Political Campaign Advertising: Believe It or Not

SUMMARY

The extent that political advertising in elections is believed by voters' is an important issue for public policy, political marketing, and marketing in general. Much effort and funding is devoted to communicating with voters' during elections via advertising. This study examined political advertising believability and three potential antecedents of believability during an election. The data were gathered via a random sample of voters immediately following an election and the results indicate that believability is influenced by a voters' involvement, perceived control and satisfaction and that party preference plays a key role in believability of competing campaigns.     

Inhibition of Brand Integration amid Changing Agency Structures

The all‐important focus upon brands and brand success is underpinned – of necessity – by well‐designed and well‐executed integrated marketing communications (IMC). This qualitative paper explores perceptions of IMC in relation to branding within senior UK‐based advertising and public relations agencies in terms of current perceptions, implementation, coordination, evaluation, barriers, budgetary issues, decision‐making; and managerial implications for the future of IMC. The paper describes the findings from a series of depth interviews with senior executives from leading advertising and public relations agencies. While the findings do indicate the presence of ongoing barriers to the adoption and usage of integrated solutions, these barriers are as much an issue to do with clients as with the agencies themselves. Nonetheless, there seems to be an issue concerned with remodelling working practices to accommodate new and seamless ways of working creatively across all promotional mix elements. Thus, while the principles of integrated marketing communications are sound, the actual mechanisms for application still need further work –in terms of both application and measurement, and the need for in‐depth research. We also endorse and reiterate oft‐repeated calls for research with client organizations.     

International advertising campaigns in fast-moving consumer goods companies originating from a SMOPEC country

A particularly interesting area of research concerns how international fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies from small and open economies that operate in turbulent markets plan successful advertising campaigns for international markets. The objective of this research was to determine how they are planned and what factors affect this planning. The theoretical part of the study reviews literature related to the internationalization of firms, international advertising campaigns, and standardization versus adaptation of international advertising. Based on the literature, a theoretical framework and propositions regarding the international campaign planning process for FMCG companies were developed. The empirical part uses the multiple-case study method to examine four FMCG companies that were founded in Finland. The empirical results show that five stages are especially important in the international campaign planning of FMCG companies. Moreover, the companies need to consider a number of factors when deciding on international adverting campaigns. The study presents a number of theoretical contributions and managerial implications. A novel finding relates to the importance of understanding the impact of the internationalization/globalization phase of the company. During internationalization often within the home continent, companies increasingly adapt advertising campaigns to different countries, whereas globalization to other continents calls for increased standardization across countries. Another interesting finding was that FMCG companies from small and open-economy (SMOPEC) countries often use innovative non-traditional campaigns to overcome the resource limitations.     

The perception of risk among unauthorized migrants in Ghana

Abstract

In recent years, the number of unauthorized migrants trying to reach Europe by boat has increased. In an attempt to curtail this trend, European countries have increasingly deployed information campaigns regarding the risks involved in unauthorized migration. The assumption behind these campaigns is that a strong relation exists between the prevalence of high-risk migration and a lack of awareness of the involved dangers, and that the dissemination of ‘objective’ information would cause prospective migrants to refrain from leaving. Although regarded as a crucial tool in the management of migration, there is little evidence on their effectiveness. Based on four weeks of fieldwork in Ghana, this qualitative study has sought to fill this lacuna. By concentrating on both the circulation and perception of the available risk information in Ghana, this article explores the ways in which notions of risk affect the motivation and decision of unauthorized migrants to engage in high-risk behaviour. Thereby, it will be argued that unauthorized migrants are not the ignorant actors they are often portrayed to be, but that they make their decisions carefully and within a particular vulnerable, socioeconomic and cultural context.     

Road safety mass media campaigns: Why are results inconclusive,and what can be done?

Recent research literature on the effectiveness (or otherwise) of promoting road safety via mass media advertising is selectively reviewed. The overall picture from this is inconclusive: effects of substantial size have been rare, but effects of small size cannot be ruled out. It is then argued that attempts to use crash data to establish or disprove the cost-effectiveness of campaigns are, indeed, doomed to failure: the random variability in crash numbers is too great (and even low effectiveness may be sufficient as campaigns are very cheap per person reached). It is suggested that evaluation may need to be based on before and after comparison of behaviours or variables that can be objectively observed and are closely linked to safety – and in order to substantiate the behaviour-safety link, credible theories are needed.     

Pictures of me: user views on their representation in homelessness fundraising appeals

There is a long‐standing ethical debate regarding the ‘right’ representation of recipients in charity marketing materials that are intended to accurately define and represent social problems whilst also prompting the maximum response in voluntary income. The study presented in this article makes a contribution to that debate by highlighting the views of charity beneficiaries regarding their representation in fundraising campaigns. Drawing on data from five focus groups conducted in cities across England, we explore the views of young homeless people regarding the images of homelessness that appeared in major charity campaigns aimed at raising money to fund homelessness services. Participants displayed a high level of reflexivity, demonstrating that they understood the issues involved with homelessness and the perceptions of people like themselves that exist in the public sphere and in the consciousness of potential donors. Although the participants held the view that maximising revenues through the use of simple, eye‐catching images is the prime goal of fundraising, they also expressed a desire for more nuanced campaigns that tell the dynamic stories of how people become homeless and the use of imagery that elicits empathy rather than merely arouses sympathy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumers' engagement with social media activation campaigns: Construct conceptualization and scale development

This study conceptualizes the consumers' engagement with social media activation campaigns, which are important tools in improving the interactions between brands and consumers. We offer a comprehensive definition of this construct and discuss the nature and dimensionality of it. Further, this paper reports the development and validation of a 12‐item scale for measuring the aforementioned construct. This scale development process comprises four studies. Study 1 begins by generating a pool of items and then employs both a panel of experts and some Instagram users to examine the content validity of the items. To validate the scale, this paper carries out several online surveys in subsequent studies. Study 2 uses exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to remove the problematic items and evaluate the dimensionality of the construct. In Study 3, we conduct iterative CFAs to purify the scale and reassess the psychometric properties of the scale. Study 4 uses structural equation modeling to test the nomological validity. Our analyses reveal that consumers' engagement with social media activation campaigns is a second‐order construct encompassing three first‐order dimensions (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement). The results also support the reliability, content validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, known group validity, and nomological validity of the engagement scale.     

Young People's Attitudes Towards British Political Advertising: Nurturing or Impeding Voter Engagement?

SUMMARY

This article presents findings from a national survey of ‘potential’ first time voters at the 2001 British General Election–specifically their attitudes towards the print advertising used by the main political parties during this election. In analysing the data, the authors were particularly interested in examining the claim that political advertising contributes to a sense of malaise–most acutely apparent among young people. While we found high levels of claimed advertising awareness, this was coupled with largely unfavourable attitudes towards most of the print advertising used in the election. Despite these judgements, most young people considered the advertising to be at least as persuasive as its commercial cousins. Not surprisingly the evidence provides a mixed picture in terms of the role political advertising plays in the political dispositions of young people. As a familiar discourse advertising offers the political classes an entry point to establish a dialogue with young sections of the electorate. However, for many young people, political advertising appears to help reinforce their predilection about politics being something one naturally distrusts.     

Children and Government Propaganda

Abstract

Around the world “public relations” is confused with “propaganda.” Although “propaganda” has negative connotations today, the authors examine the history of propaganda studies, which is tied to the government-sponsored study of communication. Then they offer a recent example of how the U.S. government used children as messengers of propaganda. By abandoning our prejudices against propaganda, the authors argue we can reconnect public relations with a tradition of scholarship on communication audiences, public communication campaigns, and government propaganda efforts.