Fundamental of Advertising Strategies - Essay Example

TABLE OF CONTENTS Fundamentals of Advertising 3 Introduction 3 Advertising Strategies 4 Advertising and Communication 6 Spokespersons in Advertising 6 Advantages of Spokespersons in Advertising 7 Celebrities in Advertising 8 Advantages of Celebrity Advertising 8 Conclusion 10 References 11 Fundamentals of Advertising [Name of the Student] [Name of the University] Fundamentals of Advertising Introduction Advertising constitutes a kind of market activity that is characterised by communication and inducement. The objective is to affect the attitude, behaviour, and cognition of the consumer towards the advertised product. Contemporary enterprises prefer celebrity endorsement advertisement for their products, as these are considered to be the most effective (Huang, Hsieh, & Chen, 2011, p. 9971). Nevertheless, there are attendant unexpected risks involved in such advertising. The favourable regard for the celebrity, among the consumers, may fail to transform into increased sales. Moreover, if the endorsing celebrity were to be experiencing scandals, then this could actually damage the corporate image of the advertiser. In addition, recommendation fatigue could ensue, if there were to be a high frequency use of the same celebrity (Huang, Hsieh, & Chen, 2011, p. 9971). It has been a long standing practice with marketers to improve the appeal of a brand by resorting to celebrity endorsement. Celebrities, unlike non – celebrities, can significantly improve the image of a product, and render an advertisement outstanding. In fact, a global celebrity can successfully traverse language barriers and promote a product in the international market. They serve to develop a para – social relationship, despite the absence of direct contact with consumers (Tantiseneepong, Gorton, & White, 2012, p. 57). Advertising Strategies A major advertising strategy is to resort to celebrity endorsers. In this advertising technique, a famous person recommends a product in an advertisement. It has been demonstrated by several studies that celebrity endorsers enhance recall rates with regard to marketing communications. Moreover, this strategy achieves a positive impact upon the attitude of consumers with regard to the brand (Boyland, Harrold, Kirkham, & Halford, 2012, p. 659). Consequently, there is an increase in the likelihood that these consumers would purchase the product. As such, these celebrities increase sales, due to an increase in attention towards advertisements, in which they participate. Furthermore, there is an extension of the celebrities’ credibility from their areas of fame to the product that they endorse (Boyland, Harrold, Kirkham, & Halford, 2012, p. 659). Moreover, sensationalism has made its way into marketing strategy, as consumers tend to identify to a greater degree with products that are endorsed by the so called regular guy. As a result, advertisers now believe that celebrity endorsement is very effective. The relationship between the acceptability of an advertisement and the credibility of the celebrity endorsing it has been illustrated by the advertisements relating to Apple Computers, Milk, and Pepsi (Menon, 2001). Furthermore, there have been very few studies on comparing the effectiveness of celebrity advertising with that of non – celebrity advertising. In one study by Friedman et al, the celebrity version of the advertisement obtained a higher rating than the non – celebrity version. This was in the areas of advertising believability, probable taste of the product, and purchase intention. Atkin and Block conducted a study that led to the conclusion that celebrity advertisement had a greater favourable effect on consumers, in comparison with non – celebrity advertisements. Therefore one is led to the conclusion that celebrity advertising is more effective than non – celebrity advertising (Menon, 2001). In addition to psychology, attitude is a notion that is crucial to social sciences and marketing. It has been defined as a learning orientation that results in constant liking or disinclination towards a specific object. Kotler had suggested that attitude denotes an individual’s lasting assessment of action intention, emotional feelings, and like or dislike towards an object or idea (Lin, 2011, p. 8447). In their work, Schiffman and Kanuk have contended that attitudes denote a psychological tendency that results from continuous assessment and learning regarding a subject. It represents the personal standards of an individual. Consumer attitude resulting from advertising can be classified as affection and cognition. Affection denotes feeling, whereas cognition represents thinking. In addition, affection mirrors the internal feelings of an individual, and cognition