Chapter Four The Communication Process, Meaning Creation, and the Fundamentals of Consumer’s Use of MarCom Information

Chapter Four Objectives Appreciate the elements of the communication process Understand the nature of meaning in marketing communications using a perspective known as semiotics Describe marketing communicators’ usage of three forms of figurative language (simile, metaphor, and allegory)

Chapter Four Objectives Discuss two models of consumer behavior: the consumer processing model (CPM) and the hedonic, experimental model (HEM) Describe the eight stages of consumer information processing Explain the fundamental features of the hedonic, experiential model

Elements in the Communication Process

Elements in the Communication Process Source Is a communicator in some MarCom capacity – an advertiser, salesperson, sales promoter – who has thoughts to share with an individual customer or and entire target audience

Elements in the Communication Process Communication Objective Creating brand awareness, implanting positive associations in the consumer’s memory as a basis for a positive brand image, and affecting behavior

Elements in the Communication Process Message Is the symbolic expression of what the communicator intends to accomplish

Elements in the Communication Process Message Channel Is the path through which the message moves from source to receiver

Elements in the Communication Process Receiver Is the person or group of people with who the source attempts to share ideas

Elements in the Communication Process Communication Outcome An outcome(s) in response to the message received from a brand communicator

Elements in the Communication Process Feedback The way the source monitors how accurately the intended message is being received and whether it is accomplishing its intended objective(s)

Elements in the Communication Process Noise Interference and distortion at any stage of the communication process

Marketing Communications and Meaning Semiotics Is the study of signs and the analysis of meaning-producing events

(the interpreter) in some context The Nature of Signs Sign Something physical and perceivable that signifies something (the referent) to somebody (the interpreter) in some context

The Use of Signs and Symbols in Marketing Derives its meaning from other items in its context and vice versa Polo logo signifies high status, financial well-being, and even royalty

The Meaning of Meaning Meaning The perceptions (thoughts) and affective reactions (feelings) to stimuli evoked within a person when presented with a sign in a particular context

The sum total of a person’s experiences during his or her lifetime The Meaning of Meaning Perceptual Field The sum total of a person’s experiences during his or her lifetime

The Meaning of Meaning Communication is effective when signs are common to both the sender’s and the receiver’s fields of experience The larger the overlap in their perceptual fields, the greater the likelihood that signs will be decoded by the receiver in the manner intended by the sender

Meaning Transfer: From Culture to Object to Consumer Drawing meaning from the culturally constituted world

Meaning Transfer: From Culture to Object to Consumer Drawing meaning from the culturally constituted world

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Simile Uses a comparative terms such as like or as to join items from different classes of experience e.g., “Jekyll Island, Georgia. Like the tide, it draws you back again and again.”

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Use of Simile

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Metaphor Differs from simile in that the comparative term is omitted Create a picture in consumers’ minds and tap into meaning shared both by the advertiser and consumer e.g., Wheaties is the “Breakfast of Champions”

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Use of Metaphor

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications The use of metaphor in advertising

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Allegory A form of extended metaphor Conveys meaning in a story-underneath-a-story, where something other than what is literally represented is also occurring Personification Often used in advertising of potentially offensive products

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Allegory

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Allegorical personification: The Pillsbury Dough Boy

The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications The Pillsbury Doughboy represents allegorical personification

Behavior Foundations of Marketing Communications How consumers process and respond to marketing communications stimuli and make choices among brands Two models of consumer behavior CPM and HEM Consumer behavior is too complex and diverse to be explained by two extreme models

Behavior Foundations of Marketing Communications Consumer Processing Model (CPM) Behavior is seen as rational, highly cognitive, systematic,and reasoned

Behavior Foundations of Marketing Communications Hedonic, Experiential Model (HEM) Consumer behavior is driven by emotions in pursuit of “fun, fantasies, and feelings”

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

Consumer Information Processing: Stage 1 Exposure to information Consumers come in contact with the marketer’s message Gaining exposure is a necessary but insufficient for communication success A function of key managerial decisions regarding the size of the budget and the choice of media and vehicles

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

Selective Attention: Stage 2 Focus on and consider a message to which one has been exposed Highly selective

Selective Attention: Stage 2 To attract consumers attention: Appeals to cognitive and hedonic needs Use of novel stimuli Use of intense stimuli Use of motion

