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Part Three Analyzing the Communication Process
Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
Exhibit 5-4 Sampling or
demonstration programs
encourage trial of new
products such as disposable
contact lenses
III. Analyzing the
Communication Process
5. The Communication
Process
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
product or service. Strong levels of interest should create desire to own or use the
product. The action stage in the AIDA model involves getting the customer to make a
purchase commitment and closing the sale. To the marketer, this is the most important
stage in the selling process, but it can also be the most difficult. Companies train their
sales reps in closing techniques to help them complete the selling process.
Perhaps the best known of these response hierarchies is the model developed by
Robert Lavidge and Gary Steiner as a paradigm for setting and measuring advertising
objectives. 12 Their hierarchy of effects model shows the process by which advertising
works; it assumes a consumer passes through a series of steps in sequential order
from initial awareness of a product or service to actual purchase. A basic premise of
this model is that advertising effects occur over a period of time. Advertising communication
may not lead to immediate behavioral response or purchase; rather, a series of
effects must occur, with each step fulfilled before the consumer can move to the next
stage in the hierarchy. As we will see in Chapter 7, the hierarchy of effects model has
become the foundation for objective setting and measurement of advertising effects in
many companies.
The innovation adoption model evolved from work on the diffusion of innovations.
13 This model represents the stages a consumer passes through in adopting a new
product or service. Like the other models, it says potential adopters must be moved
through a series of steps before taking some action (in this case, deciding to adopt a
new product). The steps preceding adoption are awareness, interest, evaluation, and
trial. The challenge facing companies introducing new products is to create awareness
and interest among consumers and then get them to evaluate the product favorably.
The best way to evaluate a new product is through actual use so that performance can
be judged. Marketers often encourage trial by using demonstration or sampling programs
or allowing consumers to use a product with minimal commitment (Exhibit
5-4). After trial, consumers either adopt the product or reject it.
The final hierarchy model shown in Figure 5-3 is the information processing
model of advertising effects, developed by William McGuire. 14 This model assumes
the receiver in a persuasive communication situation like advertising is an information
processor or problem solver. McGuire suggests the series of steps a receiver goes
through in being persuaded constitutes a response hierarchy. The stages of this model
are similar to the hierarchy of effects sequence; attention and comprehension are similar
to awareness and knowledge, and yielding is synonymous with liking. McGuire’s
model includes a stage not found in the other models: retention, or the receiver’s ability
to retain that portion of the comprehended information that he or she accepts as valid or
relevant. This stage is important since most promotional campaigns are designed not to
motivate consumers to take immediate action but rather to provide information they
will use later when making a purchase decision.
Each stage of the response hierarchy is a dependent variable that must be attained
and that may serve as an objective of the communication process. As shown in Figure
5-4, each stage can be measured, providing the advertiser with feedback regarding the
effectiveness of various strategies designed to move the consumer to purchase. The
information processing model may be an effective framework for planning and evaluating
the effects of a promotional campaign.