications.
Branding is critical to the success of a company. The enlargement of the brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen will be higher when the branding is strategically approached. As mentioned above, the launching of a person-based brand will be probably not financially possible for many facility driven companies. Therefore, creating brand awareness by means of advertising and other “presenting the brand” activities will not be feasible. In order to create brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, external brand communications seems to be the best option. By means of word-of-mouth communications and publicity, customers may gain awareness and form impressions about Gijs Nillessen.
2.3 Campaign Management
A campaign is a series of interconnected promotional efforts designed to achieve precise marketing goals. As a general rule, a successful campaign management process comprises four connected stages (Kumar & Reinartz, 2006):
1. Planning: Strategic process by which decisions are taken. The purposes and objectives of the campaign should be defined and rationalized at this stage.
3. Execution. Operational process of runningn the campaign in the media chosen and controlling all related aspects.
4. Analysis. Evaluation process of the campaign results in light of the original objectives.
Campaigns have a central role in annual marketing plans, so campaign objectives should ben in line with the overall marketing and corporate objectives. These objectives are often from the four following categories: market penetration (increase usage or market share), market extension (find new user groups or enter new segments), product development and diversification (new markets and products, new strategies). The campaign aimed at the enlargement of Gijs Nillessens brand awareness is a campaign in the category market extension.
To target this category, a company has three options: focusing on existing customers (retention strategy), concentrating on getting new customers (acquistion strategy), or targeting exisiting and new customers at the same time (mixed strategy between
retention-acquisition) (Kumar & Reinartz, 2006).
The acquisition strategy seems the best strategy to pursue in the campaign of Gijs Nillessen. He wants to extent his market share by getting new people who gain awareness and visit his shows. With this strategy there are two options: If it wants to sell the same product to new customers, it should target prospects based on the profile and behavior model of existing customers; if it wants to offer different products to new customers, it should develop new markets (Kumar & Reinartz, 2006).
When using one of these options, there are some service decisions that should be made: o Highlight your price/product offer
o Have a clear positioning in the market o Show an attractive branding
2.4 Arts Marketing
Since the 1980s, arts marketing practice has undergone rapid professionalization. Today’s arts managers are well informed about current marketing theory and acknowledge its strategic importance for the arts. Articles from Rentschler (2002), are leading on strategic arts marketing en address fundamental questions as: “Who is the customer? What does the customer value? And how can we create more value for the customer?” He assumes that the customer-value approach, which has proved to be successful in commercial business, is also the best approach for marketing the arts as long as it is applied within the constraints of the artistic mission. The basic principle of the customer-value approach is that the patronage of customers is best attracted by the creation of value for these customers.
What Does the Art Consumer Value?
Marketing research into the benefits of art consumption is still in the early stage of explorations (Colbert, 2003). Two pioneering breakthroughs in behavioral research that inspired these explorations were: first, the conceptualization of hedonistic or experiential consumption (Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982; and second, the study of Bourdieu (1984) into the social factors that play a part in the judgment of taste.
Hedonistic Benefits of Arts Consumption
optimal state differs for each individual and depends on the subject’s cognitive capacities. States of discomfort, such as boredom, sensory deprivation or stressful over-stimulation, are assumed to motivate the consumer to seek stimulating or relaxing hedonistic experiences. Generally speaking, there are two classes of hedonistic experiences: stimulating, exciting, surprising and/or challenging experiences; and relaxing, entertaining and/or comfortable experiences. The first class is motivated by a search for novelty, challenge and stimulation; the second is motivated by a search for an escape from stressful and over stimulating life situations.
In case of Gijs Nillessen the difference in classes of hedonistic experiences are not well defined. His assumption is that most of the people are visiting his show to experience a challenging, exciting and surprising evening, but there are no evidences to support this assumption.
Social and Symbolic Benefits of Arts Consumption
The second source of inspiration for investigations into arts consumption motives is Bourdieu’s study of the social dimension of arts consumption. Bourdieu (1984) distinguishes three zones of taste which roughly correspond to educational levels and social classes: Upper class, middle class and working classes, where art and cultural consumption are predisposed to fulfil a social function of legitimating social differences. Inspired by a particular interpretation of Bourdieu’s work, several authors assume that expressing one’s individual identity and distinguishing oneself from others are important social motives for participating in the arts. They assume that art attendance functions as a social symbol, as a means to demonstrate one’s social position or personality. These reasons for attendance are called “symbolic motives”.
