Analysis of L'oreal advertisement campaign - Assignment Example

? CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR: ANALYSIS OF L’OREAL ADVERTISEMENT CAMPAIGN By number and of university> Contents Contents 2 INTRODUCTION: 4 ANALAYSIS OF THE ADVERTISEMENT OF L’OREAL: 5 Celebrity Endorsement: 5 Creating Beauty Appeal: 5 Communicating Benefit: 6 Supporting the Benefit with Scientific Claim: 6 Iconography: 6 ANALYSIS OF THE ADVERTISEMENT CAMPAIGN OF L’OREAL ELVIVE IN 2010: 7 Attitude towards the Ad Model: 11 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR THEORIES APPLICABLE ON THE ADVERTISEMENT CAMPIGN OF L’OREAL ELVIVE: 11 Decision Making Process: 12 Consumer Attitudes and Processes by which these Attitudes are Learned, Stored, and Retrieved: 14 Attention: 15 Perception: 15 Learning and Memory: 15 Hierarchy of Effects Model: 16 Attitude Models and Theories: 17 Cognitive Dissonance Theory: 17 Multi – Attribute Theory: 17 Theory of Reasoned Actions: 18 CONCLUSION: 19 INTRODUCTION: The main aim or objective of any organisation is to increase the overall profits or revenues. This aim or objective can be accomplish if the organisation is able to attract and retain more and more customers. In order to attract and retain more customers it is essential and necessary to understand the different attitude and behaviour of the consumers and factors directly affecting these behaviour and attitude. In this regard, different consumer behaviour models and theories have been presented. These consumer behaviour models and theories try to explain the impact of different factors on the buying behaviour of the customers (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009). Different organisations have been using advertising and other marketing activities in order to directly influence the consumer attitude and behaviour which in turn enable them to increase the probability of purchase. It is important to identify the different reasons and factors behind the purchase decision of the customers (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004). In this paper an attempt has been made to analyse advertisement activities in relation with different consumer behaviour models and theories. For this purpose, L’Oreal has been selected. L’Oreal has been operating in the global cosmetic industry for years and has been able to create a considerable brand image and reputation in the market. The primary target market of L’Oreal products is the females all over the world who wants to look good and beautiful. The company offers several product ranges and communicate the same message through all mediums. In reference to the analysis of the advertisements, recent advertisement campaign of the ‘Elvive’ staring Cheryl Cole. For this purpose different print advertisements along with the storyboard or screenshots of the television advertisements have been explored and investigated on the criteria of different consumer behaviour models and theories. ANALAYSIS OF THE ADVERTISEMENT OF L’OREAL: L’Oreal has been using the same method or technique of attracting customers through all their advertisements. Company has Most of the common methods used by the company for promoting their brands to the target market are: 1. celebrity endorsement 2. creating beauty appeal 3. communicating benefit 4. supporting this benefit with a scientific claim 5. iconography Celebrity Endorsement: Celebrity endorsement is used by the company in order to directly influence the purchase decision making process of the customers. It is a general perception that consumers tend to believe the message conveyed through some popular or famous personality. This technique is used by L’Oreal in order to effect the phase of evaluating different alternatives and making the final decision. Celebrity Endorsement is used by the company as a surrogate indicator. Surrogate indicator is one which is used by the consumers in order to analyse and interpret the level of quality of the product (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004). Creating Beauty Appeal: Being a cosmetic company and dealing beauty related products, L’Oreal has always focused on creating a beauty appeal in all its advertisements. Advertisements of the company are based on the perception that the products offered by L’Oreal can make the person beautiful like the celebrity in the advertisement. In this way L’Oreal tries to cater to the social needs of the consumers including the need of belongingness. Communicating Benefit: L’Oreal is aware of the fact that one of the most important elements of a successful advertisements is that it communicates the benefit to the target consumers. In this way the company is able to create positive perception in the mind of the consumers about the product being advertised. L’Oreal advertisements communicate the promises about the benefits and attributes which are important for the customers. Hence, it can be said that L’Oreal works on the strategy of behavioural segmentation. Supporting the Benefit with Scientific Claim: By communicating the benefits, L’Oreal influence the affective component of the overall consumer behaviour and attitude. In order to support this and influencing the overall behaviour and attitude of the target consumers, L’Oreal tries