Persuading Consumers

Agenda

• Basic Communication process

• Elements of communication
• Model of communication

• Case
Why do we need persuasive message?

CREATING AWARENESS PROMOTING SALES OF ENCOURAGING (OR ATTRACTING RETAIL REDUCING POST-
OF A SERVICE, A PRODUCT, DISCOURAGING) PATRONAGE, PURCHASE
CERTAIN PRACTICES, DISSONANCE,

CREATING GOODWILL OR ANY COMBINATION

OR A FAVORABLE OF THESE AND OTHER
IMAGE, OBJECTIVES.
Basic communication process
1. Sender
1. Sender
1. Sender
Message
• is the
• thought,
• idea,
• image, or
• other information
• that the sender wishes to convey to the intended audience, and it can
be
• verbal (spoken or written),
• nonverbal (a photograph, an illustration, or a symbol),
• or a combination of the two

2. Message
Linear model of communication

2. Message
Two Imp Barriers in communication reception
• Selective exposure

• Psychological Noise
Stages in selective perception
Selective Exposure

Selective Attention

Perceptual Defense

Perceptual Blocking

Selective Retention
2. Message
Selective Exposure
➢occurs when consumers tune into messages that they find pleasant
or with which they are sympathetic, and they actively avoid painful or
threatening ones.

➢They also selectively expose themselves to advertisements that

reassure them of the wisdom of their purchase decisions.

2. Message
 • Competing advertising
messages or
• Distracting thoughts
• E.g. A viewer faced with the
clutter of nine successive
commercial messages during
a program break may
actually receive and retain
almost nothing of what he
has seen

Psychological Noise can affect the

reception of a promotional message.
2. Message
How to reduce noise

Repetition Gain attention by Contrast to break Send customized Effective

surmounts Ambush marketing through clutter promotional positioning or
psychological noise messages offering unique
and facilitates value proposition
message reception
Repeated exposure
Where to place advertisement
• TV Commercial
• You Tube
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Amazon
• Messenger

2. Message
Ambush marketing
• Video games
• Movie theaters
• Elevators
• Supermarket floors
• Metro/park
• Public restrooms

2. Message
Ambush Marketing – Placing
Ads in places where
consumers do not expect to
see them and cannot avoid
them readily.

2. Message
Ambush marketing

2. Message
Contrast to break clutter
• featuring an unexpected outcome
• increasing the amount of sensory input
• E.g. color, scent, or sound
• identifying, through testing, message appeals that
attract more attention

2. Message
Contrast to break
clutter

2. Message
Contrast to break clutter

2. Message
What Do You Think- Contrast to break clutter

2. Message
 What Do You Think- Contrast to break clutter
• Contrast
• Shocking or unrealistic images

The ads are from a campaign created by the Children’s Defense Fund, an advocacy
group.
It depicts the potential tragic, long-term costs of cutting government-financed initiatives
for children.
The images combining infant faces with adult bodies are shocking and make the ads
highly noticeable.

2. Message
Customize messages
• Digital technologies allow
marketers to monitor the
consumer’s visits to
websites, infer the
person’s interests, and
design and send
customized promotional
messages to that person.

2. Message
Broadcasting Vs Narrowcasting
• Traditional media is synonymous • New media are channels of narrowcasting
with broadcast media
Allows marketers to send messages that are:
• Addressable and directed to specific
• Radio, television, billboards, persons or small audiences
print (ATL)
• Customized and based on data gathered
online
• Above the line/ Below the line • Interactive as receiver can interact with
(ATL/BTL) sender
• More response-measurable

• E.g. social media marketing,

telemarketing, content, events (BTL)
3. Medium
The Shift From Traditional To Nontraditional Advertising

3. Medium
• Selecting images
• Creating advertising copy
Images and Text
• “One picture is worth a thousand
words.”

• Visual complexity
• feature complexity hurts attention &
attitude
• design complexity enhances attention,
comprehensibility, attitude
Images and Text
• Importance of words “simply,” “truly,” “easy,” “honest,” and “clear”
Message Framing
• Positive framing – stress the benefits to be gained by using a specific product

• Negative Framing- stress benefits to be lost by not using the product,

Decision depends on the

• Consumer’s attitudes; Consumer’s characteristics ; Product

• Low need for cognition → more likely persuaded by negatively frame messages

• independent self-image (who view themselves as defined by unique characteristic ) → Like positive
framing → Goal achievement
• interdependent self-view (who view themselves as defined by others) → Like negative framing →
stress avoidance goals more convincing

• Less opportunity to process information → Negative Framing

• More opportunity to process information → Positive Framing
One-Sided versus Two-Sided Messages
• Should a marketer pretend that its products are the only ones of their
kind- one-sided message
• should the company acknowledge competing products - two-sided
message?

