Keeping up with the Joneses

The great thing about Redbox is that you can take a risk on a potentially terrible movie, but justify it because you only spent a dollar. The other night I took a risk on a movie called “The Joneses” starring David Duchovny and Demi Moore.  Essentially, here’s the plot: Kate and Steve Jones, with their two teenage children, move their picture-perfect family into an upper-middle class suburban neighborhood. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, they are actually a fake family hired by a marketing company to introduce new luxury-level products to neighborhoods using a program called “stealth marketing.” Working on commission, they charm the neighbors into buying the same gourmet foods, sportswear, and golf clubs as everyone makes the effort to “keep up with the Joneses.” The plot is forgettable, but the concept is thought-provoking.

“Stealth marketing.” We’ve essentially seen a similar phenomenon with bloggers as regulation has cracked down on disclosure. For a while, companies could pay popular bloggers to promote products and the readers would simply treat it like the honest opinion of a satisfied customer. Now, if a blogger is being paid, they have to say so. In the movie, this concept is moved from cyberspace to suburbia, as the neighbors are totally unaware of the Jones’ hidden agenda. From a marketing student’s perspective, the first hour is a fascinating insight into how consumers interact with each other as they make purchasing decisions.

How much does the behavior of our peers affect what we buy? Think about it. I could read 10 reviews of a movie, but if a friend tells me it's terrible, then no amount of thumbs up will get me to pay $7. (Maybe I’ll Redbox it later?) Similarly, when my roommate gets a new Patagonia fleece for the fall, my Mountain Hardwear jacket instantly starts looking worn-out. After some thought, it occurred that most of these situations revolve around two particular emotions: trust and envy.

The marketing world has always known about trust. We know that Word Of Mouth (WOM) is so powerful because it sends a message of product/service quality through a network built on real trust among consumers. Over time, people have built up a skepticism of traditional forms of advertising, but if you can get your customers marketing your product for you, it's a goldmine. In the movie, the marketing agency steps through this advertising barrier, directly promoting certain products with the trust that comes from an “everyday” consumer, and creating a WOM wildfire right in the neighborhood. It’s dishonest, and it works.

The other emotion, envy, is just as powerful, but much harder for a company to intentionally elicit. Remember the cool kid in elementary school? They would get something for their birthday, and within a few weeks, everyone had the same backpack/lunchbox/toy in a different color. As adults, we may throw fewer tantrums in ToysRUs, but our actions haven’t changed that much. We still look to our peers for the things we should be buying. John has an iPhone 4. Now I want one. I wish I could say that I’ve grown out of that, but its true.

So aside from paying actors to move into a neighborhood and promote a product, any thoughts on how a company can appeal to a consumer’s need for trust or tendency to envy?

Will McQuain is a senior BEM major at Wake Forest, concentrating in Marketing and Non-Profit Management.