The impact of guerrilla marketing on consumer behaviour

Abstract

Consumers have become increasingly adept at ignoring and filtering out marketing messages. One way for companies to distinguish themselves and get their message across to their target market is by becoming more creative. Guerrilla marketing is a relatively new marketing strategy that requires outside the box thinking, to surprise and impress the audience. Presently, very little literature exists on the application and effectiveness of guerrilla marketing. The purpose of this research is to explore how the use of emotional appeal and creativity in guerrilla marketing affects consumer behaviour in terms of their attitude towards the ad itself, attitude towards the brand and purchase intention. The data, for this study, was gathered through a self-administered web-based questionnaire amongst the student population at the University of Malta. The results obtained were analysed using quantitative techniques and were also compared with existing empirical findings on the subject. The results indicated that, overall, respondents displayed a positive attitude towards the ad, brand and purchase intention. Emotional appeal had the strongest and most positive influence on all three of the dependent variables examined. Creativity also had a significant effect on attitude towards the brand and purchase intention. However, no such correlation was found between creativity and attitude towards the brand. This research may contribute towards filling the gap in the academic knowledge on the attitudes towards guerrilla marketing, in the local scenario. It may also assist marketers to enhance their advertising strategies.