Consumer Behavior of GRRRL Clothing Customers

Posted byArt OcainPosted inUncategorized

            GRRRL Clothing, founded by bodybuilder Kortney Olson (Baron, 2018), is a company that empowers women through its movement of body positivity, female appreciation, and freedom, regardless of size (About Us, n.d.).  From ditching traditional sizing measurements (Body Shape Fits: Sizing Based on Athlete Bodies, n.d.) to embracing larger athletes, they have created a company that is appealing for women that do not fit the stereotypical model physique that women strive to look like.  These women are fighting challenging stereotypes and personal struggles, sometimes connected with bullying, rape, eating disorders, depression, and addiction (Baron, 2018).  Their group of fanatical customers and sisters are in the GrrrlArmy, a customer group on social media, and their movement is going strong.  GRRRL’s buyers are psychologically and emotionally motivated by the activism and marketing message of GRRRL, and they purchase based on that message feeling right and appealing to their psychological needs.  Once they have purchased, GRRRL customers become a part of the sisterhood and GrrrlArmy.  The clothes that GRRRL sells are a symbol of being a part of the sisterhood and the movement.

Buyer Behavior for GRRRL Consumers

            GRRRL consumers are women who are motivated by personal factors such as personality and self-concept.  Age is irrelevant, as they target teenage girls in Kamp Konfidence all the way to 81-year-old weightlifters and other seniors in GrrrlArmy.  Self-concept, or negative self-concept, is what leads many women to find GRRRL.

            On a psychological level, the women that are customers of GRRRL have safety needs of needing to feel safe from violence and freedom to be themselves.  They have social needs of a sisterhood to belong to, as many of them feel that they do not fit in and have been bullied.  They are an inclusive brand, and they try to give a home to everyone (On the Air, n.d.).  They have esteem needs, as many have fought depression, addiction, self-image problems, body dysmorphia, and eating disorders.  Women that shop GRRRL have the need overcome the stereotypes and body image expectations that has a crushing effect on their self-esteem.  GRRRL’s mission is to provide “Providing women opportunities to be connected and provide a platform for each and every one of them to use their personal experience as a means to empower other women and liberate future generations” (About Us, n.d.).  Their entire brand is about empowering women and giving them a revolutionary esteem boost and a victor mentality.

            Attitude-wise, Kourtney and GRRRL are on fire with energy and positivity toward all women, victory for women, while being edgy in their messaging.  GRRRL uses in-your-face activism in its marketing, from its voice on social media to the text on its clothing.  Advocating for more “HERstory” and a stronger female influence, GRRRL pushes hard to overcome traditional beliefs of what a woman should look and act like.  One of their campaigns is even called the “Self Love Rebellion Campaign” (Kelly, 2018).  Rebellion is what GRRRL is about.

            GRRRL fits well, for these reasons, into a psychoanalytical model.  Pulling from Sigmund Freud, consumers have “deep-rooted motives, both conscious and unconscious” that lead them to buying a product.  Fears, desires, longings, and suppressed feelings all take part in this drive.  GRRRL customers purchase based on their desires for safety, for belonging, and for self-esteem, whether consciously or unconsciously (Needle, 2021).  To GRRRL customers, the GRRRL product, activism, and sisterhood gives them brand that feels right to them.

            Any consumer can go to grrrl.com and shop for products with minimal involvement, so the products do not take a lot of investigation and comparison of features.  GRRRL makes purchasing easy, although there are plenty of reviews for discerning buyers that want to do more investigation.  They are low-risk to the consumer, as they have a great return and exchange program, allowing any swaps and changes within the first thirty days of purchase (Returns & Exchange Policy, n.d.).

Organizational Buyer vs. Individual Buyer

            From a business-to-business perspective, they do have an affiliate marketing program they call their “Ambassador Program” (GRRRL Ambassador Program, n.d.).  This enables people to earn a referral commission by bringing customers to GRRRL.  They do not currently have any reseller program nor retail partners, so individuals currently have to buy products directly from GRRRL.  This is an opportunity for GRRRL in the future:  partner up with retailers that will become the distribution for GRRRL’s products.

