CHAPTER 3, 4, 7 & 13
Marketing
Communications
SUMMARY
Amy van der Tweel
1
,CHAPTER 3:
How marketing communications work
Hierarchy-of-effects models
Hierarchy-of-effects models are some of the oldest marketing communications models. A hierarchy of effects model
assumes that things have to happen in a certain order, implying that the earlier effects form necessary conditions in
order for the later effects to occur.
According to these models, consumers go through three different stages in respond to marketing communications:
1. cognitive (thinking: awareness and knowledge)
2. affective (feelings and emotions, attitudes)
3. conative (undertaking actions)
So: think-feel-do sequence.
• Cognitive: consumers engage in mental thinking processes which lead to awareness and knowledge of the
brand communicated.
• Affective: emotional responses occur which are associated with the brand and attitudes are formed. A
difference with the previous stage is that consumers may become aware and gather information
continuously and effortlessly, while affective reactions may only be formed when the need for an evaluation
arises.
• Conative: taking actions with respect to the advertised brand, such as buying.
Alternative hierarchy-of-effects models: According to the low-involvement hierarchy-of-effects model consumers
might buy a product after frequent exposures to marketing messages and decide afterwards how they feel about it
(cognitiveconativeaffective).
Experiential hierarchy-of-effects model: in this model the sequence is also different. Consumers’ affective responses
lead them to buy a product, and later reflect on this (affective conative cognitive).
Foot-Cone-Belding Grid
This is a model that shows an integration of the different sequence models. There are 4 different situations
distinguished based on two dimensions:
1. Involvement: the importance people attach to a product or a buying decision, the extent to which one has to
think it over and the level of perceived risk associated with an inadequate brand choice.
2. Think-feel dimension: the extent to which a decision is made on a cognitive or an effective basis.
2
, • Quadrant 1: high involvement and rational decision criteria
Consumers first want to learn about the product. The classical hierarchy of effects holds. Examples: new
computer, major household appliances.
• Quadrant 2: high involvement, emotional decision criteria
Consumers first want to be emotionally attracted by the brand image, then collects information and then
takes action. Examples: jewellery, perfume, fashion etc.
• Quadrant 3: low involvement, thinking
Require a minimum of cognitive effort and tend to become routinized because of habit formation without
much reflection. Sequence: Buy the product learning about (dis)advantages developing an attitude.
Examples: toilet paper, sugar etc.
• Quadrant 4, low involvement, feeling
This quadrant reflects decision-making regarding products which can be termed ‘life’s little pleasures’.
Sequence: Buy the product experience an affective response gather product knowledge. Example: ice-
cream, soft drinks etc. Consumers buy cake eat it and realise that they are really fond of it, but learn
afterwards that it makes them fat
Rossiter-Percy grid
This grid is an alternative to/ or a modification of the FCB Grid. It also classifies four categories based on involvement
and fulfilling a transformational or informational buying motive.
• Transformational buying motives: consist of positive motivations such as sensory gratification, social approval or
intellectual stimulation (ice cream, cosmetics, parfum products that give pleasure)
• Informational buying motives: refer to reducing or reversing negative motivations such as solving or avoiding a
problem, or normal depletion. (examples of informational products are detergents, babies’ nappies, insurance
products)
Important: the quadrants do not so much contain product categories, but characteristics of consumers in a buying
decision. The grids are in fact a segmentation and positioning tool. F.e. car could be in each of the four quadrants. If
for a certain group of consumers a car is a rational, high involvement decision then this person belongs to the
quadrant 1 segment etc. etc. The quadrant a consumer in is may also change over time or across buying situations.
Hierarchy-of-effects models
Advantage:
- They provide a framework for communications objectives and campaign effectiveness measurement.
- They also incorporate an important contribution, which is recognition of the importance of brand
awareness. Hierarchy of effects models consider brand awareness as a prerequisite for brand attitude
formation. Affective responses can’t be formed without having awareness of the brand reason most
brands strive to reach Top-of-mind awareness.
Disadvantage:
- Empirical support for the fact that consumers go through each stage is lacking. There are relationships
between ad characteristics and recall, and between ad characteristics and attitudes and purchase intentions,
but tot between recall and attitudes so no hierarchy of cognitive, affective and conative effects can be
observed.
- Hierarchy models do not allow interactions between the different stages
Top-of-mind awareness (TOMA)
TOMA indicates which brand is most salient within a product category. It reflects to the first brand that comes to
mind when thinking of a particular product category. Brands who are top of mind are more purchased.
3
, Attitude formation and change
Attitude = a person’s overall evaluation of an object, a product, a
person, an organisation, an ad etc.
