Create a collection of advertisements. Collect them from everywhere. Newspapers, magazines, postcards, and others. Although a lot of these advertisements are probably junk (not as far as junk mail, but as far as marketing quality), there are probably some of them that you can get ideas from. The more you have, the more you will be able to better determine which types of designs and marcom messages "stick out" amongst the rest. If you likes parts of a variety of ads maybe you can put the different idea parts together to create one great, effective idea. For example, you might like the design of one postcard's title, the photo layout in another, and the coloration in another. Don't copy them exactly ofcourse, but ya know, similar;)
Have a great idea? Or more to ad to this? Please comment and share with readers all around the world.
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Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Give Your Customers Free Food & Drink While They Wait
If you own a company such as a quick lube, think about offering your customers free food and drink. I've seen a few placing doing this, but they were kinda pathetic attempts. A little water container in the corner for example. Or maybe four day old coffee. Umm... yeah... that just ain't going to help ya. Try something good. Try donuts and GOOD coffee. Muffins, you know stuff like that. If people like what you have, they'll enjoy their stay. And ofcourse when they need a service done again, will they go to the business across the street that doesn't offer anything or will they go to you? YOU. and they'll probably tell their friends, who will tell their friends, and so on and so forth.
Like I said, make it good. Don't be cheap and just get a bunch of old junk.
As Seth Godin says, BE REMARKABLE!!
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Like I said, make it good. Don't be cheap and just get a bunch of old junk.
As Seth Godin says, BE REMARKABLE!!
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Bathroom Marketing | The Importance of Keeping Your Bathrooms Clean
There are few things that turn me off more than a disgusting bathroom. You know the type. "Stuff" all over the floors, dirty(to put in polite terms) toilets, no toilet paper or towels and a mirror that looks more like something out of an alien war zone. Once you've been in one's like that, it's hard to forget. I wonder how many customers businesses lose over this issue? Maybe it's better I don't know...
So my advice, is take the extra effort to keep things looking nice. Keep things clean, well stocked, smelling great(air freshener doesn't cost that much) and the garbage cans emptied. Add a little decoration and try and get some music playing in there. Put interesting things on the walls.
You do that and I'll come the extra mile to your store instead of the one down the road. I'm pretty sure I wont be the only one.
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So my advice, is take the extra effort to keep things looking nice. Keep things clean, well stocked, smelling great(air freshener doesn't cost that much) and the garbage cans emptied. Add a little decoration and try and get some music playing in there. Put interesting things on the walls.
You do that and I'll come the extra mile to your store instead of the one down the road. I'm pretty sure I wont be the only one.
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Unique Way to Guarantee Your Product / Service
How many times have you heard the phrase 100% satisfaction guaranteed? 100 times? Or maybe 100 times a 100. Maybe you’ve stopped noticing when you see it because it’s done so often. It’s pretty much pointless to even try to use that as an incentive towards making a purchase. 100% satisfaction guaranteed is SOO last decade.
If you want to do a guarantee, why not find a creative way of presenting it? Do what everyone else isn’t doing. Think outside the box for a change and try something no one else has tried. Of course it depends on you product and company, so I can’t tell you what exactly to use, but I can give you an example of something. If you are a coffee shop for example you could have a guarantee that goes something like this:
Hated your drink? Then here’s something to get buzzed about, we have a “Like it, or get your money back and a free double shot espresso guarantee.”
I don’t know about you, but I think that would get noticed at least a few more times than the same old, same old, “100%” line.
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If you want to do a guarantee, why not find a creative way of presenting it? Do what everyone else isn’t doing. Think outside the box for a change and try something no one else has tried. Of course it depends on you product and company, so I can’t tell you what exactly to use, but I can give you an example of something. If you are a coffee shop for example you could have a guarantee that goes something like this:
Hated your drink? Then here’s something to get buzzed about, we have a “Like it, or get your money back and a free double shot espresso guarantee.”
I don’t know about you, but I think that would get noticed at least a few more times than the same old, same old, “100%” line.
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Telling A Good Marketing Story | Seth Godin Q & A | Question 5
View video
Question 5:
You said earlier, that marketing is all about telling a good story. What are the elements that go into a good story? You mentioned authenticity… How do you do that?
Seth:
Well let’s start by understanding, it’s NOT your story! It’s my story. You let me tell myself a story. If I’m the consumer, if I’m the business buyer, or a consumer consumer, I’m going to buy something because I believe the story. I’d like to talk about Fancy Feast Gourmet Cat Food. It smells horrible and it’s smooth like pâté. Well, cat food is not for cats. If cat food were for cats it would come in mouse flavor. But in fact people buy Fancy Feast cat food for themselves. Because of the way it makes them feel. Because of the story they can tell themselves. Not because of the cat. And the story is, “If you love your cat, if you want to take care of your cat, if you want to prove to your cat that she’s worth an extra buck, then you’ll buy this. That’s a story. Well if it was just ???? in a smaller can, the story wouldn’t resonate. It has to be different cat food. It has to be cat food that actually appeals to cats, because otherwise the story will fall on it’s face. So what we see here is that we have to live the story We have to breathe the story. All marketers aren’t liars, all marketers are truth tellers, because the best stories are the ones that spread and the ones that are authentic.
Read: Q & A 1 | Q & A 2 | Q & A 3 | Q & A 4 | Q & A 5
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Question 5:
You said earlier, that marketing is all about telling a good story. What are the elements that go into a good story? You mentioned authenticity… How do you do that?
Seth:
Well let’s start by understanding, it’s NOT your story! It’s my story. You let me tell myself a story. If I’m the consumer, if I’m the business buyer, or a consumer consumer, I’m going to buy something because I believe the story. I’d like to talk about Fancy Feast Gourmet Cat Food. It smells horrible and it’s smooth like pâté. Well, cat food is not for cats. If cat food were for cats it would come in mouse flavor. But in fact people buy Fancy Feast cat food for themselves. Because of the way it makes them feel. Because of the story they can tell themselves. Not because of the cat. And the story is, “If you love your cat, if you want to take care of your cat, if you want to prove to your cat that she’s worth an extra buck, then you’ll buy this. That’s a story. Well if it was just ???? in a smaller can, the story wouldn’t resonate. It has to be different cat food. It has to be cat food that actually appeals to cats, because otherwise the story will fall on it’s face. So what we see here is that we have to live the story We have to breathe the story. All marketers aren’t liars, all marketers are truth tellers, because the best stories are the ones that spread and the ones that are authentic.
Read: Q & A 1 | Q & A 2 | Q & A 3 | Q & A 4 | Q & A 5
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Definition of Marketing | Art of Telling a Story | Seth Godin Q & A | Q 1
Below is another video with the speaker Seth Godin. I will include a text version of what is being said for the people who have slow internet connections.
Question 1:
What the definition of marketing?
