Introduction to Advertising

Understanding and Managing the Advertising Process

Emmanuel Mogaji

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367442781
• eBook ISBN: 9781000384741
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Advertising
• Index: Business

This book is an introductory roadmap to the advertising process. Advertising is explored as a creative communication message from a brand, created by advertising agencies and distributed across different media to target the right consumers.

The book provides an understanding of the benefits of advertising, its role in the economy and, even more so, acknowledges that advertisements are not only about selling but also about effectively communicating a message. The creative and conceptual approach towards the communication process is discussed, and insight is presented into the dynamics within the industry and the different stakeholders involved, while recognising how different creative elements in advertisements are consciously selected to make them appealing. Finally, it considers how to analyse and measure an advert's effectiveness and looks ahead to future ideas and technologies arising in advertising. Effectively combining theory with practical insight, each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with key learnings. International case studies feature throughout, including insights from British Gas, WPP, Audi and KFC, as well as other examples from smaller organisations and the non-profit sector.

Taking students step by step through the advertising process, it is important reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Advertising, Brand Management, Marketing Communications and Media Planning.

Theme 1
Creating the message

2 The theories behind the message

This chapter introduces you to the theories behind advertisement. The chapter discusses the theories and explains how they work with different advertisements around the world. They includes the DAGMAR model which presents four phases that potential customers pass through as they are made aware of a brand message: unaware, aware, comprehension, conviction; the AIDA model, an acronym for attention, interest, desire and action, which are the four phases of the psychological process that people pass through as they decide whether to buy something or not; the FCB grid which recognises the consumers’ level of involvement and helps us understand where a product stands in the mind of a consumer. The communications theory and ELM are also discussed.

Learning outcome

At the conclusion of this teaching, students will be able to:

• Describe and explain the role of brands in the advertising process;
• Recognise the impor tance of theor y in advertisement design and development;
• Give examples of different theories related to advertising;
• Describe how the theories can be applied to advertisements;
• Summarise the concept of the theory behind the message.

Introduction

As discussed in Chapter 1, advertising is about communicating a message. The message is conceived by the brands, developed by the advertising agencies and engaged with by the audience. The previous chapter recognised the brands’ role in the communication process. The book will explore the role of advertising agencies and customers engagement with advertisement. However, before we get into the practical and creative side of things, it is essential to understand the theories behind advertising.

In some cases, this might not be discussed at all or discussed as part of the creative process, but I consider it essential to dedicate a chapter to the theoretical aspects of advertising – better still, how advertising works or should work. This theoretical understanding is vital as it prepares you to engage better with the advertisements as you progress further in your studies.

The chapter introduces you to different theories, backed up by research which has been known to shape advertisements. It will provide a brief insight into theories, highlighting their importance and why they are being studied. Subsequently, the chapter will cover the role of advertising theories in academia and practice. Importantly, though the list is inexhaustible, different types of theories which are familiar, easy to understand and relevant will be presented. These theories will be further explored with some relevant examples. You will be expected to use various advertisements to illustrate your understanding of these theories.

What are theories

This is an attempt to go beyond advertising and have a holistic understanding of theory; then, with that understanding, a focus on advertising theories will be discussed. A theory can be defined as a logical, rational or contemplative mode of thinking that is aimed at a generalising view on a certain phenomenon. Most times, theories are results of rigorous observations, studies, research and interrogations. At this point, we are going to take an in-depth look at different advertisement theories.

There are many theories going on around us, and often we take them for granted. Gravity is most accurately described by the general theory of relativity (proposed by Albert Einstein in 1915). We know that if anything is thrown up, the gravitational force pushes it down. If you are not into science or astrophysics, this might not interest you. It is important to note that theories exist in different fields as this suggests why advertising students need to recognise the different theories that operate in their field and engage with them as they may affect their practice.

According to Dictionary.com (n.d.), a theory is

a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena

a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles:

a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.

The Cambridge Dictionary (n.d.) also described it as “a formal statement of ideas that are suggested to explain a fact or event, or how something works”.

With these definitions, there are vital points to note:

A theory is a formal statement – it has been written out, explained and can be said to be set in stone. It is more of a definition. The statement has been tested. Here, we recognise the role of academic researchers in developing theories. The test of these formal statements provides conception and explains how things work; in addition, it can also be used to make a prediction because it has been tested in many other contexts and situations. However, the statements are still subject to experimentation as researchers continually challenge, revise, replace and propose new statements.

From an advertising perspective, there are formal statements (like DRIP, as discussed in Chapter 1) that have been tested and researched, which explain how brands may decide to conceptualise their advertisements. The theory can also be used for predictions as with the student activities where you were challenged to identify how the advertisements fit into the DRIP model. However, as we noted during the activities, the theory might not always fall into those four classifications. These theories may have been developed years ago; things are changing, and therefore there is always a need to develop and research to identify whether there are newer explanations which have not been previously observed. Von Nordenflycht (2010) presents an example of how new theories are developed to explain situations and occurrences.

Why theories?

