Chapter 14 Making Contact Exposure Exposure: occurs when there is physical proximity to a stimulus that allows one or more of our five senses the opportunity to be activated Activation happens when a stimulus meets or exceeds the lower threshold: the minimum amount of stimulus intensity necessary for sensation to occur Firms must bring their messages and products into sufficient physical proximity for consumers to have the opportunity to notice them Companies must identify those advertising mediums, promotional programs, and distribution channels that provide access to their target market. 2 1
Selective Exposure Even though advertisers may get their message out, exposure may still not occur because consumers sometimes avoid exposure Occurs when people do something other than watch television during commercial breaks or fail to click onto banner ads on the Internet Selective exposure reduces the size of audience being reached 3 Overexposure Habituation: when a stimulus becomes so familiar/ordinary that it loses its attentiongetting ability Advertising wearout: describes ads that lose their effectiveness because of overexposure One solution to wearout involves varying advertisement execution Overexposure extends beyond advertising to the product 4 2
Absolute reduces wearout with multiple ad executions 5 Attention Attention: the amount of thinking focused in a particular direction Focus (direction of attention) and intensity (degree of attention) are key to understanding attention Before companies can expect to get consumers money, they must get their attention With attention, products get into consumers consideration sets 6 3
Attention Short-term memory is the cognitive resource for attention Cognitive psychology focuses on understanding humans mental capacity Mental capacity: Sensory memory Short-term memory Long-term memory 7 Attention Sensory memory: part of capacity used when initially analyzing a stimulus detected by one of our five senses Short-term memory: the stimulus is interpreted and contemplated using concepts stored in long-term memory (where thinking occurs) Long-term memory: mental ware-house where knowledge is stored 8 4
Attention Short-term memory is a limited mental resource Span of attention measures how long shortterm memory can be focused on a single stimulus Short commercials overcome consumers limited attention spans Information must be activated to remain in short-term memory 9 Attention The size or capacity of short-term memory is also limited Size of short-term memory is measured in informational chunks, a grouping of information that can be processed as a whole unit Capacity varies from 4 to 7 chunks Disclosing more product information may actually confuse consumers rather than help them 10 5
Grabbing Consumers Attention Consumers are bombarded with product information and advertisements each day Companies have the formidable task of breaking through the clutter to attract consumers attention 11 Grabbing Consumers Attention Connect with consumers needs People are attentive to stimuli perceived as relevant to their needs Gaining consumers attention might require reminding them of their needs Pay consumers to pay attention Permission marketing: persuading consumers to volunteer their attention for a tangible benefit 12 6
This ad is likely to attract mothers with small children and it reminds them of the special dental needs of their children 13 Grabbing Consumers Attention Getting attention with motion Stimuli in motion are more likely to attract consumers than stationary ones POP displays may use moving parts and ads may use simulated motion Scene changes Some ads gain attention with rapid-fire scene changes, which can cause involuntary increases in brain activity Quick-cut commercials may be less persuasive than slower-paced ads 14 7
Tropicana attracts attention by showing motion with flying orange juice 15 Grabbing Consumers Attention Colors attract attention The attention-grabbing and holding power of an ad may be increased sharply with use of color Make it bigger Larger ads and larger pictures within those ads tend to grab more attention than smaller ones Products have a greater chance of being noticed as the size or amount of shelf space allotted to them increases 16 8
Palm Pilot introduced a color version of its personal data manager and featured color prominently in its ads 17 Apple used color to gain attention in the computer arena, highlighted in this ad 18 9
The cookie (biscuit) in this Keebler ad is very large compared to the rest of the elements of the advertisement 19 Grabbing Consumers Attention Make it more intense Loud sounds and bright colors are more likely to attract attention Location affects attention Products may gain more attention depending on where in the store they are located (end-of-aisle or eye-level) More attention is given to ads appearing in the front of magazines Upper-left corner gets most attention 20 10
Grabbing Consumers Attention The surprise factor Stimuli congruent with our expectations may receive less attention than those which deviate from what is expected Ads and packaging may feature unusual elements to gain attention Distinctiveness Products, ads, and packaging may be altered to stand-out from others using color and other elements of design 21 Andersen Consulting uses an elephant as an unexpected stimuli to grab attention. 22 11
Grabbing Consumers Attention The human attraction Celebrities can attract attention in ads and on packaging Attractive people, often scantly dressed, attract attention for a variety of products and brands The entertainment factor Stimuli that entertain and amuse us draw our attention, even if they happen to come in the form of an ad 23 Grabbing Consumers Attention Learned attention-inducing stimuli Some stimuli attract attention because we have learned to react to them We react to sounds, such as doorbells, and words, such as free and sale Find a less-cluttered environment This includes less-cluttered adver-tising mediums and category fields Isolation: placing an object in a barren perceptual field 24 12
Attracting Consumers Attention The use of attention-getting stimuli carries some risks: A stimuli might gain so much attention that the rest of the message is ignored A stimuli may interfere with information processing if it requires too many cognitive resources If consumers perceive the stimuli as manipulative, it can reduce advertising effectiveness 25 Attracting Consumers Attention Can consumers be influenced if they don t pay attention? Subliminal persuasion: notion that people are influence by stimuli below our conscious level of awareness The use of subliminal messages is prevalent today The ability of subliminal stimuli to affect consumer behavior is highly questionable Review Question State the methods companies can use to break through the clutter to attract consumers attention. 26 13