to change the cognitive component by supporting the benefit with scientific claim. In this way the beliefs of the customers regarding the products are changed. Iconography: In order to increase the recall of the advertisement and product in the phase of searching and evaluating alternatives, L’Oreal uses the method of iconography. In every other advertisement L’Oreal uses the phrase ‘because you are worth it’, which directly addresses the consumers. This catchy phrase allows the organisation to ensure that the products are more recognisable. ANALYSIS OF THE ADVERTISEMENT CAMPAIGN OF L’OREAL ELVIVE IN 2010: L’Oreal came up with a whole new range of hair care products under the name of Elvive and promoted these products in the same manner as previous products. Cheryl Cole is used in the TVC and print advertisements in order to influence the decision making process of the consumers. Along with this the advertisement create a beauty or emotional appeal in order to influence the overall attitude of the consumer towards the new range of hair care products. The advertisements of this product also promise the benefits that the product will facilitate the consumers in the process of making their hair healthy, stronger, shiner, and full of life. These benefits are supported by the celebrity endorsement and also by the scientific claim. According to the advertisements, the new range of hair care products under the name of Elvive consists of pro-keratine, which allows the product to provide solution to five problems which are: weak hair, limp hair, lifeless hair, dull hair, and straw like hair. The marketers and managers of L’Oreal have been using different consumer behaviour theories and models in order to influence the purchase or buying behaviour of the target consumers. L’Oreal tries to influence the decision making process of consumers by communicating the idea through the TVC of the Elvive that this product is a solution for five different hair problems. The figure below shows the storyboard of the L’Oreal Elvive TVC. (Figure 1: L’Oreal Elvive TV Advert, Creative Club) (Figure 2: L’Oreal Elvive second TV Advert, Creative Club) (Figure 3: L’Oreal Elvive third TV Advert, Creative Club) Different print advertisements of the L’Oreal Elvive are shown in the figures below: (Figure 4: L’Oreal Elvive Print Advert, Creative Club) (Figure 5: L’Oreal Elvive second Print Advert, Creative Club) (Figure 6: L’Oreal Elvive third Print Advert, Creative Club) Attitude towards the Ad Model: Before analysing and advertisement and the process of changing attitudes it is important to understand the attitude towards the Ad model. The exposure to any advertisement results in the creation of cognitive and affective attitudes of feelings about the advertisement which in a result contributes in the process of building beliefs and attitude towards the advertisement and the brand as a whole (Tsang, Ho, & Liang, 2004). (Edell & Burke, 1987) CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR THEORIES APPLICABLE ON THE ADVERTISEMENT CAMPIGN OF L’OREAL ELVIVE: Different consumer behaviour theories and models which are used by L’Oreal in this advertising campaign are described and discussed below: Decision Making Process: In order to understand and use different theories and models related to the consumer behaviour, it is important to explore and analyse the decision making process. It is the different phases of the decision making process which marketer tries to influence with the help of different advertisements and marketing activities. The decision making process consists of five steps of phases which are (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009): 1. Problem recognition. 2. Information search 3. Evaluation and selection 4. Store choice and purchase 5. Post purchase processes All these steps are performed in the framework of a situation which is being faced by the consumers. The three factors which affect the overall consumer behaviour are: 1. Personal characteristics 2. Product characteristics 3. Situation characteristics (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004) It is important to understand that all these phase of decision making process are directly influenced by the attitude of the consumers towards different brands and products. As in the case of L’Oreal, in the first phase the target consumers will identify specific problems related to their hairs and then will search for information accordingly. L’Oreal has increased the target market by promoting the concept that the new product Elvive provides solutions to five different hair problems. In order to better understand the impact of attitude on the decision making process it is essential to first investigate how different attitudes are build and changed. Consumer Attitudes and Processes by which these Attitudes are Learned, Stored, and Retrieved: Consumer attitudes are the set of beliefs and preferences which are formed about a certain product of brand on the basis of past experiences or knowledge. There are three different dimensions of the attitudes which are (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004): 1. Cognitive 2. Affective 3. Behavioural In the example of L’Oreal, the company used all these components in order to directly