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The Effect of Advertising on Brand Image:

A Consumers Perspective

By

Puja Rupani

2006

A dissertation presented in part consideration for the degree of

Masters in Management

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The Effect of Advertising on Brand Image: A Consumers Perspective

I

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The dissertation period has proved to be a truly wonderful learning experience of my life,

where I got an opportunity to meet many people and learn from them. That said there are

some people I would like to thank for their assistance along the way.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my humble dissertation supervisor,

Heidi Winklhofer, who served as a mentor for me throughout the dissertation schedule.

Her in-depth knowledge, practical insight, energy and enthusiasm, values, and strong

leadership principles were sources of inspiration for me throughout my dissertation

period. She always took the time out of her busy schedule to meet with me to discuss and

give guidance on various aspects of this dissertation. I admire hercan do attitude and

her ability to view things from different perspectives. I especially appreciate her high

standards of excellence that helped to bring out the very best in my research and in me. It

was truly a great learning experience working with her. During this one year while I was in the Masters program, I worked with other module

lecturers who imparted knowledge about various other things which proved very

beneficial for this dissertation without which this dissertation would have been

incomplete. I would be remiss if I did not thank my good friends at Business School, who

kept motivating me at challenging times. I also like to thank my parents who encouraged

me to overcome every hardship during my whole year and supported me during my stay

in Nottingham, and waited patiently back in India for me to finish my work and come

back with flying colours. I greatly appreciate how my parents enthusiastically supported

my long-term goal of receiving my Masters of Management degree. I would like to

dedicate this dissertation to my parents and thank them for their happiness, and balance

that they brought into my life.

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II

ABSTRACT

Advertising is a primary tool for communication with the public. With increasing

competition, advertising aims to reach its target consumers creating an brand image.

Companies can position themselves in particular market, to covey their position

advertising is a good medium. Consumers are influenced by many psychological, social

and personal factors that influence their perception of advertisements. This study

examines how advertising effects brand image from a consumers perspective. The

findings suggest that the consumers in UK are cynical about advertisements but still

consider it an important medium in conveying information about the products, brands and

companies.

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TABLE OF CONENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 3

1.1 Introduction 3

1.2 Objective of the Study 51.3 Structure of the Study 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 72.1 Introduction 7

2.2 Brands 92.2.1 What is a Brand? 9

2.2.2 Brand Positioning 11

2.2.3 Importance of Brand Image 132.3 Advertising 15

2.3.1 What is Advertising? 152.3.2 How does Advertising work? 162.3.3 Models of Advertising 19

2.3.4 Semiotics and its Importance in Advertising 23

2.3.5 Measurement of Advertising Effectiveness 26

2.3.6 Advertisement Media 27

2.3.7 Skepticism of Advertising 292.4 Consumers 32

2.4.1 Personal Influences 342.4.2 Social Influences 352.4.3 Psychological Influences 36

2.5 Country Context: UK Consumers 42

2.6 Consumers and Advertising 44

2.7 Consumers and Brands 45

2.8 Brand Positioning through Advertising 47

2.9 Conclusion 49

CHAPTER 3:METHODOLOGY 513.1 Introduction 51

3.2 Nature of research 52

3.3 Why Qualitative Research Method? 523.4 Selection of Adverts 53

3.5 Why Interviews? 54

3.6 Questionnaire and Interview Design 55

3.7 Sample 58

3.8 Reason for the Sample Selection 59

3.9 Pilot test 603.10 Conclusion 61

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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS, ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION 634.1 Introduction 63

4.2 Involvement 64

4.3 Role of Advertising 66

4.4 Self congruity 70

4.5 Influence of Past Experience 72

4.6 Social Influence 74

4.7 Brand Image 76

4.8 Conclusion 81

CHAPTER 5:CONCLUSION 83

CHAPTER 6:LIMITATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 88

FUTURE RESEARCH 88

REFERENCE 90

APPENDICES 105

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Advertisements are a form of communication, not mere manipulation: they help make

sense of the world, defining its difference and essences, filtering through its variety,

making claims and constructing images.

--New York Times (2003)

Advertising is time and again considered the primary tool for communicating information

to the public, as advertising is understood to be a means to create and sell brands by

adding value to products (De Mooij, 1998). As a consequence of increasing competition

companies need to communicate their products and services competence distinctively to

satisfy customer needs (Haigh and Knowles, 2004). Nonetheless, a product offering

certain functional attributes is just a product, not a brand. To build a brand, a company

has to offer an added level of meaning and feeling (Mitchell, 2003). A brand represents

itself to the people in many ways: through the product itself, through its packaging, its

name, where it is sold. The people on the other hand, interpret the brand through

experience and perceptions, misconceptions to the value systems of the individual

(Plummer, 2000). Hence, it is crucial for a company to develop a communication and

maintain a brands image so as to survive and succeed. To develop a brand image

companies seek the support of marketing activities like advertising. This research aims to

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view how the public interpret advertisements in the UK market, thereby influencing in

the formation of a brand image.

As a unique and differentiated brand image can create brand strength and growth, much

of the marketing activities focussed on developing associations that are distinctive and

create a favourable consumer response (OCass and Kenny, 2001). Branding is by far one

of the most important factors influencing a product or services success or failure in the

marketplace, and can have a dramatic impact on how the company behind the brand is

perceived by the consumers. Thus, a brand is not just a representation of a companys

product but it is a symbol of the company itself. Thus advertising is used to portray the

brand image to the consumers. The consumers relate to a brand depending on their

perceived image of the brand and if it matches their personality image.

Thus, Advertising is used in order to stimulate a response from the target audience. The

response maybe perceptual in nature, for example, the consumer develops specific views

or opinions about the product or brand that are altered by the ad (Kotler et al, 2005).

Advertising messages are apparent in everyday life in various media. However, not every

message has an effect on every consumer. What messages get through to the consumer

and what makes the advertising message effective are questions that are necessary to be

answered to be able to explore the underlying consumer behaviour (Arens, 1999). This

will help the advertisers to understand the target consumers and be able to relate with

them. With the increasing importance of advertising, companies today encounter

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problems of how to attract customer attention to their brands and help in forming a

positive image about them. The perception of an individual has been influenced by

various factors such as personal influences, social influences and psychological

influences, which will be studied in this research (Pickton and Broderick, 2001). A

companys success depends on the way the consumers perceive the brand. Advertising

works in a sequential process thereby moving consumers from a state of unawareness to

the final action (Colley, 1961; Yeshin, 1999). This research utilizes the adverts of

Maybelline and Rimmel cosmetics only as examples to conduct the research.

The present study is an attempt to explore the psychology of how consumers think, feel,

reason and select between different brands being under the influence of print ads and

specifically considering the magazines. This study is an attempt to gain a holistic view of

the impact of advertising on the formation of a brand image. Hence, a qualitative study is

undertaken as it aids in gaining a wider perspective (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000).

1.2 Objective of the Study

The objective of this study is to gain an understanding of the factors influencing the

consumers on the role of advertising in the formation of a brand image in relation to the

print media, specifically the magazines.

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It aims to determine the informativeness and effectiveness of ads, the attributes of

consumers affecting their analysis of signs and symbol and their personal image.

