Recently, a major storm that passed through Vietnam has left devastating consequences for the affected regions. This is also when major brands in the country contribute part of their profits as a way to support flood victims as well as an opportunity for companies to leverage CSR campaigns.
Katinat – a famous bubble tea brand in Vietnam, released a message to the community as shown above.
To our fellow people in the North, we send our heartfelt sympathy.
From KATINAT with Love ❤️
During this difficult time due to flooding in the Northern regions, KATINAT wishes to contribute by deducting 1,000 VND from each beverage sold at our system from September 12 to September 30, to support our fellow people in overcoming the aftermath of natural disasters.
We hope that after the rain, sunshine will return, wishing everyone peace and safety!
However, it received a large wave of criticism from the online community.
Meanwhile, other brands selling similar beverage products like Okkio – a drink brand that donated 5000 VND per drink – didn’t receive any criticism and instead got thousands of likes for similar posts on Instagram.
Why did this issue occur with the Katinat beverage brand?
The essence lies in crowd psychology and psychological effects in communication. Most importantly, it’s due to how the brand conveyed its message to communicate with consumers.
- Framing Effect: When reading Okkio’s message, setting the amount at 5000 VND creates a feeling that it’s much more than 1000 VND. Additionally, Okkio also donated 1000 liters of clean water. This gives consumers the feeling that they’re contributing much more than what Katinat is donating. Since we hear about 1000 liters of water without knowing exactly how much it converts to in monetary value, people don’t feel uncomfortable and find it reasonable to spend 30,000-80,000 VND on a drink.
- Anchoring Effect, following the right formula but with wrong dosage: Katinat not only failed to donate 5000 VND but only gave 1000 VND, and their post came after copying other brands. Being late to the game led consumers to make comparisons. Moreover, comparing the amounts, 1000 VND in Vietnam’s current economy can’t buy anything, while 5000 VND can still buy an egg. Therefore, consumers anchored 5000 VND per drink as a basic and acceptable level, and the 4000 VND difference led to a major communication crisis for the brand.
Due to not fully understanding the psychological framing and current context of consumer psychology, as well as what competitors and other brands had done, and merely copying in a formulaic way, Katinat implemented a communication program that created significant public outrage.