Brand Loyalty 1
Running head: BRAND LOYALTY
Brand Loyalty: The Influence of Advertising on Consumption of Beer
Jessica R. Sullivan and Miles V. Condon
University of Florida
Abstract
This study examined whether brand loyalty has an impact on the consumption of beer. Participants were divided into 2 groups based on whether or not they had brand loyalty. In order to test whether brand loyalty had an effect, each group was then subdivided into an additional 2 groups: labeled and unlabeled beer, creating a total of 4 groups. Participants indicating a brand loyalty drank more than those who did not and participants given labeled bottles drank more than their unlabeled counterparts. Participants with a brand loyalty drank more regardless of whether the bottles were labeled. The findings support the hypothesis that brand loyalty increases the consumption of beer.
Introduction
The alcoholic beverage is an icon that represents maturation and adulthood to young adults, including college students. The message that alcohol equals adulthood is portrayed through all types of advertising: television, radio ads, billboards, newspapers, magazines, etc. Children and young adults yearn to grow up and many see these ads as a way to become more mature, which can lead to risky alcohol-related behaviors.
One of the goals of advertising is to develop a company image that establishes product personality so that consumers are able to form a bond with that product and will be more likely to repeatedly purchase it (Casswell, 2004). The idea is that being able to relate, and therefore bond, to a beverage will increase the consumption rate and will therefore lead to more sales. Indeed, developing a brand preference at the age of 18, when students enter college, can significantly impact the drinking behavior of an individual at the age of 21 (Casswell & Zhang, 1998). In fact, simply being in a college atmosphere can lead to higher consumption rates as those entering college are suddenly surrounded by social pressures that create a drinking atmosphere.
Although it has been shown that the majority of sales for beer companies come from consumers who have developed a brand preference, defined as the repeat selection of a particular brand of beer over all available beer, there has not been any study to see if brand preference increases the actual amount of beer consumed (McConnell, 1968). The purpose of our study is to see if having a brand preference for beer actually increases the total amount of beer consumed in college students ages 21-25 at a college party setting.
Alcohol is visible everywhere in the lives of Americans where advertising is lightly regulated. Ads are saturated with mature content such as sex and masculinity and are heavily tied to consuming alcohol (Wyllie et al., 1998). Wyllie, Zhang and Casswell (1998) identify children as being especially vulnerable to advertising because they are likely to model the adults who have characteristics they and society desire. They view the mature content in alcohol ads and mimic them in an effort to become more like an adult. Previous research identified by Wyllie et al. states that children aged 10 to 17 believe that drinking alcohol will make them more like the characters in the ads. The results of Wyllie et al. also suggest that adolescents who indicated a liking of alcohol advertisements expected to drink more as adults, especially if they were male.
Gentile, Walsh, Bloomgren, Atti, and Norman (2001) determined that the more television the adolescent watched, especially sports programs, the more likely he or she would drink alcohol. Drinking has recently become more salient in the adolescent population (Gentile et al., 2001). This increase in alcohol consumption by adolescents is presumably because seeing more television programs increased the exposure to alcohol commercials, making it more likely that the viewer would consume the product (Gentile et al., 2001). Gentile et al. also found that adolescents who were more exposed to alcohol commercials were more likely to intend to drink as adults.
Alcohol advertising companies directly target adolescents. Casswell (2004) states that advertising for alcohol is 6% higher than ads in any other area and that youth ages 13 to 20 saw more ads for alcohol than those who were legally allowed to drink. It is speculated that targeting the youth will allow adolescents to develop a brand loyalty earlier, which could lead to more sales. Casswell refers to research in which participants were asked to rate beer in terms of their perceptions of the product after watching advertisements for the products. After viewing these ads, students indicated that they believed beer was less risky than other drugs and consuming it would confer many positive characteristics such as “self confidence” (Casswell, 2004). Casswell also found that students believe drinking will make them more popular with their peers. Interestingly, the student’s ability to recall alcoholic ads has been positively correlated with heavier drinking by the age of 18 (Casswell, 2004). Moreover, Kidorf, Sherman, Johnson, and Bigelow (1995) found that having a higher expectancy to drink when older did indeed lead to higher consumption levels in college.
This perception is made salient in the minds of college students through advertisements promoting heavy drinking. The perception that peers expect heavy drinking significantly influences an individual’s drinking behavior in the college atmosphere (Erenberg & Hacker, 1997). Local bars constantly promote this belief through advertising drink specials at their establishments (Geller & Kalsher, 1990). Such promotions as “happy hours” or “all-you-can-drink” specials entice college students into bars, where they are pressured into heavy drinking through socialization with their peers (Geller & Kalsher, 1990). Together with advertisements, the large supply of cheap alcohol perpetuates the perception that heavy drinking is to be expected from a college student (Erenberg & Hacker, 1997). These advertisements often increase alcohol consumption, but the amount of alcohol readily available also can influence alcohol use.