• Theories are essential for explaining how things work. As earlier indicated, theories provide a background knowledge which explains how things work. It can be reassuring when you know that things will happen when you do something in a certain way. For the beginner, theories give the initial insight into how advertising works, what needs to be done to get an appropriate response and simplify complex advertising processes into an easily recollected model. For more experienced people, theories are there to be challenged. They are looking for ways to stretch the theories, have a better understanding and make impact.
• Theories are vital for academic work and theoretical advancement. As theories are often developed by academics, it is essential to feed that knowledge into the education system. Theories are developed and are further tested by other researchers to confirm their validity, and this is about theoretical advancement, which also feeds into practice. I have developed two theories as part of my research. My theory of emotional appeal recognises that when consumers are exposed to emotional appeal in advance, they acknowledge it but filter it through their personal filtration mechanism which is based on their personal experiences (Mogaji, 2018).
• Theories are essential for practice. Advertisers may often think that they know how things work but theory explains the concept behind it. As theories get developed by academics (in universities), these are applicable in the industry to make a practical impact.
• Theories are evolving. There is new knowledge every day as human behaviours evolve, so likewise the explanation for things around us. What was happening previously about how the consumer engages with advertisements may no longer be relevant to advertisements in society today. The theories are therefore changed or replaced if they are no longer able to explain the situation of things. More theories are being developed and shared with researchers and practitioners to test and further validate them (Hazarika & Zhang, 2019).
• Theories are often graphically illustrated. Though not compulsory, it is often the case that theories have images that graphically illustrate the statement and how the variables are interrelated. Most times, images used for advertisement explain the statement and message of an advert better than words could. This could be in the form of a linear connection, multiple connections with correlation and causal effects or grids. This is why some are called “frameworks” or “models”. Look at the examples that will be shared and consider their graphical representation, as this may assist in a better explanation of the situation.

The place of theory in the message

Advertising theories are essential for advertisers to have a better understanding of and justifications for the approach they want to take as they engage with their customers. The brands commission the message, and it is essential for advertisers to creatively develop the message and allow the audience to engage with it. In between this relationship comes the theory.

Figure 2.1 The place of theory in advertising as a brand communication strategy

Source: author.

As illustrated in Figure 2.1, the theory takes an important place in advertising as a brand communication strategy. It is important to both the advertisers and the audience. They are the ones exchanging the messages and, also, we cannot ignore the brands which are in the background. Academic research has a significant influence on theory development. Researchers work with both parties to understand how consumers engage with advertisements, analyse their findings and make their results available to practitioners, often through journals and business reports. The theories can be used by advertisers to develop their campaigns. As advertisers, you must understand that, to reach an audience, there is a specific approach to consider based on the theory that has been developed.

It is important to note, however, that theories are not only developed by academics. Remember, theories provide explanation, and it is not surprising to see that advertisers, over time, can come up with their own explanations and theories. An example is the Foote, Cone and Belding grid (FCB grid) (which will be discussed later in this chapter). The grid is also called the V aughn Grid. It was developed by Richard V aughn, the Senior V ice President of Foote, Cone and Belding. The first paper was published as “How Advertising Works: A Planning Model” (Vaughn, 1980) and the model was revised in a paper titled “How Advertising Works: A Planning Model Revisited” (Vaughn, 1986).

Advertising theories

There are many advertising theories. Many are obsolete, outdated and no longer relevant. Many are still being developed to explain the evolving human engagement with advertisements; at the last count, Kim et al. (2014) identified the top 30 theories in advertising research between 1980 and 2010. While you may know all these theories, their application varies, and their explanation may not fit all criteria.

Figure 2.2 Practice-based theories for agencies when sending the advertisement and information-processing theories for the audience receiving the advertisement

Source: author.

As illustrated in Figure 2.2, these theories can be from the perspective of both the agency with practice-based theories that shape their creative decisions in developing the advertisements, and the audience with the information processing theories engaging with the advertisement.

• For the agency. These are the theories that shape their creative approach. These are also called practice-based theories. Advertisers can adapt the theory to shape how they will develop their advertising. The agencies’ understanding of the theory influences how they will decide to communicate the brands’ message (Melewar & Nguyen, 2014). An example is FCB grids which advise the agency to develop an advertisement in a way because of the level of involvement customers have when deciding to buy the product. Communications theory also puts the onus on the brand to encode their message and send it through the media while congruency theory expects the agency to adopt creative elements that their audience will engage with because it is in congruence with their personality.
• For the Audience. These are theories that explain how the audience deals with the advertisements when they receive them. These are also called information processing theories. Information processing is the way an observer of an event or phenomenon engages with the information and the decisions they make thereafter (Gong & Cummins, 2020). As such, it is a process that describes everything that happens to a phenomenon. In advertising, this theory recognises that the engagement with the advertisement is relative to individuals. Brands and advertisers do not have control over how their messages are being processed, but they can make an effort to make th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• THEME 1 Creating the message
• THEME 2 Sharing the message
• THEME 3 Engaging the message
• THEME 4 Evaluating the message
• Index