BSc(B), 6 th semester.

Author: Aron Vglundsson Helgi Halldrsson Advisor: Pradeep Divakaran Exploring the characteristics of Buzz Marketing And its exploitation by firms in the Icelandic telecommunication market May 2010Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 1 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. ....... 3 1.1. Problem statement ....................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Delimitations ............................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Structure....................................................................................................................... 5 2. Theoretical background...................................................................................................... 7 2.1. Background of marketing ............................................................................................ 7

2.1.1. The Marketing Mix ............................................................................................ 11 2.1.2. Marketing communications................................................................................ 11 2.1.3. Word of mouth ................................................................................................... 14 2.2. Buzz marketing.......................................................................................................... 17 2.2.1. Stimulating word of mouth using buzz marketing ............................................. 18 2.2.2. Criticism and misconceptions ............................................................................ 22 2.2.3. Viral marketing .................................................................................................. 26 3. Research design................................................................................................................ 28 3.1. Selecting interviewees and the interview process ..................................................... 31 3.2. Tools used in the research process ............................................................................ 32 3.3. Data gathering and analysis....................................................................................... 33 3.3.1. Secondary data collection................................................................................... 33 3.3.1. Primary data collection....................................................................................... 38 3.4. Findings and interpretation........................................................................................ 39 4. Conclusion and discussion ............................................................................................... 49 4.1. Discussion.................................................................................................................. 49

4.1. Conclusion................................................................................................................. 55 Bibliography................................................................................................................. ............ 57 Appendix ..................................................................................................................... ............. 60Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 2 Abstract This paper explores and analyses the characteristics of buzz marketing and under what conditions it exists, if it in fact exists at all, and prevails in the telecommunication market in Iceland. In addition, it explores how effective buzz marketing is in creating awareness or adoption compared to traditional methods. This was investigated, along with a number of other questions, by conducting interviews with managers and/or decision makers in the Icelandic telecommunication market. The interviews were taken by telephone during a twoweek period in April 2010. The main conclusion is that the use of buzz marketing is substantial and a majority of managers on the market include buzz marketing within their marketing mix. However, in some cases it seems unintentional and even random, but still, even though it might happen unintentionally, managers use buzz marketing and build upon it with success in many cases. Managers are not measuring buzz marketing in general and they have a hard time defining the concept. This can to some extent explain the random effectiveness of the benefit yielded by buzz marketing in the Icelandic telecommunication

market. Buzz marketing is perceived to have a positive impact and its use in general is considered to be of great value. It does not necessarily have to travel through unconventional channels; buzz can in fact often be stimulated more effectively using traditional channels, in the opinion of most managers interviewed. Managers will probably not reap the full benefits of buzz marketing until they are able to see its effectiveness in comparison with other marketing tools. One way to achieve that is by beginning measuring results from those activities, in order to be able to pinpoint better, how successful buzz marketing can be achieved.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 3 1. Introduction In the fast paced world of todays information society, people are being inundated every day with advertising messages and information about products that companies are trying to push to the end consumer. Throughout the past decade media channels have increased almost rampantly, e.g. in forms of more television and radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and social on-line media platforms. According to various researches, the average consumer is now exposed to 3,000 to 5,000 advertising messages each day, where 65% of those consumers believe that they are being bombarded with too much advertising and some even feel the

advertisements are becoming increasingly invasive. In addition, issues of trust and credibility have arisen, surveys have shown that only around 14% of people actually trust the information presented in advertisements. Advancements in technology are now allowing people to skip or block advertising. It has been shown that 90% of people who can skip television advertisements do skip them. This has lead consumers to change their ways of processing information, and even whether they choose to process it at all (Marsden, 2006; Kotler & Keller, 2009). These dramatic changes in the communication landscape have put marketers in a dilemma. In order to communicate with customers now, marketers not only have to deal with more media fragmentation but in addition, they need to increase their advertising frequency across channels in order to reach their prospective customers. This progression has lead to an increase in marketing costs for firms, for instance research has shown that if companies want to increase their sales by as little as 1-2% they need to double their advertising spend to reach those goals. It has also been shown that the cost of advertising on TV, one of the worlds most used advertising medium, has over the past decade increased by 256% (Marsden, 2006). The current economic climate has led to many challenges requiring drastic action, now marketers need to use their budgets more efficiently. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B)

4 How can marketers tackle these challenges and still get a bigger bang for the buck? One of the ways marketers can use to reach consumers through the advertising clutter is by shifting their focus from traditional marketing methods. The real challenge is not to spend advertising dollars like everyone else but how to stand out from the crowd and reach consumers attention. According to George Silverman (2001), one of the biggest illusions in marketing is that the marketing elements are selling the product when the reality is that people are buying in response to information from other independent sources, especially friends. Today the power of word of mouth is unquestionable and marketers in general seem to be realizing this and are devoting more time and effort into incorporating buzz tactics into their marketing mix in order to stimulate word of mouth between consumers. Alternative choices to getting attention from consumers are through unconventional ways, one way being to create buzz around certain products or services. The telecommunication market is an interesting market where the consumers are perhaps more likely to use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and spread the buzz even faster and more widely. 1.1.Problem statement The global telecommunication market has an array of opportunities to reach their consumers.

The industry includes high and rapidly developing high-tech products that are usually focused on the young, or young adults, consumers that have the potential to absorb complicated information. The authors found that the characteristics of the telecommunication market and buzz marketing would be an interesting perspective to examine and therefore the intention is to research that subject. The aim of this thesis is first of all to examine whether buzz marketing exists in the Icelandic telecommunications market and if so, what influence it has, if any. The authors also want to examine if marketing executives/departments aim to create buzz on purpose or whether buzz happens unintentionally, perhaps due to a good marketing campaign? It is also intriguing to look at buzz from the consumer perspective, why do consumers spread buzz and is there any motivation behind that? The thesis will also look into the impact, social media platforms, e.g. Facebook and Twitter, can have on spreading the buzz and how it might become more important in the future due to higher usage of social media. Finally, an important part of buzz Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 5 marketing is whether it is measurable and if so what means can be used to measure it effectively, e.g. do marketers measure the buzz before or after a buzz campaign or do they use other tools? Does buzz marketing exist in the Icelandic telecommunication market?

 Do managers in that market include buzz marketing in their marketing plans? Do managers in that market measure the benefit of buzz marketing? How to identify whether buzz marketing exist or not? How effective is buzz marketing in creating awareness or adoption compared to traditional methods? 1.2. Delimitations It might be interesting to compare the Icelandic telecommunications market with for example the Danish one, but in order to fully grasp the subject matter, a larger scope like that would most likely not benefit the goals of this research. Therefore, the decision was made to limit this thesis to the Icelandic market. Furthermore, after an informal investigation on what market could be interesting to research in Iceland, a conclusion was made to focus on the telecommunication market after having identified its potential as a market where the possibilities for buzz marketing could be examined. After conducting the interviews and their analysis a new company entered the market called Alterna. Due to their late entrance and lack of experience in this market, this company is not included in this research. 1.3. Structure First, the subject is presented in an introduction chapter, continuing onward with explaining the research methods used and previous literature on the subject explored and discussed. The theory behind buzz marketing and related concepts is then examined, followed by a chapter The main goal of this research is to explore the characteristics of

buzz marketing and under what conditions it exists, if it exists at all, and prevails in the market place.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 6 on the industry analysis and the important facts drawn from the interviews with the decision makers on this market will be presented and discussed. Finally, the research findings are discussed. Since the distinction between word of mouth and buzz marketing can be vague the discussion section was even more important. Conclusions from the research are drawn at the end.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 7 2. Theoretical background 2.1. Background of marketing In order to identify and build up the theoretical background the authors want to define the basics of marketing, and how they lead to buzz marketing since they are relevant to the understanding of the concept. Marketing is basically about identifying and satisfying human and social needs of customers. Companies' success often depends upon marketing ability, since no results would be produced without sufficient demand for products and services, which is influenced by marketing (Kotler & Keller, 2009). According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and

exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large" (American Marketing Association, 2007). This newest definition, from 2007, positions marketing as a broader activity in a company/organization instead of just being a department (AMA). It is interesting to see how the definition has changed through the years and below is a figure from the American Marketing Association that shows this clearly. Figure 3. The marketing concept Source: American Marketing Association, 2008 In the article How Strategy Shapes Structure (Kim & Mauborgne, September 2009), the process that corporate managers use when developing corporate strategy, commonly begins Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 8 by analysing the industry or environmental conditions. The process includes assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors or the players that they are up against. The industry and competitive analysis supports the companys attempt to outperform their competitors by building a competitive advantage. To obtain such advantage, a company generally chooses either to differentiate itself from the competition for a premium price or to pursue low costs. The organization aligns its value chain accordingly, creating manufacturing, marketing, and human resource strategies in the process. Based on these strategies, financial targets and budget allocations are set. (Kim & Mauborgne, 2009, p.73)

To be able to know what the factors are that are threatening to your business, and what decisions should be made before entering a market or industry, it is important to set up an analysis that is clear and helps avoid pitfalls. Michael E. Porters five forces, introduced below, are good tools to use for such analysis. Two central questions underlie the choice of competitive strategy. The first is the attractiveness of industries for long-term profitability and the factors that determine it. The second central question in competitive strategy is about the determinant of relative competitive position within an industry (Porter M. E., 1985, p.1) In any industry, domestic or international, whether it produces a product or service, the rules of competition are embroiled in five competitive forces: the entry of new competitors, the threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, and the rivalry among the existing competitors (Porter M. E., 1985, p.4). Entering a market without knowing its elements can be fatal, and is surely the factor that decides whether the company will survive or not. The five forces are illustrated in figure 1.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 9 Figure 1. Porter's Five Forces Sources: Porter M. E., The competitive forces that shape strategy, January 2008 To demonstrate briefly what the concept of the five forces is, starting in the middle of the model or rivalry among existing competitors is used to analyse whether the segment is

attractive or if there are strong competitors on the market or not. The threat of new entrants is to examine whether it is difficult to enter the market or not, e.g. trade or exit barriers might exist. The threat of substitute products or services examines how easily the product can be substituted and how prices and profit will fall subsequently. The threat of bargaining power of buyers is unattractive when the buyers have a growing bargaining power. The product will become more price-sensitive and profit will fall. The last one is the threat of suppliers growing bargaining power and then your suppliers can reduce quantity supplied or raise prices. Figure 2 shows the maturity of the market and as for products it shows whether the industry is rising or declining. The industry life cycle has four stages, introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 10 Figure 2. Industry life cycle Sources: Kotler & Keller, Marketing Management 13e, 2009 The introduction stage is where the product is introduced and the question revolves around whether the products will rise or fall. If the product rises the next stage is the growth stage with increasing sales. This is followed by the maturity stage. The maturity stage is divided into three phases: growth, stable, and decaying maturity. The third phase of maturity poses

the most challenges. The sales slowdown creates overcapacity in the industry, which leads to intensified competition. Competitors scramble to find niches. They engage in frequent markdowns. They increase advertising and trade and consumer promotion. They increase R&D budgets to develop product improvements and line extensions. They make deals to supply private brands. A shakeout begins, and weaker competitors withdraw. The industry eventually consists of well-entrenched competitors whose basic drive is to gain or maintain market share" (Kotler, 2009, p. 323). Finally when sales are continuously declining the product or industry has reached the declining stages. Before continuing further with the discussion of important concepts within the field of marketing there are several that need to be introduced and defined. Firstly, there are fundamental concepts from the marketing theory and then other more directly related to the research questions and sub-questions. Secondly, word of mouth (WOM) is closely related to buzz marketing and therefore important to define. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 11 2.1.1. The Marketing Mix In order to influence demand from their trade channels as well as the end consumer, marketers mix controllable tactical marketing tools in a right combination in order to achieve the desired

results from their target market (Kotler, Armstrong et al., 2008). These tools are usually known as the marketing mix, a concept first introduced in the 40's by a Harvard Business School professor, Neil H. Borden. The idea came to Borden while viewing a research bulletin on the management of marketing costs by his associate where he described the business executive to be a "mixer of ingredients". Borden liked this idea where he could vision the marketing executive constantly engaging in mixing marketing activities in different manners in order to produce a profitable business; hence he coined the term marketing mix. Initially, Borden listed twelve elements that marketers needed to take into account in order to develop an effective marketing mix (Borden, 1984). These elements were later gathered into four groups of variables by E. Jerome McCarthy: product, price, place, and promotion, and are usually referred to as the four P's and they make up today's marketing toolkit (McCarthy, 1960). An effective marketing program blends the elements of the marketing mix into a coordinated program designed to achieve the company's marketing objectives. From the sellers' perspective, the four P's represent the marketing tools available to influence buyers, whereas from the customers' perspective each of these tools are designed to deliver benefits to them. Even though the marketing mix was conceived 70 years ago it still holds ground and is widely

used, and can certainly be considered as one of the pillars of marketing education. 2.1.2. Marketing communications The nineteenth century was an age of expansion, the twentieth century an age of innovation. If early signs are anything to go by, the twenty-first century is putting in a strong bid to become the age of communication. (Blythe, 2003) According to Pickton & Broderick, marketing communications is a term that is gaining foothold over the term promotion, and is now preferred among academics and practitioners. Therefore, another way of describing one of the key areas of marketing is using marketing Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 12 communications. An underlying reason behind this is that the word promotions is also used as a shortened version of sales promotions, which is actually only a part of what marketing communications represents. Additionally, all elements of the marketing mix have an impact on marketing communications. Even though these two terms have the same fundamental meaning and may still be used interchangeably, marketing communications can be considered as a slightly wider concept than promotions (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). Kotler & Keller define marketing communications as the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, and remind consumers directly or indirectly about products and brands that they sell. (2009, p. 510) Furthermore, they see marketing communications representing

the "voice" of the company and its brands by means of establishing a dialogue and building relationships with consumers. Marketing communications can also perform many functions for consumers, e.g. allowing them to gain knowledge on why and how products are to be used or even where and when. Marketers have many different ways of communicating with consumers, both by means of personal communication and impersonal communication. The marketers' task is to devise an effective marketing communications plan that suits each goal in question; this can be seen as a mixing process just as with the marketing mix. The marketing communications mix consists of eight major modes of communication that can contribute to brand equity and drive sales in different ways: Impersonal communication Advertising: Any paid form of impersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor Sales promotion: A variety of short-term incentives to encourage trial or purchase of a product or service Events and experiences: Company-sponsored activities and programs designed to create daily or special brand related interactions Public relations and publicity: A variety of programs designed to promote or protect a company's image or its individual productsAron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 13

Personal communication Direct marketing: Use of mail, telephone, fax, e-mail, or internet to communicate directly with or solicit response or dialogue from specific customers and prospects Interactive marketing: Online activities and programs designed to engage customers or prospects and directly or indirectly raise awareness, improve image, or elicit sales of products and services Word-of-mouth marketing: People-to-people oral, written, or electronic communications that relate to the merits or experiences of purchasing or using products or services Personal selling: Face-to-face interaction with one or more prospective purchasers for the purpose of making presentations, answering questions, and procuring orders In addition, each of these categories includes specific tools used to communicate with consumers (Kotler & Keller, 2009). The time when marketers could reach the majority of consumers effectively using one-way impersonal communication techniques has passed, with the focus now shifting more into building closer relationships with customers through more focused marketing programs. There has been a radical change in the marketing landscape in recent years, especially due to substantial technology advancements that have led consumers to more actively deciding on what messages they want to receive and when, or even if they want to receive them at all. With the proliferation of social on-line communities, e.g. Facebook and MySpace, people are

more connected now than ever before and the need to communicate with other people around us, or even far away, is quite strong. This might lead one to think that marketers might have easier access to people but the reality is that it is getting harder and harder for companies to communicate with consumers because the communication channels have become so dispersed and the audience is now more fragmented than ever. The challenge for modern marketers now is to integrate these multiple forms of communications strategically to be able to reach and influence target markets today (Kotler & Keller, 2009). However, these changes do not only empower the consumer, since it has also enabled marketers to obtain more detailed customer information and equipped them with new tools to interact with customers, leading to more focused marketing to better defined target audience.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 14 The possibilities for a marketer to plan marketing communications activities are almost endless and therefore it wouldnt come as a surprise if many marketers would mainly focus on the most traditional platforms of the communication mix, those that keep them in their comfort zone. However, todays marketers can only get so far by using traditional methods and if they want to stand out in the crowd they should instead focus on trying to out-think their competitors instead of outspending them. The goal of reaching consumers attention

might be achieved more effectively if marketers incorporate some kind of word of mouth marketing into their communication planning. 2.1.3. Word of mouth According to various marketers, word of mouth is a really powerful and important force that shouldnt be underestimated (Blythe, 2003; Dye, 2000; Kotler & Keller, 2009; Pickton & Broderick, 2005). Companies and marketers are becoming more aware of the benefits of having word of mouth communications incorporated into their marketing communications mix. Therefore they are seeking ways to harness this phenomenon in order to facilitate consumer interaction with each other and themselves, hopefully in a positive manner. In order to get a clear understanding of the meaning of word of mouth from a marketing perspective, Greg Nyilasy (2006) set out to examine and analyse academic writing about the phenomenon. After extensive research he came to the conclusion that the definition marketing academics seem to have reached a consensus on is: Oral, person-to-person communication between a receiver and a communicator whom the receiver perceives as non-commercial, concerning a brand, a product or a service. (Nyilasy, 2006, p. 164) There are three essential parts to this definition: word of mouth relates to interpersonal communication, which sets it apart from mass communication and other impersonal communication channels; the communicators are perceived to be non-commercial, i.e. receive

no incentives from a company and should therefore be unbiased, credible and trustworthy; the message revolves around commercial entities. Putting it more simply, word of mouth is commercial talk among consumers that are not perceived to be associated with marketers (Nyilasy, 2006). Today, with the help of information and communication technologies, the landscape has changed and in order to communicate with one another people no longer have Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 15 to do it in person, rather they can exchange information through various platforms that do not require actual talking. Taking this into account, it is safe to assume that it is time to revise the first part of the definition to reflect a broader meaning that would then encompass these changes in the communication landscape. In addition to these findings, it was obvious from the research that WOM need not necessarily be a positive one, praising the brand, product or service. Positive WOM (PWOM) has been acknowledged as a "product-related information transmitted by satisfied customers" (Nyilasy, 2006, p.166), whereas negative WOM (NWOM) is conceptualized as an interpersonal communication between consumers concerning a dissatisfying experience with a brand, product or service. These two terms are considered to be identical in nature, just differing between negative and positive emotions. However, some evidence indicates that NWOM has

more effect than PWOM (Burzynski & Bayer, 1977). This all boils down to keeping your customers satisfied. Research has shown that NWOM is usually given more weight in purchase decisions and spreads faster than PWOM, unhappy customers are much more likely to relieve the tension by contacting more people than happy customers that are satisfied with a product or service (Rosen, 2009). Furthermore, dissatisfied customers tell 10 to 16 people about their experience with a company, whereas satisfied customers only tell an average of 5 to 8 people (McConnell & Huba, 2003). No company wants a negative word of mouth circulating on its products or services, but it should take comfort in the knowledge that negative word of mouth doesnt always have to be a bad thing. Negativity can actually have positive effects for companies that take appropriate actions in dealing with it. Negative word of mouth can be turned into an invaluable source of feedback on the product, brand, and company. By using this feedback, companies can actually improve their products and if complaints are handled correctly, unhappy customers can be turned into satisfied ones that might even become evangelists for your company (Balter & Butman, 2006). But what makes word of mouth so special? Kotler & Keller (2009) point out three noteworthy characteristics of word of mouth: credible, personal, and timely. Word of mouth can be highly

influential since people perceive the information they receive to be genuine since they usually come from people they trust and know personally. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 16 There are two prominent definitions of word of mouth where it is possible to define the concept with and without communication. One of these is a communication not originated from the sender that is passed on to others following the original marketing communications messages that have been transmitted (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). The other one looks at word of mouth as a broader concept. WOM communications is then defined as: Literally, verbal communication between individuals. Word of mouth is typically a part of the total process of marketing communications in which messages are transmitted from the sender to many receivers. Word of mouth communications are the conversations held between the receivers, whether or not all members received the original marketing communication. Opinion leaders and other reference group members may have a strong influence on the effectiveness of the original intended message (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). The reality that companies face is that people will discuss its products whether they like it or not, so the challenge for marketers is to find ways to influence the talk through credible channels. However, some claim that word of mouth is a natural thing that cannot be controlled

or manipulated using marketing tactics. They are in a sense right about the fact of word of mouth being a natural phenomenon, but marketers have actually found ways to influence it using various methods and channels. According to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), WOM cannot be faked or invented and any attempt to fake it is considered to be unethical and will most likely create a backlash by damaging the brand and even tarnishing the company's reputation. Furthermore, WOMMA's code of ethics state that its members commit themselves to show consumers respect by acknowledging their intelligence and never attempt to fool consumers by manipulation, deception, infiltration or dishonesty (WOMMA, 2007). In the next chapter the authors will go through the theories that are used to amplify word of mouth communications through buzz marketing. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 17 2.2. Buzz marketing Lets give them something to talk about. -Bonnie Raitt These lyrics by Bonnie Raitt actually capture the true essence of buzz marketing. People love to talk to each other about various things from their everyday life; from trivial things like clothes, weather, food, TV shows, and football; to more profound matters like politics,

climate changes, family, and healthcare. People all over the world are talking about various products and services, both off-line and on-line. Paul Marsden defines buzz marketing as: "The promotion of a company or its products and services through initiatives conceived and designed to get people and the media talking positively about that company, product or service" (Marsden, 2006, p. xviii). Why do people have this need to talk to each other constantly? As Emanuel Rosen puts it, its in our nature to talk, since information sharing is an effective survival mechanism for various animals and also people. He takes an example of an experiment that was conducted by scientists, where a raven that discovers a carcass of a cow in the woods and instead of taking a bite he flies away instantly only to return several days later with dozens of other ravens. While this amount of food could have fed this single bird throughout the winter by keeping it a secret from others, the raven always flew away to get his friends. The scientists concluded that Having more pairs of looking eyes increases the likelihood that all birds will be fed, and on a continuous basis (Rosen, 2001, p. 30). By communicating with other people we can secure our livelihood just as the ravens do. Bees actually use similar methods to the ravens in communicating and the term "buzz" should actually be credited to them. Other factors that Rosen mentions are: by asking others for information people can reduce risk, cost and

uncertainty; people talk to connect; people talk because it makes economic sense; people talk to relieve tension. Companies are exceptionally vulnerable to this last part, since unhappy customers tend to ease their internal tension by getting even with the company and therefore creating negative buzz as mentioned above (Rosen, 2001).Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 18 To define the difference between WOM and buzz marketing, one of the most appealing definitions is found in the book The Anatomy of Buzz. There, Steve Douty, a former vice president of marketing at Hotmail, talks about how fast buzz spreads and says, " It's word of mouth on steroids " (Rosen, 2001, p. 20). Figure 3. Traditional marketing model vs. Buzzmarketing model Source: Hughes, 2005 p. 3 (= consumers; = communication; corp= corporation) One of the leading scholars and practitioners of buzz marketing, Mark Hughes, has identified buzz marketing to capture the attention of consumers and the media to a point where talking about your brand, product or company becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy.(Hughes, 2005, p. 2) Buzz starts conversations and thereby word of mouth. Figure 3 shows the difference between traditional marketing and buzz marketing. 2.2.1. Stimulating word of mouth using buzz marketing Buzz marketers have many methods in their toolboxes to create buzz for products in order to generate word of mouth communications between consumers. In examining the respective

literature for buzz marketing, the authors found two academics and practitioners that have had much influence on the subject matter. Emanuel Rosen, author of The Anatomy of Buzz, and Mark Hughes, author of BUZZMARKETING, are the two individuals that have laid out the most comprehensive guidelines in relation to buzz marketing, in the authors' opinions. The paper will now examine their most relevant theories, presented in their respective books, in order to try and achieve the authors goal of analysing buzz marketing.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 19 2.2.1.1.Six buttons of buzz 1 The heart of buzz marketing is to give people a reason to talk about your product. It has already been established that people have a great need to communicate with other people. What is better suited as a first-rate icebreaker than an interesting and amusing story. The more entertaining and fascinating story a person can present to others, e.g. at a cocktail party, can easily catapult this individual to the center of attention. According to Hughes, there are essentially six things that can push peoples buttons in the correct way, a way to start a conversation. Marketers can help with pushing any of these buzz buttons by giving people ready-made stories to act as good icebreaking tools. The taboo button (sex, lies, bathroom humor). Taboo subjects have always been a hot

conversation topic because of their restricted nature, which makes it even more interesting for people to talk about. Imagine a boring product like shampoo. Almost every commercial includes a woman, rather seldom men, in the shower washing her hair in a very sensual way. There is perhaps nothing interesting about shampoo commercials nowadays, but you could easily imagine the buzz generated using this approach for the first time. The unusual button. The unusual factor has often been tightly linked to celebrities that perform the strangest things wherever they appear. Take for instance the late and great Michael Jackson, whatever he did, be it wearing masks outside or dangling his son from a fourth-floor balcony, generated tremendous buzz and word of mouth. It can be argued, whether his eccentricity was the main reason for these kinds of acts or were they perhaps well thought-out marketing manoeuvres? The outrageous button. You cant get more outrageous than asking a town to rename itself after your product, but that is what Hughes himself accomplished by getting the town Halfway in Oregon to be renamed after the business Half.com. The outrageous button will always work, but marketers should try not to push it just for the sake of outrageousness. Having a connection between your product and the outrageousness works ten times better than not having any connection between the two.

