Centro Escolar University

Undergraduate School

DRIVING DIGITALIZATION IN MARKETING: COMPARING TRADITIONAL

ADVERTISEMENT AGAINST INFLUENCER “BRANDING” AND HOW IT
DICTATES CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN MAKATI CITY

An Undergraduate Thesis
Presented to
The Department of Business Administration
Centro Escolar University – Makati City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Major in Marketing Management

By
Butor, Ricka Mae
Dela Cruz, Rizza
Ibañez, Jan Dominic
Manzano, Margot
Orozco, Reign Andrei
 CHAPTER I
The Problem and Its Background

Background of the Study

Marketing is essential in the economic development of the country. It is a driving factor

for consumer's decision-making as it provides a means of learning about new products and

services. Through marketing, businesses can promote the product they intend to sell to their

target market with advertising. Technology plays a vital role in marketing and advertising- as

technology progresses, the various ways in how a product is made known to its target market.

Nowadays, the process to design, create, research, and develop a strategy for a specific

development dedicated to a particular market can be done within a short period, thanks to

technology.

The 1st print ad published in the 15th century started the evolution of advertising

continued by the first newspaper published in the U.S during the 17th century. In the 19th

century, the "Golden Era of Advertising" also played a considerable part in advertising

development. Radio and television advertisements gave a more personalized feel to it, taking on

cultural status – a time of big ideas and huge personalities (Quick, 2021). Companies started to

use characters such as Tony the Tiger for Frosted Flakes, Snap, Crackle, and Pop gnomes for

Rice Krispieson; for their tv commercials to give a more personalized connection between

viewers and their brands with an intention and purpose that is to sell. With the advancement of

technologies, new channels and mediums for advertising were also uncovered, bringing a shift

from the selling mentality of the companies to bringing ads to focus on community building and

brand awareness (Gallegos, 2019). According to Carmicheal (2019), prints, broadcasts, phone
and outdoor advertising (billboards) are just a few forms of traditional advertising where

companies use this kind of marketing to reach their audience without the help of the internet.

Although it is now considered one of the oldest forms of advertising, marketers find this

important as it was able to reach its local audience in their everyday life. While companies use

this kind of marketing for a long time, they cannot deny the fact that traditional marketing also

has its disadvantages such as: having no real-time interaction with their customers, difficulty in

editing the ads whenever it is out already, and lastly, traditional marketing can be costly.

The advancement of the internet through the past years helped shift traditional marketing to

digital marketing. How does digital marketing work? According to Andrus (2020), digital

marketing has the same purpose as any other type of marketing: to "connect with and influence

potential customers" but make it happen online. Millennials and Generation Z's immense

demographic are exceptionally eclectic when it comes to ads, caused by the easy access to the

internet when it comes to looking for real-life product reviews. It is a known fact that influencers

are becoming a massive part of a business advertisement. Influencer Branding is a type of social

media marketing wherein influencers – individuals with the vast dedicated social following-are

used to endorse a product by mentioning products through their social media platforms such as

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even YouTube. Influencer "branding" is the most common

way of promoting products nowadays because of the high amount of trust social influencers have

built up with their following recommendations from them serve as a form of social proof to the

brand's potential customers (Chen, 2020).

In line with this, the researchers took the opportunity to compare traditional advertising

against influencer branding and how it dictates consumer behavior in Makati City. The study

primarily aims to know how the shift of conventional advertising to influencer branding can
significantly affect the consumer's behavior towards their decision-making to buy a product and

how this influencer branding is helping in the shift towards driving digitalization in marketing.

Conceptual Framework

This Conceptual Framework is composed of comparing traditional advertising and

influencer “branding” and how it dictates consumer behavior. It represents the essential aspects

in comparing the two marketing strategies; on how advertising works traditionally and digitally
in the modern marketing world, which provides different impacts in businesses. It will guide in

determining what is more practical to use in terms of effectiveness, cost, and time that the

researchers will focus on and eventually get to its bottom.

Objectives of the Study

1. To identify which is more efficient between traditional advertising and influencer

branding in terms of effectiveness and time.

2. To determine the impact of consumer behavior in traditional advertising and influencer

branding within Makati city.

