It’s been a while in coming, however, it’s finally done! Whoohay! My dissertation is complete.
So what was it all about?
My dissertation originally sought to understand the reasons why consumers purchased an Apple product. Was it because of the brand? Or was it because, functionally, they really did just do things in a better way?
Questions which arose were:
- What was it that attracted their consumers?
- What was it that detracted their prospective consumers?
- Were Apple consumers from the same backgrounds?
- Did they have the same purchase habits which extended to other products?
- How does this affect Apple as it continues to grow?
My research looked at two opposing schools of thought, that of Stephen King (1970) and that of Wally Olins (2008).
In his seminal essay, ‘What is a Brand‘, King explains that:
Indeed, the contemporary research which he collects and presents to readers in his essay propose seemingly strong arguments for branding as the sole motivator of consumption, applicable to all products.
Despite this, he does not display any awareness of critical factors such as different cultural and subcultural attitudes, age, gender, economic constraints and product type.
Olins, however, builds on this by presenting a thorough argument for a brand being based on four ‘vectors’ or points of awareness. These four are, communications led brands, product led brands, environment led brands and behaviour led brands. He posits that Apple is undoubtedly a product led brand, stating that:
Although everything, from the instruction literature, to the website, to the advertising, to the stores and the behaviour of the people who work in them, all help to support and sustain the Apple brand, the prime vector through which we perceive the Apple brand is the Apple product, (Olins, 2008).
Olins builds upon the groundwork put forward by King by arguing that certain brands, depending on their product type, are led by one of the four vectors.
Although Olins is able to differentiate between different product categories and product types, he still does not consider the varying backgrounds of consumers: their cultural or subcultural attitudes, age, gender, and economic restraint.
I tested both theories in general, and then looked deeper at respondents’ backgrounds to find patterns.
Tests I performed
I conducted a variety of ethnographic, qualitative and quantitative research, each type providing their own benefits and uses.
These were:
- A survey – an online self-assessed survey with 103 respondents explaining their purchase motivations, designed to base research conclusions on real a quantitative scale and scope
- Observational participant research whilst employed at Apple using archival material
- Apple staff interviews – a private set of three of my former colleagues’ accounts on Apple and their consumers’ purchasing motivations
- For comparative purposes, an interview with the brand owner of Dr Martens
- Consumer interviews – a set of 22 individuals’ own accounts of their purchasing habits around Apple products
- Focus group – a set of activities with 9 respondents designed to stimulate ‘real’ responses rather than those edited self consciously
Results from activities in focus group session I conducted
Conclusions from the research
The research revealed that younger consumers, up until the age of 35, were most likely to purchase products, particularly Apple products, with two motivations in mind, brand image and product functionality. Whereas older consumers preferred purchasing products based on their functional ‘utilitarian’ benefits, without much interest in branding.
An important finding was the critical awareness of brands and advertsing consumers had. Although some preferred brands more so than others, consumers on the whole were very ‘savvy’ and analytical of the branding and advertising they were consuming. Both focus group and interview research revealed a growing scepticism for Apple’s brand, with one respondent echoing others’ views, of Apple as having ‘whored itself out’ the more it grew and lost its original focus and attention to customer service. It seemed that the ubiquitousness of Apple’s products, rather than actually being an attractor, detracted consumers desire for an independent identity.
Interestingly, this also depended on certain cultures which had a lower standard of living and a dependency on economic status through the acquisition and social display of expensive products, such as Apple’s. It was also suggested that lower standards of living, or a previous history of this, also meant that the consumer culture was less sophisticated, with consumers less able to critically evaluate products, choosing them for their brand image rather than anything else.
Gender played an important part in that it was suggested in various qualitative accounts that males were more likely to choose a dull product for its brand over a good looking or good quality product without a brand. Although in the self assessed online survey males seemed adamant that this was not the case. A possible self editing process at play?
The final discovery was that there were no ‘Apple clones’ which bought the same things for the same reasons. There was no association at all between owning an Apple product and purchasing another, non related product for either its functional or brand image benefits. Rather, purchasing a product for either its brand or functional benefits did depend upon the product itself, whether there was much of a difference between itself and competitors, and whether it was so necessary to invest much in a brand if it was a highly consumable object, such as toilet paper.
Limitations of the research
Having said this, because of time constraints I wasn’t able to conduct more research into older consumers and their purchase motivations. For example, much of the focus group research, designed to investigate respondents’ implicit desires, was conducted on younger respondents.
Further, due to economic restraints, not enough quantitative research was conducted into different cultural attitudes of people from different cultural backgrounds.
Recommendations of the research
Brands must realise the subtle differences and interplay of consumers’ backgrounds that affect their motivation to purchase. They simply cannot assume a ‘one size fits all’ attitude, as consumers are becoming more and more savvy about the branding they consume, and in some cases, using this knowledge against brands.
For brands to be successful on a small scale, comprehensive research must be conducted into their consumers’ backgrounds coupled with an acute understanding of how their products and their competitors’ are currently being received and adapt the positioning accordingly.
With its ever expanding consumer base, and further plans to expand globally, Apple must eventually ask itself, ‘is further expansion actually good? How can we reach out to our new customers? Do we risk alienating our original customers who bought us for our original boutique appeal and attention to detail?’
Lina Pio Apple, Brand or Product