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Persuasion and Influence of Media
UNIT 7 MEDIA AND ADVERTISING
Structure
7.0 Introduction 7.1 Media and Advertising 7.1.1 Advertising and its goals 7.1.2 Stakeholders in creating an advertisement 7.1.3 Changing landscape of advertisements due to change in Mass Media 7.2 Developing an effective advertising program/ media promotion campaign 7.2.1 What is an effective advertisement? 7.2.2 Steps in designing an effective advertising program 7.3 Case Study on Media and Advertising 7.4 Summary 7.5 Keywords 7.6 Review Questions 7.7 References and Suggested Reading 7.8 Additional Online Resources
Learning Objectives After reading this unit, you will be able to, explain advertising as an integral part of media and how it has changed over the years, summarize the stages of developing an advertisement, and identify strategies of developing an effective marketing campaign.
7.0 INTRODUCTION
Advertisements (Ads) are everywhere – be it watching a program on Television (TV) or listening to radio programs. From market to highways, you would find billboards and hoardings advertising something or the other. In fact, hearing the jingle of an old advertisement brings back a lot of memories. Nonetheless, not many of us actually welcome advertising. Ad breaks on TV have come to imply breaks for any tiny work that needs to be attended to. But the advertisers are getting smarter and they are sneaking in ads in places where we least expect it. Like, having an actor in a movie use a certain product or advertisement in the form of editorial (called advertorial)
*Dr Shivantika Sharad, Department of Applied Psychology, Vivekananda College, University of Delhi.
Media and Advertising
appearing in a magazine or newspaper. Content marketing is another thing that is used by advertising agencies in today‟s time.
Why do you think companies invest so much in advertising? Does it actually make a difference? Are the sales of a product or service actually influenced by advertising? Do advertisements alter consumer behaviour? If so, then why are some advertising campaigns more effective than others? These are fundamental questions that connect advertising to psychology, particularly social psychology. Let us try answering some of these questions in this unit.
7.1 MEDIA AND ADVERTISING
Media is all about communication, sharing knowledge and information, and connecting people. One of the major roles of media is advertising, that is, spreading awareness about certain products and services highlighting their benefits and uniqueness. Advertising is a huge multi-billion-dollar industry that has grown significantly over the years. It connects manufacturers and service providers with their customers via different media. Different media used for advertising include print media (newspaper and magazine ads), audio-visual media (radio and television ads), social media (ads that pop up on your Facebook or Instagram feeds) and internet (contextual ads placed on search engines result pages or on e-mail). Let us now see what advertising is and how it has changed over the years.
7.1.1 Advertising and Its Goals
Advertising can be defined as a form of communication with the goal of persuading the intended audience to take certain actions (like buying a product or availing a service). The content of most advertisements is information about the organization/business firm, description of the product/service, benefits of the product (often through comparisons) and specifying the target audience. According to Philip Kotler, the father of marketing, advertisement is “any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor” (Kotler, 1984, p.58). In this definition it is important to note that advertising is not „personal selling‟, which is an interpersonal communication, while advertisements use mass communication media. The vehicle through which advertisements communicate the content is “media”. It is the way the content is packaged and served/transmitted to the audience.
Goals of advertising:
Boosting the sale of the product/service by persuading people to buy them, thus increasing the customer base.
Introduction of a new product : When a new product is launched, advertisements inform the public about them, thereby creating product publicity.
Media and Advertising
iv) Mass media : Different media platforms are used for communicating the advertising messages. Ads are places in newspapers, magazines, journals, handbills, etc. (print media), radio, television programs, internet etc. (electronic media), posters, hoarding, air balloons etc. (outdoor media), brochures, leaflets, pamphlets, etc. (sent through e-mail or by post). Selection of the most appropriate advertising media is one of the most important decisions in marketing.
v) Government Authorities : No big business can be practiced outside government regulations. Likewise, advertising is also government regulated. Some laws that have been made in India for regulating the content of advertising include Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1955, Press Council of India Act, 1978, Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2006 etc. The Advertising standards council of India) and ABC (Audit Bureau of circulation) are also some of the authorities in India regulating advertising.
7.1.3 Changing landscape of advertisements due to change in
Mass Media
Advertising has become global and very dynamic. The spaces they occupy have become wide. With the expansion of advertising, the nature of advertisements has also changed. Earlier ads focused more on factual information and used mostly verbal claims in print media, radio or TV.
Source : https://poojaslibrary.wordpress.com/2015/11/14/lux-and-bollywood-a-90-year-bond/
Persuasion and Influence of Media Modern day ads are more experiential, engaging and have a lot of visual appeal. The two images below are almost a century apart, and you can easily spot the difference between the old ad and the new.
