Superstitious beliefs and marketing appeals

Abstract

In recent years, superstitions and their characteristics have become a tool for brands to attract consumers to buy their products. This research aims to analyze how brands use astrological content in their digital media. Adopting a qualitative method, we conducted a content analysis on four Brazilian brands’ websites and Instagram pages (Risquè, Farm, Imaginarium, Skol Beats). Five categories guided the analysis, within which subcategories were found, presented in the results section: (1) Type of language: “humorous” or “mystical”; (2) Approach to astrology: “prognostic” or/and “personality”; (3) Knowledge of astrology: requires or does not require consumer’s knowledge of astrology; (4) Integration brand-product-content: astrological content “associated” or “not” with the products; (5) Partnerships: “presence” or “not” of partnerships with other brands concerning the astrology theme. In general, the type of content produced by these brands regarding astrology is interactional, and uninformative. Therefore, this research answers the question: Are superstitious beliefs important for marketing appeals? Yes, they are, especially in the current market context. This research contributes to the literature on superstition, by exploring astrology in the context of the market, and to the marketing literature, by studying how brands use astrology in their media. For managerial implications, it is important for brands to work on astrology with content of the interactional type, that does not need to be very informative, as consumers interested in this topic seem to already have prior knowledge about it. Additionally, we highlight a range of ways in which brands can work with astrology as a theme.