The Death of Advertising

Abstract

Mass media advertising as we know it today is on its deathbed, and its prognosis is poor. Advertising agencies are restructuring to accommodate a harsher advertising climate, agency income is flat, agency employees are being laid off, direct marketing is stealing business from traditional advertising, and the growth of sales promotion and integrated marketing communications both come at the expense of traditional advertising. The reason for advertising's impending demise is the advent of new technologies that have resulted in the fragmentation of media and markets, and the empowerment of consumers. In the place of traditional mass media advertising, a new communications environment is developing around an evolving network of new media, which is high capacity, interactive and multimedia. The result is a new era of producer-consumer interaction. Because of the speed of technological innovation, the new media advertising paradigm that results will attain prominence faster than did mass media advertising. The new paradigm of 21st Century Marketing and advertising will be dominant by 2010 and should last well into the middle of the century. If they hope to survive, university advertising departments will have about ten years to 1) think of themselves much more broadly, and 2) transform themselves into departments specializing in information transfer in the new media environment.     

Offensive Advertising

Abstract

Prior literature regarding offensive advertising relates mainly to western cultures. No work has been done on this area in an Asian context. The research in this article reports on a survey of Singaporean consumers. The survey aimed to identify what types of products and appeals consumers find offensive in advertising, the reasons why they find the advertisements offensive, and how this offensive advertising may affect their purchase intentions. The results found that advertisements relating to chat-line services and sexual diseases were the most offensive, followed by advertisements for dating services. Levels of offensiveness were clearly related to demographic variables such as gender and age. In terms of reasons for offensiveness, consumers were most concerned by advertisements that had a sexual connotation or evoked unnecessary fear.Levels of offensiveness also affected purchase intentions. Based on the results, the article recommends that advertisers and their agencies should think more carefully about the demographic profile of their audiences, how this profile might impact their audiences ?sensitivity“ to potentially offensive advertising, and how this sensitivity should be used as a guide when making media and message decisions     

Toward a Model to Enhance Synergy of Out-of-Home Advertising Media Integration Strategies

ABSTRACT

For media planners to combine multiple media across platforms to maximize synergy is a critical challenge within integrated marketing communication. For this study, in-depth interviews were conducted with experienced media specialists in leading agencies to explore how they integrate different out-of-home advertising media platforms in IMC strategies. The feedback of these experts was then used to propose a model of strategies to enhance synergy within out-of-home advertising campaigns. This model is a first of its kind for planning out-of-home advertising media across platforms and bridges a gap in the existing literature on media synergy and out-of-home advertising media strategy.     

The Practicality of Super Bowl Advertising for New Products and Companies

Abstract

Companies that advertise during the Super Bowl can reach 40 million U.S. households with a 30-second commercial spot, but the cost can exceed $2 million. This research examines Nielsen television ratings and expenses for related commercial spots and suggests that the Super Bowl is not always the best site for introducing new companies or products to the marketplace. ANOVA test results indicate that younger companies may better affect purchase decisions by advertising more frequently during less expensive programming slots.     

Taxation of Advertising

The author examines the impact of an across-the-board tax on advertising. Empirical data relating to all advertising in South Africa were examined before and after the tax was imposed. The elasticity of demand for advertising in each market was estimated. In most cases it was found to be closer to unity than to zero and sometimes well above unity. Thus, although the advertising tax is proving to be a source of government revenue with a low collection cost, it may also be distorting resource allocation. How the tax has influenced advertising expenditure decisions in favour of the electronic media at the expense of the print media was also examined.     

Government and Advertising

Abstract

The existence of any company that must bridge the gap between production and sales ultimately rests in the hands of the consumer. The quality and quantity of the advertising surrounding a product can gain a stay of execution; but ultimately the public alone, through ignorance of a product's existence, indifference, or dislike, decides that a product is going to die.

American industry for the past five years has been under continuous attack. That attack has come in many forms. Some of this outcry against advertising is simply an extension of the on-going attack on American industry. The attackers thrive on visible targets, and in this case, national advertising. Stripped of all the excess verbiage, what is really being attacked is not advertising itself but the business function of selling its products.

We don't need a bureaucratic screen to keep buyer and seller apart.     

Dilemmas in Advertising Research

Abstract

Much advertising research is likely to seem trivial to advertising practitioners and academicians. This is because of two central dilemmas in advertising research. First is the dilemma of purpose: advertising research is too often undertaken for its own sake and thus seems to have a trivial purpose. Second is the dilemma of method: advertising research is often perceived as trivial because it is based on faulty or ill-conceived research procedures. There is much opportunity, particularly for academicians, to pursue non-trivial advertising research. This opportunity originates in the practice of advertising but is not trivial because of it. Specific examples of non-trivial research opportunities in copy research and media research are described and discussed.     

