Title: Conceptually meeting expectations of Generation Y by building personalised-customised hybrid bundles to target action sports consumers

Authors: Denise Linda Parris

Addresses: Department of Marketing, Barney School of Business and Free Enterprise, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL 33801, USA

Abstract: This paper conceptually explores how bundling could lead to greater revenue and brand loyalty in the action sports industry by meeting the expectations of Generation Y. The author defines personalised-customised hybrid bundles and proposes using these bundles to target Generation Y action sports consumers. Generation Y grew up in an even more media-saturated and brand-conscious world then their parents. They use brands for self-expression to define what is 'cool' and seek counter cultures such as action sports. They expect a virtual dialogue with companies and comparison shop quickly. The author explores how bricks-and-clicks retailers can sell distinct products with different costs in a bundle through utilising multi-channel customer management (MCM) in combination with customer's self-selection. A conceptual model is developed explaining how action sports capture Generation Y, and a second model demonstrates how MCM combined with customer self-selection can be used to create personalised-customised hybrid bundles.

Keywords: branding; coolness; cool brands; action sports; Generation Y; lifestyle marketing; personalisation; customisation; bundling; self-selection; multi-channel customer management; personalised-customised hybrid bundles; differential pricing; sports consumers; revenue generation; brand loyalty; counter cultures; sport marketing; conceptual modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRM.2013.055685

International Journal of Revenue Management, 2013 Vol.7 No.2, pp.138 - 154

Published online: 03 Apr 2014 *

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