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Indian Journal of Economics & Business, Vol. 10, No. 1, (2011) : 91-102
ADEVRTISING LIKEABILITY AND ITS
EFFECTIVENESS
BYLON ABEEKU BAMFO*
Abstract
Advertising likeability is of great importance to marketers. Some marketers and
advertising practitioners believe that advertising likeability has a direct link to its
effectiveness. Advertisements that consumers like are likely to be effective because it
helps them to process the information in the advertisement. Other researchers have
also put forward the fact that there is no direct link between likeability and effectiveness
as far as advertising is concerned. They believe that some advertisements may be
liked by consumers but that does not guarantee its effectiveness. The main objective
of this research was to investigate the relationship that exists between advertising
likeability and effectiveness through empirical means. The technique of sampling
adopted was convenience sampling. The instrument used in collecting data was
structured questionnaire. The sample size was 500 respondents all of whom were
students of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The research
revealed among other things that, though likeability has a strong impact on
advertising effectiveness, some customers had actually bought products whose
advertisement they really disliked. Factors such as the choice of media, language
and targeting the right audience were among other determinant of advertising
effectiveness. It was therefore recommended that marketers and/or advertisers develop
a holistic approach to advertising effectiveness by exploring other dimensions other
than likeability.
Keywords: Advertising, Communication, Likeability, Consumers, Effectiveness.
INTRODUCTION
The debate as to whether or not advertising likeability is important to the achievement
of advertising objectives is ongoing among practitioners and academics. Franzen (2003)
has indicated that advertising likeability translates to brand likeability. Research
conducted by Advertising Research Foundation has shown that advertising likeability
has been the strongest factor linked to persuasion and sales (Smith, et al. 2006). Biel
(1990), however, holds the view that advertisements which were actively disliked
could be very effective in the achievement of their objectives.
*
Lecturer, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, School of Business, Kumasi, Ghana,
E-mail: [email protected]
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Kotler, (2003), defines advertising as ‘any paid form of nonpersonal presentation
and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identifiable sponsor’. Kitchen, (2001)
also defines the subject as ‘a communication via a recognisable advertisement, placed
in a definable advertising media, guaranteeing delivery of an unmodified message
to a specified audience in return for a published rate for the space or time used.’
According to Kotler, (2003) advertising objectives can be classified according to
whether the aim is to inform, persuade, remind or reinforce. Touching on advertising
objectives, Jobber (2007) has this to say. The ultimate aim of advertising is used to
stimulate sales and increase profits; but of more operational value is a clear
understanding of its communication objectives. He goes on to say that advertising
can create awareness, stimulate trial, position products in the minds of consumers,
correct misconceptions, remind and reinforce and provide support for the sales force.
Advertising effectiveness, therefore, has to do with the extent to which an
advertisement stimulates sales and/or profitability. Effective advertisements
stimulate sales and ineffective advertisements, as it were, do not stimulate sales.
Advertising effectiveness is therefore measured by whether a consumer bought a
particular product through the stimulation of its advertisement (Jobber 2007).
According to Staymond and Batra (1991), Advertising likeability deals with
how consumers process advertising information and their involvement with it.
Likeability therefore has to do with the extent to which consumers are ready to
process information that is carried by an advertisement. Advertisements that are
liked are those that engage consumers’ minds and hearts. According to Staymond
and Batra (1991), consumers move through a cognitive and affective phase before
manifesting a particular behaviour.
Franzen (2003) has indicated that advertising likeability translates to brand
likeability. Biel (1990), has contributed positively to likeability of advertising being
closely related to the achievement of its objectives. According to him, two main
reasons account for likeability being related to advertising effectiveness. Firstly,
advertising that is liked get better exposure. He continues to say that individuals
are more inclined to look at commercials that they like. If a consumer likes an
advertisement, there is less chance of zapping and he/she is likely to continue
watching till the information in the advertisement is processed. Biel (1990), again
posits that advertisement liking leads to brand liking. This is supported by Walter
and Dubinsky (1994), who argue that advertising liking is one of the most important
determinants of brand liking. Du Plesis, (1994), also adds his voice to the relationship
that exists between likeability, recall and effectiveness by accepting the fact that
there is a positive relationship among the three variables.
