4. Agenda
• Stories and WOM
• Storytelling and a theory of consumer brand blog stories
– Why look at blogs (self report stories)
– Myths & Archetypes
– Brand Relationships
– Propositions for processing
• Processing Method (includes netnography)
• Versace, Tommy Hilfiger & Paris blog stories
• Implications for mining consumer brand blogs
• Automating brand studies
5. How stories explain behaviour and help sensemaking
“…in such personal memoirs as diaries and journals, a person seeks unconsciously and partly
self-consciously a narrative frame for life…” (McAdam, 1993).
“When people punctuate their own living into stories, they impose a formal coherence on what
is otherwise a flowing soup”
( Weick, 1998, p128).
– Confusing social and personal experiences or “messy” situations (Bruner, 1990) are put
into a rational story that sequences the events to make sense of the world outside them
– “sequencing is a powerful heuristic for sensemaking” (Weick, 1995, p129)
– People’s self understanding is based on narratives they construct to make sense of their
lives (Gergin & Gergin, 1983)
– “The ways in which people typically explain and predict social behaviour have a great deal
in common with how people understand and tell stories” (Read, 1987).
– “Stories provide simplified cause-effect accounts of puzzling, unexpected, dramatic,
problematic, or exemplary events” (Tilly, 2006).
6.
7. WOM Communications
……..we believe that WOM communications
are structured as story. That is, when
consumers relate their experiences with
products, services, and brands to others,
they typically tell their listener a story, with
themselves as the protagonist.
Delgadillo and Escalas (2004)
8. Our theory of Consumer Brand Stories
• A consumer comes to know a brand by creating a story of herself
• The created story brings the different parts of herself into a whole
• A good consumer story
– beginning, middle, end (plot structure)
– Imagination integrating past, present, and future
– Parts of story enacted in daily life
– Exists in mind of the consumer
– "inciting incident" (McKee, 2003) resulting in an imbalance (Woodside and Chebat, 2001) to
occur moving protagonist from balance to inbalance resulting in action.
– A moral and teaching perspective
– Suspense (Brewer and Lichtenstein, 1982; Durgeen, 1988 ;Gergen and Gergen, 1988).
• Written story provides sensemaking to herself and readers
9. Why self report blog stories ?
• Focus on the words reflecting lived experiences involving brands
• Consumer blog entries are the interpretations of self rather than
researcher interpretations of consumers’ interpretations of use of brands
and products.
• Analyzing consumer self report blogs, consumer researchers do not
ask what, when and where intentionality questions to solicit the
necessary information.
• Elegance of this approach side-stepping of the bias of the researcher
framing issues to achieve consumer own-framing
• Self report stories explanation of the consumer’s behaviour including
roles brands and products play in these stories.
10. Myths
• They pretend to be nothing but entertainment, but in fact address the hopes
and fears of the whole human race” (Brayfield, 1996)
• “Myths provide ideals to live by, and they work to resolve life’s most vexing
questions. ” (Holt 2003, p. 44).
• “Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of the human life”(Campbell, 1991,
p5),
• stories “about the wisdom of life” (Campbell, 1991, p11)
• “practical models for understanding how to live” ( Vogler, 1998)
• “evoke the eternal because they explore the timeless concerns of human
beings – birth, death, time, good and evil, creativity and destruction”
(Cousineau, 2001).
• “Myths of different cultures all probe similar enigmas: life and death, creation
and destruction.” (Manhart,2005).
11. Book of Hopi, Frank Waters
• Where did I come from?
• Why is there something rather than nothing?
• Why is there evil in the world?
• What happens to me when I die?
• How close should I be to my mother, father , brother , sister, wife,
husband, cousin, son, daughter, lover or friend ?
• What are my duties,my obligations?
• What is taboo and what should I avoid?
• What is the purpose of my life, my visions?
• Whom should I imitate?
• Who are the heros and heroines?
• Who are the villains?
• Who is our enemy?
