CH3: How Marketing Communications Works
Hierarchy-of-effects model
Hierarchy-of-effects models: Assumes that thing have to happen in a certain order, implying that
the earlier effects form necessary conditions in order for the later effects to occur.
People go through three different stages in responding to marketing communications:
1. Cognitive / think: Awareness and knowledge of the brand communicated.
2. Affective / feel: Emotional and evaluative responses occur and attitudes towards the brand are
formed.
3. Conative / do: Undertaking actions with respect to the advertised brand.
Low-involvement hierarchy-of-effects model: After frequent exposure to marketing messages,
consumers might buy the product and decide afterwards how they feel about it.
Cognitive (think) Conative (do) Affective (feel)
Experiential hierarchy-of-effects model: Consumers’ affective responses towards a product lead
them to buy it and they reflect on it later.
Affective (feel) Conative (do) Cognitive (think)
FCB grid / Foote-Cone-Belding grid:
- (High/Low) Involvement: The importance people attach to a product or buying decision.
- Think/Feel dimension: The extent to which a decision is made on a cognitive or an affective basis.
Classical hierarchy
of effects
Rossiter-Percy grid:
- (High/Low) Involvement: The importance people attach to a product or buying decision.
- Transformational/Informational buying motive:
o Transformational: Positive motivations, such as social approval or intellectual stimulation.
o Informational: Reducing or reversing negative motivations, such as solving or avoiding a
problem.
TOMA / Top-Of-Mind Awareness: Which brand is most salient within a product category. It reflects
the first brand that comes to mind when thinking of a particular product category. Brand that are top
of mind are more likely to be purchased.
,Attitude formation and change
Attitude: A person’s overall evaluation of an object, product, person, ad, etc.
Attitude towards a brand (Ab): The extent to which a person likes or dislikes the brand or the extent
to which a person holds a favorable or unfavorable view of it.
Components of attitudes:
- Cognitive component: Reflects knowledge, beliefs and evaluations of the object.
o Timberland shoes are durable and convenient to wear
- Affective component: Represents the feelings associated with the object.
o Love Timberland Shoes
- Behavioral component: Action readiness with respect to the object.
o Intend to buy Timberland shoes the next time you go shopping
MAO: Motivation, Ability and Opportunity.
Motivation: A willingness to engage in behavior, make decisions and pay attention. Motivation is
influenced by consumer’s needs (functional, symbolic, hedonic) and goals.
- Functional needs: Products that solves consumer problems.
- Symbolic needs: Products that reflects how we see ourselves and how we would like to be
perceived by others.
- Hedonic needs: Consumers’ desires for sensory pleasure.
Approach/promotion goals: Moving toward a positive goal. Marketing communications should bring
a message focused on positive outcomes.
o Excitements when driving the car.
Avoidance/prevention goals: Moving away from a negative goal. Marketing communications should
emphasise negative outcomes.
o Excellent air bags will protect you during a crash.
Ability: The resources needed to achieve a particular goal.
Opportunity: The extent to which the situation enables a person to obtain the goal set.
HIGH MAO
If all (MAO) are high, the elaboration likelihood (ELM) is high and consumers are expected to engage
in central-route processing.
Central-route processing: People are willing to elaborate on the information, to evaluate the
arguments and find out what the information really has to offer.
Arguments produced by central route processing:
- Neutral arguments (no attitude change): McDonald’s colors of the restaurant are red and yellow.
- Support arguments (positive attitude change): McDonald’s fries taste good.
- Counter arguments (negative attitude change): McDonald’s is unhealthy and fast food.
LOW MAO
If one or more MAO factors is/are low, consumers are more likely to process the information
peripherally.
Peripheral-route processing: Give rise to affective attitude formation, how the ad makes they feel
instead of what the add really tells. Based on simple peripheral cues (background music, humor,
attractive sources, etc.), instead of real information.
, HIGH elaboration likelihood, cognitive attitude formation
Multiple attribute model / Fishbein Model: Model made up of three elements, product attributes,
the extent to which one believes the brand possesses these attributes and the evaluation of these
attributes. It’s a weighted sum of products, which means not all product attributes are equally
important for a consumer.
TORA Theory of Reasoned Action: The relationship between attitude and behavioral intention.
TPB Theory of Planned Behavior: Behavioral intention can result in actual behavior only if the
consumers themselves can decide to perform or not perform the behavior.
PBC Perceived Behavioral Control: The perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior and it
is assumed to reflect past experience as well as anticipated obstacles.
Subjective norm: The belief one holds regarding what different reference groups consider as socially
desirable behavior.
Change consumers’ attitudes and influence their behavior:
- Change brand beliefs: Use the conclusion of an independent quality control committee in an
advertising campaign in order to influence existing beliefs.
- Change attribute evaluations: When people have the impression that large universities are good,
a small university can try to change this evaluation by emphasizing the benefits of small classes.
- Change attitudes by adding attributes: A university has an exchange contract with foreign
universities so that students can take part in the courses while its own students can follow
courses abroad.
Self-generated persuasion: The consumer is not persuaded by strong brand arguments, but by his or
her own thoughts, arguments or imagined consequences. These thoughts go beyond the information
offered in the ad.
LOW elaboration likelihood, cognitive attitude formation
Heuristic evaluation: Process the communication peripherally, means that people do not elaborate
on the message but try to make inferences on the basis of ad characteristics.
