The Ad Looked Appealing to me
The Brand Was Appealing to me
The Product Was Appealing to me
I had no reasoning behind choosing
Other (please specify)
Thank you for your participation in this survey!
Results and Analysis
In order to properly understand the data that was collected, a layout of the results for each question is provided below. Further analysis of the data follows below each question. The results of the questions add further validity to the material that was presented previously in the literature review and research section.
The collected data per question is as listed:
Question #1: What is your gender?
This question was relevant in order to understand an aspect of the demographics of the consumers that were surveyed. Although gender provided some insight into the
answers for question 9, gender cannot be used as a direct source that influences consumer behavior. For example, in question 9, one of the answer options is an Abercrombie and Fitch ad. The belief is that this ad will appeal to females due to the fact the advertisement
R e sp o nse Pe rce nt
R e sp o nse Co unt
34.4% 56
65.6% 107
0.0% 0
163 0 Prefer not to answer
Answe r Op tio ns
skip p e d q ue stio n Female
W ha t is yo ur g e nd e r?
a nswe re d q ue stio n Male
pictures a young, attractive, shirtless male model. However, people have different preferences and it is possible that this ad may be just as appealing to someone who
identifies as a male. The answer to this question does provide a somewhat bias since there is a gap between the amount of females that answered in comparison to males.
Question #2: What is your age?
Age Percent Cumulative %
18 2.5 2.5
19 5.5 8.1
20 12.9 21.1
21 18.4 39.8
22 19.6 59.6
23 11 70.8
24 1.8 72.7
25 2.5 75.2
26 1.2 76.4
27 0.6 77
28 1.2 78.3
30 0.6 78.9
31 0.6 79.5
32 0.6 80.1
35 0.6 80.7
36 1.2 82
38 0.6 82.6
39 1.2 83.9
42 0.6 84.5
43 0.6 85.1
45 0.6 85.7
46 0.6 86.3
47 0.6 87
49 0.6 87.6
50 1.2 88.8
51 1.8 90.7
53 2.5 93.2
54 1.2 94.4
55 0.6 95
59 0.6 95.7
60 1.2 96.9
66 0.6 97.5
67 0.6 98.1
69 0.6 98.8
73 1.2 100
(Type own answer or nothing if surveyed did not want to respond)
The answers to this question are extremely important in understanding what group of consumers the data collected refers to. As mentioned in the literature review and
research section, certain companies target specific groups of people, such as Abercrombie
& Fitch and Bud Light whom both target millennials. The object of their marketing thus is to appeal to particular age groups. Figure 1, below in the “figures section”, depicts this connection of age to the appeal for Abercrombie and Fitch. The majority of respondents for this age group are from the ages of 18-‐25. The largest percentage of responses (20%) came from people that are age 22. Many of these respondents (a part of the millennials category) chose Bud Light in question 9 (see figure 2 below). This correlation shows that Bud Light’s
marketing strategy of bringing their product to the younger generation (millennials) is working.
Question 3: Do you drink alcohol?
The answer to this question supports my prior notion about how society deems the usage of alcohol. As previously stated, U.S. society does not seem to believe alcohol usage is considered an unethical action. 91% of the respondents drink alcohol, which therefore means they support its consumption. In addition, it explains why a brand such as Bud Light is appealing despite their use of unethical marketing. See Figure 3 below, which represents this connection between people who drink alcohol, to a brand like Bud Light that sells alcohol.
Question 4: Do you smoke cigarettes?
This answer is quite contrary to the question about alcohol and shows that smoking is not really appealing. This does, however, support the examination of the company,
Re sp o nse Pe rce nt
Re sp o nse Co unt
91.4% 149
8.6% 14
163 skip p e d q ue stio n 0
Do yo u d rink a lco ho l?
Answe r Op tio ns Yes
No
a nswe re d q ue stio n
R e sp o nse Pe rce nt
R e sp o nse Co unt
9.2% 15
90.8% 148
163 skip p e d q ue stio n 0
D o yo u smo ke cig a re tte s?
Answe r Op tio ns Yes
No
a nswe re d q ue stio n
Marlboro and its marketing strategy, which can be found within the literature review and research. To reiterate, Marlboro’s “Don’t Be a Maybe”, “Be Marlboro” is intended (critics believe) to gain new consumers, smokers of the younger generation. Although Marlboro is still a popular company, they do lack consumers of younger ages (See figure 4).