1 This chapter draws upon chapter three in the book BUZZMARKETING(Hughes, 2005)Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 20 The hilarious button. This might be one of the harder buttons to push, since being truly funny is a matter of opinion. Executed right, this can work to your advantage, but fail to do so and you can hurt your business severely. Take for example Budweisers Whassup?! commercials, a group of guys saying Whassup?! to their friends repeatedly. A concept that could have easily failed, however, these commercials struck a chord with people by making them laugh and reciting the phrase to all their friends, transforming this into one of the most successful buzz campaigns ever known. The remarkable button. What could be so remarkable about car brakes that it could start a conversation? Pep Boys Auto commercial, presented two guys driving in the mountains almost running over a moose but because of their remarkable brakes they managed to stop before hitting the animal. The moose thanked them in return for using Pep Boys auto brakes. The comedic aspect to the commercial along with the remarkable product fuelled great word of mouth with consumers and employees at Pep Boys. The secrets button (both kept and revealed). How many times have you heard someone tell you: I am not supposed to tell you this, but People are curious in nature and love to talk

about secrets, by doing that they become a part of exclusive circle of people who know the secret. Withholding information or in other words rationing supply can sometimes work better than revealing it. 2.2.1.2.The elements of a good story 2 According to Rosen, one of the important elements of creating buzz is similar in some ways to good storytelling: You build suspense by withholding information and releasing it gradually. You deliver the punch line at the right point in the story. You create characters that grab the audiences imagination (Rosen 2001, p. 171). The elements Rosen has identified are examined further in the following sections. Tantalize with scarcity and mystery. Companies have often tantalized consumers by offering products of scarce resources, e.g. rare baseball cards, and/or withholding some information concerning a product resulting in a mystery surrounding that particular product. In situations like these, consumers might perceive the product to be of a higher value or importance and as a result they have a stronger urge to obtain the product.

2 This chapter draws upon chapter eleven in the book The Anatomy of Buzz (Rosen, 2001)Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 21

An important concept to keep in mind when trying to create buzz by using the mystery hook, the company does not just spread word of mouth but rather it focuses on withholding information and then releasing it gradually over time. In addition there has to be some underlying interest in these products to begin with, otherwise they would not attract attention. These methods are highly effective in generating buzz since people get more excited about products that are unobtainable or mysterious, further resulting in word of mouth diffusion. Build anticipation. Good stories always contain a strong element of anticipation. Using this approach, marketers strive to whet peoples appetites in order to get them talking and thus build up anticipation. Here you wont get very far by withholding essential information. Through a series of well-timed non-traditional marketing efforts such as the product placement of the BMW Z3 roadster in the movie GoldenEye, BMW managed to draw attention to their distinctively looking sports car and build up an incredible anticipation before the actual launch date. The placement in the James Bond movie had the perfect premises for a sneak preview of the car to the world. Before the movie was released, BMW ran exclusive private screenings of the film to somewhere around 40,000 of its customers that became a huge success and made those customers feel exclusive. These people were highly likely to tell their friends about what they had seen among the first in the world exclusively, both the new

James Bond film and the new BMW. Sneak preview to highly influential opinion leaders (Mega-Hubs). The preview screenings BMW held in the previous section were for regular folks that serve as influencers among their friends and others within their local community. There are also people that are considered to be highly influential opinion leaders, members of the press, celebrities, politicians, that can reach millions of people through mass media and influence their actions, e.g. Oprah Winfrey. Go beyond the obvious. If you want to surprise people in order for them to start talking about your product with others, you may want to think about going beyond the obvious modes of communications with consumers. The downside to it is that you often have to work with people who are not under your control and therefore a lot of uncertainty can come with this territory. However, if done correctly, the results can be exceptional. For example, Jay Leno included the Z3 Roadster in a skit in his Tonight Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 22 Show and before the show the people at BMW had no idea of how he would incorporate the car into his show or even what he would say. In the end it worked out fine and in the skit Bond penetrated the studio in the car in a magnificent fashion, resulting in increasing buzz levels surrounding the car. Take people behind the scenes. As has been established before in this paper, human beings are curious creatures and have a great need for information and knowledge. Having inside information, knowing how things work and why they are done in a certain way, can give us a

feeling of being backstage. The feeling of being in the loop, prompts us to share this exclusive knowledge and excitement with others. A good example of this is footage from behind the scenes of an upcoming motion picture that may or may not be "leaked" on the Internet, this gives film enthusiasts often a spectacular view of the production behind the scenes that can further entice them into theaters when the film is eventually released. Be a little outrageous. Present time noise level is astonishingly high, people are easily distracted by the overload of information they encounter every day. Hughes has already established above the fact that outrageous stories always work, so they have actually a better chance of being heard than quiet ones. When Demi Moore posed nude and pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair, it became the talk of town and generated a lot of buzz. However, if that stunt would simply be repeated with another actress you should not expect much since a part of buzz generation is the uniqueness of the message. Give them a hero. Buzz spreads faster when a story has a main character as a focal point. Would you consider the factors that caused so much buzz among women and especially teenage girls surrounding the movie Titanic to be special effects, story or cinematography? Guess again! They were all talking about Leonardo DiCaprio. An efficient way of jumpstarting a buzz is just connecting a person to a product. 2.2.2. Criticism and misconceptions

As with all theory and practice there is always more than just one side to a story. There is some criticism and common misconceptions concerning buzz marketing and WOM in general, which need clearing up before buzz marketing can be fully understood and how it works to reap its full benefits.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 23 2.2.2.1. Shill/stealth marketing This is a type of WOM marketing in which marketers hire actors to spread the word about your store/product to other people, in order to influence them in passing that information further along. These people are then economically motivated to spread buzz about the brand and cannot be considered to be unbiased or even credible. The scooter maker Vespa, for example, hired models to drive Vespas to popular nightclubs and tell people about the Vespa. This type of marketing is regarded to be unethical by many consumers, since the identity of the persons sharing the comments is hidden (O'Leary & Sheehan, 2008). As mentioned before, the ethical code of WOMMA maintains that this kind of behavior is not accepted by their members and should not be practiced by ethical marketers. 2.2.2.2. Measurability It has been criticized that buzz marketing lacks measurability and therefore marketers have no indication of the effects/results of their marketing activities. Even though this was the case

earlier on it isn't so anymore, buzz metrics are improving every day and some useful models and tools already exist to measure its impact. The methods include online tracking of buzz via specific Web pages; pre- and post-qualitative and quantitative surveys; or measure the equivalents of media column inches and Gross Rating Points (GRP) (Allard, 2006). 2.2.2.3. Common myths about buzz marketing 3 In her famous article The Buzz on Buzz, Rene Dye examined the marketing practices of more than 50 companies and found out that buzz not only happens by chance but rather it can be created through various methods. Furthermore, her research shows that managers are affected by five common misconceptions about the buzz phenomenon. MYTH 1: Only outrageous or edgy products are buzzworthy Everyone can think of a buzz-driven product, e.g. Tamagotchi digital pets or Viagra. These two examples lie on completely different ends of the spectrum, Tamagotchi being at that time a technologically edgy product that allowed users to keep a digital pet with everyday needs like feeding, cleaning up, or playing games with your pet; Viagra being a pharmaceutical

3 This chapter draws upon the article The Buzz on Buzz(Dye, 2000)Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 24

outrageous product that sparked a lot of buzz due to its premise as a drug to help people with erectile dysfunctions, but came popular even among those who did not actually need it. These products had other things in common, besides the buzz factor, and that was the fact, they were unique and innovative products that helped fuel the word of mouth. Not every product is a good candidate for buzz marketing, but managers can assess the products possibilities to generate buzz from two criteria: uniqueness and visibility. Products have to have something unique to their aspect, whether it is in look, functionality, ease of use, or price. The other possibility for products to stand out is if they are highly visible. A good example that combines both these factors could be Apples iPhone, which at the time of launch was unique in look and functionality, and was also highly visible since others easily noticed it from early adopters using the phone. However, products do not have to include both aspects to be eligible buzz candidates. MYTH 2: Buzz just happens The general belief is that buzz only happens by chance, and not through carefully managed marketing programs. The truth is that marketing managers have many tactics they can assemble in just the right sequence to generate and sustain buzz. Dyes research identified five powerful tactics that can be used for buzz generation. Seed the vanguard. Some customers can be identified as vanguards, a leader or trendsetter,

who have better chances of shaping public opinion. Managers are increasingly recognizing that getting their products into the hands of vanguards can pay off exponentially in consumer response. Ration supply. It is in peoples nature to want something they cannot have. When BMW launched its Z3 Roadster, which James Bond drove in the movie GoldenEye, they offered a special 007 limited edition through the prestigious Neiman Marcus luxury catalogue. There it was featured as one of the top Christmas gifts. The twenty cars in stock were sold within few hours and at the request of Neiman Marcus, BMW increased its offer to a hundred cars. By Christmas the catalogue had about 6,000 names on a waiting list (Rosen, 2001).Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 25 Exploit icons to get buzz. An effective tactic companies use in order to trigger buzz is to use celebrities to endorse their products. Celebrities can be highly influential and one might say that Nikes brand owes its success to icons like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Tap the power of lists. Lists are used to a great extent in many industries where they serve as information for bewildered consumers who do not know where to focus their attention. If companies know how lists are compiled they can try to develop or improve their product so they have a higher probability of succeeding on a list. By focusing on improving some aspects

of their services, universities can affect its position on annual lists. Applications to a particular institution can dramatically increase or decrease as a result of its position on the lists. Nurture the roots. This strategy focuses on establishing and extending product loyalty through early adopters, which usually can have a great influence on non-users. When HarleyDavidson was on the brink of bankruptcy, they established and sponsored an owners group called Harley Owner's Group (HOG). This was an inexpensive way to tap into the loyalty of Harley owners, which perceive the ownership of a Harley as a true American identity and value of freedom. The HOG group has grown exponentially since then and as a result the company has been financially secured. Not all these tactics are relevant for every product, instead managers decide on which tactics to use and in what order. Generally, seeding the vanguard and rationing the supply are used first to foster exclusivity, while using icons would usually come at a later stage through a mass-marketing campaign. MYTH 3: The best buzz-starters are your best customers The first idea that marketers usually come to think of is to approach opinion leaders from within the target market community. This can often be a crucial mistake since the best vanguards might not be sitting in front of you but instead they might be found from a counterculture. For instance, when it was a relatively unknown brand, Absolut Vodkas target

market were married middle-aged men in the suburbs. Instead, they focused on the gay community in San Francisco and buzz diffused almost instantly to other cultures. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 26 MYTH 4: To profit from buzz, you must act first and fast Copycat companies can also benefit greatly from a buzz that is generated by trendsetting firms. By entering buzz markets later than trendsetters, those companies neither have to invest time nor money in expensive product developments. This is especially well fitting in the cosmetics industry where innovative individuals might come up with a trendy product, e.g. Hard Candy nail polish. When Hollywood icons started to adopt it, major cosmetic companies were quick to move in and launch their own similar line of nail polish. MYTH 5: The media and advertising are needed to create buzz Media and advertising can help to fuel the flames of buzz, but involving them too early can undermine the efforts altogether. Overexposure of a product might result in deterring vanguards from products they otherwise would have embraced. 2.2.3. Viral marketing With the proliferation of the Internet, buzz marketing has been taken into new and interesting directions over the years as marketers work hard on harnessing this dynamic medium (Salzman, Matathia, & O'Reilly, 2003). Dr. Ralph Wilson defines viral marketing to be "any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's

exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions" (Wilson, 2000). One of the pioneers of viral marketing was the Web-based free-mail provider Hotmail that branded all outgoing mail from their users with a simple message to sign up for a free account, within 18 months they had recruited 12 million subscribers with a very limited marketing budget (McConnell & Huba, 2003). Today, viral marketing is not only seen as email promotion, even though many still conceive it that way, but now the term also encompasses branded Internet material, such as YouTube videos, or websites that consumers enjoy sharing with their friends via digital platforms. This can actually be considered as digital buzz marketing since it is fundamentally similar in trying to encourage consumers to pass product-related information among themselves and their friends. Many analysts believe Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 27 viral marketing works best when it is developed as a part of an overall marketing strategy (Salzman, Matathia, & O'Reilly, 2003).Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 28 3. Research design In this chapter, a description of the research design and development is made along with what methods were applied in the thesis.

The authors' interest in the telecommunication market on one hand, and the strategy managers use to promote their products in this particular market on the other hand, were the main driving forces for this topic choice. In addition, the suspicion that word of mouth-, viral- or buzz marketing was being applied intentionally, or unintentionally with other more common methods. To investigate whether the method of using buzz marketing in this market was relevant, an informal interview was conducted with Hrannar Ptursson, the PR manager of Vodafone in Iceland, the results from which justified continuing the research. In fact he pointed out that Vodafone had recently launched a brand or a subsidiary that is to be promoted mostly by word of mouth and buzz marketing. As already stated, the main objective is to investigate whether buzz marketing exists in the Icelandic telecommunication market followed by a subset of questions to examine whether managers are using buzz intentionally or not. Furthermore, it needs to be determined whether they are monitoring or measuring buzz or WOM in any way. The best way to achieve those objectives is to conduct interviews with the individuals most likely to know the answers to these questions. The benefits of such interviews is that the interviewees have the opportunity of elaborating further on their answers, which can lead to a deeper understanding of the

ideology or procedures on the market (Flick, 2006). The theoretical approach that is used is the snapshot approach, or analysis of state and process at the time of the investigation in a defined market. The choice of data collection is based on the most intuitive and efficient way of gathering high quality data. According to Flick (2006), an example of a snapshot approach might be to collect different manifestations of an expertise, which exists in a particular field at the time of the research in interviews and compare them to one another. This being the reason why the snapshot approach was the most suitable and was chosen. The question of quantitative versus qualitative research is one of the questions to be asked when starting a project like this (Flick, 2006).Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 29 The first step was a literature review. Several forms of literature were suggested for a research and among them were theoretical literature on the topic of the study (Flick, 2006). Also, empirical literature on earlier research in the field of study or similar fields, methodological literature on how to conduct the research and how to use the chosen methods. No previous research on buzz marketing could be found in the Icelandic market and thus only a limited amount of literature was explored. The authors read through numerous articles and books related to the subject matter. In the theoretical chapter the main sources are from Mark Hughes, BUZZMARKETING from 2005,

and Emanuel Rosen who wrote the book The Anatomy of Buzz in 2001 and then again a revision of that book, The Anatomy of Buzz revisited from 2009. Many interesting articles were explored out of which, The Buzz on Buzz by Ren Dye from 2000 stood out. The advantage of quantitative research is that it is usually easier to get sufficient amount of participants and relatively easy to generate hypothesis. So the decision to continue with the snapshot approach is therefore justified. An important limitation of the quantitative research is the lack of opportunity to approach the subject with open questions. If regular consumers would have to give their opinion on the existence of buzz within the telecommunication market, their knowledge would have to be extensive on the subject. That might be a possible approach, but certainly not the most efficient one. Additionally, the possibility of interviewing all the marketing managers in this market, which are only a few, can give results with a deeper understanding of the subject. That is why the chosen approach is qualitative research. Qualitative research gives numerous advantages that suit the subject, and with open, semistructured questions, it grants the possibility of discovering new knowledge and also gives the possibility of reacting on the interviewee's answers with counter-questions. It is also important to look at the size of the market or the number of individuals that cover more or less the whole market (Flick, 2006). When the possibility exists to reach all or the majority of

those that are responsible for all the marketing activity on the telecommunication market in only four to six phone calls, the advantage is obvious. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 30 All research methods have some disadvantages and in most cases, it is dependent on the subject. One of the disadvantages of qualitative research is the possibility that the individuals on the market are not willing or able to give an interview. There can be many underlying reasons for this. High level of competition can clearly be one if the company is afraid that delicate information gets passed to the competition. As a part of a qualitative research, there are several types of open-ended interviews (Flick, 2006). The semi-structured interviews are widely used in qualitative research; the interest in this kind of interviews has been linked to the expectation that open designed interview situations are more likely to express the subjects viewpoint than in a standardized interview or a questionnaire. Semi-structured interview was thus the chosen method, rather than sending out a questionnaire. This would able the authors to follow up on the respondents answers, in order to obtain more information and get a better understanding of the situation. Interview permits open-ended study of the topic and allow the person who is interviewed to put his or her own words on the topic (Gall, Gall & Borg, 2007).

The disadvantage here is when the interviewees are not willing to participate and/or the amount of interviewees is not sufficient, it is not possible to continue the research. In addition, it is more difficult to interpret and generate clear hypothesis within the field of qualitative researches. Interviews have their limitations, they are difficult to standardize and cannot be anonymous so the respondents must reveal their identities to the interviewer. Other disadvantages of using such interviews are for example the amount of time it takes, especially when meeting people from different places. Also, for several reasons, it can be difficult to find people who are willing to be interviewed. As mentioned interviews are not anonymous, they take time and are not a part of the job or role of the person interviewed. By using interviews rather than surveys, the number of interviewed persons is much lower than the number of people answering questionnaires. Instead of the higher amount of answers, the interviews are supposed to provide deeper understanding. What kind of qualitative method is to be chosen is in this case controlled primarily by scenarios in the industry. For example, the fact that only one manager can be asked at a time because two competing managers or more are probably not willing to neither share a room in Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 31 a focus group nor share information on their marketing methods. That is the reason why the

method of semi-structured interview was chosen and it is the most effective method when the aim is giving the interviewee a slack to elaborate on the subject without losing track of the goal (Flick, 2006). 3.1. Selecting interviewees and the interview process Since the structure of the Icelandic telecommunication market includes few companies, and therefore only a handful of marketing managers within those companies, it was decided to send all of them a formal interview request by email, proposing a two week time frame where the interviews were to take place. One of the weaknesses of this method is the uncertainty that some, or even all, may refuse to participate. After an informal interview with the PR manager of Vodafone, which helped in developing the interview guide, the authors got the perception that the marketing managers would accept interviews. Quickly thereafter, an immediate answer was received from the first and a date was decided. The second and third interviews were also booked after a positive response to the first e-mail request. The remaining two interviews were more difficult to establish, firstly in finding who was responsible for the marketing activity and secondly to secure the interview. In the end, all of the representatives of the telecommunication market in Iceland accepted to grant interviews, which were then conducted successfully. Prior to interviewing, an interview guide was prepared and questions for the interviews were

piloted on an individual familiar with the industry that had a potential to improve the interview guide. In addition, piloting gave an opportunity to discover more valid counterquestions to extend the input even further. All of the interviews were telephone-interviews since the individuals in question are located in Iceland, as opposed to the authors residing in Denmark. The telephone-interviews are different from the personal interviews, because they are only based on oral presentation, a dialogue where the interviewer and the interviewed person do not see each other. Therefore, facial expressions cannot be interpreted, but on the other hand being more anonymous can lead to more honest answers (Flick, 2006). Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 32 In the coding and extraction of data from the interviews, the authors were partly inspired by grounded theory (Flick, 2006). That is open-minded in order to extract all important information from the interview and not only what directly relates to the thesis research questions. First, the interviews were accurately transcribed in Icelandic from the recorded files and then translated to English. Thereafter, all points of interest were written down and categorized by subjects that were then used in analysing the interviews. Summary of the research design: Research approach Qualitative Research methodology Snapshot approach, analysis of state and process at the

time of the investigation Data gathering method Semi-structured interview Method administered through Telephone interviews Qualitative approach used Grounded theory inspired Number of interviews 5 (spanning from 30 to 60 minutes each) 3.2. Tools used in the research process In the beginning, the authors decided on some work procedures in order to increase their efficiency and performance. A number of tools were tested beforehand and chosen if they suited the purpose. For initial brainstorming, research and idea visualization the program Mind Manager from Mindjet was used, which is specifically designed for those tasks. Google wave, a collaborative tool that allows many individuals to work in the same document at the same time, was used to collaborate all writing efforts and storing the thesis allowing both authors to work within the same document simultaneously, even within the same sentence. Dropbox, an online backup and file sync and sharing solution, to store all data online so that both authors could have access to all documents with comments and also used as an online backup tool.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 33 VoIP telephone, Voice-Over Internet Protocol, computer program that allows calls over the

Internet on landline rates, with the possibility of recording the conversations; Skype is a perfect example of such a tool. This helped a lot in the interview process, both with timesaving from recording and also keeping costs down for the telephone interviews. Digital transcription audio player software, Express Scribe, was used in the process of transcribing the interviews, where handling the audio along with the transcription process worked like a charm and most definitely saved a lot of time. 3.3. Data gathering and analysis 3.3.1. Secondary data collection To explore the study settings, focusing on the telecommunication market and these five companies, before the actual findings are explained an overview of the telecommunications market and the main modes of marketing communications in Iceland is needed. Overview of the telecommunication market The telecommunication market in Iceland has been changing substantially during the last years, where new companies have been established, mergers have taken place and in addition subsidiaries have also been established. This change can in many ways be related to new technological changes in the product and service, and thus opportunities arise for new companies to enter this market. As a result of these changes the competition has increased and the market has reached a stage of maturity. Judging from the amount of advertisements that consumers receive from the companies on

this market, it can clearly be seen that the companies put a lot of effort into their marketing activities. The need to be visible and constantly having to remind consumers, is an indication that this market is highly competitive and the companies are most likely trying to gain more market share, or at least defending whatever they currently have. Capacent Gallup conducted a survey among marketing managers of the 400 largest advertisers in Iceland on the outlook for the advertising market. These findings were presented in the beginning of March 2010 at Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 34 an annual conference of marketers and advertisers, which can be seen in figure 4. It came as a pleasant surprise to the authors that among the top 10 companies that were perceived to be the best marketers on the Icelandic market as a whole, the biggest telecommunications companies lined up in the top 3 spots (Appendix 7). The companies that are operating on this market are Sminn hf., Og fjarskipti ehf. (Vodafone), IP fjarskipti ehf. (Tal) and Nova ehf. Sminn is by far the largest and was formerly owned by the state before privatization. Vodafone is the second largest operator and these two largest companies both operate and compete on landline services market, Internet market and the mobile phone services market. At the end of year 2007 Nova began operating mobile phone service, and then in 2008 Tal and the previous operating company SKO merged. Nova has

gained a share of the market through their unique strategy and approach to the market. Their strategy was to give customers that join their network free calls if they were calling others within that network. Nova's market share increased and this operation seems to work to their advantage, although the question is for how long and if and how the competing companies will react upon this. Since the telecommunication market is the focus of this thesis it is relevant to look at the market composition. The establishment Post and Telecommunications Administration (PTA) gathers and analyses all information and data relating to the Icelandic telecommunication market, their principal role is to ensure economical, secure, and accessible telecommunications and postal services for all Icelanders in the modern information society. According to a report from PTA, which a large proportion of the secondary data comes from, most of the turnover comes from the mobile phone services and therefore it is safe to assume that to be the core in this market. By midyear 2009 the market share of the companies operating on this market was as follows: Sminn 48,1%, Vodafone 32,6%, Nova 13,9% and Tals share of the market was 5,4%. (Post- and telecom administration of Iceland, 2009). Valdi&Freyr is a new company on the Icelandic telecommunication market, founded in the beginning of 2010 and is a subsidiary of Vodafone in Iceland. Shortly thereafter, Ring was

founded which is a subsidiary of Sminn. There seems to be a high level of competition on the telecommunication market, and to some extent aggressive. The larger companies are creating subsidiary companies that focus more on younger target groups; leading them into direct competition with companies like Nova and Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 35 Tal. Their approaches are dependent on the position and strategy that is needed to gain a share of the market. External market analyses can affect the chosen position and thereby chosen strategies. The market has been oligopolistic so the threats of segment rivalry have two aspects to consider. The first is that since Sminn and Vodafone have been on the market for a relatively long time and have positioned themselves well in the minds of the consumer, and the fact that Vodafone is a global brand. Also, Sminn was the first telecommunication company on the market and was initially owned by the state. These facts can make the entrance hard and create a need for a differentiation in offerings for new rivals because of Sminns former position. The telecommunication business is a complicated market and a fast developing market and as such should make the threat of new entrants relatively small. However, at the same time it seems to be a very attractive business in Iceland since recently new companies have entered

the market. Due to the fact that there are only a few competing companies in the market, it could be assumed that an opening for a new entrant looking for a piece of the cake is highly attractive. To define the threat of substitute products the mobile service can be viewed as the primary product of the competing companies. All of the companies have similar or the same access to offer the same products even though some emphasize on special products. However, being on the market and following the new technology will at least not put them behind their future competitors. By increased competition, consumers have a wider range of product variety so the threat of buyers growing bargaining power is substantial. The threat of suppliers growing bargaining power is not important to examine except when an operator needs to buy access for example to a competitors telecommunication network. To conclude, there are no major external threats on the market and it seems to be profitable for new arrivals to enter the market to compete on different levels. The telecommunication market is a mature market according to the Industry Life Cycle curve that is used to identify it. Vodafone and Sminn are both creating subsidiaries that are more focused on young people.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 36 Main marketing communication modes in Iceland

In the survey from Capacent Gallup, which was mentioned earlier, marketing managers were asked what media they used for their marketing activities in the year 2009. From the results it can be seen that companies in general are using most of the traditional media to communicate their marketing messages, this corresponds closely to what the marketing managers of the telecommunications revealed in the interviews (Appendix 8). What is interesting about these results is that results from a similar study in Denmark are shown in comparison (Appendix 8). Even though there are many similarities between the markets there are still some interesting discrepancies such as the difference in the use of newspapers and radio between countries, and the fact that Danes are using the Internet more than Icelanders despite the high ratio of people that have access and use the Internet on a regular basis. TV There are four players on the Icelandic TV market; out of them only three can be considered mainstream and major players in the advertising market. Furthermore, out of these three major players, two charge subscription fees and the third one doesn't and broadcasts on an open frequency. Also, it should be noted that the third one is formerly government owned and taxpayers are charged a media fee once a year that could be considered a form of subscription fee.

