Evaluation of the Impact of a Person’s Sense of Community on Attitudinal Loyalty and Purchase
Behavior regarding the Harry Potter Brand
MARFISI Lily2015
MASTER’S THESIS
The problematic
How does a person’s sense of community impact its attitudinal loyalty and purchase
behavior regarding the Harry Potter brand?
Plan Summary
1. Literature Review The Harry Potter Phenomenon Sense of Community Attitudinal Loyalty Purchase
2. Conceptual Model 3. Methodology 4. Data Analysis
5. Managerial Implications 6. Further Research
Literature Review:
The Harry Potter Phenomenon
Harry Potter : The Story
Written by J.K. Rowling
7 books & 8 movies
Translated into 73
languages
$8 billion at the box office
Best-sellers in over 200 countries
Over 450 000 million books
sold
$15 billion brand
Harry Potter : A Worldwide Brand
Harry Potter : The Timeline
Behind the Success of Harry Potter
The Product
The Author
The Marketing Tools
The Internet & Technologies
The Power of Fans
Behind the success of Harry Potter:The Product
Elements making a good story: Rags-to-riches Rebirth The Quest Overcoming the Monster Tragedy Comedy Voyage and Return Fairy tales, mythical creatures,
legends…
Appealed to both children and adults.
The secret ingredient: The product ages with the
consumer.
Behind the success of Harry Potter:The Author
J.K. Rowling
A rags-to-riches profile: started with nothing, and is now the richest novelist of all times.
Influential speaker for charity associations.
Declared herself brand guardian: every decision must go through her.
Ensures the consistency of the brand by refusing attractive offers.
Behind the success of Harry Potter:The Marketing Tools
1 - Teasing & scarcity: a luxurious brand
Always leave the customer wanting more
Minimum appearances from J.K. Rowling Countdowns, “incidents”… Measures of security
2 - Word-of-mouth & online buzz Letting the customers nourish the buzz
themselves Forums, comments sections, created by
distributors
3 - Brand consistency A clear and steady message Emotional involvement: stability,
sustainability, security J.K. Rowling as brand guardian Consistent message in the books
Behind the success of Harry Potter:The Internet & other technologies
A perfect timing with the rise of the Internet.
Useful means of communication.
The Internet allowed fans websites and forums to be created and to reach multiple cultures worldwide.
Cellphones were also used for marketing purposes through games and competitions (ex: cases of Flytxt, Microsoft, EA).
Limits of piracy…
Behind the success of Harry Potter:The Power of Fans (1/2)
The Online Community
Fans sites, forums, podcasts were created to: Communicate information Share fan-arts (drawings, fanfiction novels…) Discuss storylines and characters Keep fans updated on upcoming events
Unofficial websites used by distributors
Yearly “Fan Site Award”
Behind the success of Harry Potter:The Power of Fans (2/2)
Other Pottermania activities: Muggle Quidditch (“quove”) Conventions & Conferences Music Bands (“wrock”) Role-Playing Games
Fans as Influencers Fans take the role of marketers, buyers, sellers,
influencers in decisional processes for the brand.
Harry Potter today
Pottermore.com Harry Potter: The
Exhibition
The Wizarding World of Harry
Potter
Czocha College of Wizardry
Warner Bros Studio Tour
The Wizarding World of Harry
Potter
Literature Review:
Sense of Community
Sense of Community
Early works: PSOC studied within neighborhoods during the 20th century. Sense of Community: “A feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling
that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together" (McMillan & Chavis, 1986).
The Sense of Community Index Revised (SCI-2). Types of community: place, practice, interest.
Sense of Community: The variables
• Earning the right to belong to the group: boundaries, emotional safety, sense of belonging and identification, personal investment, and a common symbol system.
Membership
• Two-way influence: the group must have influence over its members and each member must have influence over the group.
Influence
• The community must be mutually rewarding for the member: his needs are met while he helps others meet theirs. He shares the same values as the community he is in.
Integration & Fulfillment of Needs
• Contact hypothesis, quality of interaction, closure to events, shared valent event hypothesis, investment, effect of honor and humiliation, spiritual bond.
Shared Emotional Connection
Measures of Sense of Community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986)
Literature Review:
Attitudinal Loyalty
Attitudinal Loyalty
Brand loyalty = Attitudinal Loyalty + Behavioral Loyalty Attitudinal Loyalty: “The consumer’s predisposition towards a brand as a
function of psychological processes. This includes attitudinal preference and commitment towards the brand” (Jacoby & Chestnut, 1978).
