Marketing to young adults in the context of a postmodern society

In today’s society media is ubiquitous. Through its pervasiveness it plays an inextricable role in society, impacting on culture, economy, politics, education and communication. In a postmodern society technological advances have had a profound impact on the development of media, most notably digital media. The intention of this study was to establish whether, in the context of an assumed postmodern culture, young South African adults display behaviour that manifest the tenets of postmodernism in their reactions to contemporary marketing and/or marketing communication, as apparent through their attitudes towards retail shopping and brands, together with their attitudes towards and use of digital media. In this instance digital media is limited to social media and media accessible on mobile phones. The unique properties and interactive capabilities of digital media have altered the dynamics of communication and have given rise to new applications that were not previously possible. This poses challenges for organisations in terms of marketing communication practices with one of the problem areas being that marketers do not know: Whether young South African adults (Generation Y) exhibit postmodern behaviour, in the context of today’s postmodern culture. How young South African adults (Generation Y) use digital media? How to leverage the unique properties of digital media in marketing communication efforts directed towards young South African adults (Generation Y)? The main purpose of this research was to reflect on the applicability of modern marketing and/or marketing communication theories, in their current state, in the context of a postmodern society, with specific emphasis on the use of digital media. The secondary purpose of the research was to investigate the affect of postmodern variables on Generation Y and the perspective of this population towards digital media and its role in marketing communication. The study aimed to contribute to the theoretical body of knowledge as follows: To question the application of modern marketing and/or marketing communication theories in postmodern society. In so doing, it suggested that in any given era marketing theories should be representative of the target society, therefore inferring the need to adjust existing theories and their application or formulate new ones that are representative of the specific era. To empirically determine whether Generation Y are exhibiting characteristics indicative of postmodern society. Furthermore, the study added value from a practitioner perspective by contributing to new knowledge in the study of Generation Y and digital media. It is anticipated that an improved understanding of Generation Y’s attitudes towards marketing and digital media will serve to improve knowledge of how Generation Y will react in the future as they mature and potentially provide an indication of forthcoming generations’ attitudes towards marketing. Nine research objectives emanating from the research problem were empirically tested through a cross-sectional quantitative exploratory descriptive survey research design. Items in the survey were developed on the basis of observable postmodern characteristics presented in the literature and in consultation with a panel of experts. The survey was distributed by email, which provided a web-based link to access the survey, to the sampling frame; a database comprising of 2,265 students, between the ages of 18-34, enrolled full-time with the department of Marketing and Communication Management (University of Pretoria) during 2011. Convenience sampling was used until a sufficient quantity of fully completed surveys had been collected; 333 usable questionnaires were obtained. The collected data received statistical treatment primarily through the application of exploratory factor analysis and multivariate analysis of co-variance. The theoretical synthesis showed that characteristics of postmodernism are evident in society and affect marketing and/or marketing communication activities. The results of the empirical phase of the investigation demonstrated that respondents show postmodernism traits in their behaviour towards digital media and their reactions towards brands and marketing and/or marketing communication. The most dominant postmodern characteristics displayed by respondents were hyperreality, de-differentiation and fragmentation. Several factors were found to be statistically significant, which may be related to socio-economic conditions, behavioural patterns, and digital infrastructure. These were: ethnicity, cell phone usage, frequency of social media usage, cell phone plan, average monthly Internet expenditure for cell phones, use of Internet bundles on cell phones, and the device used most often to access the Internet. Social media use was identified as an important behavioural outcome by respondents, and the most significant influencing factors related to the dependence that respondents placed on their cell phones and the need to fulfil certain activities only available in the social media space. Finally a conceptual framework was proposed, which integrated theoretical and empirical findings. This framework suggested a broadening of certain roles within marketing and/or marketing communication, namely: consumers transforming to collaborators; communication transforming to interaction; and value exchange transforming to value-in-use. It is anticipated that this study has added to the theoretical level of knowledge by indicating the need to readdress principles and theories of marketing and/or marketing communication in the context of a postmodern society and in particular the use of digital media. An outcome of the study was the proposition of a conceptual framework, which addressed a number of aspects in the transformation from modern to postmodern marketing. Furthermore, at the practitioner level the study has broadened understanding of Generation Y’s behaviour towards digital media in the marketing and/or marketing communication context. Managerial recommendations were expressed on the basis of the theoretical and empirical findings.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011.Marketing ManagementPhDUnrestricte

Marketing to young adults in the context of a post-modern society

Presentation delivered at the Symposium 'Out of the e-Box' held 19 and 20 September 2012, at the Carnegie Centre for Library Leadership and Training, Merensky II Library, University of Pretoria

Conventionalists, connectors, technoisseurs and mobilarti : differential profiles of mobile marketing segments based on phone features and postmodern characteristics of consumers

The high penetration of mobile phones amongst the South African population presents mobile phones as an attractive interactive marketing communication medium. This paper argues that the access and actual use of different phone device features can be productively used as a segmentation approach, which may enable marketers to be more effective in planning interactive marketing communication plans. This study, based on 330 students, developed segments derived from mobile phone usage patterns using cluster analysis. The outcome revealed four clusters that were named: Connectors, Conventionalists, Technoisseurs and Mobilarti. Connectors made daily use of a full range of communication functions. Conventionalists were inclined to limit their use of mobile phone features to talking and texting. Technoisseurs were found to use a whole range of sophisticated mobile phone facilities. Mobilarti were identified as a group of expert users; using the full range of functions available to them on their phones, despite recording the lowest percentage of smartphone ownership when compared to the other groups. These groups were further profiled by analysing attitudinal and behavioural variables pertaining to two newly developed postmodern dimensions, which were introduced in the study as mobile importance as an attitudinal aspect, and social transformation as a behavioural outcome. For marketers, an understanding of the proposed segments, as well as the differences in attitudes towards mobile importance and social transformation behaviours, coupled with typical financial and social realities of these segments, allow targeting strategies that are more clearly actionable.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconserhj201

Fuzzy segmentation of postmodern tourists.

In postmodern tourism, the experiences of each tourist could not be summarized only through a unique perspective but multiple and disjointed perspectives are necessary. The aim of this paper is to create a nexus between postmodern tourist and fuzzy clustering, and to propose a suitable clustering procedure to segment postmodern tourists. From a methodological perspective, the main contribution of this paper is related to the use of the fuzzy theory from the beginning to the end of the clustering process. Furthermore, the suggested procedure is capable of analysing the uncertainty and vagueness that characterise the experiences and perceptions of postmodern consumers. From a managerial perspective, fuzzy clustering methods offer to practitioners a more realistic multidimensional description of the market not forcing consumers to belong to one cluster. Moreover, the results are easy and comprehensible to read since they are similar to those obtained with more traditional clustering techniques

Fuzzy Clustering in Travel and Tourism Analytics

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