Advertising and Consumer: Marketing Communications Report

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half."

- John Wanamaker, Father of Modern Advertising

The dawn of 21st century bombarded the whole world with various manifestations of the internationalisation and amalgamation of the traditional and the contemporary means of living. The global community emerges as an intertwined exclusive community that works out into one whole governing system. For the past decades, development is apparent. And the active movement of such changes in areas of living affected every segment of the previously simple ways we have. The challenges brought about by these dynamic changes and challenges in the global marketplace affect business organisations in every immediate ways possible. With these, corporate management develops various mechanisms to do away with the adverse effects particularly to the business operations and overall performance. In terms of communication, businesses are finding their own ways and means of taking the most appropriate communication strategy and management specifically in their marketing of products and services. An effective marketing communications management in all aspects of the organisation is the most relevant solution to such changes and challenges. It is a fact that every global company aims for the sustainable competitive advantage and ultimate leadership in every part of their chosen area of industry.

Advertising is among the most popular technique that every global company uses in order to be made known by the international markets and consumers (Onkvisit and Shaw 1999). There has been extensive collection of media studies and literature that proved the enormous benefits of advertising not only to the communication aspect but as also in the business sector. With the identified changes in the business communication trends, the popular advertising theories and practices are also changing. Today, the traditional means of advertising products and service through mainstream media such as broadcast and print are considered quite obsolete. The emergence of various new technologies like the internet somewhat changed the theory and practice of advertising. Also, the varying consumer demands and their increasing knowledge about products and services prompted every organisation to re-evaluate their existing marketing communications strategies. Thus, there is a need for senior managers to understand the underlying mechanisms on the concept of advertising. The need to understand the essential facts of advertising leads to improved application and implementation of marketing communications strategy.

This paper reports the theory and practice of advertising. Specifically, it uses the case of TEE SUN LTD and aims to help senior managers, who are not communications experts, to understand the theories and their relevance for their industry and, in particular, the company’s communications programme (to design). In this report, an outline and explanation of the communications theory in an appropriate form and language that ensures the understanding of the senior staff is presented.

ADVERTISING THEORY AND PRACTICE

Advertising is bringing the company’s products and services to the mindset of the target market (McNamara 1999; Allen et al. 2001; Goddard 2002) using different mediums like broadcast (TV and radio) print (newspapers and magazines) and new media (internet and the web. It refers to the paid promotion of goods and services through a sponsoring organisation using statements and slogans (Elinder 1961) that are appealing to the target people. This kind of advertisement is also considered as a myth about myth (Wernick 1994). According to Leiss (1972), the process has been recognized as a “major vehicle of social communication in modern Western society (p.122).” There are commonly three main objectives of advertisements: first, conveying relevant information regarding a particular product or service; second, persuading consumers to purchase the advertised product; and third, keep the company under the watchful eyes of the public (Hancock et al. 2002). Meanwhile, Barnard and colleagues (2002) identified several very different tasks of advertising that sometimes more or less simultaneously done namely: to promote a new brand; to entice additional recruits to an established brand; to encourage that brand's existing clientele to stay; to tempt these existing customers to buy it more; and to encourage buyers to pay more. In a general sense, advertising is being utilised to be able to impart to the consumers the availability of a particular product. In a way, it is also able to provide critical information regarding the product. When an advertising campaign is achieved effectively, this can lead to an increased demand for the product.

In using global advertising, companies like TEE SUN LTD hope to create consistent brand images worldwide, spend less marketing resources in producing unified appeals, and use only one or a few international agencies to handle the company's entire advertising (Harris 1994; Mueller 1991 Englis 1994). Corporate brand refers to the overall characteristic of the organisation, which provides: marks denoting ownership; image-building devices; symbols associated with key values; means by which to construct individual identities; and a conduit by which pleasurable experiences may be consumed (Balmer and Gray 2003). It communicates the brand’s values, afford a means of differentiation from their competitors, and enhance the esteem and loyalty in which the organisation is held by its stakeholder groups (Balmer 2001). Today, multinational companies as well as local ones employ both global and local advertising methods (Barber 1996; Featherstone 1990; Friedman 1999; Sklair 1995; Duncan and Ramaprasad 1995). On the contrary, most advertisements nowadays are either perceived as merely stating opinions or portraying a product or service in a totally distorted idea away from reality (Saunders 2001). It is this alarming situation regarding the true objectives of advertising that have led to an increase in the responsibilities that companies and advertising firms face (Gertler and Gilchrist 2004).