stands for the evaluation arrived at by an individual regarding an external stimulation (Lin, 2011, p. 8447). The purchase intention and trust of customers increases whenever negative messages reduce in significance and appear earlier. Positive attitude towards an advertisement among consumers is promoted by a spokesperson. The empirical studies of the past, relating to advertising spokespersons disclosed that such individuals were chiefly experts and celebrities (Lin, 2011, p. 8448). Advertising and Communication Audiences have been transformed from mute spectators to interactive participants, with regard to advertisements. Therefore any communication model has to take into consideration, this all important development (Kenyon, Wood, & Parsons, 2008, p. 276). A major possibility with advertisements is that they can correlate products with historical and cultural events or the lives of their audience. As such, consumers tend to understand advertisements on the basis of the cultural connotations that they have inherited (Kenyon, Wood, & Parsons, 2008, p. 278). This enables them to interpret and change implications to conform to their views and values. Spokespersons in Advertising The classification of advertising spokespersons into consumers and experts was performed by Tsai. This was with the intention of examining the effect of appeal and advertising spokespersons upon the strength of advertising. With regard to purchase intentions and advertising attitudes, it was discovered that celebrities had the greatest effectiveness (Lin, 2011, p. 8448). In a study by Peng, cell phones or beverages with celebrities were combined with celebrities, consumers, and experts, in order to determine the effectiveness of advertising. She found that celebrities enhanced opinions of attraction and reliability, in the context of advertising attitudes (Lin, 2011, p. 8448). This was with respect to products with high involvement. Advantages of Spokespersons in Advertising Subsequently, Atkin and Block made a study of the influence of three celebrities and three non – celebrity spokespersons upon consumer attitudes towards the advertisement, its nature, and product image, relating to alcoholic beverages. The recommendation by the celebrities was seen to have a greater impact upon the younger consumers. It was also discerned that product image scores were more favourable, when the product was advertised by a celebrity. With regard to endorsements of products by higher corporate officials, it was found that there was an increase in the trustworthiness of these products (Frieden, 1984, p. 34). Baker and Churchill have shown from their study that physical attractiveness affected æsthetic evaluation, without influencing reasoning or natural tendency (Petroshius, 1989, p. 218). The celebrities, in the context of advertising, include the famous who are directly associated with the category of the product being advertised; as well as those who have achieved recognition for their outstanding performance in areas unconnected to the product being advertised (Frieden, 1984, p. 33). A contemporary development has been the introduction of top notch corporate officials in television advertisements. Moreover, commercials feature typical consumers and technicians as spokespersons for some specific product (Frieden, 1984, p. 33). Celebrities in Advertising The increasing media muddle and prevalence of a milieu, in which products have become more generic, have served to render celebrity endorsements as the favoured form of attracting the attention of the target market. The use of an easily recognisable individual or team that brings about exhilaration has the capacity to cleave through the clutter and render a product the focus of attention (Swerdlow & Swerdlow, 2003, p. 16). Advantages of Celebrity Advertising Subsequent to capturing attention, it is up to the content of the advertisement or the celebrity’s charisma to effect the sale of the product. For instance, the Nike advertisement campaign, during the 2002 World Cup series, consisted of soccer stars garbed in the soccer apparel of this company and playing in a tournament. The attention of soccer players, who were the target market, was immediately attracted by this advertisement (Swerdlow & Swerdlow, 2003, p. 16). Another major advantage associated with celebrity endorsement is increase in product awareness. Such awareness is the first step in the purchase process. It is essential for the target market to be aware of a product, otherwise there will be no possibility of the product being purchased by the target market (Swerdlow & Swerdlow, 2003, p. 16). Although, such awareness of the product can be achieved by any form of supplemental advertising, celebrity endorsement will have the maximum