• What are the stages along life’s way?
• Who are my helpers, guides, allies ?
• What is disease?
• How can I be purified, healed?
• What should we do with bounty, wealth, surplus?
• What is our relationship with animals?
12. Archetypes
• Deep structure for motivation and meaning
• “psychic templates” (Gray, 1996) that are hardwired thought patterns
underpinned by unconscious knowledge (Jaffe, 1971)
• patterns of instinctual behaviour that are in a state of readiness to
act as a compensatory response of the unconscious to typical
human situations with the response pattern of how a human
functions.
• “powerful inner patterns…..dominant forces within us”( Bolen ,1984).
• “emergent property” of a biological system as the archetype
“crosses from unconscious activity to consciousness”( Gray, 1996).
13. Cultural Archetype - Rapaille
• “logic of emotion” (Rapaille,1995) that imprints from the first emotional
experience
• Learning through emotion rather than intellect.
• The imprinting moment is the “first time when you create a mental structure
in your brain” ( Rapaille, 2005)
• Taste of ice cream, fresh aroma of coffee, heat on a stove top or a birthday
• Smell, taste, sound, object, concept, product and service
• “you never get a second chance to have a first experience”
(Rapialle, 1990)
14. Taxonomy of Archetypes
Archetype Profile
Hero Trust/Reliability
Wise old man Continuity/Heritage
Creator Newness/Invention
Mother of goodness Care/Nurturing
Little trickster Humour/Spontaneity
Engima Uncertainity
Aniti-hero Danger/Unrepentance
Change Master Change/Newness
Ultimate Strength Testing/proving
Siren Seduction/Destruction
Powerbroker Domination/control
Loyalist Certainty
Wertime, 2002, Building Brands and Believers, John Wiley
16. Propositions for processing
P1: A protagonist consumer
P2: Consumer storytelling theory extends beyond highly risky consumption acts to the more mundane
and improvisational presentations of self (to self and others) in everyday life.
P3: Stories protagonists tell about themselves consciously and/or unconsciously often match the plot
lines scripted by brand controllers (e.g., Nike’s myth of individual achievement through
perseverance) or by deep-seated, “hardwired” (see Hirschman 2000; Rapaille 2005) cultural
archetypal myths.
P4: The story presents a protagonist engaging in actions to achieve goals.
P5: The story informs about conscious and/or unconscious thoughts of the protagonist and other actors.
P6: The story informs personal evolution or change in the life of the protagonist occurs.
P7: The story informs how events involving the protagonist take place.
P8: The story has an inciting event (a crisis or turning point) involving the protagonist along with a
beginning and a resolution.
P9: The story presents the protagonist in clear-cut situations.
P10: the storyteller provides a lesson learned— a gloss/gist of wisdom—in a sensemaking summary
comment in the closing or opening author’s interpretation to the story.
17. Processing Method
• Netnography
• Degrees-of-freedom for interpreting case data (Campbell,1975)
• Analysis and interpretation of lived consumer brand story
Degrees Analysis and Archetypal
Netnography of interpretation Patterns
Freedom
18. Consumer Brand Blog Studies
Luxury Goods Fashion Country
Tiffany Abercrombie & Fitch Sydney
LVMH Tommy Hilfiger Paris
Gucci Old Navy Tokyo
Versace Beijing
New York
19. Netnography (Kozinets,2002)
• Entrée to blogs
– Preliminary search of blogosphere
– Intelliseek (www.blogpulse.com)
– Technorati (www.technorati.com)
• Preferred method of selecting blogs
– Google (brand-product-category-activity)
– Extended search terms generated from contemporary
magazines as well as Princeton Wordnet.princeton.edu
(synonym sets)
21. Netnography II (Kozinets,2002)
• Data collection & analysis
– Automatic download using net snippets or onfolio
– Purposive sampling (Wallendorf & Belk,1989)
• Exclude brand managers, self- promotion, suspect messages
& off-brand
• Seek rich/detailed stories
– Devotees (strong consumption weak attachment to online)
– Insiders (strong ties to online and consumption activity)
– Classify Brand
• reporters, opposers, supporters and managers
22. Netnography II (Kozinets,2002)
• Analysis and Interpretation
~ 50 to 60 stories
• Member check (Hirschman 1986)
– 1. What did they leave out (i.e. what might they have put in ?)
