MRKT 442 Quiz 4: Session 13-Marketing Communications

Marketing Communication

A process through which organizations and audiences engage with one another. Its purpose is to communicate value, inform and persuade audiences, differentiate the offering, and reinforce relationships between organizations and their stakeholders.

Ex: Advertising, PR, sponsorships, direct marketing, online communication, and sales promotions — are ways the company speaks to its target groups.

Consumer Responses in Marketing Communication

Vary based on consumer goals, product characteristics, situational factors, category involvement, and social, psychological, or cultural influences. This variability makes it essential for marketers to understand how consumers process messages before designing a campaign.

The Hierarchy of Effects Model

Describes a sequence of internal states a consumer moves through on the way to a purchase decisions. Cognitive, Affective, and Conative.

Cognitive Stage (Think)

Mental processing: the consumer becomes aware of and learns about the brand. Communication at this stage should focus on clear, factual information — features, benefits, how the product works.

Ex: Person sees an ad for a new protein bar and learns it has 20g of protein.

Affective Stage (Feel)

Emotional or evaluative response: the consumer forms attitudes toward the brand. Affective reactions tend to occur when a need for evaluation arises — not automatically. Communication should create emotional resonance and positive associations.

Ex: After seeing the ad, person starts to think the protein bar is healthy, convenient, and appealing.

Conative Stage (Do)

Behavioral response: the consumer takes action — purchasing, requesting information, visiting a store. Communication should create urgency, reduce friction, and provide a clear call to action.

Ex: Person goes to website and actually buys protein bar.

Classical Hierarchy

Think → Feel → Do

Low-Involvement Hierarchy

(Cognitive → Conative → Affective) For routine, low-cost purchases, frequent exposure may lead to trial before any attitude is formed. The consumer buys first, then decides how they feel. Common for habitual grocery purchases.

Experiential Hierarchy

(Affective → Conative → Cognitive): An emotional reaction drives the purchase, with rational reflection — if any — occurring afterward. Common for impulse or hedonic purchases.

The Foote-Cone-Belding (FCB) Grid

Grid maps purchase situations onto two dimensions — involvement (high vs. low) and the dominant decision basis (think vs. feel) — to prescribe the most appropriate communication sequence and message approach.

Quadrant 1 Classical Hierarchy (FCB Grid)

High Involvement / Think (Think → Feel → Do)

The consumer researches extensively before deciding. Communication should lead with factual information, features, and performance proof.

Ex: Insurance, mortgages, industrial equipment , life insurance.

Quadrant 2 Affective Hierarchy (Feel → Think → Do)

High Involvement / Feel

Emotional attraction to the brand precedes information search. Communication should build emotional connection first.

Ex: : Luxury goods, jewelry, perfume, high-end fashion.

Quadrant 3 Habitual Hierarchy (Do → Learn → Feel)

Low Involvement / Think

Routine purchases requiring minimal cognitive effort. Consumers buy from habit, then learn from experience, then form attitudes.

Ex: Household staples, commodity grocery items.

Quadrant 4 ‘Life’s Little Pleasures’ (Do → Feel → Think)

Impulse and sensory purchases with minimal thinking or evaluation. Communication should be immediate, sensory, and emotionally appealing.

Ex: Snack foods, confectionery, small indulgences.

Brand-Image Communications - Build the Brand

Objective: Create a feeling or emotion tied to the brand.

Customer response: Affective — builds positive emotional associations without necessarily conveying functional information.

Performance metrics: Ad recall, brand recall, positive attitude toward brand.

Brand-Information Communications - Communicate Uniqueness

Objective: Communicate brand differentiation and give the consumer a specific reason to prefer this brand.

Customer response: Cognitive — creates interest in and comprehension of the brand's differentiating attributes.

Performance metrics: Recall of key content, positive brand attitude shifts.

Brand-Action Communications - Drive Purchase

Objective: Drive engagement and motivate a specific action — a purchase, sign-up, or store visit.

Customer response: Behavioral/Conative — creates urgency and a clear call to action.

Performance metrics: Purchase rate, coupon redemption rate, response rate to requested action.

Introduction Stage (PLC)

Market situation: New product, low awareness, limited distribution, no established competitors.