Therefore, it determines how much people personally enjoy the advertisements to which

they are exposed, how useful and reliable they find advertising information. Thus, it

explores the credibility of advertising, and the extent to which cynicism exists.

1.3 Structure of the Study

The research is structured into the following parts. The introduction to the research is

provided, followed by the literature review, which forms the conceptual basis for the

research providing some empirical research in this area. Then the methodology has been

described in detail supporting the use of qualitative research and explaining the design on

the interview. This is followed by the findings, analysis and interpretation which is drawn

based on the interviews conducted. The researcher then concludes to the study and finally

summarizes the limitations as well as discusses the recommendations for further research.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

The real voyage of discovery begins not with visiting new places but seeing familiar

landscapes with new eyes.

-- Marcel Proust1

Brand Positioning is a very broad concept that has been studied over the years. Brand

Positioning deals in creating a brand image in the mind of the customer. This research

intends to focus on the consumer based brand positioning and more specifically the

analysis of advertisements by consumers thereby influencing the formation of a brand

image. This study on brand positioning will focus on how consumers relate and value a

brand considering the factors that influence the individuals and thereby affect the way

they comprehend the advertisements.

There are many factors or attributes of consumers effecting their view and decisions. In

this research the focus has been more on the psychological factors. This chapter is

broadly divided into three parts. The first part consists of some relevant information on

Brand - discussing what is a brand, how a brand is positioned and the importance of

1 Quoted by Bate (1997, pp.2)

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brand image. The second part of literature discusses Advertising: what is advertising and

some models of advertising to explain how advertising works. Then the importance of

semiotic analysis in advertising in relation to the consumers, the effectiveness of

advertising has been discussed. The media selection is analyzed; it should to be done

carefully by advertisers to be able to reach their target audience with the best utilization

of the resources and time. Though there has been an increasing interest and involvement

of consumers with advertising, it has also been condemned by them, being discussed

under skepticism of advertising. The third part of this chapter is the Consumer: they are

the most important element in the entire process of how advertising affects brand image.

This section involves the factors that influence individuals in their analysis of

advertisements. It also discusses the consumers from the UK country context. Then there

is an analysis of consumers and advertising, consumers and brands; and brand positioning

through advertising and finally the conclusion to this chapter.

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2.2 Brands

A product is something that is made in a factory; a brand is something that is bought by

a customer. A product can be copied by a competitor; a brand is unique. A product can

be quickly outdates; a successful brand is timeless.

-- Stephen King2

2.2.1 What is a Brand?

The marketing battle will be a battle of brands, a competition for brand dominance.

Businesses and investors will recognize brands as the companys most valuable assets.

This is a critical concept. It is a vision about how to develop, strengthen, defend, and

manage a business. It will be more important to own markets then to own factories.

The only way to own markets is to own market-dominant brands. This is the perspective

of Larry Light, a prominent advertising research professional on marketing three decades

into the future (Aaker 1991). This illustrates the significance of brands which has existed

over the years.

2WPP Group, London. (Aaker, 1991, pp. 1)

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A brand is a trade name which is used to identify a specific product, manufacturer, or

distributor. As consumers have become more sophisticated, companys place more

emphasis on promoting their brands directly to the consumers, spending considerable

amount on advertising the high quality of their products (Dictionary of Business, 2002).

In essence, a brand is described by Kotler (2000) as a sellers promise to the consumer to

deliver a specific set of features, benefits, and services constantly.

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as follows:

A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or a combination of them that is designed to

identify the goods or service of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them

from those of competitors (Keller, 2002).

Thus the ingredients of a brand constitute the product, the packaging, the brand name, the

promotion, the advertising and the overall presentation to the consumers (Murphy, 1990).

Advertising uses different media to inform and stimulate consumers that products or

services, branded or otherwise, are available for them to purchase (Wright and Camp,

2000). Thus to distinguish a brand in the market it should be unique features. Unique

brand associations have been established using product attributes, names, packages,

distribution strategies, and advertising (Aaker, 1991).

De Chernatony (2001) discussed both the input and output perspectives of brand

interpretations in relation to the firm or consumer respectively. The brand image from an

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input standpoint has been identified as a logo, legal instrument, company, risk reducer,

personality, positioning, and cluster of values, vision, and identity. From an output

approach, brand is distinguished from its image. This perspective encourages a more

consumer-centered approach to brands as an association perceived by an individual over

time, as a result of direct or indirect experience with a brand. The output perspective is

further studied in detail in this research.

2.2.2 Brand Positioning

Positioning is when the companies try to understand the consumer needs and wants so as

to be able to meet their expectation by providing them value.3 To survive and grow in the

market this is very important for a company. The right target audience should be selected

and the brand has to be positioned in a way that consumers would prefer it over the other

brands in the market. The value of an established brand is partly due to the fact that it is

more difficult to build brands today than it was a few decades ago. Also the cost of

advertising and distribution is much higher now and the number of brands is proliferating

as well. This indicates that there is increased competition for the consumers mind as well

as for the access to the distribution channel (Aaker 1991; Shimp, 2003). It is important to

ensure that there is a good fit between the positioning of the brand and the perceptions of

the consumers in the markets.

3 http://www.iirme.com/product/index.cfm/Link=16

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A brand name, which is superior to that of the competition, is an asset which a firm

possesses. It is a challenge to identify the key assets and skills4 on which the firm should

base its competitive advantage, to build upon and maintain them, and then use them

effectively (Aaker, 1991). The question of how a brand can gain this competitive

advantage has interested many scholars, who have focused on advantages and drawbacks

of positioning as being global ( Friedman, 1990) or local (Steenkamp et al., 2003). A few

reasons supporting the two phenomenons have been that, global brands may be

associated with higher prestige and global image may enhance a brands perceived

quality, whereas argument in favor of local positioning is that the local culture can

generate a higher brand value as the local culture remains a central influence on

consumer behavior and individual identity. The choice of a positioning strategy of a

company is of great importance since it will determine the message that consumers and

prospects will associate to a specific brand (Shimp, 2003). The arguments in this regard

have demonstrated that there is no single approach to positioning. As suggested by

Devlin et al. (1995) the effectiveness of any positioning strategy resides in the view

consumers have of the image of the brand. Thus companies must consider their

positioning strategies carefully with regards to their product and target market to be able

to portray an appropriate image of the brand.

4 A skill is something a firm does better than its competitors do, such as advertising or efficient

manufacturing (Aaker, 1991).

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2.2.3 Importance of Brand Image

In todays increasing competitive marketplace, consumers often have to make a choice

among a range of products or brands in the market that differ very little in its price or

function. In such circumstances, their final decision depends on the image they associate

with different brands. A brand can be characterized in various ways by the consumers,

such as being modern or old-fashioned, lively or dull, conventional or exotic. Brand

image has gained popularity as the feelings and images associated with a brand have been

powerful purchase influencers, though brand recognition, recall and brand identity.5

The

consumers must be able to identify a brand in order to purchase it. There are two types of

brand awareness: recognition and recall. Recognition occurs at the point of purchase

when the consumers recognize the brand on the shelf. Whereas recall, the consumers

must imagine the brand on their own prior to purchase. Joseph Plummer (1985) indicated

that there are three components to a brand image: product attributes, consumer benefits

and brand personality. The dimensions of a brand personality are largely perceptual. They

relate to images that have been created over time by the various aspects of marketing

communications. It is possible to change the underlying perception of a brand with some

advertising effort, but till the desired change is achieved, the brands should deliver to the

expectations of the actual consumers (Yeshin, 1999).