In an attempt to research into the relationship between likeability and
effectiveness, many researchers such as Biel and Briggwater (1990), have examined
advertising likeability dimensions. The dimensions are divided into positive and
negative categories. Positive dimension of likeability comprises advertising that is
entertaining, unique, lively, empathetic, sensual and relevant or meaningful.
Adevrtising Likeability and its Effectiveness
93
Negative dimensions of advertising likeability have to do with confusion, familiarity
and irritation. Most advertisements leave the consumer confused and unable to
process any information from such advertising message. Du Plesis (1994), believes
that there is an exception to this. According to him, some advertisements are well
planned and executed in such a way that no matter the number of times consumers
hear or see them, they still like to see them over and over again.
It is against this background that this study investigated the relationship between
advertising likeability and its effectiveness and going further to explore other variables
that contribute to advertising effectiveness. In other words, the aim of the research
was to find out whether the mere likeness of an advertisement of a particular product
by consumers necessarily results in the purchase of the product.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study was mainly a descriptive research since the main objective of the study
was to establish the relationship between two marketing variable-likeability and
effectiveness of advertising (Malhotra 2007). Data collected were centred on
advertising.
The sampling technique adopted was convenience sampling. The sample
consisted of current students of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Convenience sampling was adopted because it is the
less expensive and less time consuming (Malhotra 2007). The instrument used in
collecting data was structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was made up of
open-ended as well as closed-ended questions. The study area was the campus of
the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.
The sample size was 500 respondents. Four hundred and seventy-three (473)
respondents completed the questionnaire and returned them and they were all
usable. The response rate therefore was 94.6%.
The study mainly employed qualitative methods, but also integrated
quantitative methods of data analysis. Thematic analysis was employed to evaluate
qualitative data, while descriptive statistics comprising frequencies and simple
percentages generated with Microsoft Excel software were used for quantitative
analysis.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Processing of Advertising Information
For advertising to achieve its objectives, one of the cardinal issues is that people
should pay attention to that advertisement. In other words, the processing of
advertising information should be done consciously (Walter & Dubinsky 1994).
Information was therefore, elicited from respondents regarding this issue. Majority
of the respondents; 55 per cent said that they processed advertising messages
consciously. The rest, that is 45 per cent of the respondents said otherwise.
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Those who responded in the affirmative gave reasons. Knowing what was new
on the market, getting information about products; making the right purchase
decision and watching something interesting and entertaining were the reasons
given. This calls for presenting comprehensive advertisements. If the advertisement
is not comprehensive, it will not meet the diverse needs of consumers. Effective
advertising planning is important in achieving this objective (Doyle & Stern, 2006).
Those with contrary views also gave their reasons. The reasons are summarised
as follows: they were too busy to pay attention to advertisements; advertisements
were fabricated and/or full of exaggeration; purchase decision should not be
influenced by advertisements and some of the advertisements were repetitions and/
or antiquated.
Advertising Effectiveness: the Starting Point
When it comes to advertising effectiveness, the starting point is to get people or
consumers to pay attention to that advertisement. If no attention is paid to the
advertisement by consumers and/or individuals, its effectiveness will definitely be
affected. This is supported by the idea of Mackenzie and Lutz (1989), that if the
advertiser gets the attention of the consumer, the opportunity to facilitate his/her
involvement exists. Thus, there is the likelihood of motivating and affecting
behaviour significantly (Brown, 1991). The problem with this is that, advertisers
and/or marketers have little or no control over getting people to pay attention to
advertisements and to process the message they carry (David and Lomax, 2008).
As mentioned earlier, majority of respondents (55%) consciously pay attention
to advertisement. The fact still remains that, there are several reasons for doing
that and marketers need to incorporate them into their advertisements. These
include provision of valuable information about products and making sure that
advertisements do draw consumers’ attention by making it attractive and/or
entertaining.
