Research Proposal

Kartik Gupta
Independent Research
2017-2018

Psychological Marketing Factors

on Consumer Decision Making
Overview of Research-
For this research project, an investigation into the persuasive marketing techniques used
by high level, luxury brands to make their products seem more appealing than their price makes
them seem is being conducted. These luxury or veblen brands use psychological and sensory
marketing to create a perception of uniqueness and exclusivity making their goods and services
more desirable. However these techniques can always be advanced to attract a more vast
audience and finding such a marketing platform with base principles for generic advertisements
could help to improve the business world.

Background and History of the Issue-

Veblen goods are dictated by certain guiding principles which separate them from their
counterparts on the market. These include, exclusivity, having a cheaper alternative, and oddly
having a direct correlation between its price and consumer demand. Veblen goods are
marketed differently than their more affordable alternatives to make the consumer disregard the
high price. As only 30% of all luxury goods purchases are heavily influenced by online
perception of the respective brand, a good portion of the targeted consumers are still swayed by
tangible marketing. Examples of this tangible marketing are based on the physical or emotional
relationship between the consumer and the product or the person selling the product.
Luxury brands target what things or ideas are most desirable to their audiences and then
ally products with those ideas. These brand narratives, exclusivity, and sense of belonging
instituted by the marketing techniques used by these brands maintains loyalty from consumers
and that loyalty is rewarded. The validity of the effectiveness of the reciprocity of consumer
loyalty is corroborated by a study conducted by BYU sociologist, Dr. Philip Kunz, who explained
greater return and loyalty from a consumer is expected if their previous actions are rewarded.
All of these techniques revolve around the ideas which circulate the luxury brand and generic
brand marketing worlds but it should be considered that marketing is not a steadfast operation
and will no doubt fluctuate in differing instances.

Problem Statement and Rationale-

The overall problem at hand appears to be the lack of a steadfast marketing technique
with valid results which can be implemented in business struggling to market their goods or
services. As the veblen brands present the most success with marketing while facing the
obstacle of undesirable prices, modeling a possibly ideal technique would pose helpful and most
rational to do. Such a marketing tool could be utilized by a number of organizations and startup
businesses which need a base to start their marketing at.
Research Methodology:

Research Question and Hypothesis-

What principles incorporated in veblen brand marketing will yield relatively reliable results in the
company’s financial state?
A marketing technique incorporating the base principles of focusing on brand narratives,
exclusivity, and the consumer’s sense of belonging paired with reciprocity of the consumer’s
loyalty mimicking those of veblen brands will yield significant sales in most cases.

Basic Hypothesis-
The hypothesis is heavily based upon credible corroborators reiterating the importance
of brand narratives, exclusivity, and the consumer’s sense of belonging paired with reciprocity of
the consumer’s loyalty when it came to marketing veblen goods and services. As shown in an
Oxford study, these factors are the leading differences in the consumer’s perception of the value
of the product therefore they should be given priority in any situation. Another study, conducted
by a collection of University representatives in the field of psychology and marketing explains
the effectiveness of reciprocity, in the 2002 Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

Research Design-
In this research the most effective way to move forward would be to conduct descriptive
research in order to identify the underlying psychological factors most effectively affecting
consumers’ decisions to conduct business. At the moment primary research seems to be most
conveniently conducted using a questionnaire/survey, targeting appropriate demographics.

Operational Definitions-

Sensory Marketing- Marketing techniques targeting one sense of the human body specifically
(typically the eyes or ears with visuals or sounds)
Veblen Brands- Unique brands categorized by its properties of being exclusive, increasing in
consumer demand as its price increases, and always having a more affordable alternative on
the market
Reciprocity in Marketing- The principle similar to “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”
where if a consumer is rewarded for loyalty it will have positive ramifications across the
metaphorical financial board

Product Overview-
The objective in the end for a tangible product for the research will be a published article
analyzing how and why each of the ideas listed above will effectively support a possible-to-
implement marketing techniques fitting most business models. The intended audience would be
small businesses looking for a mold for their marketing model to fit or look like. As the
summarization of effective marketing techniques will provide them with examples of successful
people in their situations.

Logistical Consideration-
 There will be few costs in conducting this research as it only requires the filling out of a
questionnaire/survey voluntarily in the areas of the key demographics. The prime resource
being spent will be time in travel and attaining volunteers in conducting the research. Another
consideration must be the printing and distribution of a final published paper, requiring
equipment such as printers and the appropriate paper and ink.

Data Collection Summary-

The topic that is hoped to be confirmed through this data collection process is that
sensory marketing techniques play a large role in attracting customers to luxury brands.
Specifically, through this questionnaire, the effective nature of a brand narrative along with a
consistent interaction with the consumer will be explored. The intended method of data
collection is a questionnaire survey as it will allow for a structured representation of how
respondents react to certain instances pertaining to decisions made on the basis of the type of
marketing used. There are two vetted surveys which will be merged to aid in the proving of how
effective sensory marketing is. The first is from Economics Professor Richard Bagozzi’ book,
Causal Models in Marketing, which contains vetted questions contrasting a company’s product
with a brand narrative and the a similar product from the same company without a brand
narrative and allowing the subject to answer which product they are more likely to purchase,
barring other factors such as price and loyalty to a brand. The other source for vetted questions
is the Stanford study which compares the behavior of subjects who have become loyal to a
brand versus those who have not. The intended audience who will be subject to answering the
questions is an equal amount of male and female respondents in the age groups of 15-18, 18-
25, 25-35, and 35-60 as this will allow for a wide variety of responses from those who have a
fissically undetermined outlook to the questions followed by more and more fiscally responsible
age groups. This follows a combination of the two formats the vetted surveys used to determine
who the responses are coming from. The projected number of responses that are to be received
is 32, four male and female respondents for each age group. The group who may benefit from
this questionnaire will service is the businesses with a cohesive product and/or service available
on the market with little exposure to a consumer base as this will aid in expanding and
strengthening that consumer base. The distribution process for this questionnaire in the
currently technologically savvy age will be over a google form for which the link will be emailed
to a group of individuals who are of appropriate genders and ages and if certain individuals’
responses are not submitted by a deadline, they will be replaced by someone of near identical
age and the same gender.

Bagozzi, Richard P. Causal Models in Marketing. Wiley, 1980.

Fraser, Scott C., and Jonathan L. Freedman. “Compliance without Pressure: The Foot-in-the-
Door Technique.” Stanford University, vol. 4, no. 2, 1966.