Modern day advertising is a creative art form that combines storytelling to visual art to music to digital art. Due to the convergence of media and technology, the various media platforms or channels on which ads are placed have undergone a significant change. Multiple options over the internet like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, blogs, vlogs, search engines etc. are dominating different forms of advertising. The arrival of digital marketing has given rise to some new forms of advertisement, like long format films shown on YouTube or entering into engaging conversations with the consumer. Some examples of new formats of advertisements include:
Social media advertising: targets the users of the various social media. It is a kind of online advertising where ads are placed on various social media networks. All of us see a lot of advertisements on our Facebook or Instagram walls. These are examples of social media advertising. It is more engaging, interactive and targeted for specific groups of individuals.
Content marketing on social media: A part of social media advertising is content creation for the followers. Content marketing is the creation, publication and distribution of content on a social media for a targeted audience. This includes sharing pertinent articles, videos, podcasts, and other media to promote one‟s brand awareness and attract new audience or retain existing ones. It is a strategy to keep one‟s audience/customers engaged.
Example of Content marketing Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffzelaya/
Persuasion and Influence of Media “middle class”. This is largely due to the changing nature of Indian consumer whose purchasing power and disposable income has risen considerably (Mahapatra, 2014). Another change is the emphasis in ads on improving the quality of life and health of the consumers if they use a certain product, and not just highlighting their value for money. Women also are being increasingly shown as the decision makers in family. Ads highlighting societal changes and issues like changing gender roles (e.g. Ariel‟s „Share the load‟ campaign or Titan Raga‟s „Her life her choices‟ or „Break the Bias‟), rights and acceptance of transgender persons (Brook Bond Red Label‟s „Swaadapnepan ka‟ or Vicks‟ „Touch of Care‟), environment conservation (like Hindustan Unilever‟s „The Shower‟ or Tata Tiscon‟s „The song of the forest‟), girl child education campaign (Mahindra‟s „Ladki haath se nikal jayegi‟) and many more. Many of these are initiatives of the advertiser‟s corporate social responsibility projects. Celebrity endorsements have also increased significantly. Earlier selected brands like Lux only featured Bollywood actresses. But now every second product is endorsed by celebrities from different fields including sports and music.
Check Your Progress 1
True or false
- Increasing awareness of rival brands is a goal of advertising.
- Editorials in the form of advertisements are called advertorials.
- Keywords are an important component of search engine optimization.
- Some of the contemporary ads also reflect changing gender roles.
- Culture is an important stakeholder in the development of advertisement.
- Advertisements only lead to sale promotion.
7.2 DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE
ADVERTISING PROGRAM
Since organizations invest a lot of money in advertising and an advertising agency invests a lot of time and energy in making the advertisements, developing effective advertisements is a necessity. Have you ever wondered why celebrities are used to vouch for a product or why many products make use of scientists or doctors proclaiming the benefits of that product? Why some ads are shown only during a certain program? Why some products go for print media advertising while others advertise on radio or TV? The answer to these questions lies in knowing how to design an effective advertising program. Let us first see what effectiveness of an advertisement implies.
7.2.1 What is an effective advertisement?
An effective advertisement would be the one that has the desired impact on the consumers. It means an effective ad is the one that is persuasive leading
Media and Advertising to the customer form a favourable attitude towards the brand. It is basically a change in the consumer‟s buying behaviour towards the brand being advertised. Two models for understanding effects of advertising on the consumer would help us conceptualize effectiveness of an advertisement. These models also help in setting objectives of the advertisements.
Hierarchy of effects model: According to this model consumers move linearly in a sequence across different stages when making decisions about buying certain product. These stages can be broadly categorized into cognitive (thinking) stage, affective (feeling) stage and finally the behavioural (actual purchase or trial of a product) stage. The specific stages include:
Figure 7.2 Hierarchy of Effects Model
The first two stages are cognitive, trying to create a presence in the mind of the audience. Awareness: The first step of any marketing campaign or advertisement is to create awareness in the audience – awareness about the product, brand or issue at large. You must have noticed many simple advertisements that keep repeating the product name. It is done to make the product or the brand name focal.
Knowledge: Apart from awareness about the product or the brand, the target audience needs to have more knowledge about the same. Comprehending the brand and its value, its uniqueness, difference from competitor‟s brand etc. is done at this stage.
The next two stages appeal to the emotions of the target audience that is how they feel about the product/brand.
Liking: This is the stage where the target audience gets to like the product. In case the target audience does not like the product, the reasons for the same are found out and also addressed. The renewed product is then advertised.
Media and Advertising
- What is the full form of AIDA?
