EXAM MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Content
• Week 1, combination of:
o Notes from lecture 1
o Important additional information from Chapter 1: Setting the stage
o Important additional information from Chapter 2: How consumers acquire and
process information
• Week 2, combination of:
o Notes from lecture 2
o Important additional information from Chapter 3: How advertising affects
consumer memory
o Important additional information from Chapter 4: How consumers form attitudes
towards products
• Week 3, combination of:
o Notes from lecture 3
o Important additional information from Chapter 5: How consumers yield to
advertising: Principles of persuasion and attitude change
o Important additional information from Chapter 6: How advertising influences
buying behaviour
• Week 4, combination of:
o Notes from lecture 4
o Important additional information from Chapter 7: Beyond persuasion: Achieving
consumer compliance without changing attitudes
o Important additional information from Chapter 8: Advertising in the new
millennium: How the Internet affects consumer judgment and choice
Note: the additional information from the book is added throughout the lecture notes, as well as
a separate part named ‘Additional information from the book’. For full lecture notes, look at my
other document I sell.
, WEEK 1 (BOOK CHPT. 1, 2 + LECTURE)
A world without advertisements: a lot of media depend on advertising revenues as well as a lot
of sport events also depend on sponsorships and advertising.
Functions of advertising
• Facilitating competition
Ads are a fast way to communicate with consumers and that plays an important role in
the competition between firms for the consumers attention and preferences.
• Communicating with consumers about products and services
This is the information function; informing the individual consumer what’s out there,
what kind of deals or new products are out there.
• Funding public mass media and other public resources
As stated before, things like internet, newspapers, radio and television would not exist
without advertising expenditures.
• Creating jobs
• Informing and persuading the individual consumer.
o Most important functions of advertising
o Informing the individual consumer = the emphasis is on creating or influencing
non-evaluative consumer responses, such as knowledge or beliefs. For example,
showing the consumer something new and potentially relevant about a product,
service or idea. So, showing the consumer what is out there.
o Persuading the individual consumer = the focus is on generating or changing an
evaluative (valenced) response, in which the advertised brand is viewed as more
favorable than before of vis-á-vis competitors.
Research driven perspective on communication effectiveness
All forms of marketing communication and the effect it has on the consumer is based on
science, not a gut feeling. The science comes from psychology, a big supplier of the systematic
knowledge about marketing communication effectiveness.
Quote: ‘Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know
which half’ – John Wanamaker
• This quote displays that, in marketing, we still don’t know what the particular thing is that
actually makes the consumer buy something.
• Advertising agencies actually show a disturbing lack of systematic knowledge about
what works, when and why (hence, the blind leading the blind, and where a lot of money
is pumped around)
o Cartoon: ‘I know nothing about the subject, but I’m happy to give my expert
opinion.’ said by an advertising agency.
Specific advertising variables
• Source (endorser) variables = variables that endorse the message of the
advertisement. In most cases, advertisers use people as a source, so it’s more about
, who says it (see examples below).
Examples of such variables:
o Expertise/ source credibility/trustworthiness: all companies want their message
to be represented by a credible source. This influences message processing and
persuasion, mainly when people are in a mindless state.
▪ For example, using a ‘doctor’ in an aspirin ad. The ‘doctor’ shows
credibility, expertise and trustworthiness.
o Source attractiveness: many products are sold by appealing to sexual attraction
and physical beauty.
▪ For example, using attractive people in the ad. Think about the halo
effect.
o Number: the number of sources used in the ad
o Fame: using famous people in the ad
• Message variables = this is about the quality of the argument in the ad: how strong and
compelling are the argument. So this is not about who says it, but what is said.
Examples of message variables:
o Argument quality: how strong and how compelling is the argument
o Argument quantity: how many arguments are present in the ad
o Information density: an ad can have high/low density of information, both have
another influence and it depends on the ad. The one ad can have a lot of
information in the ad, the other less information.
o Two-sided advertisements: include both positive and negative or
supporting/counter arguments.
▪ For example the car rental poster with the #2 best car rental company.
Consumer responses
There are 3 broad classes of consumer responses, which are interconnected with each other.
• Cognitive responses = what the consumer thinks about the ad/brand in response to
advertising.
o When you study the cognitive responses of the consumer, you study the
following things in relation to the ad/brand: beliefs, evaluations, inferences,
convictions, awareness, attitudes and preferences.