Communication focus: Build category need, brand awareness, and brand knowledge. Educate consumers about the product category itself. For innovations, stress central functional advantages. For new brand launches, focus on awareness and image-building.

Growth Stage (PLC)

Market situation: Consumers are now aware of the category; competing brands are entering; rapid sales growth.

Communication focus: Defend the brand's position against competitive attacks. Create brand preference — give consumers a specific reason to choose this brand over new entrants. Emphasize differentiating features and benefits.

Maturity Stage (PLC)

Market situation: Market saturation; sales growth has stalled; multiple competitors with similar offerings competing intensely.

Communication focus: Increase brand loyalty and top-of-mind awareness. Communicate a clear and unique benefit. Differentiate through experience or small product innovations. If differences are minimal, a lower price or value emphasis may be necessary.

Decline Stage

Market situation: Sales and profits falling; new products or technologies are replacing the offering.

If harvesting: Use sales promotions — prizes, lotteries — to milk remaining value.

If renewing: Communicate product adaptations, highlight new applications or usage occasions, attract new target groups, increase usage frequency among existing users.

Pull Communications

Directed at end consumers. Generates consumer demand that flows back through the channel. Relies on advertising and consumer promotions. Associated with intensive distribution.

Push Communications

Directed at channel intermediaries. Motivates channel members to stock, feature, and actively sell the product. Relies on trade allowances and personal selling. Associated with selective and exclusive distribution.

Advertising

Any paid, non-personal communication through various media by an identified company, non-profit organization, or individual. Purpose: to inform and persuade people about a product, service, or idea.

Manufacturer/Product Advertising (Types by Sender)

Initiated by a manufacturing company to promote its own brands.

Retail Advertising

Initiated by a retail organization to promote its stores and the products it carries.

Co-operative Advertising (Types by Sender)

A joint campaign developed by two manufacturers, or by a retailer and a manufacturer together — costs shared.

Collective Advertising (Types by Sender)

A government or industry body takes the initiative — often for public health or safety.

Idea Advertising (Types by Sender)

Promotes ideas rather than goods or services — primarily used by not-for-profit organizations.

Generic Advertising (Types by Message)

Promotes an entire product category rather than a specific brand — e.g., 'Got Milk?' benefits all dairy producers.

Selective Advertising (Types by Message)

Promotes a specific brand within a category — the most common form.

Institutional Advertising (Types by Message)

Builds goodwill and reputation for the organization itself, not for a specific product.

Theme Advertising (Types by Message)

Builds a long-run reservoir of goodwill for the brand through a consistent narrative or image over time — not a call to immediate action. Used to create deep emotional associations that outlast individual campaigns.

Action Advertising (Types by Message)

Stimulates immediate purchase behavior through urgency cues — limited-time offers, countdowns, direct calls to action.

Rational Advertising Appeals

Advertisements containing features, practical details, and verifiable, factually relevant cues that the consumer can use as evaluative criteria. Appropriate when the FCB Grid indicates a Think-dominant purchase decision.

Talking Head (Rational Advertising Appeals)

A character tells a story in their own words via monologue, dialogue, or interview technique.

Demonstration (Rational Advertising Appeals)

The consumer is shown how the product works. Focuses on attributes, benefits, and usage. Highly persuasive when the product's performance advantage is visually evident.

Problem-Solution (Rational Advertising Appeals)

Shows how a problem can be solved or avoided using the product. Often combined with a fear appeal. Example: an anti-dandruff shampoo ad showing the social consequences of visible flakes before the solution is introduced. Moderate fear combined with a clear solution is most effective.

Testimonial (Rational Advertising Appeals)

Features ordinary consumers describing their positive experience. Relies on the positive membership reference group effect — especially powerful for consumers highly susceptible to normative influence. Must be pretested for believability; testimonials frequently trigger irritation if consumers find the situation unbelievable or the character unsympathetic.

Slice-of-Life (Rational Advertising Appeals)

Shows the product being used in a realistic everyday setting, usually solving a real-life problem in a natural way.

Dramatization (Rational Advertising Appeals)

Similar to slice-of-life but builds suspense and emotional tension before resolving at a climax. Higher engagement than slice-of-life; requires skilled execution.