Lowering the price of beer increases drinking rates, but limiting advertising in the area decreases the rate of binge-drinking overall (Kuo, Wechler, Greenberg & Lee, 2003). Alcohol is often packaged in large volumes, such as kegs and liters, seemingly encouraging students to binge drink (Kuo et al., 2003). Large volumes are sold in party balls, kegs, 24- and 30-can cases and are readily available in areas of a high college student population. The accessibility of these items has been correlated with higher binge-drinking rates, which implies that conversely limiting volume of alcohol in a container to be sold to the public or restricting advertising in the area can greatly reduce drinking behaviors in the area (Kuo et al., 2003). Advertising can increase the amount of alcohol consumed, but it can also depict a brand with a positive personality.
Advertising typically creates a personality for a brand that allows the consumer to identify with it. Dolich’s 1969 study suggests that products chosen by the consumer are selected based on the congruence of the company’s image with their own self-image. Casswell and Zhang (1998) found that brand preference and high ratings of enjoyment of alcohol advertising had the strongest relationship to consumption at age 21. Products advertising characteristics conventionally desirable to males, such as masculinity or strength, had the highest consumption levels (Casswell & Zhang, 1998). However, advertising is not the only factor in determining which brand to consume.
Price is also a strong motivator in brand selection of beer. According to a study by McConnell (1968), consumers are more likely to develop a brand preference faster when the price of the product is higher. The strength of the bond between consumer and brand was tested by giving monetary incentives to persuade the consumer to switch brands (McConnell, 1968). The results of McConnell’s study indicate that consumers would refuse the incentive most of the time, but when they did take the money, they tended to revert back to their preferred brand quickly, demonstrating a very strong bond between brand and consumer.
Another factor that influences brand preference and selection correlates with the image congruence hypothesis, or the idea that people prefer brands with a perceived image similar to that of their own self-image (Graeff, 1997). Not only do the consumers look for products that demonstrate morals that are similar to their own, they choose products whose advertised personality is most like how they want to be viewed by others. Graeff (1997) studied whether the choice people make about the brand of beer they drink differs based on the situational influence they are involved in. The study looked at whether Budweiser, a relatively cheap domestic beer, or Heineken, a more expensive imported beer, was chosen in two environments: out with friends or out with a new boss (Graeff, 1997). The results of Graeff’s study suggests that participants choose the brand they prefer by judging how similar their self-image was in comparison to the situation they were in. Thus, participants more regularly chose Budweiser when given the scenario of being out with their friends because it was more aligned with their self-image but chose the more expensive, presumably more sophisticated, brand of Heineken when going out with their new boss as it portrayed their model self-image, or how they wanted their boss to see them (Graeff, 1997). These findings suggest that people view themselves differently in a variety of situations, and that brands are favored based not solely on the individual’s self-image but also how they want to be viewed by others. Companies also tend to portray their products as having particular values that the businesses hope will align with the values of its consumers. Casswell and Zhang (1998) found that brand allegiance is based on how one’s own values align with the perceived values of the product they choose. Research shows that advertising has little influence on the population that has already chosen a brand but directly impacts the undecided consumer’s choice (Casswell & Zhang, 1998).
While advertisements and price are heavily weighed by the consumer when choosing a product, there are many factors that influence brand preference. According to a survey conducted by Yang, Allenby, and Fennell (2002), individual preferences for brands depend on the objective environment they are in. For example, in a friendly and informal setting, one might prefer a cheaper, local beer whereas that same person might prefer an imported, more expensive beer while at a business dinner or other formal environment. The situation a person is in can change what brand of beer they prefer to drink. Brand choice can also be influenced by the simple factor of how the brand is perceived by the consumer.
Although the actual taste of the beer has very little to do with how one goes about choosing a brand, Allison and Uhl (1964) delivered a six-pack of unlabeled beer to participants and asked them to rate each beer on taste. After rating the unlabeled bottles, the participants were instructed to rate another batch containing the exact same beer, but this time in labeled bottles (Allison & Uhl, 1964). The participants were unable to distinguish between the various beers on taste alone, but the addition of labels to the bottles had a significant influence on the ratings of the beer (Allison & Uhl, 1964). In a similar study in which all unlabeled bottles were in fact the same product, participants praised their preferred brand while claiming that another was undrinkable, demonstrating the unimportance of taste and the strong influence of advertisement (McConnell, 1968). Lee, Frederick, and Ariely (2006) found that telling participants they added balsamic vinaigrette, a seemingly unpalatable addition, to beer caused them to rate the beer lower than telling them after they had tasted it. The consumer’s expectation of flavor has a higher influence on the perception of quality of a product than the actual flavor itself.