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- What are the various levels in the hierarchy of effects model?
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7.2.2 Steps in Designing an Effective Advertising Program
To understand how to develop an effective advertising campaign requires us to understand the Five Ms of advertising ( Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 1999). These are mission, money, message, media and measurement, explicated in Figure 7.3 below. Based on these 5 Ms are the various decisions that development of any advertisement entails. Let us consider them one by one.
Figure 7.35 Ms of Advertising (Based on Kotler et. al. 1999)
Persuasion and Influence of Media i) Selecting the advertising objective
The first step towards anything is goal setting. Before developing any advertisement, it is necessary to know the objective for advertising. We have already covered these objectives in the first section. Based on the different objectives, advertisements can be of the following types:
Informative advertising is to create awareness about a new product or new features of an old product.
Persuasive advertising is to persuade the audience to like, prefer, get convinced and purchase a product. The customers are persuaded to believe that the brand that is being advertised is the best for them.
Comparison advertising shows how a particular brand is better than its competitor. However, it should not be denigrating the rival brand. Some countries have strict rules for competitive advertising so that it is not unfair.
Reminder advertising is to keep the product in the minds of the customers so as to facilitate repeat purchase.
Reinforcement advertising aims at communicating to the existing customers how they made the right choice by buying that product.
Depending upon the marketing situation of a product – that is whether the product is new in the market or if it is the number one purchase or if it is losing its market share to another rival product – these factors determine what we want to communicate with people through our advertisement or in other words the kind of advertising that would be developed.
ii) Deciding on advertising budget
Did you know that Hindustan Unilever Limited is the top advertiser in India spending around Rupees 3400 Crores or 34 billion on its advertising budget (Pitch-Madison Advertising Report, 2019)?A report by Statista states that Coca Cola has been spending on an average 4 billion dollars every year from 2014 to 2020 on its advertising world-wide (Conway, 2021). Coca Cola is the largest beverage company in the world and is known for its highly innovative advertising campaigns and its commitment to advertising.
These examples indicate the value advertisers place on advertising. Fixing the budget necessitates an understanding of the input cost (that is the cost of producing the advertising campaign) and the output (that is the expected or actual return from the campaign in terms of revenue). Deciding the appropriate budget is an important decision and a host of factors are taken into consideration like:
Stage in the product life cycle : A new company and a new product require more amount to be spent on advertisements, than an old company which has already established its brand.
Persuasion and Influence of Media peripheral processing occurs for unimportant issues or when we do not have enough resources like time to process deeply.
Figure 7.4 Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion Now let us apply this model to advertisements. If the consumers are interested and involved in a product (for example, a mobile phone with some special features), they would process the message in its advertisement systematically. Thus, while targeting a highly involved audience the arguments in the message should be strong and rationally appealing. Since it is easier to change attitude while heuristic processing is taking place, most advertisers push the consumers into the peripheral mode of processing. This is done by making use of surface cues like attractive models or distractions like beautiful locations, rather than the quality of the message.
Creative development of the message entails crafting the message in a creative manner. It is also called message strategy. The purpose of this creative development is to keep the consumer engaged (based on the ELM discussed above). Following are some creative message strategies that are used in advertisements:
Using benefits as advertising appeal, something that is part of all ads. Apart from those, appeals should be meaningful and believable, and not appear exaggerating. The various „Fevicol‟ ads have also been very appealing over the years.
Developing a highly persuasive big idea which is unique and memorable. Contents like “ Kya chalrahahai?... Fog chal raha hai ” (for Fog deodorant) or “ Pour-rub-pour ” (for Surf excel matic liquid detergent) or “ Have a break, have a Kit-Kat ” became very popular. Titan has focused
Media and Advertising on the “joy of gifting” through its affordable watches, like the couple wrist watch “Bandhan”. There are numerous advertisements of electronic products like, air conditioner or washing machine, which focus on highlighting their unique technology or energy saving features.
Apart from powerful phrases we just saw, use of powerful imagery or jingles are also common message strategies.
Leveraging on the diverse human motivations that drive consumerism like altruism, avoiding embarrassment, desire to appear competent, need for achievement, self-image, self enhancement, identity or better relationships are also used in creative contents. Advertisements for beauty products, for example, often highlight success or achievement. Many advertisements show how using a particular product makes you smarter or healthier, or makes you popular.
Highlighting the difference between the advertised product and the competitor product, like comparison between shampoos, hair oils, detergents, coke and pepsi, etc where the advertised product is shown to be comparatively better on different dimensions like cost effectiveness, quality etc.