Selective Attention: Stage 2 Illustration of selective attention

Selective Attention: Stage 2 Illustration of selective attention

Selective Attention: Stage 2 Illustration of attention getting advertising

Selective Attention: Stage 2 Plays on selective attention

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

Comprehension: Stage 3 Understand and create meaning out of stimuli and symbols Interpreting stimuli involves perceptual encoding Peculiar to each individual (idiosyncratic) Mood can influence Miscomprehension are common

Perceptual Encoding 1. Feature analysis: Initial stage whereby a receiver examines the basic features of a stimulus 2. Active synthesis: Beyond examining physical features, the context or situation plays a major role in what meaning is acquired

Humorous Illustration of Active Synthesis

Selective Perception Each individual is likely to perceive images in different ways

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

Consumer Information Processing: Stage 4 Agreement with what is comprehended The matter of whether consumers yield to - that is, agree with - what they have comprehended

Agreement: Stage 4 Comprehension by itself does not ensure that the message influence consumers’ behavior Agreement depends on whether the message is credible whether the information appeals to the consumer

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

Retention and Search/Retrieval of Stored Information These two information processing stages, retention and information search and retrieval, both involve memory factors related to consumer choice

Elements of Memory Memory Memory involves the related issues of what consumers remember about marketing stimuli and how they access and retrieve information when making consumption choices

Elements of Memory Sensory stores(SS): Short-Term Memory(STM): Information is rapidly lost unless attention is allocated to the stimulus Short-Term Memory(STM): Limited processing capacity Not thought or rehearsed information will be lost in 30 seconds or less

Elements of Memory Long-Term Memory (LTM): A virtual storehouse of unlimited information Information is organized into coherent and associated cognitive units called schemata, memory organization packets, or knowledge structures The marketer’s job is to provide positively valued information that consumers will store in LTM

A Consumer’s Knowledge Structure for the Mazda Miata Little luggage space Two- Seater Small Convertible Economical Sports car Fun to drive Nostalgic Mazda Miata Japanese Sexy British racing green Well-Made Affordable Women

Learning and LTM Learning represents changes in the content or organization of information in consumers’ long-term memories Marketing communicators attempt to alter consumers’ long-term memories, knowledge structures, by facilitating learning of information that is compatible with the marketer’s interest

Retention and Search/Retrieval of Stored Information Facilitating consumer’s learning

Retention and Search/Retrieval of Stored Information Facilitating consumer’s learning

Types of Learning Two types of learning Strengthening of linkages among specific memory concepts repeating claims, presenting them in a more concrete fashion and being creative in conveying a product’s features Establishing entirely new linkages

Types of Learning Establishing a new linkage between a brand and a desirable feature

Types of Learning Establishing a new linkage between a brand and a desirable feature

Types of Learning An effort to establish new linkages in consumer’s minds

Search and Retrieval of Information Information that is learned and stored in memory only impacts consumer choice behavior when it is searched and retrieved Retrieval is facilitated when a new information is linked with another concept that is well known and easily accessed

Search and Retrieval of Information Dual-coding theory - pictures are represented in memory in verbal as well as visual form, however, words are less likely to have a visual representation

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

Consumer Decision Making: Stage 7 Decision heuristics for decision making Affect referral Compensatory heuristic Conjunctive heuristic Phased strategies

Affect Referral Recalls attitude, or affect, toward relevant alternatives Selects the alternative for which the affect is most positive

Compensatory Heuristic Evaluates alternatives in terms of criteria trade-off Chooses the alternative with criteria that best compensates for inferior criteria

The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

Action on the basis of the decision Action: Stage 8 Action on the basis of the decision People do not always behave in a manner consistent with their preferences due to the presence of events, or situational factors Situational factors are especially prevalent in low-involvement consumer behavior

The HEM perspective People often consume products for the fun of it or in the pursuit of amusement, fantasies, or sensory simulation Products are subjective symbols that precipitate feelings and promise fun and the possible realization of fantasies The communication of HEM-relevant products emphasizes nonverbal content or emotionally provocative words and is intended to generate images, fantasies, and positive emotions and feelings

CPM vs. HEM An advertisement exemplifying the CPM approach

CPM vs. HEM An advertisement exemplifying the HEM approach