The purpose of this paper is to present some ideas and hypothesis about two theoretical models describing how advertising works : the "learning model" (according to which advertising works on consumer attitudes, which in turn works on consumer behaviour) and the "minimal involvement model" (according to which advertising works directly on consumer purchase without going through a change of attitudes). Individuals may differ widely in their areas of interest, and individual's interest in a given subject dictates to a great extent his attitudes and reactions to products, advertisements and promotions which cover this area of interest. The level of consumer involvement for a given product results from his own combination of interests. This differentiation according to involvement level leads to the description of two representative types of consumers (highly involved and lowly involved) in terms of attitudes towards the product, towards advertising or informations concerning the product, and purchase behaviour. Marketing communication works differently on these two types of consumers. Among the consumers of the same product, the highly involved tend to react according to the learning model, and the lowly involved according to the minimal involvement model. Media and advertising messages have different communication abilities according to the involvement level of the consumers reached, and promotional campaigns have different effects. The significant differences between highly involved and lowly involved consumers make it necessary for communication strategies to take into account the concept of involvement.
This paper concerns the data available on the effects of advertising on farmers, through the C.P.P. (Controle Publicitaire Permanent, or Continuous Advertising Check), a B.V.A. syndicated service. Following a brief introduction, which covers the size and scope of the C.P.P., it illustrates the types of data which are available in the report and how analysis over time allows one to evaluate the performance of an advertising campaign in comparison with competitors.
The general description given below is only a part of a wider confirmation that the system is a reasonable description of the real world. Its use in the agency therefore gives confidence that a particular schedule recommended has been constructed only after attention has been paid to all its constituent parts and to the way they work together. It is precisely this care and thoroughness which the researcher brings to the job of the media department.
The paper concerns the question of how to include qualitative criteria into current media-planning procedures, and the appraisal of the improvements which may be expected by the usage of qualitative data. After a description of the media model used for the construction of media schedules, two cases histories are presented in which qualitative factors were taken into account.
In France, each year a National Readership survey is conducted under the sponsorship of the Centre d'Etudes des Supports de Publicite (CESP). The CESP is a private association of about 200 members who are either Advertisers, Advertising Agencies or media owners ; its function is to carry out media audience surveys in order to provide the media data needed by the Advertising Industry. Each member contributes to the financing of CESP activities by an annual subscription, which takes into account his own advertising expenditures or income.
I believe that we should look at market research as an instrument whose future depends above all on the development of its main area of application, which is marketing. What can help us look at the future of market research is in my opinion a critical scrutinising of the present state of marketing. In my opinion, if market research is a scientific technique, marketing on the contrary is still in a pre-scientific stage.
I believe that we should look at market research as an instrument whose future depends above all on the development of its main area of application, which is marketing. What can help us look at the future of market research is in my opinion a critical scrutinising of the present state of marketing. In my opinion, if market research is a scientific technique, marketing on the contrary is still in a pre-scientific stage.