How brands ignite desire 1

HOW BRANDS IGNITE DESIRE:

IDENTIFYING BRAND APPEAL

THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF HUMAN DRIVES

Kim Cramer, BR-ND Positioneringsgroep, The Netherlands

Alexander Koene, BR-ND Positioneringsgroep, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT

This study investigates why some brands are more successful in creating preference than

others. It focuses on the phenomenon of brand appeal, which - contrary to rational

considerations like awareness and knowledge - has to do with deeper human emotions,

motivations and aspirations. Through literature study, the authors identified twenty-four

human drive domains. Brands which target (specific clusters of) these drive domains are

considered more appealing than brands that do not. Brands from various product categories

are being profiled to identify the relationship between clusters of drive domains and brand

appeal. Also the correlation between individual ‘drive-profile’ and brand appeal is studied.

Preliminary results show that such relationships exist.

INTRODUCTION

Brands, defined as associative networks in the human brain, are intriguing phenomena. They

are able to transform products and services into unique and relevant things. Not all brands

succeed in meeting this objective; some brands seem to ‘feel’ better than others. Despite a

substantive amount of research (Aaker, 1996; Fournier, 1994, Patterson, 1999; Tolboom,

2004), limited insight exists into how brands ignite desire. It is known that brand preference is

related to factors like positioning, price perception, availability, social influences and personal

involvement (Oakenfull, Blair, Gelb, & Dacin, 2000; Kapferer, 1996; Timmerman, 2001).

However, why some brands simply ‘have it’, and others do not, is not yet clearly understood.

In branding theory, authors often refer to three basic functions of brands (Keller, 1998; Ries

& Trout, 1986). First, and most obviously, brands help us recognizing things. Brands function

as virtual sign posts in our brain; they flag the type of product or service. One knows, for

example, that Nike and Adidas are lifestyle sporting goods, and that Coca Cola and Sprite are

beverages. Second, brands steer our expectations. One assumes that branded products and

services offer a consistent experience. For example, people expect McDonalds to offer the

same quality and service all around the world, and that Starbucks coffee tastes the same in

every outlet. Third, brands evoke emotional responses. For example, Rolex triggers

associations related to status and ambition and Swatch to fun, and creativity. In this study, this

third function of brands, the capacity to evoke emotional response, is further examined.

Ironically, this function that is least known about, presents the single, most powerful way to

relevantly distinguish a brand from the competition.

THEORY AND HYPOTHESES

Knowledge about the relationship between emotional response and brand appeal significantly

improves strategic brand development. In the practice of branding, things like status,

creativity, and individuality are often referred to as brand values. Such brand values are

How brands ignite desire 2

mostly intuitively and to some extent randomly chosen by brand managers and their advisors,

simply because they ‘feel’ good and somehow seem to fit. Our view is that brands don’t have

values. However, what brands can do is ‘match’ the things people find important in their

lives. Human emotions, motivations, and aspirations - also called drive domains - are the

foundation upon which thought processes, decisions and actions are based (Weeks &

Williams, 2007). Work done by neuroscientists, such as Damasio (1994), has helped us

develop a better understanding of how such drives play a central role in human decision

making. According to Weeks and Williams (2007), decision making about brands centers on

one question: how will this make me feel? Consequently we should not concentrate on so-

called brand values, but on emotional domains that are activated by a brand. It is not just

about what the brand represents (e.g. sexiness), but about what is internalized as a desired

feeling linked to the brand (feeling sexy when using it). This leads to following two

hypotheses.

H1: The stronger a brand relates to drive domains, the higher the brand appeal.

H2: The stronger the match between brand drive profile and personal drive profile, the higher

the brand appeal.

It is our assumption that highly appealing brands have a drive profile based on a certain

combination of several drive domains. These combinations of drive domains are being

referred to as ‘drive cocktails’ or ‘archetypes’ (Mark & Pearson, 2001). Such appealing

brands can even trigger combinations of drive domains. Think of the Volvo car brand which

successfully combines drives like family care with safety and acknowledgement or status.

This leads to our third hypothesis.

H3: Brand appeal increases if specific combinations of drive domains are being triggered.

It is also our assumption that certain archetypes are highly appealing and universally

interesting to homo sapiens. These archetypes, like the Hero, the Lover, the Explorer or the

Samaritan are not exclusive to brands but commonly found in the arts, fables, and religion

(Mark & Pearson, 2001). Therefore, we believe that such archetypes are not category specific

but universal in meaning, leading to our fourth hypothesis.

