Marketing of a Product Communication - Term Paper Example

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS USE OF EMOTIONS IN ADVERTISING Table of Contents Page Executive Summary 3 2 Introduction4 2.1 Role of Advertising 4 3 Advertising & Communication 6 4 Emotions & Beliefs 7 5 Case Studies 9 6 Conclusions 10 7 Bibliography 12 1 Executive Summary In marketing of a product communication plays a vital role. How a product is perceived by a customer is the most important issue as it is his decision to buy or reject. It has been demonstrated that the customer buys a product on basis of his need. While this must be a functional need; a purchase decision is often swayed by the emotional need. Emotional needs have been discussed in details and case studies have been shown to stress that strategies touching the emotional chords in customers have offered remarkable beneficial results. 2 Introduction Marketing a product requires great understanding of the consumer. It is the consumer buying behaviour that will finally decide the fate of a product. Having a solid understanding of customer’s means having a solid understanding about how customers behave, their motivations, their perceptions and preferences. It means segmenting the market correctly and not in the way that most companies think about segmentation It means having a profound understanding of their attitudes, their knowledge and their emotions. Consumer behaviour studies reveal that they are more influenced by their culture and belief and less by the value of the product itself. The utility of the product is secondary. Beliefs are developed over a period of time and are a product of customs and practices of a community or group developed as a result of either religious or ethical values. 2.1 Role of Advertising In modern practice advertisement plays a great role in marketing any product. The markets have now grown from small outlets to those gigantic ones which stock everything under the sun. There is great variety and the customer is like to miss many of them without any information. This is communicated to the prospective buyers through the medium of advertising. The media is divided between 1. TV Advertising Effectiveness – Commercial spots, pods, and product placement 2. Radio Advertising Effectiveness – Commercial spots 3. Print Advertising Effectiveness – Magazines, Newspapers, Billboards 4. Internet Advertising Effectiveness – Popups, One-liners, AdSense Through these mediums the customer is approached with passionate pleas telling him of the virtues of the product and showing him how it will be of immense use for him. The winner is the one with the most convincing advertisement. The great debate is about the effectiveness of an advertisement. What kind of advertisement or message is most convincing in a short span of 30 seconds in case of a TV ad or a slightly longer stay online on the internet? Amongst the latest forays is the emotional appeal that has become so common today that it is believed to be the most effective of all. It is known that customers buy products to meet their needs. Therefore a deodorant meets the need of stopping sweat and eliminating odor. This need is functional and the ad must show this as a must have feature to be effective. But it has been proven through market research that the emotional need of a customer is equally strong and often compels him or her to a purchase decision. What feelings are aroused in advertising is the answer to the emotional side. For example in the above cited case if the customer feels that this particular product will “make me comfortable and confident when people are around”, then it would have addressed the emotional need of the customer and will possibly result in a purchase. If this is conveyed in a TV commercial or a print advertisement by a well known figure it will carry more influence. Emotional advertising is a subject of growing interest to advertising managers because of its potential for increasing the effectiveness of marketing communications Emotions that are portrayed by actors in ads may communicate hedonic product benefits and enhance attention to the ad. Emotional responses aroused within viewers have been found to affect consumers reactions to ads and actually enhance attention to the ad), affect brand attitudes and influence brand memories. The also determine the nature and extent of brand differentiation. It is widely believed that emotions can change the beliefs of consumers. 3 Advertising & Communication In these busy times it is difficult to hold the attention of a customer and relate a story, whether in form of a 30 second spot on Television or a full page advertisement in a glossy magazine. Getting attention is half the battle but the other half is having enough attraction and relevance in the message to make the target audience identify itself with it. Predominantly, emotion is always going to play some part in terms of influencing and motivating the communication process that will convert the odd glance to interest and then encourage action. The goals and objectives of the seller, along with choosing the right segment of the market, will play critical roles in determining what mix of emotion and function will help to connect with the hearts and minds of prospects. There is need to understand how emotions effect the human mind. There are two distinct manifestations of emotions. Emotional Flow, and Emotional Integration. Emotional flow is clearly understood as the extent to which emotions shown in a commercial are supposed to change their nature and/or intensity during the course of the commercial. Thorson (1991) identified a variable called emotional flow which represented not what was portrayed in the ad but rather what viewers felt in response to an ad. Emotional flow was indicated by changes in the valence and intensity of emotions experienced by the consumers while watching a commercial. Thorson found that the intensity of consumers emotional responses influenced attention, brand liking, and learning. The next step is Emotional integration which is defined as the extent to which the advertisement links between the brand, on the one hand, and the emotional responses of the ads characters on the other. In ads for which emotional integration is high, the brand is perceived as a causal agent to the characters emotions in the ad. For example there is high emotional integration when in an advertisement the ads characters experience an emotional benefit or outcome from using the brand. Emotional integration is a