Advertising in the 21st century.Communication and Consumer Behavior - Essay Example

? Advertising in the 21st century. Communication and Consumer Behavior Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts Tutor’s Name Outline Introduction Communicative Function of the Advertising Process Effect of the Communication on the Advertising Industry How Business Objectives are Achieved Consumer Behavior Conclusion Introduction Advertising is often regarded as the engine of trade and business development, as it helps to attract customers, draw the attention of the competitors, and even define the evolution path of the entire industry. Regardless of the fact that the key function of the advertising process is to persuade the target audience in the benefits of purchasing goods or services, the communication function of advertising is essentially wider. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to analyze the communication and customer behavior function of the advertising process from the perspective of arranging sustainable communication with the target audience, including feedback. Considering the fact that advertising can also change the overall industry approaches towards the communication process, the paper will be focused on the aspects of widening these approaches, and outlining the basic strategies of adjusting and regulating the communication with the target audience, basing on the latest communication technologies. Communicative Function of the Advertising Process First, it should be stated that in accordance with the research by Carbaugh (2008), the advertising that is based on the communication process is featured with five distinctive aspects: It differs from the standard communication process, as the basic function of advertising does not involve feedback, and it may be initiated without the mutual agreement of the parties. The general principle of the effective advertising is explained by the perception aspect. This means that perceptional patterns, as well as cultural codes of the target audience define whether the communication process can be initiated. For instance, a company that produces meat products will never be able to hit the vegetarian segment of the audience. The communication process approaches can be changed depending on the consumer’s involvement. The further step of the communication process is associated with the purchases. Hence, the motives that stimulate purchases, are originated by the communication process, as well as perception aspects of the target audience. Additionally, the communication process of advertising influences the customer behavior. The customers change their involvement into the communication process depending on the perception patterns of the advertising strategy. In accordance with the basics of the advertising theory, the communication process simplifies the customers’ movement through the customer behavior stages. (Lee and Ferguson, 2002) Therefore, this process is often regarded as a set of standardized matters, while the influence of advertisement is quite individual. The stages are given on the scheme below: While some customers pass all the stages quickly, the others may stop at any of them without passing to the final one (Person, 2010). This means that the communicative function of the advertisement process is to create and carry a message for the audience, and this message should stimulate the audience move to the final stage (“Purchase”). The leverage function of the communication is often regarded as a supplementary aspect of the allover advertisement process (Tanaka, 2010).It creates the necessary background for accelerating the customers’ understanding of the product benefits. Nevertheless, the communication itself can not be the sufficient aspect of the effective advertising; therefore, the strategy is often backed up by various images: either verbal or visual (however, they are often combined). Hence, in accordance with the basics of the advertising theory, advertising and marketing are grounded on the matters of thoughts control. (Jian-Hua and Zhi-Yun, 2010) Mass media advertisement and communication creates the necessary images that are used by market and advertisement experts for fitting the products and services to these images. The key emphasis is made on periodic repetition of the verbal and visual patterns for fixing them in the minds of the audience. If the image is positive, and associated with benefits, pleasures etc, customers skip to the “purchase” phase quicker, and vice versa. Therefore, the communicative function of advertising is aimed at creating and forming the thoughts, expectations, and values of the target audience through media. However, the images and messages have to coincide with the perceptional codes, expectations, and cultural barriers of the audience. Otherwise, all the messages will stay beyond potential customers’ perception. Effect of the Communication on the Advertising Industry The key aspect of the advertising industry development is focused on the personalization of the communication process with the target audience. In the light of this statement, it should be emphasized that the actual importance of the communicative function is in finding the unique approach towards every particular customer (basing on their ethnic, racial, religious, and other backgrounds, as well as preferences, education, aesthetic tastes and so on). In fact, mass media advertisement can not be personalized, however, considering the fact that the communication process has moved to the web space, the latest advertising tendencies are featured with specially targeted ads: context advertisement, mail advertisement, spam, and ad teasers. In fact, there is no confusion when mail ads and spam are mentioned: mail ads are the commercial messages in special ad widgets, and spam mailing depends on the latest browser history. Therefore, the communication process personalization is performed by the means of cookies and social networks. Additionally, in accordance with the research by Jia, Lu, and Heisey (2002) it should be emphasized that social networks are regarded as the effective communication tools with the target audience, and they have caused the rapid evolution of the advertising approaches. The latest changes in the advertising industry, caused by the communication process, have also originated innovative regulation tools. On the one hand, the industry became less structured, and more self-regulated. On the other hand, the target audience has essentially more chances to regulate and customize the advertisement and communication process. (Person, 2010) In fact, self-regulation, and customers’ regulation are the two sides of the same coin, as customers are free to select the categories of the advertisement, or even block any. Nevertheless, such a customization, and properly arranged communication process have made possible the violation of the legal regulations. Tanaka (2010) emphasizes that semi-legal drugs can be promoted by the means of teaser ads, erotic and pornographic resources can find their target audience by the means of spam, and specialized networks can be used for finding explosives, radioactive or bacteriological materials, weapons, and so on. Another aspect of the advertising industry evolution is closely associated with the economic regulation principles. Therefore, while the prime cost of the traditional advertisement (mass media, billboards, city lights etc.) involved the costs of the materials needed for the advertisement production, the latest communication tendencies have lowered the prime costs essentially. In the light of this fact, it should be emphasized that the economic aspect of the industry became less important in comparison with the traditional mass media advertising (Carbaugh, 2008). How Business Objectives are Achieved The general principle of the latest communicative function of the advertising process is explained by the necessity to arrange stable communication, and get feedback from the target audience. Therefore, all the business objectives are achieved by the means of six key approaches: 1. Demonstrating a product. This approach presupposes direct communication with the audience, and demonstrating the effectiveness of a product / service to a customer, or a group of customers. This stage is aimed at involving the audience into the communication process, for the potential customers could find the pros (that will overweight all the cons) by themselves. 