This will go a long way to attract the category of customers who do not consciously
process any advertising message. This is explained by the fact that, this category of
customers has some reasons why they do not pay attention to advertisements. Some
customers do not have the time and do not want to make the time for advertisements.
Robinson (1997) underscores the fact that societal changes have facilitated the
development of extremely busy consumer lifestyles. It has therefore, become very
difficult if not impossible for advertisers to command attention and behaviour for
that matter. As leisure time becomes increasingly limited and therefore precious
to consumers, they tend not to waste time and effort paying conscious attention to
advertisements (Collett, 1994; Hollis, 1995; Biel & Brigdwater, 1990). This,
notwithstanding, marketers can have some level of control over the factors which
dispel customers from advertising messages. For example, exaggerations could be
reduced. In addition, advertisements must be revolutionised. A mere repetition of
a particular advertisement, no matter how good and attractive it is has the tendency
of being labelled antiquated and/or obsolete by consumers. It becomes boring and
Adevrtising Likeability and its Effectiveness
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consumers will not pay attention to it (Doyle and Stern, 2006). Therefore Kotler
(2003), suggests that even an excellent execution of an advertisement must be
updated before it gets outdated.
Things that Generates Interest in Advertisement
People may not pay attention to advertisements for the sake of it. Consumers pay
attention to advertisement in which they have interest. The study identified some
of the factors that attract consumers to advertisement. The result is indicated in
the figure 1 below:
Figure 1: Generators of Advertising Interest (%)
Source: Author’s fieldwork, Apri, 2009
Interest in a particular advertisement is very important when it comes to
advertising effectiveness. The question therefore is what are the things which
generate interests? There are many things that generate interest. It is also important
to realise that interests will depend on the individual consumer (Franzen, 2003).
Some of these interest generating factors include entertainment, sports, celebrities,
humour, information, animation and music. Of these, the most important of them
is information as indicated by figure 2. Cummins (1996) has made a claim that
people watch television to gain access to information. Information about the product
and its use is very important to consumers and/or customers. Music may draw an
individual to an advertisement, TV commercial for example, but what will let the
consumer stay glued to the advertisement is whether he/she will get the information
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he/she is looking for. If the consumer realises that he cannot get the information
needed, that customer will withdraw from that advertisement. Information delivery
in advertisements is therefore invaluable for its effectiveness. This is not to say
that the other factors are not necessary. They are very important. Haley and
Baldinger (1991), therefore, suggest that all the potentially important components
of advertising should be covered in any complete copy-testing method.
The Preferred Medium
One important task for the marketer and/or advertiser is to choose the media to
carry the messages he/she has chosen (Kotler, 2003). Respondents were made to
select the advertising media they preferred. The media included newpapers,
magazines, TV commercial, radio, posters and the internet and the results are
shown in the figure 2.
Figure 2: Advertising Media in Order of Preference (%)
Source: Author’s fieldwork, Apri, 2009
One cannot rule out the fact that advertising likeability has a strong connection
to the kind of media selected. Keane and Fam (2005) have indicated that there has
been an increase in the number of media available to advertisers and this has led
to a sharp reduction in their relative strengths with respect to breadth, depth and
reach. TV commercial, nonetheless, has proven to be the medium liked by most
consumers (Brassel, 2010) as figure 2 indicates. The reason for the likeability of TV
commercial is the fact that it is active (Blythe, 2008). Its audio-visual nature and
Adevrtising Likeability and its Effectiveness
97
wider reach also account for the likeability of TV commercials (David & Lomax,
2008). When consumers watch television, they tend to be “captive” audience
absorbing whatever is shown (David & Lomax, 2008). Consumers can see the product
being advertised, read information about the products or hear what is being said
about the product. Celebrities are seen and heard endorsing products. This builds
some confidence in the consumer that the product is worth purchasing since the
consumer is convinced by what he sees and hears (Brassel, 2010).