• Affective responses = what the consumer feels (emotions/moods) about the ad/brand
in response to advertising.
o When you study the affective response of the consumer, you study how and
when the elements in the ad messages affects peoples:
▪ Emotions (transient) and enduring or strong/less strong)
▪ Moods (happy/sad for a longer period of time)
▪ And if this is positively or negatively valenced
• Behavioral responses = how the consumer acts towards the ad/brand in response to
advertising, for example when a consumer buys something in response to being exposed
to the ad.
o When you study the behavioral responses of the consumer, you can study:
, ▪ Trial (when people try something for the first time) vs. habit (repetitive
consumption)
▪ Buying, using, disposing
Advertising = any form of paid communication by an identified sponsor, aimed to inform and/or
persuade the target audiences about an organization, product, service or idea.
• The part of the ‘identified sponsor’ is nowadays not as clear as it used to be with
influencers. So the identified sponsor can also be hidden, but still advertised.
• Advertising is a ‘pars pro toto’ for all promotion tools -and media in the marketing
communication toolbox.
o ‘pars pro toto’ = deel voor het geheel
Advertising in context: advertising often overestimate the importance of their own message,
but it’s important to be humble. There are a lot of advertisements, so the consumer is exposed to
over 1000 stimuli a day. So, there is a lot out there to compete and therefore your ad can easily
fail.
Argument-based approach
Example to explain this approach: Sportscar advertisement.
• The ad contains arguments why the product is good and why you should buy it.
• The advertisement contains a lot of text, but that is not why it’s argument-
based! It’s argument based because the text says a lot about why the car is good and
why you should buy the car (i.e. information about the horse power, kind of engine, etc.)
Emotional appeal
Example to explain this approach: Squeeze advertisement
• Tries to associate a certain emotion to the brand, without telling the consumer
directly why the product is good and why they should buy it.
• Doesn’t contain a lot of text, and the text doesn’t contain arguments why you
should buy the product.
• Emotional appeal: the ad tries to appeal to the warmth between mother and daughter,
and try to associate the warmth of the picture with the branding.
• ‘Squeeze’ refers to the squeezing of the oranges, but also the mother that squeezes the
daughter.
• Fear-arousing communications: advertisements that try to ‘scare the consumer into
action’. They often refer to risks that people can prevent or reduce by buying the
advertised product.
Argument-based approach vs. emotional appeal: it depends on the ad which approach is
best. Both argument-based and emotional appealing ads can be effective, but under different
circumstances, different consumers, different mindsets, etc. Also, they are not tied to certain
products, but tied to what is described above.
• The sports car ad also could’ve been emotional appealing, e.g. when you use the picture
of the sports car in combination with the text ‘The howling sound of the engine’ or ‘Nice
Content
• Week 1, combination of:
o Notes from lecture 1
o Important additional information from Chapter 1: Setting the stage
o Important additional information from Chapter 2: How consumers acquire and
process information
• Week 2, combination of:
o Notes from lecture 2
o Important additional information from Chapter 3: How advertising affects
consumer memory
o Important additional information from Chapter 4: How consumers form attitudes
towards products
• Week 3, combination of:
o Notes from lecture 3
o Important additional information from Chapter 5: How consumers yield to
advertising: Principles of persuasion and attitude change
o Important additional information from Chapter 6: How advertising influences
buying behaviour
• Week 4, combination of:
o Notes from lecture 4
o Important additional information from Chapter 7: Beyond persuasion: Achieving
consumer compliance without changing attitudes
o Important additional information from Chapter 8: Advertising in the new
millennium: How the Internet affects consumer judgment and choice
Note: the additional information from the book is added throughout the lecture notes, as well as
a separate part named ‘Additional information from the book’. For full lecture notes, look at my
other document I sell.
, WEEK 1 (BOOK CHPT. 1, 2 + LECTURE)
A world without advertisements: a lot of media depend on advertising revenues as well as a lot
of sport events also depend on sponsorships and advertising.
Functions of advertising
• Facilitating competition
Ads are a fast way to communicate with consumers and that plays an important role in
the competition between firms for the consumers attention and preferences.
• Communicating with consumers about products and services
This is the information function; informing the individual consumer what’s out there,
what kind of deals or new products are out there.
• Funding public mass media and other public resources
As stated before, things like internet, newspapers, radio and television would not exist
without advertising expenditures.
• Creating jobs
• Informing and persuading the individual consumer.
o Most important functions of advertising
o Informing the individual consumer = the emphasis is on creating or influencing
non-evaluative consumer responses, such as knowledge or beliefs. For example,
showing the consumer something new and potentially relevant about a product,
service or idea. So, showing the consumer what is out there.
o Persuading the individual consumer = the focus is on generating or changing an
evaluative (valenced) response, in which the advertised brand is viewed as more
favorable than before of vis-á-vis competitors.
Research driven perspective on communication effectiveness
All forms of marketing communication and the effect it has on the consumer is based on
science, not a gut feeling. The science comes from psychology, a big supplier of the systematic
knowledge about marketing communication effectiveness.
