EFFECTIVENESS OF

ADVERTISEMENT
Ms Richa Bhatia, Asst Prof, Department of commerce, The Bhopal
School of Social Sciences (BSSS)
Abstract: Advertisement is a communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers
about products and services and how to use and obtain them. Every major medium is used to
deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, and
internet. It is often placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company. Advertisement
influences our lives in many unsuspecting ways because of rapid changes in the macro
environment. These days advertising is regarded as ‘a paid form of non-personal presentation of
ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor. Testing or evaluation of advertising
effectiveness refers to the managerial exercise aimed at relating the advertising results to the
established standards of performance and objectives so as to assess the real value of the
advertising performance. This research is undertaken to measure the worth of the specific
elements of an advertisement or the aspects of entire advertising programmed. It is an attempt to
know whether the message designed properly has reached the greatest number of prospects at the
least practical cost. For this Questionnaire containing 17 questions was distributed to 60 consumers.
Data collected was analyzed using Chi-Square test and it was found that advertisements are
effective and every customer is influenced by advertisement in one way or the other.

Introduction: The importance of advertising is "steadily on the increase in modern society." Just
as the media of social communication themselves have enormous influence everywhere, so
advertising, using media as its vehicle, is a pervasive, powerful force shaping attitudes and
behavior in today's world. The field of advertising is extremely broad and diverse. In general
terms, of course, an advertisement is simply a public notice meant to convey information and
invite patronage or some other response. As that suggests, advertising has two basic purposes: to
inform and to persuade, and — while these purposes are distinguishable — both very often are
simultaneously present. There are various types of media use for advertising these are: print
media, electronic media etc. Of all the media, newspaper is considered as the backbone of
advertising programmed as it has continued to remain the most powerful message carrier. Of the
total space, 45 percent goes to advertisements in form or the other and rest for textual matter.
Television is the youngest, glamorous and highly specialized as it provides scientific
synchronization of sound, light, motion, colour and immediacy that no other medium does except
film.
Advertising is not the same as marketing (the complex of commercial functions involved in
transferring goods from producers and consumers) or public relations (the systematic effort to
create a favorable public impression or image' of some person, group, or entity). In many cases,
though, it is a technique or instrument employed by one or both of these.

Not only are many different media and techniques employed in advertising; advertising itself is
of several different kinds: commercial advertising for products and services public service
advertising on behalf of various institutions, programs, and causes; and — a phenomenon of
growing importance today — political advertising in the interests of parties and candidates.
Making allowance for the differences among the different kinds and methods of advertising, we
intend what follows to be applicable to them all.

Definition of Advertising

"Advertising is bringing a product (or service) to the attention of potential and current
customers. Advertising is typically done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or
e-mail messages, personal contact, etc."

"Advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, by an identified
sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components
of the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion"

Advertising objectives

The purpose of advertising is to stimulate demand for a product, service, or idea. Other factors
influencing demand are price and substitutability. A major way advertising may stimulate
demand is to create a brand franchise for a product. A brand franchise can be established to a
greater or lesser degree depending on product and market. Other objectives include short or long
term increases in sales, market share, awareness, product information, and image improvement.

MAIN AIM OF ADVERTISING: TO MAKE PEOPLE BUY THINGS WHICH THEY

DON'T NEED, WHICH THEY ALREADY HAVE, FOR WHICH THEY DON'T HAVE
MONEY TO BUY FOR.

The Benefits of advertising

Enormous human and material resources are devoted to advertising. Advertising is everywhere
in today's world, so we have listed some benefits of advertising:

a) Economic Benefits of Advertising

Advertising can play an important role in the process by which an economic system guided by
moral norms and responsive to the common good contributes to human development. It is a
necessary part of the functioning of modern market economies which today either exist or are
emerging in many parts of the world and which — provided they conform to moral standards
based upon integral human development and the common good — currently seem to be "the
most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs" of a socio-
economic kind.

Advertising does this, among other ways, by informing people about the availability of rationally
desirable new products and services and improvements in existing ones, helping them to make
informed, prudent consumer decisions, contributing to efficiency and the lowering of prices, and
stimulating economic progress through the expansion of business and trade. All of this can
contribute to the creation of new jobs, higher incomes and a more decent and humane way of life
for all.

b) Benefits of Political Advertising

Political advertising can make a contribution to democracy analogous to its contribution to

economic well being in a market system guided by moral norms. As free and responsible media
in a democratic system help to counteract tendencies toward the monopolization of power on the
part of oligarchies and special interests, so political advertising can make its contribution by
informing people about the ideas and policy proposals of parties and candidates, including new
candidates not previously known to the public.