We must, however, make mention of the fact that TV commercial should more
often be supported by other media channels. This calls for effective planning and
implementation of integrated marketing communications (Kotler et al., 2002). It is
against this premise that Fam and Merrilees (2000) postulate that with the plethora
of media channels available, the development of integrated marketing
communications has become difficult in terms of logistics and financial constraints.
Advertisers therefore find themselves in a dilemma in deciding which medium or
media are likely to yield the desired results considering the expanse of advertising
clutter.
The least preferred media is advertising via the internet although advertising
on the internet is on the increase (Blythe, 2008). This may include sending junk
mails containing advertisements and posting advertisements at websites. The
respondents did not like this media because many of them do not have access to
computers and/or the internet. That is the main reason why they preferred internet
advertisements the least. Even those who have access to the internet had some
problems. Some of the problems of respondents included slow network connection,
slow download speed and power outages.
The Influence of Likeability and Dislikeabilty
Another question the research sought to answer was whether some advertisements
were disliked or not. It was observed that some advertisements were really disliked.
As high as 80% of respondents said they disliked some advertisements. Those who
sometimes disliked advertisements gave among others, the following reasons:
advertisements are noisy and irritating; they are sometimes not educative and/or
informative; some are deceptive; others are against religious beliefs. In addition,
some advertisements use languages respondents that do not understand. Others
are exaggerated, boring and sometimes difficult to process. What results in boring
advertisements is the repetition of advertisements over and over again without
any changes; hence Kotler (2003) suggests that even an excellent execution of an
advertisement must be updated before it gets outdated. Sometimes also activities
that take place in some advertisements are not practical. They are computer aided
activities and therefore exaggerated and incredible (Marketingweb, 2009).
Related to the above is the issue of the relationship between likeability and
dislikeability on purchase decision. The study revealed that 71% of respondents
had bought products whose advertisements they liked. Twenty-nine per cent (29%)
on the other hand had not bought products even though they liked their
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advertisements. With regards to dislikeability, 57% had bought products whose
advertisements they disliked. Forty-three per cent (43%) on the other hand
responded in the negative.
One would expect that advertising likeability will automatically result in brand
preference and hence purchase (Franzen, 2003). However, not all advertisements
that are liked influences purchase decision. Some people have actually bought
products whose advertisements they disliked. This corroborates the assertion of
Biel (1990) who holds the view that advertisements which were actively disliked
could be very effective in the achievement of its objectives.
It is, therefore, misleading to perceive likeability as the only determinant of
advertising effectiveness. It is astonishing to realise that the percentage of
consumers and/or respondents who had bought products whose advertisements they
disliked (57%) far outweighed those who had bought products because they liked
their advertisements (43%). If the purchase of a product is the sole determinant of
advertising effectiveness, then likeability does not provide the answer.
Nonetheless, if we consider the various objectives of advertising, then we can
have some connection between likeability and effectiveness. According to Kotler
(2003) advertising objectives can be classified according to whether the aim is to
inform, persuade, remind or reinforce. If we take information, for example, to be
the main aim of advertising, then likeability could result in effectiveness.
When consumers are made aware of the existence of a product, there is the
likelihood that some of them; particularly the innovators, will give it a try if it is a
new product. If the product meets their expectation, they then decide to be full
users of it and therefore adopt the product (Kotler et al., 2002). We can, therefore,
not rule out completely the fact that likeability has some link with advertising
effectiveness. Consumers have to like the advertisement, pay attention to it or
process its information and go ahead to a make purchase decision.
The Influence of Product Type on Likeability
There was the need to investigate the relationship between the type of product
being advertised and the processing of the advertising message. One important
thing marketers have to realise is that consumers have their preferences for some
types of product before they are even advertised. In some cases customers have
made up their minds about what product they want (Stokes & Lomax, 2008).
Advertising likeability therefore will depend to a very large extent on the type of
product being advertised. The type of product in this context refers to the attitude
of the consumer towards the product being advertised. If the consumer, for example,
does not want a particular product and therefore has a negative attitude towards
it, he/she may not pay attention to that product’s advertisement (Kotler, 2003).
