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According to Waterman et al (2009) “Internet advertising remains small, but is growing even more quickly than multinational television advertising. ” With the wide reach and easy access to the internet as a media and the various paid product reviews available on the internet (Kerchief,2009), it has become important for advertisers to understand what drives the consumer to pay attention to one media more than the other, and the factors which affect recall. Is it just based on needs or does the trust generated by an advertisement affect consumer perception of the product or the brand?
Advertising today is based on what the consumer needs, the advertisers then make an effort to convert the need into a wanted by the means of an advertisement which allows them to retain the consumer and generate a certain level of recall and brand value. The advertisers do this by trying to understand the consumers needs and their goals. They make the consumers feel they can achieve their goals by using the product by portraying the product in such a way which is reflective of the target nonuser’s perception of desired self (Coffman and Kane, 2007, peg 87).
The fact that consumers have a choice, even in terms Of the advertising they want to be exposed to, has to be taken seriously by researchers. Therefore the medium which is used to reach to the audience and its effectiveness in terms of the trust of the consumer in the medium and the recall it generates is of immense importance (Coffman and Kane, 2007, peg 13). Deducted (1996) suggests that most exposures to advertisements are made when the consumer is not actually shopping for the products, thus they are a waste.
Therefore the advertisers now focus on the interactive element of advertising which gives them the scope to get the consumer to revert back to the company and 4 build a long term relationship with them. With the growth of internet advertising the advertisers have more opportunities to reach out to the consumers and get them involved (Evans, 2009). This study is aimed at consumers who are well exposed to the television and internet as advertising media. This study has been undertaken to understand the factors which motivate people to pay attention to the various types of advertisement in a particular media.
The study looks to understand the consumer’s take on which media works for them better in terms of recall and trust. Wang et al (2002) suggest that it is important to understand that the consumer is not passive and evaluates their need satisfaction before purchasing a product, thus advertising needs to ensure that it should not only be able to gain the consumers attention but also gain their trust in order to convert the curiosity about a product or service into a successful enquiry for the product.
Nelsons Online Global Survey (2009) shows that people trust television advertisements more as compared to online banner advertisements, although the degree of trust in online reviews is much higher than that of trust in television advertisements. The survey suggests that all over the world 61% people trust television advertising, whereas in Europe 49% completely or somewhat trust television advertising. The Global average for trust in online media is 41 % whereas the trust in Europe is 36%.
Stone (1999) suggests that internet allows not only two way communications but also scope for a commercial transaction; therefore it is easier to convert advertisements into business transactions online, thus increasing value to customers who would otherwise place their orders on the phone or visit a store. The Nelsons online consumer sunny (2009) suggests that two thirds of the global consumer thinks that advertising allows the consumers to make more informed choices.
The survey also suggests that the highest trusted form paid advertising is signed up e-mails followed by brand sponsorships. Consumer trust is often subjective based on familiarity with the brand and the medium and the security of the consumer, apart from the perceived risk. (Ha , 2004). It is thus important to understand how these factors lead a nonuser to perceive the relevance of a particular medium particularly internet. Another important factor is the value of the information passed on to the consumer as it is one of the main functions of advertise inning 5 (Kettle et al 2009).
The relevance and the accuracy of the content contribute to the trustworthiness of an online advertiser. (Abeles et al, 1999). The way the content is presented also often aids recall. The consumers find advertisements with comic content easier to recall in both television and online advertising, although the television advertisements are more engaging Han online advertisements based on comic element, emotion and the informational content. (The Nelson online consumer survey,2009). This study has been conducted based on a combination of secondary and primary research.
The secondary research has been used to understand the already existing data and expert opinions of the researchers related to online and television advertising in order to build a foundation for the research. Further a survey and In depth Interviews have also been conducted to understand the following: Which media is preferred better by the consumer? Which types of online advertisements are more popular? Is online advertising more specific and informative? Does television advertising motivate the consumer to buy the product? What are the tangibles that a consumer notices about a television advertisement?
What factors aid recall in both Television and Online Advertising? The data has been collected and systematically analyzed, based on which conclusions have been drawn. The study also has some limitations and managerial implications which have been discussed later. 1. 2 AIM The study aims to understand the consumer perception of the current television and online advertising. It aims to understand which form of advertising do consumers prefer 6 and also establish the reasons as to why consumers prefer one form of advertising over the other. . 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objectives for the study are as follows: To understand consumer preference between Television advertising and Online advertising. To establish grounds based on which consumers may prefer one form of To understand the factors which enhance consumer recall and trust in Television and Internet 2. LITERATURE REVIEW In order to understand how consumers perceive advertising on television and on the internet, it is important to understand how consumers perceive advertising in the first place.
The literature review forms in this study forms the basis for conducting primary research. The work of various authors has been studied, reviewed and analyses in order to gain insights on what have been the trends of consumers till now relating to television advertising and internet advertising. The literature review also studies the scope in television and online advertising. 2. 1 CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF ADVERTISING Advertising by definition is a structured and composed, non personal form of communication of information. Most advertising we see, in most mass media a s consumer oriented.
The focus of all of it is to drive the end consumer to purchase the product or service (Arena, 2006). Literature suggests that advertising is not necessarily seen with keen interest, unless what is being advertised is of value to the consumer. Whether its television watching or 7 internet browsing, there are multiple activities carried out by the consumers, especially in order to avoid the commercial breaks and in case of the internet, consumers have the free choice to close the advert all together or to skip it (Blunder & Blunder 1 996; Coffman and Kane, 2007).