The investigation of the hedonistic and social dimensions of arts consumption, complemented by the fact that the arts are a source of knowledge, are summarized in a recently proposed system for classifying the motives for arts attendance (Botti, 2000; Colbert, 2003). Botti (2000) introduced the following taxonomy of arts consumption benefits.
1. Functional or cultural benefit – or rather educational benefits – linked to a thirst of cultural knowledge.
2. Symbolic benefits linked to the need to demonstrate one’s social position or personality.
3. Social benefits linked to the need for social contact and interaction with others. 4. Emotional benefits – or rather hedonistic benefits – linked to the desire for
pleasurable experiences, which can be stimulating or relaxing experiences, and to the need to escape from daily problems and routine.
This taxonomy demonstrates where arts marketing thinking about the motives for arts consumption now stands. It shows the neglect of artistic experiences as a specific class of benefits sought. The model, however, can easily be adapted by adding the fifth class benefits, namely:
5. Artistic benefits linked to the experience to complete work of art.
2.5 Word- of – Mouth
Word-of-mouth (WOM) is the most important informal means of communication between consumers (Derbaix et al, 2003). It is defined as ‘‘the informal communication directed at other consumers about ownership, or characteristics of particular goods and services and/or their sellers’’ (Westbrook, 1987). Word of Mouth implies that informal, ad hoc communication between individuals concerning products and services (Bayus,
1985) is taking place. The reasons justifying the power of WOM are first that WOM is more credible than commercial sources of information controlled by companies (e.g. advertising, sponsorship). Most of our discussions are indeed with friends, family, i.e. people we trust and whose goal is not the promotion of a specific company. Second, WOM is really communication, i.e. the message flow tends to be two-way. Third, WOM provides potential consumers with a description of what the experience would be and is thus considered to be a risk reliever, especially for experience goods.
Word-of-Mouth communications is a pervasive and intriguing phenomenon. It has been generally found that both satisfied and dissatisfied consumers tend to spread positive and negative WOM, respectively, regarding products and services which they purchase and use (Anderson, 1998). Evidence also indicates that consumers’ decision making is strongly influenced by WOM (Goldenberg et al., 2001).
The mounting use of the Internet, enabling surfers to communicate quickly with relative ease, has established the contemporary version of this phenomenon, known as “Internet w-o-m” or word of mouse” as an important marketing communication channel. In what is sometimes labeled as “viral marketing”, companies are currently investing considerable efforts to trigger a word of mouse process and accelerate its distribution (Schwartz, 1998; Oberndorf, 2000). According to Helm, (2000), is the internet word-of-mouth communication, i.e. viral marketing, a far more effective penetrating and faster medium compared to the traditional word of mouth communication. It is also a fare more focused medium as consumers communicate their views in their social sphere (friends, colleagues etc.) where their influence is more critical. This kind of communication can reach a wider audience gradually and can maximize its reach not only in their locality (as was with traditional word of mouth) but even on a national and global scale. The content of the message remains the same whilst it could be biased and filtered during traditional word of mouth communication (Helm, 2000). In this context the question that can be raised is whet ether word-of-mouse is more important in creating brand awareness via viral marketing than the traditional word-of-mouth?
Strong vs. Weak ties
The theory of Granovetter claims that individuals are often influenced by others with whom they have tenuous or even random relationships. These influences are labeled “weak ties”, to distinguish them from the more stable, frequent and intimate “strong tie” interactions that characterize individuals’ personal networks.
receiver’s purchase decision (Bansal and Voyer, 2000). However, Rogers (1995) suggests that even given the stronger information flow within strong ties, weak ties play a crucial role in the spread of information by word-of-mouth on the aggregate level, especially about innovations.
Results from the study of Goldenberg et al (2001), confirms findings from the diffusion of innovation literature, which pointed to w-o-m as the main factor driving the speed of innovation diffusion (Rogers, 1995). They argument that, while advertising may be important in the initial stages of information dissemination, the main mechanism driving innovation diffusion after products takeoff is w-o-m. It also concluded that the influence of weak ties on the speed of information dissemination is at least as strong as the influence of strong ties. This issue raises the question if the influence of weak ties on the speed of information dissemination is at least as strong as the influence of strong ties in the theatre business.
2.6 Innovation Diffusion
Getting a new idea adopted, even when it has obvious advantages, is difficult. Many innovations require a lengthy period of many years from the time when they become available to the time when they are widely adopted. Therefore, a common problem for many individuals and organizations is how to speed the rate of diffusion of an innovation. (Rogers, 2003). Diffusion is the process in which an innovation(1) is communicated(2) through certain channels(3) over time(4) among the members of a social system(5) (Rogers, 2003).
