Communication and Persuasion
Content and audience decisions
Communication effects
Source factors
Message form
Media factors
 

Content and Audience Decisions
Message content
Is a central component of marketing communications
Communicates a number of important pieces of information to target consumers
Flows directly from product positioning
Audience selection
Who are they?
What do they know or feel about the brand?
How do they behave?
 

Communication Effects: Hierarchy-of-Effects Models
They explain different levels of consumer response to advertising
The AIDA model: create attention, capture interest, stimulate desire, invoke action
The simplified Lavidge and Steiner model: awareness, acceptance, preference, buying intention, trial, or purchase
Integrated Information-Response Model – order can vary!
Cognition ? Affect ? Commitment
Cognition ? Trial ? Affect ? Commitment
Cognition ? Trial ?Trial ? Trial

Trial ? Affect ? Cognition
Try it, you’ll like it – free sampling
 

The Extended Dual Mediation Model
The Dual Mediation Model is comprised of four constructs:
Ad cognitions (Cad)
Attitude toward the ad (Aad)
Brand cognition (Cb)
Attitude toward the brand (Ab)
The extended model incorporates affect (Aff) to the basic model
 

Source Factors
The source—the individual delivering the communications message—may be a:
Celebrity – do they use the product? Do you want to be like them?
Spokesperson – representing the company – character?
Clerk – does their behavior affect your reactions?
Salesperson - how do they explain your product, knowledge?
The persuasiveness of the message is influenced by:
Source credibility
Source attractiveness
Power of the source
Source congruity
Match of source with audience – e.g. gender, age
 

Source Credibility
A source is credible if perceived by the target audience to be:
Knowledgeable about the product or service
Trustworthy of providing objective information
Source credibility affects consumer persuasion through internalization
Perception of trust when buying a car results from:
The use of low-selling tactics
The perception that the salesperson is competent
The service is of high quality
The car manufacturer is perceived to care about their customers
 

Source Attractiveness
Attractive sources are more persuasive than those that are unattractive
Source attractiveness is influenced by identification with:
Actual self
Ideal self
 

Source Power
Various communicators are perceived to have different types of power
Communicators perceived as having authority induce compliance
The power of a source to persuade depends on three factors:
Perceived control
Perceived concern
Perceived scrutiny
 

Source Congruity
It refers to the extent to which a celebrity who endorses a brand has characteristics that matches the brand attributes
Clint Eastwood and ruggedness
Halle Berry and beauty
Can you think of some?
 

Message Form
It refers to “how” a message is said:
Tone
Context
Execution
 

Message Tone
Factual versus emotional appeals
A factual tone appeals to the consumer’s thinking processes
Informational reasons to buy
Central route to attitude change
An emotional tone appeals to feelings
Emotional reasons to buy
Peripheral route to persuasion
 

The Elaboration Likelihood Model
Two routes to message persuasion:
Central route processing is most effective using factual messages
Peripheral route processing is most effective using emotional messages
Two conditions affect elaboration likelihood:
Motivation
Relevance, need for cognition, responsibility
Ability
 

Message Processing
Three factors influence the ability to process messages:
Distraction: anything that pulls the consumer’s attention away from the content of a factual message
Message pace: consumers may not have ample time to process the message
Product familiarity or experience: those who are familiar are more likely to be able to process factual messages
 

Emotional Appeals
Fear
The relationship between fear and persuasion is curvilinear
Humor
Getting through the clutter
Sex
Overt sex in advertising is generally not effective
Ego-focused versus other-focused
Individualistic cultures
Collectivistic cultures
 

Message Context
It includes any cues imbedded in the message by the marketer: background music, setting or location, or use of artifacts  or furnishings
Use of music
Encouraging consumers to associate positive feelings aroused by the music with the advertised product—classical conditioning
 

Message Execution
The combination of strategies through which the message is implemented
Ads with implicit conclusions—the outcome or desired response is not boldly stated, but rather is left up to the consumer to infer
Subtle persuasion
Consumer involvement
Ads with explicit conclusions—the outcome is spelled out clearly
 

Additional Message Execution Strategies
Use of self-reference
Speaking directly to the consumer
Use of factual versus evaluative information
Factual—logical and verifiable descriptions of tangible product features
Evaluative—emotional, subjective impressions of intangible aspects of a product
 

Execution Strategies (continued)
Use of comparative messages
The product is compared directly with a competing product in terms of one or more product features
They invite counterarguments by the consumers
When does it work?
Factual information
New brand
Credible source
Execution Strategies (continued)
Use of message evidence
Message evidence = information that substantiates claims
Persuasive ads (messages) have the following properties that work together
Claim, evidence, warrant
Use of mystery advertising
Use of narratives
 

Media Factors
Media category selection (TV, radio, magazines, etc.)
Subcategory selection (e.g., specific TV programming)
Media vehicle selection
Reach: the maximum exposure they can provide to the target audience
Cost per thousand (CPM)
Editorial content
 

Additional Media Factors
Media frequency selection
The number of times consumers are potentially exposed to an ad
How often is often enough?
Selection and size of duration
What is the relationship between the size of a print advertisement or the length of a TV or radio commercial and their impact upon consumers?