Marketing HollarHype to Millennials

Abby Koss, Missie Maiewski, Madeleine Mulroney

December 15, 2018

List of Exhibits
Exhibit A: Questionnaire and Instruction Forms
Exhibit B: Survey Results
Exhibit C: Workout Rate
Exhibit D: Age
Exhibit E: Motivation
Exhibit F: Exercise Tendencies
Exhibit G: Student Athlete
Exhibit H: Sports Played
Exhibit I: Team Usage
Exhibit J: Participation
Exhibit K: App Use
Exhibit L: Cost of paying for App
Exhibit M: Data Set

Executive Summary
 HollarHype is a voice-based motivational app launching in February 2019. This app was

created with high-level runners in mind, specifically marathoners. However, the creators were

curious if and how college-aged students would use the app. Market Research was conducted via

Facebook and anonymous link (Instagram) to see if students would be willing to use the app and

if it would be useful for them. This was a convenience sample and there were 97 respondents in

the study. Some results gathered were that the sample was 92% women and worked out on

average only 1-2 times per week. With these results from our survey it was determined that

students aged 18-22 would not be willing to pay for in-app purchases and that HollarHype

should conduct similar research on an older demographic with more of an expendable income

and who are more likely to be running a marathon rather than seeing if this was something

student athletes or undergraduate students would be interested in utilizing.

I. Introduction and Problem Definition

 HollarHype (HH) is an app that acts as a platform for endurance athletes to send and

receive motivational voice memos. It is currently on track to launch in February, 2019. The co-

founders, Emily Zaccardi and James Quirk met each other while working for Gibson Sotheby’s

International Realty. James is a graphic designer who graduated from Boston University with a

degree in advertising in 2016. Emily is an avid runner and passionate marketer. She graduated

from the University of Rhode Island (URI) in 2013 with a degree in rhetoric. At URI, Emily was

on the track and cross country teams. Emily’s father was always her biggest fan. He never

missed a race until one day he was stuck in traffic in the parking garage next to the track. Once

he realized that he was going to miss the race, he climbed on top of his car to watch Emily with

binoculars. Six years later, the Zaccardi family was on their way to Thanksgiving dinner when

they joked about that day. Emily thought they couldn’t be the only family that struggled to make

it on race day (arrive to the finish line on time). The idea for HollarHype was born.

In an interview this year, Emily described HH as “a motivational communication

platform to help runners, coaches and supporters better connect in the times that matter most. In

an ever-optimized world where it seems automated coaching is the next ‘big thing,’ we find it

important to hold onto the personal side of training, and not to lose sight of the power within an

authentic connection. What is our HH end game? To improve the quality of team culture and

create a stronger impact on hard-training athletes” (E. Zaccardi, personal communication,

September 13, 2018). Emily considers herself a running expert after many years of experience.

She consulted many others in the running community before ultimately moving forward with her

idea. In the past year they’ve raised $2,000,000 worth of equity split between a personal loan for

equity and investment for equity.

 The researchers in this study chose HollarHype due to their own interests in being active.

Missie, one of the researchers, is a two-sport athlete at Simmons University, who hopes to use

HH to motivate her teammates while they train on their own. The team is interested in how this

platform can “work” for them in their favorite activities. While the whole team is interested in

involving HollarHype (HH) into their favorite activities, they have done no previous research on

the topic.

II. Approach to the Problem

Through various methods of market research, the researchers will attempt to to prove

their assumption that college aged students (18-22) have reasons to use HH for

exercising/training purposes. The market sample that the researchers will use within the Boston

area which is full of amateur college athletes as well as professional runners for the marathon.

The main research questions to be asked are as follows:

1. What will college students use HH for? (training, workout motivation etc.)

2. What new features could be added to HH to appeal to the college students aged

18-22 years old?

3. Could sports teams use HH as a medium to enhance their performances in real

time?

III. Research Design

In order to identify ways to market HH to the college students (18-22), the main types of

research used will be both secondary and primary. The secondary data will come from published

data and computer databases through the Simmons University Library. This data will be used to

help understand the relationship between motivation and exercise/training within the target age
group. The secondary data will also help to further identify consumer exercise trends that will

help the final recommendations to HH.