• The credibility of an advertised claim can often be enhanced by disclaiming the superiority of
some product features or by not claiming that the product is a universal solution
• Choice depends on the
• Nature of the audience (Friendly-1 Vs Critical-2)
• Educated -2
• Competition claim -2
One-Sided versus Two-Sided Messages
One-Sided versus Two-Sided Messages
One-Sided versus Two-Sided Messages
 Is it best to present your commercial first or last?

Material presented first produces greater effect-

primacy effect.

Material presented last is more effective- recency

Order Effects effect.

Why do Magazine/news papers charge higher for

front or last page(cover)

If audiences’ interest is low – make imp point at first

If high – mention most imp point last

• The Murdock study was
conducted in 1962, where
Bennet Murdock gave
participants a list of up to
40 words to remember and
then asked them to recall
as many as they could.
Serial position
effect
• https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=0np_b1YC-74
 • Informational appeals - high-involvement
situations
• Positive emotional appeals- low-involvement
situations

Persuasive
Advertising • Advertising appeals are
Appeals 1. comparative
2. fear
3. humor
4. Sensual appeal
5. timeliness
 • Wide use of comparative advertising indicates that
marketers are confident that comparative ads exert
positive effects on brand attitudes, purchase
intentions, and actual purchases

• Among more sophisticated consumers, comparative

Comparative ads elicit higher levels of cognitive processing and
better recall, and are likely to be perceived as more
Advertising relevant than noncomparative ads

• Comparative ads generated greater levels of brand-

evaluation involvement among men but not among
women
• Comparative ads may result in legal disputes
 1. Dabur India Ltd. v/s. Colgate Palmolive India Limited.
(2004)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULapkmuIBzY
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vhGzpQwR-M
• Verdict - The Colgate PIL was restrained from telecasting
the TV commercial for “Colgate Tooth Powder”

Legal battle 2. Dabur India Ltd.v. Wipro Ltd., Bangalore, 2006 [Honey]

3. Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Health Care Limited v. Heinz

India Private Limited & Ors (2007) [Horlicks Vs Complan]

4. Colgate Palmolive (India) Limited v. Anchor Health and

Beauty Care Private Ltd (2009) [ Colage Vs Anchor]
 • Strong fear appeals -> Dissonance -> rejecting consumption or
by rejecting the unwelcome information -> less effective
• Mild fear works better

• Females got persuaded more by fear appeals, change

distracted driving
• Males said that using legal action would discourage distracted
Fear Appeals driving

• Strong graphic threat message had a greater effect for an

unfamiliar issue than for a familiar issue

• Studies showed that adding disgust to a fear appeal enhanced

message persuasion and compliance beyond that of appeals
that elicited only fear. However, portraying disgust might
backfire [E.g. Man drinking Fat (for soft drink)]
• Used in Social/policy/ behavioural changes
• Antidrug campaign
• Drink-drive campaign
 • Understand the target audience’s reaction to a fear
appeal
• Beware the boomerang effect.
• Changing behavior is long and complex process;
persons in different stages react differently to fear
appeals
Guidelines • Assess extent to which the fear appeal encourages
for marketers people to take action but without arousing too
much anxiety
• use a rational or emotional fear appeal?
• Repeating these messages too often may reduce
their credibility
• Consider alternatives to fear appeals
Humorous Appeals
Attracts attention and
Humor is the most widely Does not harm the
enhances liking of the
used of all advertising comprehension of ads
product advertised

More effective in
Related humor is more More effective in ads for
targeting consumers who
effective than humor existing products than in
already have a positive
unrelated ads for new products
attitude

More appropriate for

Humorous ads vary by the
advertising low-
audience demographics.
involvement
Sensual Appeals

• is the pursuit of novel and exciting

sensations and experiences
 • Financial crisis of September 2008
Timeliness • Event such as IPL, T20, World Cup,
Appeal
4. Receiver
• Comparative, fear, Humor, Sensual appeal, timeliness??
• Comparative, fear, Humor, Sensual appeal, timeliness??
Comparative, fear, Humor, Sensual appeal, timeliness??
Comparative, fear, Humor, Sensual appeal, timeliness??
Comparative, fear, Humor, Sensual appeal, timeliness??
Comparative, fear, Humor, Sensual appeal, timeliness??
Comparative, fear, Humor, Sensual appeal, timeliness??
Comparative, fear, Humor, Sensual appeal, timeliness??
Measures of Message Effectiveness
• Communication feedback is an essential component of both
interpersonal and impersonal communications because it enables the
sender to reinforce or change the message to ensure that it is
understood in the intended way.
• eye tracking
• brain wave analysis
• Facial electromyography
• recall and recognition tests
Case
Q3. Should Uber continue or pivot?
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/20/taxi-
medallions-have-been-the-best-investment-in-america-for-years-
now-uber-may-be-changing-that/?arc404=true
Q 5. Why did the use of social media fail Uber
in Seattle?