Being part of a group also plays a role in which brand people prefer. Participants in Stafford’s 1966 study were more likely to choose a brand of bread when the leader of that group had chosen it. The more often the leader chose a particular brand the more likely the other members of the group would select the same brand (Stafford, 1966). One’s preference can be so greatly influenced that an entire group of people will eventually abandon their own personal favorite brand in favor of their leader’s choice (Stafford, 1966). However, brand preference is only one aspect of drinking that can be influenced by situational factors.
There are many ways in which a social atmosphere can affect consumption. Drinking behavior, especially by college students, is highly influenced by the environment they are in. In a study by Dommermuth and Millard (1967), participants viewed either a lighthearted or a sad movie and were then asked to rate a brand of soda. The results indicate that the soda rated after watching the sad movie had significantly lower ratings than the other condition. Thus, the circumstantial factors in a situation can determine how much a person likes a particular product.
Another situation that has a great impact on the drinking behavior of individuals is the prevalence of some social organizations on college campuses. College undergraduates who joined a sorority or fraternity organization were more likely to drink beer and hard liquor than undergraduates who had not participated (Montgomery & Haemmerlie, 1993). Simply becoming a member of a social organization such as a fraternity or sorority has the power to increase the probability of alcohol consumption. However, how the alcohol is served or presented to people can also influence consumption.
Research has also shown that people given the opportunity to serve alcohol to themselves at a party were more likely to consume a larger quantity of beer at a faster rate. When served by a bartender, both the quantity of alcohol and the rate at which it was consumed dropped significantly (Geller & Kalsher, 1990). This drop in consumption rates indicates that simply adding a bartender to a party can decrease the risk of alcohol overconsumption. The environment in which an individual drinks has a large influence on the amount of alcohol that person will consume.Another influence in drinking consumption and behaviors is how that alcohol is advertised.
Advertisements can have a tremendous influence on the consumer’s drinking behaviors, specifically in relation to brand loyalty and the amount of alcohol consumed. Although the drinking behaviors of adolescents are most affected by advertisements, students entering the college atmosphere are heavily pressured to drink as well. Research about brand loyalty has shown us that having a preference for a brand can strongly influence a person’s perceptions of the product and that the brand’s image can directly affect beer consumption (Casswell & Zhang, 1998; McConnell, 1968). It has also been shown that social and individual factors can greatly affect alcohol consumption and brand choice. Based on this previous research, we hypothesize that if college students have a preference for a brand of beer, then they will consume more alcohol in comparison to those who does not have a preference.
Method
Participants
There were 408 total participants in the study, 221 males and 187 females. The sample was complied of undergraduate college students at the University of Florida who are of legal age to drink, with a mean age of 22.8. The participants were recruited through The Alligator, the local paper, a student-focused news website called GatorTimes, and a student-wide email by introducing a questionnaire given to the entire student population with the purpose of determining whether they had a preference for a brand of beer. From the people who responded, specific participants were selected based on a questionnaire, with about 150 participants initially assigned to each of the four conditions.
The participants were separated into two different groups based on brand preference and the presence of labeled as opposed to unlabeled bottles of beer. The groups were then further divided into two more groups to test whether the presence of labeled as opposed to unlabeled bottles of beer had an effect on consumption levels, for a total of four conditions. In the first condition, group 1, there were 102 (56 males, 46 females) participants with a preference for a particular brand of beer. The second condition, or group 2, had 100 participants consisting of 48 males and 52 females. In this condition, participants did not have a preference for a particular brand of beer. In the third condition, group 3, there were 101 participants, 51 males and 50 females, who had a brand preference for beer. The fourth and final condition, group 4, was compiled of 105 participants (54 males, 51 females) who did not have a preference for a brand of beer.
Materials/Apparatus
A questionnaire was introduced to all undergraduate students at the University of Florida aged from 21 to 25 years old through a website on the psychology department’s website. The questionnaire determined brand preference for beer, and consisted of 20 short answer and ranking questions ranging from demographics to brand preference. Some questions included, “How often do you consume beer in a typical week?” “What is your favorite brand of beer that you can purchase at your local supermarket?” and “How many times a month do you purchase your favorite brand of beer?” (Appendix A).