Running Head: DYNAMICS OF BRAND SUSTAINABILITY 1

The Dynamics of Brand Sustainability and its Effects on Company Participation

Elliot Perpich

Grand Valley State University

CAP 220: Fundamentals of Public Relations

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Introduction

Six years ago in 2013 Grand Valley State University founded the GVSU Surplus Store.

The store is intended to resell items that are not up to par with the rest of the university’s

inventory. By reselling these damaged or outdated goods they reduce waste for our planet and

also save lots of money for the university. Unfortunately, the store cannot succeed unless it has

customers to purchase its stock. The biggest problem according to the store’s manager is that

people simply don’t know about the location, and would use it if they were aware of it. It’s for

this reason that our plan over the next semester is to create a larger consumer base for the store

and inform them of possible items to purchase. By increasing frequency and variety of consumer

participation and responses to postings on social media we will be able to include that overall

brand awareness has been raised. The following campaign book will detail ways to raise

awareness of the GVSU Surplus Store through the use of social media, noticeable events, and

building a brand identity.

Strengths

The store has a good cause. Its goal is not only to save the university money but also to

reduce pollution, and that should be more clear. There is no corruption in this company’s mission

statement and as a nonprofit organization customers should really know that. Another benefit is

how low the prices are. Since the store is only selling donated items, it doesn’t have as many

costs to cover as a company that manufactures the same goods. This allows them to sell things

for a greatly reduced price in comparison to the retail value. Lastly, although it’s not very

obvious right now, the GVSU Surplus Store is in a wonderful and accessible location for

students. It’s in a high traffic area halfway between the school’s two campuses.
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Weaknesses

As with any industry however, the resale business has some caveats. The store cannot

choose its inventory, and can only sell the things it’s donated. Sometimes this is tough because

even though they might know what students want, they don’t have that item in stock. Another

problem they’re facing is space. They are in a pretty small building right now and don’t have

much room to keep things, so if it doesn’t get bought up after so long they have to get rid of it to

make room for new things. The biggest problem right now though is of course the lack of

awareness about their story and their mission. There are people who may think the surplus store

closed because it moved locations. There may be people who don’t know students are allowed to

buy from it. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of people who don’t know it exists right now in

the spot that it’s in. The advertising in the past didn’t reach a lot of the current undergraduate

students and the area the store is located in isn’t that well-marked. They do have a website for

online shopping but as of now it’s a bit bland and confusing.

Goals

Overall the objective is to highlight the strengths and rework the weaknesses. By

focusing more on putting the brand out there and how it appears before the public, many of the

problems the store is having will be resolved. By creating an effective advertising campaign and

assisting with things like social media awareness and website design suggestions, it’s very

possible that we can drastically increase the amount of people who are informed about and

interact with the GVSU Surplus Store.

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Methodology

After the client spoke in our class I had a general idea on how I wanted to approach the

campaign book. I looked into the things she mentioned on the GVSU library database online. By

using keywords such as “sustainability” paired with “advertising” I found valuable information

on how consumers make decisions on their purchases. I also looked at their webpage for a little

while before looking for a scholarly article that discussed the importance of having a good

website. I looked on the client’s social media pages to see what kind of people interacted with

them and whom it looked like they were targeting.

Secondary Research

The GVSU Surplus Store is having a difficult time effectively marketing their brand to

the general student body. This in part is due to the lack of proper advertising strategies and

relying on the wrong mediums to target students. The Surplus Store has a presence on social

media and does a lot of its advertisements through Instagram and Facebook. However, the only

people that see those ads are the ones who follow them. With roughly 500 Instagram followers

and about 1,300 Facebook likes, at the absolute max they can only be reaching about 1,800

people. By aiming for some specific demographics that are more likely to purchase their

products, they could get more followers and more awareness of their overall brand identity.