Statement of the problem

The study aims to determine the comparison between traditional advertising against
influencer “branding” in Makati City.

Specific Problem

The following question serves as a guide to successfully conduct the research and is
aimed to be answered at the end of the study:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age

2.2 Sex

3.3 Occupation

2. How aware is the respondents with traditional marketing/advertising in terms of:

2.1 Print advertising

2.2 broadcast advertising

2.3 phone advertising

2.4 outdoor advertising (such as billboards)

 3. How aware are the respondents with the following digital advertising tools?

3.1 Email advertising

3.2 social media advertising

3.3 mobile advertising

3.4 influencer “branding”

4. Is there a significant difference between the traditional advertising and influencer

"branding" on the consumer’s buying decision in terms of:

4.1 Social Influence

4.2 Brand Awareness

4.3 Purchase Intention

Assumptions of the Study

This research study will establish by assuming that the respondents are honest and

rational in expressing their perception on comparing traditional advertisements against influencer

“branding” to assess the driving digitalization in Marketing.

Significance of the Study

This study provides an understanding of driving digitalization in Marketing. It presents

information in Comparing traditional advertisements against influencer "Branding" and how it

dictates consumer behavior among the people in Makati City. The study could be helpful to the

following:

For Students. This research may help the students increase their awareness and expand

their knowledge about the comparison of these two marketing strategies. It has a lot of focus on

what are their advantages and disadvantages in marketing a business. They will be aware of the

most convenient strategy in terms of costs, time, and effectiveness.

 For Future Entrepreneurs. This research may help businesses decide what strategies to

use and help them know the effectiveness of advertising. To recognize the difference between

traditional advertising and influencer branding to present a marketing message to an audience.

By knowing these strategies, they will have an idea of how to compete in the market.

For Educational Institutions. This research may help educational institutions gain more

knowledge about the unique topic of comparing traditional advertisements against influencer

"Branding" and how it dictates consumer behavior. They will be able to identify the practical

ways businesses work in the business world with the help of advertisements.

For Centro Escolar University. This research may help Centro Escolar University's

administrators to know the beauty of marketing in a business. Mainly in this time of

modernization in marketing ideas in the modern world. It may attract more aspiring future

entrepreneurs to enroll in the university.

For Future Researchers. This research provides modern ideas in marketing

advertisements and may be used as a guide in conducting research. It may also be an inspiration

and motivation to expand each individual's knowledge and have their own will to explore and

research new ideas or similar topics.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The business research mainly focuses on the respondents around Makati City about their

buying behavior. The study revolves around a comparison between traditional advertising and

influencer branding on the consumer's behavior. The timespan for completing the whole paper

will be in five weeks for the completion of writing the business research paper and the
conducting of the survey. A total of one hundred (100) respondents were asked to answer the

online questionnaire given through Google Forms.

Definition of Terms

Advertisement- The process of marketing and promoting a company's goods and services in

order for the company's owners to retain this in the hands of their buyers.

Branding- The most common method of endorsing a product. It serves as a tool to assist

consumers in decision-making in choosing a product or service.

Behavior-

Consumer- Refers to one of the factors that will help the researchers determine the practicality of

traditional marketing vs influencer’s “branding” by distinguishing the effectiveness, time, and

cost.

Digital-

Eclectic-

Influencer- Refers to using an individual with a lot of audiences to promote a particular product

of the company and affect the purchasing decision of a consumer.

Marketing- Refers to a guiding force that will engage consumers and company owners in

marketing the product they choose to promote.

Millennial- It influences and helps to scale out the diverse range of sources with regard to the

advertisement.

Modern-
Rational- The behavior of a person in which they demonstrate their thoughts or belief on

comparing marketing strategies.

Technology- Technology refers to increasing a business's ability to sell a product more

effectively and efficiently.

Traditional- Refers to a form of the non-digital method used by business owners to reach out to

their target audience.

 CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature

This chapter presents the review of related literature that will support the study which is

focused on Comparing the Traditional advertisement against Influencer “Branding” and How it

dictates consumer behavior.

