The FINANCIAL — If you feel sad or sick when your favourite television show is cancelled, your local cafe closed or your preferred snack discontinued by its manufacturer in these recessionary times, don’t be alarmed.
Chances are you – and thousands of New Zealanders just like you – are suffering from consumption bereavement, the process by which consumers react emotionally and behaviourally to the withdrawal of favourite brands.
According to new University of Auckland research, losing access to your favourite television show, clothing label or brand of lipstick can be perceived as a loss and trigger a range of emotions associated with grief and mourning.
Business School researchers warn that the ongoing financial recession could see more consumption bereavement in Kiwi homes as more businesses cut back the breadth of their offerings in a tough retail market.
And they are urging businesses thinking of withdrawing, cancelling or changing products on the New Zealand market to plan for a possible consumer backlash as consumption bereavement kicks in.
“Even we were surprised at the results of the research,” project head Professor Cristel Antonia Russell from the Business School’s Department of Marketing says.
“The analogy of personal loss, abandonment and even death abounds and, across multiple product categories, consumers displayed a range of emotions that evoke grief and behaviours you would normally associate with grief and bereavement.
“In these recessionary times, people are being affected by the loss of favourite brands as they are pruned or deleted by companies making discontinuation decisions to serve greater firm objectives. And that effect could get worse.”
The history consumers have with a given market offering impacts hugely on their response to its withdrawal, Professor Russell says, and research has focused on the types of products and services most likely to yield strong reactions when withdrawn.
“In our research, we have found that entertainment products are the most cited – such as television programmes that have been cancelled – followed closely by technology products and services that have been discontinued, and foods and drinks that have been deleted,” Professor Russell says.
“Health and beauty products that are no longer available, and retail stores that have closed, are also prevalent.”
In a six-year participant observation study of fans of the American Mafia drama series The Sopranos, Professor Russell analysed the manifest behaviours of viewers associated with its high-profile conclusion in 2007. Across several longitudinal studies spanning a ten-year period, she has also researched fans of different television series to see how they coped with programme cancellations.
“Understanding the evolution of consumers’ adjustment periods ‘post-loss’ will help businesses and brand owners to plan withdrawals better,” Professor Russell says.
“This kind of consumer behaviour is growing in society, as people find moving on from change more and more difficult.
“However, there is very little research on how withdrawals impact consumer-brand relationships, or the coping processes for marketplace withdrawals of favoured brands.”
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