c) Cultural Benefits of Advertising

Because of the impact advertising has on media that depend on it for revenue, advertisers have
an opportunity to exert a positive influence on decisions about media content. This they do by
supporting material of excellent intellectual, aesthetic and moral quality presented with the
public interest in view, and particularly by encouraging and making possible media presentations
which are oriented to minorities whose needs might otherwise go unserved.Moreover,
advertising can itself contribute to the betterment of society by uplifting and inspiring people and
motivating them to act in ways that benefit themselves and others. Advertising can brighten lives
simply by being witty, tasteful and entertaining. Some advertisements are instances of popular
art, with a vivacity and élan all their own.

d) Moral and Religious Benefits of Advertising

In many cases, too, benevolent social institutions, including those of a religious nature, use
advertising to communicate their messages — messages of faith, of patriotism, of tolerance,
compassion and neighborly service, of charity toward the needy, messages concerning health and
education, constructive and helpful messages that educate and motivate people in a variety of
beneficial ways. The same advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and
services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about serious non-commercial
issues, such as energy conservation, and deforestation. Advertising, in its non-commercial guise,
is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences

The harms done by advertising

There is nothing intrinsically good or intrinsically evil about advertising. It is a tool, an

instrument: it can be used well, and it can be used badly. If it can have, and sometimes does
have, beneficial results such as those just described, it also can, and often does, have a negative,
harmful impact on individuals and society.

a) Economic Harms of Advertising

Advertising can betray its role as a source of information by misrepresentation and by

withholding relevant facts. Sometimes, too, the information function of media can be subverted
by advertisers' pressure upon publications or programs not to treat of questions that might prove
embarrassing or inconvenient. The practice of "brand"-related advertising can raise serious
problems. Often there are only negligible differences among similar products of different brands,
and advertising may attempt to move people to act on the basis of irrational motives ("brand
loyalty," status, fashion, "sex appeal," etc.) instead of presenting differences in product quality
and price as bases for rational choice

Similarly, the task of countries attempting to develop types of market economies that serve
human needs and interests after decades under centralized, state-controlled systems is made more
difficult by advertising that promotes consumerist attitudes and values offensive to human
dignity and the common good. The problem is particularly acute when, as often happens, the
dignity and welfare of society's poorer and weaker members are at stake.

b) Harms of Political Advertising

Political advertising can support and assist the working of the democratic process, but it also can
obstruct it. This happens when, for example, the costs of advertising limit political competition
to wealthy candidates or groups, or require that office-seekers compromise their integrity and
independence by over-dependence on special interests for funds.

Such obstruction of the democratic process also happens when, instead of being a vehicle for
honest expositions of candidates' views and records, political advertising seeks to distort the
views and records of opponents and unjustly attacks their reputations. It happens when
advertising appeals more to people's emotions and base instincts — to selfishness, bias and
hostility toward others, to racial and ethnic prejudice and the like — rather than to a reasoned
sense of justice and the good of all.

c) Cultural Harms of Advertising

Advertising also can have a corrupting influence upon culture and cultural values. The indirect
but powerful influence exerted by advertising upon the media of social communications that
depend on revenues from this source points to another sort of cultural concern. In the
competition to attract ever larger audiences and deliver them to advertisers, communicators can
find themselves tempted — in fact pressured, subtly or not so subtly — to set aside high artistic
and moral standards and lapse into superficiality, tawdriness and moral squalor.

Communicators also can find themselves tempted to ignore the educational and social needs of
certain segments of the audience — the very young, the very old, the poor — who do not match
the demographic patterns (age, education, income, habits of buying and consuming, etc.) of the
kinds of audiences advertisers want to reach. In this way the tone and indeed the level of moral
responsibility of the communications media in general are lowered.

d) Moral and Religious Harms of Advertising

Advertising can be tasteful and in conformity with high moral standards, and occasionally even
morally uplifting, but it also can be vulgar and morally degrading. Frequently it deliberately
appeals to such motives as envy, status seeking and lust. Today, too, some advertisers
consciously seek to shock and titillate by exploiting content of a morbid, perverse, pornographic
nature. We note, too, certain special problems relating to advertising that treats of religion or
pertains to specific issues with a moral dimension.

In cases of the first sort, commercial advertisers sometimes include religious themes or use
religious images or personages to sell products. It is possible to do this in tasteful, acceptable
ways, but the practice is obnoxious and offensive when it involves exploiting religion or treating
it flippantly. In cases of the second sort, advertising sometimes is used to promote products and
inculcate attitudes and forms of behavior contrary to moral norms. That is the case, for instance,
with the advertising of contraceptives, and products harmful to health, and with government-
sponsored advertising campaigns for artificial birth control, so-called "safe sex", and similar
practices.

