Imagine a customer walking into a car dealership. The dealership is playing his favorite song and offering free cookies, both of which put him in a good mood. However, when a salesperson approaches and offers to show him a car, he is more rather than less critical of the automobile. He wants to assess the car accurately and not to be influenced by the positive feelings created by the dealership environment.
This scenario highlights the complex and consequential nature of consumer affect. While there is a vast amount of research on affective feelings, the direct effect of positive or negative affect on consumer behavior is still unclear. Some research points to an affect-congruence effect—where positive affect leads to a favorable consumer response and negative affect leads to an unfavorable response. Other research points to an affect-incongruence effect, where positive affect leads to a less-favorable response, as in the example above.
Source: Nancy M. Puccinelli , Dhruv Grewal, Scott Motyka, Susan A. Andrzejewski, and Tamar Avnet, 2016, 16-114
The example and explanation above shows why it’s so important to understand all of the complexities of deodorant shopping for a 9 year old boy. In your previous projects and class discussions, I just don’t think you are taking the time to completely understand this issue. Take your personal opinion out of the equation and objectively tackle this project.
Your task is to determine the affect this new brand should strive to achieve from their target audience (moms). Please present TWO affect strategies based on your research and the target market. You need to compile the research, but the target market has been provided for you.
Youth Deodorant Prototype
We developed a new deodorant to fit into an existing empty niche in the market. This is a deodorant for boys ages 7-12. We are hoping to focus on its powerful odor controlling properties and it’s mild, youthful scent. This is opposite current men’s products with a strong scent. This product will also be safe and all-natural to protect the health and welfare of growing youth. We feel that the current natural ingredient deodorants for youth are not appealing to active boys.
The main affect we hope to have on our customers needs to be established in coordination with our marketing department.
Target Market
30-45 year old moms, upper middle class – upper class socioeconomic status, main focus is raising a family and is concerned with health of their children. Focus is on quality and value. They want to buy the right products at a reasonable price. Not afraid to pay a little more for much more (Paying more for much more is a specific marketing strategy).
Market Research
Research the current market offerings for deodorant for boys and provide a summary of the current offerings. It might be helpful to create a chart to compile your research.
– Look at deodorant vs. antiperspirant options, brands, ingredient comparisons, target audiences, etc.
An interesting article to kick start your research is linked below:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/deodorant-makes-men-more-masculine-to-women-says-study-a7377411.html
Consumer Affect
Write two separate narratives, based on your research, explaining the desired affect our new deodorant brand is trying to evoke in our target audience. Please include a product summary, a target market summary (include their deodorant shopping needs/wants), and the overall affect our product will have on the target (to obviously meet their needs).