– 2. Anything reported that should not be in ?
– 3. Is the researcher interpretation surprising or what you may have
expected ?
• Communication via email, instant messaging or Skype.
23. Pattern Matching
• Building and testing alternative sets of propositions
– Campbell (1975) and Wilson and Wilson (1988)
• How well do our stories match with the storytelling paradigm?
• What Archetypal patterns exist
• Consumer Storytelling Degrees of Freedom Instrument
Degrees of Freedom Instruments
Blog story or report
Proposition 1
Proposition 2
Proposition 3
Prposition 4
24. Degrees of Freedom Instrument for Pre-Screening Stories
Consumer Storytelling Degrees of Freedom Instrument
Blog: ________________________________________________________________
Title of Blog Entry: ____________________________________________________
Please circle N = No; ? = Not sure; Y = Yes for each item below.
Item No ? Yes
1.Protagonist experiences an inciting incident? N ? Y
If yes, describe the inciting incident: ________________________________________
2. Mundane presentation of self in everyday life
of a protagonist is apparent in the story? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
3. Consumption stories matches myth identified for brand? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
4. Protagonist engages in actions to achieve goals? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
The blog presents a story that informs about conscious
and/or unconscious thoughts of the protagonist and
other actors? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
The blog presents a story about how personal evolution or change
in the life of the protagonist occurs? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
7. The blog informs how events involving a protagonist occur? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
8. The blog has a beginning, middle, and ending? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
9. The blog presents a protagonist in clear-cut situations? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
10. The blog has a protagonist who offers a lesson learned? N ? Y
Evidence: ________________________________________________________________
25. Consumer Storytelling for Buying and Wearing a Versace Coat
Blog: Purchase of a Versace coat and a drive home: “Long Coat ,no knickers…..”
Story gist: Purchasing a Versace coat the protagonist behaves in a risqué manner driving to her “man”.
Please circle N = No; ? = Not sure; Y = Yes for each item below.
Item No ? Yes
agonist experiences an inciting incident? N ? Y
dence: Wearing a Versace coat with just lingerie on whilst being chased by a local police car with two police
ndane presentation of self in everyday life
of a protagonist is apparent in the story? N ? Y
dence: Description of the store near Harrods and in Bicester as well as the exact price of the clothing being s
umption stories matches myth identified for brand? N ? Y
ence: “… I felt like I was one of those film stars sweeping into the room wearing the most wonderful outfit.”
gonist engages in actions to achieve goals? N ? Y
nce: In order to get “her man” she wears her coat with only underwear driving home.
blog presents a story that informs about conscious
and/or unconscious thoughts of the protagonist and
other actors? N ? Y
nce: When caught by the police whilst driving and using a mobile phone she indicates she is going to a “Vic
ty”.
blog presents a story about how personal evolution or change
in the life of the protagonist occurs? N ? Y
nce: Once wearing the Versace coat the protagonist is transformed into a siren.
log informs how events involving a protagonist occur? N ? Y
nce: The story progresses from the protagonist wearing a Versace coat, being fitted for Rigby & Pellar linge
home and being with her man.
log has a beginning, middle, and ending? N ? Y
nce: The story commences with the protagonist finding a Versace coat at a cheap price and then progresses
y the police and finally gets home.
log presents a protagonist in clear-cut situations? N ? Y
e: It is very evident from the story that the protagonist is the centre of attention in all the major scenes includ
home when her man is watching television.
