A view of the marketing communications process. Too often marketing communications focus solely on addressing gaps in product awareness, image, or preference in the target market.
But this view in marketing communications has several limitations, it is too short and expensive, and most messages of this type do not reach the target customer.
1. Communication as managing customer purchases
There is now a movement that views communication as managing the customer buying process over time. During the pre-sale stage, the sales stage, the usage stage, and the post-use stage.
And because every customer is different, communication programs need to be designed for specific segments, market niches, and even individuals. With the advent of new electronic technologies, companies must ask more than “How can we reach our customers?” but also “How can we find ways to allow our customers to reach us?”
Thus, the starting point in the communication process is to examine all the potential interactions the target customer might have with the product and company.For
example, a person wishing to buy a computer would ask other people questions, see advertisements on television, read articles in newspapers and magazines, and observe computers displayed in computer shops.
Marketers need to assess which experiences and impressions are most influential at various stages in the buying process. This understanding will assist marketers in allocating their communication funds more efficiently.
2. Effective communication marketers
To communicate effectively To be effective, marketers need to understand the fundamental elements that underlie effective communication. The picture shows a communication model with nine elements. Two elements are the main parties in a communication, including the sender and receiver.
The two elements are the main communication tools, including the message and media.The four elements are n main communication functions, including encoding, decoding, response, and feedback. The final element in such systems is noise, in which random and competing messages can interfere with communication.
This model emphasizes the important factors in effective communication. The sender must know what listener to achieve and what response is desired. They must encode their message in a way that takes into account how the target audience normally decodes the message.
They must also transmit the message through a medium that is efficient in reaching the target audience and establish a feedback channel to monitor the receiver’s response to the message.
For a message to be effective, the sender’s encoding process must be related to the receiver’s decoding process. That is, the best message is the message delivered with signs that are recognized by the recipient.
If the recipient has the same experience as the recipient of the message, the communication will be more effective. This requirement will make it difficult for communicators from one social stratum (eg advertising staff) who wish to communicate effectively with other social strata (eg factory workers).
The sender’s job is to try to get the message to the recipient. Target listeners may not receive the intended message, because:
1. Selective attention:
people who are bombarded with 1,600 commercial messages a day, 80 of them are consciously noticed and only about 12 provoke a reaction. Thus, communicators must design messages that can attract attention even when surrounded by many distractions.
Selective attention explains why ads with bold headlines that promise something, such as “How to Become a Millionaire.” Accompanied by attractive illustrations and a bit of writing, it has a high probability of attracting attention. For very little effort, the recipient may earn an enormous reward.
2. Selective distortion:
People may distort the message to hear what they want to hear. Receivers have established a set of attitudes, which influence expectations about what they want to hear or see. They will only hear what conforms to their beliefs.
The result is that the recipient often adds things that are not in the message (amplification) and does not pay attention to other things in the message (leveling). The communicator’s task is to try to design messages that are simple, clear, interesting and repeated so that the essence of the message can be received by the recipient.
3. Selective memory (selective recall):
People will save a small portion of the message they receive in long-term memory. Whether a message will pass from short-term memory to long-term memory depends on the number and type of repetition of the message by the recipient.
Rehearsal is not just repeating a message, but a process carried out by the recipient to clarify the meaning of the information so as to bring related thoughts from long-term memory to the recipient’s short-term memory.
If the receiver’s initial attitude toward the object is positive and he repeats supporting arguments, the message is likely to be received and remembered. If the recipient’s initial attitude is negative and he repeats arguments against it, the message is likely to be rejected, but will be stored in long-term memory.
This resistance inhibits persuasion by creating an opposing message. Because there is too much persuasion, the recipient needs to repeat his own thoughts, so what is called persuasion is self-persuasion.
The communicator must look for the characteristics of the recipient
A view of the marketing communications process. related to persuasion and use these characteristics to direct the message and develop the media. Educated and/or highly intelligent people are thought to be more difficult to influence, but this statement is not convincing.
People who have a weak self-concept seem to be more easily influenced, as are people who lack self-confidence. However, research conducted by Cox and Bauer (1979; 46) shows a linear curve relationship between self-confidence and persuasion power, that is, those who have moderate levels of self-confidence are those who are most easily influenced.
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communicator needs to pay attention to the recipient.
The communicator also needs to pay attention to the recipient’s awareness that the communicator is trying to influence them.
People who have previously been exposed to several attempts at persuasion will respond differently to people who have not been influenced before. Fiske and Hartley (1980; 79) show the general factors that influence the effectiveness of a communication:
- The greater the monopoly of the communication source on the recipient, the more likely the recipient will receive the influence or message.
- The greatest influence of communication is when the message conveyed is in accordance with the opinions, beliefs and character of the recipient.
- Communication can lead to effective change on unfamiliar, understated, non-core issues that are not central to the recipient’s value system.
- Communication will be more effective if the source is believed to have expertise, high status, objective, or likeability, but most importantly the source has power and can be identified.
- Social context, group or reference group will mediate in communication and affect whether communication will be accepted or rejected.