For the primary research, both qualitative and quantitative research was conducted. For

qualitative, direct non-disguised interviews was conducted and are essential data to support the

research questions of this study. This research will determine attitudes and opinions as well as

intentions and motivation during exercise in relation to the HH app. Through quantitative

surveys, nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio results will be gathered.

The topic of motivation is very popular in the current day with motivational speakers,

books and social media being sought after by the public. An article by Adam Harkness relevant

to our topic mentions that motivation “gives you a reason to do something more”. Another paper

outlined the reasons for motivation during exercise (Kravitz, n.d) and how reinforcement and

social support play a huge role in a person’s self perception. Additionally, an article from

Canadian Psychology suggested that the reasons for motivation during exercise is based on the

Self Determination Theory. People are “more likely to foster adaptive motivational resources

than forestall the satisfaction of basic psychological needs or encourage controlling forms of

behavioural regulation” (Wilson, 2008). This article discusses how people need to motivate each

other. This article has a lot of resources as well that will be used for a deeper look into the

research. An additional resource will be referenced, Drive by Daniel Pink. See Exhibit B-Exhibit

L for Primary Source Data Results

The survey was developed over three weeks. The first draft of questions was based on the

textbook and in-class lecture. This draft was presented to the class to receive constructive

criticism. The class gave very helpful feedback which helped with the second draft. This draft

was sent to Emily and James from HH to see if they had any other feedback. They had a few
minimal adjustments to the wording of questions. It was very helpful to get feedback from the

founders. This third draft was sent out to friends and family to pretest.

The convenient sampling technique was used when distributing the survey. Facebook

generated 74% of the responses. It was posted as a status and sent via Facebook messenger to our

network. Instagram generated 26% with a shortened bitly link that was posted in our bios and on

stories.

IV. Methodology

Research was conducted primarily through a survey sent out to the Simmons Community.

Surveys were sent to Simmons students and athletes of all sports through Facebook and a short

link on Instagram. The survey was sent out November 6, 2018 at midnight and closed November

25, 2018 at 8 pm. The goal of this was to see if people other than runners would be interested in

using this application to help attain their own fitness goals with the help from friends. The hope

of using this survey to conduct research will produce a vast amount of data to go forward with

how to best proceed with this application.

We analyzed our data using Qualtrics and SPSS to run data frequencies, crosstabs, and

chi-square to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis. From this survey we were looking for six

main categories:

● Age, Gender, and School status

● Activity level; times per week and type

● Student athlete

● When they feel motivated

● Do they see this app being helpful

● How much would they pay for it?

V. Results/Discussion

Of the 91 respondents, 72% were undergraduate students. This makes sense because the

target market was 18-22. 84% (52) of respondents said they would NOT be willing to pay for a

motivational message to send to family member or friend. When asked to check which scenarios

apply to your workout routine in a 2-week span of time 43 said “I workout solo at the gym”. 19

respondents said “I workout in the company of friends at the gym”. 72% (46) of respondents

were not a student athletes. Of the eighteen respondents who were student athletes, one played

rugby, one swam, three played soccer, five played lacrosse, three played field hockey, one

played ice hockey, one played tennis, one played basketball, and one played volleyball. When

asked about when the student athletes think their team would get the most out of the app twelve

undergraduate students responded “When I am training alone.” Six said “When I know my

teammates are training and I’m not there.” Seven undergraduate students said “When we are

training as a team.” This shows that there definitely could be a use for the app but it’s a matter of

getting it to this age bracket and making it affordable. Question 15 asks “(While using the app

previously mentioned). When prompted about how much would the respondent be willing to pay

to use the app two respondents said $1, one respondent said less than $10, one respondent said

.50 cents, and one respondent said “.75 cents tops”. This shows that people don’t know why

they’d be paying or don’t see the value in paying to attach these motivational messages to songs.

Exhibits B-L show all the responses to each question from the survey.

Our average respondent was a 21 year old undergraduate student who works out

1-2 times per week. She would most likely not pay for the HH App and she is not a

student athlete.

