Chapter Four

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

2. 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)

3. 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

4. Elements in the Communication Process

5. 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

6. 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

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

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

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

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

11. 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)

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

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

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

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

16. 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

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

18. 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

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

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

21. 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.”

22. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Use of Simile

23. 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”

24. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Use of Metaphor

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

26. 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

27. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications Allegory

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

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

30. 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

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

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

33. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM

34. 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

35. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM

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

37. 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

38. Selective Attention: Stage 2 Illustration of selective attention

39. Selective Attention: Stage 2 Illustration of selective attention

40. Selective Attention: Stage 2 Illustration of attention getting advertising

41. Selective Attention: Stage 2 Plays on selective attention

42. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM

43. 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

44. 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

45. Humorous Illustration of Active Synthesis Humorous illustration of active synthesis

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

47. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM

48. 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

49. 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

50. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing CPM