reshape the overall attitude of the consumers. The beauty and emotional appeal are used in order to directly influence the affective or feeling component of the consumer attitude. Apart from this the desire or need of looking beautiful with good hairs has been tried to satisfied with the advertisements. Secondly, cognitive or thinking component of the consumer attitude is influenced with the help of scientific claim provided in the advertisement in order to change the beliefs of the target consumers. Finally, the target consumers are encouraged to purchase and use the product by increasing the credibility of the message with the help of celebrity endorsement. The consumer attitudes are directly influenced by several other factors which are described and analysed as follow: Attention: Attention is described as the amount of mental activity allocated to a particular message or product by the consumers. There are several factors which directly influence the amount of attention given to a particular stimuli (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004). For example, how relevant the message is to consumers i.e. according to their needs, the intensity of the stimulus, attractiveness, etc. L’Oreal has targeted five different problems in order to grab more attention from the target consumers. Secondly, the company has used famous celebrity along with loud and bright colours to receive more attention. Perception: Perception is the meaning which is generated by the consumers from different stimuli and messages. This process of assigning meaning to the message of the brand is directly dependent on several factors like the overall personality of the consumer, perceptual set, and the cultural and social values (Aggarwal, 2004). In the example of L’Oreal advertisements, the general perception generated by the consumers about beauty and social belongingness. Learning and Memory: Learning and memory is important to directly influence the impact of different marketing activities on the behaviour and attitude of the target consumers. Hence, it is important to increase the learning and recall of the brand in the mind of the consumer (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004). For this purpose different techniques are used by the marketers like catchy lines, attractive visual imagery, point of purchase displays, etc. L’Oreal has been using the famous tag line ‘because you are worth it’ in order to increase the recall of the product. Along with this company uses extensive point of purchase displays to influence the purchase behaviour of the target consumers. (Figure: 7 POPAI 2010) Hierarchy of Effects Model: According to the hierarchy of effects model, in order to influence the learning process and overall attitude of the consumers it is necessary to first increase the consumer awareness. Once the target consumers become aware about the product, they automatically proceed to the learning phase, build an overall attitude about the product, which results in encouraging the purchase of the product, and finally to trial of the product which leads to either rejection of adoption (Edell & Burke, 1987). In order to increase the brand awareness, L’Oreal has increase the overall exposure of the brand. For this purpose, the company has used different sets of print and TV advertisements, which directly increase the knowledge of the consumers about the brand. This in turn impact the memory and perception of the target consumers. Attitude Models and Theories: There are different models and theories which try to explain the procedure of attitude formulation and how these attitudes can be changed. Four famous theories of attitude are (Nelson & Paek, 2007): 1. Cognitive Dissonance Theory 2. Multi – Attribute Theory 3. Theory of Reasoned Action 4. Heuristic – systematic model Cognitive Dissonance Theory: This theory is used in order to encourage customers for a particular behaviour by showing them the negative implications. The advertisements use the idea of creating mental tension or cognitive dissonance in order to go for a particular behaviour to reduce the tension. L’Oreal used this concept by communicating the five problems associated with the hair, and also communicated the solution which will help customers in avoiding or reducing these problems. Multi – Attribute Theory: According to this theory, consumers judge different alternatives on the basis of different attributes and evaluative criteria. It is the responsibility of the marketer to influence the beliefs, perceptions, and knowledge of the target consumers in such a way that they develop positive attitudes towards a particular attribute. For this purpose, different strategies are used by the companies. L’Oreal uses the capture strategy in the particular example. Capture strategy is used when the target market is aware of the brand name and the particular product is associated with the limited decision making category. Theory of Reasoned Actions: The theory of reasoned actions tries to explain the process of deriving a certain behaviour on the basis of different attitudes and normative beliefs of the consumers. There are different variables and factors which influence the attitude of the consumers which along with the normative and subjective beliefs