Copyright © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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5

The Communication Process

 The Nature of Communication
The passing of information, the exchange of ideas, the
process of establishing a commonness or oneness of
thought between a sender and a receiver.
Basic elements of the communications process

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The communication process and discuss the basic elements in a
communication system:
Source/Sender – the person or organization with information to
share
Receiver – person(s) with whom the sender is sharing
information or thoughts
Message – the information the source hopes to convey
Channel – method by which the communication travels from
source to receiver
Encoding – the process of communication starts with encoding.
putting thoughts, ideas, or information into symbolic form that
represents the message.
Decoding – transforming the sender’s message back into
thought
Response – receiver’s reactions after seeing, hearing, or
reading the message
Feedback – part of the receiver’s response that is
communicated back to the sender
Noise – unplanned distortion or interference 5-3
 Source Encoding Using a Celebrity

sources and encoding

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• the sender, or source, of a communication is the person or
organization with information to share. The source may be an
individual or a non-personal entity, such as a corporation.
• Because the receiver’s perceptions of the source influence
how the communication is received, the spokesperson
(source) must be someone the receiver will believe is
knowledgeable and trustworthy, or someone with whom the
receiver can in some way relate. This ad for Citizen Eco-Drive
watches uses professional golfer Paula Creamer as a
spokesperson for the company.
• The goal of the source is to put thoughts, ideas, or
information into a symbolic form that can be understood by
the receiver(s).

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 Forms of Encoding
Various forms of encoding, which is the process by
which thoughts or ideas are put into a symbolic form.

Verbal Graphic Musical Animation

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How senders put thoughts, ideas, or information into a symbolic
form.
• Verbal… any spoken message, as in radio or television ads.
• Graphic… thoughts transmitted via some symbolic form, as
with the “no smoking” symbol used here. Other graphic
symbols include the McDonald’s arch and Nike’s swoosh.
• Musical… marketers sometimes tie brands and products to
jingles or sounds, like the chimes (musical notes) that play
during all Intel commercials.
• Animation… often used to grab the attention of viewers. A
good example is the Michelin ad, in which an animated car
stops before running over previously injured animated
animals, who pop up and celebrate.
The goal is to encode the message in such a way that it will be
understood (and remembered) by the receiver.

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 Message Development

Three decisions that marketers must make when developing

messages for consumers

Content

Design Structure

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An Image Can Convey More Than Words

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 Communication Channels

Personal Nonpersonal
Channels Channels

Word of Personal Print Broadcast

Mouth Selling Media Media

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Two types of communication channels, personal and nonpersonal.
• Personal channels involve direct, face-to-face contact with
target individuals or groups. Sales people serve as personal
channels when they deliver their sales messages. Social
channels, such as friends, family, and co-workers, can be a
powerful personal source of information through word-of-
mouth communication.
• Many companies work to generate positive word-of-mouth
discussions for their companies or brands. Buzz marketing,
consumer-generated marketing, and viral marketing are used
to describe this process.
• Nonpersonal channels carry a message without personal
contact between sender and receiver. Nonpersonal channels
are generally referred to as mass media, and include various
forms of print and broadcast media.

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Marketers Embrace Buzz Marketing

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Apples for Dessert

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 Field of Experience Overlap
Decoding is the process of transforming the sender’s message
back into thought. This process heavily influenced by the
receiver’s frame of reference or field of experience, which
refers to the experience, perceptions, attitudes, and values
S/He brings to the communication process.
Different Worlds
Sender Receiver
Experience Experience

Moderate Commonality
Receiver
Sender Experience
Experience

High Commonality
Receiver
Receiver
Sender Experience
Experience
Experience
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 Noise in the Communications Process

Throughout the communication process, the message is

subject to extraneous factors that can distort or interfere
with its reception. This unplanned distortion or interferences
is known as Noise.

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 Successful Communication

Select an appropriate source

Develop a properly encoded message

Select appropriate channel for target audience

Receive feedback

The receiver’s set of reactions after seeing, hearing, or reading

the message is known as response which range from non- 5-16
 Identifying the Target Audience
The various levels of audience aggregation

Mass Markets and Audiences

Markets Segments

Niche Markets

Individual &
Group
Audiences

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The target audience may consist of individuals, groups, niche
markets, market segments, or a mass audience:
• Individuals… those with specific needs, for whom a
message must be specifically tailored
• Small groups… multiple people who are involved in the
purchase decision, such as families or members of a
buying center
• Niche markets… smaller, well-defined markets
consisting of customers with similar needs
• Market segments… broader classes of people who have
similar needs and can be reached with similar messages
• Mass markets… markets with large numbers of potential
customers

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 The Response Process
The most crucial aspect of developing communication
programs involves understanding the response process.