Seth:
I think that marketing is the art of telling a story to a consumer that they want to hear that lets them persuade themselves that they want to buy something. And inherent to that story is that you have to have something that they want – you can’t force it on them. Number two is you have to be authentic, you have to tell them the truth. You can’t have a story that’s a fraud. And number three, your story has to be so remarkable that people want to tell it to other people. When you put all those pieces together that’s what a marketer does for a living.
Read: Q & A 1 | Q & A 2 | Q & A 3 | Q & A 4 | Q & A 5
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Question 1:
What the definition of marketing?
Seth:
I think that marketing is the art of telling a story to a consumer that they want to hear that lets them persuade themselves that they want to buy something. And inherent to that story is that you have to have something that they want – you can’t force it on them. Number two is you have to be authentic, you have to tell them the truth. You can’t have a story that’s a fraud. And number three, your story has to be so remarkable that people want to tell it to other people. When you put all those pieces together that’s what a marketer does for a living.
Read: Q & A 1 | Q & A 2 | Q & A 3 | Q & A 4 | Q & A 5
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Communicating with People with Disabilities: Disability Facts
COMMUNICATING WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Below is an article that discusses issues related to communicating with people who have disabilities.
Communicating with People with Disabilities
Produced by Adaptive Environment Center under contract to Barrier Free Environments, NIDRR grant#H133D10122
Please note: This material is based in part on Achieving Physical and Communication Accessibility, a publication of the National Center for Access Unlimited, and Community Access Facts, an Adaptive Environments Center publication.
Employees or customers who have disabilities will feel most comfortable at your place of business if you consider these suggestions for effective communication:
Disability Facts: General Considerations
Do not be afraid to make a mistake when meeting and communicating with someone with a disability. Try following the suggestions below. Imagine how you would react if you were in similar situations. Keep in mind that a person who has a disability is a person, and, like you, is entitled to the dignity, consideration respect, and rights you expect for yourself.
Disability Facts: How to Treat People with Disabilities
Treat adults as adults. Address people with disabilities by their first names only when extending the same familiarity to all others present. (Never patronize people by patting them on the head or shoulder.)
Relax. If you don't know what to do, allow the person who has a disability to put you at ease.
Disability Facts: Offering Assistance and How to Help
If you offer assistance and the person declines, do not insist. If it is accepted, ask how you can best help, and follow directions. Do not take over.
If someone with a disability is accompanied by another individual, address the person with a disability directly rather than speaking through the other person.
Disability Facts: "People First" Terminology
Place the person before the disability. Say "person with a disability," rather than "disabled person."
Disability Facts: How to Talk about the Disabled
Avoid referring to people by the disability they have, i.e.., "an epileptic," "blind people". A person is not a condition Rather, refer to "a person with epilepsy," or "people who are blind."
Disability Facts: Wheelchairs
People are not "bound" or "confined" to wheelchairs. They use them to increase their mobility and enhance their freedom. It is more accurate to say "wheelchair user" or "person who uses a wheelchair."
Disability Facts: Physical Disabilities
Do not make assumptions about what a person can and cannot do. A person with a physical disability is the best judge of his or her own capabilities.
Do not push a person's wheelchair or grab the arm of someone walking with difficulty, without first asking if you can be of assistance. Personal space includes a person's wheelchair, crutches, or other mobility aid.
Never move someone's crutch, walker, cane, or other mobility aid without permission.
When speaking to a person using a wheelchair for more than a few minutes, try to find a seat for yourself so the two of you are at eye level.
Disability Facts: Visual Disabilities
Identify yourself when you approach a person who is blind. If a new person approaches, introduce him or her.
It is appropriate to touch the person's arm lightly when you speak so that he or she knows you are speaking to him or her.
Face the person and speak directly to him or her. Use a normal tone of voice.
Don't leave without saying you are leaving.
If you are offering directions, be as specific as possible, and point out obstacles in the path of travel. Use clock cues ("the door is at 2 o'clock").
Alert people who are blind or visually impaired to posted information.
Never pet or otherwise distract a guide dog unless the owner has given you permission.
You may offer assistance if it seems needed, but if your offer is declined, do not insist. If your offer is accepted, ask the person how you can best help.
Disability Facts: Hearing Disabilities
Ask the person how he or she prefers to communicate.
Disability Facts: Speaking with an Interpreter
If you are speaking through an interpreter, remember that the interpreter may lag a few words behind - especially if there are names or technical terms to be finger spelled - so pause occasionally to allow him or her time to translate completely and accurately.
Disability Facts: Talks to the Person who is Deaf
Talk directly to the person who is deaf or hard of hearing, not to the interpreter. However, although it may seem awkward to you, the person who is deaf or hard of hearing will look at the interpreter and may not make eye contact with you during the conversation.
Disability Facts: Get the Attention of the Person You Are Addressing
Before you start to speak, make sure you have the attention of the person you are addressing. A wave, a light touch on the shoulder, or other visual or tactile signals are appropriate ways of getting the person's attention.
Speak in a clear, expressive manner. Do not over-enunciate or exaggerate words.
Unless you are specifically requested to do so, do not raise your voice. Speak in a normal tone; do not shout.
To facilitate speech reading, face into the light and keep your hands and other objects away from your mouth.
Disability Facts: Speech Reading
If the person is speech reading, face the person directly and maintain eye contact. Don't turn your back or walk around while talking. If you look away, the person might assume the conversation is over.
Disability Facts: Writing a Message
While you are writing a message for someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, don't talk. The person cannot read your note and your lips at the same time.
If you do not understand something that is said, ask the person to repeat it or to write it down. The goal is communication; do not pretend to understand if you do not.
Disability Facts: Sign Language
If you know any sign language, try using it. It may help you communicate, and it will at least demonstrate your interest in communicating and your willingness to try.
Disability Facts: Speech Disabilities
Talk to people with speech disabilities as you would talk to anyone else.
Be friendly; start up a conversation.
Be patient, it may take the person a while to answer.
Give the person your undivided attention.
Ask the person for help in communicating with him or her. If the person uses a communication device such as a manual or electronic communication board, ask the person how best to use it.
Speak in your regular tone of voice.
Tell the person if you do not understand what he or she is trying to say. Ask the person to repeat the message, spell it, tell you in a different way, or write it down.
To obtain information quickly, ask short questions that require brief answers or a head nod. However, try not to insult the person's intelligence with over-simplification.
Disability Facts: Cognitive Disabilities Or Mental Disabilities
Treat adults with cognitive disabilities as adults.
Disability Facts: Be Alert to Responses / Visual Forms of Communication
When speaking to someone who has a cognitive disability, try to be alert to their responses so that you can adjust your method of communication if necessary. For example, some people may benefit from simple, direct sentences or from supplementary visual forms of communication, such as gestures, diagrams, or demonstrations.