5 http://www.asiamarketresearch.com/glossary/brand-image.htm

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A brand image is a set of associations, usually organized in some meaningful way. An

association and an image both represent perceptions which may or may not reflect

objective reality. A brand association is considered as anything that can be linked in

memory (recall) to a brand. The association of a brand not only exists as such but has a

level of strength. A link to a brand will be stronger when it is based on many experiences

or exposures to communications (Aaker, 1991). Brand image is one of the first consumer

brand perceptions that were identified in the marketing literature (Gardener and Levy,

1955). Brand can be conceptualized as a set of associations perceived by an individual.

These associations could be the functional qualities, or with individual people or events.

Although it is unlikely that two people will have exactly the same image of a brand, their

images may have common features. Such features are said to constitute the image of a

brand (De Chernatony, 2001).

The brand image and brand positioning must be clear, focused and etched into the minds

of the target prospects and consumers. The more indelible that brand, the more loyal your

consumers will be (Shimp, 2003). The companies are trying to create a strong image of

their brand in the mind of the consumer so that they can gain an important place in the

market. This can be done with the use of advertising through the media communicating to

their target consumers.

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2.3 Advertising

If you make a product good enough . . . the public will make a path to your door. But if

you want the public in sufficient numbers, you would better construct a highway.

Advertising is that highway.

-- Hearst W.R. (1992)

2.3.1 What is Advertising?

Advertising acts as a medium that helps in creating an image of a product or brand in the

consumers mind. Starch (1923) postulated that for an advertisement to be successful it

must: be seen, be read, be believed, be remembered, and be acted on. Thus the purpose

of advertising is to provide the means by which appropriate messages are devised and

delivered to target consumers who then act in appropriate ways. The consumers may, buy

the product, enquire about it, receive some information, position it or simply memorize a

single aspect for future action. Therefore, the role of advertising in the promotional plan

is an important one. Jones (1994) discusses that advertising is a communication force, but

it does not compel the consumers to purchase goods. Its purpose is to create a sate of

mind conducive to purchase (Colley 1961). Advertising whether it is on an international,

national, local, is important, as it can influence audiences by informing or reminding

them of the existence of a brand, or alternatively by persuading or helping them to

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differentiate a product or organization from others in the market (Fill, 2002). The

advertising process is defined as the way in which the advertiser achieves his intended

purpose on his intended audience (Kennedy and Corkindale, 1976, p.7).

It has been commonly accepted that the main function of advertising is to sell to the

consumer (Millum, 1975; Williamson, 1978), mainly by providing accurate information

that is designed to evoke a favorable impression, and a positive attitude towards the

product, or more broadly towards the brand (Percy et al., 2001a). The regular use of

advertising, in cooperation with the other elements of the communication mix, can be

important in the creation and maintenance of a brand personality. Brand Personality

describes brand in terms of the human characteristics. (Fill, 2002). Advertisements also

provide manifest messages, which reflect the emotional values that the company wishes

to associate with the brand (White, 2000).

2.3.2 How does Advertising work?

In this section the researcher will provide a brief introduction and overview of what

advertising involves and the process of advertising.

For a message to be communicated successfully, it should be targeted at the right

audience, capable of gaining attention, understandable, relevant and acceptable. To have

an effective communication, messages should be designed to fit the cognitive capability

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of the target audience. (Fill, 2000, pp.502). The advertising message should be able to

gain attention and awareness, and be comprehensive. Reeves (1961) stated that A

consumer tends to remember just one thing from an advertisement- one strong claim or

one strong concept. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. A

proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer. A

proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e. pull over new

customers to your product.

According to Mitchell and Olson (1981, adapted from Aaker and Bruzzone, 1985) a

variety of theories have been advanced about how the attitude toward an advertisement

acts as a mediating variable in explaining how advertising works. He said that there is a

positive association between the advertisement and the brand. The more the consumer

likes the ad, the more they like the brand. The concern of how advertising works has been

researched over the many years approving that there is no single model to present it. As

Rossiter et al. (1991) argued that there is no single way in which advertising works, but it

depends on particular advertising situations like, the type of the product, the nature of the

target audience, and the purchase motivation for buying the brand. A simple

representation of how advertising works is given below (Refer to figure 1):

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Filters:

Motivation, Ability

(Involvement)

Figure 1: A framework of How Advertising Works (Adapted from Vakratsas & Ambler,

1999, pp.26)

Advertising Input:

Message content, media,

scheduling, repetition

Consumer

Cognition Affect Experience

Consumer behavior:Choice, consumption, loyalty,

habit and so forth

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The consumer behavior is the result of the various activities that occur influencing their

decision. An advertising message is viewed and interpreted by the consumers according

to the individual involvement and interest. Also their thinking (cognition), feelings

(affective) and experience direct their end behavior in the direction of the product or

brand as illustrated in the figure 1.

2.3.3 Models of Advertising

There are various theories and models developed on advertising over the years

emphasizing the various aspects of advertising. The hierarchy of effects models,

developed by Lavidge et al. (1961), represents the process by which advertising is

thought to work and assume that there is a series of steps a prospect must pass through, in

succession, from unawareness to actual purchase. It indicates that advertising has a direct

and positive impact on sales by persuading people to buy, creating and building brands,

and differentiating brands with the sequential steps that move consumers toward a

purchase (Weilbacher, 2001). According to Ray (1973), the hierarchy of effects model

follows a series of mental effects that must occur with fulfillment at each stage before

progressing to the next stage. The hierarchy of effects model usually has three major

levels corresponding to the typical attitude structure components of cognitive, affective

and conative. The cognitive component includes such variables as attention, awareness,

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comprehension, and learning. The affective variables contain interests, evaluation,

attitude, feeling, conviction, and yielding. And, finally, conative one relates to intention,

behavior, and action (Ray, 1973).

Another model of advertising, the DAGMAR model (Defining Advertising Goals for

Measured Advertising Results), explains that advertising works to move consumers in a

linear sequential fashion (Refer to figure 1), which begins with a state of unawareness

moving to awareness, then to comprehension, then conviction, and ends with action. In

other words, consumers think about something, then they form an opinion or attitude

about it, and finally they take action. This model identifies three categories of effects,

similar to the Hierarchy of effects model, called cognition (mental or rational), affection

(emotional), and behavior (decision or action)6. According to the DAGMAR model

(Yeshin, 1999), the purpose of advertising is to inform and bring about an action of a

product or service.

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Unawareness

Awareness

Comprehension

Conviction

Action

Figure 2: DAGMAR Model (Adapted from Yeshin, 1999, pp.45)

At times consumers are unable to recall the brand, company or the product and some may

yet purchase the unknown products, but this does not make much sales in a company.

Thus it is important for advertising to seek to increase awareness of consumers, thereby

increasing brand awareness, which is the first step in the DAGMAR model of advertising.