Comparative Advertising - Direct (Rational Advertising Appeals)

Explicitly names a competing brand and claims superiority on a specific attribute. Regulated in some countries.

Comparative Advertising - Indirect (Rational Advertising Appeals)

Argues superiority over unnamed competitors — e.g., 'better than other leading brands.' Avoids legal risks of direct comparison while still signaling competitive advantage. Example: 'Gillette — the best a man can get.'

Emotional Advertising Appeals

Advertisements designed to elicit affective responses and convey a brand image rather than deliver factual information. Appropriate when the FCB Grid indicates a Feel-dominant purchase decision.

A brand running purely image-driven communication is deliberately prioritizing the affective stage of the hierarchy over the cognitive stage. This is the correct approach when differentiation is primarily experiential or symbolic rather than functional.

Endorsers

Lend credibility, image, or expertise to a brand's communication. Endorser must be perceived as both expert (knowledgeable about the product or benefit) and trustworthy (honest and objective) to be persuasive. High expertise without trustworthiness produces skepticism; high trustworthiness without expertise produces likability without persuasion.

Celebrity Endorsements

A well-known public figure endorses the product or claim. Attracts attention, generates earned media, and positively impacts ad likeability. Has indirect positive impact on brand attitude and purchase intentions.

Risk of Celebrity Endorsements

Must be genuinely perceived as expert and trustworthy for the product category. A mismatch between image and product undermines the endorsement.

Expert Endorsements

A subject-matter is endorsed for the product. A dermatologist for skincare, an engineer for automotive performance. Perceived credibility is high and evokes positive affective responses. Generally less irritating than celebrity endorsements.

Contemporary Advertising Formats

Increasing advertising avoidance, skepticism toward traditional advertising, and shifting media consumption have pushed brands toward less conventional formats. Several of these 'hybrid' formats integrate commercial messages into content in ways consumers may not recognize as advertising — raising ethical considerations around persuasion knowledge.

Brand/Product Placement

Paid inclusion of brand identifiers in movies, TV programs, vlogs, games, or books. Research shows subtle, plot-connected placements improve both awareness and brand attitude; prominent, non-plot-connected placements can damage brand attitude.

Ambient Advertising

Unexpected, often spectacular advertising in the physical environment — light projections on landmarks, giant street art, transformed public vehicles, flash mobs. Characterized by creative surprise in unconventional locations

Stealth Advertising

Marketing that deliberately conceals the true commercial relationship between the message and the paying company. Consumers are exposed to a commercial message without being aware it is paid communication. Widely considered ethically problematic — it violates the principle that audiences should be able to recognize intentionally persuasive messages.

Buzz Marketing

Deliberately creates newsworthy events or conversations — giving people a reason to talk about a brand and facilitating those conversations. Often called 'organized word-of-mouth.' Effective triggers include taboos, the extraordinary, the unusual, humor, secrets, and compelling stories.

Can eventually disclose the brand’s involvement, distinguishing it from stealth advertising.

Content Marketing and Storytelling

Creating and distributing valuable, relevant, consistent content to attract and retain a defined audience — ultimately driving profitable customer action. No direct selling intent. Examples: sponsored magazines, branded video series, educational blogs.

Native Advertising

Content developed by the advertiser to closely match the form and function of the surrounding editorial content. Includes advertorials in print and infomercials on television. Must be labeled as advertising under most regulatory frameworks; unlabeled advertising constitutes deception.

Irritation

‘Provoking, annoying, causing displeasure, and momentary impatience.' Reduces advertising effectiveness and can generate lasting negative associations with the brand.

Media Context (Ad-Evoked Irritation)

TV is the most irritating medium because commercials interrupt programming. Frequent or dense interruptions compound this effect significantly.

Ad Content ( Ad-Evoked Irritation)

Unbelievable, exaggerated, or overdramatized scenarios increase irritation — particularly in testimonials, expert endorsements, and slice-of-life formats with unsympathetic characters or uncomfortable situations.

Information Overload (Ad-Evoked Irritation)

Information-oriented appeals irritate more than image or emotional appeals when the information feels excessive or repetitive. 'Soft sell' approaches reduce irritation compared to hard factual overloading.