I think the surplus store could focus on two major groups of students to help in their

efforts to be noticed. First, they should advertise to first-year and transfer students who don’t yet

have their school supplies. Although there’s a limited amount of things the students can

purchase, Whatever they get a hold of would be significantly cheaper. These students could not

only benefit from the cheaper products in a very expensive transition period, but they would also
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become aware of the store right at the beginning of their college experience. This would help to

associate the store with the school and cause them to keep an eye on it over the next few years.

The other group of students should be the off-campus bunch. This is a demographic often

missed by companies that only advertise on campus. The students off campus have a lot more

freedom to add furniture, workout equipment, or cool things in general to their living spaces.

With the amount of things the surplus store sells, every student could find something they like

there. Especially if somebody were to check the website weekly or even monthly.

These two groups also have a major effect on everyone else around them. College

students tend to talk and even though word of mouth might not be the most common form of

promotion, it’s the most effective. According Neelamegham and Jain, “WOM (word of mouth)

plays a central role for experience goods such as movies, whose qualities cannot be assessed

before consumption” (1999). Though this quote is referring to movies and films, it’s still

absolutely relevant to the Surplus Store because in today’s market nobody trusts a product until a

friend says it’s worthwhile or a large brand releases it. Not necessarily positive customer

reviews, but when somebody asks where they should get school supplies you want the first

answer they hear to be “the GVSU Surplus Store”.

When people hear about a useful product from someone else it creates “buzz” for that

product. Buzz just means that there are people that care about it or are interested in it, meaning

it’s on the forefront of their minds. Positive buzz can be very helpful for a company, and in the

case of the Surplus Store, there aren’t very many negative things unless the products don’t work.

The products have been tested though, and as long as they do what they’re said to do, there

should be positive buzz about the mission, the goal of the store, and the overall quality of the
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recycled items. “Product usefulness… will create positive WOM that will increase market size”

(Verlegh 2008). Not to mention how prime our generation is to increase market size.

According to a study done on millenials and environmental sustainability, “​In recent

years, social media technologies have gained increased attention for their potential to amplify

environmental concerns and encourage sustainable behaviors among people” (Sogari 2017).

During this study the hypothesis was to test whether a product and its company being

environmentally friendly increased its rate of sales or not. They found that the promise of a green

product made differences only with certain demographics, such as millenials. The researchers

also discovered that there was a “significant difference” between environmental concerns of

young and old consumers (p. 13). Now is the time for the Surplus Store to assert itself as an

environmentally-friendly alternative for Grand Valley students to purchase all of their things

because our generation is more concerned about the planet now than ever before.

Before the Surplus Store can capitalize off of its strengths, it must first address its

weaknesses. Aside from people not knowing about it, it also has many limitations within its

policies and overall presentation. For example, the store does not do deliveries or shipments. The

only way to get something you purchase online is by going to the actual store to purchase it.

According to a story by CNBC, the holiday of Cyber Monday is expected to have brought in

over 7.5 billion dollars from online shopping revenue (Thomas 2018). In urban areas, those in a

hurry or rush are turning to online shopping and don’t have the privilege of going to the store as

much as people did a decade or two ago. Everybody’s busy and everyone’s in a rush. When

customers, especially students who are working and taking classes concurrently, only have from

9 am to 4 pm Wednesday-Friday to pick something up, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to get
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them to buy it in the first place. Not to mention they only have one week to come on those days

otherwise they can’t pick up their item.

Aside from the store hours, the website in general doesn’t seem to be very well designed.

By changing the shape and picture resolutions of each object they create an interesting mosaic as

you’re looking through purchasable items, but as far as practicality goes this seems

counterproductive. In an article by Markopoulos, he states “...product information websites may

be socially valuable when they fulfill roles that complement and add value to, rather than those

that substitute for, information provided by product sellers” (2016 p. 644). The goal of the

website is simply to provide information to the customer about what is going on in the store and

what can be purchased for how much. If it tries to be too flashy or do too much it will take away

from the actual location itself, which isn’t what the Surplus Store needs. By no means should the

Surplus Store relinquish its website, but they should make some changes to it. By making the

product catalog more organized and easier to navigate people will be able to better understand

the shop’s inventory. This will allow them to make more informed decisions on the things they

want instead of getting lucky at what they see on the front page. If all the products went down

the page in a line so you could see multiple relevant objects in a row at once, such as Amazon or

other online shopping sites, the website would appear more as what it is, a shopping site, as

opposed to a collage of random incongruent photos.

