1. Chapter Four
The Communication Process, Meaning Creation, and the Fundamentals of Consumer’s Use of MarCom Information

2. Chapter Four Objectives
Appreciate the elements of the communication process
Understand the nature of meaning in marketing communications using a perspective known as semiotics
Describe marketing communicators’ usage of three forms of figurative language (simile, metaphor, and allegory)

3. Chapter Four Objectives
Discuss two models of consumer behavior: the consumer processing model (CPM) and the hedonic, experimental model (HEM)
Describe the eight stages of consumer information processing
Explain the fundamental features of the hedonic, experiential model

4. Elements in the Communication Process

5. Elements in the Communication Process
Source
Is a communicator in some MarCom capacity – an advertiser, salesperson, sales promoter – who has thoughts to share with an individual customer or and entire target audience

6. Elements in the Communication Process
Communication Objective
Creating brand awareness, implanting positive associations in the consumer’s memory as a basis for a positive brand image, and affecting behavior

7. Elements in the Communication Process
Message
Is the symbolic expression of what the communicator intends to accomplish

8. Elements in the Communication Process
Message Channel
Is the path through which the message moves from source to receiver

9. Elements in the Communication Process
Receiver
Is the person or group of people with who the source attempts to share ideas

10. Elements in the Communication Process
Communication Outcome
An outcome(s) in response to the message received from a brand communicator

11. Elements in the Communication Process
Feedback
The way the source monitors how accurately the intended message is being received and whether it is accomplishing its intended objective(s)

12. Elements in the Communication Process
Noise
Interference and distortion at any stage of the communication process

13. Marketing Communications and Meaning
Semiotics
Is the study of signs and the analysis of meaning-producing events

14. (the interpreter) in some context
The Nature of Signs
Sign
Something physical and perceivable that signifies something (the referent) to somebody
(the interpreter) in some context

15. The Use of Signs and Symbols in Marketing
Derives its meaning from other items in its context and vice versa
Polo logo signifies high status, financial well-being, and even royalty

16. The Meaning of Meaning Meaning
The perceptions (thoughts) and affective
reactions (feelings) to stimuli evoked within
a person when presented with a sign in a
particular context

17. The sum total of a person’s experiences during his or her lifetime
The Meaning of Meaning
Perceptual Field
The sum total of a person’s experiences
during his or her lifetime

18. The Meaning of Meaning
Communication is effective when signs are common to both the sender’s and the receiver’s fields of experience
The larger the overlap in their perceptual fields, the greater the likelihood that signs will be decoded by the receiver in the manner intended by the sender

19. Meaning Transfer: From Culture to Object to Consumer
Drawing meaning
from the culturally
constituted world

20. Meaning Transfer: From Culture to Object to Consumer
Drawing meaning
from the culturally
constituted world

21. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
Simile
Uses a comparative terms such as like or as to join items from different classes of experience
e.g., “Jekyll Island, Georgia. Like the tide, it draws you back again and again.”

22. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
Use of Simile

23. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
Metaphor
Differs from simile in that the comparative term is omitted
Create a picture in consumers’ minds and tap into meaning shared both by the advertiser and consumer
e.g., Wheaties is the “Breakfast of Champions”

24. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
Use of Metaphor

25. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
The use of metaphor
in advertising

26. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
Allegory
A form of extended metaphor
Conveys meaning in a story-underneath-a-story, where something other than what is literally represented is also occurring
Personification
Often used in advertising of potentially offensive products

27. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
Allegory

28. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
Allegorical personification:
The Pillsbury Dough Boy

29. The Use of Figurative Language in Marketing Communications
The Pillsbury
Doughboy
represents
allegorical
personification

30. Behavior Foundations of Marketing Communications
How consumers process and respond to marketing communications stimuli and make choices among brands
Two models of consumer behavior
CPM and HEM
Consumer behavior is too complex and diverse to be explained by two extreme models

31. Behavior Foundations of Marketing Communications
Consumer Processing Model (CPM)
Behavior is seen as rational, highly
cognitive, systematic,and reasoned

32. Behavior Foundations of Marketing Communications
Hedonic, Experiential Model (HEM)
Consumer behavior is driven by
emotions in pursuit of “fun, fantasies,
and feelings”

33. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing
CPM
The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

34. Consumer Information Processing: Stage 1
Exposure to information
Consumers come in contact with the marketer’s message
Gaining exposure is a necessary but insufficient for communication success
A function of key managerial decisions regarding the size of the budget and the choice of media and vehicles

35. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing
CPM
The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

36. Selective Attention: Stage 2
Focus on and consider a message to which one has been exposed
Highly selective

37. Selective Attention: Stage 2
To attract consumers attention:
Appeals to cognitive and hedonic needs
Use of novel stimuli
Use of intense stimuli
Use of motion