Consistency in loyalty. Different measures of Attitudinal Loyalty.
Attitudinal Loyalty: The variables
• Refers to the feelings and emotions.
Affect
• Refers to the beliefs, thoughts, values, or knowledge.
Cognition
• Refers to the actions and behaviors a person is likely to have.
Behavior (conative)
Measures of Attitudinal Loyalty (Rosenberg & Hovland, 1960)
Literature Review:
Purchase
Purchase
Purchase as the final act of a consumer’s behavior from the point of view of a marketer.
Not necessarily monetized.
Personal investment.
Ex: Reading the books, watching the movies, participating in a Harry Potter-related activity, purchasing merchandise…
2. Conceptual Model
The Conceptual Model
P1: Sense of Community has a positive impact on Attitudinal Loyalty.
H1: Membership, Influence, Integration and fulfillment needs, and Shared emotional connection have a positive impact on the Affective dimension of Attitudinal Loyalty.
H2: Membership, Influence, Integration and fulfillment needs, and Shared emotional connection have a positive impact on the Cognitive dimension of Attitudinal Loyalty.
H3: Membership, Influence, Integration and fulfillment needs, and Shared emotional connection have a positive impact on the Behavioral dimension of Attitudinal Loyalty.
P2: Attitudinal Loyalty has a positive impact on Purchase.
H4: Affect has a positive impact on Purchase.
H5: Cognition has a positive impact on Purchase.
H6: Behavior has a positive impact on Purchase.
Problematic: How does a person’s sense of community impact its attitudinal loyalty and purchase behavior regarding the Harry Potter brand?
The Final Model
Sense of Community
Membership
Influence
Integration & Fulfillment needs
Shared Emotional Connection
Attitudinal Loyalty
Affect
Cognition
Behavior
Purchase
Purchase behavior
Independent Var. (phase 1)
Independent Var. (phase 2)
Dependent Var. (phase 1)
Dependent Var. (phase 2)
3. Methodology
Methodology: A quantitative study
Type of research: formal, applied, deductive, causal, positivistic.
Collect primary data: questionnaire.
Measure and analyze numerical data.
Assess the preferences and behaviors of people.
Doesn’t explain the “why” of the answer.
Objective research.
Development of study
design
• Gathering of secondary data (Literature Review)• Sampling• Building the questionnaire
Data Collection
• Pretesting• Implementing the questionnaire
Data Analyses
• SPSS calculations• Results analyses
Conclusions
• Conclusions deduced from previous results analyses• Conclusions on the overall research study
Research Steps of the Quantitative Study (Hermel, 1995)
Methodology: The Research Steps
• Sense of Community• Harry Potter: Attitudinal Loyalty and PurchaseThemes & variables
• Closed questions• 7-point Likert scales of agreement and frequency
Types of questions & their scales
• Electronic questionnaire: Qualtrics softwareMethod to collect the information
• The community of interest of the respondent: 24 items (SCI-2) + 1 question (nature of community)
• His or her relationship with the Harry Potter brand: Attitudinal Loyalty (12 items); Purchase (7 items)
• 3 demographic questions: age, gender, country of origin
• Items shuffled
Structure, length, and number of items
• English• FrenchLanguage• Clarity of the questions• Anonymous respondents• Length of the questionnaire
Limitations
Methodology: The Questionnaire
Methodology: Data Analysis
Demographics
Frequency Analysis (normal distribution)
Reliability Analysis (consistency and validity of measurements)
Multiple Regressions Analysis Use of Forced entry and Stepwise methods Levels of regression: aggregate and group level (Fans and
Non-Fans)
4. Data Analysis
Data Analysis: Demographics (1/2)
Age
Non Fans Fans
Country of Origin
Non Fans Fans
602 respondents60% female, 40% male
Data Analysis: Demographics (2/2)
Community of Interest
Non Fans Fans
Data Analysis: Reliability Analysis
Cronbach Alphas in the reliabilities of the Sense of Community variables
Cronbach Alphas in the reliabilities of the Attitudinal Loyalty variables
Cronbach Alpha in the reliability of the Purchase variable
All of the Cronbach Alphas are above 0.7, so all the variables are reliable and consistent.
