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Respective Marketing Appeals of Various Types of Exoticism–Consumer Groups Report

By Gérald Mazzalovo, Research Fellow at Sasin School of Management Jerome Hervio, CEO & Founder of Stamina Asia co. Wednesday May 8, 2024, 12:00 pm -1:00 pm Venue: Room 201, Sasin School of Management. Please register here to reserve your seat. Abstract: Exoticism is commonly used in advertising, as a major source of desire to stimulate consumption. By using the fascination generated by far-away countries, unusual cultures, mysterious animals, utopian worlds, communicators, and creators hope to attract consumers’ attention and to illicit positive associations. We launched a survey project to understand better why and how exoticism can be used successfully by brands. We present here the preliminary results of a broader market research on how Thai consumers are reacting to various types of exoticism. The consumers are requested to declare their preference for the following:

• 5 modalities of exoticism: spatial (real and figurative distance), temporal (past and future), mobility (travel), cognitive (mystery, magic), seduction (romance, erotism, sex)
• 4 types of representation of exoticism: staged, induced, latent and absent.

Methodologically, the survey follows 3 stages:

• 4 interviews of executives involved in consumption and communication
• 2 focus groups of Thai consumers
• A quantitative part: 400 online questionnaires

We present here the results of the first 2 phases which helped in structuring the 3^rd quantitative phase. This 3^rd phase is being completed online and the results are due on May 15, 2024. We have focused on 2 product categories: Fragrances and watches. Advertising Images have been created by image AI generators to avoid the pitfall of known brand influence on consumer preferences. The analysis of the results of the survey will be the subject of Chapter 8 of GM’s book “EXOTICISM, Brands & Society: Ethics and Aesthetics of the Diverse” to be published in 2024 by Emerald Publishing Limited.   For more information please contact Khun Nanthapak Pinyo at 091 479 4551, 02 218 4036 or researchseminar@sasin.edu.