Chapter One
Introduction
1.1
Background to the Study
Advertising,
in this modern age of highly competitive market economy, has become a
push-button word with a powerful communication force and a vital marketing tool
helping to sell goods, services, images and ideas through channels of
information and persuasion (Osunbiyi:1999).
There
is no commodity (product and service) that is not advertised in this present
age all over the world. A lot of money is spent on advertising by manufacturers
and service providers once their commodity has solution to a nagging problem in
the society. Advertising budgets of businesses have continued to grow yearly as
a result of rapid increase in numbers of different items and services that are
churned out every day.
It
is now commonplace to encounter advertisements of ‘anything that solves
societal problem’ through radio, television, movies, newspaper, magazine;
billboard, and the Internet, to mention a few. Religious and political
advertising has caught up with and fairly overtaken that of manufacturing,
maritime, aviation, banking, insurance, education and entertainment. ‘Battle of
space in the media’ is the immediate result of the rise in advertisements in
recent decades.
Because
advertising is flamboyant and creative, advertising professionals continually
adopt several innovations to catch and arrest the attention of target buyers
amidst rising numbers of products, ideas and services jostling for purchase.
Day after day, the style of creativity in playing with words and visuals
gets better and better as a result of new innovations and technological
advancement (Ayobolu:2002). In fact, it is now the battle of wits and
creativity for an advertisement to have effect on target audience.
All
over the world, the use of orators/rhetors in
advertising messages is not a new trend. It has been in existence for some decades now.
Target audience are often fascinated at the use of their superstar celebs, especially
children celebrities, who play major role in advertising messages/campaigns of
FMCG. Advertising messages are directed at the target audience to stimulate a reaction.
This also involves the process of understanding perception of the target
audience, which most importantly motivates the buyer to initiate the process of
buying the product.
The
use of children kids in advertising campaigns has become an acceptable thing in
advertising industry (Ayobolu: 2002:56) in Nigeria and all over the world
(mine). Ayobolu further posited that the trend ‘has advanced creativity in
advertising in order to achieve its goal of reaching the target audience.
Advertising involves a lot of art to be able to present the messages well. The
use of kids comes in here. After the creative concepts have been designed, they
will be required to model in advertisements in all the available media to be
able to pass the messages across to the target audience.
Advertising
is not static, as scholars opined. This gave rise to the recent breakout of the
use of kids in the industry. It is not that this trend has not happened before,
but the trend as initiated is for a purpose.
Therefore,
the main goal of this research is to measure and evaluate the influence of the
use of children models in advertising, using Bournvita as a case-study. In
studying the influence, the research will find out how applicable the
innovation of the inclusion of children models is.
1.2
Statement of Research Problem
The
question of “how much influence does the use of children models in advertising
has on consumers/buyers” has over the years been a major issue of concern to
advertising professionals. Little wonder communication researchers and/or
advertising professionals continue to conduct studies to ascertain whether the
use of children models in advertising FMGC, especially those that have kids as
their primary targets, influence buyers in making purchases or not. One of
those goods is Bournvita, which is the product under study.
As
many advertising professionals and producers of FMGCs continually adopt
children models in advertising their products, the need to find out the
influence of the rising innovation becomes imperative. Based on this, this
research work presents the following statement of problems which the researcher
intends to investigate about Bournvita.
(i)
Has the use of children model in
advertising Bournvita helped in creating awareness for the product?
(ii)
Does the presence of children models
in adverting Bournvita help arrest or catch attention of buyers?
(iii)
Does this innovation actually
motivate parents or kids to purchase of Bournvita?
1.3
Objectives of the Study
The
objectives of this study are as follows:
(i)
To find out the influence of the use
of children models in advertising;
(ii)
To measure the influence by
conducting a survey through the construction and administration of
questionnaires;
(iii)
To encourage or discourage further
adoption of the innovation/trend in advertising based on the inferences made
from sampled opinions.