Question 5:
This question was significant in understanding the respondents thinking in terms of consumer behavior. In the literature review and research section, previous work supported the idea that consumers tend to act without thinking. Although there were more people who said they were “planned” shoppers, “spontaneous” was the second most popular answer given. This data justifies that consumers do tend to act on impulse. Furthermore, the data supports the theory that “planned” shoppers may plan to go shopping, but it does not highlight that while shopping they will make planned decisions. That is where the relevance of the next question fits in.
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0%
Addicted Spontaneous Planned Uninterested
What adjective best describes you as a shopper (whether online or in physical stores)?
Addicted Spontaneous Planned Uninterested
Question 6: What influences you most when you purchase a product/service?
The answers to this question were significant in determining what drives
consumers to make choices. As theorized, many consumers are most influenced by price and need. Millennials normally do not have as much money as the older generation due to the fact that most millennials are in college, or have just finished college and thus do not have full time jobs. As a result, millennials are generally more money conscience and price influences their purchasing decisions. Need, as well, coincides with this explanation.
Millennials are not inclined to buy something if they do not need it (See figures 5 & 6 which exhibits the correlation between age and price (5) and age to need (6)).
The answers to this question, also relate to the answers from question 9. The companies’ chosen most by the respondents, sell products at reasonably lower prices. Bud Light, for example, is considered an inexpensive beer. Pepsi’s prices, as well, are consistent with its competitors (average for soda). Furthermore, SKYY Vodka is lower cost vodka, and although Nike’s prices may be considered high, the brand and need for the products is what
allows them to maintain the prices that they do. Consumers are willing to pay Nike’s prices due to brand loyalty and the quality of Nike’s products.
Question 7: How important is a company’s brand to you when you are purchasing a product/service?
This question was significant in seeing how brand conscious consumers are when making purchases. Surprisingly, the respondents generally said the brand was only
“somewhat important” to them when making a decision to purchase a product/service. It is likely that the answers to this question relate to the discussion given prior in regards to consumer behavior. As stated earlier, consumers generally don’t like choices so they stick with what they know, or they purchase based on price. It is possible to theorize from these results that consumers are beginning to make purchases with price in mind, rather than brand.
Question 8: How likely are you to remain loyal to a brand?
The data collected from this question almost seems ironic given the answers to the previous question. However, what can be summarized from these answers is that although consumers may not consider brand when making purchases, they are in fact likely to remain loyal to brands. These answers do connect well to an overall theory of this project, that consumers are very brand loyal to companies. Therefore, these answers act as
evidence in showing that despite unethical marketing strategies that companies may use, consumers are likely to remain loyal to brands.
Question 9: Of the following images please chose 4 out of the 10 total that appeal to you
The literature review and research section provided evaluations of all of the companies that exhibited unethical marketing practice(s). Some of the chosen companies did not have unethical marketing strategies associated with them, due to the creation of this question. In order to emphasize that consumers tend to choose advertisements that portray unethical marketing methods over advertisements that portray ethical marketing methods, four of the ten companies were deemed ethical and provided as options for this
R e s p o ns e Pe rc e nt
R e s p o ns e Co unt
28.8% 47
59.5% 97
82.2% 134
23.3% 38
30.1% 49
16.6% 27
36.2% 59
38.7% 63
25.8% 42
58.9% 96
163 0 Nike
Skyy
Ans we r Op tio ns
Dove Budweiser
McDonald's
skip p e d q ue stio n
Of the fo llo wing ima g e s p le a s e c ho o s e 4 o ut o f the 10 to ta l tha t a p p e a l to y o u
OshKosh
American Apparel Abercrombie
Marlboro
a nswe re d q ue stio n Pepsi
question. Osh Kosh B’gosh, Dove, McDonalds, and Pepsi are all companies that possess ethical marketing strategies. Pepsi was the only company that used ethical marketing and was ranked as a top choice (59%) by consumers that were surveyed. It is possible that consumers chose this ad due to the message it conveyed, “choose happiness”. Many of the other advertisements did not have words associated with the picture, aside from the
company name and/or slogan. Therefore it is possible that Pepsi’s usage of words provided more meaning to their advertisement, thus making it a more attractive choice amongst consumers. The top 3 unethical advertisements chosen were Nike (82%), followed by Bud Light (60%) and SKYY Vodka (39%). This is significant evidence because it shows that given options, consumers are still inclined to pick companies that utilize unethical marketing methods.