Research Objective:

The average consumer is exposed to more than 1,500 advertising messages every day.
Advertising is everywhere. People may be most conscious of advertising when they watch
television, but advertising in its many forms nevertheless pervades society, invades households,
and persuades minds nearly every waking moment.

There ads must communicate their client's message more clearly and be better remembered than
the muddle of mediocrity that exists among most advertisements. The ads must have punch;
make the reader stop from turning the page or the viewer stop from changing the channel. They
must break the "boredom barrier." In short, good advertising must have impact. It's a
fundamental precept of all advertising. The need was felt to investigate the issues and clutter in
advertisement, print and electronic media.

Research Methodology:
Research is considered to be a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information a
specific topic. It is an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its
advancement.
The collection of data is carried out in two ways:

1) Primary Data: Questionnaire containing 17 questions was distributed to 60 consumers (Generally all
consumers above 18 years of age would be taken as respondents) .The sampling technique used
here is Simple Random Sampling. The Questionnaire was given to the respondents personally and all
duly filled Questionnaires were returned.
2)Secondary Data: The research also uses some secondary data to get a better knowledge and to
make the study more accurate which has been collected from various books, magazines, journals,
research articles and websites.
Analytical Tool Used:
The measure used to analyze the relationship between professional courses at graduate level is
Chi-Square test (X² - Test).It is a non-parametric test which describes the magnitude of
difference between observed frequencies and expected frequencies under certain assumption. It
is also called the Chi-Square test for goodness of fit.
X² = (O-E) ²/E
Were O= Observed frequency E= Expected frequency.

Limitations of the Study

1 Sample size is small as compare to universe.

2 Respondents are biased towards their personal preferences and they might have not
answered the questions correctly

3 Due to simple random sampling there may be large deviations from that of universe.

Analysis of Data:
After the collection of data analysis of data is done because without analysis of data no
investigation is complete. Analysis of data includes the classification of the collected data into
categories, coding the data and tabulation. Data was analyses using simple percentages and
statistical tools.
Survey Analysis:
Q.1 what do you think are the objectives of advertising? A) Informative B) Persuasive C) Reminder D)
Reinforcement?

Informative Persuasive Reminder Reinforcement

40 10 5 5
Finding: Majority of respondents are in the favor, that advertisements are informative. This shows that
consumers are dependent upon advertisement for product information.

Q.2 Rank the advertising process? A) Set the advertising Budget B) Identifying target audience C)
Specify advertising objectives D) Developing the advertising message?

Specify Identifying target

Set the advertising advertising audience Developing the
Budget objectives advertising message
17 23 12 8

Finding: The advertisement process starts with the deciding the objective and deciding the budget.
Majority respondents feel the advertisements must have an impact on consumers and so objectives are
most important.

Q.3 An advertisement message is effective when: A) Core selling propositions B) Add appeal C) Creative
belief D) Positioning statement?

Positioning
Core selling propositions Add appeal Creative belief statement
40 10 5 5
Finding: 40 consumers feel that an advertisement have product characteristics is considered as most
effective.

Q.4 which ads according to you are more effective? A) Television ads B) Radio Ads C) Print Ads D)
Film Ads?

Television Radio Film

ads Print ads ads Ads
35 15 5 5

Finding: 35 consumers feel that television ads are most effective as they provide a visual and more
creative medium to provide the information about the product.

Q.5 what are the main characteristics an advertiser should keep in mind before selecting the media types?
A) Target audience B) Product characteristics C) Message characteristics D) Cost?

Target audience Product characteristics Message characteristics Cost

25 25 5 5
Finding: According to majority consumer’s audience and product characteristics should be considered by
the advertiser which will make the ad more effective.

Q.6 How likely an ad will influence you to undertake an action? A) Always B) Very Frequently C)
Sometimes D) Never?

Very
Sometimes Always frequently Never
10 40 5 5

Finding: 40 consumers feel that an ad always influences them to take an action, as they always want to
try the product properly advertised.

Q.7 Best advertising is done by satisfied customers? A) Strongly agree B) Agree C) Strongly Disagree D)
Disagree?

Strongly Strongly
agree Agree Disagree Disagree
40 20 Nil Nil
Finding: Majority respondents feel that a satisfied consumer is the best advertiser of the product.

Q.8 using an endorser for an advertisement can affect the purchase decision of customers? A) Strongly
agree B) Agree C) Strongly Disagree D) Disagree?

Strongly Strongly
agree Agree Disagree Disagree
5 28 5 22

Finding: Using a known personality to advertise the product creates an impact on the customers to
purchase the product, as they are being used by their favorite star.