1.4
Research Questions
The
research questions include:
(i)
What specific influence does the use
of children models have on the advertising of Bournvita?
(ii)
What roles do buyers make out of the
use of children models: entertainment or testimonial?
(iii)
How do buyers/consumers perceive the
use of children models in advertising Bournvita?
1.5
Significance of the Study
When
completed, the study will be of immense benefit to the present and future
generation of researchers, professionals and the general public. The study will
be a source of reference to contemporary and upcoming researchers/scholars. In
other words, it will be a sure reservoir from which knowledge will be drawn by
researchers in related fields. Professionals will benefit from the various
recommendations which the study will make. As it will make findings, it will
help buyers in making decision about their purchases.
1.6
Scope of Study
The
area of coverage consists of FMCGs, especially those that focus on children as
their primary target. The focus is on the measurement of the influence of the
use of children models in advertising. The case study is Bournvita, a popular
beverage drink in Nigeria and in many countries across the world.
1.7
Definitions of Key Terms
Influence- refers to short- or long-term
effects of something on another thing.
Children- this study limits the term to kids
up to the age of 12. They are primary school children. They also take part in
making decision about purchases.
Model- is a famous person or a celebrity
who performs a major role in advertising a product. A model is mostly used for
testimonial appeal.
Children
Model- refers to
a famous child who is used to advertise a product.
Bournvita- a beverage drink produced by
Cadbury. It is a world famous beverage drink.
Advertising- is a persuasive message that
spreads awareness about a product, idea or service through the mass media to a
target audience.
References
Chapter Two
Literature Review
2.1
Introduction
This
chapter will deal with the review of all relevant literatures. The researcher
will extensively review both past and contemporary studies that are related to
this work. However, this chapter will be divided into three major parts:
conceptual review, theoretical review and empirical review.
2.2
Conceptual Review
Literatures
on the concepts of advertising, model and influence abound in many published
books written by renowned scholars in communication and other humanities across
the world.
Note
that: the following is a synopsis of the
concepts that the researcher intends to review extensively in this study.
(i)
Advertising- according to APCON, advertising is
a form of communication through mass media about products, services, or ideas
paid for by an identifiable sponsor. Osunbiyi (1999) defined advertising as a
controlled persuasive communication paid for by identifiable sponsor(s), about
products, services or ideas and disseminated through the mass media to a target
audience. Doghudje, cited in Osunbiyi (1999) also defined it as a marketing
tool whose sole aim is to build preferences advertised brands and services.
In
addition to this definitions, ad agency, ad media, types of ad, and objectives
of ad will be reviewed.
(ii)
Advertising Appeals- are the various psycho-social
mechanisms through which an advertiser can secure attention and/or motivate
action in the direction of the advertising messages (Osunbiyi:1999). Appeals
including testimonial, appetite, pride and parental love will be reviewed.
(iv)
Influence- is “the act or power of producing an
effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command”. “The
power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways”. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/influence.
2.3 Empirical Review
Researchers
on the influence of the use of models and/or children models abound I the field
of communication and advertising. Though this study cannot exhaust all of them,
it will make attempts to review the findings and conclusions of a couple of
them.
One
relevant work is that of Ayobolu (2002) which is entitled “Effects of the Use
of Kids in Nigerian Advertising”. Ayobolu inferred that the use of kids in
advertising some goods which have children as their main targets influences
purchase decision positively.
2.4 Theoretical
Review
Many
theories exist to address the influence of advertising (persuasive
communication) on the target audience. For this study, the discussion will be
hinged on three theoretical constructs- conditioning theory, cognitive
dissonance and elaboration likelihood model (ELM). These three theories are
theories of persuasion. They selected because advertising is a persuasive
communication or message.
However,
before delving into the discussion/review of the three theories, it is
significant to first discuss the term persuasion.