Use language that is concrete rather than abstract. Be specific, without being too simplistic. Using humor is fine, but do not interpret a lack of response as rudeness. Some people may not grasp the meaning of sarcasm or other subtleties of language.
Disability Facts: Brain Injuries
People with brain injuries may have short-term memory deficits and may repeat themselves or require information to be repeated.
Disability Facts: Auditory Perceptual Problems
People with auditory perceptual problems may need to have directions repeated, and may take notes to help them remember directions or the sequence of tasks. They may benefit from watching a task demonstrated.
Disability Facts: Perceptual Problems
People with perceptual or "sensory overload" problems may become disoriented or confused if there is too much to absorb at once. Provide information gradually and clearly. Reduce background noise if possible.
Repeat information using different wording or a different communication approach if necessary. Allow time for the information to be fully understood.
Don't pretend to understand if you do not. Ask the person to repeat what was said.
In conversation, people with mental retardation may respond slowly, so give them time. Be patient, flexible, and supportive.
Some people who have a cognitive disability may be easily distracted. Try not to interpret distraction as rudeness.
Do not expect all people to be able to read well. Some people may not read at all.
WRITING & GRAMMER RULE ARTICLES
Comma, Semicolons, Colons Quotation MarksAbbreviations & TitlesUsing "I" or "Me" and the Use of "Self" PronounsDouble AdjectivesTranscribing NumbersSeparate and Joint Ownership"Who" Versus "Whom"How to use commasPersuasive Writing
Persuasive Communication Strategy Communicating Bad News Communicating Bad News / TIps and Tricks Communicating with People with Disabilities Cross Cultural Communications Types of Communication and Characteristics Nonverbal Communications
Word of Mouth: Viral Marketing : How to Get People Talking About Product
“Buzz” isn’t something that just effortlessly happens. It is something that needs the active participation, careful planning, and integration. It is essential for marketers to influence the type of buzz that occurs. You can’t just sit back and hope that positive word of mouth will happen by some random chance. The term marketers use for the process of generating positive word of mouth influence is appropriately called buzz creation. There are also other terms that are used to describe this process that may be more familiar to some people. These terms include: diffusion marketing, street marketing, guerrilla marketing, and viral marketing. This process is both planned and organized in such a way that will encourage positive information to be spread about a certain brand, product, service, and etc.
Some of the most successful products obtained there success through the effective use of buzz creation. Apple regularly influences word of mouth communication to help launch its products. As the video in the previous entry talks about, the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, used buzz creation to turn the company around. He created something new and something that would be talked about – he created “cute” computers by using a unique design and color combinations (see video for more information). One of the most important aspects of creating buzz is creating something that is very innovative and very unique.
Imagine your target market network as being like the airline transportation network. The airlines have a few main airports into which most of the flights are routed through. These main airports are called hubs. For example, a hub would be considered the New York JFK International airport. If you wanted to take a flight from San Francisco to Niagra Falls NY, you would probably have to first land at the JFK airport and then take another flight to a smaller airport in Niagra Falls. The Niagra Falls airport would be considered a node airport. Similarly, with word of mouth influence there are those individuals who are highly connected are like the hub airports, they are responsible in some way for most of the traffic, or in this case, influence. The individuals with less influence are like the node airports, they have some traffic, but usually only if they have had some influence with the main hubs. The nodes in the buzz network are similar; they have some influence on buzz, but that influence is limited, and without the “hubs” can’t reach much of the target market. Therefore, it could go without saying that the key to creating a buzz epidemic is to get essential information to highly influential / connected individuals (commonly referred to as influentials.
In my next blog entry I will be discussing specific steps that can be undertaken to create an epidemic. So check back soon! Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.
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Some of the most successful products obtained there success through the effective use of buzz creation. Apple regularly influences word of mouth communication to help launch its products. As the video in the previous entry talks about, the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, used buzz creation to turn the company around. He created something new and something that would be talked about – he created “cute” computers by using a unique design and color combinations (see video for more information). One of the most important aspects of creating buzz is creating something that is very innovative and very unique.
Imagine your target market network as being like the airline transportation network. The airlines have a few main airports into which most of the flights are routed through. These main airports are called hubs. For example, a hub would be considered the New York JFK International airport. If you wanted to take a flight from San Francisco to Niagra Falls NY, you would probably have to first land at the JFK airport and then take another flight to a smaller airport in Niagra Falls. The Niagra Falls airport would be considered a node airport. Similarly, with word of mouth influence there are those individuals who are highly connected are like the hub airports, they are responsible in some way for most of the traffic, or in this case, influence. The individuals with less influence are like the node airports, they have some traffic, but usually only if they have had some influence with the main hubs. The nodes in the buzz network are similar; they have some influence on buzz, but that influence is limited, and without the “hubs” can’t reach much of the target market. Therefore, it could go without saying that the key to creating a buzz epidemic is to get essential information to highly influential / connected individuals (commonly referred to as influentials.
In my next blog entry I will be discussing specific steps that can be undertaken to create an epidemic. So check back soon! Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.
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Diffusion Process: Steps For Increasing Product Sales
The process by which an innovation is adopted though out the marketplace is known as the diffusion process. In terms of marketing communications, diffusion is the progression through which a new product goes through as it is adopted a growing number of consumers. This diffusion process is affected by a number of different factors. In theory the process would eventually spread the adoption process through out a target market, but in the real world this doesn’t happen because of a variety of factors. These factors include, but are definitely not limited to unsuitable communication strategies and to competitions marketing efforts.
Consumers vary in the way they respond to and adopt new product innovations. Some individual want to get the newest products with the new features as soon as possible. These people are known as the innovators. Then there are the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority, and the laggards. I wont go into to detail about what each of these are because it is kind of self explanatory.
To create an effective diffusion process it is usually necessary to accomplish the following objectives:
1. Generate rapid early adoption by the innovators and the early adopters.
2. Once the innovators and the early adopters have taken the bait,
focus of creating rapid acceleration to reach the early majority.
3. Reach the late adopters and the laggards to have maximum
penetration in the target market.
4. And lastly, try to sell as much as possible while the target market
still has interest in innovation.
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Product Characteristics: Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trialability, Observability
There are five product characteristics that influence how attitudes are created towards new products and services.
Relative Advantages
Compatibility
Complexity
Trialability
Observability
Relative Advantage
This is the extent to which a given consumer sees a certain attribute of a new product or service to be better than the attributes of similar existing products or services. If a consumer sees the new product attribute as better than existing ones, it does not necessarily mean that that attribute is actually better. This means that this product characteristic is based on consumer perception.
There is a direct relationship between positive relative advantage and new product adoption rates. The more a consumer views a certain attribute as being better than those of existing product attributes, the more rapid the rate of adoption. A new product’s/service’s relative disadvantages (such as increased prices and the increased time it might take to learn how to operate the new product) will, of course, have an opposite effect on the adoption rate.