Radio There are currently nine radio stations operating in the Icelandic market that can be considered as mainstream stations that reach many listeners. Besides those, there are numerous secondary stations that do not have the same reach due to more niche markets or rural placements. Print There are many opportunities to get your message across in print media in Iceland, either through the three daily newspapers or through the assortment of magazines that are either published on a weekly or monthly basis. Despite the number of outlets there are two Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 37 newspapers (Frttablai & Morgunblai) that stand out of this crowd with the highest circulation and readership, thereby often being the first choice for print advertisement. Internet Iceland has always been known to quickly pick up on technology; computers and the Internet are no exception to that rule. Computer and Internet usage in Iceland is quite high, where approximately 93 percent of the total population use computers with access to the Internet and 92 percent of those connections are through high-speed connections (ADSL or other types of xDSL) (Statistics Iceland, 2010, Table 11.2 & 11.3). Furthermore, 96 percent of those who

use the Internet access it from home and 59 percent from their place of work (Statistics Iceland, 2010, Table 11.4). According to these statistics, Internet advertising has a great potential to reach the masses and the possibilities for marketers are almost endless. Environmental In a country like Iceland with a population close to 320,000, outsiders might jump to the conclusion that distances between places is not great. Quite the contrary, Icelanders usually have to commute a lot each day and a high ratio of car ownership might explain that, poor public transportations does also play a role. In an environment like this, the use and effectiveness of environmental advertisements can be quite significant. The most popular forms of environmental ads to be used in Iceland are in the forms of billboards and bus shelters. Social media Social media is an electronic media where participants can produce, publish, control, critique, rank, and interact with online content as a result. Blogs and micro-blogs can be included, e.g. Twitter.com; video sharing, e.g. Youtube.com; bookmarking applications, e.g Digg.com; wikis, forums, opinion sites, as well as social networks. It is the power of interaction that attracts consumers and allures marketers to this space. Social network is a webbased

community designed to promote interaction, discussion, and sharing of content among its users e.g. Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn (Giannini, 2010). When social media comes to discussion Facebook is the one that is most frequently mentioned, which should not be as a surprise since it is the most popular of these socialAron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 38 networks, with more than 400 million users. Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers (Facebook, 2010). "Social media and its various and growing iterations present a unique opportunity for marketers to find and communicate with consumers in ways that are faster and more personal than ever before. However, the great challenge within this opportunity is to be certain that you are reaching the right audience, through the right channel, at the right time, and keeping up with the changing social media habits of your target consumers" (Giannini, 2010, p.168-169). 3.3.1. Primary data collection Interviews To get the most holistic perception of Icelandic telecommunication market it is important to interview the people that are the actual decision makers. The authors of this thesis managed to secure interviews with all of the most influential people that are responsible for marketing activity in this market. They are Baldvina Snlaugsdttir, Marketing Manager of Vodafone,

Iceland; Sigrn sta Einarsdttir, Manager Talsmafjelag Valda&Freys; Marketing Manager of Tal; Gurn Einarsdttir Marketing Manager of Nova and Gumundur Halldr Bjrnsson, Marketing Specialist of Sminn. All these participants where best suitable to answer the questions the authors set out to answer in this research. All were more than willing to contribute to the project and were very honest and open in their answers and gave between 30 to 60 minutes of their valuable time. Little or no changes were made to the interview guide during the interview phase, which was probably due to good pilot testing with the PR manager of Vodafone, Hrannar Ptursson, and good preparation before that. The telephone interviews were recorded with a computer program, conducted between March 17 and March 29, 2010, and can be found translated in appendix 1. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 39 3.4. Findings and interpretation To be able to interpret some of the following factors it is important to examine how the managers look at the target groups on this market and market segments. Since two of the companies have been on this market for a long time their target group has a wider age range, and have for example also moved into targeting businesses more than the others. This was, for example, revealed in the interview with Vodafone where they mentioned launching the

campaign Fuck the system (Icelandic: Sktt me kerfi), featuring a heavy metal punk band, that was aimed at the younger part of their target group. They were successful in reaching that target group, but the side effect was that the older people were not so happy with this campaign and some of them even switched to another operator. In this campaign, from the year 2007, Vodafone was promoting that you could select five of your friends to call for free despite being a customer with another operator, in other words independent of which network they belonged to. Then the manager from Valdi&Freyr explains that this is the reason for the existence of the company, which is Vodafone's subsidiary, or to be more focused on the target group 15-25 years, being able to customize the message to that group and be aggressive without losing other customers. With aggressive messages the likelihood of getting through is higher, the manager of Valdi&Freyr explains in the interview. Furthermore, the manager explains how this begun with the existence of Nova's campaign free within the system or 0 kr. from Nova to Nova. Nova managed to acquire numerous customers as a result of that campaign, but the manager of Vodafone claims that the consequences of this action is that consumers have become more price oriented and even requiring everything for free nowadays, this is especially relevant with the youngest demographic. To identify this group in the process when

establishing Valdi&Freyr, they conducted a research that revealed that this is the group that downloads their music from the Internet and 50 percent of 15-25 years old do not listen to the radio and half of them don't even turn it on. They also claim that they are environmentally conscious but when it comes to classifying the garbage or disposing of used batteries, the environmental philosophy becomes less important. In a similar way, Gumundur from Sminn explains why Ring, their subsidiary, was founded, it also gives them the possibility of sending out strong messages more focused on this group.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 40 Media advertising Most of the interviewee's defined traditional media as television, radio, print media; newspapers and magazines, environmental advertisements; big signs and bus shelters, and web-banners on popular web-pages e.g. www.mbl.is and www.visir.is. The majority agrees that no media stands out in terms of usage with the exception of television, and all media are being utilized in triggering buzz. TV TV advertising is generally being utilized by all the telecommunications companies, especially the large campaigns which deem the power of mainstream TV very strong when building up image. One company has begun using shorter ads, than they did before, and airing them more frequently instead. However, one company is an exception, when it comes to using

mainstream broadcasters since their strategy does not rely on TV and mass media. Instead they have focused on using one niche station that reaches their target market directly, major players' subsidiary that only broadcasts music videos. Radio Four out of five telecommunications companies are using radio for advertising but some mention that it is mostly being used along other media, e.g. TV, and is considered as back-up or follow-up reminders for their campaigns. Therefore, radio cannot be considered as a first choice for these companies in order to send out marketing messages. The fifth company's strategy is not to use mass media; with respect to radio they are confident in this strategy after having discovered through research that half of their target group does not listen to radio at all. Print Most of the telecommunications companies are using print advertisements to some extent and most of them name the main newspapers without mentioning any specific magazines that they use. There is also some mentioning of print being used along other medium, similar to the radio discussed above, which indicates that print is not the highest priority for these Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 41 marketers. One of the large companies testifies that they made a decision to cut down on print

advertising due to expensive production costs and costly placements, this decision was taken as a result of the financial crisis that has forced companies to cut down costs. The last company, the one that doesn't use mass media, however reveals that even though they don't use this medium they made an exception when they were offered a good advertising slot in a theater program for a local college that reached their target group. Internet According to the all the interviewee's, they use the Internet considerably for advertising and it has been growing throughout the last few years. They no longer have the perception that was so rooted in the minds of marketers before, that the Internet was only seen as an untraditional advertising channel that was to be used with caution. Today, these marketers rather see the Internet as an essential part of their media selection due to its effectiveness and possibilities of reaching so many consumers in a relatively short time. The interviewee's find the many possibilities of the Internet very appealing, everything from regular web banners to games and posting their TV commercials online, and they also find it easy to measure and it is often used to achieve short-term sales. Even though most of them do not mention any one site as their main focus it is assumed that the main sites being used are the most popular ones mbl.is and visir.is, (Modernus, 2010) but they are also the most expensive ones. Therefore, it does not

come as a surprise that the one company that only targets 15-25 years old does not use those sites, but focuses instead on more niche sites that relate directly to their target group. Last but certainly not least, all the companies seem to be using Facebook to a great extent and find that advertisement placement there works great and gives good results. Environmental Environmental advertisements are being used by most of the telecommunications companies, many of them using them in creative ways to grab consumers' attention. In relation to bus shelter campaigns, they are usually bought as widespread spots around cities. The one company that doesn't rely on mass media is using bus shelters, but on a much smaller scale than is usual, only choosing spots around high schools and colleges where their target group can be approached more effectively. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 42 Social media The most common social media used in Iceland, out of those that are mentioned above, are social networks and sharing sites. In addition, the mainstream news sites allow readers to link news directly to their personal Facebook accounts or blogs. Chat-rooms/forums are also used to some extent but they might fall under the definition of social networks. One of the media most frequently mentioned in the interviews was Facebook and all

participants talked about increasing the use of Facebook in their marketing plans. The use of Facebook has many advantages according to the interviewee's and they all agreed that it was cost-effective to advertise on the site and the feedback was great. All the companies, with the exception of one, are also actively participating on Facebook with their own fan pages where they communicate with their customers and some recognized those pages as an extension of their own customer service, helping them to exchange information with customers and solve problems that might arise. There was especially one company that put an emphasis on the importance of responding to queries/requests from customers as quickly as possible, which can be extremely vital in correcting problems or misunderstandings that can result in more pleased and happier customers. The companies presence on Facebook differs between companies, from using icons/spokesperson to represent them, to being more corporate minded and using their sites as an extension of the company itself. It is pointed out that companies should be careful in not being too corporate in trying to sell the community products or service but instead they should bring something value added to their presence, e.g. in the form of competitions or service that might be exclusive to Facebook. In addition to their company's fan page, Valdi&Freyr also has special pages for their "founders", the characters of Valdi and Freyr respectively, where

they tell jokes and post photos just as normal people would do on Facebook. One important thing that also came up was that companies would have to have someone to take care of their respective fan pages because of the high visibility, instead of throwing it around people like some kind of a bastard. The growing importance of Facebook is making this part a vital one for companies that want to succeed in the Facebook community. Only one of the companies uses actual blog that is located on their website, whereas another one tried to blog but that did not work for them and they quit using it. Instead, these Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 43 companies refer to their Facebook as their blog platform. However, there seems to be an increase in the use of the micro-blog through Twitter and the companies seem to be slowly treading those paths. Only two companies are already using Twitter but the other ones see a future potential in that site and will most likely establish an account there to be ready when Twitter's popularity breaks out of the niche status it has in Iceland into the mainstream. In addition to these social media that have been mentioned above there is one medium that was frequently mentioned in the interviews, the video-sharing site YouTube. All but one company uses YouTube for publishing video advertisements. These videos are then usually posted as a link on the companies' Facebook or Twitter pages so their fans/customers can

watch the advertisement. The goal of this is not only to give customers the opportunity to watch the videos but hopefully, if they like the ad, they will distribute the video-link further to their own friends with the possibility of viral spreading over the Internet. Buzz marketing - Define In the beginning of the buzz marketing section in the interviews, the managers were asked to define buzz marketing for the telecommunication market in Iceland. The purpose was to get their idea of the concept and how much their knowledge coordinates with the theoretical writing. For the most part their definitions were very similar but in many cases the managers had difficulties to put it in words and sentences like "you get others to distribute it" and "tease before campaign to build up curiosity". This can give a hint that the definition was little bit vague and one even said that he or she was not quite sure how to define it. Also in one case, one of the managers just avoided to answer this question. However, well into the interviews all of the managers knew what it included. Sminn had the longer version but it reflects for the most part the others' definitions and here it is: "a video being leaked on the internet, often not related to any trademark in the beginning, then you try to get some discussion going," (...) "It is about achieving this, that someone would like to send it forward and let their friends

know"(...) "you do something, whether it is online or somewhere else, that gets the buzz going and the goal should, in itself, be that you reach the same amount of people as if you were using TV or radio ads or some more traditional campaign. Except with buzz, the goal is to create something that will be more positive in the minds of consumers rather than what might be created with television, radio and newspaper ads" (Appendix 3).Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 44 Buzz To find out what kind of activity could be categorized as buzz marketing, a number of questions were asked. It was important to know how all identified the definition and if it existed in this particular market in Iceland. Among the questions included was whether buzz marketing exists on the market and to name some examples of it from the telecommunication market. There were clearly a lot of examples that came to mind and many that were good examples of the subject matter. In fact one of the company claims their business model is built around buzz marketing and in order for it to work their customers dependent on low mobile phone bills are more or less dependent on spreading out the word to their friends and getting them to change phone companies, thus enabling them to call them for free. Others, especially the low price companies with the focus

on the younger generation were just trying to go under the radar and did not have big marketing budgets, so the way to spread their message across in a more creative and less expensive way was the way to proceed. The third and last category was the larger companies or Sminn and Vodafone that use buzz marketing as a part of their entire marketing mix and in many cases use it to increase the curiosity factor before a campaign. The choice of media was dependent on what goals were to be achieved, but most of the conventional media was mentioned and also many of the unconventional. Facebook was among the media that was frequently used and in many creative ways. Nova's SMSbox was one clever way of getting your customers to send text messages to customers of Nova. The box is located on the Facebook page of the customer and your friends or family can send you a message for free. However, the sender has to fill out his name and mobile phone number and then he or she will get an invitation to join Nova's network. When the company Valdi&Freyr was launched, a group of people was invited as their focus group that helped in developing the companys strategy. Within one hour of this opening party their customers doubled and this was only the result of their focus group contacting friends and family through SMS and phone calls, this can be considered a good example of buzz marketing.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 45 Interesting Campaigns

In the past years many good campaigns have been produced for the market of telecommunication in Iceland. By campaign it is defined as, one or series of marketing events that are running on some kind of media for a given amount of time. The most frequently mentioned campaigns in the interviews, and the most interesting ones from the point of view of buzz marketing are Giant Freedom (Icelandic: Risafrelsi), Fuck the system (Icelandic: Sktt me kerfi), and Essas all from Vodafone; the largest place of entertainment (Icelandic: Ststi skemmtistaur slandi) from Nova; Break-thewall and Ring campaigns from Sminn. Giant Freedom from Vodafone revolved around the message that people had Giant Freedom with their prepaid phone cards. The campaign started by planting cars that looked like they had been stepped on, in various places around the city, along with a giant note that said "sorry I stepped on your car, please call me at this number xxxxx". When people dialed this number Vodafone's staff answered and explained this new service that was about to be launched in details to each and every caller. This was then followed up by newspaper and TV advertisements showing young beautiful people as super sized giants having fun among the largest and best-known buildings in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. The campaign was quite successful and received lot of attention, not least the teaser campaign that led to many phone calls from spectators.

Another campaign by the same operator was Fuck the system, that started with rather punklooking advertisements on bus shelters with the message "Fuck the system". These advertisements were not done in the usual way as a printed poster inside the protection glass, instead large stickers with the message were put skewed on top of the protection glass which made it look like it was done by some rebels or hooligans. This triggered a lot of discussion and conscientious citizens were actually tearing the signs so that Vodafone had to employ additional people during the launch weekend to put new ones up and print triple the normal amount of posters/stickers as usual. This event grabbed the news' attention and caused a very strong reaction because the Icelandic nation is very sensitive regarding the usage of the Icelandic flag, which was used in the some of the advertisement. This campaign was then followed up by TV commercials with a punk band and the message that you could call five of your friends for free, not depending on what operator they were using. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 46 Sminn struck a chord by doing something outrageous in their Break-the-wall campaign, where it looked like they were actually breaking down a wall between their own store and Vodafone's next to it in an Icelandic shopping mall. Even though the buzz from that campaign did not live long, and considered unsuccessful by Sminn's manager, those who saw it

perceived it as well produced and a very memorable campaign. In addition, Rings overall construction of both image and campaigns is made in outrageous and hilarious ways. When Nova started in 2007, their launch campaign had the slogan the largest place of entertainment and it still is. The interesting thing about this campaign was that Nova wrapped in a whole building in fabric, where their first store is located, and people just thought that this was a new club that was opening. Just before it opened a long line of people had queued up and even taxi drivers had parked in front of the store in order to drive drunken people home. This was a successful opening party and the people showing up were mainly Nova's target group. Other campaigns managed to start a buzz that triggered word of mouth conversation were their approach with 3G Eye, where through video-calls, various places around the city can be seen and heard; Puke/candy-bags giveaways in festivals; bicycle rides around the city in a Rickshaw-cycles for free, were executed in a remarkable and unusual ways, leading to buzz spreading among delighted customers. Essas campaign Last but probably the most successful with regards to buzz marketing is the Essas campaign, which is also from Vodafone. This started out as a small campaign with a TV commercial that was supposed to run only for 2-3 weeks to promote a small Dell computer with 3G services.

When creating the TV commercial it was decided to decorated it with a small green frog that was patting the computer and saying "Who is so little and cute, is it you" [the pronunciation was along the lines of someone talking to a little child, essas more or less translates to is it you]. According to Vodafone, immediately after they started airing the commercial on TV this phrase spread remarkably, everybody was saying it. "We really lost control of it...it came alive on Facebook" said the marketing manager of Vodafone (Appendix 2). This created more buzz than anyone could have expected, and just for the fun of it Vodafone created a fan page on Facebook that now has about 21,500 fans. When Vodafone realized the buzz this campaign had triggered they extended it much further with all kinds of activities, turning this into their main campaign theme for the next two years. Recently, Vodafone won prizes in an annual Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 47 contest among marketing people, hosted by the Association of Icelandic Marketing Professionals (mark, 2010). The prize was in an open category and was rewarded for one of Essas's creative marketing activities including an eye-scanner in the fitness center World Class. In order to access their facilities you first need to have your eye scanned and normally the machine gives a message like "you have been identified". But Vodafone changed this message "Who has such beautiful eyes, essas [is it you]". People's reaction to this new

message were caught on tape with a hidden camera showing for example total strangers laughing together after having been exposed to this message, those video clips were then sent to Essas's Facebook fans. In December Vodafone made a large model of the Essas frog wearing a Santa Claus hat, people then had the opportunity of taking photos of their children or themselves to use on their Christmas greeting cards. An innocent girl, Essasa Sue from Malaysia, became famous among Icelanders and even has her own fan page on Facebook with over 4.200 fans; most of them being Icelanders that signed on as fans because of the similarity of her name to Essas. This event even made the news in Iceland, Malaysia and the British news (Hough, 2009). The marketing manager of Vodafone claims that his buzz was purely accidental and all they did was add to it when they realised what had happened. Even when they took the TV commercials with the frog off the air between Christmas and New Years, love letters from fans kept pouring in saying for example "where are you frog, I love you" and so on. "When the brand has achieved such emotional connection you know that you have come very far, and anything is possible" (Marketing manager of Vodafone, Appendix 2) Is it possible to measure buzz? All participants agreed that it was difficult to measure the isolated effects of buzz marketing.

However, taking individual events and seeing the effect of it on sales or increase in customers is possible. In the case of the SMS-box on Facebook it was possible to measure how many put this box on their page, around 5,000, and see how many messages were sent through those boxes. In general the companies are performing some kind of measurements on total Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 48 marketing activity and one of the companies even indicated that buzz marketing needed to be researched more to be measured separately. To conclude, a majority of managers on the Icelandic telecommunication market are definitely using buzz marketing, some more than others, but most of them had difficulties defining what buzz marketing is. However, when mentioning some campaigns all of them managed to think of some real life examples of buzz. The Essas's campaign was very successful and clearly there buzz marketing happened by accident in the beginning and then adding more buzz on top of it extended its lifespan. Figure 4. Buzz marketing theory vs. practice Six buttons of buzz (Hughes) The elements of a good story (Rosen) Vodafone Sminn Nova Unusual button Giant Freedom Break- the-wall Largest place of

entertainment Outrageous button Be a little outrageous Fuck the system Ring Break- the-wall Puke/candy-bags Hilarious button Essas Ring Secrets button Tantalize with scarcity and mystery Giant Freedom Build anticipation Giant Freedom Largest place of entertainment In the table above the relevant theories from Rosen and Hughes are related to actual campaigns from the companies, in order to visualize the connections between theory and practice. All media to some extent is being used on this market and most of the media is used to create buzz, either alone or associated with other media channels. The authors were very pleased with the good reactions received from the managers, who were both willing and enthusiastic during the interviews.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 49 4. Conclusion and discussion 4.1. Discussion After analysing the fundamental concepts in marketing in connection with buzz marketing and interviewing and analysing the interviews, there is an extensive amount of information

that needs to be processed. It is crucial to discuss and connect theoretical and empirical data to get an extensive overview, and hopefully the best results. Two weeks after the project started, Google Buzz, a social media product from Google, was introduced... it's like when you consider buying something then you start noticing it all around you. Why? Is the landscape changing, is social media becoming a prevailing marketing tool, is buzz marketing increasing in the world of marketing? Consumers are being confronted with an overflow of information every day that they need to process, and in addition they are being bombarded with marketing messages that many do not trust and do not even care to receive. With the advancements in information and communication technology, consumers are now taking control of how they are being marketed to, by choosing if and how they are to receive marketing messages. As for at least some groups this is very relevant as one of the marketing managers mentions. A certain group of people doesn't even turn on the radio, just downloads their music from the internet and the same goes for movies and even TV shows, so to reach this group of people through traditional media is getting harder. Reaching through the advertising clutter and finding the most efficient modes of communication with consumers has certainly become a challenge for modern marketers, now it is not so much about trying to outspend your competitors as it is to outthink them with clever marketing.

