2. overview
Studying consumer behavior is the most important factor in determining the success of
a brand or product. This research provides insight into how our customers will think,
judge and react to anything we do, and ultimately, whether they will buy our product
or not.
There are three main forces in consumer behavior: the individual, the social and the
company. From biases to the physical design of the product, every decision should be
made strategically to best appeal to the customer.
Outlined in the following pages are a few of the ways we can and will be successful in
using these forces with our consumers to keep Sprite in their hands. Let’s take Sprite,
right to the top.
3. segmentation
pre-teen boys
This segment includes young males age 12-16 in either middle school or
high school in southern states including Louisiana and Mississippi. Due to
their age, they are completely dependent on their parents both financially
and otherwise. They have minimal responsibilities so they have an excess
of time. This group is extremely impressionable and strives to be
interdependent to fit in with social norms. Because of these factors, they are
mostly aware of the product and it is readily available to them either at
school, or by their parents because they don’t need to be or are not
extremely health conscious.
young mothers
This group is made up of mothers aged 28-35 in the same southern states.
This segment includes those women in the middle class with access to a
moderate disposable income. These women work 20-40 hours a week while
also shuffling their kids around. They have limited spare time and food and
beverage consumption needs to be on the go a lot of the time. These
women are not health conscious, but may choose a lower calorie or sugar
free option if available. This segment is very aware of the product has
complete ability to access it.
PAC-12 college students
This segment is comprised of males and females aged 18-22 and are
undergraduate students at the PAC-12 schools. They have some financial
independence but are primarily reliant on parents. Because of this they do
have access to some disposable income but do not spend heavily. They
typically enjoy a moderate amount of free time outside of schoolwork. They
are aware of the product and it is easily available so transportation is not an
issue. These students are somewhat health conscious but for the most part
still consume outside of this trend. This segment views themselves as
independent and strives for uniqueness and exhibits openness.
4. identity
The aspects of the self a person considers to represent who they are
Define: We view things associated with our identity very positively and are
motivated to protect and enjoy those things.
Apply: PAC-12 college students consider their schools to be a huge part of
their identity. We can integrate Sprite into the identity of the school and in
turn be regarded as part of the students’ identity. For example, at the
University of Oregon, we already have an advantage with our green
bottles and cans connecting to the Oregon green.
Complicate: A complication could arise from rivals such as Oregon State
University associating Sprite with the University of Oregon and associating
those negative rivalry feelings with the product.
Define: The belief that the self matches an identity.
Apply: Sprite needs to create a fit for its young mother segment among its
brand. This could be achieved through a visual advertisement showing a
group of mothers at a younger child’s birthday party, drinking Sprite. This
is a common environment that the women in this segment would find
themselves at, and shows that the product can be associated with being a
parent in that environment.
Complicate: This could indirectly turn other segments off of Sprite by
making it seem older and lose its cool appeal to younger demographics.
Define: We want to be the person that another person would like.
Apply: Sprite already creates this social desirability to a certain extent. We
can make an even stronger case if we took our Drake commercials, and
showed him identifying and talking to a fan because they were drinking a
Sprite too.
Complicate: This application will only work for people who are fans of
Drake and associated celebrities. Those who are not interested in
celebrities probably wont respond to this appeal.
identityvaluefitsocialdesirability
5. irrationality
People have limited computational and decision making abilities, and have many
biases. People are predictably irrational.
availability bias
Define We focus on the most recognizable features.
Apply Sprite should become a PAC-12 sports sponsor. This will allow us to display
logos and signage all over in stadiums and arenas as well as put them on cups,
freebies, etc. This way fans will associate Sprite with the PAC-12.
Complicate Opponents who feel negatively toward the PAC-12 teams may develop
negative attitudes toward Sprite.
reference point
Define Something that anchors our judgement and we use as a reference point for
comparison or the start of reasoning.
Apply The company can use a reference point in order to highlight its positive qualities.
Sprite should produce a graphic comparing it to another soda product of equal volume
that is higher in sugar, has more hidden ingredients, etc. in order to display itself as the
better option when it comes to soda.
Complicate Many people may just opt out of purchasing a soda product all together
once the nutrition information is made evident.
memorable moments bias
Define The tendency to remember something by the memory tokens rather than the
actual experience.
Apply By creating collectible bottle caps, we can provide a token built into the product
that could be especially appealing to the pre-teen boys segment. It could be as basic as
putting letters on the caps so that these kids try to collect all the letters needed to spell
out their name.
Complicate It could lose its appeal to kids with longer names, who may forget or get
bored of the activity.
6. social: STEPPS
Word of mouth is one of the strongest influences on a consumer.
social currency
Define People share things that make them look good.
Apply Sprite can become a partner in coastal cleanup day. With our
resources we have the ability to make it a big, fun event that people will
be attracted too, and then want to talk about it afterwards. Sprite’s
association will make the brand look good, and the participants will
share their experience because it makes them look good.
Complicate Protestors could show up at events and argue that Sprite bottles are
cluttering the oceans and beaches and it could make participants feel
hypocritical.
public visibility
Define If something is built to show, it will grow.
Apply Sprite is already very strong in terms of public visibility. Their green
bottle and lemon-lime logo is unmistakable. To further improve upon
this, we can create more merchandise, for example reusable water
bottles or disposable cups.
Complicate Because we are so widely known among the public, any scandal to
come out of the company would be widely known, very quickly.
stories
Define Information travels under the guise of idle chatter.