Although brand attitudes are relatively stable, they can be changed over time
goal for marketeers
Attitudes play an important role in hierarchy-of-effects model, in these models they
are primarily defined as affective reactions in a hierarchical setting. An attitude
consists in fact of three components:
- Cognitive component: knowledge, beliefs and evaluations of the object
- Affective component: feelings associated with the object
- Behavioural component: action readiness (behavioural intentions)
To change attitudes, marketeers might concentrate on changing one of the three components. Example: Miele might
address the quality and durability of its appliances to change consumers’ beliefs and evaluations.
Different communications models regarding attitude formation and attitude change can be classified along 2
dimensions:
1. the way attitudes are formed – cognitive, affective or behavioural
2. the level of elaboration of a message, or central-route vs. peripheral-route processing
These dimensions are comparable with the one used in the FCB grid but no hierarchical conclusions are derived from
them. Think-feel-dimension of the FCB grid is transformed into a distinction between cognitive, affective,
behavioural. The involvement dimension of the FCB grid is extended to MAO.
Motivation = a willingness to engage in behaviour, make decisions, pay attention, process information etc.
This is influenced by personal needs and goals. 3 types of consumers’ needs:
1. Functional: can be compared with the informational motivation dimension (Rossiter-Percy grid) and pertain
to solving consumers problems. Example: Buy detergents to clean dirty clothes and hire a baby-sitter
because they cannot leave their baby unattended.
2. Symbolic: how we see ourselves and how we would like to be perceived. Example: Brand Clothes.
3. Hedonic: consumers’ desires for sensory pleasure. Example: Tourists buying Belgian chocolates because of
the delicious taste.
Needs/goals can also be classified as approach or promotion goals, and avoidance or prevention goals. The former
pertain to positive outcomes while the latter relate to avoiding negative outcomes:
• Approach/promotion: shop at Carrefour because it offers them a nice shopping experience focus as a
marketeer on positive outcomes. You feel the excitement while driving this car.
• Avoidance/prevention: shop at Carrefour because they do not have to drive far. emphasize as a marketeer
negative outcomes. The excellent airbags will protect you during a crash.
Ability = the resources needed to achieve a particular goal. Example: a computer ad which is full of
technical details, not able to process and understand it because lack of technical knowledge.
Or you can’t buy a house because of insufficient money
Opportunity = the extent to which the situation enables a person to obtain the goal set. Example:
motivated to buy Danone, but the supermarket runs out of Danone, so you don’t have the
opportunity to buy it. Or you want to process the ad but if the phone rings, you don’t have
the opportunity to pay attention.
4
Marketing
Communications
SUMMARY
Amy van der Tweel
1
,CHAPTER 3:
How marketing communications work
Hierarchy-of-effects models
Hierarchy-of-effects models are some of the oldest marketing communications models. A hierarchy of effects model
assumes that things have to happen in a certain order, implying that the earlier effects form necessary conditions in
order for the later effects to occur.
According to these models, consumers go through three different stages in respond to marketing communications:
1. cognitive (thinking: awareness and knowledge)
2. affective (feelings and emotions, attitudes)
3. conative (undertaking actions)
So: think-feel-do sequence.
• Cognitive: consumers engage in mental thinking processes which lead to awareness and knowledge of the
brand communicated.
• Affective: emotional responses occur which are associated with the brand and attitudes are formed. A
difference with the previous stage is that consumers may become aware and gather information
continuously and effortlessly, while affective reactions may only be formed when the need for an evaluation
arises.
• Conative: taking actions with respect to the advertised brand, such as buying.
Alternative hierarchy-of-effects models: According to the low-involvement hierarchy-of-effects model consumers
might buy a product after frequent exposures to marketing messages and decide afterwards how they feel about it
(cognitiveconativeaffective).
Experiential hierarchy-of-effects model: in this model the sequence is also different. Consumers’ affective responses
lead them to buy a product, and later reflect on this (affective conative cognitive).
Foot-Cone-Belding Grid
This is a model that shows an integration of the different sequence models. There are 4 different situations
distinguished based on two dimensions:
1. Involvement: the importance people attach to a product or a buying decision, the extent to which one has to
think it over and the level of perceived risk associated with an inadequate brand choice.
2. Think-feel dimension: the extent to which a decision is made on a cognitive or an effective basis.
2
, • Quadrant 1: high involvement and rational decision criteria
Consumers first want to learn about the product. The classical hierarchy of effects holds. Examples: new
computer, major household appliances.
• Quadrant 2: high involvement, emotional decision criteria
Consumers first want to be emotionally attracted by the brand image, then collects information and then
takes action. Examples: jewellery, perfume, fashion etc.
• Quadrant 3: low involvement, thinking
Require a minimum of cognitive effort and tend to become routinized because of habit formation without
much reflection. Sequence: Buy the product learning about (dis)advantages developing an attitude.
Examples: toilet paper, sugar etc.
