The Changing Landscape of Advertising: Appeals and Endorsements
Dr. Seema Singh
Associate Professor,
Dept. of IMSAR, MDU
Deepa Ahuja
Research Scholar,
IMSAR, MDU
deepa.ahuja06@gmail.com
Abstract
Advertising has been always considered as an effective mechanism to publicize message to prospective consumer. The dynamics of advertising has always undergone a change with changing dimensions of environment. This research aims to explore appeals of advertising and endorsements in this new normal era that can influence the consumer behavior .Advertising need to be transformed in the new normal. The methodology involves a detailed analysis of literature and gathering insights from different real time examples, with a highlight on changing landscape of advertising. The results affirm that dynamics of Celebrity endorsements and creative appeals do positively affects the behavioral intention of respondents toward advertisement and message comprehension. So, advertising needs to be resilient to capture the heart of consumer in new normal.
Keywords: Advertising, Advertising Appeals, Celebrity Endorsement, Covid-19 pandemic
Introduction
The Corona Pandemic has brought major changes in all sections of society, whether it is economy, society, politics, culture, Environmental, science or technology .It is the social change that do have an effect on business in terms of consumer response and communication, innovative changes in business and advertising. Therefore, it is imperative to analyze how the characteristics and types of advertising should go under a change according to the consumers’ changed behavior in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic, and to study its countermeasures. This study is meant to find novel ways of appealing to consumer and intends to suggest the advertising industry to prepare itself and respond to this change by analyzing how the features of advertising and the types of advertising should be changed according to social changes and consumer behaviour caused in the wake of pandemic.
Objectives:
Research Methodology: The study is based on latest literature available , published article in national and international journals , Advertising agencies reports , published articles and expert views , Social media platform .Secondary data and some statistics being taken as a source for further analysis , from the reports generated through leading sources meant for the same .Although no primary data is collected but a lot of studies conducted during the period has been analyzed to reach to the conclusion .
Study Background
Corona 19 Pandemic and Social Change : The current period is leading to humanism beyond science and technology after a long period of chaos . Today Materialism has weekend , freedom and equality , human happiness , care and values are preferred .The pandemic had become a medium of transformation for existing social system .Humanity leads to adapting to a new environment . With a pandemic universalism and materialism are weakened, freedom and equality are emphasized, the pursuit of human happiness and life values have emerged ,This novel change will result in a “new normal” and will bring about a rebounced period into Advertising trend too .
The Corona 19 pandemic has become a medium to change the existing social system and culture. It can be said that it is a combination of humanism that respects human freedom and equality, happiness and life values, and the realization of creativity and humanity after digital era. The world of New Normal will value ethics, art and culture and strengths in humanism such as creativity, morality, and emotion. The New Normal era could be a blend “innovation” and “humanism,” In other words, humanism, which aims for innovation in anticipating and responding to changes in the new era, and for people's happiness and restoration of nature, should be set as the frame of economic policy.
Business Changes in the Era of Corona 19 Pandemic
Due to the pandemic - globalization of trade and production is constantly weakening. As consumption shrinks the economic downturn in each country may get worse. Good measures are needed to overcome this global economic crisis. With reference to communication there is need to advertise message carefully and reinforce feeling participation that increases satisfaction by providing direct and indirect experiences with emotional participation. Industries that would initiate such future trend and changes, such as smart work and education, smart healthcare, smart factory, smart city, smart contents, smart shop, smart farm, and smart marketing will emerge. New digital-oriented, advertising based to consumer segment as per the changed behavioural pattern after pandemic, different type of advertising and changes in marketing, and innovative changes in product production processes in all business areas are expected, and business management is required to respond.
Corona 19 Pandemic and Consumer Changes -Corona 19 will have the greatest impact on consumer behavior in many ways.
First, It has given an impetus to more smart ways of purchase and consumption. Online purchase, online education, untact shopping, untact live lecture, teleconference, smart work, and smart finance have been introduced and consumers could experienced it while using it. Through this, consumer could learn how to use it and know the convenience.
Second is thrist for “personal freedom and direct experience”. Consumption behavior that emphasizes personalized direct and indirect experiences in the Corona 19 era is expected to be further strengthened.
Third, feelings of depression, anxiety, lethargy, stress, and alienation occur. Therefore, consumption of mental care for mental health is increasing. The use of meditation apps to relieve anxiety and depression has increased, and mobile psychological counseling platform are also being activated. In addition, consumption of sweet and spicy taste foods was increased by easing depression. In addition, consumption for home games and home movies is increasing. Fourth, Local consumption increases.
