The University of Hertfordshire

Business School

Introduction to Marketing
Communications
Week 2 Advertising Theory

5th February 2015

Introduction to Marketing
Communications
There are four main types of marketing
communications:
Advertising
Direct marketing
PR
Sales promotions
There are two layers to explore in using these four
media in MARCOMS strategy relating to:
What the client wants to say
How you say it
 IMC Tools
Advertising Direct Direct
TV
Messages
Press
Transport/ Direct
Outdoor Mail Internet
Cinema
Personal
Radio
Internet Selling

Sales Promotion Point-of-

PR purchase
Word-of-
Sponsorship Sales
mouth
PR Promotion

Buzz Ambient Events

MPR
Product
Placement
 Communication Process

From the moment of exposure to an

ad, a mental reaction can occur.
Giep Franzen, (September 1999)
Linear Model of Communication
(Wilbur Schramm 1955)
Chris Fill (2013)
Linear Model of Communication

Wilbur Scramm (1955) developed what is now accepted

as the basic model of mass communications The
Linear Model of Communication. The components are:

1) Source - The individual or organisation sending the

message.
2) Encoding - Transferring the intended message into
a symbolic style that can be transmitted.
3) Signal - The transmission of the message using
particular media
Linear Model of Communication

4) Decoding - Understanding the symbolic style of

the message in order to understand the message
5) Receiver - The individual or organisation receiving
the message
6) Feedback - The receivers communication back to
the source on receipt of the message
7) Noise Distortion of the communication process,
making it difficult for the receiver to interpret the
message as intended by the source
 Influences on the
Communication Process
The influence of media within the communication
process
Technological advancements
Marketing at electronic speeds
Reaching targets in various environments
Target audience are now selective and information seekers
Multimedia facilities enables messages through a range of
formats
The influence of people on the communication
process
Word of mouth
 Communication
What is communication?
Exchange information
Convey meaning
Effective communication
The intended message is received
Ineffective communication
Message rejection, misinterpretation,
misunderstanding
 The need for Stimuli
Approx. 90% of the stimuli that individuals
perceive comes to them as a result of sight.
The remaining 10%, results from hearing.
Therefore advertising relies heavily on these
stimuli. However, because of possible
distortions in the perception of a given message,
what the consumer receives may not be what
the advertiser intended.
 A single step
communications model
Wilber Schramm developed a process of
communications model in 1955.
This basic model assumes that the sender is active, the
receiver is inactive or passive and the message is
comprehended properly. In reality THIS IS RARE!

Sender Message Receiver

The two-Step Communications
model with opinion leaders

(Katz & Lazarsfeld 1955)

R
R
R
OL
R
Sender Message R

OL R
R
R
R
 How does Advertising Work?

For a message to be successful it needs to be

meaningful to its recipient.

There are various hierarchy of effects models that

explain how advertising works:

AIDA Model (1925)

Lavidge & Steiner (1961)
DAGMAR - Colley (1961)
 AIDA Model
Attention (What is this)

Interest (It looks good)

Desire (I would love to own one)

Action (ill get one of it)

Lavidge & Steiner
Awareness (advertisement exposure)

Knowledge (additional info)

Liking (taking interest in the product)

Preference (convince customer to like their brand)

Conviction (sampling and testing to create desire)

Purchase (getting the GOODs!)

Traditional Response Hierarchy
Model
Cognitive stage what the receiver knows or
perceives about the particular advertisement

Affective stage - receivers feelings or affect

level (like or dislike) for the particular
advertisement and brand

Conative or behavioural stage - consumers

action toward the brand: trial, purchase,
adoption, or rejection
 DAGMAR
Unawareness (unaware of the product)

Awareness (creating awareness thru advertising)

Comprehension (create deeper understanding of the product)

Conviction (Creating confidence in the product)

Action (purchase decision)

 Does Advertising Work?
The fact that so much money and resource is put
behind advertising by so many organisations is
testimony to the belief that advertising really does work.

However, there is little known about how advertising

works.

Advertising is seen to have a positive effect on

awareness, attention, interests, perceptions, opinions,
attitudes and sales.
 Cognitive Processing
Cognitive Processing tries to determine
how external information is transformed
into meaning or patterns of thought and
how these meanings are combined to
form judgements (Olsen and Peter, 1987)
Advertising Strong or Weak
Force?
J.P. Jones (1990) and A.S.C. Erenberg
(1999) are in debate on whether
advertising is a strong or weak force.
Advertising Strong or Weak
Force?

J.P. Jones (1990) sees advertising as a

strong force and has shown through
sophisticated sales analysis that
advertising has a direct and positive
impact on sales
Advertising Strong or Weak
Force?
Erenberg (1999) in contrast argues that
advertising does not work through the
mechanisms of persuasion
Strong School of Advertising

Persuasion theory - What Does this

mean?
Strong School of Advertising
Persuasion theory assumes:

that consumers make lengthy informative

decisions.
that we can be persuaded
that advertising can change our attitude
that we progress in a linear fashion learn, feel,
do!
therefore that we are active, rational problem
solvers and/or
that sometimes we are less motivated and less
likely to think, so can be persuaded through
peripheral cues.
Weak School of Advertising

Habit theory what does this mean?

Weak School of Advertising
Habit theory what does this mean?
Selective observation of ads with prior
knowledge of products or current users
Advertising is employed as a defence
Retains loyal customers
Reinforces existing attitudes
Increases product or brand usage
nudged to repurchase
Post purchase dissonance
Rational or Emotional or both?

Extended problem solving

Limited problem solving
Habitual decision making
References and Further Reading
Fill, C., Hughes, G., De Francesco, S., (2012), Advertising: Strategy,
Creativity & Media, Pearson
Fill, C., (2013) Marketing Communications, Prentice Hall, 6th Edition
Pickton & Broderick (2004) Integrated Marketing Communications,
Pearson Ed 4
Strong (1925)
Lavidge and Steiner (1961)
Mc Guire (1978)
Olsen and Peter (1987)
Greenwald (1968)
Wright (1973)
Ballantyne (2004)
Kent and Taylor (2002)
Jones (1990)
Ehrenburgh (1999)