effect. Such advertising will substantially increase the possibility of product recall. Moreover, this will attach the charm and success associated with the celebrity to the product (Swerdlow & Swerdlow, 2003, p. 16). It has always been a top priority for companies to increase awareness regarding their product. In one study 22 companies were requested to select the most important criteria from 37 selections. The results of this study disclosed that celebrity endorsement was chosen by companies as it had a marked effect upon product awareness (Swerdlow & Swerdlow, 2003, p. 16). Furthermore, celebrity endorsements have the capacity to influence purchase decisions. This highlights the significance of having a direct correlation in place, between the celebrity and the product. The target audience will be convinced of the qualities of a product, only when the celebrity is regarded as being credible or an expert on the product (Swerdlow & Swerdlow, 2003, p. 16). Some examples of celebrities who are directly related to the advertised product category are; Jackie Stewart for the Ford Motor Company, and Chryl Tiegs for Cover Girl Makeup. On the other hand, Jimmy Connors promoting Paine – Webber, and Arnold Palmer doing the same for Lanier office products are examples of extraordinarily successful people advertising products to which they are unrelated (Frieden, 1984, p. 33). Kamen et al, had performed a study, wherein they had analysed the influence of celebrities in advertising. This related to the negative responses received by Amoco regarding their advertisement featuring the singer, lyricist, actor, and author Johnny Cash. These responses were unsolicited and resulted in research to monitor acceptance of the advertisement by the trade and the consumers. The initially received negative responses were established by this research as being unrepresentative. The general public had accepted the endorsement made by Johnny Cash (Frieden, 1984, p. 34). Conclusion In addition to the intrinsic worth of goods or services, the manner in which these are displayed for the benefit of the consumer assumes tremendous significance. Realising this fundamental precept, the advertising industry has ceaselessly been exploring several strategies to woo consumers and influence their decision to purchase the advertised product. A very powerful measure, in this context, is that of celebrity advertising. The effect upon the subconscious of the potential consumers is marked, in such advertising. The competence, extraordinary skill and other positive features of the celebrity tend to be transferred to the advertised product. Celebrity advertising has generated enormous increases in sales, and has emerged as a favourite advertising technique. In addition, top corporate officials have occasionally proved to be successful spokespersons, in promoting the trustworthiness of products. Moreover, communication plays a significant role in influencing consumers. However, several studies have shown that communication should not depart radically from the cultural values and beliefs that have devolved upon them. References Boyland, E. J., Harrold, J. A., Kirkham, T. C., & Halford, J. C. (2012). Research report Persuasive techniques used in television advertisements to market foods to UK children. Appetite, 58(2), 658 – 664. Frieden, J. B. (1984). Advertising Spokesperson Effects: An Examination of Endorser Type and Gender on Two Audiences. Journal of Advertising Research, 38 – 41. Huang, W.–S., Hsieh, T., & Chen, H.–S. (2011). The advertisement effectiveness of animated spokes – characters. African Journal of Business Management, 5(23), 9971 – 9978. Kenyon, A. J., Wood, E. H., & Parsons, A. (2008). Exploring the Audiences Role: A Decoding Model for the 21st Century. Journal of Advertising Research, 48(2), 276 – 286. Lin, L.–Y. (2011). The impact of appeals and advertising spokespersons on advertising attitudes and purchase intentions. African Journal of Business Management, 5(21), 8446 – 8457. Menon, M. K. (2001, April). Celebrity Advertising: An Assessment of Its Relative Effectiveness. Retrieved August 31, 2013, from University of Central Arkansas: http://sbaer.uca.edu/research/sma/2001/04.pdf Petroshius, S. M. (1989). An Empirical Analysis of Spokesperson Characteristics on Advertisement and Product Evaluations. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 17(3), 217 – 225. Swerdlow, R. A., & Swerdlow, M. R. (2003). Celebrity Endorsers: Spokesperson Selection Criteria and Case Examples of FREDD. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 7(2), 13 – 26. Tantiseneepong, N., Gorton, M., & White, J. (2012). Evaluating responses to celebrity endorsements using projective techniques. Qualitative Market Research, 15(1), 57 – 69. Read More