Buzz marketing has often been identified as a beacon of light in this marketing dilemma, since it offers marketers the chance of tapping into everyday conversations between consumers about products, brands or services with a more credible and trustworthy marketing message. Therefore, marketers are increasingly incorporating buzz tactics in their marketing and promotional mix to take advantage of the power of word of mouth. The choice of market was very relevant to the subject after Gallup presented figures from a survey based on a large group of marketing managers' choice for the best marketing company Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 50 in Iceland, out of the top 10 list three of those were telecommunications companies: Sminn no. 1, Vodafone no.2 and Nova no.3. This further substantiates what the authors had heard about the telecommunication companies being one of the biggest spenders on the advertising market. The telecommunications industry therefore seemed suitable for looking into how buzz marketing works and if it is being used at all in Iceland. Because of the almost homogenous product, companies differentiate from one another through service, price and brand building. Since companies in this industry are known to be among the biggest spenders on the Icelandic advertising market, looking at their marketing communications would fit perfectly. By

looking at their marketing communications, it can be identified whether elements of buzz marketing were apparent in this market. Gumundur from Sminn claimed that the industry was in the mature stage, and according to Kotler (2009) companies in this stage of the ILC have trouble with gaining more market share due to market saturation. One way for the companies to gain more market share is to emphasize on acquiring market share from other companies, e.g. by focusing on niche target groups such as is being done in the case of Ring and Valdi&Freyr. Many questions came to the authors minds when it was being considered to combine the telecommunication industry and buzz marketing in a research project. To be able to research buzz in this market, the authors agreed that one would have to start with finding out whether it exists or not. In just one research project it would not be possible to research the existence along with the effectiveness of buzz marketing, which would require digging much deeper into the effectiveness of buzz tactics and could in itself become a subject of another thesis. Some of the interviews that were conducted lasted up to as much as one hour and the information generated from them was very beneficial for the purpose of this study, even obtaining information on very relevant things that were not on the agenda but helped shed a light on many important and relevant matters.

In the research design it was very beneficial to do a pilot interview guide to figure out whether the authors were on the right track and would also help streamline the questions. It was generally very beneficial to use the methodology steps as a guide in building the research design, which also made the research more efficient. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 51 The authors took full advantage of information and communication technologies available to them, including online collaboration tools, file storage, VoIP telephony, brainstorming programs, etc. These tools all proved to be crucial to the process by saving a lot of time by not having to constantly meet in person, not to mention the efficiency of being able to work within the same file simultaneously. The changes in the definition of the concept marketing have changed over the years, or since 1935, so there is no wonder that defining word of mouth (WOM) and buzz marketing might be hard and perhaps too comprehensive in the beginning. In order to get a better oversight of the topic matter it was necessary to relate it to the fundamental concepts of marketing and the marketing mix, this helped in finding out how WOM and buzz marketing are derived from these basics. A significant change was quickly discovered in relation to the promotional part of the marketing mix, that being the establishment of the new term marketing

communications that is being used more consistently among marketing academics and practitioners. The term of marketing communications was a bit hard to grasp in the beginning but after having found out the relation, and how it encompasses more of the changing communication landscape, it is hard to let go of. To begin with, the marketing mix serves as a toolkit for marketers and within that the promotion part, or the marketing communications, is a tool that is used to communicate promotional messages to consumers about brands, products or services. Marketing communications are further divided into personal and impersonal modes of communication, where WOM fits into personal communication. Then within WOM lies buzz marketing, however that is a concept that transcends the boundaries of personal communication by employing almost all media channels in order to trigger buzz, according to both theory and practice. Even though some differences may exist between viral, buzz and WOM campaigns, these terms are often used interchangeably and are fundamentally based on the same insight that word of mouth connections between consumers are one of the most powerful media that marketers can tap into. The theory defines buzz in a similar way, about promotion of a company or its products and services through initiatives conceived and designed to get people

and the media talking positively about that company, product or service. Steve Douty, former vice president of marketing at Hotmail, perhaps came up with one of the most insightful Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 52 description on the difference between WOM and buzz marketing "It's word of mouth on steroids" (Rosen, 2001, p. 20). Managers of the telecommunication market had hard times defining the concept of buzz marketing in one sentence. That can perhaps reflect that the use of buzz is too coincidental and often happens by accident in the Icelandic market. Buzz theory vs. findings Hughes and Rosen's theories can easily be related to one another and to the empirical findings. For example, both Vodafone's Giant Freedom, with cars crushed by giants, and Nova's launch campaign, wrapping a building up in cloth and advertising the largest club opening, built anticipation by doing something unusual and going beyond obvious means of advertising. Those campaigns managed to start a buzz that triggered word of mouth conversation. Additionally, Nova's approach with 3G Eye, Puke/candy-bags and bicycles were executed in a remarkable and unusual ways, leading to buzz spreading among delighted customers. Finally yet importantly, Sminn struck a chord by doing something outrageous in their Break-the-wall campaign, even though the buzz from that campaign did not live long

and deemed unsuccessful by Sminn's manager, those who saw it perceived it as well produced, and a very memorable campaign. Given the premises of Valdi&Freyr, this company can almost be considered a schoolbook example in the use of buzz marketing in the Icelandic market. However, their business concept, of offering free credit to customers by allowing advertising messages to be sent to their phones might not endure on this market since it has not been tested or even used in this market. At least in short-term, this concept doesn't add up but it might do so in the long run given that they accumulate enough advertisers to their program. When relating the theories of using opinion-leaders (or mega/social-hubs) it seems that this practice is not much used in the Icelandic telecommunications market, this was confirmed in the interviews since nobody mentioned those tactics directly. However, celebrities can be considered opinion-leaders but since the companies themselves sponsor them they are usually not perceived as non-commercially motivated and therefore are not unbiased. In launching their service, Valdi&Freyr approached a small group of people that were most definitely representative of their target group and most likely thought of as opinion-leaders within their Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 53 social network. It is therefore safe to assume that this tactic for Valdi&Freyr can be considered as the use of opinion-leaders to trigger buzz effectively, since within an hour after

launch their customer base had doubled, only by the power of that groups WOM. Some of the managers claim that they include buzz marketing in their marketing plans or as part of their marketing mix. The amount of buzz was very different and often used as a "teaser" in the beginning of campaigns to get some attention and trying to break through the noise of the traditional media. A "teaser" is being referred to as the beginning of the Giant Freedom that was mentioned earlier. In fact, only one of the managers claimed not to use buzz in their marketing plans and the authors of this thesis did not find anything from that company that could be considered as buzz. One of the most surprising discoveries was how Vodafone's Essas resembles one of the most famous buzz campaigns of all times, Budweiser's Whassup?! campaign. Like Whassup?!, the whole campaign is built mainly on one word or catchphrase that people picked up and put to use in their normal language and by doing that it triggered a lot of the buzz. Other similarities are that these campaigns' commercials became surprisingly popular and the marketers ability to build on top of the campaign after discovering really how popular it was. In both cases, the commercials creator made the catchphrase even though in the case of Whassup?! the director and the creator of the catchphrase tried to get someone else to do the acting. Both were very successful campaigns, in the sense of getting consumers to participate in the

act and that it lasted for at least two years. Perhaps it is possible to draw a learning experience from these campaigns. The good and original catchphrases that are easy to adopt are one of the best way to use buzz marketing and by pushing Mr. Hughes' hilarious button it is even more likely to succeed. One of the myths regarding buzz is that it just happens automatically without any push from marketers. However, the reality is that marketers have many tools in their arsenal to influence the buzz about brands, products or services. Not all tactics are relevant for every product, instead marketers decide on which tactics to use and in what order. When looking at using celebrities to endorse company's product, the Icelandic telecommunications market has numerous campaigns that use icons or celebrities as a buzz trigger. Vodafone's campaigns using a famous actor/comedian, Ptur Jhann, and the Essas frog, to other celebrities like Jn Gnarr and Auddi & Sveppi by Sminn, to DJ Nova, these campaigns are all representative Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 54 of this celebrity endorsement that is considered to be very effective for buzz diffusion. However, this tactic is usually considered at a later stage in a marketing plan, through massmarketing campaign after initial awareness tactics have taken place, like rationing supply and seeding grassroots. One thing that struck the authors was that when interviewees were asked about untraditional

media, no one mentioned using trendsetters or opinion-leaders that might spur product adoption with innovators or early adopters of products. This came as a surprise given the theory that had been examined beforehand, which puts a lot of effort into utilizing these opinion-leaders in order to generate buzz about products. It was mentioned in the interviews that some companies saw their use of the social networking site Facebook as a tool acting as an extension of their customer service center. By using Facebook in that way consumers gain access to a new communication platform where they can actually praise the company or even vent their dissatisfaction with their products or services. Usually companies try to stay clear of the latter, which often transforms into negative word of mouth (NWOM), but it has been shown that NWOM does not necessarily have to have a negative effect for companies. By addressing those dissatisfied consumers swiftly and in a satisfactory way, hopefully resulting in resolving their dissatisfaction or problems, companies show an active participation and willingness to assist consumers with all matters needed. It has also been shown that when dissatisfied customers are helped they can usually turn out to become the most loyal customers that a company can get. In addition, by addressing such matters online other people that might have the same problems could actually find solutions there and their attitude might be changed.

Is it perhaps possible that the best way, or one of the ways, to find what can start a buzz for a product is by using trial-and-error? This could be done trying out a bunch of small advertisements and publishing them to see which one of them takes off and triggers buzz among consumers, then you could perhaps identify the elements of a successful advertisement to try replicate them again for a different campaign. The marketing manager of Valdi&Freyr stated that their strategy of using buzz marketing solely had not been tried before on this market and therefore they consider this as a trial-and-error, trying out different things and still having the leverage to cancel them and replace if they see that they are not getting through to consumers.Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 55 When it comes to measuring the effect of buzz marketing as mentioned none of the companies on the Icelandic telecommunications market tried to measure it except imperfect measurement as in increased sales or in the case of Nova with the SMS box, where it was possible to see how many sent and how many have this application on their Facebook page. This is in line with what most of the theory implies, that it is possible to measure buzz activity but only on the Internet. 4.1. Conclusion In this thesis the focus of the research was buzz marketing and to investigate whether it exists

on the Icelandic telecommunications market. After analysing the interviews and comparing the results to the theory there are many points from the theory behind buzz marketing that do correspond to what companies on the telecommunication market in Iceland practice. In addition, there were examples of all the major elements from within the theory of buzz. In light of these findings, it is possible to conclude that buzz marketing exists on the Icelandic telecommunication market. When examining whether marketing managers are including buzz marketing as an important element in their marketing plans, the authors found evidence that all companies except for one employ buzz tactics to some extent in their planning. However, there are some indications that the managers do not always do this on purpose and some buzz happens by itself without any push from marketers. It seems though in these cases that managers are quick to pick up on buzz-worthy trends and do their best to build on top of the buzz that has begun. Managers are not measuring the benefits of buzz marketing. This is in line with much of the theoretical literature that was examined, which pointed out many difficulties in measuring buzz. This makes the excellent tool that buzz otherwise is, not efficient enough in the Icelandic telecommunication market. In order to be able to fully understand buzz and reap it's benefits, marketers first need to track and trace the effects buzz marketing has on their

business. To answer the question of how effective buzz marketing is in creating awareness or adoption compared to traditional methods, the lack of ways to measure buzz makes it difficult to make a certain conclusion. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 56 It was interesting to see how effective the telecommunication companies are on the Icelandic market and the fact that three of those are in the top 3 of the top 10 list chosen by marketing managers in Iceland. This confirms even further the authors' decision of choosing this market. When looking at the use of buzz marketing on the market as a whole it seems that there is one company that stands out and outshines its' competitors in successfully implementing clever buzz tactics. Vodafone seem to have the best control of buzz and examining closely you can relate many of their campaigns to some elements of buzz marketing, there were actually three of the most buzz related campaigns examined that came from Vodafone. However, Valdi&Freyr's entire marketing strategy builds on buzz marketing so it might come in as a strong contender on this market later on, but at this time it is still too early to tell. This is quite an interesting finding given that Vodafone's Essas campaign was the one that sparked the authors' idea of examining this subject matter. When it comes to identifying whether buzz marketing exist or not, comparing theory to practice is essential. As figure 4 clearly demonstrates, the elements of the buzz theory are in

use in this market. In addition, it surprised the authors how difficult it was for the managers to define buzz. That could be an exciting topic to take a look at separately or interesting to investigate even further in connection with how much it affects the results of buzz marketing. Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 57 Bibliography Association of Icelandic Marketing Professionals. (2010). IMARK. Retrieved April 19, 2010, from http://imark.is/Forsida/Ludurinn Allard, S. (2006). Myths and promises of buzz marketing. In J. Kirby, & P. Marsden, Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution (pp. 197-207). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier. American Marketing Association. (2007, December 17). American Marketing Association. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from Definition of Marketing: http://www.marketingpower.com/Community/ARC/Pages/Additional/Definition/defaul t.aspx ?sq=marketing+definition American Marketing Association. (2008, January 14). American Marketing Association. Retrieved April 20, 2010, from The American Marketing Association Releases New Definition for Marketing: http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Documents/American%20Marketing %20Assoc iation%20Releases%20New%20Definition%20for%20Marketing.pdf

Balter, D., & Butman, J. (2006). Clutter Cutter . Marketing Management 15(4) , 4950 . Blythe, J. ( 2003 ). Essentials of Marketing Communications. Essex : FT/Prentice Hall . Borden, N. H. (1984). The Concept of the Marketing Mix. Journal of Advertising Research Vol. 24 Issue 4 , p7-12. Burzynski, M. H., & Bayer, D. J. (1977). "The effect of positive and negative prior information on motion picture appreciation". Journal of Social Psychology, 101 (April) , 215218. Capacent Gallup. (2010). Marketing In Iceland. Reykjavik: Capacent Gallup. Dye, R. (2000). The Buzz on Buzz. Harvard Business Review 78(6) , 139-146. Facebook. (2010, April 20). Statistics. Retrieved April 21, 2010, from http://www.facebook.com/press.php#!/press/info.php?statisticsAron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 58 Flick, U. (2006). Qualitative Reserch . London: Sage Publications Ltd. Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2007). Educational Research, An introduction. Boston: Pearson. Giannini, G. T. (2010). Marketing Public Relations: A Marketers Approach to Public Relations and Social Media. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Hough, A. (2009, December 23). Icelandic frog advert makes Malaysian woman a Facebook cult hit. Retrieved April 9, 2010, from Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/6869306/Icelandic-frog-advertmakesMalaysian-woman-a-Facebook-cult-hit.html Hughes, M. (2005). BUZZMARKETING . New York : Penguin Group .

Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (September 2009). How Strategy Shapes Structure. Harvard Business Review , p. 72-80. Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2006). Marketing Management 12e. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2009). Marketing Management 13e. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Wong, V., & John, S. (2008). Principles of Marketing, Fifth European Edition. Harlow, Essex: Prentice Hall. Marsden, P. (2006). Introduction and summary. In J. Kirby, & P. Marsden, Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution (pp. xv-xxxv). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier. McCarthy, E. J. (1960). Basic Marketing: A managerial approach. Homewood, IL: Homewood. McConnell, B., & Huba, J. (2003). Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force. Chicago : Dearborn Trade Publishing, a Kaplan Professional Company . Modernus. (2010, April 12). Web measures. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from Modernus: https://login.modernus.is/?_a=212&_m=35&_serviceType=1&_serviceId=0Aron Vglundsson and Helgi Halldrsson BSc(B) 59 Nyilasy, G. (2006). Word of mouth: what we really know - and what we don't. In J. Kirby, & P. Marsden, Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution (pp. 161-

184). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier. OLeary, S., & Sheehan, K. (2008 ). Building Buzz to Beat the Big Boys: Word-ofMouth Marketing for Small Businesses. Westport, Connecticut : Praeger Publishers . Pickton, D., & Broderick, A. (2005 ). Integrated Marketing Communications. Harlow, Essex : Prentice Hall . Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive Advantage. New York: Free Press. Post- and telecom administration of Iceland. (2009). Statistics on the Icelandic electronic communications market 2008. Reykjavik: June 2009. Rosen, E. (2001). The Anatomy of Buzz. London: HarperCollinsBusiness. Rosen, E. (2009). The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited. New York: The Doubleday Publishing Group. Salzman, M., Matathia, I., & O'Reilly, A. (2003). BUZZ: Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Silverman, G. (2001). Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing: How to Trigger Exponentional Sales Through Runaway Word of Mouth. New York: Amacom. Statistics Iceland. (2010). Statistics Iceland. Retrieved April 11, 2010, from Information technology: http://www.statice.is/Pages/2396 Wilson, D. R. (2000). "The six simple principles of viral marketing". Marketing Today, Issue 70, 1 February . WOMMA. (2009). Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from Ethics code: http://womma.org/ethics/code/

WOMMA. (2009). Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from WOM 101: http://womma.org/wom101/

1 Opinnytety (AMK) Thesis (TUAS) International Business Management Bachelors Thesis 2010 Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Consumer behavior and cultural effects on taboo products Click here to enter text.2 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY OPINNYTETY (AMK) | TIIVISTELM TURUN AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU THESIS (TUAS) SUMMARY TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES Degree Programme in International Business | Bachelors Thesis May 13th 2010 | 82 Laura Heinonen Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Consumer behavior and cultural effects on taboo products The economy starts rising up since human beings live in societies and exchange different kinds of goods in order to maintain their daily life. This economy has known several steps from the creation of barter to what is known today, with financial and international markets. In our modern and actual societies, this economy is surrounding every single citizen. They grow

up with it, they work into it and thanks to that they are able to buy what they need and what they want. A lot of different companies of several sizes, national or international propose and sell items that is needed to survive (food, clothes and so on) or wishes according to peoples tastes (holidays at the beach, video games and so on). Every single day, consumers are tending to buy those goods or services. The consumer behavior is affected by a lot of different factors. The aim of companies, whatever their products or services are, is to sell as many items as they can and in order to do so they will try to affect their actual and potential consumers to make them want to buy what they produce. In the past, this action was much easier that what have to be done today because before the 20 th companies were above all concentrated on their national market. In our actual environment companies tend to internationalize themselves a lot to earn more power, and the impact they wish to create on consumption might become more difficult because of the different cultures earn by each different geographic region. In this work, the consumer behavior will be at the heart of the study. This analysis will try to point out what kind of different factors can affect their final purchase decisions. In order to understand perfectly this field, the study will be reduced to three international companies which sell some products that can be seen as a taboo in several countries. The way those companies 3

TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY sell their products in different cultures will be analyzed as well as the way consumers see the communication campaigns of those companies. It has been found that communication policies and advertisement campaigns cannot be always the same according to the culture and the country of the consumers. Most of the times, in order to succed companies and marketers have to study very deeply the behavior of their potential foreign consumers to understand how they will react to their communication ways. In this work, the consumer approach will be valorized. What they think about companies and their strategies will be deeply studied in order to find out if companies in this specific taboo market use the good methods to attract consumption. ASIASANAT: Culture, consumer behavior, taboo products, advertisement. Deposited at: Library of Turku University of Applied Sciences4 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 6 7 8 8 6

1.2 Objective of the study 1.3 Research methodology

2. THEORICAL KNOWLEDGE ON CULTURE AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 2.1 Concept of culture 2.1.1 Definition of culture 8 8

2.1.2 Elements of culture 2.1.3 Cultural dimensions 2.1.4 Cultural differences 2.2 Consumer Behavior 2.2.1 Foreword 20

9 11 20 20

2.2.2 Global consumer culture versus particular consumer culture 2.2.3 Model of consumer decision making 26 32 34

21

2.2.4 The impact of culture on consumer behavior

2.2.5 The impact of advertisement on consumer behavior

3. THEORICAL KNOWLEDGE ON MARKETING STRATEGIES AND ADVERTISEMENT POLICIES 35 35

3.1 International marketing strategies 3.1.1 Definition of marketing 3.1.2 The marketing process 3.1.3 The promotional mix 3.2 Advertisement policies 3.2.1 Definition of advertisement 35 36 39 43 43

3.2.2 Basic rules about advertisement campaigns 3.2.3 The importance of creativity 47 48

44

3.2.4 Advertisement at an international scale 3.3 Theoretical framework of this thesis 51

4. ADVERTISEMENT AND MARKETING POLICIES IN INTERCULTURAL RISK SITUATION 4.1 Aubade 53 53

4.1.1 Historical and activities 4.1.2 Communication 535

TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY

4.1.3 Worldwide markets and strategies 4.1.3.1 The French market 4.1.3.2 The Chinese market 54 55 55

54

4.1.3.3 The Muslim-Arabic market 4.2 Durex 56 56

4.2.1 Historical and activities

4.2.2 Worldwide marketing approach 4.3 Red Bull 59 59

57

4.3.1 Historical and activities

4.3.2 Worldwide marketing campaign 5. RESEARCH METHOD 5.1 Foreword 60 60 62 60

59

5.2 Data collection

5.3 Scope of the questionnaire 5.4 Results and reflexion 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 Foreword 67 67 63

6.2 Answers to the research questions

67

6.2.1 Does culture have an impact on the advertisement policy of international firms? 67 68

6.2.2 Can a publicity campaign be the same through different countries? 6.2.3 How consumer behavior might change from one country to another, referring to the same product? 69 69