Another issue the Surplus Store encounters is their location. They’ve recently moved

from Grand Rapids to an area along Lake Michigan Drive more between the two Grand Valley

campuses. The problem is that many people thought they were closing their store when they shut

down in Grand Rapids. As the old idiom goes, “seeing is believing” (Unknown 1639), and for
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those who haven’t yet seen the store at the new location or new advertisements, they may not

even truly believe it’s there. The first step is informing the public and alerting them to the

presence of the Surplus Store and its new location. The second step involves getting the students

to participate in the selling or buying of items, most likely by associating the brand with

environmental sustainability, and cheap, unique goods.

Along with these associations the store also benefits from being associated with Grand

Valley. Grand Valley students and professors, as those of any school, develop a sense of loyalty

to their alma mater over the years. When put up against a competitor in the same industry,

students will be more likely to purchase or donate from/to a Grand Valley company. This is

because Grand Valley State University has brand loyalty. According to Jenni Romaniuk and

Magda Nenycz-Thiel, brand loyalty is how often and intense a consumer uses a brands goods or

services (p. 67). “Those with high behavioral loyalty will already have a higher propensity to

give brand associations than other segments” (p. 71). Students and Staff who have devoted their

lives or in some cases entire bank accounts to the school will see the GV logo and often place

more value with it than the competitors that anybody can associate with. Brand loyalty also

allows the Surplus Store to use Grand Valley as a helping hand when it comes to marketing.

People are loyal to the school, not the store, but if the school says that it endorses the school and

mentions it every so often consumers will trust the store simply because they trust the school.

This is a great symbiotic relationship for both the school and the Surplus Store because the

school doesn’t have to pay to dispose of its waste. It can instead donate to the company and

actually make money off the things it throws out.

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My last point is unfortunately a double-edged sword and it has to do with employment.

When the client came into our classroom the woman disclosed they had but three employees at

the store, two of which being part-time student workers. It would be extremely beneficial for the

Surplus Store to bring in another employee, perhaps a student of communications who could

help with social media and general advertising/marketing. This would cost them a little bit of

money but it would allow them to develop a better identity and rapport with the general public.

They would also have a better general team with more ideas floating around. This would help

develop the workspace and company to move forward.

Discussion

With all the research that exists on advertising the most important part seems to be

establishing a positive relationship with the customer. The way the Surplus Store can do this is

by associating themselves with GVSU and environmental sustainability. By using social media

to communicate with the target audience of incoming freshmen and students moving off campus

into their apartments because they’re the most likely to make use of the cheap prices and unique

objects. This will help them be on the forefront of their consumers’ minds and therefore raise

awareness and improve brand identity.

Going forward certain questions need to be asked. What do potential customers associate

with the brand? Do students know about the store? Would customers ever consider donating their

own things to the store? If not, why? What kinds of things would buyers be most likely to

purchase from this type of store? What companies to customers think are in competition with the

client? What type of ad would be most motivating to begin a relationship with the store? Are
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they more likely to interact if the client is associated with the Grand Valley logo? All this and

more, coming up in the primary research portion.

Primary Research Methodology

To accurately gather more information on the topic, both a survey and focus group were

conducted. Each research method was implemented for a different reason to hopefully discover

different findings. The focus group was meant to get insightful opinions on consumer views of

both the client and the effect of sustainability on consumer choices. The survey was meant to be

more quantitative and gain some support for the opinions heard within the focus group.