Brand Comparison Overuse (Ad-Evoked Irritation)

Claiming to always be the best, or showing the brand name too frequently, triggers irritation. Satire, provocation, and eroticism also increase irritation for many audiences.

Ad Density (Ad-Evoked Irritation)

Too many ads in a single break, or the same ad repeated too frequently, creates frustration and reduces recall. Consumers bombarded by multiple interruptions during a short viewing experience report higher irritation and lower content enjoyment.

Irritation Reducers

Music, sentimental humor, and warmth created through the use of animals or children.

Top-of-Mind Awareness (Awareness Metrics)

The unaided awareness test: ask consumers which brand in a specific category first comes to mind. The first brand named = TOMA. Measured before and after a campaign to assess impact.

Unaided Awareness (Awareness Metrics)

After TOMA, ask consumers to name additional brands in the same category without prompting.

Aided Awareness (Awareness Metrics)

Present a list of brands and ask which ones the consumer recognizes. Measures passive recognition — the lower bound of brand knowledge.

Attitude Change (Behavioral Metrics)

Scale-based measurement of shifts in brand image or attitude before and after the campaign.

Purchase Intention (Behavioral Metrics)

Stated likelihood of future purchase — e.g., 'The next time you buy coffee, what is the chance you will buy Brand X?' Measured on a percentage scale or 10-point scale.

Net Promoter Score (Behavioral Metrics)

Measures advocacy: 'How likely are you to recommend this brand to family or friends?' on a 0–10 scale. NPS = % of respondents scoring 9–10 (Promoters) minus % scoring 0–6 (Detractors). Passives (7–8) are excluded. NPS ranges from −100 to +100.

Activation Measures (Behavioral Metrics)

The extent to which consumers actively respond to advertising: looking up information, talking to friends, visiting a website, or going to a store.

Tracking Studies (Behavioral Metrics)

Comparable random samples asked a standardized question set at regular intervals throughout and after the campaign — providing a time-series view of campaign impact.

Efficiency Measures (Behavioral Metrics)

The commercial return on communication investment — e.g., incremental sales per dollar of advertising spend.

Arbitrary Allocation (Communication Budgeting Methods)

Budget set at management's subjective discretion, without systematic analysis.

Least appropriate. Lacks any analytical foundation.

Affordability Method (Communication Budgeting Methods)

Spend whatever is left over after all operational costs — salaries, rent, raw materials — are covered.

Treats communication as a residual cost rather than a strategic investment. Communication spend collapses exactly when market conditions may demand more. Never leads to optimal budgeting.

Inertia Method (Communication Budgeting Methods)

Keep the budget constant year-over-year, ignoring changes in the market, competitive actions, or consumer behavior.

Simple, not not strategic. Fails to respond to opportunity or threat.

Percentage of Sales (Communication Budgeting Methods)

Allocate a fixed percentage — typically around 5% — of projected next-year sales to communication. Popular variants use past-year sales or profits as the base.

Easy to implement and defend internally. Fundamental flaw: makes communication a result of sales rather than a driver of sales. When sales fall, the budget shrinks — precisely when investment may be most needed.

Competitive Parity (Communication Budgeting Methods)

Match the communication spending of key competitors.

Advantage is it stabilizes markets by prevents spend escalation.

Disadvantage is it assumes competitors have set budgets optimally and that your objectives, resources, and competitive position are identical to theirs - rarely true.

Objective and Task Method (Communication Budgeting Methods)

Define specific communication objectives → identify the tasks required to achieve them → estimate the cost of each task → sum to arrive at the budget. Treats communication as an investment expected to generate measurable returns.

The most strategically rigorous and least arbitrary method. Difficult to implement because it requires reliable estimates of how communication activities translate into consumer responses. Enables year-over-year learning and clearly superior to all alternatives.

Total Reach (Media Planning Metrics)

The total number of people exposed to a media vehicle during a specified period — regardless of whether they are in the target group.

Useful Reach (Media Planning Metrics)

The number of people within the target group who are exposed to the media vehicle. More strategically relevant than total reach.

Gross Reach (Media Planning Metrics)

The sum of people in the target group reached by each individual media vehicle, counting individuals multiple times if reached by more than one vehicle.