Compatibility
Compatibility is how the consumer perceives the new product or service into the person’s lifestyle choices. When the product or service closely matches the individual’s needs, wants, beliefs, values, and consumptions patterns, the innovation can be considered highly compatible with the consumer. For example even though a coke substitute might have an almost identical flavor to the real thing, consumer’s who are loyal to the Coke brand are unlikely to purchase the substitutes. This is because in the consumer’s mind the real Coke is the only Coke, and anything else is considered “junk” or worthless. In this case the coke substitute would be considered incompatible with the loyal Coke drinkers.
Complexity
The extent to which the consumer considers the innovation to be difficult utilize in known as the innovation’s complexity. If the innovation has a high level of complexity, it will have a lower level of adoption. If the innovation is perceived as being less complex than it’s existing counterparts, a marketer can sometimes use the advantage to gain a price premium on the new product or service.
Trialability
If the new product or service can be tried out for limited time period before an actual outlaying of money, the product adoption rates will rise substantially. Trialability reduces the consumer’s perceived risk of making a purchase of the product. By letting your customer try your product before the purchase, you are showing your customer that you are confident enough in your product to allow them to try it before they make a purchase. Of course, the trial offering has to be tailored to appropriately fit with your product offering. For example if you own a website that offers paid subscription based financial services, you might want to try to offer a free one month subscription.
Observability
The extent to which a potential consumer can observe the innovation and it’s positive effects is known as observability. The more the positive effects are sensed, the more observable the effects are to the consumer. For example, if you are running an online gaming website and you come out with a new edition of a game with that has 20 more guns than in the last edition, this addition would be considered an easily observable positive attribute; you can see them in the game when you are playing it. But if you made the little tree in the corner move a little, that would be considered a less observable positive attribute.
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Relative Advantages
Compatibility
Complexity
Trialability
Observability
Relative Advantage
This is the extent to which a given consumer sees a certain attribute of a new product or service to be better than the attributes of similar existing products or services. If a consumer sees the new product attribute as better than existing ones, it does not necessarily mean that that attribute is actually better. This means that this product characteristic is based on consumer perception.
There is a direct relationship between positive relative advantage and new product adoption rates. The more a consumer views a certain attribute as being better than those of existing product attributes, the more rapid the rate of adoption. A new product’s/service’s relative disadvantages (such as increased prices and the increased time it might take to learn how to operate the new product) will, of course, have an opposite effect on the adoption rate.
Compatibility
Compatibility is how the consumer perceives the new product or service into the person’s lifestyle choices. When the product or service closely matches the individual’s needs, wants, beliefs, values, and consumptions patterns, the innovation can be considered highly compatible with the consumer. For example even though a coke substitute might have an almost identical flavor to the real thing, consumer’s who are loyal to the Coke brand are unlikely to purchase the substitutes. This is because in the consumer’s mind the real Coke is the only Coke, and anything else is considered “junk” or worthless. In this case the coke substitute would be considered incompatible with the loyal Coke drinkers.
Complexity
The extent to which the consumer considers the innovation to be difficult utilize in known as the innovation’s complexity. If the innovation has a high level of complexity, it will have a lower level of adoption. If the innovation is perceived as being less complex than it’s existing counterparts, a marketer can sometimes use the advantage to gain a price premium on the new product or service.
Trialability
If the new product or service can be tried out for limited time period before an actual outlaying of money, the product adoption rates will rise substantially. Trialability reduces the consumer’s perceived risk of making a purchase of the product. By letting your customer try your product before the purchase, you are showing your customer that you are confident enough in your product to allow them to try it before they make a purchase. Of course, the trial offering has to be tailored to appropriately fit with your product offering. For example if you own a website that offers paid subscription based financial services, you might want to try to offer a free one month subscription.
Observability
The extent to which a potential consumer can observe the innovation and it’s positive effects is known as observability. The more the positive effects are sensed, the more observable the effects are to the consumer. For example, if you are running an online gaming website and you come out with a new edition of a game with that has 20 more guns than in the last edition, this addition would be considered an easily observable positive attribute; you can see them in the game when you are playing it. But if you made the little tree in the corner move a little, that would be considered a less observable positive attribute.
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Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing
Sensory Adaption: Changing Advertising Campaigns To Reduce
Sensory Adaption
Sensory adaptation is a problem that concerns many advertisers, which is why they try to change their advertising campaigns regularly. They are concerned that consumers will get so used to their current print ads and TV commercials that they will no longer “see” them; that is, the ads will no longer provide sufficient sensory input to be noted.
In an effort to cut through the advertising clutter and ensure that consumers note their ads, some marketers try to increase sensory input. For example, Apple Computer once bought all the advertising space in an issue of Newsweek magazine to ensure that readers would note its ads. From time to time, various advertisers have taken all of the bus cards on certain bus routes to advertise their products, ensuring that wherever a rider sits, he or she will be exposed to that ad. Other advertisers try to attract attention by decreasing sensory input. For example, some print ads include a lot of empty space in order to accentuate the brand name or product illustration, and some TV ads use silence, the absence of audio sound, to generate attention.
Some marketers seek unusual or technological media in which to place their advertisements in an effort to gain attention. Examples of such media include disks placed in bathroom sinks that play commercials when activated by running water, ads embedded in the floors of supermarkets, and small monitors that display weather and news, as well as advertising, placed on elevators. Researchers have reported that the use of ambient scent in a retail environment enhances the shopping experience for many consumers and makes the time they spend examining merchandise, waiting in line, and waiting for help seem shorter than it actually is. Some marketers have invested in the development of specially engineered scents to enhance their products and entice consumers to buy. Marketers try to form stronger bonds with young, design-oriented consumers and brands, using the store image itself to give “dimension” to their brands, and present them as “cool.” For example, in one store selling sports footwear, the shoes are integrated into a huge sound system in the shape of a wall; in another store selling advertised high definition TVs, the screens show art inside the store. Read the articles in order below for complete information on this topic.
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Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing
Sensory adaptation is a problem that concerns many advertisers, which is why they try to change their advertising campaigns regularly. They are concerned that consumers will get so used to their current print ads and TV commercials that they will no longer “see” them; that is, the ads will no longer provide sufficient sensory input to be noted.
In an effort to cut through the advertising clutter and ensure that consumers note their ads, some marketers try to increase sensory input. For example, Apple Computer once bought all the advertising space in an issue of Newsweek magazine to ensure that readers would note its ads. From time to time, various advertisers have taken all of the bus cards on certain bus routes to advertise their products, ensuring that wherever a rider sits, he or she will be exposed to that ad. Other advertisers try to attract attention by decreasing sensory input. For example, some print ads include a lot of empty space in order to accentuate the brand name or product illustration, and some TV ads use silence, the absence of audio sound, to generate attention.