On the other hand, if the consumer happens to like a particular product, getting
the attention of the consumer to the advertisement will be very easy. The study
revealed that 72% of consumers as against 28% said that their likeness for an
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advertisement is influenced by the type of product being advertised. Marketers
must therefore define their target markets very well and develop the right channels
of communication that will facilitate the dissemination of product information to
the right audience (Doyle & Stern, 2006).
The Language Factor
According to Stokes and Lomax (2008), marketing communication process involves
establishing a common understanding between the sender (advertiser) and receiver
(customer). Therefore, the processing of advertising message and its likeability
may depend on the language selected. The study indicated that English is preferable
to all other languages when it come to processing advertising messages. This is
shown in the figure 3.
Figure 3: The Influence of Language on Likeability
Source: Author’s fieldwork, Apri, 2009
It is important for marketers to know which language will be preferred by the
target market. Figure 3 shows that majority of consumers interviewed preferred
English, followed by their own languages. One factor that accounted for this was
that all the respondents could read and write and therefore understood the English
Language. The situation could have been different if respondents could read little
or nothing at all. The effectiveness of advertising, therefore, depends to a large
extent, on the marketer’s ability to identify the target market and the preferred
language of that target market. As Doyle and Stern (2006) put it ‘advertising starts
with the segmentation of the potential market to identify the key target segments’.
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Language is a powerful tool when it comes to advertising. Little wonder, most
advertising messages in Ghana are in English or one of the major indigenous
languages. That accounts for why most TV Commercials made outside Ghana which
are not in English are translated into English and/or local languages. Marketers
and/or advertisers just cannot communicate with consumers who do not understand
the language being used (Marketingweb, 2009). The choice of the right language
for the target market, therefore, can go a long way to influence advertising
likeability. The only problem that is encountered is the effective standardisation of
the message being delivered (Kotler et al., 2003) if the language has to be translated
or if the advertisement has to be subjected to voice over.
Now the question is which language to use? This is a pertinent question when
it comes to multilingual countries such as Ghana where we have English as the
official language, 9 government-sponsored languages (Akan, Dagaare/Waale, GaDangbe, Dagbane, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem and Nzema) and at least 26 nongovernment sponsored languages or dialects (Adele, Buli, Bassari, Kokomba, Koma,
Mampruli Nkonya, Wali etc (http://ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/tribes/
languages.php).
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
On the basis of the findings and discussion, it can be recommended that all efforts
must be geared towards getting the attention of consumer to advertisements since
that is the beginning of the process of making advertising effective. Without the
attention of the consumer, the message will not be considered at all, let alone
processed. Advertisers should provide enough information in the advertisement as
it serves as the springboard for positive behaviour. Consumers look for information
which helps them to make purchase decision. Advertisements which do not contain
the right information will not be effective even if it is given initial attention by the
consumer.
Since product type (whether or not the consumer wants and/or like the product)
influences likeability, there is the need for effective targeting and media choice.
Effective segmentation and targeting will result in products’ information getting to
the right consumer group. In addition, the medium that the target market has
access to must be given the priority and not just the medium that is less expensive
and has a wider reach. Language is an important factor; therefore, for effectiveness,
the dominant language of the target audience must be used. In a multilingual
country like Ghana, it is important that advertisements are carried in the official
language with some local versions to cater for the illiterate population of 21% and
39% for male and female respectively (http://www.ghanaweb.com/
GhanaHomePage/general/pop_growth_map.php). Television commercials should
be the dominant medium. This is because of its power of audio visuals which enables
easy transmission of information. However, for effectiveness; it must be integrated
with other media channels.
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101
It can be concluded that, so many things go into making advertising effective.
The marketer, therefore, has to look at advertising in its entirety. Likeability has
something to do with advertising effectiveness. However, it is not the only
determinant of advertising effectiveness. Advertisements that are disliked have
proven to have greater influence on purchase decision. Marketers have to be cautious
when it comes to the selection of the medium and language used in advertisement.
These must be determined by the target audience.
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