Electronic Advertising to Gain Competitive Advantage - Literature review Example

? Literature Review Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Theoretical framework 3 Developments in Advertising 3 The effects and impacts of electronic advertising 9 Criticisms to Electronic Advertising 9 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 11 Introduction This literature review will look at what other authors have done and researched upon in relation to the use of electronic advertising for the gaining of competitive advantage over competitors especially in relation to the business operations within and around Ghana. The document will consider information that have been researched upon in the field of marketing specifically in the area of electronic advertising. Theoretical framework This study has its base around the theory of Bagwell,2007 who had a comprehensive study on the implications of advertising on the marketing dynamics. In the survey the researcher emphasizes on the persuasive power and nature of advertising and how it is able to shift the customer preferences in relation to the products. The purposes of advertisement is to alter the preferences and tastes of the customers and consumers in relation to the products of the established companies and businesses or in relation to the operations of the company reputations (Doraszelski, Ulrich, Markovich, & Sarit, 2007).This information falls in line with the study of the use of electronic advertising for the purposes of obtaining a competitive advantage in Ghana since it has a comprehensive investigation into the nexus between electronic advertisement and the competitive advantages to companies (Yucelet, Uger.L., & Erderner, 1999). Developments in Advertising Advertising is a very important aspect of companies ability to sell out its products to the consumers .Consumers are very sensitive to the trends , fashions and the development of products within the economy. Forecasts show that the electronic media advertising in Ghana has been developing exponentially over the years (Asiamah, 2012). Research in this area of electronic advertising in Ghana has taken various avenues with many researchers having done case studies of the approaches and methodologies that are applied by the major companies in the country and the results of their means of electronic advertisements. (Asiamah, 2012) analyzed the impacts of the electronic media in the sales of in the country and the relative efficiency of this type of marketing on the business profitability .Further analysis and studies by Zoubkov et al. emphasized on the developments that have occurred in the industry of electronic advertisements in the country and how effective it has had impacts on the developments in the business industry of the country (Ford & Rochwell, 2002). Marketing and especially electronic advertising the act of arresting the intelligence of the humans for the longest time possible so as to be able to get money from the individuals (Bagdikian, 2000).Advertising has been in existence since the early centuries and the first of advertisement were observed in 300 BC when the Babylonians were observed to have been using store signs and street barkers for the promotion of their wares in stores and their business (Zoubkov, Johnson, Young, Fletcher, & Thomas, 2004).With the evolution and development of the mass media advertising has been embedded in our daily lives ,hence the electronic advertising has become the chore of the advertising with many advertisements barraging the daily entertainment and mass media communication means from the social sites to public media like the television ,radio and internet (Christine, 2010). The advertising industry has advanced in the techniques of operations with every year hence the development and sophistication of the approaches that are used at almost all the levels ,nationally and internationally hence the need for quick adaptations to enable sustainability and success of businesses. Advertising has lead to the development of consumerism and has made the luxuries of society to turn into needs and made needs to be where they never existed before. The sad part f the issue of too much advertising is that the society has lost most of its nature and value to issues of concern and this has been replaced by the information that is portrayed in the mass media which has developed and propagated the western culture especially to the African states like in Ghana (Shah, 2008). The competition in today’s business environment is coupled with the economic conditions in the prevailing world of business. Therefore all the kinds of businesses and companies do the best possible to survive in the business environment and remain relevant under the prevailing conditions. Therefore all the companies want to have a fair share of the market and posses an advantage in relation to the success in the business environment therefore the electronic advertising is gaining a great growth around the globe. Because of the issue, organizations and entities involved in marketing especially in electronic marketing are active in the provision of such services so as to be able to gain the competitive advantage in relation to the business rivalry and for their own business picture and social perception (Asiamah, 2012). Zoubkov et al,2004 reported that a majority of the world consumers, the exposure to advertising is just normal as sleeping ,breathing or eating. Advertising to these companies in the current generation is just similar to living near the main roads since you have to adapt and learn how to live with the noise. The companies in the present generation have to adopt and accept the most appropriate and efficient means of carrying out advertisements so as to be able to achieve the grip needed in the competitive business environment. Advertisements may be seen as noise but it is not only but a constant visual reminder of how we should live, look at issues and feel about commodities in the market. For