6.2.4 What impact advertisement campaigns produce on consumers? How do they see it? 69

6.3 General reflexions and recommendations for international companies

located on risky markets. 7. REFERENCES 7.1 Bibliography 72 72 73

71

7.2 URLs and other resources List of figures List of tables List of pictures Appendices 756 75 75 75

TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background As we are two French students, currently living in Finland and studying in an international business program we can say that cultural differences became a daily experience for us. Thanks to our studies, we are used to traveling a lot, we saw different cultures, different ways of being, different kinds of reactions and we have worked in different environments. Moreover, we would like to point out the fact that we are very interested in everything that refers to marketing, communication and advertising and we hope that we will be able to demonstrate it through this work. Since a few decades from now, the business world became more and more international. Countries are exchanging a lot, they are taking some ideas from what is working in their neighbors place and they are competing between each other. This phenomenon is called globalization and as a result of it we can observe that when national companies have the possibility to extend themselves to some other countries,

they usually do it in order to take place on their market and achieve more profit and benefits. According to Theodore Levitt, the world is becoming a common marketplace where people have the same basic needs, wants, desires, and taste no matter where they live (Theodore Levitt, 1983). His point leads directly to the Americanization concept. Indeed, Americanization is the term used to describe the influence of the United States of America on the culture of other countries. It refers to the globalization of American business, culture, lifestyle and technology. However, even if this point of view may be true, if we look at the general situation of the world, we believe we are not wrong by saying that not everybody agreed with Levitts way of thinking. Most of the international companies develop and sell their product in different countries thanks to an adaptation of their advertising campaign referring to the culture, language, lifestyles and values of the countries they are targeting. (Belch & Belch, 2001, 671) Our cultural diversification seems to have a direct impact on advertisement. Culture has an influence on all the aspect of our personal and professional life. Thanks to our culture, our values and our norms we do not see things through the same perspectives 7 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY and this also includes advertisement. Because of this fact, companies would certainly create different kinds of advertising by taking into account the cultural aspects of the

countries in which they want to act. Thus, the advertisement and promotion aspect is becoming much more important for companies at an international level. In order to enter a market in another country in a successful way they have to understand and learn the culture of the other country. They also have to understand that the behavior of their consumers might be completely different. Because of their different cultures, they would probably not see companies, brands, or advertisements in the same way and that is why some adjustments may need to be made. 1.2 Objectives of the study The objective of the study is to try to understand and figure out what can be the influence of culture on advertisement and how the consumer behavior might change from one country to another. In order to differ a little bit from what have been done in the past, we would like to focus our work on a consumer point of view approach instead of a company one. Our objective here would be to understand what consumers fell and think about the advertisement and communication policies of some specific international companies. In order to explain perfectly where our research will lead us, find below our research questions: Does culture have an impact on the advertisement policy of international firms? Can a publicity campaign be the same through different countries? How consumer behavior might change from one country to another, referring to the same product? What impact advertisement campaigns produce on consumers? How do they

see it? We will start this research by gathering some information and basic theories concerning culture, consumer behavior and advertisement at a national and international level. Moreover, in order to take some concrete examples and reduce a little bit our scope we have decided to adjust out work on international companies which deals with products that can be seen as a taboo in some countries and cultures. A taboo can be defined as a ban or an inhibition from a social custom or an emotional 8 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY aversion. We believe that studying these particular kinds of products will be very relevant in order to understand the concrete differences that remain between consumers coming from different countries. The companies chosen are the following ones: Aubade (underwear), Durex (condom) and Redbull (energy drinks). We will deeply analyze the advertisement and promotion strategy used by these three companies in three cultures completely different meaning the French one, the Chinese one and the Middle-East one. 1.3 Research Methodology The information gathering in this study is based on our personal knowledge, researches, books and websites. Moreover, in order to add some more concrete data, a survey directed to consumers of the three companies that have been chosen in the French, Chinese and Middle-East market, will be conducted. The point here will be to

understand how consumers have seen the marketing strategy of these companies. We would like to use the consumers point of view in order to see if the strategies set up by these companies have a positive effect on the consumption. This would help us answering to our research questions and see if some other aspects should be introduce in the marketing strategy of these international firms. 2 THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE ON CULTURE AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 2.1 Concept of Culture 2.1.1 Definition of Culture The origins of the word culture come from Europe. In Germany, the word Kultur appeared at the eighteenth century referring to civilization. One century after that, the French used the expression culture, present in the Emile Littrs nineteenths century dictionary and based on the Latin roots cultura, to describe cultivation and farming activity. It was only during the twentieth century that this word became widespread in the Anglo-Saxons language. 9 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Across the years, an incredible amount of definitions have been formulated. The reason to this difficulty to find a single and correct definition comes from the fact that culture is a vague and abstract notion. Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckholn tried to find a single and correct definition in Culture: a critical review of concepts and definition written in 1952. After having

collected more than one hundred and sixty definitions, the majority of the definitions found were from the work of anthropologists studying primitive societies. They did not reflect the aspects and perspectives of our modern societies. Thus, we can say that defining culture is similar to building a puzzle and needs several pieces in order to be completed (Kroeber & Kluckholn, 1952). Nowadays, the word culture includes six definitions: The arts, customs, and habits that characterize a particular society or nation. The beliefs, values, behaviour and material objects that constitute a people's way of life. (microbiology) The process of growing a bacterial or other biological entity in an artificial medium. (anthropology) Any knowledge passed from one generation to the next, not necessarily with respect to human beings. The collective noun for a group of bacteria. (botany) cultivation 2.1.2 Elements of Culture A culture includes several dimensions which can be identified and are proper to every single group of individuals. Tylor (1913) describes culture as a complex and interrelated set of elements, comprising knowledge, beliefs and values, arts, law, manners and morals and all other kinds of skills and habits acquired by a human being as a member of a particular society. These elements can be grouped into six essential element categories: a. Language

b. Believes10 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY c. Social institutions d. Education e. Aesthetics f. Material culture a. Language The language is the basis of a cultural recognition. Every group of individuals sharing the same culture are speaking the same language, from tribes to complex multinational cultures, it is a crucial link between members of a same group. From a commercial point of view, the knowledge of the local language is very important. Even if during the last thirty years English becomes the international business language, approaching consumers require a perfect use of the local language (as the majority of many countries citizens dont know this language, like in France for example). b. Believes Believes are a key factor, including religions and superstitions. From an international perspective, many countries are sharing the same kind of believes, but its importance is not necessarily at the same level of intensity. Marketing and advertising in a culture where believes have a strong influence on consumers needs, has a very precise positioning in order to not being in disagreement with it and being rejected. At a smaller scale, people from a same country can share different beliefs opinions and create sub-cultures.

c. Social Institutions A social institution can be defined as a complex of positions, roles, norms and values lodged in particular types of social structures and organising relatively stable patterns of human activity with respect to fundamental problems in producing life-sustaining resources, in reproducing individuals, and in sustaining viable societal structures within a given environment. (Turner, 1997, 6). These institutions are part of the state organization and also part of citizens life, and for that reason, is part of their own culture as well. d. Education The basis of what is called acculturation, the process of integrating cultural values by a group of humans from another group or individual, is done at the first age of individuals. 11 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Going to school is one of the first steps of that process, where citizens learn rules, what is considered as right or wrong by their culture. Moreover they assimilate the respect of hierarchy as the system of congratulations and punishment. e. Aesthetics Present on every culture, aesthetics regroup arts, folklore music, drama and dance. According to D.CUCHE (La notion de culture dans les sciences sociales, 2004.) this aspect defines citizens vision of beauty. This factor can be extremely different considering sub cultures. From a commercial point of view, firms operating with creativity must research and adapt their product line to that particular point, if not

products are going to be considered as non aesthetics and then rejected. f. Material culture The material culture includes two aspects which are the technology and economy. Technology development modify peoples way of life and nowadays even more than ever. In order to analyze a specific culture it is important to know at which state of technological development they are in and find how they produce goods and communicate. Another aspect is the economy, from a basic barter economy to a complex capitalistic one, this aspect structures and defines the way people are organized and the way they create richness. 2.1.3 Cultural dimensions Analyzing and classifying cultures is a very difficult task as we tend to look at them through our cultural mind-set and not being objective enough to build a relevant analysis. Classifying cultures on dimensions has proved to be the most constructive method. The most famous and relevant analysis has been made by two Dutch researchers: the first by Geert Hofstede and the second by Fons Trompenaars. a. Hofstedes model b. Trompenaars model12 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY a. Hofstedes model Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede pointed out the fact that five singular dimensions explain why people have a particular behavior regarding their original culture. His theory has been based on the biggest survey ever realized for the firm IBM, through two questionnaires sent to over 116,000 persons from over 70 different countries around the world. The five now well known dimensions that Hofstede examined were: 1. Power distance

2. Individualism 3. Masculinity 4. Uncertainty avoidance index 5. Long term orientation 1. Power distance (PDI). Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed unequally (Hofstede & Bond, 1984, p.419). The effects of that dimension can be summarized into a table: Table 1: The effects of Power Distance Hofstedes model Large power distance Cultures Low power distance Cultures Everyone has his or her rightful place in a social hierarchy, and as a result acceptance and giving of authority is something coming naturally Authority has a negative connotation, small proportion of supervisory personnel and the lower strata of the work force will consist of highly qualified people. Large power distance Cultures Low power distance Cultures Presence of strong dependency relationships between parents and children bosses and subordinates, professor and students, masters and learners. Small power distance cultures stress equality in rights and opportunity in the

work place. Large power distance Cultures Low power distance Cultures Organizations tend to be hierarchical and inequality is accepted. Status is important for showing power, and older people are Powerful people are trying to look less powerful and older people try to look younger. Table 1 (Continued)13 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY important because of the respect for old age. The PDI level of a country can change with the level of education as it goes down with an increase of a cultures educational level, but differences between countries and cultures will not change totally because of the stability of their values. 2. Individualism (IDV). Individualism is the tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate family only. (Geert Hofstede, 2001). Hofstede analyzed this aspect by a bipolar system with cultural level of collectivism on the other hand, being defined as the tendency of people to belong to groups or collectives and look after each other in exchange for loyalty. (Geert Hofstede, 2001). Table 2: The Individualism vs. Collectivism theory - Hofstedes model. Individualism Collectivism

Ones identity is in the person, people are I conscious, express private opinions, and self-actualization is important; individual decisions are valued more highly than group decisions. People are we conscious, their identity is based on the social system to which they belong, and avoiding loss of face is crucial. In individualistic cultures, people give priority to the task. In collectivistic cultures, priority is given to relationships with people. More explicit and verbal communication. Less explicit, non-verbal communication is widely spread. Low context cultures. High context cultures. In-group relationships are less intimate than in collectivist cultures. Members of collectivistic cultures are born as part of a group that defines their identity. Individualistic cultures are not shame societies. Collectivistic cultures are shame societies. In-groups have less influence. In-groups have more influence.

(Continued) Table 2 (Continued)14 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Individualistic cultures have to invest time in friendship. Collectivistic cultures do not have to invest time in friendship. Strict division between private life and work life. No strict division between private and work life. They are universalistic cultures. They are particularistic cultures. Nowadays, individualism is becoming more and more present in world cultures for its link with wealth, but it still remains a relative concept. 3. Masculinity (MAS). Hofstede defines masculinity as a culture in which the dominant values in society are success, money and things. (Geert Hofstede, Cultures consequences 2001 p.419420) and oppose it in its analysis to femininity considered as a situation in which the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. (Hofstede, 2001, 419). Table 3: The Masculinity vs. Feminity theory - Hofstedes model. Masculinity Femininity Performance and achievement are

important. Feminine societies are more service oriented. Status is an important mark of success. Status is less important to show success. Tendency to polarize: Big and fast are beautiful. People orientation: Small is beautiful. Being a winner is positive. Aggressive behavior related to an explicit winning mentality is stronger in masculine cultures. Quality of life is more important than winning. Hurting other peoples feeling is considered as extremely negative. Children learn to admire the strong. Children learn the sympathy for the underdog and looser. Household work is less shared between husband and wife. Males can take typically female jobs and take part in household activites. Table 2 (Continued) (Continued)15 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 4. Uncertainty avoidance index (UAI). Uncertainty avoidance is described as the extent to which people feel threatened by

ambiguous situations, and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these. (Hofstede, 2001). Life is an unpredictable factor, some cultures accept that part of uncertainty as part of the game, while others hate it and are making rules and prescribing behavior trying to cope with it. Table 4: The Uncertainty theory - Hofstedes model. Strong uncertainty avoidance Weak uncertainty avoidance Presence of a need for rules and formality to structure life. Search for truth and belief in experts. Will to have as less rules as possible. Communication is more formal. Belief stronger in generalists. Conflict and competition are threatening. Conflict and competition are not threatening. Higher level of populations anxiety and acceptance of showing its emotions. Less ritual behavior. People build up tension and stress that must be released. Stronger belief in a common sense. Members recognized as talking louder, using hand in non verbal communication, driving cars aggressively and embracing more emotionally. Members tend not to show their emotions and are more tolerant drivers. Deductive thinking goes with strong

uncertainty. Inductive thinking goes with weak uncertainty. 5. Long-Term orientation (LTO). Long term orientation is the extent to which a society exhibits a pragmatic futureoriented perspective rather than a conventional historic or short-term point of view. (Hofstede, 2001). 16 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Table 5: The Orientation theory - Hofstedes model. Long-Term Orientation Short-term orientation Persistence (perseverance), ordering relationships by status and observing this order, thrift, and having a sense of shame. Personal steadiness and stability, protecting your face respect for tradition and reciprocation of greetings, and favors and gifts. Focus more on the pursuit of happiness than on the pursuit of peace of mind. The combination of long-term orientation and collectivism results in family ties, long-term thinking. The concept of truth does not exist in these cultures as in long term ones. Over respect for tradition impedes

innovation, so it is de-emphasized. Personal steadiness and stability, if overly stressed, discourages both initiatives and entrepreneurship. Reverence for nature has strong value. b. Trompenaars cultural dimensions A more recent description of the way cultures differs from one another has been made by another Dutch researcher, Fons Trompenaars. His research lasted ten years and was finally published in 1994, analyzing a survey of fifteen thousand managers in twenty eight different countries. Through his analysis, Trompenaars pointed out five relationships orientations (some analogical to Hofstedes model) plus two attitudes toward time and environment. 1. Universalism vs. Particularism 2. Individualism vs. Communitarianism 3. Neutral vs. Emotional 4. Specific vs. Diffuse 5. Achievement vs. Ascription 6. Time: Sequential vs. Synchronous 7. The environment: Inner-directed vs. Outer-directed17 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 1. Universalism vs. Particularism. Universalism is described by Trompennars as The belief that ideas and practices can be applied everywhere without modification. (Fons Trompenaars, Riding the waves of

culture, 1994), while particularism represents: The belief that circumstances dictate how ideas and practices should be applied and something cannot be done the same way everywhere (Fons Trompenaars, 1994). Table 6: The Universalism vs. Particularism theory Trompennars dimensions. Universalism Particularism The focus is more on relationship and trust than on formal rules. Legal contracts often are modified, and as people get to know each other better, they often change the way in which deals are executed. 2. Individualism vs. Communitarianism. This aspect is very similar to Hofstedes approach; they have the same basic meaning except that Trompenaars used the word communitarianism rather than collectivism. For Trompennars, individualism refers to people regarding themselves as individuals (Trompenaars, 1994), while communitarianism Refers to people regarding themselves as part of a group. Table 7: The Individualism vs. Communautarianism theory - Trompennars dimensions. Individualism Communautarianism Decisions have to be taken by one only responsible person. Try to find a decision with all the persons from the concerned team. The decision will

be the entire groups responsibility. In case of failure, an individualism culture will try to find the person responsible for it. In case of failure, the whole group in responsible. As decisions are made consulting a group, the decision making process requires more Table 7 (Continued)18 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY time, but putting a plan in action is faster as everybody is aware of the new strategy. Social status is different; it would be offensive if only a single person showed up for a meeting, its power and position would then be underestimated by colleagues. The organization is a tool for everyones wellness, regulated by law and precise contracts. Organizations are a social institution where people build relations and everyone contribute to the group development. In its analysis, he points out the complex and dynamic nature of culture and the danger of overgeneralization as is tends to modify specific cultural elements into a global model.

3. Neutral vs. Emotional. A neutral culture is one in which emotions are held in check, while an emotional culture is one in which emotions are expressed openly and naturally. (Hodgetts & Luthans, 2000) Table 8: The Neutral vs. Emotional theory - Trompennars dimensions. Neutral Emotional Promote rational and objective attitudes, avoiding expression of feelings. People often smile a great deal, talk loudly when they are excited and greet each other with a great deal of enthusiasm. Emotional attitude is a lack of objectivity and mastery. For emotional cultures, repressing his feelings impairs judgment. (Continued)19 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 4. Specific vs. Diffuse. A specific culture is a culture which individuals have a large public space they readily share with others and a small private space they guard closely and share with only close friends and associates. A diffuse culture represents one in which both public and private space are similar in size and individuals guard their public space carefully, because entry into public space affords entry into private space as well. (Hodgetts & Luthans, 2000).

Table 9: The Specific vs. Diffuse theory - Trompennars dimensions. Specific Diffuse People often are invited into a persons public space. People are not quickly invited into a persons public space, because once in, there is easy entry into private space as well. Individuals are open and extroverted. Individuals are often indirect and introverted. Strong separation between work and private life. Work and private life are often closely linked. 5. Achievement vs. Ascription. Achievement culture is one in which people are rewarded status based on how well they perform their functions, it is the result of actions. Ascription culture is one which status is attributed based on who or what a person is. 6. Time orientation: Sequential vs. Synchronous. Into the first type of cultures, time is a set of events happening one after another without reciprocal influence. Activities are organized into successive and isolable sequences. These cultures are programming time utilization, and created highly elaborated scheduling tools. In synchronous cultures, events are creating a cycle: day, week, month, year or season. Past present and future are related, experiences from the past and future 20

TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY expectations, are influencing the vision of present events. In these cultures, people prefer to react to circumstances better than following a precise schedule and multiple activities can be applied at the same time. 7. The environment: Inner-directed vs. Outer-directed. The last point analyzed by Trompennars is the way people are dealing with their environment. Its work revealed that there are two kinds of environmental visions: people believing in controlling outcomes (inner-directed) and people who let things taking their own course (outer-directed). This point deals with the feeling of controlling the way things are evolving, the level of control over the directions our life is taking. 2.1.4 Cultural differences Several elements included in the term of culture and the different dimensions make every single culture particular and different from one another. These aspects build individuals characteristics, vision, and state of mind. It is obviously a crucial element in order to understand consumers behavior. What would be accepted in certain cultures would be rejected for the same reasons in another. From a marketing point of view, culture and consumer behavior are closely related as in order to understand consumers behavior, the first element of interest is the local culture, in terms of beliefs and habits. This analysis is crucial in order to build an efficient marketing campaign and being accepted by the target consumers. 2.2. Consumer Behavior 2.2.1. Foreword

Consumer behavior is another fundamental and exciting subject that companies and marketers have to study in order to understand and influence their consumers purchase decisions and modify their products and strategy if necessary. Consumer behavior can be defined as the mental, emotional, and physical activities that people engage in when selecting, purchasing, using, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy needs and desires. (Wilkie, 1994, 14) 21 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY This field is very important and present in the life of every single human being. Most of the time, as a consumer, we do not realize that our behavior might be controlled. We are not aware of the external influences that guide us through our decision purchases and we are not thinking about our own internal processes that bring us to buy a product or service. The consumers decision process is going to depend on the culture of the individual and on the kind of product that he or she is thinking to buy. For some products we will not even think about buying them or not. They are necessary for our lives, and our purchases will be made in an impulsive way. However, for some other products and services, the purchase decisions will be the result of a long process that companies should strongly study and understand. Companies success will mainly depend on their capacity to understand this field and on their capacity to influence the final purchase decision of their consumers.

2.2.2. Global Consumer Culture versus Particular Consumer Culture The world as we know it today became an international and globalized one. Everything seems close and easy. Goods, services, capital, technologies, raw materials, knowledge and ideas move easily between countries and frontiers. The development of new technologies such as Internet and the facility we now have to travel and communicate with other countries led us to a new phenomenon that could be seen as the diffusion of a global culture. This tendency is generally called Globalization and according to some theories, it will also sometimes carry the name of Americanization. According to Joseph Stiglitz, economist and winner of the Nobel Prize, Globalization is the closer integration of the countries and people of the world brought about by the enormous reduction of costs of transportation and communication, and the breaking down of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and people across borders. What can be assumed with globalization is the implicit fact that we are all converging towards a modern lifestyle. The central idea is that scientific knowledge and technology could control nature and improve human existence (Firat, 1995, 106). Societies are all moving at their own rate, from a traditional to a modern way of life. Access to technology is easy and tends to improve our living conditions and thanks to that, we 22 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY generally become more and more free from the constraints of communal life. Indeed,

when we think about it, tools like washing machine, refrigerator, computers, and telephones tend to make our existence easier. The tasks that we have to do in our daily life are made in a faster and better way. Looking for information is simpler and does not require a lot of time and communicate with far away people so can be done in an immediate way. If we can say that all these different facts lead to a globalization of the world and to a possible global or modern culture, it is mainly because consumers throughout the world inevitably have fairly similar responses to new technologies and product innovations (Usunier & Lee, 2005). Another term is sometimes used in order to define this new tendency: Americanization. In the early 1900s, Americanization referred to the movement where immigrants were developed into Americans. Nowadays, its meaning is quite different. According to Dominique Barjot, professor of contemporary history in the University of Paris IV, Americanization may be defined as the gradual adoption, by nations other than the United States of America, of the patterns of production, consumer behavior and ways of life prevalent in the latter nation. In fact this term can be seen as a part of the globalization process, it refers to the globalization of the world by the United States of America. Indeed, since a few decades, the American influence has been spread all over the world. The American economy is an ever-present force and American capitalism has rapidly taken over the entire world. International companies mainly come from this continent and they have established their rules and presence in a lot of different countries (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mac Donald and so on).

This phenomenon is related to the twentieth century. The help given by the American army during the First World War started to stimulate the European interest for this new culture. After that, during the Second World War and the liberation, American people received a significant prestige and thanks to this fact, and to their economical strength the American way of life began to be spread out. The American way of life is an expression that refers to the lifestyle of people living in the United States of America. During the time of the Cold War, this expression was predominantly used by the media to highlight the differences in living standards of the populations of the United States and the Soviet Union, and it is today a part of our daily vocabulary.23 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Thus the world became more and more global and America has a strong influence on it. A last interesting point to define while studying globalization would be the ethic perspective. The ethic perspective assumes that there are common, general categories and measurements which are valid for all cultures under consideration (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2010, 42). This theory reinforces the ideas concerning globalization, the fact that a global culture may exist and the fact that a global consumer culture may exist. An example can be taken to highlight this last point. Young peoples preferences in music and fashion seem to be more or less the same all

over the world. If we look at it closely it appears that when we travel, we are able to find the same images and sounds in different countries. This means that young people tend to buy the same things and this fact leads us to speak about a global consumer culture. However, when we study cultures and consumer behavior in a very deep and concrete way, we might be able to find some special differences among countries. By taking once again the example of young peoples tastes, it can be said that although similar conditions exist, the way these similar conditions are lived out in reality varies a lot from context to context. Another perspective, in contradiction with the ethic one can be approached: The emic perspective. This perspective attempts to explain a culture based on the cultural categories and experiences of the insiders (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2010). It means that people are going to react differently according to their values, beliefs and cultures. Thus, even if a global consumer culture seems to appear the fact that particular consumer cultures are still an actual tendency should not be forgotten. Marketers are aware of this fact, and many of them decide to study and analyze a culture using an emic perspective. In order to realize how particular consumer cultures resist over the diffusion of a global one, it would be interesting to analyze the Maslow theory. Abraham Maslow is a well-know American psychologist who created the famous

hierarchy of needs theory in the years 1940-1950s. Nowadays and since that time, his theory remains used in order to understand human motivation, management training, and personal development. It also receives a great deal of attention from international management researchers who attempt to understand employee motivation through the world. 24 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY The idea of Abraham Maslow is that everyone is motivated by five basic needs, in a hierarchical way. According to him, each need must be satisfied in turn. We start with the first ones which deal with the most obvious needs for survival itself, and then we will be able to satisfy higher needs of influence and personal development. In an ascending order, beginning with the most basic one, these 5 needs are the followings: Physiological, Safety, Social, Esteem and Self-Actualization (see figure 1). Maslows original hierarchy of needs model has been published in his book: Motivation and Personality during the year 1954. At the time the hierarchy of needs model comprised the five needs that have just been cited above. In 1970, a second edition of his book in which Maslows hierarchy of needs has been extended to seven and eight stages came out. As nobody is really sure that this second work comes from Maslow himself and as the first one stay the most well-know, we will remain only on this one.