Some marketers seek unusual or technological media in which to place their advertisements in an effort to gain attention. Examples of such media include disks placed in bathroom sinks that play commercials when activated by running water, ads embedded in the floors of supermarkets, and small monitors that display weather and news, as well as advertising, placed on elevators. Researchers have reported that the use of ambient scent in a retail environment enhances the shopping experience for many consumers and makes the time they spend examining merchandise, waiting in line, and waiting for help seem shorter than it actually is. Some marketers have invested in the development of specially engineered scents to enhance their products and entice consumers to buy. Marketers try to form stronger bonds with young, design-oriented consumers and brands, using the store image itself to give “dimension” to their brands, and present them as “cool.” For example, in one store selling sports footwear, the shoes are integrated into a huge sound system in the shape of a wall; in another store selling advertised high definition TVs, the screens show art inside the store. Read the articles in order below for complete information on this topic.
Articles Related to Above Topic. Read in Order.
Definition of Perception. Relevance to Marketers and Advertisers
Element of Perception: Sensation: Response to Stimuli
Absolute Threshold of Sensation: Adaption to Advertising: Getting Used To Something
Sensory Adaption: Changing Advertising Campaigns To Reduce
Weber's Law: Just Noticeable Difference: Differential Threshold
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Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
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Emotional Appeals: Fear, Humor and Abrasive Advertising Appeals
Advertising Appeals
Factual appeals, or “reason why” appeals are good when you are trying to reach well educated consumers. Emotional appeals are usually more effective in convincing less educated consumers. There are different types of emotional appeals, of which the most popular include: fear, humor, and abrasive advertising appeals.
Fear is an appeal that is used fairly often by marketers. They can be a pretty effective means of persuading a consumer if the fears created aren’t to strong. Usually, mild fears work pretty well for the right products.
Humor is an emotional appeal that is used very often by marketers. About 24 percent of all TV in the U.S.A use this type of appeal. It is usually a pretty effective tool for the right products and services. What is I mean is don’t start using humor is funeral home ads or something. It usually works the best with those members of the audience who are younger, better educated, upscale, and professional.
Abrasive Advertising
Annoying and unpleasant advertisements can be very effective. Research shows that the abrasiveness of a commercial that uses this type of appeal will wear out over time and the brand name will remain in consumers’ memories. I’m not sure how ethical this type of appeal can be at times, but I guess it works in some product areas.
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Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing
Factual appeals, or “reason why” appeals are good when you are trying to reach well educated consumers. Emotional appeals are usually more effective in convincing less educated consumers. There are different types of emotional appeals, of which the most popular include: fear, humor, and abrasive advertising appeals.
Fear is an appeal that is used fairly often by marketers. They can be a pretty effective means of persuading a consumer if the fears created aren’t to strong. Usually, mild fears work pretty well for the right products.
Humor is an emotional appeal that is used very often by marketers. About 24 percent of all TV in the U.S.A use this type of appeal. It is usually a pretty effective tool for the right products and services. What is I mean is don’t start using humor is funeral home ads or something. It usually works the best with those members of the audience who are younger, better educated, upscale, and professional.
Abrasive Advertising
Annoying and unpleasant advertisements can be very effective. Research shows that the abrasiveness of a commercial that uses this type of appeal will wear out over time and the brand name will remain in consumers’ memories. I’m not sure how ethical this type of appeal can be at times, but I guess it works in some product areas.
Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:
Use of Resonance in Advertising/Marketing Messages
Message Framing and Advertising/Marketing Message
One-sided VS Two-sided Messages
Comparitive Advertising In Marketing Messages
How Order Effects Marketing Messages
Use of Repitition In Marketing Messages
Emotional Appeals In Marketing Messages
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Use of Repitition in Advertising / Marketing Message Structure (Brief look)
Repetition
This is one of the most important factors to consider. Repetition is beneficial to persuasion, ad recall, brand-name recall, and brand preferences because it allows for the message to be encoded in the consumers’ memories. When you run your campaigns, don’t just run one advertisement and expect to get great sales. Research shows that it takes about 3 times for most advertising messages to be encoded by viewers.
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Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing
This is one of the most important factors to consider. Repetition is beneficial to persuasion, ad recall, brand-name recall, and brand preferences because it allows for the message to be encoded in the consumers’ memories. When you run your campaigns, don’t just run one advertisement and expect to get great sales. Research shows that it takes about 3 times for most advertising messages to be encoded by viewers.
Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:
Use of Resonance in Advertising/Marketing Messages
Message Framing and Advertising/Marketing Message
One-sided VS Two-sided Messages
Comparitive Advertising In Marketing Messages
How Order Effects Marketing Messages
Use of Repitition In Marketing Messages
Emotional Appeals In Marketing Messages
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How Order Effects Advertising and Marketing Messages.
Order Effects
The order in which advertisements are presented has an effect on how those advertisements are received by the audience. If you are running a television ad campaign and the sales person convinces you that having your ad play in the middle of the commercial break, don’t take it. Unless, of course, they have some kind of discount offer available. The most effective advertisement are those that are that the beginning and those that are the ends. This is true in magazines, newspapers, TV and more. Order is also important in advertisement design. Make your important points first to capture the attention of the viewer. Then list the rest of the points in order of what you consider important. Research also indicates that having the brand name in the beginning is beneficial for recall. This depends on your specific advertisement, however. If you are doing a TV commercial and want to create suspense or surprise, then it might be better to wait for the brand name to appear.
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72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing
The order in which advertisements are presented has an effect on how those advertisements are received by the audience. If you are running a television ad campaign and the sales person convinces you that having your ad play in the middle of the commercial break, don’t take it. Unless, of course, they have some kind of discount offer available. The most effective advertisement are those that are that the beginning and those that are the ends. This is true in magazines, newspapers, TV and more. Order is also important in advertisement design. Make your important points first to capture the attention of the viewer. Then list the rest of the points in order of what you consider important. Research also indicates that having the brand name in the beginning is beneficial for recall. This depends on your specific advertisement, however. If you are doing a TV commercial and want to create suspense or surprise, then it might be better to wait for the brand name to appear.
Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:
Use of Resonance in Advertising/Marketing Messages
Message Framing and Advertising/Marketing Message
One-sided VS Two-sided Messages
Comparitive Advertising In Marketing Messages
How Order Effects Marketing Messages
Use of Repitition In Marketing Messages
Emotional Appeals In Marketing Messages
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Comparative Advertising In Marketing Messages. Effective?
Comparative advertising
Comparative advertising can be a very effective tool in your marketing strategy if used correctly. United States is one the countries in the world that allow this type of advertising to take place. Most other countries have laws against comparative advertising. I have only had this blog a short time and already I have had people from probably 50 countries around the world reading this blog. Make sure you check with your country’s government before attempting this type of advertising.