An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or
other unit of adoption. The characteristics of innovations, as perceived by individuals, help to explain their different rates of adoption.
o Trialability o Observability
Innovations that are perceived by individuals as having greater relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, and observability and less complexity will be adopted more rapidly than other innovations. Past research indicates that these five qualities are the most important characteristics of innovations in explaining the rate of adoption (Rogers, 2003). Relating these characteristics to Gijs Nillessen it can be said that it is important to make the innovation observable. When it is visible people are more likely to adopt and it stimulates peer discussion of his show (word-of-mouth). Next to this the innovation is compatible. A cabaret show is consistent with the existing values, past experiences and needs of adopters in the Netherlands. Relative advantage can be important in terms of social-prestige factors and satisfaction but this is questionable in the case of Gijs Nillessen. The last two; complexity and trialability are characteristics that will not speed up the adoption of his innovation because a cabaret show is complex and the trialability is low.
The second and third steps in the process are communication and channel. A
communication channel is the means by which messages get from one individual to
another. Mass media channels are usually the most rapid and efficient means of informing an audience of potential adopters about the existence of an innovation, that is, to create awareness-knowledge. Mass media channels are all those means of transmitting messages that involve a mass medium, such as radio, television, newspapers, and so on, will enable one or a few individuals to reach an audience of many.
Interpersonal channels involve a face-to-face exchange between two or more individuals. In addition to mass media and interpersonal communication channels, interactive communication via the internet has become more important for the diffusion of certain innovations in recent decades (Rogers, 2003).
of the system affects the innovation’s diffusion in several ways (Rogers, 2003). An important aspect of a social system is the influence people have over each other. A study from Delre et al (in press), found that positive social influence can either have a positive effect on the diffusion of the innovation when a given critical mass is reached or a negative effect when the critical mass is not reached. Consequently innovation diffusion in such a market can be very uncertain. They also found that social influences may decrease the chances for the diffusion to spread significantly. If the quality of the innovation is high enough and the diffusion easily reaches the critical mass, the decrease of the number of final adopters is very small.
On the contrary, if the innovation is of lower quality and it hardly reaches the critical mass, social influence becomes considerable and consumers do not adopt because their neighbors did not adopt.
This phenomenon refers, according to Cialdini and Goldstein (2004), to the act of changing one’s behavior to match the responses of others as conformity. They distinguish between informational and normative conformity motivations, the former based on the desire to form an accurate interpretation of reality and behave correctly, and the latter based on the goal of obtaining social approval from others. The extant literature has upheld the conceptual independence of each of these motivational factors, although the two are interrelated and often difficult to disentangle theoretically as well as empirically. Social psychologists have continued to investigate how individuals differentially process messages associated with numerical majorities and minorities and to explore the extent to which normative and informational influences govern motivations to conform each type of source. The theory suggests that majority influence is normative, whereas the objective consensus account views it as informational. The phenomenon of social influence can be an important issue in the creation of brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, but does it affects it positively?
the degree to which a number of alternatives are perceived with respect to the occurrence of an event and the relative probability of these alternatives (Rogers, 2003).
The strong information spreading power of network hubs has a strong effect on the uncertainty of the market. Although when hubs have limits to the maximum number of connections the innovation diffusion is severely hampered and it becomes much more uncertain.
Homophily is the degree to which two or more individuals who interact are similar in
certain attributes, such as beliefs, education, socioeconomic stats, and the like (Rogers, 2003). And heterophily: the opposite of homophily, the degree to which two or more individuals who interact are different in certain attributes.
According to Rogers (2003), the communication, and thus diffusion, is more effective when two or more individuals are homophilous. He states “One of the most distinctive
problems in the diffusion of innovations is that the participants are usually quite heterophilous”. However Delre et all (2006), found that heterogeneity in consumer
population helps the speed of the diffusion. In more heterogeneous population the critical mass is reached sooner than in homogeneous ones because there are more individuals that adopt at the beginning and they ignite the diffusion. The assumption is that Gijs Nillessen’s consumer population is rather homogenous because probably most of them are students and therefore individuals who have the same education and socioeconomic status.
2.7 The innovation – decision process
The model (Figure 1) consists of five stages:
1. Knowledge occurs when an individual (or other decision-making unit) is exposed to an innovation’s existence and gains an understanding of how it functions. 2. Persuasion occurs when an individual (or other decision-making unit) forms a
favorable or an unfavorable attitude towards the innovation.