The next step in the DAGMAR model is comprehension, this is when the target

consumers have been made aware of the brand and to some extent understand what the

brand and product is about. Then the conviction stage of advertising, which is the fourth

stage, is when consumers have sufficient knowledge about a brand and the benefits of the

brand to them. They are thus able to make rational or emotional purchase decisions about

the product or service. The final stage of the DAGMAR communication spectrum is that

of action. This is when the consumer finally makes a move to purchase the product or

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service. Colley (1961) emphasizes that the action may not necessarily mean that the

consumer makes monetary exchange for the product. The consumer may just have a

demonstration of the product, but Colley (1961) argues that finalizing the sale is beyond

the means of the advertising agency, as a number of reasons not involving the advertiser

could have hindered the sale, like, product is not in stocks or does not fit it the budget of

the consumer.

DAGMAR made several potential contributions toward further effective advertising

planning: it to helped center attention of advertisings impact on getting the consumer to

buy, it recognized that consumers go through different stages en route to purchase, and

it understood the importance of building consumer relationships (Jones, 1994).

These models of advertising do aim to achieve the advertising objective. Advertising

objectives or goals involve specific communication task and a certain level of

achievement to be accomplished with the target audience in a certain time frame (Kotler,

2003). Advertising objectives can be classified according to whether their aim is to

inform, persuade, remind or reinforce. The advertising objectives emerge with an

examination of the current marketing situation (Kotler, 2003).

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2.3.4 Semiotics and its Importance in Advertising

Semiotic analysis of an advertisement can provide better understanding and brand

positioning. Holbrook (1978) was first to have successfully used the combination of

semiotic analysis and advertising in a study. The research that he conducted divided

adverts into two parts in the analysis. These were the logical objectively verifiable

descriptions of tangible product features versus the emotional subjective impressions of

tangible assets of the product (Holbrook, 1978, pp.512). As the name describes, adverts

could be logically analyzed or have emotional implications.

It has been seen that the field of marketing communications is increasingly moving

towards the use of semiotics. It provides an alternative to commonly used transmission of

messages. As advertisements moved away from textual explanations to more visual

representations, semiotics became particularly popular and useful as an analytical tool to

study advertisements and how they work (Warlaumont, 1998). Semiotics is a useful tool

for discovering the sophistication and depth of ads. By deconstructing an advertisement,

it can be studied, how it was constructed and determine its underlying message. Also

analyzing the way in which words and pictures work together to reinforce the message,

how the alpha pictorial (word and picture) components make use of gesture, art, myth and

symbol to give emotional impact to it (Zakia and Nadin 1987).

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The purpose of advertising is to inform and to persuade, to prompt purchase of goods and

services, to socialize consumers into a culture of consumption. Advertising directly or

indirectly uses semiotics (the science of signs) to provide products with meaning for a

culture whose central focus is consumption (Zakia and Nadin, 1987). Semiotics is a

discipline that provides a structure for studying and analyzing how signs function within

a particular environment. A sign can be thought of as anything that conveys meaning,

thus words, pictures, music, smell, taste, sound, pain, sculpture, architecture, film, video,

dance, mime, gesture and so on are signs once they are interpreted as such (Zakia, 1985).

Chandler (2002) points out that, individuals through creation and interpretations of signs

can provide an understanding. It is important to realize that signs do not possess intrinsic

meaning, indeed something becomes a sign only when individuals empower them with

meanings. As Peirce (in Chandler, 2002, pp.17) said, nothing is a sign unless it is

interpreted a sign.

A number of researchers have studied the analysis of advertisements from a semiotic

perspective. For instance, De Cock et al. (2001) conducted a semiotic analysis of 131

adverts to document and describe what they call the new economy myths. Alden et al.

(1999) also studied the semiotic analysis of adverts, analyzing 1267 TV adverts from

seven countries. However, similar to any study, these studies had certain limitations, and

therefore further research was recommended in this area.

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Signs are society-bred and have different social significance within different societies.

Therefore a study on the way signs are interpreted in the UK may and will vary from

other countries. The signs used in an advert are chosen appropriately thereby

conditioning consumers perception of a brand. A semiotic analysis of advert can

determine the positioning strategy since semiotics is devoted to the study of signs and

their meanings (Mick 1986). The meaning approach (Mick, 1986, pp.201) states that

consumers behave based on the meanings they ascribe to marketplace stimuli. This

approach is important to further the current advertising research. It re-establishes the idea

that consumers are always searching for meaning, both in brands and the adverts that

promote them. With this concept, it is also to be accepted that individuals construct a

variety of meaning outcomes all of which are driven by the personal interest and culture

(Mick and Buhl, 1992).

Furthermore, signs are defined by relationships to other signs. Lacey (1998) also points

that signs can generate more than one interpretation; they are polysemic. This means that

the same sign can mean different things to different people at different times and in

different contexts. Semiotic analysis does help the advertiser to work backwards, keeping

in mind the consumer. Advertisers start from the point of view of how consumer will

perceive an ad and thus work towards the achievement of its advertising objectives.

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2.3.5 Measurement of Advertising Effectiveness

The ultimate function of advertising was to produce sales, but now-a-days advertising is a

major source of building a brand. It has been argued by Lavidge and Steiner (1961), the

effects of advertising are long term. Advertising cannot be designed to produce

immediate purchases by the consumers who are exposed to the ad. Immediate sales

results are an incomplete criterion of advertising effectiveness. However Jones (1994)

alleged that for something to happen in the long run, something must be happening in the

short run (Refer to Appendix 1). This process must be measured to provide anything that

is approaching a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of an advertisement.

The advertisements should be targeted at the right audience and at the right period of time

to be effective. This research is going to analyze what the consumers think about

advertising and how effective do they perceive them to be. Greyser (1972) discussed at

length how consumers overall perceptions of advertising impact the effectiveness of

advertising; this is discussed in detail later in this chapter.

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2.3.6 Advertisement Media

Many factors affect the decision concerning the appropriate media selection for getting

advertising messages across to the target markets. The media available vary from country

to country, and the sources of media information in each country are equally varied. The

United States, Canada, and Great Britain have regular syndicated media-reporting

services that include the four major media: television, radio, magazines, and newspapers

(Bartos, 1989). It is commonly agreed that "the same source delivering the same message

to the same audience on separate occasions might produce different effects depending on

the differing programming or editorial contexts in which the message appears" (Norris

and Colman 1992, pp.38). It is generally accepted that differences in the media context of

an advertisement may influence advertising effects, even when other relevant factors such

as audience characteristics and advertisement design are held constant (Moorman, 2002).

The internet is emerging as a new advertising medium striving strongly with the more

traditional media. Despite the internet having a potential of becoming a powerful medium,

there is little empirical research into the effectiveness of the internet compared with other

advertising media (Huang et al., 1998). But Huang et al. (1998) argue that while the

Internet does provide a new and even exciting potential for reaching people, the

execution of the message has to still follow the basic principles of communication. Also

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the mobile advertising has come to be an interesting medium and is employed depending

on the product, target, cost, and various other factors. Thus though there are many

traditional media in advertising, new forms of communications have been appearing. Yet

the most important element of advertising is to gain attention and position the brand in

the mind of the consumers with the best allocation and utilization of the resources.