Meanwhile, marketing communications and sales strategies are dependent to the strengths or weaknesses of the corporate brands (Balmer 1998, 2001; De Pelsmacker and Kitchen 2004). If the positive attributes of the corporate brand are successfully publicized, then marketing and sales strategies can use that good promotion to the corporation’s advantage. For instance, the advertisements of the Pepsi-Cola may include information regarding their reputation as a company that helps maintains a healthy environment for everyone. Because this is the company’s way of showing responsibility to the community, the elements related to those traits are likely to be shown in advertisements. However, this type of relationship between reputation and marketing and sales strategies is not widely researched. In connection, advertising is always directed to convey the brand’s message to the consumers and effectively established its market position.

Advertising is viewed as a tool that facilitates a consumer’s decision-making by using available information that will provide line of choices from which he/she will pick products and commodities that will satisfy his/her need state (Tuerck 1978). Furthermore, advertising also helps promote market competition which in turn widens the range of product options and brands that are brought to the attention of the consumers. This, according to Tuerck, advertising minimizes, if not eradicates, the possibility of one marketer to gain sole control or monopoly and domination over one market segment.

It is recognised that most business people prefer practical rather than theoretical model or application (Kover 1995). There are only occasional circumstances that a crossover between theory and practice occurs. In this case, the marketing communications of an organisation holds an amalgamation of both. Formal theories of communication and marketing are studied and then applied afterwards. In advertising theories and consumers, almost all authors acknowledge the difficulty of devising theory on how advertising works and how to measure its effectiveness. This is because there are divergent factors to be considered in doing such. Aside from internal and external considerations, other dimensions are also undertaken so as to provide the most valid or relatively acceptable generalisation.

The most basic theory of advertising is composed of different stages such as awareness, consideration, reaffirmation, confirmation, action, and reinforcement (Mayfield 2002). In the awareness stage, the consumer is aware of the product or service. It is also the stage in which the consumer is introduced to a brand like TEE SUN LTD for instance, without seeing any advertisement about the brand. Mayfield affirmed that the time in which the person is aware of the product or service varies depending on the current stage of his/her life. In the consideration stage wherein the advertising message has moved past the previous stage, the consumer begins to consider the message. During this stage, the consumer is undertaking personal decision-making and taking, like whether or not the product or service will satisfy his/her need. Also, this stage is the most crucial stage among the identified stages because it is the prerequisite of the next stages. It creates connection to the brand. The consideration stage allows the consumer to weigh facts that are incorporated to the advertising message or to other ads. Advertisers, on this stage, are considering the establishment of connection with the consumer. To fully achieve successful consideration stage, the company must undergo some series of research covering the target market and ensure that the effect of the message will lead to reaffirmation to whether or not to purchase the product or service. The reaffirmation stage is the phase in which the consumer is evaluating the message and reaffirming his/her connection to the product. It is similar to consideration stage but other factors are included such as awareness of competitors and evaluation of preference. This stage can go back to the former stage if there are no sufficient positive associations. The positive associations are from outside influences (like relatives and friends who used the product or service) and additional advertising messages in various forms. When positive associations are established through other external influences, the confirmation stage will eventually take place. This stage consist the consumer’s positive light and there is increased chance of recommendation to other consumers or action. But it is evident that this stage does not guarantee action for consumers tend to stay in the previous stage in order to validate their beliefs about the product or service. Also, the consumer tends to go back previous stages like consideration and reaffirmation. The repetitive action is hoped to lead in action. The action stage includes the decision of the consumer to purchase the product or service as supported by the connection and need established in the previous stages. The role of advertising messages plays greatly in the decision-making of the consumer. However, the possibility of going back to the previous stages again is influenced by competitor messages and the messages offered by the brand preferred. Once the consumer finally purchased the brand, there must have reinforcement in order to defer difference with the product or service. The reinforcement stage is the last stage in the basic advertising theory. It involves continuing advertising initiatives by the organisation directed to the maintenance of the established positive connection with the consumer. This is also the stage in which the consumer evaluate the brand on whether or nor it satisfied his/her need as promised. In case the consumer is satisfied, there is a high possibility of continuation but if the consumer experience otherwise, he/she might as well stop the usage. In this stage, the function of continuous advertising programme do not only focus on the trial of a product or service but instead, it focuses on the message that are designed for repetition of usage and purchasing behaviour and to become an integral part of the consumer’s daily undertaking and lifestyle.