3. Decision takes place when an individual (or other decision-making unit) engages in activities that lead to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation.
4. Implementation occurs when an individual (or other decision-making unit) puts a new idea into use.
5. Confirmation takes place when an individual seeks reinforcement of an innovation-decision already made, but he or she may reverse this previous decision if exposed to conflicting messages about the innovation.
The Knowledge Stage
The innovation-decision process begins with the knowledge stage, which commences when an individual is exposed to an innovation’s existence and gains an understanding of how it functions (Rogers, 2003). Consideration of a new idea does not go beyond the knowledge function if an individual does not define the information as relevant to his or her situation, or if sufficient knowledge is not obtained to become adequately informed, so that persuasion can then take place. In order to convince an individual that the information about Gijs Nillessen is relevant to his or her situation, the viral marketing campaign should trigger the word-of-mouth referral so people will get informed by “strong ties” about his show.
The Persuasion Stage
At the persuasion stage in the innovation-decision process, the individual forms a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation (Rogers, 2003). Whereas the mental activity at the knowledge stage was mainly cognitive (or knowing), the main type of thinking at the persuasion stage is affective (or feeling). Until an individual knows about a new idea, of course, he or she cannot begin to form an attitude toward it.
According to Petty and Cacioppo (1983) the process whereby an individual forms an attitude towards the innovation can be divided into two “routes”. The first one is called the central route. This route views attitude change as resulting from a person’s diligent consideration of information that s/he feels is central to the true merits of a particular attitudinal position. The theoretical approaches following this route emphasize factors such as (1) the cognitive justification of attitude discrepant behavior; (2) The comprehension, learning, and retention of issue- or product relevant information; (3) The nature of a person’s idiosyncratic cognitive responses to external communications. Attitude changes induced via the central route are postulated to be relatively enduring and predictive of behavior.
The second group of theoretical approaches to persuasion emphasizes a more peripheral
because an individual has personally considered the pros and cons of the issue, but because the attitude issue or object is associated with positive or negative cues, or because the person makes a simple inference about the merits of the advocated position based on various simple cues in the persuasion context.
In their study they found that under “high involvement” attitudes in response to an advertisement would be affected via the central route, but that under “low involvement” attitudes would be affected via the peripheral route. They developed the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), which basic tenet is that different methods of inducing persuasion may work best depending on whether the elaboration likelihood of the communication situation (i.e., the probability of message- or issue-relevant thought occurring) is high or low. One important implication of the ELM for advertising messages is that different kinds of appeals may be most effective for different audiences. For example, a person who is about to purchase a new refrigerator (high involvement) may scrutinize the product-relevant information presented in an advertisement. If this information is perceived to be cogent and persuasive, favorable attitudes will result, but if this information is weak and specious, unfavorable attitudes will result (central route). On the other hand, a person who is not considering purchasing a new refrigerator at the moment (low involvement) will not expend the effort required to think about the product-relevant arguments in the ad, but may instead focus on the attractiveness, credibility, or prestige of the product’s endorser (peripheral route).
With the use of word-of-mouth referral cabaret-minded people will get informed about the show and are postulated to be relatively enduring and predictive of behavior. So, the central route of the ELM is important to create and stimulate the word-of-mouth referral of his marketing campaigns. The peripheral route on the other hand can be used to trigger the people who are not that interested in cabaret. By creating an attractive and credible viral campaign people will associate Gijs Nillessen as a positive cue and will be persuaded to adapt to his innovation.
The Decision Stage
Adoption is a decision to make full use of an innovation as the best course of action available. Rejection is a decision not to adopt an innovation. As mentioned in the other chapter, Gijs Nillessen should make his innovation observable. People are more likely to adopt when the innovation is visible to them.
The Implementation Stage
Implementation occurs when an individual puts an innovation to use (Rogers, 2003). Problems of implementation are usually more serious when the adopter is an organization rather than an individual. In an organizational setting, a number of individuals are usually involved in the innovation decision process, and the implements are often a different set op people form the decision makers. With the use of word-of-mouth referral people will change people’s uncertainty about the expected consequences of the innovation. With a large number of individuals in the innovation decision process the uncertainty will probably get higher, but stimulates the word-of-mouth referral highly.
The Confirmation Stage
At the confirmation stage the individual seeks reinforcement for the innovation-decision already made, and may reverse this decision if exposed to conflicting messages about the innovation (Rogers, 2003).
