Summary

This chapter has covered some aspects of communications theory and consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour is not straightforward, and marketing communications is not simply a matter of ‘pushing the right buttons’. People are individuals, and cannot be treated as if they were all alike.

Ideas can only be transmitted indirectly, through symbols. Symbols do not have universally accepted meanings. Senders and receivers must have a common field of experience. Noise and interference detract from communications.

Most communication is non-verbal. Ethnocentrism is a common cause of communications failure. Perception is both analytical and synthetic. Thus, each individual has their own view of reality.

Marketing communications have a major role in positioning brands correctly in the consumer’s world map. Attitudes can be changed by altering either cognition or affect. Halo effect colours all aspects of the attitudinal object. Most of the influences on decision-making will be outside the marketer’s control. Needs are the driving force in consumer behaviour, not marketers. Miscommunication results from many causes, but motivation to seek understanding will reduce the incidence of miscommunication

Chapter Questions

1. What is the difference between a symbol and an icon?

2. If ideas can be transmitted through symbols, why are there so many cases of misunderstood communications?

3. What are the factors in the success of Coca-Cola’s global communications strategy?

4. Why are the most advertisements ignored by consumers?

5. How does celebrity endorsement work?

Chapter 4. Major media

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Advertising industry terminology conventionally distinguishes between advertising media and vehicles. Media are the general communication methods that carry advertising messages, that is, television, magazines, newspapers, and so on. Vehicles are the specific broadcast programs or print choices in which advertisements are placed. Hence, for example, television is a specific medium, and Seinfeld, Friends, NBC Evening News, and Monday Night Football are vehicles for carrying television advertisements. Magazines are another medium, and Time, News-week, Ebony, and Cosmopolitan are vehicles in which magazine ads are placed.

4.1. Characteristics Of Traditional Major Advertising Media

Virtually any environment, in which messages can be printed, sung, blared, or announced in any other fashion is a potential advertising medium. Ads on blimps; on the walls of restrooms; on T-shirts; on buses and bus stops; on shopping carts in stores; on store floors; on race cars and boats; on the apparel of golfers, tennis players, and other athletes; and on signs that trail behind small airplanes and products appearing in movies and television programs are just some of the spots where advertising is placed. These "special purpose" media are, of course, minor in relation to the traditional advertising media: television, radio, newspaper, magazines, and out-of-home advertising on billboards.

These five media are known as the major advertising media, within which the majority of advertising expenditures are placed. Nearly $100 billion in advertising expenditures were placed in these major media, with television and newspapers running neck and neck in dominance in 1996.

Each medium and each vehicle has a set of unique characteristics and virtues. Advertisers attempt to select those media and vehicles whose characteristics are most compatible with the advertised brand in reaching its target audience and conveying its intended message. If the objective is to demonstrate product features, television is the best medium, followed by magazines, newspapers, radio, and out-of-home advertising. Television is also particularly powerful in terms of its entertainment and excitement value and its ability to have an impact on the viewer. Magazines are strong in terms of elegance, beauty, prestige, and tradition. Newspapers offer newsworthiness and low prices. Radio, which is especially personal, allows for the listener's imagi­nation to play a part, while out-of-home advertising is especially appropriate for package identification.