In the print media, magazines seem to have gained increasing importance as more and

more people read the different magazines available for the different classes and age of

people in the market. An advertisement is considered important depending on the

perception and the attitude of the consumer towards the information provided in it. There

is vast competition in each and every sphere of life and companies are trying to gain

positive views of the consumers towards their brand. The importance of the advertising

context in the consumer psychology, is a significant variable in explaining and predicting

advertising effects (Aaker and Myers 1975; Chook 1985; New 1991). Krugman (1966-67)

explains how the nature of the advertising medium affects learning, that is, the viewers'

response to the actual advertisement in both the short (Refer to Appendix 1) and the long

term (Harris, 1987). He considers print media (magazine and newspapers) as high

involvement media because the advertising is inanimate and the reader is conscious of the

matter. Also the pace of exposure is within the reader's control since the reader has more

opportunity to reflect on the advertising.

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Consumers value the information provided by advertisements depending on how they

analyse the credibility of the source. It has been recognised that advertisements

particularly in print media were not in particular to entertain but provide useful and

interesting information. Such information that is often hard to find elsewhere. Therefore

in this study, magazine ads have been selected to study the influence advertisements have

on the construction of a brand image.

2.3.7 Skepticism of Advertising

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time,

but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

-- Abraham Lincoln7

Advertising seems to be everywhere. This increases the concern of many people of the

potential impact advertising has on the society. Critics like Obermiller et al. (2005) in the

research Ad Skepticism raise several concerns about the impact of advertising upon

society. It has been observed that communicating with a target audience through

advertising can be very difficult. Even though people are infested with messages, they

pay attention to very few of them. And even when they do pay attention, that does not

mean they will actually learn anything from the advert, or be positively influenced by it.

7 www.wisdomquotes.com

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It is not easy to communicate with advertising. This is the reason why advertisers have to

go great lengths to identify a target audience where consumers are already favourably

disposed towards their product and select a medium which could help in easily reaching

them.

The more thoughtful question is whether advertising creates unnecessary needs.

Advertising by its very nature does stimulate material, exaggerating the needs of an

individual, but these needs are driven by other social forces well beyond advertising.

Advertising is also criticised as being deceptive. Advertising presents products in terms

of values that are more important than the product itself, and this leads to a reduction of

those values (Leiss et al., 1997). There was also quite widespread criticism of advertising

overload in magazines. Also some advertisements are seen as tasteless, insulting or

offensive to certain people. If the advertising is seen as tasteless by the intended target

audience, the advertising will be unlikely to communicate its intended message

effectively. The cost of a product is said to increase due to the advertising expenses.

Though this may not be the case, instead advertising helps increase consumption, which

in its turn permits certain economies of scale that help reduce prices.

The idea of brand names and what their role is in todays market has been discussed in

detail in the earlier parts of this chapter. From a business standpoint, a brand name is an

asset, and is treated as one. In this sense advertising for brand names is often treated by a

manufacturer as a long-term capital investment rather than an immediate cost (Aaker,

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1991). This is almost universally true for the new product introductions. It is advertising

that provides relative stability for a brand, building brand equity. There are many

examples in almost any field of what happens to a company that does not protect its

brand name through advertising. So, in real sense, advertising is one of the ways which is

able to provide stability in the economy.

In 1991 the European Union created the European Advertising Standards Alliance to

provide a mechanism for dealing with false or misleading advertising. While it

encourages self-regulation, the EU Misleading Advertising Directive requires member

countries to institute powers to protect consumers against misleading claims (Alderson,

1995). At length, the benefits of advertising outweigh its deficits.

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2.4 Consumers

Since we have to live togetherif you involve and entertain me, I in return am prepared

to listen to you and to be open-minded about your product.

--Gordon, 1996

Meenaghan (1995) posited that the significance of advertising lies in the notions that

there is no objective reality, and that people trade in the realms of perception and

image (pp.23). These are among the most important view of human understanding. The

consumers insist that their attention and interest have to be earned and not taken for

granted with advertisements (Gordon 1996). Advertising is a part of everyday life.

Consumers are surrounded by advertisements in a variety of media (Sharon, 1998). In a

study by Gordon (1996) across a wide range of brands and genres of advertising

demonstrated that UK consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their

appreciation and criticisms of advertising. It was observed that people held different

beliefs about how advertising works. Advertising of all types has become acceptable to

consumers (Gordon 1996). The use of new advertising techniques, making ads clever,

interesting and intriguing is a welcomed change (Fill, 2002).

The objective of this research is to examine how advertising helps in creating a brand

image based on the factors that influence consumers. This researchs focus will be on

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what consumers do with advertising, rather than what advertising does to them. This has

also been studied by various practitioners and academics like ODonohoe (1993). The

consumers view advertisements and semiotically analyze it obtaining a meaning from it.

Also these advertisements are created to influence consumers in a specific direction by

advertisers, keeping in mind the way consumers would comprehend it.

There are various factors effecting the consumers' comprehension of advertisements

(Refer to figure 3), as Hoon and Low (2000); Till and Busler (2000) studied the factors

which influence the feelings of an individual for a brand. There are various factors that

influence individuals, as illustrated in the diagram below:

Personal Influences Social Influences Psychological influences

Demographics Reference Groups Personality

Situational Culture and subcultures Ability, knowledge and experience

Involvement Attitude

Perception

Figure 3: Factors influencing Individuals (Adapted from Pickton and Broderick, 2001)

This research cannot ignore the different factors that influence the consumers, but it does

discuss in-depth a few factors influencing consumers vastly. These factors are the

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psychological factors and also the consumer involvement which are discussed in detail in

this section.

2.4.1 Personal Influences

Individuals are influenced by personal factors such as demographics, which include

details of an individuals age, gender, income and education. The surrounding

environment and situation also influences the decision making process of the consumers.

(Pickton and Broderick, 2001).

The level of involvement of consumers in the different aspects of communication

involving products, advertisements and buying is studied by Laaksonen (1994).

Involvement is explained as the degree of personal relevance which a stimulus or

situation is perceived to help achieve consequences and values of importance to the

consumers. (Knox et al., 1994, pp.138). The concept of involvement has played an

interestingly significant role in explaining consumer behavior, and the level of consumer

involvement is seen as a measure of brand loyalty (Assael, 1987 in Knox et al., 1994).

Such involvement can be created by communicating to consumers through advertising,

which show the understanding and appreciation of consumers personal needs and

lifestyle (Wansink, 2003). According to Amine (1998) the level of involvement is

presented as an indirect cause of Brand Loyalty, and his empirical research showed that

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consumers exhibit low brand loyalty when they have low involvement with the product

category. On the other hand, many researchers have found that high involvement in a

product category may enhance consumer loyalty to a brand in the same category (Assael,

1992). Consumer involvement is insightful in consumer research as well as current

marketing judgements about a products positioning and advertising opportunities

(Vaughn, 1986).

2.4.2 Social Influences

The individuals also have social influences which includes the reference groups and

culture. The family, friends, neighbors colleagues have an impact on their thinking and

thereby actions they take. The consumer needs are shaped by the cultural, social and

economic dimension of markets (Tse, Wong and Tan, 1988) and brand management

centers on satisfying these consumer needs (Park et al., 1986). Douglas and Isherwood

(1978); McCraken (1986) stated that consumer goods have cultural meanings and these

are provided to consumer through advertising. The culture of individuals from different

countries and also from different parts of the same country would vary and therefore

advertisers should study the market carefully and decide how they want to position its

brand in individually in each market or globally.