Quote: ‘Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know
which half’ – John Wanamaker
• This quote displays that, in marketing, we still don’t know what the particular thing is that
actually makes the consumer buy something.
• Advertising agencies actually show a disturbing lack of systematic knowledge about
what works, when and why (hence, the blind leading the blind, and where a lot of money
is pumped around)
o Cartoon: ‘I know nothing about the subject, but I’m happy to give my expert
opinion.’ said by an advertising agency.
Specific advertising variables
• Source (endorser) variables = variables that endorse the message of the
advertisement. In most cases, advertisers use people as a source, so it’s more about
, who says it (see examples below).
Examples of such variables:
o Expertise/ source credibility/trustworthiness: all companies want their message
to be represented by a credible source. This influences message processing and
persuasion, mainly when people are in a mindless state.
▪ For example, using a ‘doctor’ in an aspirin ad. The ‘doctor’ shows
credibility, expertise and trustworthiness.
o Source attractiveness: many products are sold by appealing to sexual attraction
and physical beauty.
▪ For example, using attractive people in the ad. Think about the halo
effect.
o Number: the number of sources used in the ad
o Fame: using famous people in the ad
• Message variables = this is about the quality of the argument in the ad: how strong and
compelling are the argument. So this is not about who says it, but what is said.
Examples of message variables:
o Argument quality: how strong and how compelling is the argument
o Argument quantity: how many arguments are present in the ad
o Information density: an ad can have high/low density of information, both have
another influence and it depends on the ad. The one ad can have a lot of
information in the ad, the other less information.
o Two-sided advertisements: include both positive and negative or
supporting/counter arguments.
▪ For example the car rental poster with the #2 best car rental company.
Consumer responses
There are 3 broad classes of consumer responses, which are interconnected with each other.
• Cognitive responses = what the consumer thinks about the ad/brand in response to
advertising.
o When you study the cognitive responses of the consumer, you study the
following things in relation to the ad/brand: beliefs, evaluations, inferences,
convictions, awareness, attitudes and preferences.
• Affective responses = what the consumer feels (emotions/moods) about the ad/brand
in response to advertising.
o When you study the affective response of the consumer, you study how and
when the elements in the ad messages affects peoples:
▪ Emotions (transient) and enduring or strong/less strong)
▪ Moods (happy/sad for a longer period of time)
▪ And if this is positively or negatively valenced
• Behavioral responses = how the consumer acts towards the ad/brand in response to
advertising, for example when a consumer buys something in response to being exposed
to the ad.
o When you study the behavioral responses of the consumer, you can study:
, ▪ Trial (when people try something for the first time) vs. habit (repetitive
consumption)
▪ Buying, using, disposing
Advertising = any form of paid communication by an identified sponsor, aimed to inform and/or
persuade the target audiences about an organization, product, service or idea.
• The part of the ‘identified sponsor’ is nowadays not as clear as it used to be with
influencers. So the identified sponsor can also be hidden, but still advertised.
• Advertising is a ‘pars pro toto’ for all promotion tools -and media in the marketing
communication toolbox.
o ‘pars pro toto’ = deel voor het geheel
Advertising in context: advertising often overestimate the importance of their own message,
but it’s important to be humble. There are a lot of advertisements, so the consumer is exposed to
over 1000 stimuli a day. So, there is a lot out there to compete and therefore your ad can easily
fail.
Argument-based approach
Example to explain this approach: Sportscar advertisement.
• The ad contains arguments why the product is good and why you should buy it.
• The advertisement contains a lot of text, but that is not why it’s argument-
based! It’s argument based because the text says a lot about why the car is good and
why you should buy the car (i.e. information about the horse power, kind of engine, etc.)
Emotional appeal
Example to explain this approach: Squeeze advertisement
• Tries to associate a certain emotion to the brand, without telling the consumer
directly why the product is good and why they should buy it.
• Doesn’t contain a lot of text, and the text doesn’t contain arguments why you
should buy the product.
• Emotional appeal: the ad tries to appeal to the warmth between mother and daughter,
and try to associate the warmth of the picture with the branding.
• ‘Squeeze’ refers to the squeezing of the oranges, but also the mother that squeezes the
daughter.
• Fear-arousing communications: advertisements that try to ‘scare the consumer into
action’. They often refer to risks that people can prevent or reduce by buying the
advertised product.
Argument-based approach vs. emotional appeal: it depends on the ad which approach is
best. Both argument-based and emotional appealing ads can be effective, but under different
circumstances, different consumers, different mindsets, etc. Also, they are not tied to certain
products, but tied to what is described above.
• The sports car ad also could’ve been emotional appealing, e.g. when you use the picture
of the sports car in combination with the text ‘The howling sound of the engine’ or ‘Nice