2.8 Viral Marketing
Viral marketing spans a number of marketing domains (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004). Of the emerging new marketing streams, viral marketing is firmly positioned in the e-marketing domain. The other major domain viral e-marketing fits into is e-marketing communications (Woerndl et al, 2008). This approach puts emphasis on the spread of the message and its viral characteristics (Welker, 2002). While conventional communication in marketing directly addresses the consumer, viral marketing communication aims to create an environment where customers and consumers transmit messages without the involvement of the original source. Therefore, viral marketing can also impact on consumer behaviour by influencing consumer perceptions, attitudes and views and has the potential to emerge as a key element of a company’s or personal promotional mix (Kirby and Marsden, 2006). The underlying principle of viral communication, however, remains the “traditional” word-of-mouth paradigm that is now facilitated by the Internet (Woerndl et al, 2008).
Benefits
Figure 2: The benefits of viral marketing
Risks
Besides these significant benefits, there are risks and challenges that marketers have to face when engaging in viral marketing campaigns, Probably the biggest risk is the lack of control associated with viral marketing campaigns: organizations have no means of controlling the spread of the message and the content of the transmission (Dobele et al., 2005; Helm, 2000; Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004; Welker, 2002). The receivers of a message may even consider the transmission as “spam”. With this lack of control comes the potential of a negative impact from a viral campaign. Negativity can occur through backlash and unfavorable attributes associated with the organization and its products and services, hate site etc. ((Dobele et al., 2005; Helm, 2000; Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004; Phelp, et al, 2004). A lack of legal standards in terms of viral marketing is another potentially risky issue (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004). The dependency on the consumer for message transmission is a further risk as consumers, for example may want a return from the organization for passing on a viral message. The final risk to be considered when engaging in viral marketing campaigns is the lack of ethical standards (Kaikati and Kaikati, 2004): consumers may feel exploited, cheated and used (Dobele et al, 2005), and may view viral messages as an invasion of their privacy (Phelps et al., 2004). The figure below shows the risks associated with viral marketing (Figure 3).
Category Benefit
Financial Inexpensive
Diffusion speed Reaches audiences within a short period of time; Rapid, fast diffusion; Boosts adoption speed; Exponential
Peer-to-peer transmission Voluntary transmission by sender Audience reach More effective targeting, Access to
Figure 3: The risks of viral marketing
Critical factors
Relevant literature acknowledges five key issues that critically influence viral marketing campaigns: The overall structure of the campaign, the characteristics of the product or service, the content of the message, the characteristics of the diffusion and, the peer-to-peer information conduit (Woerndl et al, 2008).
The overall structure of the campaign needs to encourage viral activity and address ethical and legal issues. The second critical factor is related to the characteristics of the product or service that is to be marketed. Whereas some products and services are suitable for viral marketing, other are less suitable. Another crucial element is the content of the message transmitted. Messages that foster imagination and provide entertainment to the receiver or even intrigue the receiver are more likely to be sent to voluntarily. Overall, a message should be actively engaging the receiver in order to convert him or
Category Potential Risk
Lack of control Uncontrollable nature, in particular loss over content and audience reach and few
possibilities to measure success; Total loss of control in particular content and timing; Spam; Lack of control mechanisms
Potential negative impact Risks of backlash and negative brand impact; Negative word-of-mouth can happen; Negative word-of-mouth leading to boycott, ruin,
unfavorable attitudes; Hate sites; May lead to negative perceptions of brands
her to a transmitter. The fourth critical factor is related to the characteristics of the diffusion: at what speed is the message transmitted? What audience does the message reach? What is the nature of the exponential spread? The last critical success factor for viral marketing is the peer-to-peer information conduit: the transmission of a message depends on the communication channels and technologies available to the sender and used bij the individual; and combination of technologies leveraged. Another critical element is the credibility of the sending source (Woerndl et al, 2008).
Viral marketing typology
Literature shows that there are different types of viral marketing. The typology differentiates between social interaction, unintentional and commercial viral marketing (Woerndl et al, 2008). Social interaction indicates that products, services and organizations are not a feature of the message; knowledge about these is intangible and intrinsic. In the case of unintentional viral marketing, transmission contains the actual product, service or organization marketed, but the aim of the message is not to market these. In the last case, the message contains the product, service and/or organization being actively promoted.
The key factors that determine this differentiation are the underlying motive, motive for the action, the visibility of the product, service and organization, the intention of the origination source and the communication basis.
Figure 4: Viral marketing typology
Type Social Interaction Unintentional Commercial Motive Communication Communication Create interest Visibility Intangible Identifiable Intention driven Intention Not viral Not viral or concealed Open viral vs.