Fourth, Consumption for domestic brand is increasing.Fifth, polarization of consumption was intensified. For example, general fashion brands are suffering from Corona 19, but luxury fashion brands such as Chanel are constantly being consumed. And the consumption of luxury cars such as imported cars is increasing. In addition, consumption is increasing to purchase their own yachts and enjoy them in a safe place with little contact with people.
Sixth, consumption that cares the environment . As mentioned above, consumers in the era of the Corona 19 pandemic are showing new consumption patterns and changing. In response to these changes in consumers, it is predicted that advertising characteristics and advertising types will also change.
The year 2020 has changed the way of life never imagined before .The things has undergone a change and media and message today also not the same as before. The way the message is conveyed, content is produced and understood has also got a change . Contactless, digital content, content over social media , celebrity endorsement , diverse appeals of advertising are the changes that evolved and steeped in during and after difficult times.
Advertising appeals Advertising appeals means the theme of advertising , the technique of communicating message , the way of attracting customer by the way of advertising .Mostly , advertising appeals strives to show evidence or generate an emotional connect that can impact on behavioural intentions of the target audience and to generate purchase intention .
How Advertisers Are Have Responded, Responding and Should Respond
From 2019 to 2020 although ad spend has affected ,but the way the advertisement industry has bounced back is worth mentioning .Advertising pioneer Bruce Barton once said, "In good times people want to advertise; in bad times they have to." (Forbes agency council 2020)The new normal times has demanded the novel ways to stay stand in the front of audience to meet the current challenge.
It is the time to reallocate the resources and spending. Digital platforms also hold the key to win the heart of youngsters (Gupta 2020).Television advertisement surely work along with digital consumption. Message provided by relatable personalities or celebrities often get better response than non –relatable one.
A few Examples of Change Initiatives in Advertising by popular Brand – A reference For Future Advertising/Advertising Appeals
Burger King | Restaurant of TomorrowBurger King has come with an idea of the “restaurant of tomorrow” with more confidence even in the wake of pandemic. As concern of people has increased for hygiene, no or minimum direct contact with the cashier or waiters.Burger King’s restaurant idea not only dealt with current situation, Rather a long term approach to satisfy the changed mindset of people about hygiene and related issues are depicted. A future solution here has been proposed and communicated as “Restaurant of Tommorrow” Must have such kind of functioning where people feel more safe , and comfortable ,The restaurant being shown as that kind of restaurant in science-fiction movies. So these videos give the feeling the restaurant is coming from the future, building trust while being innovative too.
McDonald’s – Bye Bye Balloons While showing socially responsible behavior McDonald have focused on a message with an appeal to reduce single-use plastics and waste, McDonald’s Sweden and agency NORD DDB now remove the balloons from all restaurants across Sweden. The plastic balloons will be replaced with digital ones.
Cadbury Dairy Milk’s ‘The Originals’ campaign encourages people to take the time to chat to an older person as life is too short to regret . The campaign stems from the fact older people often go a whole week without speaking to anyone. The cadbary advertising appeal have emphasized to talk to older people about adventurous aspects of their lives to make them comfortable rather than just discussing practical concerns.
Electronics brand Lenovo rolled out a new global campaign aimed at establishing ‘Yoga’ the preferred choice in the premium consumer laptop category.Ford have given the message as Let’s Face The Change Skechers India stated the message like Go Like Never Before; Skechers’ “Go Like Never Before” campaign featuring Siddhant Chaturvedi emphasizes the importance of running as a sport to remain fit and encourages people to stay active in their day-to-day routine. The campaign spotlight on how fitness enthusiasts have found new ways to continue their journey even during and in the wake of pandemic .Coca-Cola: Open Like Never BeforeWhile everyone is speaking of “going back to the new normal”, Coca Cola campaign #openlikeneverbefore also aims to ask for the participation of other people and raise public awareness.
Adidas |Ready for Sport With the pandemic, everyone’s priorities have changed , so the need is to change the way the marketer and advertiser communicate to win the heart of people in the new normal .How people see the life , what the money is spent on , how they deal with the problems all has changed. Pandemic has also taught them that the moment is the matter. So the message appeal said that seize the day, take every chance you have and do what you wants to do, there could be. And, of course, use Adidas products while running to your dreams.
All Above Examples of dealing with the pandemic shows the Positivity, humanism and emotions .As per the literature below, a future oriented approach also putting its direction towards such appeals and lot more.
