Download Assignment 1: Topic 2 – The theory of advertising

Rebecca Watson Rock, student number- X00119723
09/10/2014
Assignment 1: Topic 2 – The theory of advertising
Table of Contents
A high involvement product where the purchase is based on a feeling................................................. 1
A low involvement product where the purchase involves self-satisfaction ........................................... 2
My views on the theoretical models put forward to explain how advertising works ............................ 3
Bibliography ............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
A high involvement product where the purchase is based on a feeling
(Business Dictionary) defines a high involvement product as a “high value good that is
purchased only after a long period of consideration”. High involvement products that are
based on a feeling include products that would fulfil one’s self esteem and subconscious.
Using the Foote Cone and Belding (FCB) planning grid (Yeshin, 2006:36) I have selected the
Mercedes-A-Class vehicle as a high involvement product where the purchase is based on a
feeling.
Before reaching the decision to purchase the Mercedes-A-Class vehicle a person might go
through a journey that includes advertising models such as the ‘AIDA model’. AIDA is a
simple acronym that was devised a long time ago as a reminder of four stages of the sales
process (Changing Minds). AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire and action.

Attention; Firstly in order for someone to consider purchasing the Mercedes-A-Class
vehicle, the product must grab the attention of the customer and attract them
towards being interested in purchasing it. The Mercedes-Benz company grabs their
customer’s attention in a variety of different ways such as online advertising,
newspaper ads, radio advertising and flyers.

Interest; The second stage that someone would go through in order to arrive at the
decision to purchase the Mercedes-A-Class vehicle is interest. The Mercedes-Benz
company gets their customer interested by using slogans in ads for the Mercedes-AClass such as “a true Mercedes and yet so different”, and “perhaps the most
attractive way to get the highest level of performance from a drop of fuel” (MercdesBenz). Another way the customer gets interested in purchasing this vehicle is
Rebecca Watson Rock, student number- X00119723
09/10/2014
through looking at the variety of attractive methods of buying this product made by
Mercedes-Benz to make the purchase as easy as possible.

Desire; This is the stage where the Mercedes-Benz needs to show their customer
how what they have to offer will solve their problems. Mercedes-Benz does this by
allowing their customers to take the Mercedes-A-Class for a test drive.

Action; The person considering purchasing the Mercedes-A-Class is now at the final
stage of AIDA. This is the stage where they take action on their desires and actually
buy the product or agree to the purchase of the product. In order to go through with
this stage of purchasing this high involvement product the person may consider
taking out a loan in order to cover the expense of the product.
A low involvement product where the purchase involves self-satisfaction
(Business Dictionary) defines a low involvement product as a consumable good that requires
minimal effort and consideration on the part of the customer before purchasing the product
since it does not have a huge effect on the buyers lifestyle and hence isn’t a significant
investment. Using the Foote Cone and Belding (FCB) planning grid (Strong, 1925) I have
chosen a Cadburys chocolate bar as a low involvement product where the purchase involves
self-satisfaction.
Before reaching the decision to purchase a Cadburys chocolate bar someone might go
through a journey which involves advertising models such as ‘The Hierarchy of effects
model’. ‘The Hierarchy of Effects Model’ was created in 1961 by Robert L Lavidge and Gary A
Steiner. (Investopedia) describes ‘The Hierarchy of Effects Model’ as an “advanced
advertising strategy in that it approaches the sale of a good through well-developed,
persuasive advertising messages designed to build brand awareness over time”. (Fathy,
2012) describes ‘The Hierarchy of Effects Model’ as predominant and that it shows clear
steps of how advertising works. ‘The Hierarchy of Effects Model’ can be broken down into
six stages; awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and purchase.

Awareness; This is the first stage of ‘The Hierarchy of Effect Model’ that a person
might go through when purchasing a low involvement good such as a Cadburys
chocolate bar. This is where Cadburys makes their customer aware of their product
by simple name recognition such as simple messages repeating the product name.
Rebecca Watson Rock, student number- X00119723
09/10/2014
Also by consistently making the bar packaging purple, Cadburys is subtly making the
consumer remember their product.

Knowledge; This stage involves creating brand knowledge. (Fathy, 2012) describes
this stage as when the customer asks themselves a series of questions such as; what
way is the brand different than competitor brands? Who’s the target market? These
questions must be answered so that the consumer can achieve brand knowledge.

Liking; This stage is when the customer who is purchasing the Cadburys chocolate
bar thinks about their feelings towards the product. Cadburys chocolate allows you
to keep in touch with the company to express your feelings through facebook pages,
twitter and the Cadburys website (Cadbury).

Preference; (Learn Marketing) website describes this stage as “when the advertisers
want the consumer to disconnect from rival products and focus on their particular
product”. Advertisers will want to highlight their brands benefits and unique selling
points so that the consumer can differentiate it from competitor brands Cadburys
chocolate does this in many ways such as creating unique and interesting television
advertisements that their customer will remember.

Conviction; For the person who is considering purchasing the low involvement
product such as the Cadburys chocolate bar, this is the stage where the advertisers
create a strong desire for the product. Cadburys does this by giving out free samples
of their product from time to time. This reassures consumers that the purchase will
be a safe one.

Purchase; This is the final stage of ‘The Hierarchy of Effects Model’ that the
customer will go through in order to purchase the Cadburys chocolate bar. The
advertisers want to make this stage as easy as possible so that the consumer doesn’t
get fed up and walk away (Learn Marketing). Cadburys chocolate makes this stage
easy and simple by selling their product in a huge variety and shops for low prices.
My views on the theoretical models put forward to explain how advertising works
In my opinion I think that the theoretical models put forward to explain how advertising
works are fairly easy to understand. Personally I strongly believe that these theoretical
models are very realistic. I would consider AIDA, Hierarchy models and Dagmar model the
most important models in expressing how advertising works. These models all give a clear
Rebecca Watson Rock, student number- X00119723
09/10/2014
explanation to what advertising is about and they show how advertisers grab their
customer’s attention.
Bibliography
Business Dictionary. (n.d.). High involvement product. Retrieved October 6th, 2014, from Business
dictionary.com: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/high-involvement-product.html
Business Dictionary. (n.d.). Low involvement product. Retrieved October 8th, 2014, from Business
dictionary.com: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/low-involvement-product.html
Cadbury. (n.d.). Cadbury. Retrieved October 8th, 2014, from Cudbury.co.uk:
https://www.cadbury.co.uk/
Changing Minds. (n.d.). AIDA. Retrieved October 6th, 2014, from Changing Minds.org:
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/sales/methods/aida.htm
Fathy, E. (2012, April 2nd). Models of Advertising. Retrieved October 8th, 2014, from Slide Share:
http://www.slideshare.net/Strenghtofawoman/models-of-advertising?next_slideshow=1
Investopedia. (n.d.). Hierarchy-Of-Effects Theory. Retrieved October 8th, 2014, from
Investopedia.com: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hierarchy-of-effects-theory.asp
Learn Marketing. (n.d.). Hierarchy of Effects Model- Lavidge and Steiner. Retrieved October 8th,
2014, from Learn Marketing: http://www.learnmarketing.net/hierarchy_of_effects_model.html
Mercdes-Benz. (n.d.). Mercedes-A-Class. Retrieved October 6th, 2014, from Mercedes-Benz.com:
http://www.mercedesbenz.ie/content/ireland/mpc/mpc_ireland_website/enng/home_mpc/passengercars/home/new_ca
rs/models/a-class/w176/advice_sales/pricelist.html
Strong, E. K. (1925). Theories of selling. Journal of Applied Psychology , 75-86.