Q.9 Can television advertising influence the purchase decision of kids? A) Strongly agree B) Agree C)
Strongly Disagree D) Disagree?

Strongly Strongly
agree Agree Disagree Disagree
40 10 5 5
Finding: Majority consumers feel that the purchase decision of the kids can be easily influenced as they
are not much aware.

Q.10 Advertisement is made some times made not to promote the product but to kill competition? A)
Strongly agree B) Agree C) Strongly Disagree D) Disagree?

Strongly Strongly
agree Agree Disagree Disagree
40 10 5 5

Finding: Big and popular Brands mostly launch ads not to make the consumers aware but to kill
competition being created in the market.

Q.11 According to you which awareness advertisement is most viewed by you? A) Alcoholic and
cigarettes b) Surrogate advertising c) pharmaceuticals and medical cure d) All the above?

Alcoholic and cigarettes Surrogate advertising pharmaceuticals and medical cure All the above
42 3 8 7

Finding: The survey shows that most awareness and public interest advertisement are effective and
implemented by consumers.

Q.12 Advertisement is actually is burden on customers in form of increase cost of the product A) Strongly
agree B) Agree C) Strongly Disagree D) Disagree?

Strongly Strongly Disagre

agree Agree Disagree e
33 17 Nil 10
Finding: Majority consumers feel that the advertisement is nothing but a burden on consumers as the cost
of the advertisement is shifted to consumers as increased cost of the product.

Q.13 Do you think advertisement are really trustworthy? A) Strongly agree B) Agree C) Strongly
Disagree D) Disagree?

Strongly Strongly Disagre

agree Agree Disagree e
10 28 15 7

Finding: A mixed view of the consumers on the authencity of the information provided in the ads. Still
majority feel that responsible advertising can be trusted.

Q.14 what attracts you most when you purchase a product? A) Ad appeal B) Brand/Quality C) Cost of the
product d) Free gifts/Discounts?

Ad
appeal Brand/Quality Cost of the product Free gifts/Discounts
20 20 15 5
Finding: Majority consumers feel that quality and ad appeal are the most important factors considered by
the consumers while purchasing the product.

Q.15 Have you ever participated in an ad contest? Yes/No

Yes No
48 12

Finding: Majority consumers have participated in ad contest which shows that ad are being watched and
followed by many.

Q.16 The most effective way of measuring advertising effectiveness? A) Monitoring sales figures B)
Surveying Customers?

Surveying
Monitoring sales figures Customers
18 42

Finding: 42 consumers feel that surveying the customers; will give a better feedback about the product
popularity and advertisement acceptance.

Q.17 what do you think advisement what you to know? Believe/Do/Both

Believe Do/Purchase Both

8 47 5
Finding: Majority consumers feel that ads encourage us to purchase the product rather that to believe.

Test of Hypothesis: Ho1: Advertisement’s are not effective for consumers. To prove it we
have taken Chi-Square test (at 5% level of significance):

OBSERVED EXPECTED (O-E) (O-E)² (O-E)²/E

FREQUENC FREQUENC
Y Y
0 E
471 457.05 13.95 195 0.43
360 373.95 13.95 195 0.52
90 103.95 13.95 195 1.87
99 85.05 13.95 195 2.29
X² =5.12
At 1 degree of freedom and 5% level of significance the critical value is 3.841 and the
calculated value is 5.12 which is more than the calculate value. Since the calculated value is
greater than the table value the null hypothesis is rejected .Thus Advertisement are
effective.

Findings Suggestions

1 Advertisement is a valuable promotional element which helps consumers (in purchasing

new products)

2 Every customer is influenced by advertisement in one way or the other.

3 Company should go for more and more advertisement on regular basis to give awareness
to general public about new products and their various uses.

4 Consumers are more influenced by ads in TV rather than newspaper. So companies should
go for more TV ads than print ads.

Conclusion
 In today's world advertisement play an important role. A smart customer always
possesses the basic knowledge about the product before going to a shop due to the
advertisement & the effectiveness of the advertisement would lie in the fact if all the
expectations of the customers are being fulfilled.

The analysis shows that maximum respondents agree that they are more influenced by an
ad in TV and in newspaper. Now a day’s viewer give more importance to Brand ambassador/
Celebrity, Punch Line, visual effects, music in TV ads. In today’s era customers of all the age
groups mainly demand the products which they have seen in T.V. ads. So we say that now a
day’s TV ads are more important than print ads. It is hoped that our research serves as a model to
address this increasingly important topic.

References:

1) Kothari, C.R (1985),Research Methodology-Methods and techniques, Wiley Eastern

Limited, New Delhi
2) Marketing Management-ICFAI INSTITUTE
3) http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/effectiveness-of-advertisement