Anyways, back to comparative advertising. Comparative advertising is a technique that marketers use in advertising in which direct comparisons are made about that product and a competing product. For example if you made an MP3 Player that had more space than an IPOD (yeah, I know, like that will happen soon), the advertisement would say “50 more Gigabytes of storage than the IPOD has,” or something along those lines. (Of course, in this that example, one would worry about the honestly of the advertising company. It’s hard to make something better then what Apple puts out. Which leads to the point, make sure your comparison is honest, like all your other advertising.)
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Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing
Comparative advertising can be a very effective tool in your marketing strategy if used correctly. United States is one the countries in the world that allow this type of advertising to take place. Most other countries have laws against comparative advertising. I have only had this blog a short time and already I have had people from probably 50 countries around the world reading this blog. Make sure you check with your country’s government before attempting this type of advertising.
Anyways, back to comparative advertising. Comparative advertising is a technique that marketers use in advertising in which direct comparisons are made about that product and a competing product. For example if you made an MP3 Player that had more space than an IPOD (yeah, I know, like that will happen soon), the advertisement would say “50 more Gigabytes of storage than the IPOD has,” or something along those lines. (Of course, in this that example, one would worry about the honestly of the advertising company. It’s hard to make something better then what Apple puts out. Which leads to the point, make sure your comparison is honest, like all your other advertising.)
Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:
Use of Resonance in Advertising/Marketing Messages
Message Framing and Advertising/Marketing Message
One-sided VS Two-sided Messages
Comparitive Advertising In Marketing Messages
How Order Effects Marketing Messages
Use of Repitition In Marketing Messages
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One-sided versus two-sided messages in marketing message structure
One-sided versus two-sided messages
Should you only tell your customers about the benefits of your product or service? Or should you tell them about the good points and the bad points? This depends on whether you have a friendly customer base, or an unfriendly customer base. By friendly I mean customers who already use the company’s products and customers who probably wont hear arguments against the product. Unfriendly consumers would be those who don’t currently use the company’s products (new customers to the company, for example) and those who are likely to hear claims that oppose your claims (if you happen to know for example that your competitor is running an ad campaign at the same time as you are).
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Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing
Should you only tell your customers about the benefits of your product or service? Or should you tell them about the good points and the bad points? This depends on whether you have a friendly customer base, or an unfriendly customer base. By friendly I mean customers who already use the company’s products and customers who probably wont hear arguments against the product. Unfriendly consumers would be those who don’t currently use the company’s products (new customers to the company, for example) and those who are likely to hear claims that oppose your claims (if you happen to know for example that your competitor is running an ad campaign at the same time as you are).
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One-sided VS Two-sided Messages
Comparitive Advertising In Marketing Messages
How Order Effects Marketing Messages
Use of Repitition In Marketing Messages
Emotional Appeals In Marketing Messages
Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
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Message Framing and Marketing/Advertising Message Design
Message Framing
When marketers emphasize the things will be gained when a consumer chooses a to use a specific product or service, it is known as positive message framing. When they stress the benefits that will be lost it is known as negative message framing. The technique that you should use will depend on the product you are offering and what the attitudes and characteristics of your potential customer are toward that product. If a person has a high need for cognition, then in general the use of a positively framed message works better. The opposite is true about using negatively framed messages, people with low need for cognition will be persuaded more by this type. In general people who have good self image are more likely to be convinced by positive framing, and people with low self esteem are more likely to be convinced by negative framing.
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Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing
When marketers emphasize the things will be gained when a consumer chooses a to use a specific product or service, it is known as positive message framing. When they stress the benefits that will be lost it is known as negative message framing. The technique that you should use will depend on the product you are offering and what the attitudes and characteristics of your potential customer are toward that product. If a person has a high need for cognition, then in general the use of a positively framed message works better. The opposite is true about using negatively framed messages, people with low need for cognition will be persuaded more by this type. In general people who have good self image are more likely to be convinced by positive framing, and people with low self esteem are more likely to be convinced by negative framing.
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Use of Resonance in Advertising/Marketing Messages
Message Framing and Advertising/Marketing Message
One-sided VS Two-sided Messages
Comparitive Advertising In Marketing Messages
How Order Effects Marketing Messages
Use of Repitition In Marketing Messages
Emotional Appeals In Marketing Messages
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Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
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Consumer Attitude Formation / Change
Below is an article that I worked on with a group for a college class I took recently.
As consumers, we have a wide variety of products and services to choose from when purchasing almost anything. Our attitudes towards certain products, services, brands, or advertisements can and do affect whether or not we will purchase a certain product or service. Attitudes will also affect whether or not we become a loyal customer and whether or not we recommend it to a friend. As marketers, it is important to understand how an attitude is formed and if there is any way of changing consumers’ attitudes.
What is an attitude exactly? It is defined as a “learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way with respect to a given object”. There are two different types of models that have been found to explain consumers’ attitudes:
The first one is the tricomponent attitude model. It comprised of three categories: Cognitive component, Affective Component, and Conative Component. The Cognative component is made up of knowledge and perceptions that are acquired through direct experience with an object and related information from other sources. The Affective component is one’s emotions or feelings about a particular product or brand. The Conative component is the likelihood that the consumer will take an action or behave in a certain way.
There are also multiattribute attitude models. The first one is the attitude toward an object model. This is when one’s attitude toward a product or brand is a function of the presence, or absence, and evaluation of certain product-specific beliefs and/or attitudes. The second is the attitude toward behavior model. This is when the individual’s attitude toward behaving or acting with respect to an object rather than the attitude toward the object itself seem to correspond more closely to actual behavior than does the attitude toward object model. The theory of reasoned action model is a comprehensive integration of attitude components designed to lead to both better explanation and better predictions of behavior. It incorporates subjective norms that influence intention. This assesses normative beliefs attributed to others and motivation to comply with others.
Two last models were formed to look at consumers’ attitudes from a different perspective. There is the theory of trying-to-consume model, which reflects instances in which the action or outcome is not certain but instead reflects the consumer’s attempts to consume. And our final model is the attitude toward the ad model in which the consumer sees an ad and forms certain feelings and judgments as a result of the ad. These feelings and judgments in turn affect the consumer’s attitude toward the ad and beliefs about the brand. Then these two things combined influence his or her attitude toward the brand.
Attitudes are learned. This learning process is the shift from having no attitude about a product to having an attitude. For example, new technology is always coming out, and until something is invented we have no attitudes toward it. An attitude can follow the purchase or consumption of a product or it can come before the purchase, perhaps from something as simple as viewing an advertisement for that product. Things that may influence one’s attitude are personal experience, influence of family and friends, direct marketing, mass media, and the Internet. Attitudes that have been formed from direct experiences are more confidently held, and therefore stronger, than attitudes formed from an indirect experience. As we discussed in class, a consumer’s personality will have an effect on how they perceive an advertisement. People with a high need for cognition enjoy lots of product information, whereas those low in need for cognition respond better to celebrities or attractive models.
