The only way to build a strong, lasting relationship with consumers is to communicate. With the rise of social media outlets online, many brands believe they are communicating with their customers by tweeting about their latest product or feature. Maybe they post links to rave reviews from independent sites, or maybe they even have a blog, but it is stuffed with plugs about why their technology or features are superior. The problem is that these brands forget that communication is two-way, and happens at every level of the brand experience, not just online.

Next time you walk into your local big box retailer, look for how different brands communicate to you. Try focusing on brands that you don’t know very well. These are typically the brands who need to communicate the most at the store level. Perhaps they are new or underdeveloped brands, so they might be competing with mega brands with deep pockets. These brands are strangers to most consumers, so how do these brands attract attention, convey information and establish value? The following will outline a strategy for attaining these goals and communicating with the consumer, not at them.

The strategy will center around the principles of introduction and communication. Composing the core of these principles are two widely accepted (and sometimes competing) theories: the Uncertainty Reduction Theory and the Predicted Outcome Value Theory

Uncertainty Reduction Theory
The Uncertainty Reduction Theory was developed by Charles Berger and Richard Calabrese to predict and explain relational development between strangers. Seven different axioms were developed to support the theory, but the first three have a direct impact on brand communication.

Axiom 1 states: “Strangers enter an interaction with high levels of uncertainty about the other. However, as they begin to talk to one another, the level of uncertainty decreases. In turn, as the uncertainty decreases, the interactants will talk more.” This is probably an obvious observation for most people, but it has a slightly different application for brands. As the consumer becomes more familiar and more comfortable with the brand, the more they will communicate with you (provide feedback) and communicate about you (brand loyalty).

Axiom 2 states: “As nonverbal expressive communication increases, uncertainty levels decrease, and vice versa.” The question for brands is, without any spoken or written communication, what does the brand express to the consumer? Colors, icons and images are expressive elements that need to be developed in parallel with other communicative measures to eliminate uncertainty about the brand.

Axiom 3 states: “High levels of uncertainty prompt strangers to ask more questions of the other. As uncertainty decreases, so does the posing of questions.” The most important element in the introduction of the brand is to answer questions from the consumer. However, most brands don’t have the opportunity to interact dynamically with the consumer, and therefore can’t directly answer consumer inquiries. This is why it is equally important at the store level to identify the questions. If a consumer can easily identify their question, it is more likely that their uncertainty will be reduced.

Predicted Outcome Value Theory
The Predicted Outcome Value Theory focuses more on predicting the value of a future relationship based on an initial meeting or introduction. The key proposition of the theory is that, “Communication proceeds in a manner predicted to result in the most positive outcome. In a broad sense, these outcome value predictions would lead to communicative attempts to terminate or curtail the conversation, to continue the entry-level conversation, or to escalate the conversation and relationship beyond this level.”

The brand’s communication with the customer will always proceed in a way that results in the most positive outcome. The consumer is in control of this procedure, so what this means for brands is that value must be established systematically throughout the relationship with the consumer. Consumers will focus on topics in conversation that have the most positive predicted outcome. This is another reason why it is vitally important to identify the right questions in a static environment.

The communication between a brand and consumer is multi-level and occurs in phases. It is multi-level because information and value relationships must be layered throughout the introduction to establish familiarity. The phases refer to axiom one of the Uncertainty Reduction Theory. Consumers that have a positive introductory phase communication will continue to communicate with and about the brand in the future. This provides brands with direct support for future product or service development, while also increasing awareness through the best volunteer PR group in the world: consumer advocacy.

Further Research:
Predicted Outcome Value Theory
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/1stimpre.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predicted_outcome_value_theory
Uncertainty Reduction Theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_reduction_theory
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
http://spr.sagepub.com/

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 2:46 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.