In terms of evaluating the effectiveness of advertising programmes, companies like TEE SUN LTD can use the RAM theory. The Relevance-Accessibility Model of Advertising Effectiveness (RAM) presumes that the primary purpose of advertising is to present information that will give the brand a relative advantage over competing brands at the time of brand choice (Mitchell 1993). RAM has two assumptions: firstly, elements of the advertising message must be accessible at the time of brand choice to be effective; and secondly, advertising information must be relevant to be effective. The RAM establishes guidelines for picking the most effective advertising message strategy from a menu of strategic options. More specifically, because the ultimate measure of advertising effectiveness is brand choice, the RAM is concerned with predicting when a given message strategy is most and least likely to influence brand choice (Mitchell 1993).

Advertising impressions may be visual, verbal, or emotional. The RAM views brand attitudes, judgments, or preferences formed at the time of advertising exposure as potential mediators of brand choice (Mitchell 1993). There is what is called the “pure effect” – a level that refers to "free-floating" feelings and emotional responses that are consciously unlinked to any specific brand attributes, benefits, and past promotional (e.g., advertising) or usage experiences, at least at the time of brand choice. Such affect provides no real evidence of either absolute or relative product quality, but consumers may interpret it as such. When individuals make decisions based on pure affect, they are reacting solely to a feeling, not on the information that led to that feeling (Mitchell 1993). Positive feelings intrinsically motivate approach behaviour; negative feelings motivate avoidance behaviour (Skinner 1972; Zajonc 1980). Thus, the RAM theory includes the essential role of consumer behaviours.

ADVERTISING AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOURS

Advertising is the common playground where consumers ensnare themselves with products/services available in the market. The adverse effects of advertising are perceived to be reinforcing elements in the development of consumerist behaviour and culture. This assumption greatly relies on the concept of consumer behaviour. Initially, the understanding buyer behaviour is one of the more perplexing tasks confronting every manager (Schiffman and Kanuk 2000). The difficulty arises from the heterogeneity of buyers, from their being groups of individuals who differ from one another. But differences notwithstanding, consumers do share attitudes, opinions, reactions, and desires at various times (Schiffman and Kanuk 2000). Business experience, marketing research, theoretical constructs and models, and trial-and-error methods help to find some of the common denominators.

Consumer behaviour as defined by Wilkie (1990, 1994) is “the activities that people engage in when selecting, purchasing, and using products and services so as to satisfy needs and desires” (14). Wilkie continued: “…such activities involve mental and emotional processes, in addition to physical actions” (p. 14). In general perspective, consumer behaviour studies individuals, groups or organizations with regards to obtaining, using and disposing of products and services and accounts the decision processes leading to individual behaviours. It investigates consumers' actions, as well as the reasons for those behaviours. In order to fully understand the broad spectrum of consumer behaviour, Wilkie identified its macroscopic and microscopic perspectives. Consumer behaviour in a macro level categorizes marketers to look for demographic shifts as well as the general public’s values, beliefs and practices which affect their interaction with the economic marketplace. Meanwhile, the micro level indicates consumer behaviour focused on human behaviour and the motivations underlying these behaviours. These concepts are drawn out from sociological and psychological perspectives as proven results of studies in the said aspect.

The study of consumer behaviour is one of the most interesting and challenging as well as important aspects in marketing communications management. Practically, essential decisions that are taken in developing an effective marketing mix for specific product/service are based in the systematic knowledge of the consumers that make up its permanent target market (Johnson and Mullen 1990). Johnson and Mullen believes that understanding the behaviour of the consumer is the most basic step in helping marketing authorities to visualise and predict future trends, reactions, and changes in the marketing mix. It may also serve as a reference in determining the potentials of new products and its adoption. Each organization provides some products/services that are used by consumers, even though they may not always recognize as products/services by the consumers as such. For example, it seems fairly obvious that the college students who drink a cola produced by a specific beverage company are the consumers of that beverage product (Johnson and Mullen 1990). In a general sense, we can all think of public high school students as the consumers of a state's educational product; voters can be thought of as consumers of a political candidate's leadership and administration product; and, the members of a religious group might be viewed as consumers of a church's spiritual product (Johnson and Mullen 1990). Thus, the study of the behaviour of consumers involves an examination of a wide range record of everyday human buying behaviour and not only advertising.