relatively new thought in advertising and was recently introduced to the advertising literature by MacInnis and Stayman (1993). The potential for this idea is strong, as they found that commercials varied widely in the level of emotional integration they exhibited. They also found that high emotional integration influenced feeling responses, perceptions of the brands relevance, and brand attitudes, particularly in ads using negative appeals. Another indicator of a connection between the ads characters and the viewer are the intensity of feelings. With increased intensity displayed by the characters, there will be high emotional integration 4 Emotions & Beliefs The question that arises here is that are these emotions capable of changing the beliefs that are a product of long standing customs and practices? Beliefs as explained earlier are a result of long periods of cultivated habits in groups and communities. In individuals however they become less or more intense depending on individual environment and upbringing. It is argued here that while groups are homogenous, individuals are heterogeneous. Groups are likely to act as one when there is strong evidence of leadership and bondage. It is also more likely where the group is in close contact and when it lives in proximity. Strong communications also act as binders. Ethnic and religious groups fall under this category. These groups are difficult to influence with mere display of emotions. The emotional flow in their case is not strong enough and is superficial, something to gaze through without registering as the mind is foreclosed. The marketer will need to break them out of their shells with a very strong and convincing emotional appeal. This is where the brilliance of communications comes into play. It is common enough knowledge that all groups or communities have icons and celebrities around which they revolve. Their actions are emulated and they are revered in various degrees. The larger the groups, the more numerous the celebrities and icons will be among them. When they display their emotions in an advertisement they are capable of changing the faiths and belief of the viewers by involving them in the ad. It is a combination of emotions and the message that the marketers use for maximum effect. The actor here is plays the larger role and is able to alter or sway the belief. It is the executional effect that is relevant and the message is secondary and supportive. Dynamic ads, as in Television, are more engaging and therefore more effective in the making of Purchase decisions. This is because the changes of emotions that characterize these ads add the element of drama to it. Thus, both emotional flow and emotional integration should affect involvement in the ad (but for different reasons). Emotional flow and emotional integration may also affect purchase intentions by means of their effects on understanding, relevance, and brand image. Emotional integration which unequivocally demonstrates the emotional benefits that accrue from product use that these induces a vivid trial experience which helps consumers understand what the usage of the product will be like. Assuming the experience is favourable; it indicates future support the consumer will receive from product use. Consistent with these ideas, Puto and Wells (1984; Puto, 1986) propose that empathy strongly influences ad persuasiveness and choice behaviour by converting the viewers experiences of using the product. Bagozzi and Moore (1994) have also shown that empathy is related to consumer action. 5 Case Studies on the Net Travelocity launched an integrated campaign with an emotional directive as reproduced below:   “Travelocity competes in a very cluttered and retail-oriented category. All travel retailers are out to get consumers the best deal for their travels with no one clearly differentiating themselves. Overall Objective was to bridge an emotional connection with Travelocity users and the brand via online marketing efforts. Campaign Strategy: The agency wanted to convey real-life travel stories that connected users with Travelocity. To achieve this, they created an emotionally appealing unit that conveyed Travelocity’s brand attributes to travel consumers, as well as a core message that Travelocity understands travel is more than just tickets; it’s about finding new experiences.” As a result brand awareness was raised by 18%, while online purchase increased by 37% from amongst the core target audience. (This campaign also won the agency a Best of the Net 2002 Award. (Case Study 1) Milano Moments campaign on iVillage, invited women (among other activities) to share their private Milano indulgences with each other. This essentially delivered a tidal wave of emotion through the combined efforts of interactivity and involvement. The result was that favorability increased by 26% compared to the market norm of 2%, Inducing a smile or extracting a frown is a lot more appealing, especially with customers looking for a feel good factor. (Case study 2) 5 Conclusions How customers perceive a brand is dependant on advertising campaigns that are informative. But being informative is just one aspect and will not result in a purchase decision unless the need of the customer is highlighted to arouse his/her interest. However this will be insufficient and arousal of the emotional need of the customer is essential for purchase activity to take place. Emotional appeals can even change the beliefs of the prospective customer if they are conveyed by faces that have great influence in the customers’ environment and with whom the customer can relate with. Arousing emotional quotient of the customers’ need is therefore the key to a successful campaign. 6 Bibliography Bagozzi, Richard P. and David J. Moore (1994), "Public Service Advertisements: Emotions and Empathy Guide Prosocial Behavior", Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 (January), MacInnis, D. J., Stayman, D. M. (1993). Focal and Emotional Integration: Constructs, Measures and Preliminary Evidence. Journal of Advertising, 22(December), Puto, Christopher P. and William D. Wells (1984),"Informational and Transformational Advertising:The Differential Effects of Time," in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 11, ed. Thomas C. Kinnear,Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research. Case Study 1 available at: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/1052.asp Case Study 2 available at: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/1052.asp Read More