Elements of Successful Advertising - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal: What makes a successful advert? Advertising is one of the most important parts of promotional mix of business organizations, which is used to attract more customers and influence their purchasing decisions. This is to ensure that customers purchase product of the company, improving sales of the company in the process. This implies that successful advertising campaigns are crucial for determining sales of organizations. The elements of successful advertising, therefore, make an interesting research topic. This research proposal desires to find out elements that can be crucial for making advertisements successful. In doing so, existing literature on creating successful advertisements are studied to form a basic idea. This study wishes to employ an exploratory framework of research to identify the attitude and belief towards successful advertising. The section of literature review is followed by the research methodology. This is primarily a qualitative research based on primary data collection method through survey. The final section of the paper discusses implications of the research, from both marketing and academic perspective. Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 Research Problem or Question 4 Literature Review 4 Research Methods 7 Implications of research 8 9 Reference List 10 Research Problem or Question The purpose of this paper is to find out factors that render advertising activities of companies successful. In this regard, the research question that has been formulated is: What makes a successful advertising? The aim of this research is to locate relevant factors, which are more influential in changing perceptions of people through advertising. It is likely for some factors to be more important than others, which make some advertising more successful than the rest. As advertising is an important part of the promotional mix, which influences sales of products or services, this research is likely to be useful for identifying factors that render advertising successful. Literature Review It has been observed that empirical literature dealing with effectiveness in advertising for promoting sales has been subjected to greater controversy, than consensus, among researchers. One of the earliest researches that were conducted in this field was done by Vicary in 1957. His research had shown that subliminal advertising was one of the ways of creating successful methods. Over time, this hypothesis was rejected by other academic scholars. However, one of the important outcomes of this experiment stated that people believed that advertising, which are more subtle, affects them in a subconscious manner and is successful (Tellis, 2003). Several studies have also been conducted on the humour aspect in advertising and its impacts. The research conducted by McGuire (1969) (cited in Duncan, Nelson and Frontczak, 1984) had revealed that humour can be an important factor for determining appeal of the advertisement by stimulating attention and learning among audience. The works of Tyebjee (1978) (cited in Duncan, Nelson and Frontczak, 1984) had also shown that humour can play a major role in shaping “reception environment” of the listener exposed to the advertisement. Though independent researchers like, Phillips, Kassarjian and Rothschild and Gaidis, have tried to explain humour by operant conditioning theory, yet operant learning has not been useful in explaining commercial humour. Even so, according to the views of Hopkins, an important personality in advertising industry, had pointed out that humour tends to trivialize the message in advertising. It has been found that those advertising, which provides clear message to customers by conveying strong messages are ones to inflict maximum impacts on the target audience. It has been observed (particularly in case of advertisement of tobacco and other products with potential to damage health of the consumer) that advertisements with strong messages regarding derogatory effects on health have been more successful. Also, it has been observed that most of the consumers make their purchasing decision after comparing properties of rival brands for specific products. Regarding such behaviour, advertisements that focus clearly on the brand attributes have been found to be more fruitful in influencing decision of the consumers. Researchers have also identified creativity as one of the major aspects that define success factor for advertising as it can change perceptions of customers towards the products. According to McStay (2013), creativity is the backbone of successful advertisements in the contemporary times. This is because uniqueness of the advertisement forms a major element in grabbing attention of customers, thereby influencing them to purchase the products (McStay, 2013). The study of Warner (1995) had confirmed that in case of advertising, agencies believe that self-promotion of creativity is their main weapon, which provides them with competitive edge (cited in West and Ford, 2001). The studies of Korgaonkar and Bellenger (1985) and Jones (1992) had also advocated that creativity is one of the most important factors for determining success of advertising campaigns (Korgaonkar and Bellenger, 1985). According to the research that was conducted by Mehta (2000), a few major factors have been identified that can form important determinants for success of advertisements created by the ad-agencies. Firstly, he observed that in order for the advertisement to become successful, it must be believed and trusted by the audience. The advertisements should provide up-to-date information about products and services. Secondly, his research findings also suggested that advertisements that are informative as well as entertaining tend to be trusted and valued more by people. The findings from this research indicate that the concept of attitude in advertisement is very important as attitude of individuals are related to general advertising and are important for influencing their purchasing decisions (Mehta, 2000). The concept of provocative nature in advertising has also become a dominant factor in the advertising industry as they are often successful in grabbing attention of customers. Provocative advertising has been used extensively in the clothing and apparel industry since 1980s as it was accepted among audience. The key players who had relied on provocative advertising were United Colours of Benetton, Esprit, Calvin Klein and Diesel. Though provocative advertising has been generating considerable buzz in the consumer market, yet their effectiveness has been questioned. This is because; though these commercials may generate awareness among consumers by creating shocks, yet they may be disapproved by the society, failing to impact sales (Vézina and Paul, 1997). A consensus that has been reached among the researchers regarding success of advertisements is choosing of right market and the right message. This is because if the target market is not identified, then advertisements are not likely to work, regardless of its creativity. The message is important because it is the only way to communicate with customers regarding features of the product. Both of these factors, if properly identified, has shown to improve effectiveness of the advertisement (McStay, 2013). In general, it has been seen that the message of advertising and creative ways in which it is conveyed have direct correlations with success of the advertisement. Apart from this, selection of media, market share, features of the product and its uniqueness also contribute positively for making the advertising campaign successful. The