Viral concealed viral
In the commercial group it is to create interest in something such as a specific product, brand, service, or organization.
Visibility is different in all three categories. In social interaction it is intangible, with the message not containing any obvious marketing messages. In the unintentional type, products and services are included in the content. In the commercial group, visibility is driven by the intention, which can be openly viral or concealed. Openly viral is where it is clear who the organization is or what product or service is being marketed. In concealed viral the intention is unclear.
2.10 Conceptual model
The conceptual model will focus on the relation between viral marketing and word-of-mouth. This is the first step in the process to create and enlarge brand awareness and is therefore the most important relation for this research. The model shows that viral marketing creates word-of-mouth and word-of-mouth creates brand awareness. The input of innovation diffusion is to speed up the spread of the message (relation word-of-mouth and brand awareness); therefore innovation diffusion is an important factor to speed up the creation of brand awareness.
Figure 5: The conceptual model
Chapter 3 – Research Design
To test the most important relation of the conceptual model a research design is formulated. A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure and/or solve marketing research problems (Malhotra, 2004).
3.1 Exploratory vs. Conclusive
Research designs may be broadly classified as exploratory or descriptive. In the case of enlarging the brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, descriptive research is the most suitable design. Objective is to employ descriptive research in the form of a survey undertaken to quantify the salience of the different social causes for his business. A major difference between exploratory and descriptive research is that descriptive research is characterized by the prior formulation of hypotheses. Thus, the information needed is clearly defined. As a result, descriptive research is preplanned and structured. It is typically based on large representative samples. A formal research design specifies the methods for selecting the sources of information and for collecting data from those sources. A descriptive design requires a clear specification of the who, what, when, where, why and way (the six Ws) of the research.
The 6 Ws
1. Who should be considered?
2. What information should be obtained from the respondents?
The objective of this study is to get more understanding about the factors that influences the creation and enlargement of the brand awareness of Gijs Nillessen, focusing on word-of-mouth, and make recommendations how to enlarge it. In order to reach this objective, information about the decision of why and when people visit a show of Gijs Nillessen should be obtained.
3. When should the information be obtained from the respondents?
The information should be obtained during a show of Gijs Nillessen. In the break or at the end of the show the respondents will be asked if they could fill in a questionnaire. Because the question “do you recommend the show to someone else?” will be asked, the people can not fill in the questionnaire at the start of the show.
4. Where should the respondents be contacted to obtain the required information?
The respondents could be contacted in the lobby at the end of the show or in the bar during the break.
5. Why are we obtaining information from the respondents?
The reason why information is obtained from the respondents is to develop a suitable viral marketing campaign for Gijs Nillessen and get understanding what kind of people will spread the word.
6. In what way are we going to obtain information from the respondents?
The way we are going to obtain information is by use of a questionnaire.
As mentioned above, the required information of the respondents will be obtained by use of a structured questionnaire or the survey method. The survey method involves a structured questionnaire given to respondents and designed to elicit specific information.
3.2 Measurement and scaling
Measurement means assigning numbers or other symbols to characteristics of objects according to certain pre-specified rules. Thus, we do not measure consumers, only their perceptions attitudes, preferences, or other relevant characteristics. Scaling may be considered an extension of measurement. Scaling involves creating a continuum upon which measured objects are located. Scaling is the process of placing the respondents on a continuum with respect to their attitude towards the show of Gijs Nillessen. The scale that will be used is the Likert scale, a rating scale that requires the respondents to indicate a degree of agreement or disagreement with each of a series of statements about the stimulus objects. Typically, each scale item has five response categories, ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”.
3.3 Questionnaire and form design
A questionnaire, whether it is called a schedule, interview form, or measuring instrument, is a formalized set of questions for obtaining information from respondents. Any questionnaire has three specific objectives. First, it must translate the information needed into a set of specific questions that the respondents can and will answer. Second, a questionnaire must uplift, motivate, and encourage the respondent to become involved in the interview, to cooperate, and to complete the interview. Third, a questionnaire should minimize response error (Malhotra, 2004).
(word-of-mouth) or from reviews/advertisements. Fourthly the people will be asked what the motives and expectations are for attendance at the theatre. The questions are derived from an existing rating scale (Tajtáková et al, 2005), and will be like:
The reason that I attend this show tonight is:
• Interest in cabaret in general • To see a particular artist
• To experience “live” performance • To go out with friends or family
• People from my surroundings are interested in cabaret • Pleasure and entertainment
• To keep up with cabaret developments • Technical interest in performing
What did you expect when you decided to attend this show tonight?