Figure 1: Maslows Hierarchy of needs (Business balls webpage) 25 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY The figure which appears above represents the five basic needs established by Abraham Maslow. These five needs are generally represented in a pyramid shape because in order to satisfy the highest ones, the lowest ones need to be fulfilled. According to Maslow, once an individual has taken care of his basic physiological needs (food, water, shelter) and feels safe and secure some needs for love and belonging may rise to the forefront of their concerns. Need for the respect of our fellows and for self-respect would come after, and the very last one is called by Maslow self-actualization. Self-actualization is about achieving self-fulfillment. It is the desire to become all that one can be, to achieve everything of which one is capable, sometimes to make a real difference in the world (Buckley, 1997, 16). People who manage to achieve this level within our society are usually those who have a successful career, who have enough financial security to ensure that their physical needs will be met, and who have already won the esteem and respect of their social group. Maslows theory has been translated over the year and includes a number of basic assumptions. The first one is that lower-needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs become motivators. The second is that once a need is satisfied it no longer serves as a motivator. Finally the third one is that there are more ways to satisfy higher level needs than lower level needs. Some of these assumptions came from Maslows original work, some from others works, and some have been modified by Maslow. These five needs theory and those assumptions have helped a lot of international researchers. Maslows hierarchy of need is widely used to explain motivation in areas

as human resource management and sales management, but from the view point of consumer behavior it may help to explain some behavior like the rise in independent holidays and the rise of solo sports, for instance. Now that the basic assumptions of this theory have been understood, it would be interesting to use it in order to prove that particular consumer culture may remain in this globalization world. Indeed, it appears that this theory is not really true in every culture. In some countries the need of self-actualization is very encouraged and appears to be the highest one. In certain developing countries, people may deprive themselves of food in order to afford a refrigerator. They will then satisfy their social status and self-26 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY esteem need before everything else. Thus, in this kind of country the basic need for safety is not satisfied according to the same criteria. This example suggests that consumer behavior may still differ from one country to another. In order to succeed entirely on a local market, international companies should first of all study the local consumer culture of the country in question. Of course, a global culture is emerging more and more with the years but some specifically characteristics remain and marketers should not forget this point. 2.2.3. Model of Consumer Decision Making This part will deal with the consumer decision making model. This model tends to be very useful for companies marketing departments because it helps marketers to understand how consumers make their purchase decisions. This model will provide

them some clarity and will encourage them to find some strategies in order to influence the final purchase decision of their possible customers. That is why it is a very interesting and relevant fact to study it. One of the first things that marketers have to understand concerning the process decision-making of their customers is that the amount of effort they put into their purchase decisions differs according to the product or service they are planning to buy. Some purchase decisions are more important than others and sometimes we will just buy some products in an impulsive way. For instance, the things that are needed in our daily life like food, water and clothes do not necessarily need a strong reflexion in order to buy them. Without these kinds of products it will be impossible to live so buying them tends to be a natural thing for all of us. On the other hand, sometimes reaching a purchase decision can be seen as a full-time job. A person may literally spend days or weeks thinking about an important purchase such as a new home and this fact might be complicated by the fact that in our actual environment information and choices come in a very numerous way. An interesting theory that can be studied about these different reactions consumers have according to the kind of products or services they wish to buy will be the continuum one. As you can see it in the figure below, this theory is characterized by routine response behavior, limited problem solving and extensive problem-solving. 27 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY

Figure 2: A continuum of buying decision behavior (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2010, 318) According to this theory, consumers behavior and consumers decisions are not going to be the same depending on if they are treating with an Extended problem-solving, a limited problem-solving or a habitual decision making. A decision based on extended problem-solving corresponds closely to the traditional decision-making perspective that will be studied after. Consumers usually initiate this process when they feel that the outcome that they are going to spend might be risky, when they are not familiar with the product or when it deals with an infrequent purchase. Thus, in that case they will try to collect as much information as possible and they will evaluate each possible alternative before taking their decision. The limited problem-solving is much simpler. In this case customers are not as motivated to search for information or to evaluate each alternative rigorously. This must be due to the fact that they are more familiar with the products or services they are planning to buy and the price is certainly not so important. They will use simple decision rules to choose among alternatives. The last point, called routine response behavior, deals with little or no conscious effort. As it has already been said before, many purchase decisions are so common that we may not even realized that we have made them. Some products

are so necessary to our live that we dont think about looking for information and possible alternatives. Buying them is just a normal fact. Low-cost products Frequent purchasing Low consumer involvement Familiar product class and brands Little thought, search or time and time given to purchase given to purchase More expensive products Infrequent purchasing High consumer involvement Unfamiliar product class and brands Extensive thought, search

Routine response behaviour Limited problem-solving Extensive problem-solving28 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY If we eliminate the products that can be classified in the routine response behavior category, we would notice that customers go through several steps before buying the product or service in which they are showing interest. These several steps are represented in the figure below and represent the different stages of the consumer decision making process. Figure 3: Stages in consumer decision-making Those five steps can be divided into three possible groups. Problem recognition, information search and evaluation of alternatives will belong to pre-purchase, product choice will belong to the purchase process and finally, consumption and evaluation will belong to the post-purchase process. Problem recognition

Information search Evaluation of alternatives Product choice Consumption and evaluation29 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Step 1: Problem recognition The problem recognition represents the start of a decision process. It occurs when a consumer is going to identify a need and realizes that something is missing in his or her life. The consumer is going to perceive a gap or discrepancy between his or her current state and his or her desired state and this will motivate him to solve the problem that he just recognized. Problem recognitions can arise from different elements: New need circumstances. In our actual societies we have to deal with a lot of changes in our daily life and for those reason sometimes new categories of consumer needs arise. For instance, a single woman will not see the necessity to buy items for a baby but maybe in a clause future she will have to deal with it. New want circumstances. There is a distinction between what we want and what we need. If we take the example of a young Erasmus student, we can say that moving abroad is going to stimulate new wants in his life. He is going to be appealed for travelling and buying some new kinds of items. This is definitely

not something that he needs but the new circumstances in which he is evolving will lead him to buy and do these new things. New product opportunities. This element is due to the marketing world. Companies are constantly providing consumers with new options and new products. Once this problem has been explained to us (through advertising or friends) we will maybe experience a substantial increase in our desired state for it. Purchases of other products. Sometimes problem recognitions come from the fact of having purchased a different product. For instance when a consumer buy a computer he will certainly recognize opportunities for using new kinds of accessories. Depletion of stock. This element is probably the most frequent cause of consumer problem recognition and it occurs when the customers available supply of products or services ran down. Dissatisfaction with current stock. This change occurs when we perceive that the products that we currently own are insufficient to continue to serve their purpose. The most common example to this situation will be fashion. At some point of our life we all realize that we might have to change our older-style 30 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY clothing because they are no longer suitable with the current social demand. Thus, in order to fix this situation we will search for new clothes. The reasons that lead to a problem recognition have just been seen. It can and does occur naturally but the fact that this process is often motivated by marketing has to be understood. Indeed if they didnt stimulate problem recognitions they would certainly

face some lower sales. Thus, they will stimulate consumers by presenting them some new products that can lead them to recognize a problem to which they are confronted to. This will allow us to maintain or increase the sales of their companies. Step 2: Information search Once a problem has been recognized, consumers need adequate information in order to resolve it. They are going to try to reduce the uncertainty they have about the kind of product or service they are planning to buy and gain some knowledge about it. If they decide to realize the purchase, this will allow them to choose between several alternatives. There exist different kinds of consumer information searches: Internal, External and Accidental way of research. The first mode, internal search, refers to our own memory. We all already have some degree of knowledge about many products and when we will be confronted to a purchase decision, we will search into our memory in order to assemble information about different product alternatives. Unfortunately, most of the time our knowledge doesnt seem enough to us and in order to obtain as much information as possible we will use an External way of research. This kind of research means that we are going to use every possible elements present in our environment. We will do some research on the Internet, read some specialized articles, go into some stores, speak with our friends, colleagues and family and/or look at the advertisements. This last point can make us realize that once again companies have an influence and play with our

knowledge. Even when we are not really interested in a product, our exposure to advertising, packaging, sales promotion and other marketing activities will result in an accidental way of research for us. It can be interesting to underline the fact that a large portion of marketing activities is devoted to appeal customers at the pre-purchase stage. In those activities they create new products, designed, packaged and named 31 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY them in order to attract the interest of the potential buyer. They also chose the most attractive place that will allow customers to meet this new product and start thinking about it. Thus, when customers will have researched enough information and acquired enough knowledge thanks to an internal, external or accidental way, they will be ready to decide whether or not they will realize the purchase and chose between several alternatives. Step 3: Evaluation of alternatives Regarding the amount of choices that is now available in our current societies, this step is certainly the most difficult one during the purchase process. When a consumer is going to chose between several alternatives, he will build for himself what can be called a set of alternatives. There exist several kinds of sets. The alternatives a consumer knows about is named evoked set and the ones they actually consider will be his consideration set. The evoked set gathers the products present in the consumers

memory plus the ones that he has discovered during his information research. Surprisingly it appears that consumers often include small amounts of alternatives in their evoked set. For that reason, the main objective of the marketers will be to make sure that their brain is in their target markets evoked set in order to have a chance to be selected by their customers during their decision making process. Step 4: Product choice Once customers have assembled and evaluated the relevant options, they will have to choose one. In order to do so, they will evaluate the criteria of each single option. Evaluative criteria are the dimensions we use to judge the merits of competing options (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2010, 337). It is important to do that because each product differs from one to another and it is according to those differences and to their determinant attributes that customers are going to do their selection. Determinant attributes are the features we actually use to differentiate among our choice (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2010, 337). Thus customers will look at the attributes of the different products they have pre-selected and they will choose one of them according to the attribute(s) more important for them. 32 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Step 5: Consumption and Evaluation The consumption actually occurs during the post-purchase phase. Its only after the

purchase that consumers will consume and evaluate their investment. The total time of the consumption phase can vary widely, ranging from only a few seconds (as in consuming a piece of candy) through several hours (attending a movie) to a number of years (as with a piano). The evaluation will take place in a second part. Customers will think about their purchase, they will try to figure out if the money they spend on it was worthwhile or not and they will evaluate their possible satisfaction or dissatisfaction. This last step should not be forgotten by marketers. They have the power to play on the satisfaction of their customers by adding some after-sale and other services. Indeed, trying to keep the satisfaction of their customers at a high level will have a positive effect on their future situation. 2.2.4. The impact of culture on consumer behavior A lot of different factors like the consumption of our neighbors for instance, can have an influence on consumer behavior. However, it appears that culture and advertisement are the two principle factors that can have a strong influence on the way consumers are going to behave. Consumption choices cannot be understood without considering the cultural context in which they are made: culture is the prism through which people view products and try to make sense of their own and other peoples consumer behavior (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2010, 506). Some of the pioneers of the relationship between consumption and culture were the anthropologist Mary Douglas and the

economist Baron Isherwood. They underlined how goods are always used as social markers and how consumers act through a variety of daily and not-so-daily consumption rituals. Those consumption rituals are very important to understand within each culture because they are the ones which are going to determine the overall priorities consumers attach to different activities and products, and because they also determine the success or failure of specific products and services. As it has been already seen in the previous part, a culture is composed of a multitude of elements. Here, the elements on which it would be interesting to take a look at in 33 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY order to understand how culture affect the consumer behavior will be the rules, the norms, the myths, the rituals and the language. Norms and rules form the core principles of every culture. They determine what is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable and they naturally differ from every single society. These norms and rules include: Custom. It is a norm that comes from the past and controls our basic behavior. For instance, when somebody comes to visit us the custom is normally to offer him a cup of coffee or of tea. More. It is a norm with a very strong moral connotation which can involve things like taboos and forbidden behavior. The violation of these mores within a society can result in a strong censure from the other members of this same society. Conventions. Those norms tend to control the conduct of our everyday life. They are strongly relating to consumer behavior because, for instance, they

have an impact on the correct way to furnish our home, wear our clothes and so on. All three elements, which are a part of every societys culture, are very important to understand for companies because they are going to influence our behavior and our buying decisions. Marketers should be careful about not proposing products that could come in contradictions with our customs, mores and above all conventions. If they do so, their chances of success will be very limited. Myths and rituals should also be taken in consideration because when a company knows them, they will be able to play with them by proposing some products which refer to those myths and rituals. For instance, even in our modern western societies, people tend to have a strong interest for magic and charms. Many of us own a lucky number or a kind of lucky charm object. If companies are aware of this fact they would have the possibility to propose new kinds of items. The last point which differs from one country or culture to another is the language. These linguistic differences can be quite problematic because they provoke some classic marketing mistakes. Indeed, a same word has often several meanings in different languages and when a brand doesnt change its slogan before selling its products in a new country or do some translation mistakes, it can have bad repercussions. For instance, the famous Pepsi-Cola slogan Come alive with Pepsi 34 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY was translated in Germany as Come out of the grave and in Taiwan as Bring your

ancestors back from the death. Thus if they want to avoid mistakes, international companies should study very deeply the cultures of every countries in which they are planning to sell. 2.2.5. The impact of advertisement on consumer behavior Advertisement is certainly the field which has the strongest impact on consumer behavior. Trying to encourage their consumers to purchase their products is quite important for companies and maybe that is why they normally spend so much money in marketing activities. In the United States alone, over $130 billion is spent on advertising each year, and many billion more are spent for other types of sales promotion (sweepstakes, displays, coupons and so on). This huge quantity of money prove that this field has a strong influence on consumption because every firm who advertises does so in order to earn what we can call a return on investment. What marketers do to influence their consumers behavior is that they play with their needs and wishes. For example, thirst is a basic daily need for all human beings. In order to fulfill this need we could naturally drink water or milk. However since a few years we are taught to want Coca-Cola or Pepsi for instance, in order to satisfy our thirst. Thus it can be said that what marketers do is that they just recommend us some ways in order to fulfill our needs. They play with our desires by showing us some hedonistic pleasures. According to Vance Packard, an American journalist, Large-scale efforts are being made, often with impressive success, to channel our unthinking habits, our purchasing decisions, and our thought processes by the use of insights gleaned from psychiatry

and the social sciences. Moreover, the economist John Kenneth Galbraith believed that radio and television are important tools to accomplish this manipulation of the masses. The strong point of using media instead of literacy is that they allow repetition. The chances of reaching almost everyone are then much more important. Most of the time, because of advertisement consumers are led to believe that products have magical properties that will do special things for them and that will transform their lives. It is true that marketing policies have a powerful impact on consumer behavior 35 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY but companies should not forget the fact that consumers are not automatons that will react in a predefined way to certain stimuli (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2010, 22). All the other factors studied before have to be taken into account if companies want to succeed in the best way possible. 3 THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE ON MARKETING STRATEGIES AND ADVERTISEMENT POLICIES. 3.1 International Marketing Strategies 3.1.1 Definition of Marketing In our modern societies, the global economy is not so simple. In general, offer and demand do not meet so easily. Consumers are led to do some efforts to find the goods that will fulfill their needs, and companies must find the consumers who will appreciate the goods they produce or plan to produce. For that reason, marketing activity has been created within companies, in order to try to organize this meeting between offer

and demand, and facilitate the future exchanges that will occur. Marketing is a really recent activity. Before the twentieth century, companies were more preoccupied by production. They were looking for the best techniques and the best organization methods which will allow an increase in their workers efficiency. However, since the years 60s 70s companies came into a sale and marketing perspective. From this point, the idea was to adapt its products and services according to the needs and wishes of their customers in order to sell as much as possible. Nowadays, marketing is present in all kinds of sectors and activities and become a very important part of every company. The American Marketing Association, which represents marketing professionals in the United States and Canada, defines marketing as: The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives (AMA Board Approves New Marketing Definition, 1985, 1). They recognize that exchange is an essential point in marketing because without it companies and marketing activities 36 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY will not have any reasons to exist. In order to allow this exchange, two or more parties are necessary, something of value must be proposed to one of these parties and a way to communicate between them must exist. Since its creation, marketing has changed a little bit. Today companies are seeking for

more than a simple one-time transaction with customers. They want to develop some sustaining relationships with them and in order to do so, marketers have to become more creative and communicative. 3.1.2 The marketing process All the products and services produced by a company are not going to satisfy the needs and/or wishes of every customer present on the market. Only a part of them will be interested and that is why companies have to study their potential market in a careful way, in order to know how to attack it. This process is developed into four basic steps and is called the target marketing process: Identifying markets with unfulfilled needs, segmenting the market, targeting specific segment, and positioning ones product or service. Figure 4: The target marketing process The two first things that marketers have to do are identifying a market on which there is a lack of offer and identifying in this market, broad classes of buyers who have the same needs and will respond similarly to marketing actions. This means that the marketer will start to segmentate his market. Market segmentation is the conceptual breakup of a market into groups of relatively homogeneous consumers, to better serve each of them (Tellis, 1997, 21). The segmentation process involves five distinct steps: Finding ways to group consumers according to their needs. Identifying markets with unfulfilled

needs Determining market segmentation Selecting a market to target Positioning through marketing strategies37 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Finding ways to group marketing actions, usually the products offered, available to the organization. Developing a market/product grid to relate the market segments to the firms products and actions. Selecting the product segments toward which the firm directs its marketing actions. Taking marketing actions to reach target segments. One of the problems that may arrive with segmentation is that the more marketers segment a market, the fewer consumers are going to be in each segment. Thus, they have to decide where exactly their segmentation process will stop and when their segmentation strategy will be in order, they will have to decide on which bases they will address the market. There exist 5 bases for segmentation: geographic, demographic,

psychographic, behavioristic and beneficial. The Geographic segmentation means that marketers will identify some differences due to the location. These locations may include nations, states, countries, or even neighborhoods. Indeed, due to elements like topography, climate, culture or nationality, consumers often have different buying habits depending on where they live. Most of the time, marketers have to understand this point and propose modifications in their products according to the place. This segmentation strategy is generally set up within an international perspective. Dividing a market on the basis of demographic variables such as age, sex, family, size, education, income and social class is called demographic segmentation. A simple example will be the clothing industry. Companies have to design different styles of clothes for men, women, teenagers or children. This basis of segmentation is seen as been the most obvious one but the other factors shouldnt be forgotten. Psychographic segmentation is based on peoples lifestyle. The idea is that people from different regions and demographic backgrounds may still have certain similarities in the way they like to live their lives. The determination of those lifestyles is usually based on an analysis of the customers activities, interests and opinions (AIOs). Dividing consumers into groups according to their usage, loyalties, or buying responses to a product is called the behavioristic segmentation. This segmentation method refers 38 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY

to the fact that the majority of a companys sale for a product may come from a small segment of consumers. Industrial marketers explain it thanks to the 80-20 rules which means that 20 percent of their buyers account for 80 percent of their sales volume. Therefore, managers can use a firms resources more efficiently by concentrating themselves on those specific consumers rather than on the whole market. Finally, the last segmentation basis is the benefit one. This involves dividing the market according to the needs that customers are planning to satisfy, thanks to the companys product. For instance, one person may buy toothpaste to prevent cavities, another one to maintain fresh breath, and a third one to keep his teeth white. Consumers might need to use the same product but for different reasons. If marketers understand these different reasons, they will be able to segment the market according to these criteria. The segmentation part is really important within the marketing strategy. It is in this stage that marketers attempt to determine as much as they can about a market. Of course they can use several of the different bases we just studied. They do not have to limit themselves to a single one if they consider it not to be relevant. A large number of companies now offer research services to help marketing managers to define their markets and develop strategies to target them. This field is becoming more and more important. Once this segmentation analysis is done, the marketer will be able to move to the third phase which is, selecting a target market.

In this third marketing process step, marketers will have to decide if they will serve all the segments they have identified, a part of them or none at all. In fact, by taking such a decision, they will chose between setting up a mass marketing strategy, a target marketing strategy or a niche marketing strategy. A mass marketing strategy is a strategy in which managers market one standard product for the whole market. A target marketing strategy is a strategy in which managers identify and market variations of a product to various segments. Finally, niche marketing is a strategy in which managers identify and market a unique product to a very small segment or niche (Tellis, 1997, 24). In order to decide between these three strategies, marketers will analyze if the segments they have identified are measurable, of an adequate size and accessible. Measurable means that variables to estimate the size and potential of the demand can 39 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY be identified, as well as the types of consumers in each segment. An adequate size means that the segment is large enough to enable profitable marketing. Accessible means that managers can reach the target segment with advertising using one or another medium of communication (Tellis, 1997, 26). Once marketers have figured out if the segments on which they are working own these three characteristics, they will start the positioning step. Positioning is projecting a distinct image for the product in the consumers mind. A positioning strategy generally focus on either the consumer or the competition and

according to Trout and Ries, managers should ask themselves six basic questions before setting up their positioning strategy: What position, if any, do we already have in the prospects mind? What position do we want to own? What companies must be outgunned to establish that position? Do we have enough marketing money to occupy and hold the position? Do we have the guts to stick with one consistent positioning strategy? Does our creative approach match our positioning strategy? Thus, those six basic questions would help marketers building their strategy in the best way possible (Trout & Ries -1997 53). After that, knowing that different kind of strategies can be applied according to the situation, they will have to choose the most appropriate one. David Aaker and J. Gary Shansby discussed six possible strategies: positioning a product according to its attributes, its price, its use, its product class, its users and its competitors (Aaker & Shansby 1982 56). Once marketers will have explored the alternative positioning strategies available, he will have to determine which strategy is best suited for the firm or product, and begin developing their positioning platform. This last part closes the target marketing process. 3.1.3 The promotional mix Promotion has been defined as the coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up channels of information and persuasion to sell goods and services or promote an idea (Ray, 1982). Generally, most of the organizations communications with the marketplace take place thanks to a promotional program which includes several 40 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY

elements like advertising, direct marketing, interactive media, sales promotion, public relations and personal selling. As showed in the below figure, those elements gathered all together are called the promotional mix. Figure 5: Elements of the promotional mix All those different elements of the promotional mix are viewed as an integrated marketing communications tool that plays a distinctive role within the marketing policy of a company. They can all take different kinds of forms and they each have different advantages. All those elements, except the advertising one, will be explained in this part. The advertising policy is really in the heart of our subject, so we decided to devote it its own chapter, which will come just after this one. a. Direct marketing Direct marketing is a promotional way in which organizations communicate directly with target customers to generate a response and/or a transaction. It brings the market directly into the home of an individual buyer instead of the buyer having to go to the market. The Direct Marketing Association in the United State defines direct marketing as: An interactive system of marketing which uses one or more advertising media to affect a measurable response at any location (Smith, 1998, 323). Direct Marketing is much more than direct mail and mail-order catalogs. It involves a variety of activities and it should not be used only as a tactic to win an initial sale. Indeed, it can and

should be used on a more strategic basis by integrating it with other marketing communication tools. This promotional way includes: Advertising Direct marketing Interactive marketing Sales promotion Publicity Public relations Personal selling The Promotional Mix41 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Direct mail Telemarketing Door-to-door selling Direct response advertising (TV, radio, cinema, web and press advertisements that solicit an immediate response like phone now or fill the coupon) Computerized home shopping (link home computer with a store so that one can browse around the aisles, pick up merchandise, inspect it by turning it around on screen, ect.) Miscellaneous (leaflet, house-to-house distribution)

Thus, direct marketing plays a big role in the marketing communications programs of consumer-product companies. They spend large amounts of money each year developing and maintaining databases containing the addresses and/or phone numbers of present and prospective customers. b. Interactive marketing Thanks to the huge development of new technology that we have experienced during the last decades, marketing has known a lot of significant changes. Those changes have led to dramatic growth of communication through interactive media, especially through Internet. Interactive marketing allow users to participate and modify the form and content of the information they receive in real time. Contrary to traditional forms of marketing communications such as advertising, these new media allow users to perform a variety of functions such as receive and alter information and images, make inquiries, respond to questions, and, of course, make purchases. Interactive marketing also include CD-ROMs, kiosks, and interactive television but this does not change the fact that the medium which is having the greatest impact on interactive marketing is the Internet, especially through the component known as the World Wide Web (Belch & Belch 2001 19). c. Sales promotion The next variable in the promotional mix is sales promotion. This is generally defined as those marketing activities that provide extra value or incentives to the sales force,

distributors, or to the ultimate consumer and can stimulate immediate sales. It exists two main categories of sales promotion:42 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Consumer-oriented sales promotion is targeted to the ultimate user of a product or service and includes couponing, sampling, premiums, rebates, contests, sweepstakes and various point-of-purchase materials. Trade-oriented sales promotion is targeted towards marketing intermediaries such as wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. Promotional and merchandising allowances, price deals, sales contests, and trade shows are some of the promotional tools used to encourage the trade to stock and promote a companys products. Promotion and sales promotion are two terms that create sometimes confusion in the advertising and marketing field. As noted, promotion is an element of marketing by which firms communicate with their customers. It includes all the promotional mix that we are discussing and sales promotion represents only a part of it (Belch & Belch 2001 21). d. Publicity and Public relations Publicity refers to all the non-personal communications regarding an organization, product, service, or idea which are not directly paid and/or identified. It usually comes in the form of a news story or announcement about an organization and its products or services. Like advertising, publicity involves non-personal communication to a mass audience, but unlike advertising, publicity is not directly paid by the company. The

company or organization attempts to get the media to cover or run a favorable story on a product or service in order to change the knowledge, opinions and behavior towards them. The different techniques used to gain publicity include stuff like press conferences, feature articles, photographs, films and videotapes. The advantage of publicity is its credibility. Consumers generally tend to be less skeptical toward favorable information about a product or a service when it comes from another source (Belch & Belch 2001 22). When we speak about publicity, it is important to recognize the distinction between publicity and public relations. Public relations is defined as the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance (Moore & Canfield 1977 5). Public relation has a broader objective than publicity because its purpose is to establish and maintain a 43 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY positive image of the company among its various publics. Thus the two things should not be confused. e. Personal selling The final element of an organizations promotional mix is personal selling. It is a form of person-to-person communication in which a seller attempts to assist and/or persuade

prospective buyers to purchase the companys products or services. Unlike advertising, personal involves direct contact between the buyer and the seller. This interaction gives the marketer more flexibility, he can see the potential buyers reactions and get some precise feedback. All the different parts of the marketing mix have been studied in this part except the one which is maybe the most important one and the one which has our biggest interest. Indeed, advertisement is the best-known and most widely discussed form of promotion. We will now look at it in the following part. 3.2. Advertisement policies 3.2.1. Definition of Advertisement Advertisements have been developed with the rise of mass production during the late 19 th century and early 20 th century. During the years, its development has been so important that we are now surrounded by advertisements. We can see them in news papers, in magazines, in the streets, we can listen to them at the radio and we can watch them on the television. In our modern societies and in our daily life, advertisement is everywhere and that is why it can be said that we are all influenced to some degree by them. Advertisement is defined as any paid form of non-personal communication about an

organization, product, service or idea by an identified sponsor (Belch & Belch, 2001, 15). In fact, advertisement is not only used by companies. This term refers to all kinds of messages that can be spread in the society, and sometimes advertisement is used by governments or by some organizations in order to inform the population about an issue, an idea or an advice. In this definition, they highlight the fact that advertisement is a paid service because, except when it deals with public messages like health and security, this service has to be bought. The non-personal notion means that 44 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY advertisement is a one-way communication which involves mass media. They can transmit a same message to a large group of individual often at the same time. This last point allows to understand why advertisement is such an important promotional tool for companies, especially when their products and services are targeted to mass consumer markets. Using an advertisement campaign can bring a lot of different advantages to companies: It can be a very cost-effective method in order to communicate with large audiences. For example, during the 1999-2000 television seasons, the average 30-second spot on prime-time network television reached nearly 10 million households, so the cost per thousand household reached was around $14.00. Advertising can be used to create brand images and symbolic appeals for a company or a brand. Advertisement is certainly the promotional way used by companies which has

the strongest impact on customers. They attract customers attention and help general sales. 3.2.2. Basic rules about advertisement campaigns There does not exist specific rules in order to create an advertisement campaign but some elements can be used to facilitate the work and be sure to go in the right direction. The SOSTAC and the 7 Ms of advertising are one of them. The SOSTAC helps managers not to forget what the key components of a marketing communication plan are. The good thing with this tool is that it can be applied to any kind of plan. S Situation Analysis (where are we now?) O Objectives (where do we want to go?) S Strategy (how do we get there?) T Tactics (the details of strategy) A Action (or implementation putting the plans to work) C Control (measurement, monitoring, reviewing and modifying) 45 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY In the case of advertisement, the three first points are the most important ones. Marketers will begin with the situation because in a first hand they need to do some research before starting the work. They will have to answer some questions like: What are the current sales trend, market share trend and overall market trend? Are there any regions or segments that buy more than others? How big are the competitions sales? What is the profile of the customer and of the non-customers who might be converted?

