THE EFFECT OF TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT ON THE BUYING HABITS OF CONSUMERS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1              BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Advertising according to Mccarthy (1984), is any paid from of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor”.  This is always done through a media.  The media includes direct media (catalogues, brochures, etc.), outdoor media (Billboards, Posters, etc.), prints (Newspapers, Magazines, etc.), Electronic media (Radio and Television).  Advertising is the most commonly used and the most notices of all the promo-tools.  It gets the greatest number of firm’s target audience at the same time.

Again, advertising, is the dissemination of information about a specific goal, service or idea from a sponsor, who must have chosen the best medium he thinks will deliver his message effectively to the target audience.

The origin of advertising would be traced back to the ancient times, about 400BC, when – earliest men did advertise, though, unconsciously.  In those medieval times, advertising was crude, when measured by present day standards.  However, the reason for the techniques then is the same now.  To communicate information and idea to a target audience using persuasive messages about the company’s and its product attributes, in order to change or influence consumers’ attitude.

Before the invention of the printing press by Johannes Couten Berg, in 1438, one of the significant developments of advertising people advertised mainly through the use of town criers and signs, but today, advertising has witnessed a greater change.

The crux of the project or research work, is to explore how advertising cam to be a wonderful institution in our society, and as an influencing factor in the buying behaviour of consumers, with reference to the purchase of beverages .

Thus, even from the start of civilization, man has felt the need to advertise.  It has been part of firm’s relationship with the society.  There have been development of techniques, but the basic principles have remained primarily the same.

The past World War II era, has been marked by the growth of television advertisement, intense marketing competition and increased attempt to distinguish products by using strategies or other techniques.  Advertising like so may other industries has undergone a period of great change, partly due to the rapid developments in business technology because of the growing feeling on its own part.  Nowadays, many people own television to keep abreast of every new development, unlike the mid 70s when it was owned by few rich individuals due to its high cost.

The effect of television advertisement on the buying habits of consumers, as discussed in this project, is of great importance to researchers.  Due to the characteristic way television combines sound and pictures together, people now see, hear and get convinced about the product being advertised.

Due to the dynamic nature of man, some factors such as: internal individual influences and external environmental influences, affect consumer’s behaviour.

The internal individual influences, are the consumer’s personal needs and motivations; while the external environmental influences are the consumers’ family social structure and culture.  The ways these influencing factors are integrated within the consumer, determines the consumers’ behaviour towards a particular product advertisement.

In all, advertising has existed since the development of the exchange process and most of the early advertising was vocal.  Either through hawkers or criers who chanted many advertising slogans.  But today, it has been modernized.

1.2              STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEMS

Advertisement is one of the determinants of the knowledge of goods by the consumers of any company.  Without adequate knowledge of products, the consumers will not know the type of brand, price and where to buy a particular good.  It might be said that a good advertisement is a life wire of any production company.

The advertisement method is also what motivates the buyers or consumers in response to their appeal to buy the manufacturers’ goods.  Many firms do not know the kind of advertisement method to use in reaching the targeted consumers.  This has effect on the purchase of their products.  The consumers need a lot of conviction in order to buy a particular product, most especially if it has to do with a new product in the market.  The advertisement slogan for each particular product of any company, has big role to play in persuading the consumers to buying the particular goods in question.

Effective advertising has to do with adequate marketing strategy of any particular company such as Cadbury Plc.  The advertising strategy to be adopted by any company, should be determined after adequate market visibility has been done.

Ineffectiveness and high cost of advertisement media in Nigeria, also contributed to the problem of manufacturing company’s like Cadbury.  Most of the newly produced goods, are not given wide coverage of advertisement, in order of reaching amore wider audience.  The cost of placement as it affects what to be paid for per minute advertisement time, is always very high.

As a result, many newly manufacturing companies cannot afford the cost of advertisement or electronic media, and this results to only local means of letting people know about their goods.

The advertising medium (television), should be made to know that some of the producers goods are new in business, and should be given some incentives.

The problems inherent in this study are aptly stated.  They are:

v  Consumers find it difficult making a repeat purchase on product whose advertisement was not motivating.

v  Many firms’ sales turn-over, are sometimes low which could be caused by inadequate use of advertising slogan.

v  Sometimes, the abstract communication methods used in the television, makes it difficult for people to comprehend the message being conveyed.

v  The belief that commercials in other communication media like the print and radio, has given rise to the controversy concerning the effectiveness of television as a media for advertisement.

In such cases, the effects of commercials or adverts are almost null.

1.3              OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This project is geared towards identifying if television advertisements have any effect on the buying habits of consumers – A case study of Bournvita;

-          It will assess some factors like cultural beliefs, personal opinion and recommendations by others if they, in anyway influence a person’s urge in making choice.

-          It will also find out if television adverts help in gaining initial advert attention and promote product identification.

-          Find out whether the consumers’ lack of product knowledge contributes to their non-consumption of it.

-          Find out if consumers post-purchase action is stimulated by the influence of television advertising.

The various reactions to television advertisements have to be contained as wells.

1.4              SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research is carried out to show that television advertisements have more effect n consumers’ buying habits.

§  It will help advertisers to make amendments where necessary and to know the best medium to place his advert.

§  This work will portray the need for unique selling appeal and repetition of television messages.

§  There is variation in the choice of means of advertising.  This study also highlights on how television advertisement could be impressive and entertaining, which makes people  to be interested in adverts made with real human beings that are already known, than with simple cartoons.

1.5              RESEARCH QUESTIONS

It is necessary that certain questions be used in this study, so that we can ascertain the effect of television advertisement on Bournvita – Its effect on consumers’ buying habits.  The probing question are:

1.                                  Does repetition of television advertisements cause consumers to buy the product more?

2.                                  What is the reaction of the public/consumers to Cadbury product, Bournvita?

3.                                  How do you see Bournvita beverage television advertisement, and the advertisement of other beverages?

4.                                  Will consumers remember products advertised on the television than in any other media?

5.                                  Does television advertisement of a product bring about misleading comparisons of products?

With the information gathered, the researcher will find out truly if television advertisements affect consumers in making purchases.

1.6              RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following hypothetical statements are designed to help the researcher in making analysis.

H1:      Repetition of television advertisement motivates consumers to action

H0:      Repetition of television advertisement does not motivate consumers to action.

H2:      Consumers remember products seen on the television, than in any other media.

H0:      consumers do not remember products seen on the television than in any other media.

H3:      Television advertisement of Bournvita, brings about misleading comparisons of products.

H0:      Television advertisement of Bournvita does not bring about misleading comparisons of products.

1.7              CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

For easy readability and understanding, the researcher decided to explain some terms as used in this project.

 Effect: Refers to impact on any particular thing.

Advert: Abbreviation for advertisement.  Any paid in personal commercial on a product.

Communication: The transmission of information from a source to destination.

Social Structure: The organization of either the family or the society.

Culture: The way of life of a people, which also include their value system.

1.8              ASSUMPTIONS

There are some assumptions that consumers have about advertisement.

§  Advertising will have positive impact on beverage consumers.

§  Some take advertising as a selling tool.  Others say that advertising, manipulates people psychologically to buy things they cannot afford.

§  It will contribute immensely in the promotion of the product, thereby encourage consumption.

§  Again, it is assumed that advertising is a way by which producers differentiate their different products.  Another group of people will tell you that advertising debases our language.

All these statements might be true, but have not been proven right or wrong by the body in charge of advertising.  They therefore remain assumptions.

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