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Hierarchical response models that have been developed through
the years to depict the stages consumers/customers go through
as they learn about a company’s product or service, before
moving to purchase readiness or actual behavior.
• AIDA model… depicts the stages in the personal selling
process
• Hierarchy of effects model… shows the process by which
advertising works
• Innovation adoption model… shows the stages a consumer
passes through in the process of adopting a new product
• Information processing model… a model of the process
through which a consumer must pass to be influenced by
advertising
Note that each of these models views the consumer as
passing through cognitive, affective, and behavioral stages.

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 Obtaining Feedback
Effectiveness Tests Persuasion Process

Circulation reach Exposure/ presentation

Listener, reader,
viewer recognition Attention

Recall, checklists Comprehension

Brand attitudes, Message acceptance/

purchase intent yielding

Recall over time Retention

Inventory, POP,
scanner data Purchase behavior
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All the four models consists of three basic stages.

Cognitive: What the receiver knows or perceives

about the particular product

Affective: Receiver’s feeling or affect (like/dislike) for

particular brand (desire, preferences).

Conative or behavioural stages: Consumer’s action

toward the brand (trial/purchase, adoption or
rejection)

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 Alternative Response Hierarchies
Michael Ray has
developed based on Topical Involvement
Herbert Krugman’s High Low
Theory Learning Low involvement
model model
Perceived product

High
differentiation

Cognitive Cognitive
Affective
Conative

Dissonance/ Conative
attribution model
Low

Conative
Affective Affective
Cognitive

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Michael Ray has developed a model of information processing
that identifies three alternative orderings of the three stage
based on perceived product differentiation and product
involvement.
• Standard Learning = learn feel do. The
consumer is viewed as an active participant. This
sequence is likely when there is much differentiation
among brands and the consumer is highly involved in
the purchase process.
• Dissonance/Attribution = do feel learn. Occurs
when consumers must choose between two alternatives
that are similar in quality but are complex and may
have unknown attributes. Focus of mass media should
be on reducing dissonance after purchase.
• Low Involvement = learn do feel. Occurs when
involvement in the purchase decision is low, there are
minimal differences among brand alternatives, and
mass-media advertising is important.
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 Dissonance/Attribution Model
Attitudes sometimes develop after
a purchase, as does learning from
mass media.
Ray suggests that in these
situations the main effect of mass
media is not the promotion of
original choice behavior and
attitude change, but rather the
reduction of dissonance by
reinforcing the wisdom of the
purchase or providing supportive
information.
This ad for Visa reinforces the
wisdom of the consumers’
decision to use a Visa credit card
by reassuring them of the various
layers of security the company
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provides to cardholders.
 Low-Involvement Products

A popular creative strategy used by advertisers of low-

involvement products is what advertising analyst Harry
McMahan calls VIP, or visual image personality.
Basically, advertisers use symbols that lead consumers to
identify and retain ads. A prime example is the Energizer
Bunny shown in this ad. Other examples include the Pillsbury
Doughboy, Morris the Cat, Tony the Tiger, and Mr. Clean.
Examples are the Marlboro Man, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, the
Aflac Duck, and the GEICO Gecko.
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 The FCB Planning Model
(Foote Cone & Belding agency)

Thinking Feeling

Involvement 1 2
High

Informative Affective
The Thinker The Feeler

3 4
Involvement

Habit Self-
Low

Formation Satisfaction
The Doer The Reactor

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This model builds on traditional response theories, such as the
hierarchy of effects model and its variants, and research on high
and low involvement. It adds the dimensions of thinking and
feeling at each involvement level.
The Cone & Belding model is known as the FCB grid and
delineates four primary advertising planning strategies:
• Informative – for highly involved purchases where rational
thinking and economic considerations prevail.
• Affective – for highly involved/feeling purchases. These
types of products should be advertised stressing
psychological and emotional motives.
• Habit formation – for low involvement/thinking products
where routine behavior patterns and learning occurs most
often after purchase.
• Self-satisfaction – low involvement/feeling products where
appeals to sensory pleasures and social motives are
important.
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 Developing Promotional Strategies