VB: Message (characteristic) Number of arguments (peripheral cue) the more the better (heuristic)
Product (characteristic) Design (peripheral cue) the more attractive the better (heuristic)
Hierarchy-of-effects model
Hierarchy-of-effects models: Assumes that thing have to happen in a certain order, implying that
the earlier effects form necessary conditions in order for the later effects to occur.
People go through three different stages in responding to marketing communications:
1. Cognitive / think: Awareness and knowledge of the brand communicated.
2. Affective / feel: Emotional and evaluative responses occur and attitudes towards the brand are
formed.
3. Conative / do: Undertaking actions with respect to the advertised brand.
Low-involvement hierarchy-of-effects model: After frequent exposure to marketing messages,
consumers might buy the product and decide afterwards how they feel about it.
Cognitive (think) Conative (do) Affective (feel)
Experiential hierarchy-of-effects model: Consumers’ affective responses towards a product lead
them to buy it and they reflect on it later.
Affective (feel) Conative (do) Cognitive (think)
FCB grid / Foote-Cone-Belding grid:
- (High/Low) Involvement: The importance people attach to a product or buying decision.
- Think/Feel dimension: The extent to which a decision is made on a cognitive or an affective basis.
Classical hierarchy
of effects
Rossiter-Percy grid:
- (High/Low) Involvement: The importance people attach to a product or buying decision.
- Transformational/Informational buying motive:
o Transformational: Positive motivations, such as social approval or intellectual stimulation.
o Informational: Reducing or reversing negative motivations, such as solving or avoiding a
problem.
TOMA / Top-Of-Mind Awareness: Which brand is most salient within a product category. It reflects
the first brand that comes to mind when thinking of a particular product category. Brand that are top
of mind are more likely to be purchased.
,Attitude formation and change
Attitude: A person’s overall evaluation of an object, product, person, ad, etc.
Attitude towards a brand (Ab): The extent to which a person likes or dislikes the brand or the extent
to which a person holds a favorable or unfavorable view of it.
Components of attitudes:
- Cognitive component: Reflects knowledge, beliefs and evaluations of the object.
o Timberland shoes are durable and convenient to wear
- Affective component: Represents the feelings associated with the object.
o Love Timberland Shoes
- Behavioral component: Action readiness with respect to the object.
o Intend to buy Timberland shoes the next time you go shopping
MAO: Motivation, Ability and Opportunity.
Motivation: A willingness to engage in behavior, make decisions and pay attention. Motivation is
influenced by consumer’s needs (functional, symbolic, hedonic) and goals.
- Functional needs: Products that solves consumer problems.
- Symbolic needs: Products that reflects how we see ourselves and how we would like to be
perceived by others.
- Hedonic needs: Consumers’ desires for sensory pleasure.
Approach/promotion goals: Moving toward a positive goal. Marketing communications should bring
a message focused on positive outcomes.
o Excitements when driving the car.
Avoidance/prevention goals: Moving away from a negative goal. Marketing communications should
emphasise negative outcomes.
o Excellent air bags will protect you during a crash.
Ability: The resources needed to achieve a particular goal.
Opportunity: The extent to which the situation enables a person to obtain the goal set.
HIGH MAO
If all (MAO) are high, the elaboration likelihood (ELM) is high and consumers are expected to engage
in central-route processing.
Central-route processing: People are willing to elaborate on the information, to evaluate the
arguments and find out what the information really has to offer.
Arguments produced by central route processing:
- Neutral arguments (no attitude change): McDonald’s colors of the restaurant are red and yellow.
- Support arguments (positive attitude change): McDonald’s fries taste good.
- Counter arguments (negative attitude change): McDonald’s is unhealthy and fast food.
LOW MAO
If one or more MAO factors is/are low, consumers are more likely to process the information
peripherally.
Peripheral-route processing: Give rise to affective attitude formation, how the ad makes they feel
instead of what the add really tells. Based on simple peripheral cues (background music, humor,
attractive sources, etc.), instead of real information.
, HIGH elaboration likelihood, cognitive attitude formation
Multiple attribute model / Fishbein Model: Model made up of three elements, product attributes,
the extent to which one believes the brand possesses these attributes and the evaluation of these
attributes. It’s a weighted sum of products, which means not all product attributes are equally
important for a consumer.
TORA Theory of Reasoned Action: The relationship between attitude and behavioral intention.
TPB Theory of Planned Behavior: Behavioral intention can result in actual behavior only if the
consumers themselves can decide to perform or not perform the behavior.
PBC Perceived Behavioral Control: The perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior and it
is assumed to reflect past experience as well as anticipated obstacles.
Subjective norm: The belief one holds regarding what different reference groups consider as socially
desirable behavior.
Change consumers’ attitudes and influence their behavior:
- Change brand beliefs: Use the conclusion of an independent quality control committee in an
advertising campaign in order to influence existing beliefs.
- Change attribute evaluations: When people have the impression that large universities are good,
a small university can try to change this evaluation by emphasizing the benefits of small classes.
- Change attitudes by adding attributes: A university has an exchange contract with foreign
universities so that students can take part in the courses while its own students can follow
courses abroad.
Self-generated persuasion: The consumer is not persuaded by strong brand arguments, but by his or
her own thoughts, arguments or imagined consequences. These thoughts go beyond the information
offered in the ad.
LOW elaboration likelihood, cognitive attitude formation
Heuristic evaluation: Process the communication peripherally, means that people do not elaborate
on the message but try to make inferences on the basis of ad characteristics.
VB: Message (characteristic) Number of arguments (peripheral cue) the more the better (heuristic)
Product (characteristic) Design (peripheral cue) the more attractive the better (heuristic)