Net Reach (Media Planning Metrics)

The unduplicated count of all target group members reached at least once across all vehicles. Also called 'reach.'

Opportunity to See (Media Planning Metrics)

The average number of times an average reached target consumer is exposed across all vehicles. Formula: OTS = Gross Reach ÷ Net Reach.

Gross Rating Point (Media Planning Metrics)

A summary measure of total campaign weight combining reach and frequency. Formula: GRP = Net Reach (%) × OTS. Also calculated by summing (frequency of vehicle i × % reach of vehicle i) across all vehicles.

A campaign uses two media vehicles. Vehicle 1 reaches 30% of the target group with a frequency of 3; Vehicle 2 reaches 20% with a frequency of 2. GRP = (3 × 30%) + (2 × 20%) = 90 + 40 = 130 GRP. This calculation extends to any number of vehicles by summing frequency × % reach for each.

Continuous Schedule (Scheduling Advertising Expenditures)

A steady, constant level of advertising throughout the entire campaign period. Suitable for products purchased year-round without significant seasonal variation.

Risk: Budget constraints may reduce per-period spend to a level too low to generate effective frequency.

Pulsing Schedule (Scheduling Advertising Expenditures)

A base level of advertising ('dripping') runs continuously, supplemented by higher spending during priority periods. The most flexible approach — maintains brand presence while concentrating firepower during peak demand periods.

Flighting Schedule (Scheduling Advertising Expenditures)

A base level of advertising ('dripping') runs continuously, supplemented by higher spending during priority periods. The most flexible approach — maintains brand presence while concentrating firepower during peak demand periods.

Double Spotting (Scheduling Advertising Expenditures)

Two ad exposures placed within the same program break to increase the probability of achieving effective frequency within a single viewing session.

Roadblocking (Scheduling Advertising Expenditures)

The same advertisement placed across multiple channels simultaneously — so that viewers encounter the ad regardless of which channel they switch to. A partial defense against channel-switching (zapping) behavior.

Brand Activation

The integration of all available communication means into a creative platform in order to activate consumers by stimulating interest, initiating trials, and ultimately securing consumer loyalty.

Goals: building the brand, increasing purchase frequency and penetration, enabling brand switching, and creating direct brand experiences. Key tools include sales promotions and point-of-purchase communications.

Sawtooth Effect

A common consequence of basket-filling promotions. Consumers stock up during the promotional period, causing a sharp post-promotion sales dip. If the dip fully offsets the promotional gain, the net effect is simply a reduction in margin — not a genuine increase in demand. Successful promotions show a positive difference between the lift during promotion and the depth of the dip.

Online and Social Media Communication

Communications allow brands to interact with customers and stakeholders via the internet and mobile devices. Measuring effectiveness requires a hierarchical approach to metrics.

Activity Metrics (Online and Social Media Communication)

The volume and consistency of the brand's own output on social media — its behavior as a publisher.

Examples: Number of posts, frequency and recency of updates, variety of content formats, quality and creativity of content.

Interaction Metrics (Online and Social Media Communication)

The extent to which the target audience engages with the brand's content. Three tiers:

◦       Consumption: visiting brand pages, viewing ads.

◦       Contribution: liking, sharing, commenting on brand content.

◦       Creation: producing user-generated content in response to brand communication.

Performance Metrics (Online and Social Media Communication)

The extent to which social media activity has contributed directly or indirectly to business financials.

Examples: Cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC), cost per action (CPA), ROI, shifts in brand attitude and market share.

Conversion Rate

Number of replies or responses to a given status update.

Amplification Rate

Number of shares, retweets, or reposts per update.

Economic Value

Total short- and long-term commercial return from social media investment.

Direct Marketing

A personal and direct way to communicate with customers and potential clients. Tools include personalized brochures, direct mailings, telemarketing actions, and direct response advertising. It is behavior-oriented by nature — effectiveness research almost always involves behavioral response measurement.

The RFM Response

The RFM model ranks customers by their likelihood of responding to the next direct marketing campaign, based on three behavioral indicators from past purchase history.

Recency (RFM)

Time elapsed since the customer's last purchase. Shorter interval = higher score. Customers who purchased recently are more likely to purchase again soon.