Who is the target market now and in the future? Who are the heavy users? When do they buy and where do they buy? In addition to that, they will have to ask themselves some questions about the product they will advertize. Is there anything special about the product? How does the product compare against the competitors products? Have consumers ever heard of the product before? Finally, what could be relevant at the end of their researches will be to do an analysis of their competitors advertising campaigns and of their brands past campaigns. All these different questions will give marketers more ideas, help them to understand the market and add some strong value to their advertisements. Once they will have analyzed the situation, the next step will be to define exactly where the company wants to be. In another word, they will have to figure out what are their objectives. In order to do so they can help themselves with the previous years objectives and thanks to that, their planning job will probably be a little bit easier. Previous experiences can provide a better idea of what would be realistic and non realistic for the future. If a company wants to figure out where it wants to go exactly, its objectives have to be SMART: Specific Be precise about what they are going to achieve. Measurable Quantify their objectives. Actionable Are they attempting too much? Realistic Do they have the resources to make the objective happen?

 Time specific - State when they will achieve the objective. Establishing clear and strong objectives is necessary to give a focus to the organization and allow it to move on to the next step. Indeed, once researches are completed and objectives identified, the advertising campaign will be ready to be developed. The strategy will be set up with its planning, its message and the selection of the media that 46 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY will be used. Thus, the implementation of the advertisement will finally come, followed by some evaluation in order to make sure that everything has been done properly. Another tool that can be used in order to help marketers keeping in mind all the points they have to raise before setting their advertisement campaigns will be the 7 Ms of advertising. These 7 Ms are as follows: Merchandise: What is it that we have to promote? Markets: To whom are we advertising? Motives: Why do these consumers buy? Messages: What appeals will work best? Money: How much should we spend, and when? Media: Where and when should we reach our audience? Measurement: How do consumers respond to our ads? Thus, doing an advertisement campaign doesnt seem like an easy task. There are a lot of different points to deal with in order to be sure to establish a good and relevant campaign. Success is not always guaranteed and maybe that is why sometimes companies chose to pass through some advertising agencies in order to realize this

difficult work. Advertising agencies began in the middle of the 19 th century, as agents of the media. They were selling space in local media to manufacturers from other regions but today, the structure of an agency is largely driven by the market in which it operates. To be defined, an advertising agency is an organization that solicits clients, creates ads, or places ads in the media. It is the institution that is most closely associated with advertising in peoples minds (Tellis, 1997, 64). When companies use this kind of services, they know that it will cost them much more than if they were doing the work by their own, but it might make them feel more comfortable to use the skills of individuals who are specialists in this field. The researches, the objectives and the strategy will be discussed with the client thanks to some brainstorming and other meetings. It will be only after that that the creative part will be done by the agency or by the company itself if she didnt chose to use this kind of service. 47 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 3.2.3. The importance of creativity Creativity can be defined as a productive divergence. Productive and divergence are essential to the definition because we consider something to be creative if it diverges

from the norm, or is different from what is currently done or believed (Tellis, 1997, 83). When all the first steps of the work showed in the previous part will have been done, the creative team will finally be briefed thanks to what it called the creative brief. The creative brief is a key document where all the research findings and weeks of discussions will have to be concentrated into a single page which explains exactly what the advertisement should do. This document covers all the key information such as the target audience, the advertising objectives, the choice of the media and how the audience should feel after the advertisement. It is a very important document that has to be signed by an account director before being passed to the creative team. After that, the work of the creative team will not be that simple. We may describe it as being challenging because every marketing situation is different and require a different creative approach. For every single advertisement campaign, they will have to put the advertisement message in a form that will engage the audiences interest and make the ads memorable. According to many creative people, it is important for companies to take some risks if they want to obtain an innovative advertising campaign that will get noticed. A creative idea is one whose promise is not obvious to everyone. It thus involves risks (Tellis, 1997, 86). However, not all companies or agencies agree that advertising has to be risky to be effective. Many marketing managers are more comfortable with advertising

that simply communicates the product or service and gives the consumer a reason to buy. They know that the ad campaign will cost them a multimillion-dollar investment and they are not always ready to let their agency or creative managers take too much freedom. There are no specific rules in order to be creative but some processes and approaches can sometimes be followed. One of the most popular approaches to creativity in advertising was developed by James Webb Young, a former creative vice president at the J. Walter Thompson agency. He said that: The production of ideas is just as definite as the production of Ford. The production of ideas too, runs an assembly line; in this production the mind follows an operative technique which can be learned and 48 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY controlled; and its effective use is just as much a matter of practice in the technique as in the effective use of any tool (James Webb Young, 1975, 42). Youngs model of the creative process contains five steps: 1. Immersion: Gathering raw material and information through background research and immersing yourself in the problem. 2. Digestion: Taking the information, working it over, and wrestling with it in the mind. 3. Incubation: Putting the problems out of your conscious mind and turning the information over to the subconscious to do the work. 4. Illumination: The birth of an idea phenomenon the Eureka! I have it!

5. Reality or verification: Studying the idea to see if it still looks good or solves the problem. Then shaping the idea to practical usefulness. This kind of model can be used by whose working in the creative area of advertising. One of the most important steps will be to find some information and knowledge about the product, in order to develop some good ideas in a second time. It can also be observed that this model do not say much about how this information will be synthesized and used by the creative specialist because this part of the process is unique to the individual. 3.2.4. Advertisement at an international scale. With the development of faster communication, transportation, and financial transactions, companies have more and more reasons and opportunities to sell what they produce, outside their national borders. Products and services developed in one country can quickly find their way to other ones, where they are mostly accepted. We can, for example noticed that consumers all around the world wear Nike shoes and Calvin Klein jeans, eat at Mac Donald and drink Coca-Cola and Pepsi. However in order to succeed in another environment, the communication process and above all the advertisement one must be taken with some precautions and maybe some modifications. Many companies have run into difficulties because of that. In most of the cases, they have to face a new market whose customers own different values, customs, habits, languages and purchase motives. Sometimes, even the media options are different or limited. That is why before setting any advertisement campaign in 49

TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY another country, companies have to study strongly its situation. This can be done thanks to four different points: The economic environment, the demographic environment, the political environment and the cultural environment. The economic environment is very important to study before deciding whether or not the company is going to sell in a foreign country. Indeed, it would be quite irrational to sell products and services where there is not enough income to buy them. Normally, this factor doesnt appear to be an issue in developed countries like United States, Canada, Japan and most of the Western Europe. Consumers over there generally have high income and high standard living conditions. They thus have the possibility to buy a large variety of items. Another important point which appears in developed countries is that they own everything needed in term of communications, transportation and distribution networks. Thanks to that, the companies business activities can normally be conducted in an efficient way. As a contradiction to that fact, developing countries can suffer from a lack of purchasing power and a lack of communication network. Doing business over there can be quite dangerous but it depends of the situation. Indeed, it can be noticed that many marketers are turning their attention to parts of the world whose economies and consumer markets are growing. For example, Nestl, the worlds largest food company, estimates that 20 percent of the worlds population in Europe and North America consumes 80 percent of its product. However,

while they continue to target those countries with ads, they are also focusing on Third World nations as the market of tomorrow (Belch & Belch, 2001, 677). Thus, doing business in developing countries can sometimes be interested, especially when their economy is growing, but their situation will have to be studied very deeply by the company. They have to make sure that the economic environment is good enough to succeed. The demographic environment can also provide some relevant information. Before attacking the market of a country data like income levels and distribution, age and occupation distributions of the population, household size, education, employment rates and literacy rates should be taken into consideration. For instance, with the literacy rates it can be said that people who cannot read will not respond well to some kinds of advertisement. In this case, simple images should prevail. Moreover, with the size of the population and its characteristics like age, sexes, social status and so on, companies can evaluate the size of their potential market. Thus, analyzing the 50 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY demography environment of a country can give some clues to companies in order to help them planning their advertising campaigns. The political environment in a country is one of the most important factors influencing the advertising and promotional programs of international marketers. Government regulations and restrictions differ from one country to another and can affect various aspects of a companys advertising program:

 The types of products they want to advertise. The creative approach they plan to use. The media that they are allowed to employ. The use of foreign language in ads. The use of advertising material prepared outside the country. The use of local versus international advertising agencies. The specific taxes that may be asked against advertising. The tobacco would be an example quite interesting to look at. Cigarette advertising is banned in some or all media in numerous countries like United States, Argentina, Canada, France, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Finally, the last important aspect of the international marketing environment and the one in which we are mostly interested is the culture of each country. Most of the time, advertising is the most effective way to communicate with potential buyers but in an international dimension it can become a very difficult part of marketers job. They have to deal with a lot of different cultural variables like language, customs, tastes, attitudes, lifestyles, values and ethical/moral standards. They often meet some difficulties with languages and connotative meaning of signs and symbols that they use in their messages. For example, Pepsodent toothpaste was unsuccessful in Southeast Asia because it promised white teeth to a culture where black and yellow teeth are symbols of prestige (Belch & Belch, 2001, 678). If they want their advertising campaign to succeed, all these factors should be studied and the help of a local expertise can

sometimes be a good solution. With all these different factors, it can be asked if using a same advertising campaign for different countries would be possible. This would bring a lot of advantages to companies like:51 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Economies of scale in production and distribution. Lower marketing, advertising and advertising production costs. Abilities to exploit good ideas on a worldwide basis and introduce products quickly into various world markets. A consistent international brand and company image. A simplification of coordination and control of marketing and promotional programs. For some companies and some products, this method worked quite well. For instance, Gillette used a global advertising method in the early 90s to launch its Sensor shaving system, with its slogan The best a Man Can Get. It became one of the most successful products in the companys history. Unfortunately, it seems that very few products lend themselves to global advertising. Differences between countries can be too important and for that reason personalization in advertisement is, in most of the cases, a necessity. If a company decides to set up a global advertisement campaign, they will have to be very careful about the way they are going to communicate. In this case, they could use the criteria cited by Edward Meyer (Marketing and media decisions, 1984, 74)

concerning the products or services that are best suited to worldwide appeals: Brands that can be adapted for a visual appeal, avoiding the problems of trying to translate worlds into dozen of languages. Brands that are promoted with image campaigns that play to universal appeals such as sex or wealth. High-tech products and new products coming to the world for the first time. Products that appeal to a market segment with universally similar tastes, interests, needs and values. 3.3. Theoretical framework of this thesis In order to build a relevant survey and questionnaire, some aspects of the theoretical part are going to be used while some will have to be left apart. As this investigation is focused on the consumers point of view and the influence of his culture on its buying decisions, this survey will focus on the parts concerning culture and consumer 52 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY behaviour as well as the next part concerning three brands relevant to analyze the acceptance or rejection of firms advertisement and implantation on markets with high intercultural risk. Indeed, thanks to all the theory that has just been studied in the previous parts, the next step will be to study the cases of the three international companies previously selected. Aubade, Durex and Redbull sell products at an international scale and the kind of products they sell may oblige them to put a lot of attention on their communication campaigns. Womens underwear, condoms or energy drinks can, in some culture, be seen as a taboo and for that reason they may have to

look very carefully at the countries in which they are selling their items. Thus, in the following part it will be studied how those companies managed to enter the French market, the Chinese market and the Middle East one, which remain very different. This would give us the opportunity to look at some practical examples behind the theory. The main objective of this survey is to understand what consumers think of those international companies communication strategy. The point is to know how they see it, if they understand it and if they agree with it. The study of this subject has been done too many times on a company point of view and that is why this survey focuses on a consumer approach. It might be really interesting and relevant to understand how depending of their culture, country or generation their point of view will be different and companies should look very carefully at these kinds of information. It might help them to avoid some mistakes that are sometimes difficult to avoid. In the parts that will follow, the following theoretical aspects would help us to answer to the research questions and build the consumer survey: Elements of culture: It can be interesting to see what are the cultural elements (education, social institutions, believes) that have a strong influence on the consumer, his habits and buying decisions. Global consumer culture versus Particular consumer culture. By asking to consumers coming from different countries what they think about the advertisement of Aubade, Durex and Redbull, we hope we would be able to understand if some strong differences remain between them because this will allow us to evaluate the level of particular consumer culture against the

emergence of a global one. 53 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Model of consumer decision making. We will use some part of this theory just to see if the buying decisions of the people in the consumers neighbourhood can have a strong influence on him. The impact of advertisement on consumer behaviour. Thanks to our survey, this would help us to understand what different impact a same advertisement can caused on consumers. Thus, we took the decision to catch the theory that have a direct link with consumers and his buying decisions, and that is why we have then left apart the theorical part concerning firms marketing and advertisement strategies as they focus more on the firms side, and not on the consumers one. The questionnaire can be found in the appendix. 4 Advertisement and Marketing Policies In Intercultural Risks Situation 4.1 Aubade 4.1.1 Historical and Activities The Aubade firm is a French firm specialized in creating and distributing high class womens underwear. Created in 1875 by Dr Bernard, then acquired by the Pasquier family; this brand was a pioneer of creating an efficient underwear communication campaign in the 60s in that particular market, turning an object considered as strictly functional to a tool of beauty self pleasure. 4.1.2 Communication

The 90s were a real turning point with the launching of the advertising saga lessons in seduction. Counting nowadays more than a hundred of it, these visual advertisements were designed to attract both men and women, the desired message transmitted to men by this campaign is:If you want your woman to be as beautiful as the ones on the posters, buy her Aubade underwear.. The message for women being: If you want to 54 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY drive your husband crazy, because you know these posters are doing it, buy Aubades underwear. furthermore, buy buying luxury products, consumers acquire a part of the luxury dream, which is the case with Aubades products. Picture 1: Lesson n34: Playing with his nerves. 4.1.3. Worldwide markets and strategies 4.1.3.1. The French market The French women are fond of underwear, more than a simple hygienic or usual tool, underwear are considerate as a seduction tool, and an important element of beauty since 1960.

According to the French fashion institute, French women spend 18.5% of their clothing budget into underwear, representing the highest level in Europe. The really young women (15 to 24 years old), discovering their femininity, are the consumers buying the most with an average of 131.5 Euros per year dedicated to underwear spending. Older

women from 45 to 54 years old are the third higher buyers with an average of 87.8 Euros per year, buying mostly expensive high ranking products. Ranking second higher consumers are women from 34 to 44 years old, with a spending average reaching 103.6 Euros per year. Globally, the sales of women underwear in France in 2007 represented 2.44 billion Euros.55 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Nowadays in France, women underwear is a product of massive consumption bought by women for themselves or as a present, and also bought by men as a present to their wife. The French elements and dimensions of its culture dont represent any cultural risks of rejection. 4.1.3.2 The Chinese market The Chinese culture is actually integrating women underwear as an element of beauty and a seduction tool. This turn can be compared to the French cultural integration during the 1960s. Even if the taste and fashion spirit of Chinese women are quite similar to Europeans some changes have being made concerning colors. Chinese colors signification is different than in other cultures (Yellow is considered as pornographic) and some modifications are also applied to products (cups systematically reinforcement with a light padding). Culture also modifies the consumption, for example Chinese people are shyer than Europeans, having its underwear visible is not acceptable and women dont like showing it. Then, in the biggest cities (Beijing, Shanga) the Occidental influence is more visible, due to international fashion magazines as well. Concerning the communication in China, practical difficulties create a risk of none

acceptance by the local population. The language barrier coming first, Chinese characters are not phenomenon transcription as in occidental cultures, but ideograms, making brands translations very difficult. 4.1.3.3 The Muslim-Arabic market At the opposite of stereotypes, there is a growing womens underwear market in these countries, but the local beliefs are making the market very specific from other cultures. The Muslim population is doing the Ramadan (being the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, having sex, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset). During this month, the activity of the underwear market is really affected by an important downturn, but as the Ramadan ends, this same activity is exploding. Another factor is the Arabic season of wedding during the month of March, Arabic weddings give imperative for both husband and wife: the husband have to raise funds to pay the dowry to his future 56 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY wifes family, while the future wife have to buy a collection of underwear dedicated to the honeymoon. This factor makes the market fluctuating importantly during the year and creating an unstable demand level. Another important fact about some Muslim cultures is the need for women not to be visible by someone else than their husbands, the woman needs to be constantly

covered in front of the outside world and by this fact develops a real need of sexiness and being desirable in front of her husband, when she is able to show her body. Underwear becomes then an important beauty tool and that is one of the reasons why the demand is growing in these countries. These countries also bring cultural barriers, specifically concerning advertisement. In Egypt for example, an advertizing poster or television campaigns showing even just womans legs would be extremely offensive to local beliefs and the brand would be rejected. According to that, distributors are using catalogs in book format with addresses of shops and photos of products. Another barrier in the Egyptian market is the way of selling products, the majority of sell persons are males and their culture makes them shy to help a woman choosing underwear, or determining her bra size. 4.2. Durex 4.2.1. Historical and Activities The firm was created in 1915 by LA Jackson, named the London Rubber Company Ltd. At first, they were selling imported condoms and barber supplies. It is fourteen years later, in 1929 that the company registered the brand name Durex, representing DUrability, Reliability and EXcellence. The firm started manufacturing in 1930. Over the years, the brand never stopped its research and development effort, using new technologies to create new products, always looking for a better quality of their product line. Nowadays, Durex continues to move forward with its objective of becoming the worlds number one authority on sexual wellbeing, dedicated to inspire people to have

better sex life. Their product range has been expanded not only to condoms but also to the Play product line including various lubricants and vibrators.57 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 4.2.2. Worldwide marketing approach The brand Durex is promoting its products in two different approaches. The first is through a proper network created by the firm, dedicated to promote safe sex and get the customers aware about the risks of unprotected sexual activities. The second is through a proper marketing campaign, including advertisement and different marketing actions. The Durex Network was founded in 2005 to formalize the work that Durex has been doing over many years to raise awareness of the safer sex message globally, trying to connect business decisions to ethical, social and environmental concerns. Its vision is to inspire people to take responsibility for their sexual health, based on the principle that information leads to knowledge which, in turn, leads to action. For the Network, this means talking to people to get an in-depth understanding of their needs before developing initiatives that will enable them to gain the knowledge they need to make informed choices. Durex networks mission is to develop and support key initiatives that harness global sexual health expertise to raise awareness of the safer sex message, communicate a prevention ethos and encourage consistent condom use. By pooling the expertise of key sex and reproductive healthcare professionals, the Durex Network also seeks to

share knowledge and help replicate best practice in the field to ensure safer sex stays at the top of everyones agenda. The Durex Network has six main components: Information Research and analysis Global sexual health advocacy Health promotion Social marketing Global partnerships58 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Durexs advertisement campaign also consists in a more classical marketing policy, including both sponsorship and visual publicity. Durexs sponsorship effort is targeted on events for fifteen to twenty five years old people, representing more than fifty percent of their global income. Their marketing effort is the free distribution of their products by the implantation of Durex teams during manifestations (sportive events, concerts...). Picture 2: A Durex team at work in China The second mean of communication is visual advertisement, through both poster campaigns and television spots. These spots are famous for being both very explicit and fun, trying to turn a product that people could be ashamed to buy or discuss about into a trendy and fun sex wellbeing tool. On an intercultural point of view, even if their advertisements are personalized from a country to another (language, message) Durex is facing censorship in Middle East

and china where these spots and posters are considered as too explicit to be showed nationally and must then focus both on their network development and on the sponsorship effort.59 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 4.3. Red Bull 4.3.1.Historical and Activities The Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz has discovered during his frequent travels in the Asian region a Thai drink called Krating Daeng. This energetic drink as for effect to help handling jetlag and taxis and truck drivers are using it in order to stay focus and awake longer. Mr Mateschitz negotiates with the Thai producer export rights and the creation of Red Bull GmbH, situated in Austria but with 51% of the Thai firms capital. The drink dedicated to exportation will be with bubbles and including less sugar. The drink has been launched in 1987 in Austria. Nowadays, this highly energetically drink is present in more than one hundred and fifty countries worldwide. 4.3.2. Worldwide marketing campaign Red Bull is the perfect example of an international advertisement policy. Their marketing approach is exactly the same worldwide. Their television spots are kept the same since the first apparition in Austria which are minimalists animated cartoons with the slogan Red Bull gives you wings. The company only translates the slogan in order

to communicate in different cultures but doesnt adapt at all its positioning. As their product gives energy, the other important aspect of their communication effort is the sponsorship of sportive events, and as for the Durex Company, the creation of advertisement teams going to parties and sportive events in order to distribute the product, has been set up. Picture 3: A Red Bull team60 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY In the world of sports, Red Bull is one of the major sponsors. Trying to gives an image of youth and energy provider, the firm created a formula one team and widely, high risks sportive events around the world such as WRC rally championship, Nascar racing, Motorcycle races. 5.RESEARCH METHOD 5.1 Foreword Trying to explain how the consumer behavior and the consumer point of view might be different from one country or culture to another is the main objective of this work. In order to find out this challenge and make it as relevant as possible, the decision of studying taboo products on three markets completely different (French, Chinese and Middle East one), has been taken. The interesting point is that the communication and advertisement strategies of the three chosen companies dealing with taboo products have just been studying. Understanding how they managed to enter those three areas culturally different thanks to the theory that has been seen before was really important in order to be able, in a

second time, to gather our own data collection. The technique used to collect our personal data has been done thanks to the realization of a questionnaire. This questionnaire would help to answer to the research questions and conclude the work properly with a maximum of credibility. 5.2. Data collection Two different kinds of data have been used to conduct this research: the primary and secondary one. The primary data refer to all the material collected by the researcher himself. In this specific case, the main way selected for conducting this collection of data has been done through a complete survey destined to the consumers of the companies Aubade, Durex and Redbull in the French, Chinese and Middle-East market. The secondary data collection refers to the material and analysis made by other writers and researchers. For this work it can be said that the first theoretical parts have been written thanks to this way of data collection. Reliable and academic books 61 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY and internet sources have been used and a deep overview of the topic has been gained thanks to that. In this part, the data collection in which we are interested in is the primary one. It is the one that has been conducted by our own means, and that is why more attention will be paid on it. This data is analyzed using the quantitative method. A quantitative research method involves an analysis of a numerical data. Its aim is to classify features, count