Apart from the content, it is also the execution of message that is important. Execution of message implies converting the idea and content into an actual advertisement. Not just what is said, but how it is said is also crucial for ads to be effective. Finding the right way and format of putting the idea across is central. There are different styles for message execution, like placing the product in the routine life of “typical” people or improving the lifestyle. Some advertisements also use elements of fantasy like the „Fevicol‟ „alien‟ advertisement where the aliens challenged the villagers that they would suck away the earth‟s gravity, which was countered using the ultimate glue „fevicol‟!
Advertisements also rely on building positive mood or emotions around their product or service. Umpteen ads weave feelings of beauty (Godrej hair color‟s „Fathers are our first heroes and heroes never age‟), love (Titan watches and Tanishq jewellery ads, Cadbury Silk ad), and curiosity (“Relax it‟s I-phone” ad; Kaun Banega Crorepati generated curiosity in the viewers by narrating a story in three parts). Some ads also portray calmness, compassion (Mankind Pharma advertisement showing Ganesh Chaturthi being celebrated, Star Sport‟s ad for Dream 11 of making a watchman feel special for all his efforts during the pandemic), and happiness (coca cola open happiness). Feelings of security (like the ads for life insurance or mutual funds‟investments) and adventure or fun (the Mountain Dew ad “Darr ke aage jeet hai”) are also used to arouse interest of the customers.There are advertisements that make use of the mother-child relationship to emotionally appeal to their consumers. Ariel‟s „Share the Load for equal sleep‟ and the recent ad of Himalaya BabyCare portraying mother as the first teacher on the
Media and Advertising Another new line of message execution is having the ordinary people (who are highly believable as they are relatable) endorse the product. In this category consumer generated messages are frequently seen. We have come across several weight loss programs where people who have transformed physically using that particular weight loss program endorse its efficacy. It is also called testimonial evidence. Some companies are also launching ad- creation competitions, which if done well can help integrating the voice of the customer in the brands and enhance its value.
All these different formats of advertisements impact the cost as well as effectiveness of the ads. Message creation and execution is a crucial step in advertising effectiveness. However, this process is not without ethical considerations. It is necessary for all ad makers to review their ads content for social responsibility and that they are within the social and legal norms.
iv) Selecting the right media
The channels via which a message can be communicated are many and each medium has its advantages and disadvantages. The different media types that are used for communicating advertisement message include audio-visual media (television, radio), print media (magazines and newspapers), internet media (social media, websites, e-mails), telephone, etc. In today‟s world social media and websites play an important role to communicate promotion messages. In television ads, we can communicate our product‟s attributes and the benefits dramatically. Print media like magazines and newspapers are also effective for the brand but the pictures, headlines, and content must be engaging. In radio ads the voice of the narrator, music etc. play an important role.
After the message is designed selecting the right medium/media to carry the message becomes imperative. Choosing the appropriate media which is effective as well as cost efficient requires following steps:
determining reach, frequency, impact, and engagement of the media
choosing among major media types
selecting specific media vehicles
choosing media timing
Deliberations of reach, frequency and impact of the different media types is necessary to decide which media type would help achieve advertising objective. In simple words, reach is the number of people who are exposed to the advertisement. Frequency is the number of times a person in the targeted audience receives the advertisement. Impact implies if the advertisement in a particular medium would generate involvement, interest, belief in the brand etc. in the targeted audience. An ad about electronics for example, might not have much value in a fashion magazine. Reach is the main criterion when launching a new product. However, when multiple players are there in the
Persuasion and Influence of Media market for the same product, frequency also needs to be increased to keep the product in the memory of consumers.
Choosing among major media types requires assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of each probable media type that can be used to transmit the message. Which medium will have the highest reach based on the kind of targeted audience, needs to be seen. For example, if the target audience is farmers for a product, like harvesting machine or fertilizer, then placing the ad as a billboard or hoarding in a shopping mall will not be effective. Print ads in local newspapers or hoardings in the local market of the village might be more effective. Thus, the first thing is reaching one‟s targeted audience and that too in a cost-effective way. Choosing the right public place to position outdoor ads would imply identifying those places where the targeted audience spends considerable time. A review of the pros and cons of different media types has been summarized in the table below.