example in the US the population is exposed to about 3500 electronic adverts on a daily basis. The consumers and producers tend to block most of the background information because they act as noise yet this still have a massive impact on their lives (David, 2009). The constant flow of adverts in the daily lives of consumers have a direct effect on every aspect of their lives and the decisions they make in relation to the directions of livelihoods. Work ethics and job preferences are greatly affected and shaped by the ideas that are glamorized in movies and television in which characters are made to portray different types of company products and their desirability and what kinds of company products are better preserved and left for a certain group of people and social class within the society. Justice ,product quality ,ethics of companies and their social responsibilities are promoted, abused or twisted within the electronic media broadcasts like the television, radio and movies. Companies develop new programs constantly telling the consumers which products are good for what and at what time in relation to other products and especially for the better gaining and products for their businesses (Andrew, 2008). Over the recent years there has been an exponential growth in the electronic advertising especially through the internet and this has had a direct effect on the cultures of consumerism and in the shaping of the way of living of most of the populations. Countries become entrenched in consumerism and the under acknowledged issue remain the impacts of consumerism which is majorly the pollution and the degradation of the natural resources in the ecosystem and within the human environment. Marketing of products and the related impacts on consumerism has direct effects on pollution of air, water and land and in relation to the amounts of pollutants produced to this components of the ecosystem. This is majorly because the consumption of most of the products will be out of desire that is created by the effects and results of marketing of the products by the respective companies (Silk, Lisa, & Klein, 2001). World over tourism has been the greatest industry in the previous century and Africa has been one of the fastest growing continent for tourism as was voted by the United Nations World Tourism Organization(UNWTO) and it has been in the leading line for the past two years in a row (Organization, 2007).The growth of the tourism industry has been greatly influenced by a wave of three issues in the past three years within the sector of Communication and Technology: the computer Reservation Systems that was initiated in the 1970s ,the development in the 1980s of the Global Distribution Systems and the growth of the Internet in the 1990s to date which have had the greatest impact ever in the history of marketing and communication about the goods and products of companies internationally. From the experiences and the observed developments and gains in the marketing sector, internet seems to have had the greatest impacts on the development of sectors like the tourism sector. Of all the developments in the sector, the internet clearly has had the greatest impact on the global tourism sector and market in the way that it has affected and effected the perceptions and running of the industry not only in Africa but world over. Research on the effects of the electronic advertisements has been conducted by both the users and the service providers in the sector ,and the results indicate that the industry has been very proactive regarding the general adoption new technology mechanisms for the running of the marketing of the tourism products in the industry especially within Ghana and all over Africa (Mitchel, 2003). Specifically for Ghana the e-business is providing a lot of competitive advantages to the tourism industry, however the comprehension and understanding of the information and technology is still standing at the operational phase. This is attributed to the fact that most of the e-commerce that is related to the e-business in the developing countries is related to the needs of the management of companies to obtain the competitive advantage in relation to the sales of their products rather than in relation to establishing of a sustainable mode and means of tackling of the issues of the common people to sustain the system into the future minus the foreign investors within the picture (Frempong & Stark, 2005). Some companies in Ghana are having few competitors, like in the telecommunication sector where the competition is low do not even have to spend very high on the advertising so as to be able to meet their customer needs .most of the companies use television, radio ,magazines and billboards so as to be in a position to invade into the lives of the customers. With the passing of the years ,the companies have had to develop adaptive techniques so as to compete for the increasing competition in the sector. The adaptive techniques have been in the development and advancement of advertisements so as to be able to attract and retain the best possible customer base .Specifically the mobile service providers have been sponsoring certain events so as to be able to retain specific niches due to the products that they offer .This adverts are always presented in the audio adverts in the radio and the visual adverts in the television and billboards for the massive and comprehensive electronic advertising in the country. The total US spending on advertisements in 2001 was $231 billion which is a clear indication for the need and importance of advertising for any industry. Every economy has to spend some of its income in advertising so as to be able to obtain enough customer base to support its revenue demands (Etzel, Walker, & Stanton, 2004). According to the findings and reporting by Kroeber , 1990 the advertisements are supposed to capture the actual needs of the consumers in the most natural and realistic way possible .The advertisement should be