2.4.1
Persuasion defined
Persuasion
is typically defined as “human communication that is designed to influence
others by modifying their beliefs, values, or attitudes” (Simons, 1976, p. 21).
O’Keefe (1990) argued that there are requirements for the sender, the means,
and the recipient to consider something persuasive. First, persuasion involves
a goal and the intent to achieve that goal on the part of the message sender.
Second, communication is the means to achieve that goal. Third, the message
recipient must have free will (i.e., threatening physical harm if the recipient
doesn’t comply is usually considered force, not persuasion). Accordingly, persuasion
is not accidental, nor is it coercive. It is inherently communicational.
In
his Introduction to Persuasion, Lee McGaan of Monmouth College defined
persuasion as “a process by which people use messages to influence others”.
According to him, while persuasion typically uses information, the emphasis in
a persuasive message is on influencing the receiver (rather than merely
providing information and letting the receiver make up his/her own mind).
Persuasion attempts to change minds or get people to act. Persuaders seek
change!
Since
theories of persuasion are concerned with shifts in attitude, so it is
important to make clear what this research means by that term. An attitude is a
“relatively enduring predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably” toward
something (Simons, 1976, p. 80). There are attitudes toward people, places,
events, products, policies, ideas, and so forth (O’Keefe, 1990). Because
attitudes are enduring, they are neither fleeting nor based on whims. Yet at
the same time, attitudes are learned evaluations; they are not something that
people are born with. As such, attitudes are changeable. Finally, and perhaps
most importantly, attitudes are presumed to influence behavior. To illustrate,
your attitude toward a product will influence whether you buy the product.
2.4.1(i)
Purpose of Persuasion
According
to McGaan, five general purposes of persuasion are:
Create
uncertainty-
When an audience is strongly opposed to the persuader's view, the best that may
be possible for the speaker is to make the audience a little less certain they
are right, a little less comfortable with their current attitude.
Reduce
resistance-
If the audience is moderately opposed to the speaker's position but not
closed-minded, the persuader may be able to reduce opposition to his/her view
and move the audience toward neutrality. While not expecting a reversal of
views this goal asks the audience to recognize the validity of opinions
different from their own.
Change
attitude- If the
audience is not committed especially strongly to any attitude on the topic this
goal is appropriate.
Amplify
attitude- If the
audience is already moderately favorable to the persuader's view, the speaker
can design a message which will reinforce current attitudes in the audience, help
the audience resist appeals from opponents, and (perhaps) motivate the members
of the audience to become strongly committed to the speaker's position.
Gain
behavior- When an
audience strongly favors the persuader's position, the logical goal is to get
them to ACT on their convictions.
2.4.2
Discussion of the Theories
(i)
Conditioning Theory
Conditioning
plays a huge part in the concept of persuasion. It is more often about leading
someone into taking certain actions of their own, rather than giving direct
commands. In advertisements for example, this is done by attempting to connect
a positive emotion to a brand/product logo. This is often done by creating
commercials that make people laugh, using a sexual undertone, inserting
uplifting images and/or music etc. and then ending the commercial with a
brand/product logo.
Great
examples of this are professional athletes. They are paid to connect themselves
to things that can be directly related to their roles; sport shoes, tennis
rackets, golf balls, or completely irrelevant things like soft drinks, popcorn
poppers and panty hose. The important thing for the advertiser is to establish
a connection to the consumer. The thought is that it will affect how people
view certain products, knowing that most purchases are made on the basis of
emotion.
(ii)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Leon
Festinger originally proposed the Theory of Cognitive Dissonance in 1956. He
theorized that human beings constantly strive for mental consistency. Our
cognition (thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes) can be in agreement, unrelated, or
in disagreement with each other. Our cognition can also be in agreement or
disagreement with our behaviour. When we detect conflicting cognition, or
dissonance, it gives us a sense of incompleteness and discomfort. For example,
a person who is addicted to smoking cigarettes but also suspects it could be
detrimental to his health suffers from cognitive dissonance.