Marketing and Marketing Management

In a 2006 article, Kotler and Keller defined Marketing as a set of processes and an

organizational function for creating, communicating, and providing value to customers,

including managing customer relationships in ways that support the company and its

stakeholders. In social definition, Marketing is a societal process of a business activity achieved

by voluntarily sharing valuable goods and services with others (Kotler, 1999). On the other hand,

as defined in an economic function, Marketing contains all business operations associated with

obtaining goods and services (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019). According to Kotler (2002),

Marketing Management is a process of applying marketing concepts to choose target market and

obtain, maintain, and expand customers in providing consumer value. In addition, Marketing

Management manages all marketing operations within a company (Terkan, 2014).

The Role and Importance of Marketing

According to Terkan (2014), Marketing is an essential process that provides

progress for a business organization. It appears that over the past years, it has been a

concept that Marketing is more of a collection of principles of all roles contributing to its

implementation and never a process. However, According to McKenna (1991, as cited in

 Moorman & Rust, 1999), "Marketing is everything, and everything is marketing," (p.

180) or akin to Haeckel (1997, as cited in Moorman & Rust, 1999) "Marketing's future is

not a function of business, but is the function of the business" (p.180).

The importance of Marketing varies among business organizations by providing

business competitiveness and sales growth. Its vital role is to promote growth for

individuals and companies and understand, create, communicate, and deliver value to

consumers. Additionally, Marketing also functions by improving the quality and

perception of an undesirable product and providing a tactical approach for varying

demands. (Kotler, 2012).

Evolution of Marketing “Advertisement” - Rizza

Understanding Industrial Revolution in Business

From 1760 to 1840, The first industrial revolution spread, producing construction

related to mechanical production. In the 19th century and early 20th century, mass

production in businesses was made possible (Schwab, 2017). Seemingly, the early stages

of the industrial revolution provided men with great opportunities. The economic change

evident in the first industrial revolution due to the emergence of manufacturing

businesses brought a change in society (Honeyman, 1982). Advertising in this century

seemed to be difficult because of the limited resources and low income. According to

Williams (2000), In the seventeenth century, the spreading of information ranged from

offers of personal service, televisions, and publications.

Understanding Digital Revolution

 The beginning of the third industrial revolution, or the digital process, was in the

year 1960. The emergence of digital technologies, including software, networks, the

internet, nanotechnologies, and various digital inventions, continued to unfold (Schwab,

2017). The rapid advancement in computer technology has resulted in a rapid expansion

of different industries, which cannot be stopped or prevented. The digital world that has

taken hold and can be freely accessed via smartphone allows anyone to get information

quickly and get their needs met quickly and in real-time (Darma, 1999; Lo and Darma,

2000; Darma, 2019; Dewi & Darma, 2019).

In the digital revolution, firms are pressured to adapt to digital presence to

improve the digital marketing engagement of a company (Tiago et al., 2014). In general,

Social media has given importance to the media business. According to a Journal by

Kaplan (2015), Various research on the digital revolution has been performed. As an

outcome, it is evident that the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds are

rapidly disappearing.

Understanding Advertisement

“Advertising is regarded as one of the tools of marketing management” (Terkan, 2014, p.

242). Abdelaal & Sase (2014), stated that the purpose of Advertisement is intended to persuade

audiences to take action on products, services, and ideas. However, According to Cook (1992, as

cited in Abdelaal & Sase, 2014), “Advertisements can amuse, inform, misinform, worry or

warn” (p.254). It is apparent that in today’s society, Advertisement plays a vital role in

disseminating marketing messages, and advertisers generally have absolute control over the

entire process. Moreover, Advertising can also be distributed across various channels through
text, audio, and other graphic designs. Advertisement is a universal trend that can be seen or read

every day designed to attract consumers (Abdelaal & Sase, 2014).

The Relationship Between Advertising and Marketing

In an age where business stability relies on Marketing and Advertising, it is

essential to understand the relationship between advertising and marketing. Primarily,

Advertising depends on the media to effectively deliver a message to the audience,

whereas, Marketing Management is related to marketing research, marketing strategies,

sales and demand forecasting, product perception, and product designing. Marketing

Management is far more complex and has a broader scope than advertising (Terkan,

2014). Generally, people perceive advertising as marketing without understanding its

difference. Advertising is only a component of Marketing; and is more communication-

oriented since it focuses on building awareness about concepts, products, and services,

and each advertising strategy is created for a specific product (Mallory, 2013, as cited in

Terkan, 2014).