blog has a protagonist who offers a lesson learned? N ? Y
26. Analysis of Brand Stories – Brand Study
• Events & narrative interpretation maps
a balance/imbalance mapping and flow diagram of
relationships for each blog communication
(Woodside & Chebat (2001)
• Applying Degree of Freedom instrument
• Leximancer computer software – Smith(2000)
• Consumer Brand Relationship classification
27. Elaboration of Pollee Buying and Wearing a Versace Coat
20."I resorted to
21. Would I buy
2. Fur Coat 19." I arrived at my mans standing in front of the + Versace again? Best
- house, 'nice coat' he said...." TV and slowly
coat I ever bought!
unbuttoning my two
buttons"
1. Pollee
+
18."Quick as a flash I told them I was going to a fancy
+ dress ‘vicars and tarts party’."....."I pulled up my coat
3. Designer Shop to show the top of a leg and told them that was all they
were getting!" 13." into a garage and use
the loo"
17."The problem I had was that the evening was very
4. "I have discovered a + warm and they asked why I was wearing a coat when it
lovely second hand ladies
was so hot. "
wear shop in Beachamp
Place near Harrods in
Knightsbrisge which has 12. "On speaking to the man of
designer wear at vastly 16."Versace did not let me down. The coat, all
the moment I found he was at
reduced prices." encompassing, only using two of the buttons
home .... We agreed I would get
provided kept my chastity covered. This coat has
a takeaway on the way back.".
quality and after several dry cleanings because of
the colour still looks as good as new!"
5.I bought a Valentino short leather skirt
(and the leather is baby soft, ok I know I
said I wouldn't wear fur - so I'm 15. “The local constabulary [two police
inconsistent! ) which would cost £600 11. "Proud of my purchase and
officers] wanted to discuss me using a mobile
new for £110 and it it relly as new - you having just been into Rigby and
phone while driving."
would never have guessed it's second Pellar for my six month refit of
hand. lingerie I started my journey ...."
14." It didn't take long to change into
the lingerie and on a whim I didn't
redress but just put on my coat. "
6. "I spoed [English for spied]
a beautiful cream coloured
cashmere coat .- Versace no 7."The fit of the coat 10."Having worn Versace I
less for 150 pounds......... was wonderful and I 9. "This coat was less than 6 would definitely look to buy
No way would I be able to felt like I was one of 8."Versace is available at so something else from their
months old and had been
afford one of these at the real those film stars many stores now, almost always 'stable' as the finish on this
sent in by a lady who gets
price of nearly £1,000." sweeping into the room tied up by anti theft devices so coat is the best. It has been
her clothers for nothing and
wearing the most this was the first time I had ever hand stitched and reeks of
wears them once or twice
wonderful outfit." been able to try Versace on." quality."
and then sends them in for
resale."
28. Elaboration of Trip to Paris Blog Communication
18."We went on Fat
17. "I wanted Paige to get a feel Tire's day trip to
+ 19....."I know Paige will
for shopping experiences that she Monet's gardens and treasure the memory of
would not have at home (aka the 16. "On our trip to Giverny, we met a young house in Giverny, about this girl's trip for many
ubiquitous mall). " woman from Brisbane, Australia who was an hour outside Paris."+ years to come."
traveling on her own and we invited her to join
us. Three of us enjoyed delicious and
innovative soufflés, while Paige had the rack of
3. Paris lamb. We shared two dessert soufflés, one
+ chocolate and the other cherry/almond. Yum" 11.Sites
•The Marais
•Notre Dame
•L'Arc de Triomphe - 248 steps up and 248 steps
+ down...