Folarin
(1998) that cognitive dissonance theory is concerned with the process that a
person goes through in justifying or rationalizing his or her behavior after a
decision or commitment has been made. The less justification people have for
behaving in a certain way or changing a commitment, the more dissonance they
will experience.
(iii)
Elaboration Likelihood Model
The
elaboration likelihood model (ELM) views persuasion primarily as a cognitive
event, meaning that the targets of persuasive messages use mental processes of
motivation and reasoning (or a lack thereof) to accept or reject persuasive
messages. Developed by Petty and Cacioppo (1986), ELM posits two possible
routes or methods of influence: centrally routed messages and peripherally
routed messages. Each route targets a widely different audience. ELM emphasizes
the importance of understanding audience members before creating a persuasive
message.
Central
route- Whereby
an individual evaluates information presented to them based on the pros and
cons of it and how well it supports their values
Peripheral
route- Change
is mediated by how attractive the source of communication is bypassing the
deliberation process.
The
ELM forms a new facet of the route theory. It holds that the probability of
effective persuasion depends on how successful the communication is at bringing
to mind a relevant mental representation, which is the elaboration likelihood.
Thus if the target of the communication is personally relevant, this increases
the elaboration likelihood of the intended outcome and would be more persuasive
if it were through the central route. Communication which does not require
careful thought would be better suited to the peripheral route.
References
Chapter 3
Methodology
3.1
Introduction
This chapter of the research is entitled methodology.
The chapter deals mainly with the data gathering approach of the study. The
data gathering approach is done under seven headings- research method,
population of study, population size, research instrument, data analysis
approach and limitation. It suffices to say that this chapter serves as a
prelude to Chapter 4 (Results & Discussions). The study adopts content
analysis method.
3.2
Research Method
This study is a survey of the “Influence of Children Models
in Advertising” with specific interest in Bournvita. The survey design method
is therefore adopted as the major tool of data gathering.
3.3
Population of Study
The general population of the study will comprise
children and mothers who are buyers and/or consumers of Bournvita in the
Nigerian markets. The researcher observes, like many advertising professionals
do, that children are the primary consumers of beverage drinks. They influence
their parents in making decision to purchase.
3.4
Population Size
The population/sample size for this study will be 60
so as to have a manageable size for analysis. This sample will be selected
purposively across cities and rural areas in Ogun and Lagos States to know the
disparity of influence (effect). The sample will consist of 30 children aged
between eight (6) and 10 within classroom environment. The remaining 30 sample
will consist mainly of mothers aged 24 and above. Because the sample will be
selected purposively, the researcher will select based on some demographic
traits, such as education, standard of living (middle class), affordability,
and the exposure to advertising in various media. The sample will be selected
from the two places.
The reason for using the purposive sampling technique
was to meet the study objectives set by the researcher. Nworgu (1991:78)
supports this reason by saying “in purposive sampling, specific elements, which
satisfy some predetermined criteria, are selected. Although the criteria to be
used are usually a matter of the researcher’s judgment, he exercises this
judgment in relation to what he thinks will constitute a representative sample
with respect to the research purpose”.
3.5
Research Instrument
Questionnaire will be the main research instrument of
this study. The questionnaire will be constructed under the survey analytical
method. Meanwhile, two sets of questionnaires will be constructed for the
children and the mothers. The questionnaires will contain both open-ended and
close ended questions. The researcher will personally administer the
questionnaires to the selected sample across the areas in order to elicit
opinions for analysis. Class teachers may assist the children in explaining the
questions
3.6
Data Presentation and Analysis
Simple
frequency tables will be used to present and analyze the data gathered from
this study. The tables will be analyzed manually. These tables will help in
constructed for each research questions in Chapter One so as to make relevant
inferences and conclusion based on the data gathered.
Analysis
will also be done for each question on the two sets of the questionnaires, with
focus on unit of analysis such as age, class, taste and income.
References
