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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
III. Analyzing the
Communication Process
5. The Communication
Process
interpret their messages and how these reactions will shape consumers’ responses to
the company and/or its product or service.
This chapter reviews the fundamentals of communication and examines various
perspectives and models regarding how consumers respond to advertising and promotional
messages. Our goal is to demonstrate how valuable an understanding of the
communication process can be in planning, implementing, and evaluating the marketing
communications program.
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Communication has been variously defined as the
passing of information, the exchange of ideas, or
the process of establishing a commonness or oneness
of thought between a sender and a receiver. 1 The Nature of Communication
These definitions suggest that for
communication to occur, there must be some common thinking between two parties
and information must be passed from one person to another (or from one group to
another). As you will see in this chapter, establishing this commonality in thinking is
not always as easy as it might seem; many attempts to communicate are unsuccessful.
The communication process is often very complex. Success depends on such factors
as the nature of the message, the audience’s interpretation of it, and the environment
in which it is received. The receiver’s perception of the source and the medium
used to transmit the message may also affect the ability to communicate, as do many
other factors. Words, pictures, sounds, and colors may have different meanings to different
audiences, and people’s perceptions and interpretations of them vary. For example,
if you ask for a soda on the East Coast or West Coast, you’ll receive a soft drink
such as Coke or Pepsi. However, in parts of the Midwest and South, a soft drink is
referred to as pop. If you ask for a soda, you may get a glass of pop with ice cream in
it. Marketers must understand the meanings that words and symbols take on and how
they influence consumers’ interpretation of products and messages. This can be particularly
challenging to companies marketing their products in foreign countries.
Language is one of the major barriers to effective communication, as there are different
languages in different countries, different languages or dialects within a single
country, and more subtle problems of linguistic nuance and vernacular. The growth of
bilingual, multicultural ethnic markets in the United States is also creating challenges
for domestic marketers. Diversity Perspective 5-1 discusses issues advertisers must
consider in developing messages for young Hispanics, who are a very fast growing
market segment.
Over the years, a basic model of the various
elements of the communication process has
evolved, as shown in Figure 5-1. 2 A Basic Model of Communication
Two elements
represent the major participants in the communication process, the sender and
the receiver. Another two are the major communication tools, message and channel.
Source/
Sender
Feedback
Sender’s
Field of
Experience
Encoding
Channel
Message
Noise
Receiver’s
Field of
Experience
Decoding Receiver
Response
Figure 5-1 A model of the
communication process
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Chapter Five The Communication Process