By conducting the focus group first, researchers were able to test the waters and see how

Grand Valley students felt about the topic and what their experience was with the client. A

moderator’s guide was used to outline the focus group and ask questions (see appendix C). Once

the level of familiarity between client and customer was understood, researches could create a

more concise survey to send out to a larger group of participants. Even though much was

discovered from the secondary research portion of the paper, there was much more information

to be discovered in specific regards to the client and Grand Valley students in particular.

The survey (Appendix A) was nine questions long and answered by a total of 35 students.

The survey was created through ​SurveyMonkey.com​ and sent out to students by email. The

students selected were from outside our major in hopes to get results that were not skewed by

being involved with this campaign. The survey gathered data on how often people interacted

with thrift stores, and also what things affected their decisions when purchasing from a thrift

store. The goal was to be able to confirm some of the things we discussed in our focus group and

also help us to understand the motives of thrift store shoppers.

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The main objective of the focus group was to gather data about the way students interact

with thrift stores and the client. By having six different participants from differing backgrounds

and social groups, researchers could gain a more complex view on how the varying audience

received the client in differing ways. The objective of conducting the focus group in this way

was to better understand the strategies that could be used to advertise the client more effectively

to its target audience of Grand Valley students.

Focus Group

The focus group and helped lead researchers to four main findings:

a) Students primarily use thrift stores for clothing

b) Students don’t feel like the true target audience

c) The client’s association with the university has a large effect on its success

d) Both sustainability and charity matter when consumers make decisions

A majority of the students (⅚) had been to thrift stores and all agreed that the main item

students look to purchase is clothing. Participants were skeptical of trusting things like furniture

and electronics that had already been used to the point of donation. When asked what the client

could sell to make their inventory more appealing, the students overwhelming suggested

clothing. Beyond that a common trend in conversation seemed to be very cheap school supplies.

Students agreed that they would purchase school supplies from the client if they were cheaper

and still suitable for use. However, students also mentioned that they like to get all their supplies

in one run. This means that if the client could not promise the full array of supplies, students

would not take the time to visit multiple places.

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Due to the lack of items the client sells, the students also agreed that it doesn’t seem

targeted at them. The participants had some trouble answering the question, “who does it appear

the GVSU Surplus Store is targeting?” One of the students described walking into the store as

“... Unwelcoming, weird, sterile.” If the client hopes to target college students it should be

evident upon walking through the doors. The inventory students see should be appealing and

seem useful to them. One of the students suggested the client have music playing in the

background to create a more comfortable atmosphere, “even elevator music would help.” The

other way to connect more with students is through effective use of social media. Instead of just

advertising the client should try to develop more interactive posts. The students enjoy things they

can get involved in and that helps to build a relationship between brand and consumer.

The students also brought up the brand and consumer relationship that exists with Grand

Valley State University. While the students agreed that being affiliated with the school can help

with advertising and endorsement, overall the consensus was that it harms the business. One of

the participants mentioned that as student, he already pays the university thousands of dollars

every semester. In his eyes, this is just the university trying to get more money and boost their

reputation. He said regardless of how the people working in the surplus store want to help the

environment, ultimately the university is just trying to make money. On top of this, the client’s

link to the university harms their ability to sell clothing. As I mentioned earlier the main reason

students thrift is for clothing. GVSU gets donations and money from the client’s competitors

(goodwill, etc.). If the client were to start selling clothes they would become competition and

might anger these sponsors. The focus group participants said to avoid this it would be awesome
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if the client sold only vintage GVSU merchandise. One student said the university wouldn’t

approve because that may compete with sales from the LakerStore.

