Introduction
Advertising is a way in which a company generates interest in a particular product line in order to encourage greater sales within specific markets, but also to generate a certain degree of “hype” and product patronage for the products/services that the company is offering. In some product markets though, certain types of consumer goods and services require “an extra push” so to speak when trying to conduct normal business operations (Goldfarb and Tucker, 207 – 227).
In such instances, as explained by Professor John Zang from the Wharton School of Business, “if customers aren’t buying, more often than not it is an indication that a company is targeting the wrong people“.
Taking this into consideration, it can be assumed that in cases where a hard to sell product is involved it is not that the company is experiencing a situation where the consumer does not want to be a customer but rather the company is merely targeting the wrong consumer market. It is in such instances that techniques such as informative, reassuring and persuasive advertising are utilized in order to gain the patronage of the market segment that the company is aiming for.
Effective Use of Advertising
While advertising is an effective means for a company to communicate with its customers and deliver its intended message, this doesn’t mean that all types of advertising are suitable for delivering a message for a particular type of company or a specific kind of product.
Studies such as those by Kopf, Torres, and Enomoto (2011) elaborate on this by showing that mass produced items meant to appeal to a large but diversified consumer demographic tend to use informative advertising through television as their primary method of advertising (Kopf, Torres, and Enomoto, 5 – 18).
Examples of this can be seen in the products of Pepsi, Coca Cola, Unilever, Kraft foods and a variety of other companies that specialize in producing what is commonly known as “junk food”. What you have to understand is that such companies operate within an incredibly competitive market environment with quite literally thousands of different products made by hundreds of competitors, all of whom are vying for a greater market percentage.
Thus, in this particular case, what is needed is to have a product standout by way of informative advertising. This is often done by presenting a particular snack food item as either being tastier, healthier or more affordable than other brands within the market today. Since most consumers can be considered as being rational consumers they would of course tend to patronize a product that they believe is within their price range, is of exceptional quality and has a higher degree of total utility compared to similar products within the market.
This would result in consumers having a greater likelihood of buying a product that they saw through informative advertising since for them it fulfills all the prerequisites needed for effective consumption. Based on the work of Kopf, Torres, and Enomoto (2011), it can thus be seen that informative advertising is more suited for overly saturated markets with heavy competition which necessitates the need for increasing product awareness.
What must be understood though is that in the case of informative advertising customers already want to buy a specific product and as such it is only a matter of convincing them to buy the type of product made by a company. Such a case doesn’t quite exist in situations involving persuasive advertising since in such instances it often involves a customer that does not necessarily want to buy a particular product or utilize a specific type of service.
Examples of this can be seen in the advertisements utilized by insurance companies wherein they use the phrase “what if” as the argumentative basis behind their insurance plans.
As Goldfarb and Tucker (2011) explain, persuasive advertising is utilized as a means of changing a consumers mind by presenting a need that didn’t previously exist (Goldfarb and Tucker, 20-227). In the case of insurance companies, this comes in the form of possible accidents, illnesses or deaths that may occur and as such they “manufacture” the need so to speak by preying on human fears.
While preying on fears is not always the case when it comes to persuasive advertising it does follow the same structure of “need manufacturing” wherein the element of persuasion is dependent on effectively convincing a person that they truly need to buy a product or utilize a service by a particular company.
Last, but not least, is the concept of reassuring advertising; this particular method of advertising is actually slightly different as compared to the previous two since it technically doesn’t convince a person to buy a particular product but is rather aimed at ensuring the continued patronage of existing customers.
Gal-Or, Geylani, and Yildirim (2012) explain that its aim is to reassure customers into believing that their purchase decisions were correct and that they should continue to buy that product or utilize that particular service (Gal-Or, Geylani, and Yildirim, 92-99).
Common examples of this particular method of advertising are actually heavily employed by the cigarette industry wherein their advertisements don’t necessarily attempt to convince people to continue to buy cigarettes but rather relay the message that smoking cigarettes is perfectly fine and is actually popular.
This often takes the form of having some popular actor, actress or athlete showcase either their support for the product or their use of it in order to entice people to continue to buy it due to the correlation between popular culture figures and propensity towards the continued patronage of the products they use by virtue of the fact that they use them.
International Advertising
International advertising initiatives such as those done by Unilever, Pepsi and Kraft Foods all attempt to target new markets within foreign countries due to flat growth in their main consumer markets (i.e. the U.S.)
They do this by utilizing various local pop culture icons in print ads and television advertisements in order to create an association between such stars and the product the company wants to sell thus resulting in a far greater degree of sales and product patronage. In this case, this is a form of informative advertising wherein companies seek to create greater awareness for their products/services.
Research Methodology
The research methodology behind this form of advertising is basically one which involves creating an association between a new product and a pop culture icon.
This speaks volumes of the influence of pop culture on consumer buying behavior however it is also indicative of the fact that companies are aware of what causes consumers to purchase a particular product and act accordingly in order to exploit it.
Conclusion
Based on the various examples that have been presented, it can be seen that despite various forms of consumable media in the form of print ads, billboards, commercials, online marketing campaigns and a plethora of other types of advertising initiatives being present in the world today not all techniques utilized in their creation are applicable to particular companies, products or services.
At times it requires a specific type of advertising initiative whether informative, persuasive or reassuring in order to reach the ultimate goal of advertising which is to be able target products/services to the consumers who want to buy them and retain their patronage for as long as possible.
Works Cited
Gal-Or, Esther, Tansev Geylani, and Tuba Pinar Yildirim. “The Impact Of Advertising On Media Bias.” Journal Of Marketing Research (JMR) 49.1 (2012): 92-99. Business Source Premier. Web.
Goldfarb, Avi, and Catherine Tucker. “Advertising Bans And The Substitutability Of Online And Offline Advertising.” Journal Of Marketing Research (JMR) 48.2 (2011): 207-227. Business Source Premier. Web.
Kopf, Dennis A., Ivonne M. Torres, and Carl Enomoto. “Advertising’s Unintended Consequence.” Journal Of Advertising 40.4 (2011): 5-18. Business Source Premier. Web.