• To feel emotion • Entertainment • Self-fulfillment • Educational development • To share an experience • Relaxation
• Relief from boredom • Social interaction • To be part of a group • Social prestige
After this, questions will be asked in relation with the show. They will be asked if they liked the show on a scale of very bad to very good.
• The show was of good quality
• The show is a pleasant evening out with friends and family • People in my surroundings are interested in cabaret
To test which people are important for word-of-mouth referral the last set of questions will be used to test this. Combining this with the questions “if they liked the show” the difference between positive and negative word-of-mouth can be measured.
• To friends • To family
• To acquaintances (i.e. colleagues, teammates etc.) • To third persons
• On the internet (i.e. in a blog or at hyves)
3.4 Sampling
This research will make use of a sample because the sample method favors the census in budget and time limit constraints. Sampling design begins by specifying the target population. The target population is the collection of elements or objects that possess the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made (Malhotra, 2004).
The objective of Gijs Nillessen is the extension of his market share by getting new people gaining awareness and wanting to visit his shows. If he wants to sell the same product to new customers, he should target prospects based on the profile and behavior model of existing customers. The target population of this study is therefore the existing customers of his shows (Kumar & Reinartz, 2006).
Sample size
make recommendations how to enlarge it. This type of research can be classified as problem solving research. Problem solving research should consist of a minimum of 200 elements and a maximum of 500 elements (Malhotra, 2004).
Datacollection
The data will be collected at two shows of Gijs Nillessen. The first one is show in Groningen where he performs with some other young and talented artists. The data will be collected during the break of this show and Gijs will perform as the last artist before the break.
The second show is a solo performance in Maastricht. Gijs will play there a show of one hour and the people that attend his show are coming only to see him.
3.5 Plan of analysis
Chapter 4 – Results
This chapter presents the results of the survey conducted during the two shows of Gijs Nillessen. Firstly the results will be introduced; secondly the results of the analysis will be thoroughly discussed.
The chapter will start with an overview of the frequency distribution in order to illustrate in a convenient manner how the variables are distributed across the sample.
The questionnaire consists of 200 respondents. The age distribution of this sample is rather broad and ranges from 12 to 61 years of age with an average of 26.21 years. The gender distribution is quite equal; 85 men and 115 women came to visit a show of Gijs Nillessen. The variation in student versus non-student population is quite low; 115 visitors were students whereas 85 where not. This is remarkable since it was assumed that the majority of Gijs Nillessen’s visitors would be students.
When asked about the last time respondents visited a cabaret show, answers were quite equivalent; no distinct highlights are found. Almost 50 % of the visitors have been to a cabaret show over the past six months (Appendix A). The distribution of how often respondents have visited a cabaret show is reasonably equal as well. More than 60 % of the respondents have visited a cabaret show between 1 and 10 times; more than 30 % has visited a cabaret show more than 10 times (Appendix A). This indicates that the average visitor of Gijs Nillessen’s show is rather familiar with cabaret.
When asked about why respondents decided to visit a show, one reason clearly stands out. It appears that 54 % of the visitors attended because they had heard about the show from friends. Taken together with family and acquaintances (26 %), a total of 80 % of the visitors are present due to strong-tie mouth referral. This indicates that word-of-mouth referral is the most important manner of attracting new customers to Gijs Nillessen’s shows (Appendix A).
Motives and expectations
In the next section the motives and expectations of the respondents will be presented. Firstly a concise overview of motives and expectations will be presented; secondly the reliability will be tested by use of Cronbach’s Alpha.
Motives
The motives used in the questionnaire (Appendix D) are extracted from an existing scale concerning theatre visit (Tajtáková et al, 2005). They are measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “completely disagree” to “completely agree”. In order to present the most important motives (combining the options “agree” and “completely agree”) of the respondents a short overview is hereby presented.
Table 1: Motivations
Motivation Frequency Percentage out of their variable Mean Interested in cabaret in general 155 77,5 % 3,91
To see a particular artist 76 38 % 3,05
Watching a live performance
123 61,5 % 3,68
Evening out with friends and family
180 90 % 4,13
To accompany people who are interested in cabaret
108 54 % 3,40
To experience fun and entertainment
170 85 % 4,08
Interested in the
development of cabaret
Interested in the
techniques of the artists
43 22,5 % 2,74
To share an experience 80 40 % 3,17
When assessing the variables present in this table, it appears that an evening out with friends and family and experiencing fun and entertainment stand out as being the most significant motives of visitors to attend a show by Gijs Nillessen. Next to these, interest in cabaret in general and watching a live performance are important motivations as well.
