Special Session Summary Advances in Conceptual Constructs For Communications Research

Citation:

Nadine Henley (1996) ,"Special Session Summary Advances in Conceptual Constructs For Communications Research", in AP - Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 2, eds. Russel Belk and Ronald Groves, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 133.

Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 2, 1996      Page 133

SPECIAL SESSION SUMMARY

ADVANCES IN CONCEPTUAL CONSTRUCTS FOR COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH

Nadine Henley, Edith Cowan University

Understanding the dynamics and inherent difficulties in the communication process is crucial to effective marketing. Clearly, characteristics of the source will have an impact on the way the message is received by the customer; Birch and McPhail investigate the specific characteristic of the source’s accent, with a study of American, British and Australian accents in Australian television advertising. Encoding messages in health promotion as death or non-death threats will be examined by Henley and Donovan; they suggest a methodology for distinguishing between the threat stimulus encoded in the message and the fear response decoded by the receiver. All communications compete with some "noise", distractions that generally reduce the effectiveness of the process. This is of particular interest when the marketer uses the noise to create a subliminal message; Bennett, Pecotich and Ogunmokum examine the communication effectiveness of product placement. These three studies on specific aspects of the communication process, source characteristics, encoding/ decoding messages and the effect of noise, will contribute to our understanding of effective marketing.

 

IMPACT OF ACCENT ON SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION ADVERTISING

Dawn Birch, University of Southern Queensland

Janelle McPhail, University of Southern Queensland

Standardisation of international advertising campaigns means that Australian consumers are being exposed to foreign-product advertising. This study will assess the impact of the accent of a spokesperson on the television audience’s evaluation of that spokesperson in terms of their expertise, trustworthiness, likeability, dynamism, and similarity to the audience and their attitude toward the advertisement. A 2x2 factorial design will be used in which the accent of the spokesperson will be manipulated, and listener’s source evaluations and attitude towards the advertisement will be measured. Male and female subjects will rate three different advertisements and evaluate either an American, British or Australian spokesperson.

 

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF DEATH VS NONDEATH THREATS IN HEALTH PROMOTION

Nadine Henley, Edith Cowan University

Robert J Donovan, University of WA

This study investigates whether it is more effective to use death or nondeath threats in health promotion, hypothesising that a market segmentation approach is indicated. A distinction is made between the threat stimulus and the fear response. The threat stimulus will vary in severity, likelihood of occurrence, immnence, reversibility and relevance. The fear response is a function of the fear aroused by the threat itself and the fear aroused by the executional elements of the message, whether it is delivered as a lecture or as an emotional appeal. The methodology for testing this hypothesis is explained; preliminary results will be presented.

 

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY INTO THE COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Michell Bennett, University of WA

Anthony Pecotich, University of WA

Gabriel Ogunmokun, University of WA

Marketers’, in their quest to promote their products, are increasingly turning to unconventional mediums in which to display their wares (Sandler and Secunda, 1993). This search for alternative promotional opportunities has led to the increased popularity of product placement (Miller, 1990, Nebenzahl and Secunda, 1993, Sandler and Secunda, 1993).

Product placement is the deliberate placement of branded products in films or television programs (Clark, 1992, Nebenzahl and Secunda, 1993, Wako, Phillips and Purdie, 1993). It is specifically designed to get under viewers’ defences and infiltrate their product attitudes and purchasing behaviour while viewers, oblivious to its very presence, sit back and enjoy the show (Miller, 1990).

Despite promotional practitioners’ embracing product placement, a review of the literature reveals that surprisingly little is known about this emerging marketing practice. The assertions that product placement is effective in raising brand awareness lack any empirical foundation. Thus the current study is designed to investigate the effects product placement has on recall and recognition for products and its effectiveness at raising brand awareness. This study investigates the effects of preceding the film with a list of the placed products to warn viewers of the products’ appearance in the film. In addition to the effect of a warning, the study also examines the effects of a range of exposure variable, related to the appearance of placed products in this film.

----------------------------------------