Consumer Response to Coupon Advertising

Because coupon advertising has both the characteristics of advertising and sales promotion, it may have distinctive effects on consumers that cannot be explained solely by coupons or advertising. Past studies present contradicting results as to the consumers' response to coupon advertising. Our experiment shows that while the coupon may be an incentive for loyal consumers of competing brands, it may be a distractor for brand-loyal consumers in processing the coupon advertising. For multi-brand users, coupons do not appear to have any distinctive effects on processing the coupon advertising. An empirical investigation of an integrated consumer response model to coupon advertising indeed shows that there are various interactive effects between the coupon and the main advertisement. These results may provide guidelines for making targeting and promotion decisions, especially for an internationally well-known brand that is entering a new market where local or other international brands are already serving the customers.     

Advertising Regulations in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This paper examines the status and outlook of advertising regulations in sub-Saharan Africa. It begins with a synoptic overview of the region's advertising industry, which is used as a backdrop. Advertising regulations pertaining to tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, children, and politics are examined, and seven regulatory forces (consumer protection; growth of service industry; fairness and vulnerable groups; new media technologies; civil rights and privacy; religion, morality, and taste; and nationalism) likely to stimulate advertising regulations in the region are also presented. The paper concludes with implications and directions for future research.     

A Proposed Response Model for Controversial Advertising

Abstract

A number of advertisers have used the strategy of controversial images (fear, sexual), or promoted their controversial product (alcohol, underwear), in a way to get the audiences' attention and a positive reaction. However, the use of controversial advertising can also potentially offend people and create a negative reaction. This article discusses controversial advertising and proposes a conceptual model of responses to controversial advertising.     

Print Advertising Context Effects

Abstract

An expanded view of the advertisement credibility construct will offer a more complete representation of the factors that contribute to credibility and its outcomes. Based on recent proposed revisions to the advertising communication process model, a revised model of advertisement credibility is offered. A test of a portion of the model supports the inclusion of media credibility as a dimension of advertisement credibility and as an influence on attitude toward the ad, on attitude toward the brand, and on purchase intentions.     

The Development and Testing of a Child-inspired Advertising Disclosure to Alert Children to Digital and Embedded Advertising

Via three studies, this article aims to develop and test an advertising disclosure which is understandable for children (ages six to 12 years old) and which can alert them to different types of advertising in multiple media formats. First, cocreation workshops with 24 children (ages eight to 11 years old) were held to determine a selection of disclosure designs based on insights from the target group. Second, two eye-tracking studies among 32 children (ages six to 12 years old) were conducted to test which of these disclosure designs attracted the most attention when the disclosures were integrated into a media context. These studies led to the selection of the final advertising disclosure: a black rectangular graphic with the word Reclame! (i.e., Dutch for “Advertising!”) in yellow letters. Finally, a two-by-two, between-subjects experimental study (disclosure design: existing versus child-inspired advertising disclosure; advertising format: brand placement versus online banner advertising) with 157 children (ages 10 and 11 years old) was performed to test the effectiveness of the child-inspired disclosure by comparing it with existing ones. This study not only showed that children recognized, understood, and liked the child-inspired disclosure better than the existing ones, but they were also better able to recognize advertising after exposure to this child-inspired advertising disclosure.     

The Effect of Media Involvement on Print Advertising Effectiveness

Abstract

There is less than full agreement in the advertising research community over the relationship between involvement and advertising effectiveness. The purpose of this research is to extend that investigation into print. In a pre-post between-subjects design, 926 adults were exposed to test advertisements “tipped” (i.e., inserted) into a publication that they read regularly. Readers' attitudes and purchase intentions for the advertised products were collected before and after exposure to the ads. The results indicated that higher involvement with a publication leads to more favorable perceptions of embedded ads, and higher levels of advertising persuasion, while not impacting recall. Analyses of specialized effects indicated that, for the most part, main-effects results were robust across two types of advertisements, two print publication types, and two classes of products studied. The research has implications for how publishers set, and media planners evaluate, advertising rates, which are calculated predominantly according to the size of a publication's reader base. Based on our results, they should consider involvement when making these decisions.     

Some Economic Issues and Policy Implications of Studies on the Competitive Effects of Advertising Expenditures

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine some of the litersture in Economics that concerns itself with the economics of advertising and to present some of the public policy implications of the results of these studies.

It is found that it is unlikely that advertising expenditures are subject to increasing returns to scale, thus probably do not lead to an increased concentration of industry for this reason.

A study is presented that deals with competition by advertising expenditures and product differentiation in the U.S. cigarette industry. It is found that advertising expenditures. during the 1956–68 period, were not effective in obtaining sales from competitors, although they may have had the affect of inducing new customers to buy the product. The effect of anti-smoking commercials is examined, and it is found that. although they may have had some effect on cigarette smoking. it is doubtful that they provide the impetus for the decreases in advertising expenditures in this particular industry.     

