With a large drawing from the types of relationships that people have with others, Fournier highlights that consumers have a complex relationship with the brands in the market. According to Deborah J. MacInnis, C. Whan Park, Joseph W. Priester (2009), Fournier indicates that there is an emotional attachment between consumers and the brands such that the effort by companies to change the brands ever results in a resistance from the consumers in the market. Additionally, Fournier indicates that there is a considerable part that brands play in the lives of the consumers. The result of this thinking is that the brands of products in the market are not merely these products but also items that bring back memories and fill in the gaps of the non-existing relations (Arch G. Woodside (2010). For example, a move by Coca cola to introduce a new formula in the mid-1980s, hit a snag when the consumers rejected the new brand and opted to have the old coca cola. To have a relationship therefore goes beyond just buying the product for the sake of the need it satisfies but majorly for the meaning that the products have in their lives.
Relationships between consumers and the brands range from utilitarian to functional relationships (Bernd Schmitt, David L. Rogers, 2008) Other relationships can be classified as emotional or psychosocial. Being heavily hinged on the ego of the consumers, the relationships form a great importance to the consumers. A key study into these relationships indicates that relationships are heavily dependent on environmental factors, personal factors and managerial factors. The result of this characteristic is that relationships evolve.
According to Bernd Schmitt, David L. Rogers (2008) Customers have a big relationship with the automobile brand and the fast food restaurant brands. In the automobile industry there is a lot of family linked relationship to the car that a consumer indulges in buying. The kinship relationship is evoked in a consumer when buying a Peugeot. Being that a small percentage of the population engages in the purchase of the Peugeot brand from France, a young adult purchases one because the parents once owned the car. The result of this is that the consumer has an attachment that reminds him of the parents. The relationship is also heightened by the events that took place during the times when the parents owned the brand of car. For example, if the car was to go for a picnic, the younger owner finds it more emotional because of the experience that they had in the picnic.
Bernd Schmitt, David L. Rogers (2008) indicates that the relationship causes the customer to believe that the best choice is that which was made by the parents and no other decision is better. The relationship with the Peugeot brand of cars is evident in most consumers when they go out of their way to pay a lot of money in order to acquire a model that is out of production. The motor industry has organized a lot of motor elegance shows just to evoke nostalgia in the consumers. These events end in most consumers buying very old models that their parents or kinsmen owned before.
This thinking and relationship can only be altered by a big failure in the manufacture of Peugeot. For example if Peugeot are publicized to have released a major design problematic consignment of cars into the market, and there results massive returns, the consumer may decide to change the relationship. There is a best friend relationship type that most hotel customers display.
Arch G. Woodside (2010) suggests that to a professional, McDonald’s fast food chain forms a better part of the emotional and professional life. To such an individual a work day is not complete if she does not take her lunch there. If the consumer fails to take their meal at such food places, there arises an effect to their efficiency at work. In having a best friend relationship with the McDonalds fastfood chain, a professional will always report for lunch and take away packages. In this manner a relationship that cannot be disappointed is maintained (Arch G. Woodside 2000). This relationship is usually enhanced by factors that include the neatness of the eating place, the speed of service together with the theme of colors. In order for a best friend relationship to terminate, the Food court should outrageously involve itself in self destructing campaigns (Schmitt&Rogers, 2008).
It is a fact that people have relationships. In my own opinion, the work done by the marketers has fueled the fire involved in relationships with brands. A key relationship brand of products is that of soft drinks. In the soft drink market, most people believe that soft drinks from the coca cola company are the only soft drinks that are genuine. This is evident in their style of using the soft drinks. People do not know of any other bottling companies for some time because coca cola was the only company that took the day in advertising and widely distributing their products. If there is no coca cola then most people would rather remain hungry than take a soft drink from another company.
In a recent case when we had a string of publications concerning the health problems that arise with the use of coca cola, Arch G. Woodside (2010) relates that most consumers did not believe the media. The argument that the consumers gave reflected that the soft drink brand had not had a major effect on their life hence a push towards defaming coca cola was misplaced. A push by coca cola towards introducing the latest “Zero sugar” brand has not been a smooth ride. A big percentage of the market has opted for the older brand though attitudes are being shaped towards adopting the new brand of coca cola.
The cosmetics brands are another line of products that have benefited a great deal from the relationship feature of branding (Bernd Schmitt, David L. Rogers, 2008). Consumers of cosmetics believe that they cannot change their facial products or body products because of the fear that they will be affected. Fournier terms this as the “committed partnership” type of relationship. According to Bernd Schmitt, David L. Rogers(2008), consumers feel sick when their choice cosmetic brands are in short supply and there is a lot of fear concerning the resultant effects. Another major characteristic of this relationship is the resistance that comes with the introduction of a newer form of the brand. For example, fair and lovely facial cream was resisted for a greater part of the new version testing period because most consumers thought that the company added other chemicals in the initial brand. The nostalgia that accompanied this tug of war ended only when proper and extensive marketing was done.
In conclusion Fournier’s propositions carry a lot of weight because people object to the attempts of companies to change the current brands in the market. From another perspective, children engage in the product brands that their parents used because of the kinship relationship they have with the brands in play. Bernd Schmitt, David L. Rogers(2008) suggest that brands are not only adopted because of the efficiency they introduce in people’s operations but also the emotional and the professional belief that they effect in the lives of those attached. Though it is hard to bring a brand-consumer relationship to an end, marketing styles and effort together with other environmental factors play a key role in changing consumer attitudes and brand relationships.
References
Arch G. Woodside (2010). Case Study Research: Theory, Methods, Practice. Emerald Group
Publishing.
Bernd Schmitt, David L. Rogers (2008). Handbook on Brand and Experience
Management. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Deborah J. MacInnis, C. Whan Park, Joseph W. Priester (2009). Handbook of Brand
Relationships.M.E. Sharpe.
Fournier S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in
consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research. 24, (4).
Lou Cooper. (2010). CUSTOMER RELATIONS: The secret to a good customer
relationship. Marketing Week,24-26.