them, and construct statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed (Miles & Huberman, 1994, 40). Several points or recommendations have to be followed when a researcher decides to use this kind of research: It must be known in advance what is been looking for. It is recommended during latter phases of research projects. All the aspects of the study must be carefully designed before the data is collected. Tools, such as questionnaires or equipment to collect the numerical data have to be used. The data is represented in the form of numbers and statistics. Thus, the quantitative strategy designed for this study seems to be the most appropriate one. All the theory that has to be known for this subject has been previously designed, a questionnaire will be used and some statistical analysis will be done thanks to it. The objective is to gather as many consumers point of view as possible and only a relevant survey will allow to do that. The strongest point of this method resides in its confidentiality. People would not get afraid and they would more easily give the exact answer to a personal question. This would maybe not have been the case in a qualitative method (use of interviews, for instance). This is quite important and fundamental, especially by dealing with a subject which includes the study of some taboo products. However, it should not been forgotten that a couple of limits remain within quantitative research methods. They have a limited ability to probe answers and people who are willing to respond may

share characteristics that do not apply to the audience as a whole, creating a potential bias in the study. Finally, according to Steckler, Mc Leroy, Goodman, Bird and Mc Cormick, the greatest weakness of the quantitative approach is that it decontextualizes human behavior in a way that removes the event from its real world setting and ignores 62 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY the effects of variables that have not been included in the model (Steckler, Mc Leroy, Goodman, Bird & Mc Cormick, 1992). People behavior and reactions cannot be included in the analysis of the study which transforms this method into a very impersonal one. Despite of those difficulties, it seems obvious that the quantitative research method is the one that has to be conducted to add some relevant and significant values to this work. 5.3 Scope of the questionnaire The questionnaire has been sent to a sample of French, Chinese and Arabic consumers of the three companies studied. We wanted and we obtained 10 answers per region. To do so we asked to some friends leaving there or doing their Erasmus there, to answer it. In China the answers collected come from Shanghai and in the Middle East they come from Dubai and Syria. The sample selected owns a high level of study, they are city dweller and for the majority of them, they have less than 30 years old. The first three questions are about general information, not referring to any part of the

previous analysis. The questions 4 to 7 are based on the different elements and components defining a culture (influence of the community, and different social institutions) and were created in order to evaluate the global influence of a culture on peoples everyday life and buying decisions. The Eighth question is a transition, mixing both culture and product orientation, and, finally the questions nine to fifteen are the final part of the survey, focused on the culture and advertisement strategy acceptance. This survey has for goal to give answers to the two remaining research questions which are How consumer behavior might change from one country to another, referring to the same product? and What impact produces the advertisement campaign on consumers? How do they see it?.63 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 5.4 Results and reflexion In order to build a relevant survey, showing the differences between each nations and culture and being able to compare them, the analysis of the survey has been built on a sample of ten citizens for each geographic region (France, China, and Middle East). The first three questions of the survey were created to classify the answers according to the cultural location of the consumers. Indeed, the aim of this quantitative research is to point out the differences between them, in terms of product acceptation and consumption habits. In the following part of the survey concerning the elements of culture and their strength

on inhabitants, the next points have been observed: The religion and beliefs are essential parts of the Middle-East culture while in France and China the answers collected point out that it is not a crucial factor. The norms and values seem to be an important factor of the Chinese and Middle-East societies. However, in France by comparing the answers collected from young and older people, we observe that the tendency is a devaluation of values and norms in this country. In order to understand how these values and norms are integrated by the citizens of each different geographic region, we tried to evaluate the importance of the three main social institutions (Government, Education and Families). The results showed that in China the government and the educational institutions are extremely strong. 70% of them strongly agree with the fact that the government plays an important role in their culture and the educational system in the transmission of these values and norms. For the family, we discovered that it is a little bit less important. Only 40% of them marked that this institution is important in their values and norms transmission. In France like in the Middle East, it appears that the values and norms are first transmitted by the family. The second one is the educational system and the last one being the government. Apart from the culture, the consumer external environment can also be a factor of influence in their buying decision. Considering the Chinese environment, the answers show that Medias have the strongest influence on consumers (60% of the answers). On the contrary, the Middle East citizens would be more influenced by the people 64

TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY around them (70%) and in France the influence of both of these factors are evaluated as equal (70%). Now that the external factor analysis has been done, the next step is to point out consumers differences of feeling and consumption according to the three taboo products, subject of the thesis. Thus, it has been discovered that French consumers have no fear about this kind of shopping. Chinese and Arabic male consumers feel pretty comfortable about going shopping for condoms while there are extremely uncomfortable about buying women underwear (70% of the Chinese feel strongly uncomfortable and 60% of the Arabic feel uncomfortable). Finally, concerning the last item (Red bull), it seems that they dont have difficulties at all to buy this energy drink. They all feel comfortable about it (average for each culture: 80%). The following advertisement has been created by the company Aubade in order to promote their product in France (see picture 4). Picture 4: Lesson n49: Extend the magic of the first look The result of the survey shows that the three different cultures consider this picture as an attractive one but for Chinese and Arabic citizens it would be quite shocking to see it in the street. They dont consider it relevant to their culture but for different reasons. 65 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY According to their religion values, Arabic people do not think that it could be apply or show in public areas and in marketing campaigns. In China, the government would

certainly not accept this poster. They will see it as a choking one and inappropriate to their culture. Durexs television communication campaign is mostly accepted in France except by religious authorities. In China and Middle East it is, on the contrary, strongly rejected by all the different actors that has been studied (Government, citizens and religious institutions). According to their culture, it would be very inappropriate and for that reason other means of communication have to be used. The last company that has been studied is Redbull. The product they sell is widely accepted. Contrary to the two other brands they use the same communication campaigns in different countries. It has been asked to the citizens of the different cultures studied if they thought that this type of advertisement was adapted to them and it has been found out that it was not really the case but, at the same time, it does not bother them. As a conclusion it can be said that this survey showed some differences between the regions in which it has been applied in terms of culture itself, product integration and marketing strategy (see below the table 10). Table 10: Summary of the survey. Elements of Culture Middle East China France Importance of religion and beliefs Crucial Not crucial Not crucial Norms and values Important Important Important for older

generation (over 40yo), not for young people Importance of social institutions Government 3 rd 1 st 3 rd Educational system 2 nd 1 st 2 nd Family 1 st 3 rd 1 st External environment Influence Table 10 (Continued)66 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Medias Small influence Strong influence Equal influence

People around Strong influence Small influence Equal influence Feeling about shopping for Women underwear Males: uncomfortable Women: comfortable Males: Extremely uncomfortable Women: comfortable Both sex feels comfortable Condoms Pretty comfortable Pretty comfortable Extremely comfortable Energy drinks Extremely comfortable Extremely comfortable Extremely comfortable Aubades poster Attractiveness Attractive Attractive Very attractive Acceptation of street marketing publication No, for religion

issues No, the government will censor because not their values Already visible in the streets Durex TV advertisement Possibility to see that on national TV No, because too shocking No, too shocking Accepted because only figurative Red Bull Product acceptation Accepted Accepted Accepted Is the TV advertisement adapted to your culture? No, but doesnt matter No, but doesnt matter No, but doesnt matter This table tries to summarize the differences that have been discovered thanks to the

survey. The first visible difference revealed by this survey relies on the elements of culture and the importance of social institution in transmission of values. This fact is the basis of the difference between these cultures and the reasons why consumers from different countries do not see the same product or marketing campaign through the same way. The shopping habits and products acceptation are another relevant point. When some cultures are comfortable to shop for a given product, it is no more considered as taboo, while in other countries consumers can still feel not comfortable about shopping for the same kind of products. Finally, the advertisement campaigns are not always widely accepted for taboo products, according to religious or cultural values. Integrating Hoftedes cultural analysis the principal dimension playing a role in the differentiation of behaviors is the masculinity vs feminity aspect. Arabic countries like United Emirates and China both have a culture more masculine (on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0=exclusively feminine and 100=exclusively masculine) these two countries (Continued)67 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY have a grade superior to 50 (China 53 and United Emirates 62) while France have a grade of 38. This reveal that the country where the women are the more integrated and treated as equal to men is the France. This factor is in accordance with the responses to our survey concerning consumers feeling about shopping for women underwear. In

masculine countries, this type of shopping is not integrated in the culture as common shopping and is set as taboo by the culture itself.68 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 Foreword The cultural and marketing theories have been studied, the communication strategies of the companies selected have been analyzed and the consumers point of view and reactions of these companies have been found out. Thus, to pursue this work in a good way, the main findings and conclusions of the analysis will be presented in this chapter. The purpose of this chapter will be to answer to the research questions and present the implications and recommendations for further research. 6.2 Answers to the research questions 6.2.1 Does culture have an impact on the advertisement policy of international firms? First of all, in order for a company to build a relevant an effective communication campaign, it has to be able to communicate with the customers targeted, using a language that the citizens of the given culture will understand and integrate the message the firm wants to transmit. This language can be their own speaking language or another one well understood by most of the population. In addition to the language barrier, a lot of dimensions and elements of a culture pointed out by many researchers (Hofstede, Trompenaar) have to be considerate to either build a specific or general marketing strategy. These components of a culture set

the rules and values, way of life and beliefs. The advertisement as the product itself have to be adapted at the local behaviors, and, through these particular factors, cultures does have an impact and influence on advertisement policies and is often a decisive element of a campaign success or total failure. Through brands marketing analysis it has been shown that companies can sometimes completely modify their communication message and tools in order to adapt their own promotional policy to different geographical locations and cultures (for example Aubade exposing explicit posters in France while the firm only print small undercover catalogues in the Middle East region for religious, beliefs and values matters).69 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY It is then set that by the fact that companies have the need to adapt their advertisement policies to local cultures that these cultures have an impact on firms marketing campaigns. 6.2.2 Can a publicity campaign be the same through different countries? Through the analysis of the marketing international approach of the firm Red Bull, an international marketing campaign appears to be possible. Nevertheless, Red Bull is a particular firm as it is able to apply this strategy due to the fact that this particular company is selling a product line composed of only two extremely simple and very similar items, Red Bull and Red Bull light. These two products are produced, distributed and promoted worldwide in the exact same way including packaging and marketing. In addition to that, these products are not facing any kind of rejection in terms of

culture. Even if some governments across the globe are considering this product as potentially risky in terms of over usage, and parents does not recommend their children to use or overuse this particular product, that fact does not affect its worldwide distribution. This type of marketing is risky as promoting products in different cultures imply a need of adaptation to customers local culture, but considering that particular brand, the survey revealed that customers are not disturbed by the fact that the marketing approach even if they consider that it is not adapted to their own culture. Another relevant point is that some countries are sharing a same cultural background, (same elements and dimensions, for example the United Kingdom) then, it is possible for a company to promote a similar product in different country, not at a national scale but at a cultural one as they know that if the policy reveals to be efficient in a country, this will work on the other. 70 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 6.2.3 How consumer behavior might change from one country to another, referring to the same product? Referring to the methodological part of this thesis, consumers behavior is the result of many cultural elements, environment and marketing aspects; the investigation realized proved that for a same product, consumers from different culture are not responding in

a same way. While some products are considered as taboo in certain countries, others have widely integrated them into their consuming habits. The example of women underwear is particularly relevant, while the French citizens from both sexes feel comfortable about going shopping for this kind of products, citizens of the Middle East region revealed that while women are comfortable to go, men are at the opposite uncomfortable to do so, revealing a first difference. Finally, the Chinese male citizens feel extremely uncomfortable to enter an underwear shop. This kind of differences reveals that culture does have an impact of consumers behavior; regarding their country of origin and also that all citizens from a same country and a same culture may not consider a same product the same way. Other differences are visible as well, for example considering different regions. In countries where the religious authorities have a strong influence on citizens beliefs values and behaviors, Durex product line will face a high rejection from the citizens (for example highly catholic countries where condoms are negatively considered, referring to the popes prohibition) while in some other countries with different cultural background, consumers will be asking for more innovative products and have integrated the use of condoms in their culture. 6.2.4 What impact advertisement campaigns produce on consumers? How do they see it? In our daily life, as a consumer, we are all affected by several external factors which can have an influence on our consumer behavior and purchase decisions. These

factors can for instance be the choices our friends, family or neighborhoods are going to take. If one of them buys a new pair of shows, maybe unconsciously we will think about buying some too because ours are too old or because we want to look like this person. This environment factor can be very strong depending on the people. Some consumers according to their thoughts, cultures, values and norms will consider that 71 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY the look of other people is very important and that is why this environment factor will affect them in a very strong way. Another important factor, certainly stronger than the environment one has been deeply analyzed in this study. Advertisement is the most important tool of the promotional mix used by companies. It is one of the way companies are going to use in order to affect as much as they can their actual and potential consumers, in order to make them want to buy the companys products. This tool used by companies has to be created with a lot of precautions to produce the perfect impact on the consumption. The companies which have to take the most precautions are certainly the one dealing with taboo products on international markets. Consumers coming from different countries will not understand a same campaign through the same way. According to their culture, they can see a same image, a same slogan or a same spot differently.

Thus, in order to produce the same impact on consumers coming from several regions, some modifications on the communication and advertisement campaigns must be added, in most of the cases. Advertisement is supposed to attract peoples look. By seeing an advertisement, they are going to be tented to buy the product or service proposed. It is going to show them that they may miss something in their life and create a need. However, it has been discovered thanks to the following work that some difficulties can emerge in the sale of some products. In some countries and cultures, some products that people still need in their daily life can be seen as a taboo. They would not accept to see a picture of this kind of product in the street because it would go against their values and norms. It is for instance the case with condoms or underwear in areas like China and Middle East. Thus if the companies that sell these items produce and show the same advertisement campaigns that they will certainly set up in countries like France, their products might be rejected by the local population. A same advertisement will produce different impacts on consumers and companies must be careful to make sure that these impacts are goods ones. 72 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 6.3 General reflexions and recommendations for international companies located on risky markets. The conclusions of the study and research questions have just been presented. Thus,

in order to end this work properly, in this last section, the implications for further recommendations will be discussed, based on the analysis and findings reached. As it has been seen and said before, the world is becoming more and more globalize. People tend to have the same needs and wishes and that is why in some cases, companies may have the possibility to produce the same items and the same advertising campaigns for its international consumers (see the case of the company Red Bull). However, thanks to the analysis previously done, it has been realized that strong differences remain according to the cultures of the citizens. Companies must understand these differences, especially when they sell products that can be considering as chocking by the population. If they understand them and learn how consumers think according to their cultures, they will be able to produce good ways of communication and sell their products properly. This thesis has provided an interesting look on consumer behavior and cultural effects on companies, but it still remain a great deal of areas in which to conduct additional research about this subject. The analysis has been only done about companies which sell some taboo products on the French, Chinese and Middle East market. Thus, the following areas could be quite interesting to pursue this research: Make the same study on a larger sample of companies, or on the other hand make the same study based on an industry completely different, or investigate deeper on cultural effects by analyzing more geographic part of the world. These are just some of the multiple alternatives that can be thinking about in order to pursue and complete the presented research. 73

TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY 7. REFERENCES 7.1. Bibliography Aaker, D. & Shansby, J.G. - Positioning your product 1982 Belch, G. & Belch, M - Advertising and Promotion An integrated Marketing Communications Perspective Fifth Edition 2001 Buckley, A. - The Essence of Consumer Behavior 1997 Cuche, D. - La Notion de culture dans les sciences sociales 2004 Hofstede, G. and Bond, M. - The need of synergy among cross-cultural studies, journal of cross cultural psychology December 1984 Hofstede, G. Cultures consequences 2001 Kroeber, A. & Kluckholm, C. Culture, a critical review of concepts and definition 1952 Mc Graw Hill, Hodgelts, R. & Luthans, F. - International Management, culture, strategy and behavior, fourth edition - 2000 Meyer, E. - Marketing and media decisions 1984 Miles & Huberman -Qualitative data analysis 1994. Moore, HF. & Canfiedld, BR - Public relations: Principles, Cases and Problems 1977. Ray, M - Advertising and Communication Management 1982 Smith, PR. - Marketing communications, an integrated approach Second edition 1998 Solomon, M., Bamossy, G., Askegaard, S. & Hogg, M. - Consumer Behavior, A European Perspective Fourth edition

Steckler A, McLeroy KR, Goodman RM, Bird ST, McCormick L - Toward integrating qualitative and quantitative methods: An introduction 1992.74 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Tellis, G - Advertising and Sales Promotion Strategy 1997 Trompenaars, F. - Riding the waves of cultures 1994 Trout, J. & Ries, Al - Positioning Cuts through Chaos in the Market-place 1972 Turner, J. - The Institutional Order 1997 Usunier, J-C. & Lee, J-A - Marketing across culture 2005 Wilkie, W. - Consumer Behavior Third edition 1994 Young, JW. - A Technique for Producing Ideas, third edition 1975 7.2. URLs and other resources Abraham Maslows pyramid, Available on the web at: <http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/maslow_pyramid.html Americanization by Frederick C. Millett, Available on the web at: <https://www.msu.edu/~millettf/americanization.html Aubades website, Available on the web at: <http://aubade.com Definition of American way [referred to 29.03.2010]. Available on the web at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_way Definition of Americanization [referred to 24.02.2010]. Available on the web at: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americanization Definition of Culture [referred to 26.02.2010]. Available on the web at: <http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture Definition of Globalization [referred to 26.03.2006]. Available on the web at: <http://www.mindtools.net/GlobCourse/gdef.shtml Definition of taboo, Available on the web at:

<http://www.thefreedictionary.com/taboo75 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Durex network, Available on the web at: <http://www.durexnetwork.org/en-GB/pages/default.aspx Durexs website, Available on the web at: <www.durex.com Geert Hofstede, Available on the web at: <http://www.geert-hofstede.com/ Introduction au marketing [referred to 24.03.2008] Available on the web at: http://www.letudiant.fr/boite-a-docs/document/introduction-au-marketing-1726.html Le site de toutes les publicits au monde. Available on the web at: <www.culturepub.fr Maslows hierarchy of needs, Available on the web at: http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm Qualitative versus Quantitative Research [referred to 27.02.2007]. Available on the web at: <http://wilderdom.com/research/QualitativeVersusQuantitativeResearch.html Quantitative research methods, Available on the web at: <http://www.orau.gov/cdcynergy/demo/Content/activeinformation/tools/toolsconten t/quantiative methods.htm Redbulls website, Available on the web at: <www.redbull.com Smart Objectives, Available on the web at: <http://marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_objectives.htm Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [referred to 04.01.2007]. Available on the web at: <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-institutions

The advantages of employing quantitative and qualitative methods in intercultural research, Available on the web at: <http://www.russcomm.ru/eng/rca_biblio/m/matveev01_eng.shtml The seven elements of culture, Available on the web at: <http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5953835/what-are-the-seven-elements-of-culture Trompenaars, Lentreprise multiculturelle [referred to January 2001]. Available on the web at: <http://www.cnam.fr/lipsor/dso/articles/fiche/trompenaars.html76 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY LIST OF FIGURES 1 Maslows hierarchy of needs 24 2 A continuum of buying decision behavior 27 3 Stages in consumer decision making 28 4 The target marketing process 36 5 Elements of the promotional mix 40 LIST OF TABLES 1 The effects of power distance Hofstedes model 12 2 The individualism vs. collectivism theory Hofstedes model 13 3 The masculinity vs. feminity theory Hofstedes model 14 4 The uncertainty theory Hofstedes model 15 5 The orientation theory Hofstedes model 16 6 The universalism vs. particularism theory Hofstedes model 17 7 The individualism vs. communautarianism theory Trompennars dimensions 17 8 The neutral vs. emotional theory Trompennars dimensions 18 9 The specific vs. diffuse theory Trompennars dimensions 19

10 Summary of the survey 65 LIST OF PICTURES 1 Aubade - Lesson n34: Playing with his nerves 54 2 A Durex team at work in China 58 3 A Red Bull team 59 4 Lesson n49: Extend the magic of the first look 64 APPENDICES 1 Cover letter in English 2 Questionnaire77 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Appendix 1/1 (2) Dear all, We are two French exchange students in the international business program of the Turku University of Applied Sciences, in Finland. Currently in our third year of studies, we have been asked to realize a bachelor thesis and in order to complete our work we would like to collect some of your feedbacks. Our thesis is entitled consumer behaviour and cultural effects on taboo products. It deals with the way consumers are going to react against the communication policies that international companies decide to set up and, to be more precise in our subject, we decided to focus ourselves on the communication policies of international companies which sell some products that can be seen as a taboo in some countries. As an illustration of our work, we choose to analyse the company Aubade which sell womens underwear, the company Durex which sell condoms and other sexual items and the company Redbull which sell

energy drinks. Thanks to this work, we want to prove that most of the time, according to our culture, our norms and values, our reaction concerning a specific product, service or advertisement can be different. This survey has been realized in order to understand in a better way the factors that can affect consumers during their buying decisions. We would like to find out what are the real consumers points of view and we would like to obtain their personal feeling about the companies we have chosen to analyse, according to their different nationalities. We think that collecting some data from the main actors of this analysis will be very relevant and thanks to it we hope to add a very interesting value to our thesis. Thus, as a potential consumer of international products and above all of the products sold by the companies we are analysing, your opinion will be fundamental for us. You are the principals actors of our survey and you may be the only ones able to help us finding the concrete answers we are looking for. We will be very grateful if you could take only five minutes of your time to complete this survey. You will find it thanks to the following link: http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=3zr2gsv9ffknxy5752046 Be sure that all your answers will be confidential and will be used in our future work.78 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Appendix 1/2 (2)

Thank you very much in advance for your help, Sincerely, Delphine Olivieri & Gauthier Tardy79 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Appendix 2/1 (5) Personal Information 1. What gender are you? o Male o Female 2. How old are you? o < 18 years old o 18-30 years old o 30-50 years old o 50-60 years old o > 60 years old 3. Which part of the world do you come from? o China o France o Arabic countries Cultural Information 4. Indicate with a number from 1 to 5, where 1 means low and 5 means high, how you evaluate the importance of beliefs, religion, norms and values in your country? Low Importance of religion 1 2 3 4 5 Importance of beliefs 1 2 3 4 5 Importance of values 1 2 3 4 5 High

Importance of norms 1 2 3 4 580 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Appendix 2/2 (5) 5. Indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the following statement. Statement Strongly disagree Disagree Neither disagree nor agree Agree Strongly agree The government plays an important role in my culture. Schools and universities are important for the transmission of values and norms in my culture. Families have a strong influence on the learning of values and norms in my culture. 6. Do you think the purchasing decisions of the people you know are influencing

your purchase choices? (Examples: Several of your friends have recently bought one specific model of sneakers) How does this influence you? o Extreme influence o Strong influence o Normal Influence o Small influence o No influence 7. Do you think Medias like advertisements, internet, TV and so on, have an influence on your final purchasing decisions? o Extreme influence o Strong influence o Normal Influence o Small influence o No influence 81 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Appendix 2/3 (5) 8. Indicate how you feel about going shopping for the following products: Feeling Strongly uncomfortable Uncomfortable Neutra l Comforta ble Strongly comfortab le

Women underwear Condoms Energy drinks 9. Indicate with a number from 1 to 5, where 1 means Attractive and 5 means Rejection, your personal feeling about this poster. Does this question relate to the picture above, if yes, indicate it here. Attractive Feeling 1 2 3 4 5 10. Would this picture encourage you to buy womens underwear? o Very Strong o Strong o Neutral o Weak o Very weak82 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Appendix 2/4 (5) 11. Would your national institutions authorize the diffusion of this advertisement? o Yes o No Do you agree with it and why: 12. Click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJJyqY2DZqY&feature=related After having seeing it, indicate if this would be accepted or rejected by the following actor: Rejection

13. Look at the following picture. Feeling Accepted Rejected Government Religion institution Yourself83 TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Delphine OLIVIERI, Gauthier TARDY Appendix 2/5 (5) Indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the following statement. Statement Strongly disagree Disagree Neither disagree nor agree Agree Strongly Agree This kind of marketing is shocking It is a smart way to speak about sexual protection I would go and speak with them 14. Indicate with a number from 1 to 5, where 1 means Acceptation and 5 means Rejection, what you think is the feeling of the following actors about energy drinks?

Acceptation Rejection Government 1 2 3 4 5 Family (parents) 1 2 3 4 5 Yourself 1 2 3 4 5 15. Click on the following link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxOSwl1p5RQ&feature=related Do you think this kind of advertisement is adapted to your culture and if not, does it bother you?

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