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2.4.3 Psychological Influences

Individuals remember advertising that is interesting, relevant or interpreted as possessing

a deep set of personal meanings. As research shows, only parts of an advertisement are

ever remembered, those parts which are of intrinsic value to the recipient and are

sometimes referred to as the take-out8 (Brown,1991 adapted from Fill, 2002). The

implication of this is that, advertising works best through the creation of interest and

likeable moments, from which extracts are taken by consumers and stored in their

memory. Interest can be generated through fresh relevant ideas linking the brand and

messages in a meaningful and relevant manner. This in turn allows for future associations

to be made by consumers, linking brands and advertising messages in a positive and

experiential way.

The nature of the individuals personality does affect the interpretation of the message.

And the existence of all personality types in the market makes it is virtually impossible to

construct messages that have the same meaning to all individuals. Individuals use

products and brands as materials with which they can cultivate and preserve their

identities. Consumer goods are capable of serving consumers in this way because of the

symbolic meaning that is embedded in them (Solomon, 1983). The symbolic meaning of

consumption refers to both the expression of ones personality, culture, and history

8 This selectivity, or message take-out, is referred to as the creative magnifier effect. (Brown,1991 adapted

from Fill, 2002)

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through consumption and the interpretation of others consumption with respect to these

factors (Antonides and Raaji, 1988, pp.66). In todays contemporary society, symbolic

consumption may be based on popular brands and designer products.

The individual gathers a considerable store of experiences over a lifetime. The memories

of many of these experiences are combined to provide frames of reference against which

future activities and information can be judged. The way a consumer processes

information is influenced by the various psychological factors as shown in figure 3.

Attitudes are more important than facts (Menninger 1999)

Individuals have a complex set of memory relationship which can be used to explain the

current situation. From these relationships and explanations the attitude toward the

situation is formed. In this increasingly crowded communications environment,

consumers' attitudes toward advertising and their confidence in it are vital to assess. The

influence of consumer attitudes towards advertising is an important area of study because

the results have implications for the industry (Refer to figure 4). It is a process where the

attitude towards an ad eventually leads on to become an attitude towards the brand.

Personal attitudes toward advertising likely influence consumers' exposure and attention

to advertisements, political and regulatory activities, and other outcomes that impact the

advertising industry in crucial ways (Sharon 1998). Greyser (1972) discussed at length

how consumers overall perceptions of advertising impact the effectiveness of advertising

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and the role of advertisers. In an interesting report, Calfee and Ringold (1994) reviewed

six decades of survey data dealing with consumer attitudes towards advertising. They

found a core set of beliefs about advertising that has remained relatively constant over

time and across a variety of question formats.

Ad content Emotional Attitude toward Attitude toward

Response the Ad? The Brand?

Figure 4: Influence of consumer Attitudes towards Advertising Holbrook and Batra

(1987)

Arnould et al (2004) viewed attitude as anything that can be held in mind by the

consumer. More specifically, attitude is an enduring inclination or tendency to respond

towards the said product or brand in a specific way (Campbell 1963, in Dubois 2000, p.

109). Thus attitude does depend on an individuals motivation, emotions, their way of

looking at things and their attention, awareness, comprehension and learning (Dubois

2000). Attitude is a multidimensional phenomenon. Krech et al (1963) suggested the

three components of attitude, i.e. cognitive, affective and conative attitudes, which is

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agreed by most researchers today (Dubois 2000, Arnould et al 2004). This three-

dimension model emphasizes the interrelationships between beliefs, feelings and

behaviors, and indicates that consumers attitude cannot be determined simply by

identifying one single dimension.

Attitude helps consumers cope with their environment. Attitude serves two vital functions,

Value-expressive function and ego-defensive function, one function playing a dominant

role (Arnould et al., 2004). These two functions usually represent different sides of self-

concept9

(Arnould et al., 2004). By contrast, the ego-defensive function emphasizes that

attitudes provide defense against internal and external threats of self-concept (Arnould et

al., 2004). For example, the research conducted by Hogg and Banister (2001) found that

attitude functioned as a means of expressing self-concept with individuals associating

themselves with liked or positively regarded objects, whilst distancing themselves from

disliked or threatening objects. In one way, attitudes act as representation of self-concept;

in another way, the motives of self-concept actually shape the three different components

of attitudes. (Arnould et al., 2004).

Just as it is important for an advertiser to track response to its specific advertising, it is

important to track attitudes towards advertising in general. Thus to understand the

business of advertising, it is critical to understand the markets perception of the product

advertised. Time is a constrained resource, thus the time spent in information search is

9 The self-concept is one of the specific internal forces composing motivation which refers to the process

which causes people to behave in the way in which they do (Dubios, 2000)

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dependent upon the individuals perceived importance of the decision outcome (East et al.

1994).

Consumers perception refers to their attitude which is regarded as a type of bias that

predisposes the individual toward evaluative responses that are positive or negative

(Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; quoted from Moon, 1996). Puth et al (1999, pp.39) suggest that

perception is dependent upon what consumers subconsciously add or subtract from

raw sensory inputs to produce a private picture of the world thus, image is a privately

constructed phenomenon built from sensory decoding within a persons conscious.

(Burton, Easingwood, 2006) A mental representation of attitude may be stored in

memory and thus can be activated by the presence of the attitude object or cues related to

it (Moon, 1996). Thus, Moon (1996, p.437) defined consumer attitude toward a foreign

culture/country as a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating the life-

styles, values, and customs of a specific foreign culture/country in consumption

behavior.

Schiffman and Kanuk (1991) in his study found that consumers act and react on the basis

of their perceptions, not on the basis of objective reality. It is important to understand the

whole notion of perception and its related concepts so that we can determine what

influences consumers. It is due to the perception process that the sender of the message

does or does not get through to the receiver (Aaker and Myers, 1987), since actual

decoding of the marketing information depends on the consumers perception of the

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communication content (Koekemoer, 1991). Therefore, perception is the process by

which information is acquired through the five senses10

(Wade and Tavis 1990). As

information processing capacity in humans has limited resources, consumers have to

select one stimuli from a multitude to give their attention to.

The consumers perception of product attributes is of crucial importance to the marketer.

As Lewin (1936) points out, people respond on the basis of their perceptions of reality,

not reality per se. The problem with perception studies is that the individuals under the

same conditions organize and interpret information differently based on each person's

own needs, values, expectations and the like (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1991). Porter (1976)

confirms that perceptions are important to study, even if they are misconceptions of

actual events. Thus the product attributes and their function cannot be discussed in

isolation. Analysis of the consumer perception and decision-making processes is

therefore extremely important to assist the marketer to understand consumer behavior,

and draft better positioning strategies and develop more effective advertising campaigns

based on product attributes and the associated perceived benefits.

10 The five senses are sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing.

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2.5 Country Context: UK Consumers

If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, is the species known as youth from

the moon orbiting the distant Pluto?

-- Bansal (2004, pp.1)

Young consumers play an important part in the market place as they exert enormous

influence over the allocation of spending power across a growing number of product

categories (Paxton and John, 1995, pp.567 in Hogg et al 1998).