The last major finding had to do with sustainability and charity. Students agreed the

efforts of a business to either give back to the environment or give to the less fortunate does

affect their purchasing decisions. This agrees with what was found in the secondary research

portion of the paper as well ​(Sogari 2017).​ After back and forth between participants, they

unanimously agreed that both are important and the degree of positive impact matters more than

the type. The client can benefit from this because their mission statement has a lot to do with

sustainability and recycling. The issue is that all of the client’s competition can boast the same

thing. The nature of thrift stores is sustainability. The problem is that other thrift stores can also

market their charitable side, while the thrift store cannot. The thrift store pays back to the

university. Even though the university is a public non-profit school the students view it as a

money-hungry entity.

Survey

The survey results (Appendix B) brought researches to three main conclusions:

a) A store’s appearance can affect one’s purchase decisions.

b) Students go shopping for specific products more than general stuff.

c) Sustainability and charitability are both very important to students.

How a store looks can have a large effect on whether or not customers feel comfortable

buying things or not. When asked, “How important is a store’s appearance in making your

purchase decision?” Over 60% of students answered “above average” or “far above average.”

The remainder of participants were indifferent. The majority cares how the store looks inside and
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out. This means the GVSU Surplus Store might need a little bit of a rework to make it look more

inviting and exciting for potential customers.

The survey also let us know that students usually go shopping with a goal in mind. When

asked how they typically find products, close to 70% of participants said they browse the specific

store or search what they need on sites such as ​Amazon o​ r ​Ebay​. Only about 9% said they like to

use ​Facebook marketplace​ to just look around for cool, useful items. This is tough because the

surplus store can’t necessarily guarantee specific inventory. We will have to find a way for the

client to take advantage of people who search for items online and get on their shopping radar.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, sustainability and charitability appear to be

extremely important. When asked how important a company’s mission is for purchase decisions,

over 80% of students answered “a lot” or “a great deal.” When asked “How important would you

say the act of sustainability is?” Roughly 75% answered “very important” or “extremely

important.” Not only does this align with what we discovered in the focus group, it also aligns

with portions of the secondary research that had to do with the younger generation and

sustainability. The client can definitely benefit off this considering it is both a charitable and

sustainable business.

Analysis

By joining the information from both the survey and the focus group two main points can

be concluded. First, students do not currently feel targeted by the client because of its look and

its inventory. Second, consumers value companies that care about their community, the world,

and/or the less fortunate. Based on these conclusions, the GVSU Surplus Store should do some

work on their interior to make it more appealing to students and consumers at a college age. The
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client should also focus on boasting their mission statement because people will stand behind it

and perhaps develop a relationship because of it.

Action Plan

Now that the research has been established, it’s time to formulate a plan. By organizing

objectives, strategies, and tactics, we can move toward the ultimate campaign goal.

Objective 1​: Increase awareness of the GVSU Surplus Store by 30% among GVSU students

through advertising by October 2019.

Strategy 1​: To get this objective, we will use the strategy of peer awareness. We will

focus on students who are arriving to the university in the fall and who travel between the

Allendale and Pew campuses. The most important form of communication was labeled as word

of mouth by the students in the focus group and in the secondary research (Neelamegham 1999.

When asked about what works with similar businesses in competition with the client, participants

said it just has to do with established brands and what their friends talk about. They won’t

usually go to a store off an advertisement alone.

Tactic 1: By getting influencers and orientation leaders to say things about the client

while new freshmen are arriving to the university, we can shape their thinking and establish a

bond between consumer and company. This won’t take any money, just a little bit of

communications with housing, residential advisors, and transition leaders.

Strategy 2​: We will also use traditional media, such as signage and flyers. By getting ads

throughout campus and also on the street where the store actually is, students will have a

constant reminder that the store exists. The media just needs to resonate with the target audience
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so they pay more attention to it. If more people are thinking about the client more will talk about

it therefore spreading awareness.

Tactic 2 (Appendix F): This will be done through the use of clever flyers that not only

mention the client’s sustainability, but also give an incentive to come down to the store. Those

flyers will be placed mainly in Kirkhof but also other high traffic areas. A sign will also be

created an put on the street nearby the inlet that leads to the surplus store. The sign will be

eye-catching and have GVSU colors to lure students in. The sign can be made for free, while the

flyers could be purchased in bulk.