● 84% of undergrad students would not pay for motivational voice messages
 ● Of the respondents who said yes, they would not spend more than $1 on motivational
voice messages

● 47% of our respondents said that they would pay to send motivational message to family
or friends during a competitive run (defined as a marathon in the study)

● 33% said they would pay to send to family or friends while they are competitively
training

VI. Limitations

The data is always the data, therefore our data is a little biased. As market researchers and

students at women-centered college, this did affect the data with only 8% of the respondents

being male. This source of bias compromises the results because it doesn’t give us an average

sample of the target population that is hoped for. The sample was collected based on

convenience and availability of people to respond through social media in a short amount of time

which also leads to it being slightly skewed.

VII. Conclusions and Recommendations

After analyzing the data conducted in this research assignment, it was evident that HH

needs to spend their marketing dollars elsewhere. The college aged student is not the appropriate

market for the motivational voice messaging offerings. It was very clear that 84% of our

respondents would not purchase from HH’s offering. Based off of this response, this group of

market researchers conclude that it would be a better use of HollarHype’s marketing budget to

go after groups that definitely would buy, unlike this age group.

While this data doesn’t give HH the answer they were searching for, it gives us, as

market researchers an opportunity to continue to learn more. Since the results weren’t what was

expected, our recommendations include using the same survey on a different age group better

suited for HH. The first recommended group are Millennials. This group has characteristics of
actually being marathon runners. This group also has more income in comparison to the college

students previously researched. Millennials tend to be tech savvy and use many apps. According

to Comscore, “nearly half of millennials use 21 more more apps per month, while about 75% say

their smartphone would be useless” (Soper, 2017). This would be a better group to complete

market research on. Using this same survey, we also suggest that HH research the later Gen X

and earlier Baby Boomer generations. These work well with the Millennials because they are

parents or relatives. These age groups have discretionary income, and will have motivation to

cheer on their children/nieces and nephews participating in these running events.

Another important recommendation for HH is to find the best price. Since we are only

market researchers working on contract for the company, we do not know the price range for the

motivational voice messages. Through the results previously recorded, undergraduate college

students would not spend more than $1 per message, so the other generations may feel

differently. Due to the uniqueness of the product itself, more market research needs to be

conducted to determine the right price for this application.

VIII. Bibliography

Harkness, A. (2016, August 24). What is motivation, and how do motivational speakers help?
Retrieved September 23, 2018, from 2016
www.jla.co.uk/motivation-motivational-speakers-help/#.W6ppgf5KiYV.

Kravitz, L., Ph. D. (n.d.). Exercise Motivation: What Starts and Keeps People Exercising?
Retrieved September 24, 2018, from Exercise Motivation: What Starts and Keeps People
Exercising?

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York, NY:
Riverhead Books.

Soper, T. (2017, August 25). How millennials use their smartphones in 2017, and the surprising
reason they delete apps.
 Retrieved from https://www.geekwire.com/2017/millennials-use-smartphones-2017-
surprising-reason-delete-apps/

Tredgold, G. (2017, October 29). 5 Ways A Motivational Speaker Can Help You Engage Your
Teams. Retrieved September 25, 2018, from https://www.inc.com/gordon-tredgold/5-
reasons-to-hire-a-motivational-speaker-for-your-next-company-event.html

Wilson, P. M., Mack, D. E., & Grattan, K. P. (2008). Understanding Motivation for Exercise: A
Self-Determination Theory Perspective. Canadian Psychology, 49(3), 250-256. Retrieved
September 24, 2018, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230676833_Understanding_Motivation_for_Ex
ercise_A_Self-Determination_Theory_Perspective.

IX. Exhibits
Exhibit A: Questionnaire and Instruction Forms
We are conducting market research on an app that sends motivational voice messages to
participants while they are exercising with the goal of seeing how millennials would utilize this
product.
The study being conducted involves research for an undergraduate course with a marketing
research project. The researchers are looking for how to best market a motivational app to
millennials. The duration of the participants time is about 10 minutes. Participation for this
research is voluntary and the participant may discontinue involvement at any time. There are no
direct benefits or foreseeable risks. If the participant has questions or concerns about the
research, or experience any research related injury, you should contact one of the researchers
Missie Maiewski at maiewski@simmons.edu and the research advisor Susan Sampson at (617)
521-2366. If you have questions about your rights as a research subject you should contact
Valerie Beaudrault, Human Protections Administrator in the Office of Sponsored Programs at
617-521-2415.

