Advertising in the 21st Century - Literature review Example

Introduction

It would not be a mistake to suggest that the contemporary business world is much different from its counterpart from the past. In spite of the fact that they share a considerable number of similarities, companies today rely on a different set of principles than they used to. Another point that should be mentioned is that advancements in technology have also made significant changes to the way in which businesses are run. A good example is advertising. In spite of the fact that this activity has been around for a considerable period of time, it has changed significantly in the 21st century and is continuing evolving. This paper will focus on this phenomenon, arguing that advertising in the 21st century is heavily influenced by social media. In order to prove this, the paper will examine the influence of social media on advertising industry in general, explore the way in which it can aid managers to achieve business goals, analyze the manner in which it influences the consumers behavior and uses the example of Hollister Co. to show real life application.

Definition of key terms

It is quite obvious that advertising in the 21st century relies on a wide range of different channels and platforms. However, for the purposes of this paper, it will be accepted that one of the fundamental peculiarities of it is the engagement of social media. That is why it is logical to provide a definition of the latter. Looy (2016) defines it as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of. Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content". Therefore, it is not logical to narrow down this concept to Facebook or similar website; it is essential to develop a broad perspective on it.

Influence on advertising industry

Speaking of the influence of social media engagement on advertising industry in the 21st century, one should outline several points. First of all, as Evans (2010) shows, nowadays companies are able to explore new media that they later turn into platforms that are used to sell and promote products. For example, originally Facebook was a service that allowed people to communicate with each other, but nowadays the majority of organizations have an active account. The similar situation is with YouTube: at first, it was largely seen as a video hosting and streaming service, but today it is intensively used for business purposes.

Secondly, one should mention that advertising in the 21st century has become increasingly more interactive. Smith, Wollan, and Zhou (2011) show that companies try to produce content that the possible consumers can interact with and become interested. One should also keep in mind that today contacting a brand is as easy as never. Indeed, instead of writing a letter, an email or calling a company, one may easily leave a message or a comment on a social networking service and expect that the representatives of a company will reply. In other words, if a person sees and advertisement and is interested in learning more information about the product that was not mentioned, one can easily do that using technology. In other words, advertising has ceased to be a one-sided process that involves consumption of the content, but not the feedback.

Finally, one should also keep in mind that the intensiveness at which people use social media and the widespread of it encourage companies to create more advertising content than even. Indeed, it used to be that a single advertisement that is aired on the radio or printed in a magazine would be still considered a new one after it has been circulating for some time. However, today when people are exposed to so many commercials, it is extremely damaging to the brand to show the same advertisement again and again. That is why companies are forced to come up with new content in order to keep up the pace; otherwise, they will be regarded as outdated and this will be particularly damaging to their image.

Achieving business objectives

Some might consider that advertising in the 21st century has not changed much: it simply started using new, more sophisticated tools. Nevertheless, the reality may be the opposite: social media heaving influences the manner in which managers achieve their business objectives. For example, Patil and Bhakkad (2014) suggest that promotion in social media should be regarded as one of the irreplaceable tools that build awareness of the product. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that at the present moment people spend more time browsing the Web, rather than watching television or listening to the radio. That is why it is quite logical to expect people to learn about the new product via social media and not the conventional channels. Moreover, it is also possible that once they have seen an outdoor advertisement, potential consumers are likely to use the Web to learn more which urges companies to post information there.

Another point that should be stressed is that with the help of social media managers are able to enhance brand loyalty. Even though these two concepts seem to be completely unrelated, the evidence shows that people are likely to stay with the brand that they are able to interact with. Consider the following situation: a person bought a product, leaves a comment on an official page and the company thanks, this person for the comment. The person will feel a personal connection to the brand and is likely to stay with it because of the customized experience. As a result, companies should actively respond to any actions made by the people this may be the beginning of the strong relationship.

Finally, one should consider the accumulation of the effects which were mentioned above: if a person is made well-aware of the product and has developed a strong relationship with the brand, one is likely to buy more products. That is why the engagement of social media as a part of advertising strategy in the 21st century helps managers to increase sales. One should also keep in mind that today purchases can be made with the help of social media. Indeed, people are able to choose a product without even visiting the official web-site. All this leads to the understanding that if a company is able to maintain an active profile online in any social network, it may easily direct the consumers to buy the products and enjoy high revenues.

The impact on consumer behavior

It would not be an exaggeration to assume that the way in which a company is represented online has a direct impact on the behavior of the consumers. The first and the most obvious connection that is to do identified is the very perception of a company. For example, Hallam (2013) suggests that if an individual finds out that a company does not have any virtual presence in the major social networks, one is likely to consider this company to be outdated. As a result, the quality of the products that are sold will seem to be doubtful and the risk that the company will lose a consumer will be rather high. In other words, while this may not be a strict requirement, but it is highly advisable that companies set accounts in the most popular social network since that would greatly improve their image and will convince a person to buy a product.

Secondly, the degree of responsiveness is also a factor that heavily influences the behavior of a potential consumer. Consider the following situation: a person leave a negative comment about a product and expects the organization to respond to it. After the reasonable amount of time has passed, a person understands that the company does not want to keep in touch with the consumers. In other words, the quality of interaction using social networks and the support of advertisement may be considered to be the measure of responsiveness. This also suggests that advertising should be done responsibly in that sense that if consumers have some questions for clarification, the company should be ready to answer them as soon as possible.

Lastly, one should point out that all the positive effects that were mentioned in the paragraphs above have a direct impact on the choice that is made by the consumers. This is rather logical since if a person sees that a brand is actively using social media in order to advertise the product and is quite responsive to the messages of the regular consumers, then people will think that this brand is worth their attention and the products that it manufactures should be bought. Therefore, though the relationship between advertising using social media and consumer behavior may be indirect, it is obvious that there is a connection between them and it is highly advantageous for a company to make sure that it is able to reinforce its brand image and appeal to the consumers in the way that would make them loyal.

The case of Hollister Co.

Jin et al (2011) explored the manner in which used social media in order to advertise their products. They found that this company pays a considerable amount of attention to its virtual representation and takes its virtual image seriously. Indeed, at the present moment, Hollister is present in five most popular social media and actively advertises its products there. This means that the company creates a lot of content that can be shared with the potential consumers on a daily basis. Moreover, official accounts of Hollister Co. have become virtual representatives of the company and provide the people with an opportunity to interact with the brand in the environment that they find comfortable. The current success of the company suggests that it was able to use the peculiarities of advertising in the 21st century to its benefit.

Conclusion

Having examined all the points that were mentioned in the paragraphs above one is able to come to the following conclusion: advertising in the 21st century is closely connected to the phenomenon of social networks and may be used by a company to improve its performance. Thus, there are new platforms that an organization might enter, simultaneously developing its responsiveness and increasing the amount of content that is produced. Managers will be able to achieve business objectives through building awareness, reinforcing loyalty, and ultimately increasing sales. Moreover, the effective use of advertising through social media contributes to the positive perception of the brand by the consumers, urging them to chose a product by a particular company over others.