Page 497 - Foundations of Marketing

464 Part 6 | Promotion Decisions

Table 16.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Major Media Classes

Medium Advantages Disadvantages
Newspapers Reaches large audience; purchased to be read; Not selective for socioeconomic groups or target
geographic fl exibility; short lead time; frequent market; short life; limited reproduction capabilities;
publication; favorable for cooperative advertising; large advertising volume limits exposure to any one
merchandising services advertisement

Magazines Demographic selectivity; good reproduction; long life; High costs; 30 - to 90 -day average lead time; high
prestige; geographic selectivity when regional issues level of competition; limited reach; communicates
are available; read in leisurely manner less frequently

Direct mail Little wasted circulation; highly selective; circulation Very expensive; lacks editorial content to attract
controlled by advertiser; few distractions; personal; readers; often thrown away unread as junk mail;
stimulates actions; use of novelty; relatively easy to criticized as invasion of privacy; consumers must
measure performance; hidden from competitors choose to read the ad
Radio Reaches 95 percent of consumers; highly mobile and Lacks visual imagery; short life of message; listeners’
fl exible; very low relative costs; ad can be changed attention limited because of other activities; market
quickly; high level of geographic and demographic fragmentation; difficult buying procedures; limited
selectivity; encourages use of imagination media and audience research

Television Reaches large audiences; high frequency available; Very expensive; highly perishable message; size
dual impact of audio and video; highly visible; high of audience not guaranteed; amount of prime time
prestige; geographic and demographic selectivity; limited; lack of selectivity in target market
difficult to ignore
Internet Immediate response; potential to reach a precisely Costs of precise targeting are high; inappropriate
targeted audience; ability to track customers and ad placement; effects difficult to measure; concerns
build databases; highly interactive medium about security and privacy
Yellow Pages Wide availability; action and product category Market fragmentation; extremely localized; slow
oriented; low relative costs; ad frequency and updating; lack of creativity; long lead times; requires
longevity; nonintrusive large space to be noticed

Outdoor Allows for frequent repetition; low cost; message Message must be short and simple; no demographic
can be placed close to point of sale; geographic selectivity; seldom attracts readers’ full attention;
selectivity; operable 24 hours a day; high creativity criticized as traffic hazard and blight on countryside;
and effectiveness much wasted coverage; limited capabilities

Sources: William F. Arens, Contemporary Advertising (Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2011); George E. Belch and Michael Belch, Advertising and Promotion
(Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2011).

Creating the Advertising Message

The basic content and form of an advertising message are a function of several factors. A
product’s features, uses, and benefits affect the content of the message. The intensity of the
advertising can also have an impact. For instance, push advertising on digital devices refers
to advertising that is not requested by the user. While push advertising might alienate some
consumers, younger consumers are more accepting of push advertising if the source is trusted,
permission has been given, and the messages are relevant or entertaining. Advertising that
13
pushes too hard to the point that consumers feel uncomfortable may cause consumers to con-
14
sider the product negatively. This has caused problems with “green” advertising.
Additionally, characteristics of the people in the target audience—gender, age, education,
race, income, occupation, lifestyle, life stage, and other attributes—influence both content
and form. For instance, gender affects how people respond to advertising claims that use
hedging words like may and probably and pledging words, such as definitely and absolutely.
Researchers have found that women respond negatively to both types of claims, but pledg-
15
ing claims have little effect on men. When Procter & Gamble promotes Crest toothpaste

Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.