University of Nigeria Research Publications

OKOROIGBO, Mary Nkechi

Aut

hor

PG/M.Sc/00/31155

Title

The Influence of Advertising on Consumer Demand for Goods and Services: A Case

Study of Nestle Foods PLC.

Facu

lty

Business Administration

Dep

artm

ent

Marketing

Dat

e September, 2005

Sign

atur

e

THE INFLUENCE O P ADVERTISING ON CONSUMER DEMAND

FOli GOODS AND SERVICES.

A CASE STUDY OF NESTLE FOODS PLC.

OICOROIGBO MARY NKECHI

PG/MSC/00/3 1 155

DEPAIXTMEN'T O F MARTKETING

FACULTY O F BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

UNIVERSITY O F NIGERIA

ENUGU CAMPUS.

SEI'TEMUER, 2005

INFLUENCE O F ADVERTISING ON CONSUMER DEMAND

FOR GOODS AND SERVICES.

OICOROIGBO MARY NICECHI

PC/MSC/00/3 1 I 55

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTCIAL

FULFILMENT O F THE REQUIREIVIENTS FOR THE AWARD O F

MASTER O F SCIENCE IJEGHEE (MSC) IN PUBLIC RELATIONS. I I

4

'ro

1)CPAlWMENT O F MARKETING

(PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAM)

FACULTY O F BUSINESS ADMINISTRA'I'ION

UNIVERSITY O F NIGERIA,

ENUGU CAMPUS.

SUPERVISOR: NNOLlM D.A.

SEF'I'EM BER, 2005.

CERTIFICATION

I cet-tilj lhal Okoroigbo Mary Nkechi, a post graduate student i n

dcpart~ile~it of Marketing with I<egistt'ation number: I'G/MSC/00/3 1 155

completcd this researcl~ work fbr the award of master of Science Degree in

I'ublic Relations under niy guida~ice and Supervision. To the bcst of my

knowledge, this work is original and has not been submitted in part, or full

in any other degree of the University.

The p ro-ject i s 11 ereby a pproved a nd a ccepted by the Department of

Marketing, ~ h i v e r s i t ~ o r Nigeria, Enugu Campus.

Nnolim D.A , (Supervisor)

! Date 1

$ .\ L ( d a d of Department)

This Research work is dedicated to the Almighty God

And

My Family.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

' I 'his work cou Id no( I w c bccri successfully carricrl OM without the

willing co-operelion and assistance lion1 people too numerous lo mention

here.

I wish to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, MI-s D.A Nnolim

'whose guidance, direction a~icl supervision during the course or the research

I have found most rewarding.

1 am indebted to the members of my family for their advice and ~noral

support. I,also wish to tha11lc my li-iends IJuph~.emia, Ada, Immy and Mr.

Nebo for thei r uscli~l advicc.

Above all, 1 owe the greatest gratitude to the Almighty God who in

His infinite mercy gave me the strength and wisdom to go through this work.

Okoroigbo Mary Nkechi

September, ZOOS.

Prod~~cerslMarketers send advertising messages out to the general public

tl~rough llie clcctronic ~ncilia, prinl lnctlia atid outdoor lncclia i l l ordcr lo crcatc

awareticss Sor heir producl, sct.viccs and ideas.

'fhe gcncral public on tho o l lw hand is conservative, skeptical and hard to

shift from e stablished h abits. S omc d o 11 ot e ven pay a ttention to comn~ercials on

their various media. In the hcc of all these, the originators of advcl.tising messages

spend/budget handsomely to get their messages across. This research therefore

attempts to bring to attention the intli~ence of advertising to both manufacturers and

consunlcrs alike using Nestle Foods PLC. (Advertising denloilstrates how business

living arc ct1lm1lcc.d).

Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data were collected

through pcrsonal interviews and administration of questionnaires, while secondary

data were based on information from text books, articles in newspapcrs and journals.

I-lypothesis werc fbm~ulated to tcst statistically our findings. I n the final

analysis, i t has been concluded that the overwhelming influence on consuniers and C

itilportance to n~aliufa'actt~rcr cannot be ignored.

We co~~cluilcd that rurtllcr research should skillfully orchcstt-atc the tnilss

promotion tools of advertising.

Table of Con tent

.......................................................................... 13 tle Page. ..i

. . ..................................................................... C'cr~i ficalion.. , . . I I

. .* ......................................................................... Dedication.. , 1 1 1

................................................................. Acltnowlcdgcmcn~. ,iv

............................................................................ Abstract.. ..v

..................................................................... 'I'able of Con tent vi

Pages

Chapter one: Introduction. .......................................................... 1

1 . I Background to the Study .................................................... 1

I .2 Statcmcn~ ol' I'roblenis.. ..................................................... 2

5 ....................................................... 1.3 Researcl~ Questions.. ..-

I .'4 Objectives o f the Study.. .................................................... 5

1.5 Hypothesis ............. .... ................................................ 7

1.6 'The Scope and Liini tations o f the Study.. ................................ 7

1.7 SignificanceoftheStudy .................................................... 8

Chapter Two: Literature Review.. ................................................. 9

