The use of emotional advertising in the food retailing industry for targeting young adults

: at the example of EDEKA : a german full-range trader

Abstract

The German food retailing industry is characterized by its high degree of consolidation and saturation as well as fierce competition. Strong governmental regulations and customers paying close attention to product- and service-related features, while at the same time being highly price sensitive, lead to low prices and thin retail margins. In this market environment, EDEKA – the German market leader in food retailing – used several viral emotional advertisements to target young adults. This dissertation investigates the suitability of the chosen advertisements for this purpose by first providing a broad overview of relevant marketing topics such as emotions in advertising, major theories used to analyze these emotions, as well as differences in response to emotional advertisement in form of a literature review. Furthermore, a case study is presented including teaching notes with instructions for in-class discussion. Additionally, market research was conducted in form of a focus group and online survey. Young adults within the ages of 18 and 34 were examined with regard to their demands and their perception of EDEKA and its advertisement. Results suggest that emotional advertisement only has very little influence on young adults’ purchase intention. Young adults valued rationality over affect in advertisement with the perception of rationality having a higher influence on purchase intention. Furthermore, young adults demand high value for money, require the food retailer to meet ideological requirements such as offering “green” products, and demand a good shopping experience.

Date of Award	21 Jul 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Celeste (Supervisor)