Strategy 3: The third strategy will simply be through presentations to students. Students

who attend orientation and transitions at GVSU receive lots of knowledge their first week. By

mentioning the client within that time frame, we can engrain a sense of what the store is and how

it should be used by the student body.

Tactic 3: This can be done by preparing a small slideshow or presentation to be given

during that welcome week. By sending the presentation to those in charge of events for incoming

freshmen or just offering to deliver the news the client can benefit greatly and earn a whole

market of new students for free.

Objective 2​: Increase foot traffic to the GVSU Surplus Store by 50% by October 2019.

Strategy 1: To reach this objective, the campaign will attempt to call potential customers

to action. Just because a student or other nearby consumer knows about the store and interacts

with it on social media, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will actually come to the location. By

putting certain phrases onto our traditional and digital media, we can attract customers to

actually visit the store.

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Tactic 1 (Appendix E): Use social media to post pictures of cool things that come into the

store with captions like “get it while you can!” This will not only remind people of the client’s

existence, but it will also motivate them to come to the store and look for other objects.

Whenever a unique or desirable thing is donated it should be posted about right away with a

call-to-action caption.

Strategy 2: An event will be hosted at the location to bring students in. By hosting an

event in a location a group of potential consumers can all be brought to the desired area and

become familiar with it. Even if nobody buys something during the event, they now know where

to go if they need something of the sort and will hopefully return at some point.

Tactic 2: The client can run a school supply drive. If enough graduating seniors or

students who are dropping out stop by to donate their old binders and other school supplies, the

store will have a decent amount of new visitors. By bringing in these people during a transitional

period, the client will be more likely to sell them things if they are moving to a new location. The

students will also hopefully tell friends to buy their old school supplies, creating a new flow of

students through the store.

Strategy 3: In store discounts will be marketed to entice the customer to enter on foot. By

creating and advertising an opportunity that can only be enjoyed by entering the store, consumers

will be more tempted to visit and take advantage of the scenario. The discount also functions as

an incentive to purchase things in general.

Tactic 3: By including little slips on flyers or handing out small cards that are only

redeemable in store, the client can motivate people to go the surplus store. Giving out coupons in
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high-traffic areas that say, “use this card to get 10% off any purchase (in store only),” will get

people running to the client like there’s a wildfire.

Objective 3​: Increase engagement with Facebook posts by 25% by October 2019. This can be

measured by looking at the average amount of likes, comments, and shares a Facebook post gets

now and then looking at the average again in October.

Strategy 1: The first strategy used will have to do with effective digital advertising.

Students and freshly graduated adults rely on their technology for both information and

entertainment. With social media on just about everybody’s personal devices, it’s quickly

become the place to advertise. By creating advertisements that are funny and effective on the

target market digitally, they can be shared and responded to much faster.

Tactic 1: Pictures and videos will be posted on the Facebook at least twice a week so the

public doesn’t forget the client is always active. As I mentioned earlier, photos of cool new

donations or videos of possible uses for inventory will be posted to peak the interest of possible

buyers. One of the client’s employees may have to put in a few more hours of their own time but

it’s pretty simple to snap a few nice pictures and make a few silly videos.

Strategy 2: The strategy of media relations will also be used. The GVSU Surplus Store

should not only focus on GVSU students. Although they may be the target market, the entire

surrounding area can help the client through donations and their business. An employee of the

store or a media relations employee for Grand Valley would be responsible for sending out a

press release that could notify local news stations of what the client is trying to do.

Tactic 2 (Appendix D): A press release will be sent to local news stations. Grand Rapids

has a ton of channels that would love to do a story on a business like the client, especially
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because of its ties with the university. By notifying the nearby public of the client’s overall

sustainability they can improve their public image.