............................................. General Rcview of Selected Works.. .9

2. I Lvolution oI' Advertising. ................................................... 1 1

..................................... 2.2 in~portnnce and Role of Advertising.. 19

vii

....... 2.3 Influence o f Advertising Effectiveness in Demand Promotio~ 21

2.4 'I'lic Nature of Regulation in Advwtising in

Nigeria and its Effectivc~~ess ............................................... 23

2.5 Aifvertisi~ig a id Itic~wsc in thc Quantity of

Goods bought by Consu~wrs who arc Exposed to

............................................ i t Relative to those who are not 27

........................... 2.6 Justification of Money Spent on Advertising 31

2;7 To Know the Power of Advertising as now Practiced

to Iiifluence the Life Styles and Opinions of Consur~icrs ............. 34

2.8 The Influence of Advertising in Shaping Consumer

................................. Attitudc 'l'owards an Advcrtiscd Product 37

2.9 Tlic Irifl~~cncc of Referc~icc Ciroqs on Consunicrs I'urchase

OF Advertised Products .................................................... 42

2.10 Other Factors that Influence Purchase Decision

And the dc~iia~id of Advertised Products ................................ 43

Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology ............................. 51

3.1 Sources a f Data ............................................................. 51

.................................................... 3.2 Methud of ltivestigation 52

3.3 Uetermi~~at io~~ of Saniple Size ............................................ 53

........................................................... 3.4 Sampling Method 53

3.5 Data Atlalysis Technique .................................................. 54

C'hnptcr Four: I'rcscntaiion aiid Analysis ot'nata .............................. 56 I

.......................... 4.1 Distributio~~ and Collection of Questionnaires 56

................................................... 4.2 Advertising is Necessary 57

4.3 I'crioclofAdvertising ....................................................... 57

4.4 Advertising Increases Sales Returns ..................................... 58

4.5 'I'ypcs of Media used for Advertising .................................... 58

4.6 Reasons for Advertising ................................................... 59

........................................... 4.7 Duration/Period of Advertising. 60

............. 4.8 Effects of Advertising on Dcsirc for (hods and Services 60

4.9 Increase in Price ............................................................ 61

... 4.10 Effects of Advertising on the Sales and Profit of the Organization 6 I

4.1 1 To know whether Money Spent on Advertising is Justified ........... 62

4.12 Advertising Increases the Buyer's Brand

Comprehension and Confidence ......................................... 62

4.13 Favorite Product ............................................................ 63

............................ 4.14 Rcawm 1% I'rcrcrri~lg thc l'svorite Product 63

...... 4.15 Effects of Advertising on Lifestyle and Opinion of Consumers 64

ix

4 . I6 The Most Influential Medium .................... ; ......................... 64

4.17 Reference Groups Influence on Co~lsu~ners to Buy

Advertised Procit~cts ......................................................... 65

Testing of I-Iypohxis .............................................................. 66

Chapter Five: Findings. Recommendation and Conclusion.. ................. 69

5.1 Sulnn~ary of Findings ...................................................... 69

5.2 Recorninendat ion ........................................................... 70

5.3 Conclusion .................................................................. 71

Questionnaires to the Consu~ners .................................................. 77

CHAPTERONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY. L

Many new consumer goods fail each year not because they are

weak but because they arrive on the market without distinction or

excitement. Companies must do more than make good products - they

must carefully position products in the consumers' minds. To do this, they

must skillfully orchestrate the mass promotion tool of advertising.

Advertising is a veritable tool for entertainment but, more

importantly, the idea of entertainment must be geared towards securing

the atlention of the consumer and arousing his interest in the advertised

product to compel desired action.

- It consists of non-personal forms of communication conducted

through paid sponsorship, It is used for long-term building of the

organization's image (institutional advertising) long-term build up of a

particular brand (brand advertising), information dissemination about sale

service or evident (classified advertising), announcement of a special sale

(sale advertising) and advocacy of a particular cause (advocacy

advertising].

Advertising to some people is seen as being vital to commercial

success while others think it is a waste of time and energy. However,

while advertising cannot be readily measured in terms of quantifiable

results, its effectiveness cannot be denied.

For a new product to penetrate into the market and become

acceptable, the producer has to create awareness for it, let the public

know its importance and the best way i t can be utilized and how the

product can be purchased, ordered or hired and also persuade consumers

to switch to the new product because the buying public is conservalive,

likely to be skeptical and hard to shift from an established habit. So, your

advertising must attract your customer's attention.

Advertising is a cosl-effective way to disseminate messages

whether it be to build brand preference for a product or to motivate a

developing nation's consumers to use a particular product. It is used

either privately or in business. Most people respond to it and so, enjoy Ihe

choices available to them in every sphere of life. Whether we want to sell

a private house, raise fund for charity, atkact shoppers lo our stores,

launch a new product, engage a staff, the technique is Ihe same because

adverlisement is one of the major promotional tools used to reach

customers.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

A sales manager who fails to realize that advertising can make sales

people more productive does the company an injustice and possible harm

as does the advertising or telemarketing manager who thinks his

respective resources are so powerful that they can do the entire sales job.