Table 7.1Advantages and Limitations of different Media Types
Type of Media
Advantages Disadvantages
T.V. Helps in mass marketing; Low cost per exposure as frequency can be increased; Sensory appeal with sight, sound and motion; family audiences can be targeted; impactful stories can be narrated; Most suited for products that require demonstration; or when before- after effects need to be highlighted
Total cost of producing and airing the TV ad is very high, audience selectivity is limited; challenge of cutting through the advertising clutter, challenge of making the ad interactive and involving; 30 seconds exposure can limit the information that can be transmitted
Radio Local effectiveness; high geographical selectivity; reaching customer sub-segments (rush hour targeting for commuters, late night targeting of youth etc.); cost effective, able to reach rural areas
Lacks sensory appeal as only auditory; low involvement and attention, lacks mass coverage; fleeting exposure; requires advertising simultaneously on several stations to reach the target audience; Listeners cannot revisit ads to go over important points; radio ads require more frequency for audience attention
Newspapers High reach in a given Depending upon the
Persuasion and Influence of Media Ever since the upsurge of digital, mobile, internet and social media, most advertisers are going for a mix of advertising media to place their ads. For example, TV ads can also be seen while viewing a video on YouTube, and at the same time marketing campaigns with hashtags are started on Instagram or Facebook.
Next step is selecting specific media vehicle that is selecting the precise platform on which the advertising message would be communicated. For example, if the chosen media type is television, then the specific media vehicle could be Big Boss or Comedy show with Kapil. In the print media type the vehicles could be India Today or Time or Sarita or Reader’s Digest. Social media vehicle could be Facebook or Twitter or YouTube. The choice again depends on the target market reach of the vehicle, which in turn depends upon where our target customers spend more time. Thorough analyses of the quality and quantity of viewership/readership of the possible vehicles are done and the cost of reaching out a thousand likely consumers is worked out. The vehicle that offers lower cost per thousand persons is preferred.
When media vehicles are decided, media timing or how the ad has to be scheduled over time is also decided. Demands of many products are seasonal. For example, sales of air conditioners or coolers or refrigerators increase during the summer months in India. Purchase of many products like electronics also peaks during festival time, especially Diwali. Thus, depending on the months when most sale happen, more advertising is scheduled during those months. Many hotels and travel booking websites ads are placed during summer months. Some firms advertise all the year round, but float a new ad when demand season is high. Digital and social media has allowed companies to quickly respond to events that happen around us, interact with the active audience and engage in current conversations. For example , Coca Cola launched a campaign in Brazil where it sold Fanta inside cans of coke. An infamous homophobic slur in Brazil is “This coke is Fanta” implying that a person may look “normal” but is actually homosexual. This campaign was launched on International LGBT+ Pride Day and helped change the discriminatory slur into a symbol of pride_. Uber’s_ ad during the COVID-19 lockdown titled, “Thank you for not riding Uber” was also another such well-timed and well-aimed advertising campaign.
v) Evaluating the effect of advertising
In the highly competitive marketing environment of today, it is crucial for the companies to assess the effectiveness of their advertising campaign. If the investment made in creating an ad and launching it on media does not lead to any return in terms of brand popularity and purchase behaviour, the ad cannot be regarded as effective. Measuring advertising effectiveness is paramount so as to ascertain that the investment in advertising is appropriate or not. Measurement involves assessing the effect of the marketing communication in ads and effects on sales and profits.
Media and Advertising
Communication effect can be assessed through pre-and post-assessments of product awareness or preference of the customers – that is measuring customers‟ awareness of the product or their preference before the ad is run and after the ad is run.
Effect of ads on sales and profit is a much more objective assessment of its effectiveness. However, it is difficult to assess. As we know sales and profit depend on many factors other than advertising, like packaging of the product, its features, pricing etc. Field experimental studies can be done to assess sales and profit effects. For instance, investments on advertising for different market zones can be varied and comparative assessment of the sales in each area can reveal the effect of the ad. Similarly, ads placed via different media can also be compared. However, assessment of advertising effectiveness is a complex and difficult task, especially in the era of digital marketing.
Check Your Progress 3
Fill in the blanks
The Elaboration Likelihood model is a ________ processing theory.
Based on the ELM, most advertisers aim at shifting the audience processing to _____ mode.
The first step in developing an advertising campaign is deciding on ______.
__________ media is used for mass marketing at a national level.
Pre- and post- assessments are done for evaluating ________.
_____, _______, ______, media and ______ are the 5 Ms of advertising.
Most interactive media platform is _________.
Featuring doctors or scientists in advertisements increases __________.
Deliberations of _____, ________ and _______ of the different media types is necessary to decide which media type would help achieve advertising objective.
7.3 CASE STUDY ON MEDIA AND
ADVERTISING
TARGET knows when its customers are pregnant!
Target is an American retail corporation, which sells a wide range of products from groceries and home essentials to clothing, accessories and electronics. In the year 2012 a story of disgruntled customer attracted media attention. A father of a high schooler in Minneapolis was upset that his daughter was being given discount on maternity clothes and baby products by their local TARGET store. TARGET had sent via post brochure containing