Strategy 3: The last strategy used will have to do with interactive feedback through

digital platforms. The consumer knows what the consumer wants, so who better to ask for help?

People love being involved as opposed to watching things and with the ease of social media

anybody can start a conversation. This would also have to be handled by an existing employee or

perhaps even a new social media manager.

Tactic 3: By posting polls on Facebook the client could get accurate information on what

the people want to see. Also, the client better understands what problems it has the ability to fix.

The client could also post questions such as “what would make you want to come to our store?”

or have an art competition where followers sent in designs for possible signs. This is a free

strategy that never fails to get people interested.

Budget

Due to the budget we were given by the client my strategies and tactics were kept simple.

The only parts that cost money are traditional media such as flyers, signage, coupon, and event

ads. Out of the $800 budget $200 would be for printing flyers with pull off coupons on the

bottom. $200 would be dedicated to printing off two large weatherproof signs that would

hopefully catch some eyes. Then $100 would go toward advertising for the supply drive event.

This would leave an extra $300 for extra activities.

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Timeline

Septembe Novembe Decembe

April May June July August r October r r
Objective 1:
Awareness
Strat 1
Tactic 1-Word
of Mouth
Strat 2
Tactic 2-Flyers
Strat 3
Tactic
3-Presentation

Objective 2:
Attraction
Strat 1
Tactic
1-Posting
Inventory
Strat 2
Tactic 2-Supply
Drive
Strat 3
Tactic
3-Reward
System

Objective 3:
Engagement
Strat 1
Tactic
1-Facebook
Updates
Strat 2
Tactic 2-Press
Release
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Strat 3
Tactic
3-Facebook
Polls

Key
Planning
Execution
Evaluation

Evaluation:

Objective 1: Increase awareness of the GVSU Surplus Store by 30% among GVSU

students through advertising by October 2019.

-This can be measured through primary research. First, we will send an initial survey out to

GVSU Students at the beginning of the cycle then again at the end. By comparing the results of

both surveys we can measure how many people became aware of the store over the months of

the campaign.

Objective 2: Increase foot traffic to the GVSU Surplus Store by 50% by October 2019.

-This can be measured by documenting the customers who enter the location over the three

months and checking if the rate increases.

Objective 3: Increase engagement with Facebook posts by 25% by October 2019.

-This can be measured by looking at the average amount of likes, comments, and shares a

Facebook post gets now and then looking at the average again in October.
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References

Bruce, N. I., Foutz, N. Z., & Kolsarici, C. (2012). Dynamic Effectiveness of Advertising and

Word of Mouth in Sequential Distribution of New Products. ​Journal of Marketing

Research,​ ​49(​ 4), 469-486. doi:10.1509/jmr.07.0441

Markopoulos, P. M., Aron, R., & Ungar, L. (2014). Product Information Websites: Are They

Good for Consumers? ​SSRN Electronic Journal.​ doi:10.2139/ssrn.2470624

Neelamegham, Ramya & Jain, Dipak. (1999). Consumer Choice Process for Experience Goods:

An Econometric Model and Analysis. Journal of Marketing Research. 36. 373.

10.2307/3152083.

Romaniuk, J., & Nenycz-Thiel, M. (2013). Behavioral brand loyalty and consumer brand

associations. ​Journal of Business Research,​ ​66​(1), 67-72.

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.07.024

Seeing is believing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/seeingisbelieving

Sogari, G., Pucci, T., Aquilani, B., & Zanni, L. (2017). Millennial Generation and Environmental

Sustainability: The Role of Social Media in the Consumer Purchasing Behavior for Wine.

Sustainability,​ ​9​(10), 1911. doi:10.3390/su9101911

Thomas, L. (2018, November 28). Black Friday shopping pulled in a record $6.22 billion in

online sales: Adobe. Retrieved from

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/24/black-friday-pulled-in-a-record-6point22-billion-in-on

line-sales-adobe.html

Verlegh, P. W. J., & Moldovan, S. (2008). What drives word of mouth: A multi-disciplinary

perspective.​ Advances in Consumer Research, 35,​ 49-51.

