How brands connect with everyday consumers

In today’s world, the success of any brand that wants to get tall amidst stiff competition is determined by consumers.

As a matter of fact, the success of brands from political funding to packaged goods relies on consumers who live in an increasingly digital world, and the opportunities for marketers to drive engagement have exploded.

Technology has given them new ways to reach out and connect with people — and to receive signals in response that enable fluid, and ongoing conversations every now and again. This is both amazing and overwhelming.

Checks by The Daily Times also revealed that brands are daily seeking for consumers’ trust and loyalty.

However, for consumers to effectively establish a sense of affinity with a brand, they have to be conditioned toward that brand.

Analysts believe that in conditioning, brands evoke a continuous response from consumers as a result of a stimulus.

In other words, brands apply known marketing techniques (stimuli) to ensure that consumers are more likely to associate with them (continuous response).

For these analysts, conditioning occurs in three forms: Classical, Operant and Vicarious/Model.

With classical conditioning, brands use a neutral stimulus to evoke a desired response. Classical conditioning is attributed to Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov.

In his experiment with dogs, Pavlov rang a bell (neutral stimuli) before feeding the dogs. However, when there was no food, the sound of the bell still evoked the same response (salivating) from the dogs.

Brands use classical conditioning for advertising on radio and TV. By so doing, brands look to change the behavior of consumers by constantly exposing them to these adverts.

Brands also utilize classical conditioning through brand logos. For instance, McDonald’s famous “golden arched M” has become synonymous with the brand, and when seen, almost instantly evokes an “I am hungry! Perhaps, I should go to McDonald’s” response from the consumer.

Using operant conditioning, brands evoke a response from consumers by reinforcement. This reinforcement is usually in form of a reward.

Unlike classical conditioning, there is a connection between the response and the stimuli. Operant conditioning is usually visible in promotional offerings by brands to consumers. For instance, when brands offer ‘Buy 1, Get 1 Free’, or ‘Buy for a chance to win’, they look to evoke a positive response from the consumer toward their brand by rewarding them.

While classical and operational conditionings are used very often, vicarious/model conditioning is currently on the rise in Nigeria.

In this, consumer response is evoked as a result of “other people’s” association with a particular brand. It is a case of “if they are associated with this brand, then I should be as well.”

Stories by Godwin Anyebe