2. Building image. This strategy is aimed at improving the positioning of the brand. Person (2010) emphasizes that if the company’s name is more essential than the product itself, the company resorts to image building. This is performed by confirming the reliability of the company, the availability of the products, the price levels, etc. 3. Changing perceptions. This approach is used for changing the existing image of the company. Such a turn may be needed for improving company’s reputation, hitting a wider target audience (adding another segment), or emphasizing the company’s competitive advantages. 4. Special promotion. This approach is featured with numerous opportunities due to the latest communication approaches. Therefore, companies offer discounts, coupons, bonuses and so on through social media, mailing data bases, or SMS mailing. 5. Low cost media strategy. This is used when a company needs to hit any specific target audience segment. Therefore, a company finds the necessary audience on the web, and establishes direct communication process with potential customers, offering discounts, bonuses, and so on. (Potential customers can leave messages, and get replies and consultation from company representatives) 6. Internet marketing. This strategy presupposes creating a blog in the niche of the main company’s product, and collecting the audience among readers. The company may share specific knowledge associated with the product, offer customer support information, help in solving small problems and issues that do not require certified assistance. These strategies are based on the communication process that is often regarded as the basic aspect of the contemporary advertising strategy. In the light of this fact, it should be emphasized that the actual importance of the described strategies is closely associated with the necessity of getting a strong feedback from the target audience. However, regularity may be regarded as the only key requirement for this feedback (Carbaugh, 2008), as a customer (or a potential customer) may offer his / her feedback with a single mouse-click. Business objectives that are established from the perspective of the advertising strategies become easily achievable due to the mass popularity of social networks and social media. Hence, the actual importance of the business objectives can be explained by the thesis that advertisement is not simply a trade engine, but it is mainly aimed at establishing trustful relations with the target audience, as customers have to trust the company for purchasing products or services. The strategies, regarded above, help to establish stable and trustworthy relations. Consumer Behavior Previously to defining the principles of customer behavior, it should be emphasized that in accordance with the research by Carbaugh (2008), any advertising strategy is oriented at the active segment of the target audience: the segment that is not reluctant to give feedback. Therefore, communication process should not simply carry informational function, but it needs to stimulate the audience to communicate in response. However, the response, which is stipulated by the character of any particular consumer, depends on the nature of a product as well, and can be featured with the characteristics enlisted below: Emotional or Reasonable response Positive or Negative response Active or Passive response Direct or Indirect response Therefore, depending on the combination of the described response types, the consumer behavior is analyzed. Emotional response, obtained by the means of the communicative advertising channel is regarded as the most complicated, as emotional people can change their response from positive to negative and vice versa without logically grounded reasons. On the other hand, emotional responses are 75% active, while reasonable are featured with 15% of active responses (Jian-Hua and Zhi-Yun, 2010). However, in accordance with the statement by Lee and Ferguson (2002) consumer behavior is influenced through the cognitive aspects of the communication process. It is natural, that consumers wish to know as much as possible concerning a product or a service. Hence, if a company provides trustworthy and reliable information, it can affect the consumer behavior slightly (and get a more stable feedback). The brand preference is the key factor of the consumer behavior that advertising should affect. Consequently, the communicative function of the advertising process has to be focused on the matters of emphasizing the evident and concealed pros of the product, as well as the competitive advantages that the audience can get. Conclusion The communicative function of the advertising process is the essential part of the overall trading process. The communicative function is crucial for the advertising industry development, reaching business objectives that are set by the company, as well as for controlling and regulating consumer behavior. These features are achieved in assistance with the latest mass communication technologies, as well as the personalization of the advertising process. Moreover, the actual importance of the communication is explained by the additional opportunities for the advertisement strategies: arranging direct communication with the audience, getting feedbacks, creating communities, and so on. References Carbaugh, D. (Ed.). (2008). Cultural Communication and Intercultural Contact. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Jia, W., Lu, X., & Heisey, D. R. (Eds.). (2002). Chinese Communication Theory and Research: Reflections, New Frontiers, and New Directions. Westport, CT: Ablex Publishing. Jian-Hua, Z., & Zhi-Yun, D. (2010). On Translation of Advertisements from the Perspective of Culture/sur la Traduction de Publicite Dans Une Perspective Culturelle. Cross - Cultural Communication, 6(3), 117 Lee, M. J., & Ferguson, M. A. (2002). Effects of Anti-tobacco Advertisements Based on Risk-taking Tendencies: Realistic Fear Vs. Vulgar Humor. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 79(4), 945 Person, A. N. (2010). Behavioral Advertisement Regulation: How the Negative Perception of Deep Packet Inspection Technology May Be Limiting the Online Experience. Federal Communications Law Journal, 62(2), 435 Tanaka, K. (2010). Advertising Language: A Pragmatic Approach to Advertisements in Britain and Japan. 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