The real goal of advertising is effective communication. That is, the

ultimate effect of adverlising should be to modify the attitudes andlor

behaviour of the receiver of the message. The real aim of the advertiser

should be to build an advertisement that will sell more merchandise.

Managers should know that advertising is business and that

understanding the consumer is the beginning of wisdom. To survive in this

era of competitive marketing, practitioners need to reassess, restate and, if

need be, reconstruct the whole concept of advertising. There is a group of

practitioners who believe they can sell snow to the Eskimos and another

group that think they can sell chopsticks to Nigerians. They should come

off it because the Eskimos don't need snow and chopsticks are better sold

in china. Give consumers what they need.

Advertising has to be bold, dramatic, persuasive and convincing.

The effectiveness of advertising must depend on important decisions

about the correct media, adequate message, accurate timing of

advertisement and advertising budget. However, not every advertising

medium can accomplish all four of these aims at the same time, nor need

il be expected to do so. Obviously a billboard poster can carry less

information than a newspaper page.

Advertising has many limitations. I I has large wasted audience

segments. Feedback is difficult and when i f at all it comes, it is very often

late. There is usually the problem of choice of media and budgetary

problems because of its high total cost.

In addition, some advertising messages are misleading and untrue

and do not give room for needed information. A negative influence is

achieved when an advertisement is perceived as offensive, misleading or

annoying. Anytime a consumer is convinced that the advertisements do

not really have reliable information but are just there to hoodwink and

fleece him of his money, he will stop turning to advertisements for a guide

to product quality and availability.

An advertisemenl may be perceived as nlorally wrorrg in some

sense and at limes. may seem to pollute the minds of consumers. Some

advertising messages are also wrongly timed as children and the under

ages are exposed to morally unhealthy information as in the case of some

cigarette and family planning advertisements on the televisions.

Again, the consumer of today is not the consumer of yesterday who

was easy lo deal with, predict his actions and reactions and know the kind

of language with which to address him. Now, you need a lot of persuasion

and a lot of prodding in the light of information and reason to get the

consumer to try your producl and stick to it. This is because we have C

moved from a seller's market to a buyer's market where you have to put a

lot of effort lo let the world know, show them Ihe utility and Ihe excellence

of your product to persuade the world to buy.

Again, with increase in the level of education, the consumer has

developed an enquiring and discriminating mind. He no longer swallows

information or intelligence that come his way, hook, line and sinker.

Today, he assesses things in the light of experience and reason and

effects a lot of comparative analysis in most cases before taking a

particular decision.

At limes also, there are certain things that some consumers believe

should not be aired in the public. These types of adve~tisement messages

are looked at as moral outrage in advertising. Moreover, certain

advertisements make people develop a taste for products they cannot

afford. Therefore, since Modern Corporation depends on effective

communication for survival and success, i t is important to investigate

properly the influence of advertising 011 consumer demand for goods and

services.

I .3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Against this background, the questions which the study intends to address

are:

Does advertising increase consumers' desire to buy a product?

Does advertising help in motivating consumer brand choice for a

product?

Does advertising help in influencing consumer perception and

believabilily of a product's brand image?

. Do consumers actually believe the products' benefits claims

being advertised?

What influence does advertising have on consumer attitude

towards n product'?

C

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The general goal of advertising is to create awareness for a product or

services, arouse interest, build a desire and consequently get the

ci~stomers in a favourable stale of mind to take a decision to purchase Lhe

product. It helps increase profitable sales, improve dealer relations,

expand the industry's sales, counteract prejudice or substitutions, build

goodwill for a company a nd improve its reputation. It helps to introduce

new product and helps a company and its products enter a new

geogrgphic market or attract a new group of customers. The anticipated

end result is lo achieve maximum profit.

The objectives of this study are:

To know if advertising increases the quantity of products bought by

consumers who are exposed to it relative to those who are not.

To know if the money spent on advertising a product is actually

justified.

To know if advertising helps in shaping consumer attitude towards

an advertised product.

To know if advertising as is now practiced has the power to

influence the life styles and opinions of consumers.

To determine the nature of regulation in advertising in Nigeria and

its effectiveness.

To determine whether and how reference groups influence

consumers to buy advertised products.

To determine the factors that influence advertising effectiveness in

demand promolion.

1.5 HYPOTHESIS

The following hypotheses have been formulated.

1. Advertising increases the desire of consumers for goods and

services.

2. Advertising increases the buyers' brand Comprehension and

confidence.

1.6 THE SCOPE AND LiMlTATlONS OF THE STUDY

This study is an attempt to know the benefits of advertising in consumer

demand for goods Iservices. It does not attempt to cover the whole areas

of advertising. The study is restricted to advertising of consumer goods

only. Consumer goods are those goods purchased and consumed by the

purchaser for his own or his family's salisfaction. They are u sually less

technical and often bought mostly on the basis of brand names.

The study is also narrowed down to product advertising as opposed

to institutional advertising. Product advertising is aimed at informing about

and protyoting the benefits of a product or service to potential buyers.

