Do Customers “Love” Brands?

Every year on February 14 we celebrate love in the US. But can a brand solicit love from consumers? If so, how? This is what we’ll be addressing in this article.

According to Wikipedia, Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure.

An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse, which differs from the love for food. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of a strong attraction and emotional attachment.

But brands haven’t always loved their customers.

When I started my career in consumer insights back in the early 2000s, brands talked about “Share of Wallet”.

As the term suggests, marketers viewed each potential consumer as a wallet containing a finite amount of cash. The job of sales and marketing was to extract as much of that cash as possible.

For example, let’s say you have a budget of $100 a month to spend on entertainment. Video game companies, cineplexes, and bars would seek to capture as much of that $100 as possible. Additionally, they’d be thrilled to extract even a higher amount than the budgeted $100.

Here is an interview done by Whole Foods Magazine – now owned by Amazon – with Daniel Lohman, a CPG Strategic Advisor for Category Management Solutions.

 

This framework is one-sided. Eventually, it erodes the brand’s relationships with its customers because it is about taking as opposed to giving. When brands prioritize their profits over their customers they make bad decisions.

We all remember when United Airlines dragged Doctor David Dao from an overbooked flight in 2017 to make room for a United employee.

 

Today, brands understand that partnering with their customers confers both short- and long-term benefits. McDonald’s does this remarkably well. Prior to Covid, McDonald’s launched a shift in its consumer landscape. And, I quote:

“We are using our competitive advantages to further strengthen our brand. Our growth pillars build on our strong foundations to ensure we can meet the moment today and have long-term success.

Consumers continue to prioritize brand trust, great taste and value as top reasons why they choose McDonald’s. As customers’ expectations are constantly shifting, we can build equity in our brand and trust by clearly articulating what we stand to do in the world: feed and foster communities.”

Boom!

What buyers are looking for today is an impeccable user experience – one that really makes them feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. This is why top brands appeal to their customers’ emotions; they realize most purchases aren’t rational.

Your brand exists in the minds of your audience as all the experiences, impressions, and interactions they’ve had with you, both positive and negative.

My question for today’s research is, “Can a brand solicit love from consumers?”

So, we did a little research with the HubUX community on “What does it mean to love?”

Responses evenly referenced people and things. In other words, we can have love for pets, art, activities, and even our fellow humans.

Using a video audition question we asked participants. “Do you love any brands? If so, please name one and why do you love it?”

This question was polarizing. About half of the participants don’t associate love with any brand.

 

The rest of us are a little more liberal with the term “love”. There are the top reasons why we love brands:

1. Nostalgia. It is a brand that connects to your childhood or a meaningful positive experience. For me, I love Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back was the first movie I ever saw in theaters. And, the picture of Darth Vader boarding Princess Leia’s ship is marked as one of my most memorable moments.
2. Values. It is a brand that has an impact on the world that aligns with what you care about. Basically, they function as your big brother. They do the lifting you can’t. They provide clean water, feed the poor, educate underprivileged children. They protect you. And, they are always there for you.
3. Form. These are brands that make us feel good about ourselves. They have sizes that fit us. They are inclusive and support diversity.

For me, I love my family. I love what I do. But I don’t love things.

I love community. That includes MRxPros which is a group UX, CX, and market researchers that meets every week for 30 minutes to do 3 things: learn one new thing, make one new friend, and have fun.

What do you love? Happy researching! 😊

A version of the preceding article was originally published on the Happy Market Research Podcast.