38. Selective Attention: Stage 2
Illustration of
selective attention

39. Selective Attention: Stage 2
Illustration of
selective attention

40. Selective Attention: Stage 2
Illustration of
attention getting advertising

41. Selective Attention: Stage 2
Plays on
selective attention

42. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing
CPM
The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

43. Comprehension: Stage 3
Understand and create meaning out of stimuli and symbols
Interpreting stimuli involves perceptual encoding
Peculiar to each individual (idiosyncratic)
Mood can influence
Miscomprehension are common

44. Perceptual Encoding 1. Feature analysis: Initial stage whereby a
receiver examines the
basic features of a
stimulus
2. Active synthesis:
Beyond examining physical features, the context or situation plays a major role in what meaning is acquired

45. Humorous Illustration of Active Synthesis

46. Selective Perception Each individual is likely to perceive
images in different
ways

47. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing
CPM
The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

48. Consumer Information Processing: Stage 4
Agreement with what is comprehended
The matter of whether consumers yield to
- that is, agree with - what they have
comprehended

49. Agreement: Stage 4
Comprehension by itself does not ensure that the message influence consumers’ behavior
Agreement depends on
whether the message is credible
whether the information appeals to the consumer

50. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing
CPM
The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

51. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing
CPM
The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

52. Retention and Search/Retrieval of Stored Information
These two information processing stages,
retention and information search and
retrieval, both involve memory factors
related to consumer choice

53. Elements of Memory Memory Memory involves the related issues of what
consumers remember about marketing
stimuli and how they access and retrieve
information when making consumption
choices

54. Elements of Memory Sensory stores(SS): Short-Term Memory(STM):
Information is rapidly lost unless attention is allocated to the stimulus
Short-Term Memory(STM):
Limited processing capacity
Not thought or rehearsed information will be lost in 30 seconds or less

55. Elements of Memory Long-Term Memory (LTM):
A virtual storehouse of unlimited information
Information is organized into coherent and associated cognitive units called schemata, memory organization packets, or knowledge structures
The marketer’s job is to provide positively valued information that consumers will store in LTM

56. A Consumer’s Knowledge Structure for the Mazda Miata
Little luggage
space
Two-
Seater
Small
Convertible
Economical
Sports car
Fun to drive
Nostalgic
Mazda
Miata
Japanese
Sexy
British racing
green
Well-Made
Affordable
Women

57. Learning and LTM
Learning represents changes in the content or organization of information in consumers’ long-term memories
Marketing communicators attempt to alter consumers’ long-term memories, knowledge structures, by facilitating learning of information that is compatible with the marketer’s interest

58. Retention and Search/Retrieval of Stored Information
Facilitating
consumer’s
learning

59. Retention and Search/Retrieval of Stored Information
Facilitating
consumer’s
learning

60. Types of Learning Two types of learning
Strengthening of linkages among specific memory concepts
repeating claims, presenting them in a more concrete fashion and being creative in conveying a product’s features
Establishing entirely new linkages

61. Types of Learning Establishing a new linkage between a brand and
a desirable feature

62. Types of Learning Establishing a new linkage between a brand and
a desirable feature

63. Types of Learning An effort to establish new linkages in
consumer’s minds

64. Search and Retrieval of Information
Information that is learned and stored in memory only impacts consumer choice behavior when it is searched and retrieved
Retrieval is facilitated when a new information is linked with another concept that is well known and easily accessed

65. Search and Retrieval of Information
Dual-coding theory - pictures are represented in memory in verbal as well as visual form, however, words are less likely to have a visual representation

66. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing
CPM
The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

67. Consumer Decision Making: Stage 7
Decision heuristics for decision making
Affect referral
Compensatory heuristic
Conjunctive heuristic
Phased strategies

68. Affect Referral Recalls attitude, or affect, toward relevant
alternatives
Selects the alternative for which the affect is most positive

69. Compensatory Heuristic
Evaluates alternatives in terms of criteria trade-off
Chooses the alternative with criteria that best compensates for inferior criteria

70. The 8 Stages of Consumer Information Processing

71. Action on the basis of the decision
Action: Stage 8
Action on the basis of the decision
People do not always behave in a manner consistent with their preferences due to the presence of events, or situational factors
Situational factors are especially prevalent in low-involvement consumer behavior

72. The HEM perspective
People often consume products for the fun of it or in the pursuit of amusement, fantasies, or sensory simulation
Products are subjective symbols that precipitate feelings and promise fun and the possible realization of fantasies
The communication of HEM-relevant products emphasizes nonverbal content or emotionally provocative words and is intended to generate images, fantasies, and positive emotions and feelings

73. CPM vs. HEM
An advertisement
exemplifying
the CPM approach

74. CPM vs. HEM
An advertisement
exemplifying
the HEM approach