Truths Table
|
Old Truth |
New Truth |
|
1. Marketing begins with knowing your customer |
Marketing begins with knowing your customer segment. |
|
2. Companies are competing with competitors. |
Companies are competing with the last best experience their customer had. |
|
3. Customers hope that companies have what they want. |
Customers expect you to have exactly what they want. |
|
4. Courting customers is just like dating. |
Courting customers is just like online dating. |
|
5. Customers must stay tuned at the heart of your marketing strategy. |
Customers must stay at the heart of your customer journey. |
|
6. Relationships matters. |
Relationships are everything. |
|
7. Agility is a technology process. |
Agility is a modern marketing approach. |
|
8. Brand name leads to great products. |
Brand name leads to great values.
|
|
9. Companies need the right tech stack to drive modern marketing success.
|
You need the right balance of factors (including your tech stack) to drive modern marketing success. |
|
10. Marketing is important for growth.
|
Marketing is at the center of the growth agenda for the full C-suite. |
Source: Harward Business Review
The Covid-19 pandemic upended a marketer’s playbook, challenging the existing rules about customer relationships and building brands. One year in, there’s no going back to the old normal. Here are 10 new marketing truths that reveal the confluence of strategies, operations, and technologies required to drive growth in a post-Covid-19 world.
Findings of Advertising changes: The advertisers /marketers are striving hard to find ways for rebouncing after managing during the different phases of the pandemic. The Above examples and literature suggested that there are many changes that have occurred in the current past .The Advertising world is changing its strategy, communication messages and the trend is going towards building trust, showing more humanism , Social responsibility , focus on inclusion and equality , Now the relationship building again is all above the need .The advertising appeals must incorporate empathy , positivity combined with authenticity. Advertisers need to show the real picture rather than to show the rosy picture today and tomorrow .A bend towards self perspective and life must be been incorporated to win the heart of people again .Advertising appeals also focused on CSR during the pandemic (Charles 2020 ).
Celebrity EndorsementsA celebrity endorser is defined as “any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition when they appear in the advertisement in front of the consumers” (McCracken, 1989, p. 310). Celebrity endorsements have been prevailing in India for a very long time; there is always a challenge for brands to capture consumers’ time and focus. According to the some report, advertisers believe that brand ambassadors provide a higher degree of consumer recall, and trust . This is based on a pretty simple logic as India is a country where people gets attached as they take them ideal , get influenced through stars , Sports Personality, TV Actor & Actress.People idolize them , so when any celebrity is seen in an advertisement promoting a product, it leads to building better brand image (Mukherjee 2009) Spreading more Awareness, connecting the perspective consumers emotionally, creats uniqueidentity and in turn into increase product usage.Celebrity endorsements have been prevalent since nineteenth century (Sherman, 1985), and are largely popular till date owing to the equity and attention that celebrities pass on to the brands they endorse. Research depicts that celebrities influence brand recall (Misra and Beatty, 1990) Research depicts that celebrities influence brand recall (Misra and Beatty, 1990), brand credibility and brand equity (Spry et al., 2009); and generate more positive advertisement evaluation and positive intentions to purchase the endorsed brand (Lafferty et al., 2002; Byrne et al., 2003; Bush et al., 2004; Pornpitakpan, 2004; Malodia et al., ) Previous studies on the effect of celebrity endorsement show that they have positive effects on both consumer attitudes and purchase intentions[Barbara et. al]. Not only increasing consumer purchasing motivation, but appeal statements by celebrities can also affect consumer product image [Wang et.al.]. Celebrity endorsers could bring credibility to the advertising message, thus making these messages more effective [McCormick 2016]. Celebrity endorsement will be more effective by combining unique endorser qualities and endorsed products [Johannes Knoll and JorgMatthes,(2017].
Literature Review:
Hoekstra and Leeflang (2020) The study focused on analyzing consumer behaviour and suggesting marketing strategies and policies followed by changing behaviour dimension of consumer in new normal . The study suggested care, humour, empathy and personal appeals as more appropriate in new normal .Personal approach like “let us help you”, “we are here for you” messages can give an effective impact but needed to be compiled with the authenticity and rationality too . The need of hour is to respond to the immediate and basic needs of their customers. The message provided in advertising must be filled with empathy and the phrase like ‘caring for one another’ may go well. The cautious use of humour can also help to increase the positive behavioral intention of consumer followed by retention of ad message.
Yang et. al. (2021) The study has given light on effectiveness of advertising appeals (rational /emotional) in the context of food advertisement with moderating effect of two psychological states of consumer (feeling of uncertainty and powerlessness) .The result of the study shows that individuals with the low level of uncertainty respond more positively to rational (vs. emotional) appeals of healthy food .People with high levels of uncertainty do not show such a propensity. Powerful individuals find it more attractive if the appeals of advertising are emotional. Although powerless people do not show such tendency.