Product advertising emphasizes producl against institutional advertising,

which is aimed at placing emphasis on the company and its philosophy.

Furthermore, request for information has been narrowed down to a

major manufacturing company with distribution unit in Lagos metropolis.

This organization - Nestle foods PLC - stands as a case study for this

project. The findings of this study may be valid for Nigeria only.

The study should have been extended more than this if not for the

limitations and constraints faced during the research. There were the

problem& of contacting businessmen, secrecy of the organization, lack of

access to related documenls, finance and time available to the researcher.

1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Thal advertising has been rapidly on the increase in recent times indicates

its importance in the demand for goods and services. The extent of

company's sales t hat is a tlributable to I he effectiveness of a dvertising is

not yet determined. The determination of this will enable the company in

relation to the costs involved whether to continue or not. It is in this effect

that this study is being carried out.

It is the considered opinion of the researcher that the findings and

recommendations from this research work will assist companies on the

best way to sel advertising objeclives that will help the manufacturers to

penetrate a wider market and create awareness of the product to the

general public.

These objectives should be based on past decisions about the

target market, positioning and marketing mix. Potential customers will

become aware of a new product, its uses, market price and how the

product works.

Furthermore, companies will be more informed on the best way to

select media to be used because for an advertising message to achieve

the desired exposure, the right media must be matched with the right

logical place.

It will also be of immense help to researchers on related topics.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

GENERAL REVIEW OF SELECTED WORKS

Advertising is the printed, written, spoken or pictured representation

of a person, product, service or movement, openly sponsored by the

advertiser a nd a l his expense, for the purpose of i nfluencing s ales, use,

votes or endorsement.

According to G.B. Giles, "Advertising is non-personal

communication directed at target audience through various media in order

to presdnt and promote products, services and ideas, The cost of media

space, time and adverlisement production is borne by the sponsor or

sponsors",

The definition committee of the American Marketing Association

defines advertising as "any paid form of non-personal presentation and

promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor".

To Daniel Starch, advertising is "the paid form of Mass

Communication designed to influence people to favour a product in order

to induce them to buy it"

Bovee and Arens defined advertising as "the non-personal

communicalion of information usually paid for and qsually identified with

sponsors through the media".

Nigeria's advertising points man, I. S. Moeneke views advertising

as "messages published in newspapers, billboards, radio, television and

cinema for producls and services".

A fronl view praclilioner, May Nzeribe, explains advertising as "the

practice of informing the public or a section of lhe public of the benefits of

a particular product, services or activity in order to stimulate sales,

generate favourable reaction or generally create positive awareness of

some sort.

To Russell and Lane, advertising is simply "a method of delivering a

L message from a sponsor, through an impersonal medium to many people".

A frontline marketing communication scholar, lkechukwu Nwosu,

defined advertising as "any paid form of non-personal presentation and

promotion of persons, institutions, ideas, goods and services by an

identified sponsor using appropriate medium or media of communication".

APCON (Advertising Praclitioners Council of Nigeria) in its code of

Advertising practice, defines advertising as "a form of communication

through media about products, services or ideas paid for by an identified

sponsor".

In summary therefore, advertising can be defined as any persuasive

communication by an identified sponsor, through the media, aimed at

selling an idea, product or services to a target audience.

It is the aim of this study therefore to examine some existing andlor

related literature on the impact of advertising on consumers' demand for

goods and services.

2.1 EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING.

It is a common belief that advertising is as old as man, yet there is no

doubt that advertising as sales 1001 commenced with the development of

commerce. 111 his History of advertising", Henry Sampson notes that:

Tliere is little doubt that the desire among tradesmen

and rnercllants to make good their wares has had an

existence almost as long as the customs of buying

and selling and it is but r~atural to suppose that

adveriisements in some shape or form have existed

not only from time immemorial, but also almost for all

time.

Viewed from the angel of advertising being in existence "almost for all

time", it could be taken that the primitive scrawls of the early man on the

cave walls were some genre of adverlising. Also, the biblical account of

Adam and Eve and the serpent, in relation to the forbidden fruit lends

eviden~e to advertising being in existence from time immemorial and

"almost for all time".

Historical accounts credit the Babylonians as being the first to

produce an advertisement, "A Babylonian clay tablet o f a bout 3000 B.C.

bears inscriptions for an ointment dealer, a scribe and a shoemaker" is i t a

little wonder then that the people who gave the world the Tower of Babel

also left the earliest recorded evidence of advertising?

Another documented advertisement is said to have been

discovered by a n a nthropologist d igging i n t he ruins o f Thebes in Upper

Egypt. The advertisement which was dated about 3000 years old was

about a run away slave and it offered reward of a gold coin to any person

who could bring back the slave to his master. This advertisement, which

was preserved in papyrus, reveals that the early Egyptians had a better

medium upon which lo write their messages.

In the early days, advertising was practiced in various forms in C

many parts of the world. For instance, there were the small stone printing

stamps (some of which are to be seem in the British Museum), which were

used by the quacks of Roman times to impress a message on the surface

of their salves and ointments.