            For organizational buyers, there is not a clear model for purchasing from GRRRL.  The organization would need to request a custom quote from GRRRL through their contact page.  For instance, if a women’s powerlifting team wanted to choose GRRRL clothes as their team uniform and wanted a price for fifteen sets of leggings and tops with a custom team screen-printed logo, they would need to request use their contact form at grrrl.com/contact-us/ for a custom quote.

            GRRRL is marketed heavily to individual women, not to teams and organizations, although that is a possible market and opportunity for them.

Conclusion

            GRRRL’s consumers have a psychological drive to purchase GRRRL products:  they are women in a world that expects stereotypical model looks and dainty behaviors and shames them for wanting to look or act strong.  These women are inspired and empowered by the GRRRL message as it ticks off their needs for safety, social belonging, and esteem.  GRRRL appeals to women that are tired of dealing with the norms and expectations of society and empowers them to be more.  The products of GRRRL, the clothing line, are a symbol of that activism.

References

About Us. (n.d.). GRRRL. https://www.grrrl.com/about-us/

Baron, K. (2018, August 2). Meet GRRRL, The Billion Dollar Brand In-Waiting That’s Adding Activism To Athleisure. https://www.forbes.com/sites/katiebaron/2018/08/02/meet-grrrl-the-billion-dollar-brand-in-waiting-thats-adding-activism-to-athleisure/?sh=3cb5b8ab5e4d

Body Shape Fits: Sizing Based on Athlete Bodies. (n.d.). GRRRL. https://www.grrrl.com/ditching-standard-sizing/

GRRRL Ambassador Program. (n.d.). GRRRL. https://www.grrrl.com/ambassadors/

Kelly. (2018, April 5). It’s Not Just About The Clothes On Our Backs.

Needle, F. (2021, November 19). Six Consumer Behavior Models (& Which One Applies to Your Business). https://blog.hubspot.com/service/consumer-behavior-model

On the Air. (n.d.). GRRRL. https://www.grrrl.com/media/

Returns & Exchange Policy. (n.d.). GRRRL. https://www.grrrl.com/returns/

Published by Art Ocain

I am a DevOps advocate, not because I am a developer (I’m not), but because of the cultural shift it represents and the agility it gains. I am also a fan of the theory of constraints and applying constraint management to all areas of business: sales, finance, planning, billing, and all areas of operations. My speaking: I have done a lot of public speaking in my various roles over the years, including presentations at SBDC (Small Business Development Center) and Central PA Chamber of Commerce events as well as events that I have organized at MePush. My writing: I write a lot. Blog articles on the MePush site, press-releases for upcoming events to media contracts, posts on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/artocain/), presentations on Slideshare (https://www.slideshare.net/ArtOcain), posts on the Microsoft Tech Community, articles on Medium (https://medium.com/@artocain/), and posts on Quora (https://www.quora.com/profile/Art-Ocain-1). I am always looking for new places to write, as well. My certifications: ISACA Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Web Application Security Professional (CWASP), Certified Data Privacy Practitioner (CDPP), Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), VMware Certified Professional (VCP-DCV), Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE), Veeam Certified Engineer (VMCE), Microsoft 365 Security Administrator, Microsoft 365 Enterprise Administrator, Azure Administrator, Azure Security Administrator, Azure Architect, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, ITIL v4 Foundations, Certified ScrumMaster, Certified Scrum Product Owner, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner See certification badges on Acclaim here: https://www.youracclaim.com/users/art-ocain/badges My experience: I have a lot of experience from developing a great company with great people and culture to spinning up an impressive DevOps practice and designing impressive solutions. I have been a project manager, a President, a COO, a CTO, and an incident response coordinator. From architecting cloud solutions down to the nitty-gritty of replacing hardware, I have done it all. When it comes to technical leadership, I am the go-to for many companies. I have grown businesses and built brands. I have been a coach and a mentor, developing the skills and careers of those in my company. I have formed and managed teams, and developed strong leaders and replaced myself within the company time and again as I evolved. See my experience on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artocain/

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