Consumer research can be used to determine how consumers

perceive products or brands on the involvement and
thinking/feeling dimensions. This information can then be
used to develop Rational versus emotional appeals
• Increasing involvement levels
• Evaluation of a think-type product on the basis of
feelings

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 Cognitive Response

A method for examining consumers’ cognitive

processing of advertising messages by looking at
their cognitive responses to hearing, viewing, or
reading communications

Examines thoughts that are evoked

by an advertising message

Consumers write down or verbally report

their reactions to a message

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 A Model of Cognitive Response
A model of the cognitive process and how these thoughts relate
to traditional outcome measures, such as brand attitude,
attitude toward the ad, and purchase intentions.

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Cognitive responses are the thoughts that occur while
reading, viewing, and/or hearing a communication.
The assumption is that these thoughts reflect the
recipient’s reactions and help shape ultimate
acceptance or rejection of a message.

The categories of cognitive responses include:

• Product/message thoughts
• Source-oriented thoughts
• Ad execution thoughts

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 Cognitive Response Categories

Product/Message Thoughts

Counterarguments Support arguments

Source-Oriented Thoughts

Source derogation Source bolstering

Ad Execution Thoughts

Thoughts about Affect attitude

the ad itself toward the ad
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the cognitive response model by providing examples of the three categories
of thoughts that might occur in reaction to an advertising message
•Product/message thoughts – directed at the product or service and/or claims
being made in the communication. These types of thoughts include:
• Counterarguments – thoughts the recipient has that are opposed to the
position taken in the message
• Support arguments – thoughts that affirm or support the claims in the
message
•Source-oriented thoughts – directed at the source of the communication:
• Source derogations – negative thoughts about the spokesperson or
organization making the claims
• Source bolsters – favorable thoughts about the spokesperson or
organization making the claims
•Ad execution thoughts – thoughts about the ad itself, including execution
factors such as creativity, quality, colors, or voice tones. Affect/attitude
toward the ad represents the receivers’ feeling of favorability or
unfavorability toward the ad.

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 Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
Differences in the ways of consumer process and respond to persuasive
messages are addressed in ELM model.
Focuses on the way consumers respond to persuasive
messages, based on the amount and nature of elaboration
or processing of information

Routes to Attitude Change

Central route – Peripheral route –

ability and ability and
motivation to process motivation to process
a message is high and a message is low;
close attention is paid receiver focuses more
to message content on peripheral cues
than on message
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According to the ELM model, the attitude formation or
change process depends on the amount and nature of
elaboration, or processing, of relevant information that
occurs in response to a persuasive message. This model
recognizes two basic routes to persuasion or attitude
change:
• Central route to persuasion – the receiver is
viewed as an active participant in the communication
process. The ability and motivation to attend,
comprehend, and evaluate the message is high.
• Peripheral route to persuasion – the receiver is
viewed as lacking the motivation or ability to process
information and is not likely to engage in detailed
cognitive processing. Rather than evaluating the
information in the message, the receiver relies on
peripheral cues or cognitive shortcuts.

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When central processing of an ad occurs, the
consumer pays close attention to message content
and scrutinizes the message arguments carefully.
Thus, the ad’s ability to persuade depends on the
receiver’s evaluation of the arguments presented.

Under the peripheral route to persuasion, the

receiver’s reaction to the message depends on how
he or she evaluates peripheral cues, such as the
attractiveness of the source, music, or imagery.
These cues might help the consumer form a positive
attitude toward the brand even if the message portion
of the ad is not processed.
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Celebrity Endorsers Can be Peripheral Cues

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How Advertising Works

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This framework was developed by Vakratsas and Ambler
following an extensive review of more than 250 articles and
studies of the advertising response process.
• Advertising input – message content, media
scheduling, repetition
• Filters – message mediation by factors such as
motivation and ability
• Consumer – intermediate effects between advertising
and purchase
• Cognition – the thinking dimension of a person’s
response
• Affect – the feeling dimension of a person’s response
• Experience – the feedback dimension based on
outcomes of the product purchasing and usage
• Consumer behavior – consumption, choice, loyalty,
habit

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