In Greece, town criers were used "to chant the arrival of ships with

cargoes of wine, spices, and metals. Oflen a crier was accompanied by a

musician who kept him in the right key".

S. J. Wright et al capture the Greek advertising mode at the time in

their book "Advertising"

117 Greece, dilring the Golden Age, Public criers were a civic

instiluiion. Men were paid to circulate through the streets d the city,

advertising the citizens of important news and announcing pi~blic events.

In ancient Rome, advertising flourished. Advert messages were

written on the walls during gladiatorial shows and campaigns. The ruins

of Pompeii bears signs in stone or teerra - cotta. The impressions

advertised what the shops were selling: a row of harms stood for a

butcher's shop, a cow for a dairy, a boot for a shoemaker. The Pompeians

were great masters in Ihe art of passing on their messages via painted

wall signs.

C

In many European countries, town criers became the vanguard for

public announcements, and for centuries, they remained in use. About A.

D 1100, innkeepers in France used to blow horns to attract people and

offer samples. Around A. D. 1200 most shops in Europe carried

advertising picture signs: a hammer stood for a carpenter while a mule

represented a baker.

The symbolic and pictorial nature of early advertising gave vent to

outdoor advertising which "has proved lo be one of the most enduring

forms of advertising" According to Russell and Lane, outdoor advertising

"survived the decline of the Roman empire to become the decorative art of

European inns in the seventeenth a nd eighteenth centuries". In view o f

the high level of illiteracy at the time", inns vied with one another in

creating attractive signs that all could recognize". This explains the curious

names of old inns, (especially in England) such as: Ihe man in the moon,

the three squirrels, and the Hole in the wall.

England, in 1614, passed a law, probably the earliest on

advertising, prohibiting signs from extending more than 8 feet out from a

building. It was discovered that longer signs pulled down too many house

fronts. Another law made it mandatory for signs to be high enough to give

clearance to an armored man on a horseback. In 1740, the first printed

outdoor poster known as "hoarding" appeared in London. Hoarding is the

forerunner of modern outdoor advertising.

t h e invention of the movable type by Johannes Gutenberg around

1448 heralded the revolution of rising production, creativity and

innovations in advertising. The advent of book and newspaper was to

epochal magnitude in that they provided additional vital media for

advertising.

An English printer, William Caxton, is credited with printing the first

advertisement in English Language in 1473. The advertisement, which

was tacked up on church doors, was a handbill of the rules for the

guidance of the clergy at Easter.

It took a long time before the newspaper was added to the

advertising media stable. The newspaper grew out of the newsletter - a

medium used by professional writers to inform the nobles and others who

desired to keep abrest of the news of the day and major events.

The first advertisement in any language to be printed in a

disseminated sheet appeared around 1525 in a German news pamphlet.

The advertisement was about a book exlolling the virtues of a myslerious

drug. News pamphlets in those days were few and far between. One

published in 1591 carried news of three years back. It was from such

beginning that the newspaper emerged. The first English newspaper,"lhe

weekly flews of London", appeared in 7622. The first advertisement in

English newspapers, "Mercurius Britannicus" came out in 1625.

In the 1650s. Teas, coffee and chocolate adverts started appearing.

By 1759, advertising had become so widespread that Samuel Johnson

was prompted to comment in the Idler "Advertisements are now so

nunlerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore

necessary to gain attenlion by magnificence of promises, and by

eloquence sometimes sublime and somelimes pathetic.

Advertising in Nigeria is traced to one of the earliest forms of mass

communication namely: Town crying. Town criers were used in the

dissemination of information about important ceremonies and events.

Such as inter-tribal wars, disaster, marriages, births, deaths and so on.

Even today, town criers are still being used in many villages in Nigeria to

cornmunicate vital inforrnalion to the village dwellers.

Town criers are used to announce the dates of Important festivals,

special visits by government officials or health officials, like in the case of

immunizaiion, loss o f items or g oods a nd p romise o f rewards to a nyone

who would give information that would lead to the recovery of lost items or

goods. Usually, the town crier is paid in kind, to encourage him to structure

and disseminate his message effectively at the right time (when attention

will be high), a! the right place (such as market place or village square), to

the right audience. The number of "spots" to be "carried" by the town crier,

including the frequency of announcement could also be negotiated in

advance.

Describing the town criers gong as a vital advertising signal that

alerted the village dweller about an impending announcement, Josef Bel-

Molokwu notes that "the gong, as rudimentary as it may now appear, was

most effective as an attention catcher, and remains so, no matter how

hard we might try to discredit it in the name of the birth of high tech

commdnication devices"

The early nineteenth century witnessed the hiring of footmen to

advertise the quality and availability of particular goods and services.

Bel-Molokwu writes.:

Historicel records exist of such footmen in various

cities in tlw sncient Nigerian Kingdoms and Empires

like Borno, Sokoto, Lagos, Benin and lfe. Some

were hired i t ) dual capacily lo advetfise" and to sell.

Lade11 with basketfrrl of one commodity or the otl~er,

hey shouted, often on market days, to invite patrons

to come over to them rather than the medley of other

sellers.