directly influence the final behaviour of the consumer. (Southey, 2011) This theory can be better explained with the help of the L’Oreal example. L’Oreal is trying to change the final behaviour of the consumers by providing them with different beliefs, normative beliefs, and motivation to comply. The company communicated new beliefs to the consumers by supporting it with the scientific findings and the fact that this is being acknowledged by almost most of the women out there. Apart from this the credibility of this message is increased with the help of celebrity endorsement. Along with this, the beauty and emotional appeal also builds positive attitude and ultimately the desired purchase behaviour. The normative belief is changed by using the phrase that ‘86 percent agree’. Finally motivation to comply is used by promoting the idea of looking good and socially acceptable. Heuristic – Systematic Model: According to this model it is possible to change and shape new attitudes with the help of persuasive and convincing messages. Apart from this, Heuristic – Systematic model promotes that the process of message communication occurs in a systematic or heuristic way and simple decision making rules are used by the consumers. This theory contradicts the theory of reasoned action and presents the idea that it is possible to form consumer attitudes through a systematic process and consumers give little attention to the information. In the example of L’Oreal, company has ensured to maintain the credibility of the source by using a famous celebrity. At the same time the attractiveness of the advertisement and non verbal behaviour like showing beautiful and full of life hairs also increase the persuasiveness in the message and encourage generation of positive attitudes. CONCLUSION: In order to ensure that the product or brand receive due attention from the target market and the advertisement is able to influence the decision making process, it is important for all marketers to understand the process of formulating and changing different consumer attitudes. Hence, it is important to understand the basic idea of consumer attitudes, the components of attitudes, and the factors which directly influence the process of attitude formulation. It is also important to understand the overall impact of the advertisement on the beliefs and attitudes of the consumers towards the brand of product. Only in this way the marketers are able to generate the desired results from the advertisements. Successful brands and products are the one which are able to understand and comprehend the process of formulating and changing the consumer attitudes and behaviours. L’Oreal has been able to capitalise on this phenomenon of consumer attitudes and behaviour and have come up with some of the best advertisements in order to influence the decision making process of the target consumers. L’Oreal has been able to build such a big brand name because of understanding and applying different consumer behaviour models and theories in order to influence the decision making process of the target consumers. List of References Aggarwal, P 2004, ‘The Effects of Brand Relationship Norms on Consumer Attitudes and Behavior’, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 87-101. Edell, J, & Burke, M 1987, ‘The Power of Feelings in Understanding Advertising Effects’, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 431-433. Hawkins, D & Mothersbaugh, D 2009, Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy, McGraw-Hill, New York. L’Oreal Elvive Print Advert, Creative Club (http://www.creativeclub.co.uk/fs.aspx) First recorded date 01/09/2010. Ref No.: 5010200 L’Oreal Elvive second Print Advert, Creative Club (http://www.creativeclub.co.uk/fs.aspx) First recorded date 20/11/2010. Ref No.: 5131151 L’Oreal Elvive second TV Advert, Creative Club (http://www.creativeclub.co.uk/fs.aspx) First recorded date 01/08/2010. Ref No.: 541010 L’Oreal Elvive third Print Advert, Creative Club (http://www.creativeclub.co.uk/fs.aspx) First recorded date 15/11/2010. Ref No.: 5117869 L’Oreal Elvive third TV Advert, Creative Club (http://www.creativeclub.co.uk/fs.aspx) First recorded date 16/11/2010. Ref No.: 555624 L’Oreal Elvive TV Advert, Creative Club (http://www.creativeclub.co.uk/fs.aspx) First recorded date 03/11/2009. Ref No.: 506892 Neal, C, Quester, P, & Hawkins, D 2004, Consumer Behaviour: Implications for Marketing Strategy. McGraw-Hill Irwin, Australia Nelson, M, & Paek, H 2007, ‘A content analysis of advertising in a global magazine across seven countries: Implications for global advertising strategies’, International Marketing Review, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 64 – 86. POPAI 2010, POPAI Awards 2010: Beauty & Healthcare. Available from http://www.popai.com.au/awards/2010/category.aspx?category=2 [Accessed 08 December 2011] Southey, G 2011, ‘The theories of reasoned action and planned behavior applied to business decisions: a selective annotated bibliography’, Journal of New Business Ideas & Trends, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 43-50. Tsang, M, Ho, S, & Liang, T 2004, ‘Consumer Attitudes Toward Mobile Advertising: An Empirical Study’, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 65-78. Read More