Expectations
The expectations used in the questionnaire (Appendix D) are extracted from an existing scale concerning theatre visit (Tajtáková et al, 2005). They are measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “completely disagree” to “completely agree”. In order to present the most important expectations (combining the options “agree” and “completely agree”) of the respondents a short overview is hereby presented.
Table 2: Expectations
Expectation Frequency Percentage out of the variable
Mean
To feel a positive emotion 165 82,5 % 4,01
Entertainment 175 87,5 % 4,09
Fulfillment 118 59 % 3,64
Development of myself 38 19 % 2,71
Relaxation 149 74,5 % 3,82
Relief from boredom 13 7,5 % 1,89
Social interaction 147 73,5 % 3,78
To fit in a group 13 7,5 % 1,89
4.2 Cronbach’s Alpha
To test if the constructs based on the variables used in the questionnaire are reliable Cronbach’s Alpha test is used. This Cronbach's alpha coefficient indicates the reliability or internal consistency. The N is the number of components (17), equals the average variance and is the average of all covariances between the components.
Here, the Cronbach’s Alpha is 0,720, which indicates that variables of motives and expectations are reliable (A reliability coefficient of 0.600 or higher is considered “acceptable” in most Social Science research situations, Malhotra, 2004).
4.3 Critics
During the survey the respondents are all asked to assess the show. They could critic the show on a scale of very bad going on to very good. To show what the most important opinions of the respondents are, a table is listed. Because almost all the respondents are positive about the show (Table 4), the good and very good answers are shown.
Table 3: Critics
Critic Frequency Percentage out
of the variable
Mean
Performance in general 158 79 % 3,80
Evening out with friends and family
161 80,5 % 3,95
Quality of the cabaret 138 69 % 3,67
Fun and entertainment in the performance
The respondents were the most positive about the fun and entertainment in the performance and the evening out with friends and family. Remarkable is that out of the 800 (200 x 4) answers given on the critic section. Only two “very bad” answers (0, 25%) were given and just 46 “bad answers” (5, 75%).
To test if these “bad answers” will lead to negative word-of-mouth referral a regression analysis will be done. The questions out of the critic section will be taken as predictor variables (The questions with answer 1 and/or 2; completely disagree and/or disagree) and the criterion variables that will be used are friends, family, acquaintances, third persons and internet. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be used to test the significance.
Table 4: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Criterion variable Significance
Friends 0,429 Family 0,967 Acquaintances 0,119 Third persons 0,267 Internet 0,486 Sig. <0.05
Table 5 shows no significance on people who disliked the show and word-of-mouth referral. Therefore the regression analysis is not significant and a negative word-of-mouth referral can not be tested.
4.4 Word-of-mouth referral
positive word-of-mouth referral to friends is very high. The table below shows that the “weaker” the tie, the lower the chance on word-of-mouth referral.
Table 5: Word-of-mouth referral
Frequency Percentage Mean
Friends 153 76,5 % 3,91 Family 118 59 % 3,55 Acquaintances 95 47,5 % 3,38 Third persons 62 31 % 3,06 Internet 25 12,5 % 2,21 4.5 Factor Analysis
Now the frequencies are given, some statistical tests will be extracted in order to test the word-of-mouth referral under certain groups. The factor analysis is a statistical method used to explain variability among observed variables in terms of fewer unobserved variables called factors.
In order to check the appropriateness of the analysis, two tests will be used. The first one is the measure of sampling adequacy (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) and the second is the Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity.
The KMO-test indicates how compact the patterns of correlation are. A value close to one indicates that patterns are quite compact, and therefore, the factor analysis should be able to yield distinct and reliable components. Generally, a value greater than 0.5 is desirable. Bartlett’s test is used to test if k samples have equal variances. Equal variance across samples is called homoscedasticity or homogeneity of variances. Some statistical tests, for example the analysis of variance, assume that variances are equal across groups or samples. The Bartlett test can be used to verify that assumption.
Table 6: KMO and Bartlett’s test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Bartlett’s test of sphericity
Looking at table 7 the KMO-test shows a value of 0,654. This value is quite large (>0.5). Thus, a factor analysis may be considered an appropriate technique for analyzing the data. Furthermore, the Bartlett’s test shows us a very high significance (0,000), which means that there is a very high equality of variance.
The two tests provide the proof that it is appropriate to make use of a factor analysis.
The number of factors