Their younger variety consisted of boys who, either

for their parent or for a fee for someone else,

shouted out attractive incentives in front of a mat

containing wares, or ran to and from fhe market

entrance inviting prospective brryers to the location

L of the goods inside the market.

Another common advertising medium in Nigeria in the early days was

hawking. H awkers advertised their wares by shouting out the names o f

the wares they were carrying and extolling the qualities of such wares:

Usually they composed melodious and attention-grabbing songs with their

advertising messages and even, in some cases acted out the superiority

or qualitylquantity of their wares in drama form.

Despite their advertising validity, the earliest forms of mass

communication soon stepped aside for the modern media of mass

comnwnication, which, in the face of mounting commercial growth were

found to be more potent in advertising message delivery and wider

audience reach. It is however potent to note that the traditional media of

communication are still being used in certain parts of the country, as

advertising media.

Modern advertising commenced in Nigeria with the establishment of

the firs1 newspaper in the country - Iwe Irohin Fun Ara Egba Ati Yoruba,

generally known simply as "lwe Irohin". The paper was set up in 1859 and

its publisher was Rev. Henry Townsend of the church Missionary society.

C According to Ogbodo, "when Iwe lrohin commenced publication, it

carried advertisements in the form of announcements. The

advertisements were mainly on births, weddings, deaths, church activities,

vacancies for house boys and maids, shipping schedules and other

special social events".

With the setting up of other newspapers, namely. The Lagos

slandard (1 892). the Nigerian Pioneer (191 4 ) The Anglo-African (1863),

Lagos weekly Record (1891). Ihe Lagos Daily News (1927) and the

Nigerian Daily Times (1926) the horizon of Newspaper advertisement

widened considerably. These newspapers and others that came after

them competed for the revenue that accrued from government and

commercial advertising,

In order to attract advertising revenue, the newspapers made more

space available for advertising. Writes R. C. Okonkwor (1 99O:l6O) ". , . .

The newspapers ... made space regularly available for advertisements,

commercial news, about produce prices of palm oil and cotton,

announcements from local chiefs and from the government of Lagos

colony, news about the arrival and departure of governors, and movement

of commercial representatives".

It is instructive to note that the cal - and - mouse relationship

between the colonial government and the nationalists determined to a

great extent which paper got the advertising patronage. The government

did not hesitate to deny "anti-government" papers advertising revenue.

Papers (lilte the Anglo-African) which was pro-government were rewarded

wilh government advertising However, despite the politics of advertising

placements, European businessmen who knew the advertising gains o f

wider circulation had to place their advertisements in nationalist papers

such as the "Lagos weekly Record". Sometimes however, they did ignore

" the business perspective, especially when there was urgent need to show

solidarity with the colonial government,

On their own part, the nationalists did not take the matter for r

granted. They appealed to nationalist sentiments in order to corner

indigenous business advertising placements. They made advertising

affordable by capitalizing on classified advertisements. In view of its size

and cost, the classified advertisement was popular among advertisers.

For example, the Daily Telegraph once made from classified

advertisements a profit of about 30 lo 40 pounds per month at the rate of

one shilling per line per insertion.

By 1960s, advertising had moved into the magazines and broadcast

folds. The significance of the magazine, Lies in its introduction of colour

into Nigerian advertising. The radio capitalized on the intimacy of the

human voice while television-exptoiled movement, which made advertising

dramatization possible.

The history of advertising in Nigeria, just like any other place in the

world, is the history of Ihe ascendancy of commerce and industry. Nigeria

advertising history cannot therefore be complete without the mention of the

riolable companies that sel the stage for the business environment [hat

powered the advertising dream. These companies are the Royal Niger C

company which later metamorphosed into the united African company

(UAC), Unilever PLC, Cadbury's, A. J. Seward, Daily times, International

Bank for West Africa (Afribank), standard Bank which later became first

bank, Barclay's Bank which later metamorphosed into Union Bank, United

Bank for Africa, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio

corporation of Nigeria, (FRCN), to name just a few. These captains of

commerce and industry prepared the fertile ground from which Nigerian

advertising grew up to a productive adult.

From the foregoing, it is pertinent to note that advertising is not just

being djscussed as an esthetic art, which has been newly bred in modern

capitalism and sponsored by big b usiness. Advertising is not new i n the

business world-it has always been with us.

2.2 IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF ADVERTISING

The importance of advertising can vary greatly. In cosmetics and

personal care field, advertising accounts for as much as 40 to 50%, in

automotive field, advertising accounts for a very modest percentage - less

than lo/*. Frequently purchased impulse items tend to be heavily

advertised. An industrial product may be little advertised. Advertising can

be manipulated most readily to influence sales.

Advertising expands distribution by creating consumer demand.

Prospective customers see and hear an advertisement and ask their

retailers to order the products. In turn, retailers ask wholesalers and

wholesalers sought out the manufacturer.

Matthew et al gave some objectives of advertising as follows:

To build primary demand

- To introduced a price deal

To inform about a product availability

To build brand recognition, brand preference or brand

insistence.

