Religion and sustainability - motives

When people think about marketing, the most common thing that comes to mind is advertising. However, there is far more to marketing than just advertising. Understanding what a consumer wants and why they would be interested in a product help dictate what product to develop, how to advertise the product, how much to sell it for, and where to distribute it.

In the case of sustainable products, researchers are debating what motivates consumers to "go green". It may benefit marketers to step back from motive generalization applied to all consumers and look at consumer's core values. Religion provides one of the most influential sources of core values. My preliminary research shows that religious consumers are less sustainable due to perceptions that the world will end soon and less of a need to care for the planet. These values should translate into motives for marketers. While a non-religious individual may be highly motivated by "save the environment", "help the planet for generations to come" campaigns, religious consumers, instead, may be more motivated by "save money" or "reduce your energy bill" campaigns. Understanding motives can help all consumers to embrace pro-social campaigns such as sustainability.

JC Penny... a future?

We all know that JC Penny did not do well when the no sale model was introduced. What works for Apple did not work for the clothing giant, JC Penny. Now the company is introducing a new commercial that tries to emphasize its core values (watch it here). However, the commercial thanks consumers for coming back to the company and acknowledges they are making changes, but does not explicitly mention what these changes are. For the many criticisms JC Penny has received over the last 18 months, some mention to addressing the consumer's concerns in their latest ad clip would be beneficial. Research shows that companies need to not only listen to consumers but also make it apparent that their concerns are being addressed - one area where JC Penny's new ad is lacking.

Emotional Ads

Marketers use appeals in advertising to attract consumers' attention. Emotional appeals can have some of the strongest and most sincere advertisements (if done well). Other types of appeals we see are fear appeals (though can sometimes be overdone), humor appeals (good to draw attention and get a chuckle, but can easily leave the consumer not even remembering the brand name), and also informational/rational appeals (just giving the facts, such as the case with computers and cars). I see emotional appeals frequently in advertising, and this ad by Robinson's juice (watch it here) particularly caught my eye. There is something about the parent/child relationship that is touching. Granted, will we remember that Robinson's juice is the maker of this ad? Possibly not, but the ad is well executed.