H4: Archetypes, and the underlying drive domains, are not category specific but universal.

METHOD

Three methods were applied to investigate the hypotheses. First, an extensive literature study

was conducted to identify human drives. After all, the hypothesis that the stronger a brand

relates to drive domains, the higher the brand appeal (H1), brings about the question: what are

human drives? We define human drives as the things that people find important in life.

Therefore, we investigated literature in the fields of philosophy, psychology, sociology,

biology, and neurology, and specifically examined studies that have attempted to list human

motivations, drives, aspirations, urges, emotions and feelings. Comparing the outcomes of

these studies, we listed unique as well as overlapping drives. We then integrated the

overlapping drives and developed a new list of human drives which we presented to scientific

experts in the fields of branding, emotions, and human values. This led to a framework of

23+1 drive domains (Figure 1).

The second method was translating the framework of 23+1 drive domains into a consumer

research tool. Since people are often not aware of what they find important, and find it hard to

How brands ignite desire 3

think and talk about it (Frijda, 1986; Weeks & Williams, 2007), we visualized the 23+1 drive

domains by creating visual-verbal stimuli (Figure 2). Visual information is processed more

easily, more rapidly, and less rationally (Franzen & Bouwman, 1999; Mirzoeff, 1999). These

stimuli, each consisting of four pictures and two words, represent the world of emotions,

motivations and values behind the drive domains. In order to make sure that correct

associations are being triggered, the stimuli were validated extensively. First, we asked

twenty experts (people who work with text and/or visuals on a daily basis, like copywriters,

architects, and designers) to judge the stimuli. They judged the visuals, then the words and

finally the combination of visuals and words, by giving their associations with the stimuli and

offering suggestions for improvement. Second, after improvement of the stimuli on the basis

of the experts’ judgments, we asked thirty-two non-experts to freely associate on the basis of

the visuals (without the words). The associations given were highly in line with the desired

associations. We also asked respondents to match the twenty-four visuals with the twenty-

four word-pairs. This assignment was done almost perfectly (> 90% match). After improving

the stimuli and checking them once more in a smaller setting, stimuli (referred to as

‘drivograms’) were finalized.

A quantitative study was conducted as a third method to empirically investigate the

relationships suggested in the hypotheses. Through an online questionnaire, respondents were

asked to indicate which drive domains were triggered by brands in various product categories.

Respondents also were asked to what degree they find these brands appealing. Further, they

were asked what they find important in life, by indicating the level of importance for each of

the drive domains. This quantitative study was preceded by a pilot study, in which eighteen

brands in two product categories (coffee and fashion) were investigated, with the purpose to

establish the validity and feasibility of the chosen research method.

RESULTS

Famous theories on human drives of for example Freud, Jung, and Maslow provoke

significant resistance by contemporary scientists as they lack a solid empirical base. Research

by scientists like Schwartz (1994), Reiss and Haverkamp (2000), Oppenhuisen (2000), and

Chiarelli (2003) has provided more valid and reliable findings. On the basis of an analysis of

their (and others’) work, we constructed the framework of 23+1 drive domains set out in

Figure 1. All of these drive domains are to a certain degree important for all human beings.

They must be seen as coping strategies enabling people to pursue an integrated approach in

order to a) secure the species by reproduction b) minimize feelings of inferiority and c)

maximize feelings of satisfaction. Interrelated, these strategies ultimately lead to an

individually perceived degree of contentment. Although some of the drive domains in this

framework, and also in day-to-day life, seem closely related (for example, power,

materialism, and status) at this stage we deliberately have not grouped domains in fixed

clusters.

Preliminary results of the quantitative pilot show that brands indeed have varying levels of

brand appeal and varying drive profiles. These results also indicate a relation between brand

appeal and strength of certain drive domains, which supports H1. As the data collection of the

quantitative study is in progress at this moment, we cannot present the final results in this

abstract. When the planning and implementation of this study goes according to plan, further

results and conclusions will be presented at the ICORIA Conference in June.

How brands ignite desire 4

REFERENCES

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How brands ignite desire 5

Figure 1. Framework of Drive Domains

Figure 2. Visual-verbal stimuli (so called Drivograms) © 1993-2007 Positioneringsgroep BV - All rights reserved

Drivograms