I struggled to think up a topic for my final paper, but after several hours brainstorming I have finally made up my mind. Drumroll please....**DRUMROLL GOES OFF IN THE BACKGROUND** ** I would like to write my paper on the Disney brand!!! Disney is greatly influential to our society. It teaches valuable life lesson and the brand itself has many positive associations. Because of this, I believe that consumers continue to support Disney throughout their whole life and will continue to happily spend loads of their own money on Disney products. My paper will dig deep to see why we, as consumers, are so willing to shell out the big bucks for Disney.
I’M OLD NOW...SO WHY DISNEY?
I decided from the very beginning that I wanted my topic to be something that most people could relate to. I feel like Disney is a brand/company that many of my own peers have had exposure to. I was a child that grew up religiously following Disney movies and Disney TV shows. My mother heavily supported the moral lessons that Disney taught in their products so she never had a problem with me watching Disney films/shows. With so much experience with this brand, I have this great interest to see just how influential Disney really is because it sure works on me! People think that the Disney brand can only sway children, but I beg to differ. Even as an adult I still get excited about Disney things such as:
- When the company comes out with a new Disney movie, I usually plan to see it in theatres opening weekend
- I am actually planning my first trip to Disney World this spring break
- When I go to a karaoke bar, I always look for Disney movie songs to sing with my friends
- I often talk about old Disney movies that I grew up with to my friends and we all reminisce together about our carefree days
- The picture below proves that I still want to be the iconic Disney couple!!!
 As you can see, Disney still has this hold over me. Even though I am older I cannot shake free from the Disney cult! With so much passion for this brand, I know that I can enthusiastically write 10 whole pages on this topic without getting bored.
DISNEY’S CONNECTIONS TO CUSTOMER INSIGHTS AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES
Disney for the family:
Like I mentioned earlier, Disney grasps the lives of many people early on in their childhoods. We grow up learning our morals from the various lessons that Disney teaches. We learn that following our dreams is important to finding happiness. We also see that finding and falling in love can make our life feel complete. Overall, it shapes our beliefs and our values and it gives us all hope in a happy ending. Disney paints such an enthusiastic picture for consumers and the result is our undying support for the brand. We go out and spend our money buying the DVD’s, soundtracks, music books, and movie tickets because it is a brand that we believe in. We do it as kids, as adults, and I know that many of us will continue to do it as parents. There will be this cycle where we rely on Disney to teach our kids life lessons. Our kids will then grow up off of Disney beliefs. After that, they will rely on the new Disney releases of the times to teach their kids lessons, and the cycle will always live on until someone further down in my family tree stops having kids!
Disney for the Self:
Disney has countless positive associations with the brand. When we hear of Disney, we think of happy, magical, and limitless dreams. That is why so many people out there continually visit the theme parks of Disney Land and Disney World. I have asked several of my friends how they felt about their visits there, and the response was overwhelmingly similar. “Oh my gosh... Disneyworld was the best! It felt so magical! You need to go visit the theme park!” Upon further inspection, my friends go on to talk about how it makes them feel like a child again because they are revisiting some of the same characters and scenes from the stories that they grew up with. Feeling like a child gives them the power to escape from reality to believe that no dream is impossible and that there is always going to be a happy ending. It is evident that the experience of visiting one of these theme parks is a positive one and very powerful.
The frequent visits to the parks will be self gratifying and very expensive. To get into the park you have to pay for parking and for tickets. Then afterwards, you will probably spend money on Disney souvenirs! It really goes to show just how much consumers will actually spend money on a brand that reminds them to hold on to their past and future dreams.
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY AGREES WITH ME!!
Using Google Scholar, I was able to find an article that agreed with the idea that Disney does in fact influence kids’ beliefs and values on life. The American Journal of Family Therapy produced an article called “Images of Couples and Families in Disney Feature Length Animated Films” that was written by Litsa Renée Tanner, Shelley A. Haddock And Toni Schindler Zimmerman. The article talks about how Disney helps create ideas of family and relationship norms to children. For example:
- Most of the families in the movies have two parents and the father is often the powerful figure
- Most of the films discuss how the parents should love and protect their children
- Almost all of the movies stress strong family relationships as a vital part of life
- Most movies feature couples falling in love at first sight quickly followed by marriage
Kids then interpret these lessons/ideas and mold their lives to fit what Disney portrays as normal. The article continues on with how therapists use these findings in their patient analysis. Personally, I feel that Disney’s universal themes really do affect everyone in some way.
DO YOU AGREE?
You know how I feel about Disney, but what are your thoughts? Did you grow up with Disney influencing your life and beliefs? Do you plan on using Disney as a moral educator for your own kids? Please let me know!
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posted by
TunabeREAL at 
Are you going to talk about the fact that Disney has few (try to think of one) movies where there are no family dis-connections?
i.e. Aladdin has no parents (Jasmine has no mom), Snow White has no parents, Simba's father dies, etc...
This would be interesting to touch on, does Disney do this on purpose for some implicit effect? You be the judge. ;)