Archetypes of flash mobs and patterns of audience response

• Main Authors: Chia, Wee Chien, Nur, Aniszah Bte Sapari, Ang, Winnie Yi Xuan
• Other Authors: Lim Kui Suen, Lewis
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51550
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The flash mob phenomenon began not too long ago and since then, brand owners are increasingly using flash mob as a marketing tool in Singapore. This corresponds to a surge in demand for and supply of flash mob. Although brand owners, such as HTC Mobile, are adopting these mobs to promote their products and/or services, they lack an understanding of the different types of flash mobs and its respective consumers’ responses. Flash mobs require a fair amount of coordination and choreography amongst other characteristics. However, little or no research is done to examine these elements and specifically discuss the impacts of flash mobs. To address these research gaps, we classify flash mobs into three distinct archetypes using cluster analysis which is based upon 14 variables. Our study identifies three archetypes- namely (1) The Functionally-Inclined, (2) The Aesthetically-Inclined and (3) The Jack-of-all-Trades. Our research study provides both; creators and brand owners, with a yardstick to benchmark their flash mobs against the three archetypes along six marketing objectives namely, (1) visibility of message (2) persuasiveness, (3) perception of brand, (4) changes in buying intention, (5) viral-ability and (6) consistency of brand personality. On top of that, our study is highly localized in the context of Singapore and is applicable to all industries and organizations.