such that it remains within the memory of the customer in the most natural way so that he may be in a position to remember and identify with the product as easy as possible (Kroeber, 1990). The effects and impacts of electronic advertising The data that was collected by the Cooperate branding Index there is a clear impression that the advertising of products has power to measurably affect the consumer practices and choices in relation to the goods and products that are purchased by the consumers in an area or within a country. Data presented herein illustrates that advertisement is very important to the companies so as to be able to know the strides and advancements it is making in the market (Gregory, 1998). Criticisms to Electronic Advertising Advertising has several effects to the society some of which are negative and are viewed to be having adverse negative effects. The criticisms are viewed to be creating perpetual stereotyping ,encouraging the consumers to purchase goods that they may not be requiring ,the advertisements may be viewed to be deceptive, sometimes untruthful or offensive and majors on insecurities and fears upon the consumers of the products in the market .The main purpose of advertisement is to obtain and retain customers ,however sometimes the adverts may be deceptive and fail to meet the acceptable standards of the society. For example there are certain electronic advertisements which always promise discounts but fail to explain the costs related to the stated discounts (Shimp, 1997). Importance of Electronic Advertising in Gaining Competitive Advantage The CEO and founder of the Brand Strategy Company Cooperate Branding had a comprehensive research with its company in the United States of America and the main objective of the research was to determine whether advertising has an effect on the price share. The result had a clear indication that advertising does not only have a gainful impact on the prices but also has a direct and relatively significant effect on the prices of the shares in the market. It also indicated that expenditures on advertising has the greatest contribution to the image of any brand in the market (Gregory, 1997). The findings of Gregory had an inclusion of other related researches carried out by the Lehman Bros for the Orange company in the UK which had an analysis of the effects of advertising in relation to the profitability and efficiency of their sales. There was an advertising campaign that was launched in 1994 which had a slogan that, “the future is bright, the future is orange”. The results of the advertisement is reported to have resulted to six times payback compared to the amount that was injected in the advertisement. Analysis by various researchers indicated that it is important to have a unique advertisement to be able to have a firm grip on the consumers in a manner that is sustainable over a long duration of time (Goodyear, 2000). Conclusion Generally the literature implies that the electronic advertisements have to be creative in creating adverts since the more creative the advert is the longer it stays in the minds of consumers .The electronic adverts also should be made available where the consumers are able to see or hear with little impediments. There are various types and styles of advertisement within the electronic advertisement and each of the adverts appeal to the consumers depending on the brand and image intended to be portrayed. Bibliography Andrew, R. (2008). The Impact of Electronic Media Advertising on Consumerism and Cultural Values. University of Phoenix Marketing Journal , pp.1-16. Asiamah, Y. (2012). Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage Through Ethics in the telecommunication Sector of Ghana. Internatinal Journal of Business and Management Tommorrow , PP.1-12. Bagdikian, B. (2000). The Media Monopoly (6th edition ed.). New York: Beacon Press. Christine, F. (2010). Internet Advertising Advantages. Associated Media Company , pp.1-6. David, S. (2009). The Online Advertising Industry,Economics ,Evaluation and Policy. Journal of Economiv Perspectives , pp.1-41. Doraszelski, D., Ulrich, K., Markovich, P., & Sarit, J. (2007). Advertising Dynamics and Competitive Advantages. London: Hig Beam Research Press. Etzel, P., Walker, R., & Stanton, j. (2004). Marketing (13th Edition ed.). New York: McGraw Hill Publishers. Ford, H., & Rochwell, D. (2002). The Public Perception of Adverting in Todays Society. Advertising Standard Authority Journal , pp.70. Frempong, E., & Stark, S. (2005). Towards African e-Index. Household and Individual ICT Access and Usage Across African Countries , pp.12-17. Goodyear, M. (2000). Marketing Evolves from Selling to Citizenship. London: Market Leaders Press. Gregory, J. (1998). Impacts of Advertisements on Brand Power. London: Oxford Printing Press. Gregory, J. (1997). Impacts of Advertising on the Power of the Brand. New York: Routeledge. Kroeber, R. (1990). How to Develop International Advertising that Work. International Journal of Advertising , pp.12. Mitchel, J. (2003). Connections and Opportunities for Vocational Education and Training . E business and Online Learning , pp.77-98. Organization, W. T. (2007). World Tourism Organization Report. Africa News , pp.1-18. Shah, A. (2008). Cooperte Influence in the Media;Media and Advertising . New York: Routeledge Publishers. Shimp, T. (1997). Advertising Promotion & Supplemental Aspects of Intergrated Marketing Communications (6th Edition ed.). Ohio: Thomson South Western Publishers. Silk, J., Lisa, R., & Klein, P. (2001). The Emerging Position of Internet as an Emerging Advertising Medium. Netnomics Journal , pp.128-248. Yucelet, P., Uger.L., & Erderner, J. (1999). A Study of Measuring the Influence on Advertising and Forecasting Cigaretes Sales. Managerial and Decision Economics Journal , pp.213 218. Zoubkov, P., Johnson, S., Young, N., Fletcher, S., & Thomas, B. (2004). Global Bits:Cooperate Influence in the Media. London: Global Education Center. Read More