Apply The easiest way to spread a story is through social media. Sprite can
create a social media campaign encouraging people to share why they
choose the product, and repost or retweet or re-pin the best ones. This
will hopefully avoid the sometimes negative feedback from simply
sharing an experience they had with Sprite, and conveys why they
chose Sprite over every other option.
Complicate There is no way to entirely keep people from sharing negative
experiences.
7. social: miscellaneous
relevant others
Define People are not influenced by all people and all crowds equally.
Apply Specifically, in the young boys’ segment, appealing to the relevant
others will be very successful. Sending a freebie package to the varsity
football team and giving them free Sprite labeled merchandise to wear
and use around school will leave an impression on the other students
who respect or aspire to be in that position. They will develop an
aspirational attitude toward the brand and want to associate with it.
Complicate This could backfire if the team has a reputation of bullying, etc. and is
not held in high regard by the rest of the student population.
sex sells
Define Sexiness is desirable and then transfers that desirableness to the
product.
Apply We need to have a roster of sexy models, both male and female, in
advertisements going to segments that will respond to this for example,
TV commercials on MTV. People will be attracted to these models and
in turn associate the attractiveness to the company.
Complicate Not everyone finds the same things sexy in another person.
authenticity online
Define One way to create this is through acknowledgement and participation,
give people to the opportunity to participate with talent and creativity.
Apply Sprite should ask for consumer generated content to create
promotional videos and these will also serve as testimonials, similar to
GoPro’s strategy. This saves resources as well as convinces other
people to get involved with the brand now that they have the chance to
be featured.
Complicate Obviously, a lot of unusable content will be submitted and it will need to
be sorted through.
8. company: physical design
It is important to consider physical design in any situation as it strongly
correlates to whether or not a consumer will give your product any
attention.
information overload
Define: KISS- Keep It Simple Stupid
Apply: Sprite needs to maintain a simple website homepage. The landing page
should not be too wordy, and should express the key elements of Sprite. If
people want to know more, they will search deeper into the site. The
landing page should feature the recognizable logo and whatever the
current ad campaign is with a menu where people can select the general
topic of what they are looking for. The easier it is to navigate, and
uncluttered with information, will encourage people to use the site.
Complicate: Some people who are looking for that deeper information may get
annoyed that it isn’t the first thing they see.
placebo effect
Define: When people believe something is better, they experience it as better.
Apply: Should Sprite decide to update or change the formula, all promotion of our
new product should make it sound better than the old one. They could
promote it through YouTube ads, before it is released, so that people have
the idea in their minds that this new product is better and they need to go
try it, and expect it to be superior.
Complicate: People tend to avoid change and may be hesitant about a new product.
power of visuals
Define: Using a visual rather than text can make information easier to process
with fluency, arouse more emotions and seem more convincing.
Apply: In a magazine advertisement, Sprite should convey the refreshing aspects
of the product through setting up a hot environment, such as a person at
the beach with visible sweat beads, cooling off with a Sprite.
Complicate: People with a higher need for cognition may not respond because it is too
simple and they wont pay it any attention.
9. company: conditioning
Conditioning is the idea of creating, stopping, increasing or decreasing a
behavior by linking it to stimuli.
classical conditioning
Define: A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and
anticipate events.
Apply: Sprite can create a score counting advertisement for University of Oregon
football games. Every time the Ducks score a touchdown, the score is
counted in big flashy Sprite bottles. This way fans will learn to associate
the positive feelings that come with success to Sprite.
Complicate: The opposing team watching the same advertisement may develop a
distaste, especially if their team loses.
shaping
Define: An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior
toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
Apply: Running a commercial that demonstrates shaping as a parent in order to
reinforce a behavior would definitely appeal to the young mother’s
segment. The commercial should show a child getting rewarded with a
glass of Sprite for finishing all of their homework when they get home.
Then could be rewarded with a whole can for finishing a project, etc.
Complicate: There is a limit to how much Sprite can be used as a reward, which means
this application can lead to satiation.
anticipating utility
Define: The enjoyment from anticipating possible future event.
Apply: We can partner with the marketing team for Ghostbusters and create
special Ghostbusters labels and packaging, as well as include codes on
products to unlock special photos and previews of the movie that are not
accessible to the public.
Complicate: If the product is still on the shelf after the movie is out, it makes the
product seem outdated and less appealing.
10. visualoverview
anticipating utility
The front of the label will
feature short instruction to
tear it off and find a code
inside to unlock content
from Ghostbusters, and
feature the release date.
KISS
The menu piece of the
home page should be out
of the initial frame (should
have to scroll down).
There should be a
simpler menu either
across the top or the side
with the main tabs with
the same labels as the
yellow titles in this image.
public visibility
The colors, the logo and the
bottle are recognizable as
Sprite, anywhere.
11. ISCAPPENDIX
identity
We utilized the concept of choir speak to appeal to the identity of the reader.
We did not need to convince anyone of Sprite’s ability to enact any of these
recommendations using facts. We appealed to someone who already believes
Sprite is a superior product and is looking to take things a step further.
social
We used the idea of social proof to convince the readers that it would be a
good idea to ask for consumer generated content, the way that GoPro does.
This works to convince readers that the idea has high potential for success
because of the success another brand has found using the idea.
company
The company force of physical design was very important when designing this
report. We followed the KISS principle of keeping everything as simple and
straightforward as possible. Because it did involve a lot of of writing, I tried to
get to the point as efficiently as possible, while still getting the important
information across.