Consumers’ attitudes can be changed, however. There are five methods for attempting to alter the attitudes of consumers. They are: (1) Changing the consumer’s basic motivational function (2) associating the product with an admired group or event (3) resolving two conflicting attitudes (4) altering components of the multiattribute model and (5) changing consumer beliefs about competitors’ brands.
The functional approach to changing attitudes says that there are four classifications of attitudes. They are the utilitarian function, the ego defensive function, the value-expressive function, and the knowledge function. The utilitarian function is when an attitude is held due to the brand’s utility. A way to change this attitude is to show the utility or purpose of the brand that they might not have considered. The next is the ego-defensive function which expresses people’s desire to protect their self-image. Showing how a product can boost people’s self esteem and feelings of self doubt is one way of changing their attitude in this situation.
The value-expressive function says that consumers’ attitudes are a product of their lifestyle, beliefs, and outlook on life. Knowing the attitudes of a specific segment can help better reflect these characteristics in ads. The knowledge function says that people have a desire to know information and details about products they encounter. Comparing one’s products to other products and explaining its benefits and advantages could be one way of appealing to this side of people.
There is also the idea of combining several of the above functions to appeal to different groups of people who may use the same product but for different reasons.
Another way to change attitudes is to associate a product with an admired group or event, such as a charity cause. One example of this is Gap’s Red campaign. Half the profit made from the Red clothing goes to the Global Fund, which helps women and children in Africa who are affected by AIDS/HIV.
Showing consumers that their negative attitude toward a product, brand, etc. is not in conflict with another attitude, may make them inclined to change their negative opinion of the brand. This is just one more way of changing consumers’ attitudes.
Another solution is altering components of the multiattribute model. One way of altering this model is changing the relative evaluation of attributes. It is easier to persuade customers to cross over to another product when the two are similar. They can be encouraged to shift their favorable attitude toward another version of the product. Another way of altering the model is by changing brand beliefs, which is changing perceptions or beliefs about the brand itself. Suggesting information about your brand, however, must be compelling and repeated enough to overcome a consumer’s natural tendency to stick with their previously held attitude. Adding an attribute can be another option for changing attitudes. Adding a previously un-thought of attribute or one that shows improvement or technological innovation will also shift attitudes. An example would be advertising that yogurt has more potassium than a banana. Another possibility is eliminating a characteristic or feature, such as making unscented products. One last route is to change the overall brand rating. This is an attempt to alter a consumer’s overall assessment of a brand, such as mentioning that it is the “most popular brand”.
The final way of changing an attitude is by changing beliefs about competitor’s brands. Many brands do this, but an example would be a Ziploc bag commercial showing a store-brand or competitors brand bag leaking as it is turned upside down. This gives the viewer a negative connotation of the competitor’s bag, thereby improving their attitude toward Ziploc.
Now that we have discussed how attitudes are formed and how they can be altered, we will go into how attitudes affect the actions that consumers take, or vice versa. Consumers’ behavior can either precede or follow their attitude formation.
Two explanations as to why behavior may precede attitude formation are the cognitive dissonance theory and the attribution theory. The cognitive dissonance theory is the discomfort or dissonance that occurs when a consumer holds conflicting thoughts about a belief or an attitude object. An example would be a post-purchase dissonance, where the consumer thinks about the unique, positive qualities of the brands that they did not select. An ad may help to assure the consumer that they made the right decision and ease this dissonance. The attribution theory explains how people assign blame or credit to events on the basis of either their behavior or the behavior of others. They may ask themselves why they made a decision. The process of making inferences is a major part of attitude formation and change.
There are different perspectives on the attribution theory, which include self-perception theory, attributions toward others, attributions toward things, and how we test our attributions.
Self-perception theory is individuals’ inferences or judgments as to the causes of their own behavior. Attitudes develop as consumers look at and make judgments about their own behavior. Included in this are internal attributions, giving credit to oneself for the outcome or results of using a product, external attributions, which is attributing positive results to factors beyond one’s control and defensive attribution, which says consumers will often accept personal credit success and credit failure to others or outside causes.
Attributions towards others and attributions towards things are the opinions people have of things which they come into contact with. For example, when talking to a salesperson at a store, a consumer will try to determine if the salesperson is knowledge, trustworthy, and reliable. The same can be said of attributions towards things. Consumers will judge a product’s performance and form attributes in an attempt to find out why the product meets or fails to meet their expectations.
Testing Attributions is an important step for consumers. They want to test firsthand whether the attributions they have made towards a certain product, service, or person is correct. People want conviction about a particular observation and will go about collecting additional information in order to do this. They may use the following criteria: Distinctiveness, consistency over time, consistency over modality, and consensus.
Distinctiveness is attributing an action to a particular product or person if the action occurs only when that product/person is present and not in its absence. In order to have consistency over time, each time the person/product is present the consumer’s inference must be the same. In measuring consistency over modality, the inference/reaction must be the same, even when the situation varies. Finally, a consensus is when the action is perceived in the same way by other consumers.
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Attitude Formation / Change: Importance to Marketers
As consumers, we have a wide variety of products and services to choose from when purchasing almost anything. Our attitudes towards certain products, services, brands, or advertisements can and do affect whether or not we will purchase a certain product or service. Attitudes will also affect whether or not we become a loyal customer and whether or not we recommend it to a friend. As marketers, it is important to understand how an attitude is formed and if there is any way of changing consumers’ attitudes.
Attitude Formation / Change: What is attitude?
What is an attitude exactly? It is defined as a “learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way with respect to a given object”. There are two different types of models that have been found to explain consumers’ attitudes:
Attitude Formation / Change: 1st is Tricomponent
The first one is the tricomponent attitude model. It comprised of three categories: Cognitive component, Affective Component, and Conative Component. The Cognative component is made up of knowledge and perceptions that are acquired through direct experience with an object and related information from other sources. The Affective component is one’s emotions or feelings about a particular product or brand. The Conative component is the likelihood that the consumer will take an action or behave in a certain way.
Attitude Formation / Change: 2nd Model is Multiattribute
There are also multiattribute attitude models. The first one is the attitude toward an object model. This is when one’s attitude toward a product or brand is a function of the presence, or absence, and evaluation of certain product-specific beliefs and/or attitudes. The second is the attitude toward behavior model. This is when the individual’s attitude toward behaving or acting with respect to an object rather than the attitude toward the object itself seem to correspond more closely to actual behavior than does the attitude toward object model. The theory of reasoned action model is a comprehensive integration of attitude components designed to lead to both better explanation and better predictions of behavior. It incorporates subjective norms that influence intention. This assesses normative beliefs attributed to others and motivation to comply with others.