Thomas et. al. (2021) This study published in January 2021 have examined the message characteristics , engagement and popularity , and message appeals in tourism sector through Facebook for promotioning branding of national and state tourism organizations .The study was conducted in Indian context . This study was conducted to understand the mechanism of social media marketing by tourism sector on Facebook as social media today being the major digital platforms in India, however after pandemic the trend has gone more higher, with active number of users. Five tourism department were taken for the study from Facebook pages, as per the highest activity on social media. Facebook posts of five tourism brand pages were analysed with regard to message characteristics, popularity and engagement, and message appeals. The main findings of the study affirm that positive emotional appeals would be most effective while dealing with experiential products. It further indicates that mere acquisition of social media fans and followers does not result in better engagement. The findings of this study have practical implications for tourism companies who wish to expand into emerging markets such as India.
Gupta et. al.(2020) This study conducted had investigated the impact of celebrity endorsement on consumer behavioral intention in adherence to pandemic duration and also trust of youngsters of social advertising. Uttarakhand youngsters were taken as sample for the study and the results of the study affirm that the attractiveness is an important feature of Celebrity positively affects the behavioral intention of youngsters toward advertisement and message apprehension. However, advertisers must make use of celebrity endorsement in such a way that it may be effective in social advertising and may positively change the behavior intention in the new normal period too.
Ahn, J. B. (2020). The study has analyzed and predicted how the characteristics of future advertising and the types of future advertising will change according to changes in advertising environment such as social change, business change and consumer change in the wake of pandemic and what could be the countermeasures. Related literature has been studied and an extensive Delphi Survey method for predicting the future. 30 experts in the field of advertising and future fields with professional insight were selected for the survey .Countermeasures could be suggested based on the study that how advertising industry and advertising experts can understand and respond for future advertising changes .The Experts views and Literature suggested that use of AI , Content Advertising , smart mobile advertising , personalized appeals , untact interactive advertising will be in full swing .Authenticity with positively as humanism that pursues creative personality and social value in our society is strengthened. In the future advertising industry, efforts are also needed to realize about humanism and social values and strengthening advertising ethics. In addition, there is a need for the advertising industry to use campaigns to demonstrate fulfilling social responsibilities too .
Basu& Bose (2020) This study conducted during 2020 has explored the effectiveness of the celebrity endorsement as an effective promotional strategy during the pandemic period and by applying diifrent analyzing tools along with Chi square test .Differential influencing effect of the variant celebrities can be observed. Initially the influential power of celebrity endorsement decreased and later again becomes equal like the influencing power of social media sensation & anonymous person. Death of the Bollywood star and nepotism issues has resulted a downfall in th e trend but later again it took a rebounce .Still it is being suggested that companies should think twice before endorsing and choosing the promotional strategy of their products or services .The choice of must be done brand ambassador very cautiously due to the changing preference of the common mass regarding the celebrities during and later pandemic .
Hidavatet. al.(2020) The Present study has observed and recorded endorsement activities carried out by 65 celebrities from their Instagram account and conducted survey 809 SMEs entrepreneurs that the product endorsed by the celebrity. Facts show that celebrities provide enough opportunities for SMEs entrepreneurs to use their services, and social media (Instagram) makes this possible to happen in Food, fashion, and cosmetics domain . The intensity is also a factor of social media use to promote the product increased consumer intention (AmonratThoumrungroje (2014) Instagram, as one of the social media and digital platform, facilitate SME's to expand its marketing networks. Marketing communication would be more effective when it is combined with celebrities as individuals who have attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness to influence consumer intention to buy.
Chen and Lee (2021)This research has studies the characteristics of celebrity expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness as the predisposition of consumer trust and engagement in the context of tourism and hospitality context .It affirms that the celebrity expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness positively affect the consumer trust (consumer ability, consumer benevolence, and consumer integrity) and consumer trust could leads to consumer engagement (cognitive processing, affection, and activation). As a result , the three dimensions of consumer trust play a positive role of mediating between the relationship of celebrity characteristics in the con text of tourism and hospitality
Conclusion :Be it a soap/personal care brand, a top coffee company, an industrial/automotive lubricant firm, a famous bank, a toothpaste brand, or an e-cycle firm, a number of companies — through their ad campaigns — are instilling a sense of positivity and normalcy and resilience. Advertising appeals should use the relatability factor very cautiously. Campaigns that give people a sense of resilience and positivity must be incorporated. To get them out of the “feeling of gloom and pessimism” there is need for “spirit of purposiveness and resilience”. Humanism is also emphasized in the current primary studies and published literature .As per Harward business Review also there is a need of the hour to adjust advertising appeals as per the new truth/ facts about customer or consumer response . Not only an emotionally connected advertising message works, it should be backed by authenticity and trust building too .
References :
