Spring Break
Marketing products as 'family brands' more successful
Recent study by OSU professor finds stressing importance of family equals financial success
Morgan Plummer
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: News
What do Johnson & Johnson and Kellogs have in common? They're marketed as family brands.
Marketing is the main way to get consumers to buy a product. Researchers recently found that companies marketing their brands as "family" brands were more successful than those who pushed the product more than the name.
Clay Dibrell, Justin Craig and Peter S. Davis organized this study. They conducted a national survey to find what makes a marketing campaign successful. What they found was that there was a great correlation between marketing a business as a 'family' and financial success.
Dibrell is an associate professor of management in the College of Business at OSU. Davis is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Craig is an associate professor at Bond University.
The study states that when companies stress the importance of family, the consumer is able to relate on a higher level.
"When people think of a family business, they usually think quality, trustworthy and continuity," Dibrell said. "Having a company pushing products, not family quality, makes it seem like a faceless company."
He went on to say that people want and need attention to feel like they can trust not only the product, but also the company standing behind the product.
Dibrell stated that this study "supports the mission of the Austin Families Business Program, which is a program that teaches all about family businesses. This class is offered at Oregon State University and is very popular."
Eighty percent of the 15 million businesses in the United States are family businesses. This study has shown that while shopping for products, families are more trusting of a wholesome family feeling than a faceless corporate vibe.
Dibrell also said that since the state of Oregon has more family businesses than many states, this study was very relevant to Oregon.
Craig, Davis and Dibrell are in the process of a follow-up study in the hope of finding new information that will be helpful to the business community.
With the current state of the economy and competitiveness of the business world, this study shows competitors how to gain the upper hand.
OSU's involvement in this study is a beneficial for the university. It is a popular study and has been published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Small Business Management, a top scholarly journal for entrepreneurship.
The professors concluded that businesses will benefit from stressing family values during marketing, as well as making sure all employees have the same trustworthy, communicative attitudes.
Morgan Plummer, staff writer
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
Marketing is the main way to get consumers to buy a product. Researchers recently found that companies marketing their brands as "family" brands were more successful than those who pushed the product more than the name.
Clay Dibrell, Justin Craig and Peter S. Davis organized this study. They conducted a national survey to find what makes a marketing campaign successful. What they found was that there was a great correlation between marketing a business as a 'family' and financial success.
Dibrell is an associate professor of management in the College of Business at OSU. Davis is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Craig is an associate professor at Bond University.
The study states that when companies stress the importance of family, the consumer is able to relate on a higher level.
"When people think of a family business, they usually think quality, trustworthy and continuity," Dibrell said. "Having a company pushing products, not family quality, makes it seem like a faceless company."
He went on to say that people want and need attention to feel like they can trust not only the product, but also the company standing behind the product.
Dibrell stated that this study "supports the mission of the Austin Families Business Program, which is a program that teaches all about family businesses. This class is offered at Oregon State University and is very popular."
Eighty percent of the 15 million businesses in the United States are family businesses. This study has shown that while shopping for products, families are more trusting of a wholesome family feeling than a faceless corporate vibe.
Dibrell also said that since the state of Oregon has more family businesses than many states, this study was very relevant to Oregon.
Craig, Davis and Dibrell are in the process of a follow-up study in the hope of finding new information that will be helpful to the business community.
With the current state of the economy and competitiveness of the business world, this study shows competitors how to gain the upper hand.
OSU's involvement in this study is a beneficial for the university. It is a popular study and has been published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Small Business Management, a top scholarly journal for entrepreneurship.
The professors concluded that businesses will benefit from stressing family values during marketing, as well as making sure all employees have the same trustworthy, communicative attitudes.
Morgan Plummer, staff writer
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Be the first to comment on this story
Comments by registered users are approved by default.