Question 10: Why did you choose the images that you did? (Check all that apply)
This last question was relevant in understanding the underlying meaning behind the respondents’ choices. More than half of the respondents (63%) said their choices were based upon the fact that the “ad looked appealing” to them. With this answer lies a key to any good marketing strategy. If marketers are capable of making an advertisement that is
R e sp o nse Pe rce nt
R e sp o nse Co unt
63.2% 103
42.9% 70
34.4% 56
8.6% 14
12.9% 21
163 0 The Product Was Appealing To Me
Answe r Op tio ns
Other (please specify)
The Brand Was Appealing To Me
skip p e d q ue stio n
W hy d id yo u cho o se the ima g e s tha t yo u d id ? (Che ck a ll tha t a p p ly)
I Had No Reasoning Behind My Choosing The Ad Looked Appealing To Me
a nswe re d q ue stio n
visually appealing, consumers are likely to respond favorably to it. A well-‐known saying is that a picture says a thousand words. These answers validate this concept and prove that despite unethical marketing strategies, if an advertisement looks appealing, consumers will respond to it. In addition, the answer with the second highest amount of answers was that
“the brand was appealing” to them (43% of respondents). This occurrence once again depicts the importance of brand amongst consumers. If a brand is able to create a strong enough tie to consumers, it is likely that these consumers will always be drawn to that company’s advertisements.
Additional Figures
Figure 1: Shows the connection that Abercrombie and Fitch has made in terms of appealing to their target market, millennials.
Figure 2: Displays the connection that Bud Light has made in terms of appealing to their new target market, millennials.
Figure 3: Depicts that people who drink alcohol, are consumers of companies such as Bud Light whom sells alcohol
Figure 4: Shows that Marlboro is lacking consumers of the younger generation
Figure 5: Exhibits the connection between age and influence of price as a factor when making purchases
Figure 6: Exhibits the connection between age and influence of need as a factor when making purchases
Shortcomings and Future Work
Although this data is extremely useful in supporting my theory about the effective usage of unethical marketing, there are some shortcomings. In terms of the sample size, it was somewhat small, so if this work were to be repeated I would suggest a larger sample size. In addition, the sample of respondents consisted mainly of millennials (ages 18-‐22) so this may have skewed the data somewhat since consumer behavior does tend to vary based on age. A majority of the respondents, as well, were female so this could have caused some bias. In general, this theory is somewhat hard to test because ethics does vary amongst people. What one person deems as right, another person may deem as wrong.
This work is far from over, however, and I believe that this project can be used for future studies related to unethical marketing strategies. This project could be used in order to further understand how marketers use unethical marketing strategies to their benefits.
Furthermore, the project could be used to understand more about what entices consumers to be attracted to unethical marketing methods. On the contrary, this research could be applied in order to help prevent companies from implementing unethical marketing practices by creating a stricter code of ethical conduct for companies. Lastly, this project could be used as a learning tool to make consumers aware (or more aware) of the unethical marketing tactics that many companies use.
Knowledge is the key to progress, and I believe that this work has room for growth.
The findings from this research can be expanded and applied to specific segments of unethical marketing such as the objectification of women, the dangers of targeting, the promotion of alcohol and cigarettes to underage consumers, and more. Although I looked solely at print advertisements, this work can also be utilized for discovering unethical
marketing in other various channels of marketing communication such as TV shows, movies, radio and commercials.
Conclusions
The findings of this project do support the theory of “Unethical Marketing: Why the Bad works so Good”. Although unethical marketing is immoral, it is a beneficial strategy for many reasons. By utilizing unethical marketing strategies, marketers are able to learn from their mistakes and rebrand if needed (hopefully with minimal harm occurring to their company). In addition, for some companies, unethical marketing campaigns are the
reasoning behind their popularity and success. For example, SKYY Vodka and Marlboro are both companies that effectively use unethical marketing methods and maintain consumers.
The consequences of the utilization of unethical marketing strategies do of course vary by company. In most circumstances, however, companies’ with strong brands are likely to maintain consumers due to brand loyalty.
Although there are potential dangers and consequences to implementing unethical marketing strategies, the “bad” tends to result in “good”. We live in a society that is
constantly changing. As long as marketers are able to adhere to these shifts (continue to sell products and services), the world will keep on progressing. Marketers are smart and understand how to attract consumers. Therefore, whether marketers are acting ethical or unethical, at the end of the day, they will do whatever is necessary to promote their company’s products and/or services. My challenge for you now is to go out and explore, and begin to focus more on the world around you. The next time you look at an
advertisement, see if you can determine how truly ethically it is.
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