-@ To help salesmen by building an awareness of product

among retailers.

To create a reputation for service, reliability or research

strength.

To increase market share

To modify existing product's appeals and buying motives.

To increase frequency of uses of a product

To inform about new uses of a product

- To increase the number of quality of retail outlet.

To build overall company image

- To effect immediate buying actions

- To reach new areas or new segments of population within

existing areas.

To develop overseas market.

The above list is by no means exhaustlve but it does indicate that the aim

of a campaign may be directed at a short term increase in sales volume

(price deal and other promotional offers) the share of an existing market or

Ihe building of a favourable altitude to the company as a whole (corporate

advertising). Whatever the objectives are, firms invest in advertising

expenditure in the expectation of improvement profitability.

The task of advertising is said to be one of missionary conversion,

that i s, making n on-purchasers of a given product into purchaser of that

product, or re-inforcing brand loyalty, or projecting the corporate image of

an organization. To fulfill its mission, advertising must accomplish specific

tasks within the communication terrain.

2.3 INFLUENCE OF ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS IN DEMAND

PROMOTION

According to Everett Roger's model, advertising goes through six

stages namely from unawareness to awareness to eliciting interest, to

effecting evaluation, to stimulating trial, and finally to ensuring that producl

trial leads to repeat purchases Ihat would develop into the habit of

adopting the product. There is evidence from research however that many

consumers do not arrive at decisions in a logical manner. Consumer

behaviour studies show that some consumers are highly impulsive, C

moving from the minimal awareness level to actually buying the product.

Being innovation - prone, this class of consumers needs no conviction or

logical persuasion before adopting a product.

To Starch, for an advertisement to be successful, it must be seen,

remembered, believed, and acted upon. This view is more lucid by

Russell Colley's DAGMAR (Defining Advertising Goals for measuring

advertising Results). This model stipulates lhal every communication that

aims at effecting a sale must move the prospects through four levels

namely: from unawareness to awareness (the prospect must arrive at an

understanding of what the product is - what it can do for himlher), to

conviction (the prospect must gain a mental disposition to want to buy the

product), to action (the prospect is compelled to buy the product).

There is also the AlDA or the AIDCAD model. The acronyms point

to the principle that advertising must arrest attention, sustain interest,

create desire and induce or compel action

A. Stands for Attention

I Stands for Interest

D . stands for Desire

C Stands for Credibility.

A Stands for Action and

D Stands for Decency.

For advertising to play its role effectively, the product for sale: must

be good be in tune with the times, have a significant benefit for the b

consumer, must fall within the price range of similar products and must

maintain a standard quality at all times.

2.4 THE NATURE OF REGULATION IN ADVERTISING IN NIGERIA

AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS.

Advertising regulation is aimed at enforcing an orderly behaviour in the

arena of advertising practice. In Nigeria, there are various regulatory

bodies involved in the enforcement of legal and ethical principles in

advertising practice in order to enhance competence and professionalism

in advertising. These include the Association of Advertising Practitioners

of Nigeria (AAPN), Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria

(NPAN), Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Broadcasters

Organi&tion of Nigeria (BON), National Agency for Food and Drug

Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Consumers Education and

Prolection Council of Nigeria (CEPCON), and Advertising Practitioners

Council of Nigeria (APCON).

Government regulation of advertising comes in the form of applications of

the relevant laws at specific levels of practice. Olu Falomo, frpa, identifies

six areas of government intervention and control as follows:-

P 1 . Corltrol of Outdoor Advertising - Here, government

intervention manifests in the form of laws at every level of

L 4 - government. Through such approach government is able to P

hx- ., I control advertising displays.

If - J 2. Control of Food and Drug Advertising - The Food and

Drug Act Cap I50 was enacted in 1976 to regulate the

advertising of food, drug and cosmetic producl. In 1993, the

law was revised by Decree 15, which established the

National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and

Control (NAFDAC).

3. Consumer Protection - To protect the interest of the

consumers, the Consumer Protection Decree of 1992 was

enacted. This is to discourage the advertisement and sale of

substandard products. Also, Consumer Education and

Protection Council of Nigeria (CEPCON) enjoys a

representative status on the council of APCON and

Advertising standards Panel (ASP).

4 . Banks and Other financial lnstifufions - Licensed banks

are expected to deliver to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the

text of any proposed advertisement along with the bank's

latest published accounts. This is the stipulation of the

banks and other Financial Institutions Decree 25 1991 which

. assigned a supervisory role to Central bank over other

banks. Under this Decree, it is unlawful for any person, other

than a bank to issue any advertisement calling on the public

to deposit money with it.

5 , Mortgage Banks - These banks were set up by the Federal

Mortgage bank of Nigeria Act Cap 138. The Act empowers

r the Bank to supervise and control the operations of

mortgage institutions in Nigeria. Although it is not expressly

stated in the Act, the bank goes through all advertisements in

respect of mortgage institutions so as to forestall fraudulent

practices.