After observing a normal distribution in the Frequency Analysis…
Data Analysis: Multiple RegressionsAt the aggregate level (1/2)
Summary Table of the Stepwise Regressions at the Aggregate Level
Summary Table of the Forced Entry Regressions at the Aggregate Level
a: Model 1; b: Model 2
Detailed tables p. 54 - 58
Data Analysis: Multiple RegressionsAt the aggregate level (2/2)
PHASE 1:
Shared emotional connection (SEC) is the only predictor for the affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of Attitudinal Loyalty.
SEC predicts about 5-7% of the model.
Affect: SEC deals with the feelings and emotions of a member in regard to his community (people got emotionally attached to the story).
Cognition: SEC relates to shared events (community events are a big part of the Harry Potter buzz).
Behavior: SEC refers to the future of the community (Pottermore…).
PHASE 2:
Both behavioral and cognition aspects of Attitudinal Loyalty impact Purchase behavior (more than 60% of the model is explained).
Data Analysis: Multiple RegressionsAt the group level (1/2)
Summary of the Forced Entry Regressions at the Group Level
Summary of the Stepwise Regressions at the Group Level
a: Model 1; b: Model 2 Detailed tables p. 61 - 71
Data Analysis: Multiple RegressionsAt the group level (2/2)
PHASE 1:
The Harry Potter fan group acts similarly to the aggregate level: Shared emotional connection is the only predictor of the 3 components of Attitudinal Loyalty.
The variables included in the sense of community of non Harry Potter fans predict randomly (or not at all) the variables from their attitudinal loyalty towards the brand.
PHASE 2:
Behavioral intentions impact the purchase behavior of both fans and non fans.
The fans’ purchase behavior is also impacted by their affective sense of AL (they are more influenced by their feelings).
The non fans’ purchase behavior is also impacted by their cognitive sense of AL (they do not have feelings towards the brand but are influenced by their knowledge of it).
5. Managerial Implications
Managerial Implications (1/4)
Shared Emotional Connection
Affect
Behavior
Cognition
At the aggregate level and the fans group level:
At the non-fans group level:
P1: Sense of Community has a positive impact on Attitudinal Loyalty
Sense of Community Attitudinal Loyalty
Influence
Shared Emotional Connection
Membership
Affect
Cognition
Sense of Community Attitudinal Loyalty
Managerial Implications (2/4)
Sense of Community does impact Attitudinal Loyalty.
Harry Potter touches the emotional side of its customers.
Focusing on the SEC side of people will influence positively their feelings, their knowledge, and their purchase intentions towards the brand.
Marketers should concentrate on: Shared events and group activities, The long-term faith in the group, The emotional attachment to the group, The feeling of involvement within the group.
Managerial Implications (3/4)
P2: Attitudinal Loyalty has a positive impact on Purchase
At the aggregate level and the non-fans group level:
Behavior
Cognition
Attitudinal Loyalty
Purchase Behavior
Purchase
At the fans group level:
Behavior
Affect
Attitudinal Loyalty
Purchase Behavior
Purchase
Managerial Implications (4/4)
Attitudinal Loyalty does impact Purchase.
Marketers should take into account the affective and the behavioral dimensions of attitudinal loyalty when targeting customers likely to become fans of the new Harry Potter-like product they are launching.
Marketers should also focus on communicating the right message through marketing campaigns in order to spread better knowledge of the brand to everybody, and incite them to buy the product.
Conclusion
A quantitative study
602 respondents
The sample was analyzed in its entirety, then divided into fans/non-fans.
Only Shared emotional connection impacts positively the affective, cognitive and behavioral aspects of Attitudinal Loyalty.
The behavioral aspect of AL impacts positively Purchase behavior.
Moreover, the affective aspect of AL impacts Purchase within the fans, and the cognitive aspect of AL impact Purchase within non-fans.
6. Further Research
Further Research
Limited percentage of explanation of the models of phase 1 (5-10%).
Other external factors could have predicted the outcome, such as: Influence of the Author Cross-cultural and worldwide aspect of the brand
Analysis of the relationship between Sense of Community and Purchase.
Research on other similar brands such as The Lord of the Rings, Twilight, The Hunger Games…
Comparison among these series of books adapted into movies, between the successes and the failures (His Dark Materials, Eragon).
Generational phenomenon continuation with Game of Thrones…
Thank you !