Americans are joiners — nine out of 10 belong to at least one group or association, such as the American Automobile Association and the AARP, and these groups provide a potent mechanism for developing, marketing and distributing a host of products and services. For associations, new product offerings provide additional revenue and help attract and retain members. For companies, associations help leverage marketing efforts, allow access to exclusive association channels, and encourage tailored product developments.In a recent working paper, “Marketing To and Through Associations: A Descriptive Analysis and Research Domains,” authors Abhijit Roy, assistant professor of marketing at the Sellinger School of Business and Management, Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, and Paul D. Berger, professor of marketing at Boston University's School of Management, claim that there is a dearth of research in the field, and they introduce conceptual frameworks to help create strategies and marketing approaches to the increasingly important association audience.The authors cite the success of branded affinity credit cards as evidence of the power of marketing to associations. For example, Visa USA discovered it could get a response rate of 3% to 8% pitching association-based cards, far higher than the 1% to 2% for standard credit card offers.