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Appendix A

Empty Survey

1. What is your current year of your college education?

2. Have you ever heard of the GVSU Surplus Store?

3. How often would you say you go to thrift stores per month?

4. Generally speaking, do you prefer to buy ​most​ items new or used?

5. How important is a company's mission to you when it comes to a purchase decision? (I.E:

Tom's Shoes One-For-One Campaign, GoodWill's mission to create jobs)

6. When attempting to find products, what is your normal, go-to, method?

7. When buying items for your dorm/apartment during your college experience, what items

do you find are most essential to purchase? List some in the box below.

8. How important is a store's appearance?

9. One final question: How important would you say the act of sustainability is?
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Appendix B

Survey Results
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Appendix C

Moderator Guide

● Find out how Grand Valley students view GVSU Surplus Store

● Find out what factors Grand Valley students consider when buying things

● Find out what students main use for thrift stores is and why

Purpose

Hello everybody welcome to my focus group, I’m Elliot and I’ll be your moderator today. My

goal is to better understand purchase behaviors and attitudes of Grand Valley students. It should

only take about an hour and hopefully the information you provide can help me develop a good

public relations campaign for my client.

Disclosure

● I will be listening and taking notes

● I won’t use any of your names

Procedures

● No correct answer

● We’re looking for opinions

● We won’t judge - so be honest

● Talk as you feel but try not to interrupt

● We want to hear all opinions

● There will be no official breaks

Participant Introductions

● Name and year at Grand Valley

DYNAMICS OF BRAND SUSTAINABILITY 30

● How often you shop at thrift stores

Thrift Stores

What is the main reason you go to a thrift store? Why?

What causes you to choose one thrift store over another? How do you hear about thrift stores?

What items would you NOT buy from a thrift store?

The Surplus Store

Have you ever heard about the GVSU Surplus Store?

If no, what do you think it sells from the name?

If yes, have you ever been to the GVSU Surplus Store?

If so, what were your first impressions?

Depending on what’s brought up bring up:

● Competition

● Brand mission

● Inventory

● Hours

● Social media

● Website

Sustainability

Does a company’s mission matter to the customers?

Why?

What resonates more with consumers, sustainability or charity?

Why?
DYNAMICS OF BRAND SUSTAINABILITY 31

Appendix D

News Release

The GVSU Surplus Store Returns

ALLENDALE, Mich. ​(Apr. 16, 2019) – The Grand Valley Surplus Store has reopened in a new

location. This area will better allow students to access the store.

The new address for the store is ​429 Standale Plaza NW, Walker, MI 49534. This address

is across from the Meijer that many Grand Valley State University students depend on for food,

water, and recreational equipment.

The Surplus Store resells donated inventory after checking to make sure the items are

functional. The prices are marked down significantly, similar to a thrift store. The prices are

cheaper to make it more affordable for college students.

The money that is spent on recycled items goes back to GVSU. This also keeps the items

from going to a junkyard or landfill to help the environment. The Surplus Store stresses

sustainability.

The store was closed for a year after they shut down their location in Grand Rapids. This

may have lowered the store’s awareness, but now they have a new space and are ready to show it

off.

For more information call the store at (616) 331-9072 or email them at

Surplus@gvsu.edu

###
DYNAMICS OF BRAND SUSTAINABILITY 32

Appendix E

Example Social Media Post

A post would be released on Facebook or Instagram with a photo of the object, what it is, what

it’s worth, and some fun info or uses for it.

For example:

Object: Green Vase

Price: $4.00

Fun fact/Use:

The green vase is beautiful can hold

anything as long as it’s the proper size. From

a bundle of flowers from Mom to a vast

array of bendy straws from Aunt Vicky, the

vase has no limits on what it can do. How

will you make the $4 price tag worth it?

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Appendix F

Flyer