Viewer Preference Segmentation and Viewing Choice Models for Network Television

Abstract

Individual viewing decisions have a direct impact on the media planning of television advertisers and, consequently, on the revenues of the major television networks. This paper represents an attempt to better understand these decisions. We use Nielsen people meter data to build a perceptual space for programs. That space is then used to develop models explaining viewers' decision to watch television and their choice of programming. The program-choice model is a clusterwise logit model which searches for segments with similar viewing preferences. A segment-level logit model is then used to model the on-off decision. These models can be used by advertisers and advertising agencies to understand the viewing audience better, and thus to help guide their advertising media placement decisions. The models can also help television networks design programs and program schedules that are more attractive to viewers (and thus advertisers).     

Advertising Management: Its Role in Marketing. Sachs,William S. Tulsa,Oklahoma: PennWell Books, 1983

Abstract

The advertising literature contains some evidence that offensive advertising is multidimensional in nature, but little is known about the character of these dimensions. In an exploratory study of TV advertising, two different dimensions of “offensive” were identified. These dimensions were labeled Offensive Products and Offensive Execution. This distinction is important both for the study of the construct as well as for advertisers who are faced with decisions on advertising execution. The Offensive Products dimension contains those products related to consumer problems which social norms dictate should not be discussed in public. The Offensive Execution dimension, the dimension over which the advertiser has more control, consists of those ads which are perceived to be offensive by the nature of the execution or themes and/or topics of the ad and not the product itself.     

Examining Polish Market Mavens and Their Attitudes Toward Advertising

Abstract

In this paper, we offer some insights about Polish consumers with varying levels of general marketplace expertise, their role in diffusing product information, and their views of advertising. Market mavens are consumers who exhibit heightened interestin and knowledge about the marketplace. Because of their interest in communicating with others about the many aspects of the marketplace, these consumers can play an integral role for companies interested in diffusing marketing information. Our study results indicate that market mavens do indeed exist in Poland and they exhibit similar characteristics to market mavens identified in the U.S. They have more favorable attitudes toward advertising than other consumers. Additionally, they consider advertising as an important source of product and social image information. Although Polish mavens are less critical of advertising being misleading and confusing, they are concerned about advertising promoting materialistic values. Our findings imply that firms doing business in Poland would be well advised to target market mavens because they pay attention to advertising, have favorable attitudes toward advertising, and like to talk about marketplace phenomena with others.     

Professionalism in Advertising

Abstract

Advertising is made up of several diverse skills and disciplines: writer, artist, dramatist, salesman, marketer. psychologist, statistician, media analyst, financial manager, entrepreneur, etc. Clearly, professionalism in advertising must be defined in terms applicable to each of these skills. But the advertising professional must be more than just competent in his craft. He must recognize that his role relates to the others involved — and to the whole. He should be dedicated to the proper and effective use of advertising. He must feel responsible for the consequences of his actions — on profits, sales, public attitudes, and within legal obligations.     

Understanding Green Advertising Attitude and Behavioral Intention: An Application of the Health Belief Model

ABSTRACT

Despite the high interest in green advertising and its potential to foster sustainable consumerism, academic research in this area has been somewhat limited. The current study developed a predictor model of green advertising attitude and behavioral intention using environmental issue-focused factors that included the Health Belief Model, consumption-focused factors, and demographic factors to help understand the significant influences that shape global green advertising outcome. An online survey of 385 participants showed that a number of factors in both issue-focused (e.g., response-efficacy and ecocentric/anthropocentric attitudes) and consumption-focused (e.g., green product purchase frequency and past green product attitude) categories significantly predicted green advertising attitude and behavioral intention. Theoretical as well as practical implications of the findings will be discussed in detail.     

Culture,Attitudes, and Media Patterns in China,Taiwan, and the U.S.: Balancing Standardization and Localization Decisions

ABSTRACT

A study was undertaken to examine cultural orientations, attitudes toward advertising, and media use patterns across China, Taiwan, and the United States. China and Taiwan share similar cultural backgrounds, yet their economies and advertising industries have evolved quite differently due to different social and political settings. The United States was included to provide a point of comparison. Understanding media patterns, cultural orientations, and attitudes can help better ascertain the potential for using standardized strategies by international advertisers across different markets. Industry and consumer trends in evolving markets can also be monitored. Consumers in China and Taiwan were found to be more similar than different. For example, consumers in both markets were less individualistic and more collectivistic than their counterparts in the U.S. They also exhibited more favorable attitudes toward advertising than American consumers. Furthermore, Chinese and Taiwanese respondents spent significantly more time with print media than American respondents. Implications of the findings for balancing standardization and localization decisions are discussed.