According to Kotler and Armstrong (2001), the buying behaviour of the individuals and households who buy the goods and services for personal consumption directly impacts how products and services are presented to the different consumer markets. Moreover, there are many components which influence consumer behaviour namely: cultural, social, personal and psychological (Kotler and Armstrong 2001). Consumers may choose particular products/brands not only because these products provide the functional or performance benefits expected, but also because products can be used to express consumers’ personality, social status or affiliation (symbolic purposes) or to fulfil their internal psychological needs, such as the need for change or newness (emotional purposes) (Kim et al. 2002). Furthermore, consumers can either be subjective or objective, testing the persuasiveness of brand names. According to Alwitt and Mitchell (1985), consumers particularly the one with less involvement might not show much direct impact of advertising communications on beliefs. Instead, they might be induced more easily as to compare with the consumers with high involvement, to try a new product or brand. The result is that, for the low-involved consumer, attitude change should be more likely to occur after trial, rather than being directly influenced by communication. The theme that different levels of involvement are associated with different sequences of impacts on the familiar attitude components of affect, behaviour, and cognition has been developed (Alwitt and Mitchell 1985). Like business, consumers are concerned with their own image. They want to be seen in a favourable light. The consumer's interest lies in his self-image – the image he has and would like to have of himself (Lazer 1971). In reacting to marketing stimuli and in making purchase decisions, consumers will readily accept those activities that enhance or relate positively to consumer self-image. Similarly, if an advertising or selling campaign is created that enables the consumer to identify favourably with the situation presented, then the campaign is more likely to be successful. The values that form or furnish the basis of self-image and identification are fundamental to the cultivation of effective marketing programs, but they are hidden and hard to detect, even with psychological instruments (Lazer 1971).

Campbell (1997 cited in Nava et al. 1997;1999 cited in Cronin 2000) has challenged conventional models for understanding consumer acts as 'communicative' and are often considered to communicate messages about identity - goods (mediated by advertising) are considered primarily as signs to be manipulated in a process of self-construction. Campbell suggests that the relation between a subject's intent, action and the meanings in advertising and consumer behaviour should not be approached in a deterministic manner. Still, he argues that understandings of action are reduced to the symbolism or meaning of the acts rather than the 'doing' of action. Thus, general understanding of consumers and the basis of their decision-making strategies is essential to developing strategies and to developing effective communications particularly to advertising. To understand the decision-making process, management must identify the cognitive structures that are brought to bear during the decision. This entails, from a means-end chain perspective, knowledge of how personal values interrelate with important consequences of consumption to provide the continuing motivation for consumer behaviour.

Advertising is among the external factors that plays a great role in the buying experience of people (Wyatt 1999). The daily exposure of people to all the different kinds of media makes it accessible and convenient for them to recognize the presence of the latest product/service in the market. With the assistance of ads, consumers are engaged in buying experience. As a part of their consumer behavior stimulation, there are internal assessments that are occurring within the limits of the human nature. In Taiwan, Kim and colleagues (2002) studied the behavior of consumers in relation to the medium (p. 481). They indicated that the elements of advertising, the manner of presentation, or a certain ad for instance, greatly affect the culture, concept and emotions, and other human attributes of a certain setting. More often than not, advertising contributes to the development of changes in connection to the existing behavior and identity of the consumer.

The effectiveness of the medium (Wells 1997) as utilized by TEE SUN LTD management can be measured by the level of success being attained in meeting the desired goal to create changes on the consumers’ attitudes and behaviors after the exposure to the advertisement. Illustration of these changes are manifested by the consumer’s heightened awareness to the products or services, increase in sales and profitability, growth of target market base, positive feedbacks from the consumers and an increase of the public agreement with the advertisement message. The emergence of digitalization and globalization in all operating industries in the world paved way to the further improvements of all the aspects related to marketing and management techniques like advertising. Regardless of the unprecedented drawbacks of such when being used, every company and management like TEE SUN LTD must manage and control the best, possible, and beneficial ways presented. Every decision made by the management must be directed to the welfare of the whole industry. With the right strategy and strategic planning, eventual growth, market dominance, competitive edge, and success are not really far at hand.

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APPENDIX

Overview of the Organisation

TEE SUN LTD based in Mauritius is a manufacture of a range of products which include sweaters, trousers and t-shirts with a labour force of 1200 workers and a monthly production capacity of 500,000 pieces of garments. The garments are exported to the European market. The company is vertically integrated such that it produces its own fabric and is one of the few companies in Mauritius to have invested in heavy automation facilities for achieving enhanced productivity. The company also emphasises deep importance on quality clothing.

MARKETING: TEE SUN LTD has its own marketing department for conducting research and identifying new customers and channels of distribution. Marketing is mainly carried out through participation in international exhibitions, advertising campaigns and with personal contacts with wholesalers.

COMMUNICATION: The Company adopts an open approach which discloses and communicates information to help employees to understand the economics of the business and how they can contribute to increasing its prosperity. Managers and Head of Departments practice an open door policy to be able to keep close to the employees. The Personnel Manager roves around the factories regularly and all employees have the right to raise any grievance with their Managers or to the Personnel Manager.