Importance of Advertising

The role of Advertising is to educate the public about products through various

media. Advertising strategies are a mere competition for companies to reach a significant

number of consumers daily. Also, advertising uses imaginative appeals to convince the

public to act and purchase (Terkan, 2014). According to Tellis (2003), there are five

reasons why advertising is substantial:

1. Advertising is a significant source of competitiveness among companies.

2. It is a primary tool for businesses to communicate with customers on new or

improved products.
 3. Advertisements help to ensure that people have access to free information and

entertainment.

4. Advertising is considered a massive sector of the industry.

5. The general public subsidizes advertising costs.

Tellis (2003), further discussed the effectiveness of advertising by assessing the

problems. Although measuring the efficacy of an advertisement is difficult, it is identified

that a brand's ad would influence a consumer's choice and purchasing intention.

Effectiveness of Advertising

According to Corvi and Bonera (2010), The effectiveness of Advertising may be

achieved when a desired amount of results are reached. Monitoring and Measuring the

effects of an ad is substantial. It was mentioned that the effectiveness of advertising is

measured by the capability of advertising to affect the sales volume and the market share.

"The overall goal of most advertising is to influence brand purchase" (Wells, 2014, p.

290). A study published by the Journal of Advertising Research (Blair, 1987, as cited in

Wells, 2014), persuasive advertising works quickly. "Advertising and its effectiveness

varied in complexities of attention, processing, recall, and response to appeal" (Tellis,

2003, p. 5). Moreover, the capacity of an advertisement to communicate provides an

effect to consumers. From a consumer perspective, the increased interest in consumer

culture theory and brand cultures has coincided with the emphasis on the "receiver" as a

central agent in the advertising communication process. (Aitken et al., 2008).

Traditional Marketing “Advertising” - rizza

Components of Traditional Marketing “Advertising”- rizza

 Significance of Traditional Marketing “Advertising”

According to Rieva Lesonsky (2017), Traditional advertising, such as print,

television, and radio, still play an important role in attracting consumers and tend to be

more attractive because they are more controllable.

Influencer Branding - Rizza

Components of Influencer “Branding”

A 2020 article by Manero & Navarro will support the impact of Influencer

components on consumers. With these facts, more people will be aware of how

influencers affect people's responses to influencer marketing, the Influencer, and the

brand/product. Studies about influencer branding are still limited; that is why the

researchers want to better understand how different styles of content and influencers

impact people's reactions to influencer marketing. The use of social media is consistently

expanding every year. There are a lot of essential roles and components that the social

media mediums are providing. Influencers can help drive more people to your products

and services because they have earned the trust of their followers. Partnership with

influencers can increase brand awareness, public image, audience interaction, and

conversion rates.

Significance of Influencer “Branding”

“Influencer marketing and its impact on the advertised brand.” (Tabellion, J., &

Esch, F. R. ,2019) Marketers have been given support to look for promotional campaigns

to take control of these evolving forms of mass media communication. Social media
 marketing has a huge impact particularly if the individual promoting the product or brand

has a lot of followers on a particular social media channel. That is the primary reason

why businesses reached out to these famous figures, known as influencers, to promote

their brand and goods.

Consumer Behavior

Consumer Behavior towards Traditional and Digital Advertising - Doms

Consumer Behavior towards Advertising: Influencer Branding

Influencers can easily reach the people or future consumers with the

expanding use of the internet this generation. Industries benefit from a broader

collaboration with influencers, which will open new opportunities for the brand

and then influencers, unlike the traditional way of advertising, which costs many

expenses and time to market a product using newspaper or direct emails. With the

modernization of online advertising, many influencers are bloggers or people who

share their experiences, stories, or aspirations with the general internet public.

Products and services may spread out in just a second or a minute. This article

supports the role of influencers in affecting consumers' decisions when it comes

to buying a product or service. It has an impact on the brand they are using (Zak

& Hasprova, 2020).

