Authenticity Gap
Helen Strong
Authenticity Gap: Purpose
Successful marketers are fully aware of the need in today’s world for a brand to be aligned to consumer values and attitudes. The model is used when a company is either testing this alignment, or perhaps when it has had an indication from the market that product performance, service level delivery, or both have been problematic. The symptoms of the problem could be found in social media comments, from consumer monitoring research, or even a fall in sales.
Fleishman-Hillard Inc. and Lepere Analytics (2013) define authenticity gap as the gap between consumer expectations and the consumer experience of a brand. They believe that bridging this gap is critical to brand success and that it is possible to manage it. Their model is designed to help companies understand how it arises, and give them a tool to proactively reduce the gap for the benefit of both consumers and the company.
Authenticity Gap: Structure and Description
This model should be read in conjunction with the SERVQUAL model, which also identifies gaps between management perceptions, consumer expectations, and consumer experience of a brand.
Through international research with their partners Lepere Analytics, Fleishman-Hillard identified nine drivers that shape the perceptions of a company (Figure 4.1). These are categorized in Table 4.1.
“Together these nine authenticity drivers provide the code of conduct to understanding and managing authentic engagement (AE). They map to the agendas of today’s stakeholders and how they engage with a company” (Fleishman-Hillard and Lepere Analytics 2013).
Figure 4.1 Authenticity gap: Fleishman-Hillard
Table 4.1 Company perception drivers
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Authenticity Gap: Strategic Considerations
Consumer expectations are built on management behaviors and company communications. If the company does not do it right and live up to its promises, then consumers find it difficult to relate to the brand.
In this day of increasing awareness of corporate social responsibility and environmental awareness, consumers are beginning to rate companies on their ethical behavior and performance in the community. Companies need to be seen to be concerned with and act in the interests of local and global issues.
What distinguishes great companies is their concern to provide better value, good customer care and service, and to match their customer’s need for innovative products.
Authenticity Gap: Implementation
A number of industry norms are available from Fleishman-Hillard. They also provide tailored solutions on request.
To apply the authenticity gap model one needs to understand and collect information about Authentic Engagement (AE). This is a process of interaction with consumers who can see the relevance of the product to their lives, where there are open channels of communication, giving consumers the opportunity to be involved in the product and experiencing its benefits.
• Degree of alignment between the organization’s vision and mission and its behavior. For the company to be seen as authentic, consumers must be aware of its values and how they are translated in the products and services of that company. If there is purity of purpose, consumers will see the connection between the products and their lives, and aspire to be part of it.
• In relation to the gap model, the company’s behavior needs to be consistent and transparent, earning the trust of its target markets. The researcher needs to set up a system where products and consumer promotions are evaluated against objective criteria. For example, if the new cost-cutting formulation of a product does not deliver the nutritional benefits claimed in its advertising, there must be a way of preventing it from reaching the market.
• The target market’s profile. This is to ensure that an inclusive approach is followed, with cultural differences being recognized within the marketing mix. Within this investigation, researchers will look for the signals that the target market uses to evaluate the quality and benefits of the organization’s products.
• Alignment (the first point above) includes the communication channels used by the organization to reach its audience. Assessment needs to take place of the content and media used. Ideally, the company is aiming for relevant conversations between it and its target markets.
• In particular, the researcher will seek ways in which the target market can participate in product or service design and delivery. Working together for a shared purpose strengthens the bonds between the organization and its followers. The purpose can be serious (as in educating a community, say) or fun (as in playing a game to win an iPod).
Listening will be a crucial part of this process, where the company will show that it is open to new ideas, and actively and publicly evaluates the options. In line with the model, the researcher will investigate how best the organization can be a good citizen, caring for both staff, the concerns of its target market, and do no harm to the environment.
This assessment must be tempered with a touch of pragmatism. As Wartzman (2009) cautions: “Companies, meanwhile, must also guard against being pushed or pulled into projects that don’t make sound financial sense.”
In particular, to start working in the right direction, researchers will ask:
Consumers
- What criteria are used to rate or judge your product?
- What is the consumer’s definition of better value?
- Where do your ratings stand now?
- What does the consumer expect in terms of customer service?
- To what extent can your systems meet the service and care expectations?
- What plans does your company have to find relevant innovations that will provide new and exciting products for your target market?
Management Behaviors
- How do your policies, standard operating procedures, and public reactions stand up to ethical scrutiny?
- Do your stakeholders (including investors, suppliers, and consumers) rate company communications and actions as believable and trustworthy?
- Can your employees, suppliers, and customers count on the company’s stability and consistency of performance?
Society Outcomes
- Care of environment: Does the company genuinely adjust its operations and policies to look after its environment and promote sustainability of resources?
- Does the company evaluate how its operations have affected the local community, and look for ways that it can contribute to infrastructural and social upliftment?
- What employee benefits are provided by the company? Are they generous, or simply comply with regulations and the legal requirements?
- Does the company try to develop its employees to the full extent of its capacity?
Authenticity Gap: Conclusions
This model can provide a strategic tool to measure how well change has been implemented. For example, if there has been a leadership change, a crisis situation (e.g., oil spill disaster), or a brand repositioning, the market’s reaction can be gauged to establish acceptance or otherwise of the company’s actions or perceived changes.
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