selection of the form of media has a direct impact on reach of the advertisement among the target population and this also impacts success of the advertisement campaign. The type of market is also related to the type of media that is to be used for the purpose of advertising. This is because if the media is wrongly identified and the market fails to notice the advertisement, then the campaign is unlikely to work (Tellis, 2003). In this context, it has been observed that many advertisers are relying on the internet medium for increasing reach of their campaigns and attracting maximum customers. Internet based advertisement are supplemented with traditional mediums like, radio, television and newspapers. On reading the existing literature, few facts regarding success of advertising have emerged. Firstly, it appears that market is one of the major factors, which determine success of advertisements. Secondly, certain researchers strongly agree that humour is a strong determining factor in success of advertisements. Thirdly, advertising campaigns with clear objectives also contribute towards effectively spreading awareness among customers. Fourthly, creativity in advertisements is also identified as a crucial factor that renders some advertisements more lucrative than others. Finally, honesty in advertisements is also considered as a major factor in attaining success. Provocative advertisements, however, always do not lead to increase in sales as the existing literature suggests. This research wishes to use an exploratory framework that is expected to develop new ideas as the research is being conducted. This will to add to the existing literature and identify new concepts, if any, that influences successful creation of advertisements. This research aims to recognize additional factors, which promote successful advertising, apart from those mentioned in the existing literature. Research Methods This research has used the framework of exploratory research and plans on using a mixed approach for the purpose of reaching conclusions. The rationale behind choosing the exploratory research is that it gives the researcher the freedom to frame questions without any theoretical barrier in order to gain insights about the topic under study. In this regard, focus group interviews and questionnaires with close-ended questions will be used to conduct the work. This research desires to use an inductive approach to gain theoretical perspective about the topic. Research strategy helps the researcher to establish connection between philosophy of the research and methods used to collect and interpret data (McDaniel and Gates, 1998). This research is a qualitative research so as to gain a deeper understanding about attitude of customers towards successful advertisement. This research plans to use a survey method to collect data. The focus group interviews are to be conducted with marketing managers of established advertising agencies. Based on the knowledge obtained from this focus group interview, researcher plans to design a questionnaire survey on consumers who are exposed to the advertising. The survey method is selected as it is expected to cover attitude of customers as well as managers towards advertisements and finally, also provide an understanding regarding the purchasing decision (Patton, 2002). The rationale for choosing focus group is that insiders from the advertising agency will be able to provide valid reasons that determine success of the research. In a focus group interview, the researcher will play role of the moderator so as to ensure that course of the discussion is related to the topic. A group of eight people, who are closely linked to the advertising world, is to be selected for the purpose of conducting focus group interview. Focus group interviews contain a “group element” in the approach, which does not exist in the individual questionnaire survey. Another reason for including the focus group interview is that it allows collecting more information within a short span of time. This research wishes to use primary data to conduct the research. Primary data can be described as any type of data that is collected by the researcher for purpose of the research. This is time consuming as the researcher has to conduct the work himself. This research has also used some knowledge from the secondary data that is analyzed in the literature review. The secondary data collected from previous research works is also studied in this work (Kotler, 2011). As the researcher uses primary data, the concept of sampling is inevitable in this research. The sampling technique to be used for collection of data in this research will be simple random sampling. This is a probabilistic sampling, which is widely used by researchers for conducting research work. Simple random sampling provides each participant with an equal chance of selection and is also easier to perform. Implications of research This research will be useful particularly for the business community. This is because advertising is mainly important from the point of view of business houses. The primary idea behind advertising is that it is expected to generate more sales for organizations. This research is an exploratory one, which aims to recognize major factors that can determine success of advertisements. This is likely to help business houses to come with advertisements that can influence customers to the maximum extent and alter their purchasing decisions. In contemporary marketing literature, the concept of advertising has become increasingly important as it is an integral way to communicate with customers about features of the products. Most companies spend a considerable part of their revenues on advertising budgets in order to attract more customers to buy products. Despite best efforts, advertising campaigns do not always yield expected results. This research is based on an exploratory perspective that aims at understanding key factors, which make advertisements successful. As works of previous researchers are also analyzed, it is expected that business houses will gain sufficient knowledge regarding ways in which advertisements should be made so as to attract more customers. Finally, this is a primary research that will also add to existing literature by analyzing data that has been collected for the purpose. Even from the academic perspective, this research can be helpful as it contributes to the existing literature on success factors in advertising. Reference List Duncan, C. P., Nelson, J. E. and Frontczak, N. T., 1984. The Effect of Humor on Advertising Comprehension. Advances in Consumer Research, 11, pp. 432-437. Korgaonkar, P. and Bellenger, D., 1985. Correlatives of successful advertising campaigns: themanager’s perspective. Journal of Advertising Research, 25(4), pp. 34-39. Kotler, P., 2011. Marketing insights from A-Z. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. McDaniel, C. D. and Gates, R. H., 1998. Marketing research essentials. Ohio: Taylor & Francis. McStay, A., 2013. Creativity and advertising: affect, events and process. London: Routledge. Mehta, A., 2000. Advertising attitudes and advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, pp. 67-71. Patton, M. Q., 2002. Qualitative research and evaluation methods. London: Sage. Tellis, G. J., 2003. Effective advertising: understanding when, how, and why advertising works. London: Sage. Vézina, R. and Paul, O., 1997. Provocation in Advertising: A Conceptualization and an Empirical Assessment. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 14, pp. 177-192. West, D. and Ford, J., 2001. Advertising agency philosophies and employee risk taking. Journal of Advertising, 30(1), pp. 77-91. Read More