Custom «Testing Viewer Appeal in Television Advertising» Essay Paper Sample

Appeal is the emotional, psychological or cognitive state of a viewer that influences them towards the advertiser’s goals which is to sell and inform. There are several appeals used in advertising to create relevance of the products, and there needs to be several guidelines that enable a company to decide on a particular one. Before choosing an advertising appeal, it’s important to ascertain the target buyer groups. This is because specific product could appeal more to teenagers than their parents, others appeal to religious people, others to a particular profession and some are general to everyone.

Testing appeal in television requires more visual than audio enhancements. The time when the ad is to be aired is of paramount importance. Ads relating to teenagers are best put during school holidays and during the day, while those for the whole family group could be placed in the evenings (Vavra, 1997).

Types of appeals are generally categorised as either informational or transformational. Informational appeals provide the viewer with relevant information about the product in a clear logical manner. This information could be the price, advantages of using, where or how to get it, how to use it and if any, precautions to take. Transformational tests involve sharing the usage experience of the product therefore highlighting its benefits to the prospective buyers. As much as both are important and relevant, informational appeals sell more than transformational. Within the two major categories, there are humour appeals, sex appeal, logical appeal, fear appeal, and values appeal (Fullen & Podmoroff, 2006).

Humour appeal makes people laugh and feel good. Humour brings about the fun side of using a product. Humour can be tricky as most viewers could end up recalling the humour, and nothing more about the product. Sex appeal is commonly used in products like perfumes, wines and spirits, beauty products and sexy under wears. It appeals to teenagers and college age buyers. The notion that sex sells is overrated to some instances, when it’s too much, it repels. Research shows that female viewers are repelled by pictures of nude females and total nude men, while men are also repelled by pictures of nude men. As much as sex gets attention, one needs to be careful when putting an ad with this appeal as most people will forget the product and only remember the sexy part. It can also alienate viewers.

Fear appeal is another way to get information over to the buyers. Fear highlights negative consequences that can happen if a consumer fails to take recommended actions that are important in changing behaviour like healthy eating, responsible driving, smoking, etc. it creates insecurity that one would be discriminated upon if they do not conform to certain social values like cleanliness through using a certain soap product (Hill & Alexander, 2006).

Logical appeal provides rational reasons or information about the product. It provides product’s features through logic and emotion. Values appeal relates to people’s strong values about morality, and other aspects in life. This could be religion, altruism, traditions, ambitions, etc. when using value appeal, it important to consider the diverse cultural backgrounds to avoid offending people. What is accepted in one culture could be overly offensive in another (Scott, 2000).

Let’s take an example of testing the appeal of a particular perfume brand on a television ad. The model is portrayed as they were before using the brand (as lonely, nervous around people, lacking self confidence or unattractive) then the perfume is introduced to them by a friend who used it before, who tell them about the advantages of it. Later, the model becomes attractive, sexy, confident, and eye catching. A man or a woman who use this brand is seen as having a strong sex appeal, catching the attention of the opposite sex and is envied by the same sex. This will enhance its performance on both the sexes as those in the same sex may want to be as caching and sexy, and those of the opposite sex may believe that women or men who wear that brand of perfume possess the same qualities. The purchase of this perfume may increase because of this. In the above example, there is sex appeal, fear appeal, transformation appeal and logical appeal (Hoyer, Wayne & Macinnis, 2008).

The product sells more because different appeals are used therefore expanding its market base. Customer management ensures satisfaction and provides feedback about the product’s performance. This can be done through consumer insight interviews, questionnaires and getting information from selling outlets. Feedback not only increases sells, but also helps the product perform better as improvements can be made. Consumer dissatisfaction is a clear way of seeing if this product is doing well in the market. With feedback, one is able to know if customers are satisfied or not. Movement of the product is also an indication. Slow movement could indicate poor sale while fast movement is a good sign. A product could do well in one region and poorly in another, depending on the population characteristic (Reichert & Laimbaise, 2003).

Increasing sales can also be done through promotions i.e., attaching a complementary product with the perfume so if a person buys the perfume, the attached product is given free. Price reduction at particular seasons also increases purchases, i.e. during valentines, Christmas or other festive seasons when people buy presents for their loved ones. This pattern if monitored well increases purchases and performance of the product. Monitoring the sales enables one to establish the purchase patterns of the product (MacRury, 2009). One is able to know when and where the purchases are high, and therefore able to ascertain the reasons for it. Customer satisfaction can therefore be defined as the state of mind that customers have about a company when their expectations have been met or exceed with the service or product in the market. Customer satisfaction leads to loyalty of customers which aids in the success of the company. Customer satisfaction is measured by conducting a customer satisfaction survey, Focus groups, and Customer advisory groups (Mooij, 2009).

Customer satisfaction surveys are carried out through, “moments of truth”, where a customer gives their own experience after using the product or service, and “word of mouth”, where experience of other customers every time they hear about the company are recorded and used in making necessary changes. Customer advisory centres or groups give a central source of information input from customer viewpoint. This enhances the relationship between customers and the management as this advisory groups act as a link between the two. Focus groups gather ideas about customer needs, expectations and suggestions for areas of improvement or new service.

Establishing purchase patterns of a product involves a lot of factors e.g. those that influence the purchase of the product and those that influence the ability of the customer to buy or use the product. Factors that influence purchase are those that explain why they prefer the product. These include packaging (pleasant packaging appeal more), availability of the product, after sale services(companies that offer these services sale more because they make it user friendly),product quality, quantity, location/positioning, etc. a customer is persuaded to buy if it fits his/her stated budget. Budget refers to a customers’ purchase power, i.e. how much they are willing to pay or expect to pay, and if they can afford it. It also includes the order process, i.e. how they get the product or service. Is it through off the shelf, internet, or through the mail. The quickest and most convenient one is most preferred. Apart from the above two, purchase time is also a factor. As discussed above, certain products or services do well during particular seasons. This should be targeted by companies so as to maximise profits (O’shaughnessy & O’shaughnessy, 2004).

In conclusion, the performance of a product in the market involves a lot of people and processes right from conception of an idea, production, marketing, to sale. Competitors should also be put in mind when dealing with performance.