15." Michael Osman is an American artists
living in Paris." •Champs Elysee
1.Gayle "He supplements his income by being a •Jacquemart Museum
+ tour guide." I" found out about him on •Louvre Lite
Fodors" •Musee D'Orsay
"So I engaged Michael for two days." •Les Invalides, Napoleon's Tomb and the
2. Paige Napoleon Museum
•Sacre Coeur
•Monmartre
+ 14. “Dinner at La Dome with D-Day American •Rodin Museum
soliders.They had decided to come to Paris to •Pompidou Museum
find the Harley Davidson store so they could •Train to Vernon, bike to Giverny with Fat Tire
buy Harley Paris t-shirts." Bike Tours
4.”The occasion 5. “I am a
was my cousin •http://www.fattirebiketoursparis.com/
Canadian and get
Paige’s 16th” 13."The father stretched out his cupped hands •Eiffel Tower
by in French.”
which held all of the pieces they were able to
recover, including the memory stick and he
very solemnly said, "El muerto...".
9. "I bought a Paris Pratique pocket-sized book at a
6. "All I can say is WOW! We rented a 2 Metro station. This handy guide has detailed maps
bedroom, 1 ½ bath apartment (two of each arrondisement, as well as the metro lines,
12. Unforgettable Memories the bus lines, the RER and the SCNF (trains). I'll
showers), "Merlot" from ParisPerfect
http://www.parisperfect.com/ and boy was it "This trip had so many memories, but here are a few choice never be without this again."
ever perfect! " highlights........On our very first night, knowing that the Eiffel
Tower light show started at 10:00 p.m.... she [Paige] dropped
her camera…down 6 flights…we were stunned…Spanish
Family standing below [with pieces of the camera]”
10."Six months before our trip, I gave
7. “We had a full view of the Eiffel from 8. "We were walkable to many good Paige a couple of good guide books on
our charming little terrace. ....We were bistros, cafes and bakeries and only a Paris and suggested she let me know
within walking distance to two metro stops few blocks from the wonderful market what her interests were since after all,
(Pont d'Alma or Ecole Militaire) " street Rue Cler." this was to be her trip."
29. Elaboration of Unzipped - Tommy Hilfiger Jean Wearer Communication
16." Most of all, I wanted to go
15. "I reached the car (out of breath!).........slid back inside and talk to
the jeans up to my waist, zipped them up, and Valentine. I wanted to tell her
fastened the button. Rapture! I was never so glad
+ about the whole silly situation
2. Aching back
to be wearing pants in all my life. Happiness But life, as I well know, is not
- flooded over me. I wanted to sing a song. I the movies, and I was not about
wanted to hug someone. I wanted to apologize to to risk humiliation twice in one
1. Scott Tommy Hilfiger and take back the nasty things evening—my hips snugly
_ I'd said about his questionable parentage. “I was ensconced in denim."
+ emotional! No hard feelings?“
3. Wheeled garment bag for -
Christmas trip home
+
14."It was with horror that I realized my
+ 5. Attractive sales next predicament: getting to the counter.
women My pants were looser than ever, and the
4. Store
motion of walking would surely just
speed their escape. "
-
12."I did not have $700 to spend on
Italian luggage, so my choice was
6. Pants unzipped 13. “You know, I think I'm going pretty clear after about five
go ahead and get the Travelpro.” minutes.........choose the Travelpro .....
Her face lit up like a child's on because I had the Financial Acumen to
Christmas morning. recognize that it was a great buy."
7. "Not only that, but I happened to be wearing a
pair of loose-fitting jeans that day, purchased in a
foolish attempt to look with it. (Damn you and your
marketing, Tommy Hilfiger!) These pants were
almost loose enough to fall off when they were
fastened, and in their current state I feared that they
would slip to the ground at the slightest
encouragement." 11. "Valentine: Zis bag has
many expandable pockets.
Me: Ah. (Left-hand Hike.
Right-hand Cover.)
9. "Part of the problem was that Valentine: Zis makes eet
10." I adopted a two-pronged
8. "There’s nothing more dreadful than Valentine, which I later learned very useful for short trips or
strategy. The first phase, the
being embarrassed in front of a person you was her name, was an excellent long trips.
Hike.......The second phase of
find attractive, and this seemed like the saleswoman. I have never met Me: I see. (Right-hand
my plan, the Cover....."
inevitable outcome of my current anyone so knowledgeable about Hike.)"
situation. " luggage."