Schiele (1974) believes that young consumers should be given lot of significance as these

teenagers carry tremendous discretionary decision making and purchasing power. This is

the reason youth all over the world are being targeted as they are prime source of sales

also of ultimate product trends. The transition from childhood to adulthood is a major rite

in the passage in all societies, and involves a significant change in status and behavior

(Hill, 1992). It is also observed that consumers engage in buying behavior that is

consistent and congruent with their self-image (Engel et al, 1993). Young people,

particularly in the West, tend to have a strong desire to communicate their maturity and

adultness to their peers through their consumption (Piacentini and Mailer, 2004) which

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proves their decision making that has evolved through the psychological process.

Therefore, the study is based on the young consumers. The factors that influence people

may vary to different extents among individuals and also among people from different

countries. This research is conducted to observe the UK consumers and their perceptions

of the advertisements and brands.

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2.6 Consumers and Advertising

For an advertisement to be effective the target consumers should at least notice, believe,

and find utility in it thereby keeping them up-to-date about products and services. In a

study by James and Kover (1992), they evaluated the impact of advertising in general on

advertising involvement, measured as the amount of time spent looking at print

advertisements. Specifically, the results of the study show that the amount of attention

that respondents will pay to magazine advertisements, measured as recall of the brand,

which was portrayed by the advertisement the day after exposure, is influenced by how

much they like to look at advertising, believe advertising helps them stay informed about

developments in the marketplace, and see it as not being manipulative.

The persuasion levels are significantly lower among those who believe that advertising is

annoying and that advertised brands are often not as good as the advertisements claim

(Till and Baack, 2005). The creative and strategic aspects remain crucial in determining

the success of an advertisement in both gaining attention and adding to its memorability,

and in persuading the consumer to be interested in the advertised product. Individual

attitudes toward advertisement in general can, however, influence the way a consumer

will respond to any particular advertisement. Moreover the study of attitudes to

advertising may be especially significant because it influences attitudes-toward-the ad, an

important antecedent of brand attitude (Lutz, 1985).

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2.7 Consumers and Brands

He that steals my purse steals trash, but he that filches from me my good namemakes

me poor indeed.

-- Villain Iago11

A businesss good name is often its brand name. Inside the customers mind, a trusted

brand name is a promise of high quality and good things. But a tainted brand name can

trigger memories of poor quality and bad service, driving customers away. This is the

reason that brand management can make or break a companys reputation. To businesses,

brands mean market share. (Crispell and Brandenburg, 1993)

The process of identifying and building brand values is interactive with that of marketing

communications. The environment in which a message is communicated to the consumer

is as important as the nature of the message itself. The values and expectations that

consumers have of a brand must be clearly identified before working on the marketing

communications plan. The whole issue of positioning is one of great significance, but it

starts with the consumer, rather than ending with them. Thus the key to a proper

understanding of the brand in the context of consumer expectations is market research

(Yeshin, 1999).

11In Shakespeares Othello, taken from Whats in a brand

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The consumers perception of product attributes is of crucial importance to the marketer.

As Lewin (1936) points out, people respond on the basis of their perceptions of reality,

not reality per se. The problem with perception studies is that the individuals under to

the same conditions, yet they organize and interpret information based on each person's

own needs, values, expectations and the like (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1991). Product

attributes cannot be discussed in isolation. Analysis of the consumer perception and

decision-making processes is therefore extremely important to assist the marketer to

understand consumer behavior, and draft better positioning strategies and develop more

effective advertising campaigns based on product attributes and the associated perceived

benefits.

Advertising is used to trigger brand associations and experiences for people, not only

when viewing an advertisement but also when faced with product purchase decisions.

The interest is generated through fresh relevant ideas where the brand and messages are

linked together in a meaningful and relevant way. This allows for future associations to

be made, linking brands and advertising messages in a positive and experiential way. (Fill,

2002).

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2.8 Brand Positioning through Advertising

Advertising - The way great brands, get to be great brands.

-- American Advertising Federation12

It is important to understand that brand images are not fixed. They can be amended or

changed completely by the appropriate use of marketing communications tools like

advertising. David Ogilvy in his book Ogilvy on advertising says: Every advertisement

should be thought of as a contribution to the brand image. It follows that your advertising

should project the same image, year after year. It is vital that all communication

messages on behalf of brand communicate a single and consistent image (Yeshin 1999,

pp. 65) The specific treatment and the executional content may change, be refreshed and

updated, but the underlying proposition about the brand remains the same- with the

benefit that each advertising message delivered serves to reinforce all of those which

have been received in the past. This does not imply, that advertising like all other aspects

of marketing communications, should not be subject to frequent review. Advertising

strategies should be re-examined and changed in response to underlying changes in the

competitive environment. (Yeshin, 1999)

Consumers are being continuously subjected to an increasing number of attention-seeking

messages; therefore the attention is declining (Alsop 1984). Increasing the number of

12 Aaf.org

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messages sent out does not increase the number of messages attended to by the

consumers, it may rather have a damaging impact on buyers attitudes toward the

company rather than providing the mangers desired improvement in the products image.

Therefore advertising has to be used effectively to be able to build positive images of a

brand in the consumers mind.

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2.9 Conclusion

Consumers and brands have relationships. Nurturing those relationships ensures a

companys success. While juggling their many duties, brand managers must keep

answering three questions: who buys the brand, what do they want from it, and why do

they keep coming back.

-- Crispell and Brandenburg, 1993

A good brand does offer good quality. Impactful, clever or well-made advertisements are

understood to imply big brands, major advertisers, and trustworthy products. (Gordon

1996). The advertisements are teeming these days with increasing competition within

industries. As the marketplace is becoming more crowded, consumers often make

purchase decisions relying more on a brands image than on its physical characteristics

(Graeff, 1996). Advertisements focus on certain main features of the brand and cannot

list all the characteristics, as in the case of magazines (print media) some may read it if

they are interested. But to gain the attention of consumers the advertisements should be

clear and attention seeking.

Consumers do view advertisements but do not generally dwell for any great length of

time on any advertisement. There are personal, social and psychological factors that

influence the consumers outlook of advertisements and also in the formation of a brand

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image. Therefore in the light of the various factors mentioned, the behavior and response

of the UK consumers is studied in this research.

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CHAPTER 3:METHODOLOGY

Knowing what you want to find out leads inexorably to the questions of how will get the

information.

-Miles and Huberman (1994, pp.42)

3.1 Introduction

The aim of this research is to gain an in-depth understanding of how advertisements

effect the formation of a brand image from the consumers perspective. Interviews were

conducted in this research to investigate this effect and also study the factors influencing

consumers. The researcher has a keen interest in the field of advertising and has done a

post graduation in advertising and public relations which enriched her knowledge in the

particular area. Also having done a dissertation on A study on the Hierarchy effect of

Advertising on consumers of Rave magazine in Bangalore City, ithas further created an

interest in this subject area. To gain an understanding about how advertising works and

its effects and the importance of brand image the researcher decided to carry out this

research.

