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Class notes Marketing Communications
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Lecture notes of 5 pages for the course Marketing Communications at UGent (.)
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How marketing communications work?Table of contents
1. Some key concepts
2. Dual process theories of persuasion
3. The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion
3.1. Central route to persuasion
3.2. Peripheral route to persuasion
3.3. Assessment of message processing
3.4. Influencing factors
4. References
1. Some key concepts
Brand awareness (i.e. the conscious knowledge that a brand exists and that it represents a product category) is necessary
for attitude formation. Top of mind awareness (TOMA) indicates which brand is most salient within a product category.
The brand that is top of mind is the first brand that someone thinks about when s/he thinks about a product category.
An attitude is an overall evaluation of an object, product, person, organisation, an ad etc. Higher brand attitudes imply
higher purchase intentions. Attitudes are rather stable but they can be changed over time. One of the goals of marketing
communications is to change attitudes in favour of the company’s brand.
Motivation is the willingness to engage in behavior, process information, make decisions, pay attention. A motivated
person will display effort to achieve a particular goal. The resources one needs to achieve a particular goal are
formulated as one’s ability to achieve a goal. An opportunity is the extent to which the situation enables a person to
obtain the goal and is a necessary condition for a goal to be obtained.
Systematic processing is thorough, detailed processing of information which requires a lot of effort. When a person
processes a marketing communication in a systematic way, s/he gives a lot of attention to the arguments contained in a
persuasive communication.
Heuristic processing is shallow processing of information that does not require much effort. Attention is given to other
message characteristics than the arguments contained in a persuasive communication like for example source
characteristics. A person that engages in heuristic processing assesses the validity of a communication through reliance
on heuristics, i.e., simple rules like ‘statistics don’t lie’, ‘experts can be trusted’, ‘consensus implies correctness’, rather
than through evaluation of arguments.
Elaboration indicates the extent to which a person thinks about the issue-relevant arguments contained in a message.
High elaboration means that a person engages in systematic processing of the message, while low elaboration means
that the person is rather engaging in heuristic processing.
2. Dual process theories of persuasion
We are confronted with a multitude of marketing communications every day. We see advertisements on the streets, in a
magazine and in-store, we hear commercials when we listen to the radio, we are bombarded with brands whenever we
go online, we are interacting with brands while we eat, brush our teeth or get dressed, we see our friends and favorite
sports player wearing a particular brand, even our favorite soap displays brands. We can wonder if we are influenced by
these casual encounters. Do people sometimes change their attitudes without systematic processing of persuasive
arguments? It seems plausible that attitude change is mediated by detailed processing of the arguments. After all, is
there any other way to be persuaded, if not through the arguments contained in a persuasive communication? However,
if we think of the hundreds of advertisements we are exposed to every day, we might become doubtful. Does anybody
really think about the arguments contained in advertisements about soft drinks or toothpaste? Do these advertisements
, even contain arguments? And yet if people were not influenced by them, these companies would not spend millions on
their advertising budgets. The answer to these questions is that advertisements and other communication efforts often
work through non-systematic processes.
Dual-process theories integrate both theories of systematic processing and persuasion processes that are not based on
systematic analysis of message arguments (e.g., classical conditioning, self-persuasion, heuristic processing) (Stroebe,
2006). Dual-process theories of persuasion postulate that how attitudes are formed and changed, can be explained by
the level of elaboration of a message. Two modes of information processing exist: systematic and non-systematic. Modes
differ in the extent to which individuals engage in content-relevant thoughts and critical evaluation of the arguments
contained in a message in order to accept or reject the position advocated. Dual-process theories also specify the
conditions under which people will engage in each of these processes: The mode used is assumed to depend on
processing motivation and ability (Stroebe, 2006). There are two dual-process theories of persuasion, the elaboration
likelihood model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986; Petty & Wegener, 1999) and the heuristic-systematic model (e.g., Chaiken,
Liberman & Eagly, 1989; Chen & Chaiken, 1999).
Heuristic-Systematic model
The heuristic-systematic model (HSM) assumes that attitude change in response to persuasive communications can be
mediated by two different modes of information processing, heuristic and systematic processing, which can operate
concurrently. When motivation and ability are high, systematic processing is likely; when they are low, individuals rely on
heuristic cues to accept or reject the attitudinal position recommended (Stroebe, 2006).
3. The Elaboration likelihood model of persuasion
The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) is an approach to understanding the persuasion process which illustrates the
decision-making path to belief, attitude, and behavior change. The ELM assumes that once a person is confronted with a
communication, s/he is faced with the decision whether to accept or reject the position advocated, and will try to form an
opinion of its validity. Hence he or she begins to process it. Two routes to persuasion can be followed: (a) the central
route to persuasion and (b) the peripheral route to persuasion. These two routes mark the endpoints of a continuum that
ranges from thoughtful to very non-thoughtful strategies (i.e., the elaboration likelihood continuum) (Stroebe, 2006).
The probability that a person will critically evaluate arguments contained in a message (i.e., elaboration likelihood) is
determined by both processing motivation and processing ability. Processing motivation is important because such
elaboration requires time and effort. Processing ability is important because, in order to be able to scrutinize arguments,
a person needs both issue-relevant knowledge and sufficient time. For example, if we see an ad for a new television
containing a lot of technical details, we will not be able to evaluate these arguments if we lack the necessary technical
knowledge. But even if we have the necessary knowledge, we might not be able to think about these arguments if we
have no time to do so, because we have to come to a decision immediately. If, however, individuals are motivated and
able to think about the arguments contained in a communication, they will engage in systematic processing and follow
the central route to persuasion (Stroebe, 2006). However, sometimes persons are not motivated (e.g., the issue is trivial)
or able (e.g., they have no time or lack the knowledge) to engage in an extensive process of message evaluation. Under
these conditions attitudes will be formed according to the peripheral route to persuasion.
3.1. Central Route to Persuasion
The Central Route to persuasion refers to an attitude change that involves systematic processing. The person is carefully
and thoughtful considering the arguments presented in support of a position likely resulting in cognitive reactions
towards these arguments. The person attends more carefully to the message being received and compares it to his or her
own attitudinal position. In the central route to processing, the consumer will determine if the message is relevant. The
person will actively think about the arguments presented and generate either positive cognitive responses (supporting
arguments) or negative responses (counterarguments). The person can be persuaded by components of actual message
(by the strength of the presented arguments) when s/he does not generate many counterarguments and especially
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