30. Automated Concept Analysis
hand
Prices trip
Emic Emic
Paige store
Emic bag pants
told walking
neighbourhood
lady simply few people car
film
coat
hand Paris trip Tommy Hilfiger
The Leximancer
The close
map interprets a
Versace Coat association of Paige
dominance of the
and Gaile (emic “I”) is
wheeled bag over
the concept relating most the main observable
the pants in Scott’s
closely to Pollee (emic) is finding from the
story. However,
price. The second hand Leximancer output
Scott as a self-
shop enabling Pollee to for this story.
concept “I” overlaps
buy a Versace coat at a
more with the pants
price about 15 percent of
than the bag
the new coat retail price is
a scene critical in
developing the plotline of
the story.
31. Near-conversational interactions with the primary brand
• Gayle’s, “I love Paris”
• Scott’s
– “Damn you and your marketing, Tommy Hilfiger!”
– “I wanted to apologize to Tommy Hilfiger and take back the
nasty things I’d said about his questionable parentage.”
• Pollee’s, “Versace did not let me down.”
32. Unconsciously driving myths and archetypal patterns
inform & affect the protagonist behavior
• Fairy godmother and Gayle
• The Siren and Pollee
• The Trickster and Scott
33. Consumer Brand Relationship
• The ironies of neither using-returning the bag nor the jeans serves to
illustrate Scott’s story as a satire of his life with brands and serves
as a self-exposé of a “secret affair” with Tommy Hilfiger, that is, a
privately held relationship considered risky if exposed to others.
• The Versace story expresses characteristics of the Versace coat
assisting in a courtship relationship and participating directly in a
secret affair. Courtships refer to an interim relationship state
possibly on the road to a committed partnership contract—the man
of the moment morphs into “my man” with no hindrances apparent to
a possible committed relationship. Versace is a co-conspirator with
Pollee in a secret affair when she wears the coat without knickers—
a highly emotive, private bonding that leads to a risky exposure to
police officers.
34. Advertising & marketing Implications from mining
consumer brand blogs
• Insights on brands from a corpus of self report consumer brand stories on
blogs.
• Understand first hand the conversations between consumers and brands to
uncover creative plotlines e.g.,
– Fairy Godmother to attract travellers to Paris or
– the Siren to rejuvenate tiring relationships by acquiring Versace
• Classify what types of brands attach themselves to what type of myths and
the resonant archetypal pattern.
• Provide inputs for a new product or service not yet positioned in the
marketplace
• Assist marketing executives to see what is happening at the fringes with
brands and thereby springboard new ideas for energising brands and
tipping point trends not hitherto seen. This includes lead users (Von
Hippel,1988)
35. Architecture for Automating Brand Studies
Google Agents /
Technorati Crawler
MetaInfo Data
P1 –P10 Web Services Connectors
Emoticons
Fournier
Archetype
ROSE Semantic Semantic
Core Functions
Ontology
Security
Connectors
Brand Study
Stories
(P1-10) K
Reports base
Brand space
Emoticon (ROSE)
sentiment
Fournier Archetypal
classification Patterns
36. Concluding Remarks
• This research shows how an analysis of unsolicited consumer stories found
on blogs can help to formulate highly effective marketing and advertising
strategies.
• Blogs can be vey useful in understanding first hand the conversations that
take place between brands and users as well as the consumer enactments
engendered by brands.
• A focus on consumer self-report stories avoids issues of
researcher/experimenter biases that normally arises from asking a
consumer brand intentionality questions.
• Consumer stories found on Blogs help provide direction for story genre and
consumer-brand relationships for products or services not yet available in
consumer markets or requiring repositioning.
• There is a scarcity of research on consumer self-storytelling relative to
consumer attitude research and with the growing availability of Weblogs
this presentation demonstrates the advertising implications that can flow
from analysing consumer self report brand stories found on the Web.