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3.2 Nature of research

The choice between quantitative and qualitative research approach depends largely on the

aim of the research. Quantitative paradigm seeks to measure and analyze causal

relationships between variables, following rigorous methods and procedures which allow

generalization of the findings (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000). Quantitative research has been

characterized as the science that silences too many voices as it relies heavily on remote,

inferential empirical methods employed to extend and reinforce certain kind of data,

interpretations and test hypotheses across samples, thus, failing to capture the

participants perspectives (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000, pp.10). The qualitative paradigm

on the other hand, seeks to give answers to questions of how? rather than what?

intending to gain a deeper understanding, knowledge and insight into a particular

situation or phenomenon (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Qualitative research has several

inherent characteristics that distinguish it form quantitative methodology. Qualitative

research occurs in natural settings, unlike quantitative methodology where hypothesis are

established initially itself. In qualitative research, the design is emergent rather than

tightly prefigured as in the case of quantitative (Silverman, 2000; Creswell, 2003).

3.3 Why Qualitative Research Method?

Qualitative research is used in this case because it enables to identify connections

between processes, relationships and performances that will not be possible through with

the use of quantitative research methods (Yin 1994 in Cassell and Symon, 2004). As the

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research is focusing on the consumers analysis of advertisements which effects the

construction of a brand image, the need for qualitative research is therefore apparent.

Qualitative research methods do not tend to be used in advertising research to the extent

that quantitative research methods are used. However, the method is used in this case to

determine in detail the factors that influence consumers and the semiotic analysis of

advertisements which result in the formation of a brand. The main benefit of qualitative

research methods in marketing and advertising research is that the consumer gets a

chance to actively voice their opinion and such an opinion that is not shaped by the

methodological assumptions of quantitative research (Creswell, 2003).

Qualitative methods are generally considered capable to present richer and more

descriptive data, compared with quantitative research methods (Silverman, 2000) and this

is the reason the researcher uses this method in the current study. However the reliability

and validity of qualitative methods have always been questioned; more specifically, the

subjectivity of qualitative research seems to be the main cause of the above problem.

Nevertheless, in practice no matter what research method is used, subjectivity is

unavoidable (Silverman, 2000).

3.4 Selection of Adverts

The brands, Rimmel and Maybelline lipstick and eye mascara adverts (Refer to Appendix

3-6) have been selected only as examples to study the way consumers semiotically

analyze and respond to the advertisements and thereby the construction of a brand image.

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Fashion magazines are being used as the media of advertisements in this study. The

fashion magazines considered were Cosmopolitan, Elle, Hello and OK.

Cosmetic products have become the basic need for the UK female consumers. This

research studies the psychological influences of consumers that affect their thinking and

action. There are ample amount of adverts on cosmetics due to the high usage and also as

they are considered as high involvement products by females. High involvement products

are products for which the consumer is prepared to spend considerable time and effort in

searching. When a particular choice for a product or brand is made, it eventually becomes

a low involvement product.13

But in the case of lipsticks and mascara, there are new

products introduced frequently under the brand and such information is provided to the

consumers through different forms of promotion and advertisement, magazines being the

media considered in this research. The male section does not have much knowledge about

these cosmetic products but they do acknowledge their existence and importance of it to

women.

3.5 Why Interviews?

The qualitative research interview attempts to understand the world from the subjects

points of view, to unfold the meaning of peoples experience, to uncover their lived world

prior to scientific explanations (Kvale, 1996, pp.3). There is little doubt that the

interview is the most popular method in qualitative research (Silverman, 2000). Its

13

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popularity is not only a coincidence, but based on its features and strengths. First of all,

compared with quantitative methods, interviews offer more insights about peoples

perception and attitudes; therefore they are particularly helpful to explore the

explanations of a certain behavior or social phenomenon (Chisnall, 1991). The content of

the advertisements in the magazines will be analyzed. 14 interviews will be conducted. It

was decided to conduct 14 interviews as the researcher wanted to include a sufficient

number of the male and female population. More interviews were not possible in this

qualitative research due to the limitation of time.

With respect to the data collection method, face to face interviews were conducted with

the help of a research questionnaire. For a sample of the research questions refer to

appendix 2. Interviews help in achieving a high rate of response to most of the questions

as it is possible to correct any misunderstanding the interviewees may have about the

questions. It also helps in gaining further detailed information, which is not possible by

using only a questionnaire. Additionally, the interviewer can also check whether the

person is a member of appropriate sample frame or not.

3.6 Questionnaire and Interview Design

The questionnaire design is advantageous to use as it can include open ended questions, it

gives the interviewees greater freedom to respond, although closed questions are easier to

answer and simpler to code with the application of statistical analysis. Consumers are the

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ones who determine the effectiveness of advertising. Therefore this study is about

gathering information from the consumer perspective. The questionnaire is qualitative in

nature, as this kind of research is capable of exploring in greater depth the views of the

individuals. In contrast to quantitative research, where the researchers contact with the

people being studied is non-existent, qualitative research provides a much more sustained

contact. The need for the development of such relationships is a requirement of the

qualitative researchers need to see the world through the eyes of the subject, since the

researcher would be unable to gain an in-depth analysis from a distance.

Interviewing has often been regarded as the standard method associated with the

collection of qualitative data. In addition, interviews can be wonderfully unpredictable,

because they are invented anew each time. Specifically, the person being interviewed

may take control of the interview and change the topic and guide the tempo.

Although quantitative analysis would give a good statistical picture of the advertisements

of the consumers in the UK, qualitative can better explain providing reasons as to why

people position a brand in a particular way, how their personal, social and psychological

factors have an influence on the analysis of advertisements.

While conducting the interviews, advertisements of cosmetic brands, Rimmel and

Maybelline (Refer to Appendices 3-6) were produced to the consumers to effectively

answer the questions and then the researcher moved on to generalized questions about

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advertising and measuring its relation in the construction of a brand image. The adverts

selected were only used as an example to make it easier for the consumers to relate to a

particular ad and be able to relate the questions and provide with a clear thought about the

effect they had in forming the image of the brand.

The interview was not conducted in a rigid manner and therefore allowed an easy

conversation, which ecouraged the consumers to think of other ads that influenced the

image of a brand.

All the interviews were conducted on one to one basis with each respondent, with the

help of a questionnaire (research questions, refer to appendix 2). The interview began

with discovering the respondents prior knowledge of the cosmetic products and brands

and the usage of it in the case of women interviewees. Importance and their attention

towards the ads were also enquired. The second section relates the respondents view of

specific adverts of the brand Rimmel and Maybelline cosmetics and then making a

connection and communicating with the consumers to find out the effects of

advertisements in magazines. Specific adverts were used in the study to help them relate

to an object and therefore be able to express their opinions on it, this would show thie

thinking process or how they analyze advertisements. This would also help to provide an

equal comparable base for the interviews. The researcher has been able to gain

information about the Rimmel and Maybelline adverts to figure out their views about the

influence and reliability of these adverts, and information provided, thereby constructing

a brand image. A semiotic analysis of the advert was also done to see how the

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respondents relate to the signs and symbols and therefore form varied opinions. Then the

third part of the interview gives the respondent an opportunity to discuss their views

about how generally advertisements influenced them and what factors influenced the

consumers perception. Thereby gaining information about the UK consumers and the

effect ads have on the formation of a brand image.

3.7 Sample

The interviews aim at assessing the readers reaction after viewing the ads in the fashion

magazines like Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Hello and OK. The advertiseme

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