3 Messages & Appeals - Summary Marketing Communications PDF

Preview

Summary

How to get a marketing message out to the masses, credibility, endorsements, advertising tactics, also looks at creativity with regards to marketing communications...

Description

Chapter 26 – Messages & Appeals 1. Message source & Credibility i. Characteristics of source of message – Kelman (1961): a. Level of perceived credibility b. Degree to which the source is regarded as attractive & targets motivation c. Degree of power a source is seen to possess (reward or coercion) ii. Components of source credibility – level of perceived expertise, personal motives, degree of trust iii. Establishing credibility – third party endorsements, customer testimonials, referrals, suggestions, association. iv. Organisational credibility i. Past decisions ii. Strategy iii. Perceived service iv. *Branding* eg family brands give credibility – faces behind the brand v. Types of spokesperson – expert (Sensodyne ads), celeb (pay lots of money to target large audiences) (potential negative as may remember the celeb not the brand), CEO (Richard Branson), typical customer (VHI ads) – more credibility vi. Endorser - conduct a Performed Quotient Score – eg do you know of this person and how would you rate them – highest score person gets chosen to endorse – credibility (internalization) and attractiveness (identification – customer identifies with endorser) vii. Considerations when selecting an endorser – match up to brand and audience, credibility, cost, working ease viii. TEARS MODEL of endorser attributes T – trustworthiness E – expertise A – physical attraction R – respect S – similarity (to target audience)

2. Structure of the messages i. Message balance a. Effectiveness of message – for receiver depends on amount/quality of info, and overall judgement each individual makes – must have balance between need for information and need for pleasure/enjoyment ii. Conclusion drawing a. Is the message conclusion drawing or are people being asked to draw their own conclusion b. Kardes, 1988 – explicit conclusions are more easily understood iii. One & two sided messages a. Giving both sides – in favour and against – good & bad b. Or one side – in favour c. Faison (1961) said two sided messages produce more positive perceptions iv. Order of Presentation a. Primacy effect – strong message at beginning b. Depends if audience is low or high level involvement c. Low level involvement – strong message @ start to gauge attention quick d. If weak points given – can be used for counter argument Product oriented = rational – high involvement focused on info/ benefits etc Consumer oriented = emotional – lower involvement focused on emotional & images 3. Message appeals i. Informational a. Factual: harder to sell, high involvement b. Slice of Life: consumer identifies, high credibility, common & successful c. Demo: problem presented along with solution d. Comparative: popular when trying to steal market share, “we’re better than them”, trying to establish superiority. i. Can be direct (competitors names given) or indirect (subtle) ii. Illegal in some countries iii. Positives: brand recall, recall arguments, generate purchases iv. Issues in deciding whether to use comparative advertising or not: situational factors, credibility issue, assessing effectiveness & distinctive advantages ii. Emotional

a. Fear – physical danger or threat of social rejection, can be effective as gains attention. Must have balance between degree of persuasive effectiveness and the level of fear intensity. Fear appeal with solution results in a change in behaviour. Fear appeal without solution results in an emotional response (anxiety) b. Guilt – eg promoting a fitness product could be done by making unfit people guilty c. Humour – attracts attention, does not harm credibility, comprehension of ad or persuasion, varied effects on different people, audiences, locations i. Humorous ad will only be successful if consumer already has positive evaluations of brand ii. Have to be aware of how things can be perceived in different countries/ cultures iii. Humour can be distracting or confusing as to what the underlying message is d. Shock – startle and offend – does not conform to social norms. Usually used by non-profits to highlight issues eg PETA with how coyotes are treated for Canada Goose jackets. Good for WOM and going viral e. Animation – not just for kids f. Sexual appeal i. Negative: demeaning, message unclear ii. Positive: evoke emotional response, enhance recall g. Music – attracts attention, people associate the noise with your brand, promotes positive mood Advertising Tactics 1. Informational Motives – negatively charged feelings, individuals who have a need for info to counter negative concerns about a purchase decision. With the right information they can become positively charged 2. Transformational Motives – positively charged, promises to enhance or to improve the user of a brand. Capable of transforming a user’s emotional state and change their feelings. Happy ending. Creating or improving the levels of awareness – prior to purchase : focus on how to create brand recall. At point of purchase: brand recognition so they recognise your packaging, brand name more than competitors