Attitude Formation / Change: Theory Of Trying to Consume and Attitude towards ad
Two last models were formed to look at consumers’ attitudes from a different perspective. There is the theory of trying-to-consume model, which reflects instances in which the action or outcome is not certain but instead reflects the consumer’s attempts to consume. And our final model is the attitude toward the ad model in which the consumer sees an ad and forms certain feelings and judgments as a result of the ad. These feelings and judgments in turn affect the consumer’s attitude toward the ad and beliefs about the brand. Then these two things combined influence his or her attitude toward the brand.
Attitude Formation / Change: Attitudes are Learned
Attitudes are learned. This learning process is the shift from having no attitude about a product to having an attitude. For example, new technology is always coming out, and until something is invented we have no attitudes toward it. An attitude can follow the purchase or consumption of a product or it can come before the purchase, perhaps from something as simple as viewing an advertisement for that product. Things that may influence one’s attitude are personal experience, influence of family and friends, direct marketing, mass media, and the Internet. Attitudes that have been formed from direct experiences are more confidently held, and therefore stronger, than attitudes formed from an indirect experience. As we discussed in class, a consumer’s personality will have an effect on how they perceive an advertisement. People with a high need for cognition enjoy lots of product information, whereas those low in need for cognition respond better to celebrities or attractive models.
Attitude Formation / Change: Methods used to change attitudes
Consumers’ attitudes can be changed, however. There are five methods for attempting to alter the attitudes of consumers. They are: (1) Changing the consumer’s basic motivational function (2) associating the product with an admired group or event (3) resolving two conflicting attitudes (4) altering components of the multiattribute model and (5) changing consumer beliefs about competitors’ brands.
Attitude Formation / Change: Functional Approach to Change
The functional approach to changing attitudes says that there are four classifications of attitudes. They are the utilitarian function, the ego defensive function, the value-expressive function, and the knowledge function. The utilitarian function is when an attitude is held due to the brand’s utility. A way to change this attitude is to show the utility or purpose of the brand that they might not have considered. The next is the ego-defensive function which expresses people’s desire to protect their self-image. Showing how a product can boost people’s self esteem and feelings of self doubt is one way of changing their attitude in this situation.
Attitude Formation / Change: Value Expressive
The value-expressive function says that consumers’ attitudes are a product of their lifestyle, beliefs, and outlook on life. Knowing the attitudes of a specific segment can help better reflect these characteristics in ads. The knowledge function says that people have a desire to know information and details about products they encounter. Comparing one’s products to other products and explaining its benefits and advantages could be one way of appealing to this side of people.
There is also the idea of combining several of the above functions to appeal to different groups of people who may use the same product but for different reasons.
Another way to change attitudes is to associate a product with an admired group or event, such as a charity cause. One example of this is Gap’s Red campaign. Half the profit made from the Red clothing goes to the Global Fund, which helps women and children in Africa who are affected by AIDS/HIV.
Attitude Formation / Change: Using negative attitudes
Showing consumers that their negative attitude toward a product, brand, etc. is not in conflict with another attitude, may make them inclined to change their negative opinion of the brand. This is just one more way of changing consumers’ attitudes.
Another solution is altering components of the multiattribute model. One way of altering this model is changing the relative evaluation of attributes. It is easier to persuade customers to cross over to another product when the two are similar. They can be encouraged to shift their favorable attitude toward another version of the product. Another way of altering the model is by changing brand beliefs, which is changing perceptions or beliefs about the brand itself. Suggesting information about your brand, however, must be compelling and repeated enough to overcome a consumer’s natural tendency to stick with their previously held attitude. Adding an attribute can be another option for changing attitudes. Adding a previously un-thought of attribute or one that shows improvement or technological innovation will also shift attitudes. An example would be advertising that yogurt has more potassium than a banana. Another possibility is eliminating a characteristic or feature, such as making unscented products. One last route is to change the overall brand rating. This is an attempt to alter a consumer’s overall assessment of a brand, such as mentioning that it is the “most popular brand”.
Attitude Formation / Change: Changing Beliefs about Competitors Brands
The final way of changing an attitude is by changing beliefs about competitor’s brands. Many brands do this, but an example would be a Ziploc bag commercial showing a store-brand or competitors brand bag leaking as it is turned upside down. This gives the viewer a negative connotation of the competitor’s bag, thereby improving their attitude toward Ziploc.
Now that we have discussed how attitudes are formed and how they can be altered, we will go into how attitudes affect the actions that consumers take, or vice versa. Consumers’ behavior can either precede or follow their attitude formation.
Two explanations as to why behavior may precede attitude formation are the cognitive dissonance theory and the attribution theory. The cognitive dissonance theory is the discomfort or dissonance that occurs when a consumer holds conflicting thoughts about a belief or an attitude object. An example would be a post-purchase dissonance, where the consumer thinks about the unique, positive qualities of the brands that they did not select. An ad may help to assure the consumer that they made the right decision and ease this dissonance. The attribution theory explains how people assign blame or credit to events on the basis of either their behavior or the behavior of others. They may ask themselves why they made a decision. The process of making inferences is a major part of attitude formation and change.
There are different perspectives on the attribution theory, which include self-perception theory, attributions toward others, attributions toward things, and how we test our attributions.
Attitude Formation / Change: Self Perception Theory
Self-perception theory is individuals’ inferences or judgments as to the causes of their own behavior. Attitudes develop as consumers look at and make judgments about their own behavior. Included in this are internal attributions, giving credit to oneself for the outcome or results of using a product, external attributions, which is attributing positive results to factors beyond one’s control and defensive attribution, which says consumers will often accept personal credit success and credit failure to others or outside causes.
Attitude Formation / Change: Attributions are Opinions
Attributions towards others and attributions towards things are the opinions people have of things which they come into contact with. For example, when talking to a salesperson at a store, a consumer will try to determine if the salesperson is knowledge, trustworthy, and reliable. The same can be said of attributions towards things. Consumers will judge a product’s performance and form attributes in an attempt to find out why the product meets or fails to meet their expectations.
Testing Attributions is an important step for consumers. They want to test firsthand whether the attributions they have made towards a certain product, service, or person is correct. People want conviction about a particular observation and will go about collecting additional information in order to do this. They may use the following criteria: Distinctiveness, consistency over time, consistency over modality, and consensus.
Attitude Formation / Change: Distinctiveness
Distinctiveness is attributing an action to a particular product or person if the action occurs only when that product/person is present and not in its absence. In order to have consistency over time, each time the person/product is present the consumer’s inference must be the same. In measuring consistency over modality, the inference/reaction must be the same, even when the situation varies. Finally, a consensus is when the action is perceived in the same way by other consumers.
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