Q1 Are you currently a student? (Please select from the following)

o Undergraduate (5)
o Graduate (6)
o No (8)
Q2 What is your age? (in years) (Please select from the following)

o Under 18 (10)
o 18 (11)
o 19 (12)
o 20 (13)
o 21 (14)
o 22 (15)
o Over 22 (16)
Q3 How many times do you workout per week? (on average) (Please select the best response
from the following)

o 0 (1)
o 1-2 (2)
o 3-4 (3)
o 5-7 (4)
o 8+ (5)
Q5 Throughout the week, at least once I have found myself feeling like ___________ in regards
to my planned workout session. (Check all that apply)

▢ I don't know where I'll find the energy (7)

▢ I don't know where I'll find the time (8)
▢ I wish I could grind through this with a friend (9)
▢ I want the benefit, but don't really feel like doing the work (11)
▢ I'm excited because I always feel better after (12)
▢ I'm excited because I'll get one step closer to my big picture goal (13)
▢ It's hard to justify the break to workout with so much school work (16)
Q4 Select which scenarios describe ANY part of your workout routine within a 2-week time
frame. (Check all that apply)

▢ I workout solo at the gym (1)

▢ I workout in the company of friends at the gym (2)
▢ I run solo (3)
▢ I run with a buddy or in a small group (4)
▢ I go to a workout class (5)
▢ I bike (for more than 10 minutes between class buildings) (6)
Q7 If your friends or family sent you encouraging messages while working out, how much more
motivated would you become? (Please slide the bar to the best answer) 0-100

Q10 I have participated in...(Check all of the following that apply to you)

▢ 5K (1)
▢ 10K (2)
▢ Half Marathon (3)
▢ Marathon (5)
▢ Walkathon (4)
▢ Bike race (6)
▢ Obstacle Course Race (Spartan, Tough Mudder, etc.) (8)
▢ I have never participated in any of the above (7)
Q8 Are you a student athlete? (Please select the best response from the following)

o Yes (4)
o No (5)
Q11 What sport(s) do you play? (Please include all sport(s) you play in the following box)
________________________________________________________________

Q16 When do you think your team would get the most use out of this app? (Please select all that
apply)

▢ When I know my teammates are training and I'm not there (1)
▢ When I am training alone (2)
▢ When we are training as a team (3)
▢ Other (4) ________________________________________________
▢ Never (5)
Q12
We are conducting market research on an app that sends motivational voice messages to
participants while they are exercising with the goal of seeing how millennials would utilize this
product.

If you had access to this app, would you be willing to pay to attach a song to a motivational
message to send to a friend or family member? (Please select from the following)

o Yes (1)
o No (4)
Q15 (While using the app previously mentioned)
Would there be a time you would pay to send a song to a friend or family member? (Please select
all that apply)

▢ When they are running in a competitive race (1)

▢ When they are training for a competitive race (2)
▢ When they are exercising as part of their routine (6)
▢ Other (7) ________________________________________________
Q18 (While using the app previously mentioned)

How much would you be willing to pay to attach a song to a motivational message?

(0-100 scale)

Q1 What gender do you most closely identify with? (Please select from the following)

o Male (1)
o Female (2)
o Transgender Male/ Transgender Man (3)
o Transgender Female/ Transgender Woman (4)
o Genderqueer/ Gender non-conforming (5)
o Different Identity (open) (6)
o Prefer not to state (7)
Exhibit B: Student Responses

Exhi
bit
C:
Wor
kout
Rate

Exhibit D: Age
Exhibit E: Motivation

Exhibit F:
Exercise
Tendencie
s
Exhibit G:Student Athlete

Exhibit H: Sports played

Exhibit I: Team usage

Exhi
bit J:
Parti
cipat
ion

Exhibit K: App Use

Exhibit L: Cost of paying for app

Exhibit M: Data Set Recoded (Shared with professor on google drive)