Chapter 25 – CREATIVITY o All about “making an impression” o Impression Hierarchy =  1. Brand name (general)  2. Generics  3. Attitudinal response  4. Commercial specifics  Specific sales message (highest level) o Creative ad uses a divergent appeal (unexpected/ unusual eg fear/ humour) to deliver a relevant core message  Divergent examples: originality, flexibility, elaboration, synthesis, artistic value  Relevance examples: As-to-Customer & Brand-to-Customer o Positives of creativity  Attract attention – surprise/shocking or by seducing audience  Increased attention > increased motivation to process message > increased depth of processing o Context: environment, objectives & culture  Crucial that creative advertising has a product or audience relevant context  What constitutes advertising creativity depends on the viewers context eg might be relevant to their role, culture or perspective o Culture is a critical component of international advertising effectiveness as it influences how consumers in different countries perceive advertising eg in Asia it’s all about sharing, trustworthiness and sincerity whereas in USA & Europe it’s more about ‘be you’ ‘do things for you’ o Example: Asian nations prefer emotional advertising whereas USA & European countries are more about cognitive & rational. Asian people want to make people feel happy and this is echoed in advertising used in Asia where fantasies, classical music, melancholy and nostalgia are used. Whereas USA & Europe it is more about stressing product benefits, calls to action, reasons to buy o Creativity as a Signal  





Advertising can be interpreted as a signal of a client’s belief in their offering and of the marketing effort they have (Ambler & Hollier, 2004) argue that advertising expense is a signal of wealth as an advertiser can spend money wastefully on advertising and is a sign of previous success Perceived ‘corporate ability’ – (Luo & Bhattacharya, 2006) discuss that new products are easier launched and more successful if corporate ability is high Dahlen et al. (2008) – level of advertising creativity sends signals similar to those about advertising expense

o The Creative Process  Level of interaction between the two is crucial to quality and success of outcome  Relationship between client and agency  Master-Servant – client has little involvement, agency free to more or less do whatever  Partnership – mutually done, can lead to conflict and disagreements, endless meetings can result in diluted creativity (Holtz et al., 1982)  (Edwards, 2012) suggests that many agency teams are more curators than creators as ideas are recycled or adapted and not completely new ideas o The Creative Code  Internal and external influences on creative process  People who have varying influences on outputs eg clients, agency managers, media specialists, account planners  (Stuhlfaut, 2011) – refers to organisational culture as a learned system of meaning, which is shared among participants  People working in creative departments are constrained to a framework from the organisation in terms of language, behaviour and symbols  It’s not unrealistic to say that advertisers working in a company would choose methods, styles, techniques and strategies that align themselves with the organisations values which will constrain the range of creative outcomes.  Org culture likely to shape the development of advertisements - eg leadership style, mix of skills, resources, structures etc  (Stuhlfaut, 2011) in International Journal of Advertising – interesting concept of “creative code” – the code shapes development of advertisements which are regarded as cultural artefacts or ‘material manifestations of what is learned’ – a sub-cultural creative code is understood and made available to others o Creative codes serves to direct/limit what internal and external stakeholders believe an acceptable creative might be o HOWEVER – does that mean a weak culture & code = greater creativity as fewer constraints? o https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2501/IJA-302-283-304 

Another way to review creativity – political power resting with clients and account managers

o Message Framing  Involves selecting aspects of perceived reality and making them more salient (stand out more) eg promote a particular problem/ recommendation  Distracting elements removed  Focus on what’s important  Positive framing = eg – yoghurt ‘contains real fruit’  Negative framing = eg – yoghurt ‘ contains only 5% fat’  Factors associated with message framing – o Self-construal – independent ppl = positive framing. Interdependent = negative framing o Consumer involvement – i.e. personal relevance and perceived risk influence. If high = negative framing preferred, if low = positive framing o Product knowledge – MF useful if product knowledge = low. If low = positive framing. If high = negative

o Story telling    



Can be used to: sell products, communicate, manage change, leadership Consumers use storytelling to make sense of their lives Effective at persuasion as they involve people emotionally Elements of storytelling: o Theme: hardship, reciprocity, defining moments, anticipation o Plot: crisis, help along the way, goal is achieved Stories used to:  Encourage customers to want something  Identify with a brand  Storytelling in organisations can be effective

o User generated content  Consumers creating content about a brand  Primarily online eg social media, blogs  Relatable to other consumers  Not always positive  Published, creative & personal...