Brands, love and family

The purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which love cues are used by brands targeted at multiple decision-makers in a family, specifically the mother and child.

First, secondary database (SmartyPants, 2013) is used to identify clusters of brands with similar benefit groups (i.e. health and nutrition food, indulgence food, entertainment and technology for entertainment and learning) that are most loved by mothers and/or children. Next, a content analysis of the ads for brands in these clusters is used to identify the common positioning cues across these clusters. The data from the content analysis are used to explore the extent to which love cues (along with functional and hedonic) are used by these brands loved by mothers and children.

The results of this study indicate that functional cues dominate the ads for the brands in functional product categories, as well as hedonic product categories. Love cues dominate the ads for functional brands preferred by only either moms or kids, whereas for hedonic brands, love cues dominate the ads targeted at both moms and kids.

The authors hope that this study provides an impetus for more empirical work toward understanding the role of love in positioning brands aimed at multiple family members.

Love, the underlying thread that connects a family, can be used by brand managers to appeal to multiple family members.

Families are fundamental to the society. The authors hope that this study helps marketers appreciate that and do a better job of marketing to the families, as families also form the fundamental units of purchase and consumption.

This study uses value congruency framework to look at the notion of love as a positioning theme for brands targeted at multiple decision-makers. Hence, the study contributes to the development of family decision-making behavior.