• Quadrant 4, low involvement, feeling
This quadrant reflects decision-making regarding products which can be termed ‘life’s little pleasures’.
Sequence: Buy the product experience an affective response gather product knowledge. Example: ice-
cream, soft drinks etc. Consumers buy cake eat it and realise that they are really fond of it, but learn
afterwards that it makes them fat
Rossiter-Percy grid
This grid is an alternative to/ or a modification of the FCB Grid. It also classifies four categories based on involvement
and fulfilling a transformational or informational buying motive.
• Transformational buying motives: consist of positive motivations such as sensory gratification, social approval or
intellectual stimulation (ice cream, cosmetics, parfum products that give pleasure)
• Informational buying motives: refer to reducing or reversing negative motivations such as solving or avoiding a
problem, or normal depletion. (examples of informational products are detergents, babies’ nappies, insurance
products)
Important: the quadrants do not so much contain product categories, but characteristics of consumers in a buying
decision. The grids are in fact a segmentation and positioning tool. F.e. car could be in each of the four quadrants. If
for a certain group of consumers a car is a rational, high involvement decision then this person belongs to the
quadrant 1 segment etc. etc. The quadrant a consumer in is may also change over time or across buying situations.
Hierarchy-of-effects models
Advantage:
- They provide a framework for communications objectives and campaign effectiveness measurement.
- They also incorporate an important contribution, which is recognition of the importance of brand
awareness. Hierarchy of effects models consider brand awareness as a prerequisite for brand attitude
formation. Affective responses can’t be formed without having awareness of the brand reason most
brands strive to reach Top-of-mind awareness.
Disadvantage:
- Empirical support for the fact that consumers go through each stage is lacking. There are relationships
between ad characteristics and recall, and between ad characteristics and attitudes and purchase intentions,
but tot between recall and attitudes so no hierarchy of cognitive, affective and conative effects can be
observed.
- Hierarchy models do not allow interactions between the different stages
Top-of-mind awareness (TOMA)
TOMA indicates which brand is most salient within a product category. It reflects to the first brand that comes to
mind when thinking of a particular product category. Brands who are top of mind are more purchased.
3
, Attitude formation and change
Attitude = a person’s overall evaluation of an object, a product, a
person, an organisation, an ad etc.
Although brand attitudes are relatively stable, they can be changed over time
goal for marketeers
Attitudes play an important role in hierarchy-of-effects model, in these models they
are primarily defined as affective reactions in a hierarchical setting. An attitude
consists in fact of three components:
- Cognitive component: knowledge, beliefs and evaluations of the object
- Affective component: feelings associated with the object
- Behavioural component: action readiness (behavioural intentions)
To change attitudes, marketeers might concentrate on changing one of the three components. Example: Miele might
address the quality and durability of its appliances to change consumers’ beliefs and evaluations.
Different communications models regarding attitude formation and attitude change can be classified along 2
dimensions:
1. the way attitudes are formed – cognitive, affective or behavioural
2. the level of elaboration of a message, or central-route vs. peripheral-route processing
These dimensions are comparable with the one used in the FCB grid but no hierarchical conclusions are derived from
them. Think-feel-dimension of the FCB grid is transformed into a distinction between cognitive, affective,
behavioural. The involvement dimension of the FCB grid is extended to MAO.
Motivation = a willingness to engage in behaviour, make decisions, pay attention, process information etc.
This is influenced by personal needs and goals. 3 types of consumers’ needs:
1. Functional: can be compared with the informational motivation dimension (Rossiter-Percy grid) and pertain
to solving consumers problems. Example: Buy detergents to clean dirty clothes and hire a baby-sitter
because they cannot leave their baby unattended.
2. Symbolic: how we see ourselves and how we would like to be perceived. Example: Brand Clothes.
3. Hedonic: consumers’ desires for sensory pleasure. Example: Tourists buying Belgian chocolates because of
the delicious taste.
Needs/goals can also be classified as approach or promotion goals, and avoidance or prevention goals. The former
pertain to positive outcomes while the latter relate to avoiding negative outcomes:
• Approach/promotion: shop at Carrefour because it offers them a nice shopping experience focus as a
marketeer on positive outcomes. You feel the excitement while driving this car.
• Avoidance/prevention: shop at Carrefour because they do not have to drive far. emphasize as a marketeer
negative outcomes. The excellent airbags will protect you during a crash.
Ability = the resources needed to achieve a particular goal. Example: a computer ad which is full of
technical details, not able to process and understand it because lack of technical knowledge.
Or you can’t buy a house because of insufficient money
Opportunity = the extent to which the situation enables a person to obtain the goal set. Example:
motivated to buy Danone, but the supermarket runs out of Danone, so you don’t have the
opportunity to buy it. Or you want to process the ad but if the phone rings, you don’t have
the opportunity to pay attention.
4
