Question

Could you please give me several real-life examples of marketing communications that try to persuade consumers by utilizing both aspirational and dissociative reference group appeals? It needs to be real-life example!

Answer 1

Solution:

The best example of an advertisement where both aspirational and dissociative reference groups are used together in a single advertisement is of Mentos, a brand owned by Perfetti Van Melle.

Their advertisements became extremely famous because of their peculiar way of demonstrating two different ways of lives in a single advertisement. The first part of the advertisement shows the situation which is completely undesirable for any normal consumer. We can associated this part of the advertisement with dissociative reference groups because the situation is undesirable for the consumers. HEnce, the use of dissociative reference groups.

Now,the next part involves the protagonist of the advertisement to eat the Mentos candy and after that the protagonist becomes a figure that is popular and represents the aspirations of many to be like the protagonist. We can associate this next part of the advertisement as aspirational reference groups because the consumer would want to be like the protagonist of the advertisement after he has had the Mentos Candy.

HEnce, advertisement shows that the normal life is average, boring or non desirable (Dissociative reference groups) and once the consumer cnsumes our candy her life becomes happening, cool and desirable (aspirationa consumer groups).

Hence this is a perfect exaple of an advertisement featuingboth aspirational and dissociative reference groups.

You may watch the advertisement on YouTube.