Role of Marketing Environment in the Buying Behavior and Decision of Consumers

 Marketing Environment is a part of business market planning to support

businesses' competitive advantage in a modern market. It is observed that the

advancement of the Marketing Environment continued to develop in the present time.

The noticeable changes have provided marketing and business professionals to

understand the interest of consumers while also providing stability for businesses'

competitive environment (Latif et al., 2014). Determining the different opportunities

presented in a broad climate will help marketing professionals in formulating well-

improved Advertising Strategies.

To analyze the relationship of Marketing Environment between Buying Behavior

and Decision of Consumers, "The Marketing Environment" (2016), Discussed the

components of Market Environment in influencing consumer behavior:

1. Political-Legal Environment: The regulations of policies to protect both consumers and

business organizations.

2. Economic Environment: The purchasing power of an economy.

3. Competitive Environment: Understanding the marketing approach of the business

competitor.

4. Technological Environment: Focusing on the development of technologies and digital

adaptation in Marketing.

5. Social and Cultural Environment: Identifying the values and beliefs, attitudes, and

interests of the society to meet the consumers' needs.

In addition to understanding the Consumer Decision about the Marketing

Environment, as explained in "The Marketing Environment" (2016), understanding a

consumer's buying process is essential. The Buying Process includes: (1) Recognition,
 (2) Information Search, (3) Evaluation, (4) Purchase, (5) Post Purchase Evaluation.

This process will help formulate marketing and advertising strategies that influence

buyers in making a purchase decision. On the other hand, The Buying Behavior of a

consumer is controlled by two things: (1) Psychological Influence and (2) Social

Influence.

Understanding customer behavior is a crucial process for successful Marketing.

Although past studies and literature only determine the relationship of Marketing

Environment in Marketing Strategies and the Relationship of Marketing Environment in

the Buying Behavior and Decision of Consumers are limited, there is still a relation

between Buying Behavior and Decision of Consumers and Marketing Environment.

Significance of Marketing in Relation to Consumer Behavior

Marketing Effectiveness in Consumer Behavior

Cost effectivity of marketing in relevance to consumer behavior - Rizza

Time efficiency in marketing

Brand Awareness

Research shows that brand awareness itself is more relevant than other features

like choosing between decisions in creating a quality brand choice. As stated by Hoyer

and Brown (1990), consumers prefer familiar brands, unlike unknown brands. Although,

the unknown brands are of higher quality than the familiar brands to their knowing.

Improving brand awareness can be significant competitive implications since it may

prevent the consumers from remembering the competitor's brand name (Alba and

Chattopadhyay, 1986). Marketers dedicate considerable effort to the preference of brand

names and the brand symbols through identifying the potential influence of these

communication tools (Aaker, 1991; Murphy, 1987; Charmasson, 1988). Childers and

Houston, 1984; Lutz and Lutz (1977) claimed that "research on interactive imagery has

identified certain characteristics of brand symbols that may affect brand name awareness,

and it is a piece of accumulated knowledge in this area is limited." Moreover, a clear

conclusion of past results is limited by the appearance of confounds in numerous studies,

and brand awareness has fundamentally been evaluated with cued recall while some

examples such as recognition are equally relevant.

Purchase Intention

Referring to Shah et al. (2012), purchase intention is a type of decision-making

that analyzes the motive to purchase a specific brand by the consumer. According to

Morinez et al. (2007), the study explains purchase intention as a circumstance where

consumers are likely to buy an exact product in a specific condition. Consumers' purchase

decision is a complicated procedure, and it is usually associated with the behavior,

viewpoint, and manner of consumers. Purchase behavior is a substantial detail for the

customers to approach and assess the particular goods. Ghosh (1990) claimed that

purchase intention is an efficient tool to foretell purchasing process, and it may be

adjusted under the impact of cost or recognized quality and value. Moreover, consumers

are affected by inner or outer stimulation throughout the purchasing process (Gogoi,

2013). Consumers always believe that buying with cheap priced, plain wrapping, and an

unfamiliar product is risky since the quality of these products is below standard (Gogoi,

2013).