It is important to track consumer attitudes towards advertising due the cumulative effect the consumer attitude can have on the exposure, attention and reaction that consumers have towards any particular advertisement. (Alit & Paragraph, 1 999) Blunder & Blunder (1996) in their book advertising in a multimedia age mention that with the advent of globalization, the new media particularly internet provides a platform for advertisers to send out a globally uniform message across various cultures without many extra costs. Key roles of Advertising to the consumer Information Entertainment Every day culture Figure 1
According to a report of Advertising Standards Authority prepared by Retells and Hutchinson (2002) the consumer views advertising to be a part of daily life, in the absence of which life could be dull and boring. According to this report the consumers perceive advertising to have the following roles: Everyday Culture: Advertising today blends into the daily life of people, by creating needs and wants in their minds. Advertising also generates views of how 8 people want to be seen in the society and forms the basis of self image.
This fact mentioned by Retells and Hutchinson (2002) is also backed by the hero of Self -Perception (Coffman and Kane, 2007) which states that the consumer observes and makes judgments about their own behavior and choices. In case a decision works in their favor they would attribute the success to themselves and incase it does not they would attribute it to the source. Marketers use the theory of Self Perception using the Attitude towards the ad model of consumer behavior given by Coffman and Kane (2007).
The authors state that the consumer forms various feeling and judgments based on the exposure to an advertisement which in turn affect he consumers attitude and their perception towards a brand based on what it could make them look like or what it would deliver to them. Entertainment: Retells and Hutchinson (2002) in their research found out those 2 things which drive consumers towards advertising especially in terms of television advertising is that firstly they are high on entertainment. The consumers today feel that the advertising is very clever and the consumer has to pay attention to get to the message.
Another feature which consumers enjoy is humor which seems to make its way into the consumers mind. This hero is relevant for both Television and Internet advertisements which try to work on the emotional appeal. Tony Yeshiva (2006) in his book Advertising states that humor when integrated well with the brand messages and imagery with an element of surprise is seen to enhance attention, credibility, recall, evaluation and purchase intention as shown by various researchers. (Weinberg et al, 1995; Cline et al, 2003; Alden, Musketeer & Hoer, 2000).
Information: consumers value the information provided by advertising and prefer advertisements which inform them about new products or offers or rises of products rather than just acting as reminders of the brand (Retells and Hutchinson, 2002). Tony Yeshiva (2007) in his book Advertising talks about the Informational function of advertising and states that the advertising focuses on keeping the customer informed, the information itself could be for a new product to a new user, for an old product to a new user, new uses of an old product etc. 9 based on the purpose of advertising.
According to the Nelson online global survey (2009) on Advertising, by providing information advertising allows consumers to make better choices. Apart from that advertising delivers ales such as public service economic opportunities and creating value for customer via competition. It is at the same time important to understand what the consumer perceives of different t media which advertisers use. According to various authors despite consumers]s opinion of it being intrusive, Television remains the biggest medium for advertising. (Kerchief, 2009; Tony Yeshiva, 2006; Retells & Hutchinson, 2002).
According to Kerchief (2009) in the time Of recession where every form of advertising is seeing a downfall, it is only internet advertising that has seen growth. Kerchief (2009) in her work also mentions hat interactive advertising on platforms such as social networks, gaming mobiles, online videos and websites holds the key to the future of advertising. Thus it can be said on the understanding of the work of authors mentioned above that consumer attitudes towards advertising are based on their day to day preferences, way of living and culture. 2. THE GROWTH ONLINE ADVERTISING With the growth of new media the advertising is moving from the push concept of marketing towards the pull concept of marketing (Blunder & Blunder & Blunder & Blunder, 1996). According to Corey (2005) pull strategy s designed to generate underscore response. It is used as a tool Of trust building interactive form of communication which leads to the consumer pulling the products through channels. Corey (2005) also states that Pull strategy has often been seen to establish a brand identity and personality, by allowing the consumer to interact with the brand.
Blunder & Blunder (1996) suggests that the advertising in the new media, particularly internet focuses on three main elements: 10 Communication: the message should be clear and innovative represented to gain consumer attention and retain it as well. Information: the information provided should be relevant and easy to understand and should motivate consumer response. Service: there should be sources of instant set-vice available in order to cater to any consumer interaction.
The authors (Blunder & Blunder, 1996) mentions in the book “Advertising in a Multi Media Age”, that it is important to deliver the above three elements to the consumer as with the growth in technology the communication is now on a one to one basis. The consumer engages with the message directly due to its constant availability and no space or time constraints. This also works to the advantage of advertisers as they are able to keep a tab on consumer responses and the message can be altered easily and widely sent without compromising on content.
The authors suggest that the success of online advertising is based on the level of involvement it is able to generate with the consumer rather than the exposure. With its wide reach and scope for interactivity, online advertising can lead to serious branding activities. Previous researches have shown that consumers find advertising on the internet both informative and entertaining; however the consumer focus mains on the informative element of the advertising (Deducted, 1996; Ditz et al, 1996; Meta and Siva, 1995).
Advertising on the Internet is a great source of income for web based business. And with further growth predicted for internet, it is growing into a global phenomena reducing the cost and increasing the effectiveness of advertising by allowing the marketers to target the consumers who are interested in their products and services and are more likely to act on the advertisements they are exposed to. (Evans, 2009) Online Advertising revenue has increased from 8. Billion dollars in 2000 to 21. 2 billion dollars in 2007.