6 . The EIectronic Media National Broadcasting

Commission - The National Broadcasting Commission

(NBC) was set up on August 24, 1992, lo supervise

broadcasling in Nigeria. The body has the power to grant

and withdraw licenses. I t also has the responsibility of

selling ethical and technical standards for the broadcast

industry. S.2 (2) of the NBC Decree 38 of 1992 emphatically

states that No person shall operate or use any apparatus or

premises for the transmission of sound or vision by cable,

television, radio, satellite or any other medium of

broadcasting from any where in Nigeria except under and in

accordance with the provisions of this Decree.

To realize the objectives of the Decree, the National Broadcasting code

was launched on November 8, 1993. The code spells out "the underlying

philosophy, principles. standards and sections, both technical and in

programming that guide Nigerian broadcasting". Broadcasling, states the

code, must stress professionalism, national security, national cohesion,

family values, respect for human dignity, religious and communal

sensibilities.

Any person (or group of persons) that claims misrepresentation has a right

to reply within 24 hours. "Advertising for broadcast must be legal, decent

and truthful. Exploitation of children and the gullible is forbidden, as are all

sorts of magical cures".

Advertising in Nigeria gained a unique ascendancy in the practice of

advertising with the promulgation of Decree 55 of 1988 which set up the

Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). The Decree, which

is said lo be the first of its kind anywhere in the world is geared towards

establishing excellence in the field of advertising practice in Nigeria.

Specifically, i t empowers the council to:

Determine who are advertising practitioners.

I r Determine the requisite standards of skills and knowledge to

be attained by persons seeking to be registered as

members of he advertising profession, and also to review

these standards from time lo time.

I1 Maintain a register of persons entitled to practice

advertising, and to publish from time to time a list of these

persons.

I I Regulate and control the practice of advertising in all

ramifications.

1.1 Conduct examinations in the profession and issue

certificates or diploma to successful candidates as and

when appropriate, and for such purpose, the council shall

prescribe fess to be paid in respect thereof.

I-.! Perform other functions conferred on it by the Decree.

The APCON Decree has been amended by Decree 93 of 1992. Under this

Decree, there is the advertising standards panel. On the panel are

representatives from APCON, AAPN, BON, ADVAN, NPAN, NAFDAC,

CEPCON, OAAN, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the National Council

of Women's Societies (NCWS). inauguration on March 24, 1994, the panel

as the name implies aims at standardizing and enhancing advertising

practice in Nigeria.

C From all we have seen so far concerning advertising law and ethics, it is

crystal clear that a deep and broad knowledge of Ihe legal and ethical

principles is crucial to successful advertising practice. Such knowledge

helps the praclitioner to render quality services to his clients, in addition to

promoting excellent performance in the advertising filed. This creates a

conducive environment for fruilful business relationships among all the

actors on the advertising stage.

2.5 ADVERTISING AND INCREASE IN THE QUANTITY OF

GOODS BOUGHT BY CONSUMERS WHO ARE EXPOSED TO IT

RELATIVE TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT.

Baker (145559) in his contention believed that firms advertised in

order to increase demand to the point where economics of scale are

achieved. The advertiser may wish initially lo build primary demand for the

group as a whole, anticipating that he will benefit to build proporlionally

from the overall growth of the market. However, it is the researcher's

opinion that B aker's assertion that m ost a dverlisers initially build primary

demand for the group is fallacious, at least in Nigeria context. Most

Nigerian advertisers primarily advertise to create brand awareness that

would eventually lead to brand preference and subsequently to a decision

to purchase. Primary advertisement can only work in developed counlries

where i t is done by a group of sellers who typically compete against each

other. It) USA, it is carried out in industrial marketing.

In Nigeria, advertisers, tend to concentrate more on advertising

aimed at creating selective demand. The individual seller who markets his

branded products or services is m ainly concerned with stimulating brand

recognition and insistence. That is why in our mass media, advertisement

messages are geared towards specific brands. For instance, Nestle foods

budget handsomely on the advertisement of Milo, Maggi Cubes and

Niddo.

In another of his contributions, Baker also claims that a company

advertises to increase the demand of it products and hence stimulate

sales. The view has bee supported by Heidenson and Robinson

(1974:50). They claim that with successive increase in advertising a firm

can maintain the same output and charge a higher price per unit or it can

increask both its price and its sales. They are however equally quick to

point out that successive equal incremental in advertising can have

decreasing effect on demand for the product as the market becomes

saturated w ith a dvertising. This a ssertion i s not only the in the Nigerian

context but also anywhere else. Once an advertisement has established

product awareness, continuous advertising is only needed to remind the

customer of the availability of the product and also to win potential

customers.

Advertising can affect the life - cycle of a product often referred to

as product life-cycle (PLC) in marketing. Continuous advertising is

necessary because of the high mortality rate of some products such as

Maltex, Heineken Lager beer and surf detergent. The product Life -cycle

is defined by Hart (1980:49) as terms relating to a generally accepted

hypothesis that all products are subject to a pattern of demand which after

it starts, grows, stabilizes for a period, then tends to decline and finally

disappears". Russell (1926:090) contended that producers or companies

advertise their products for three basic reasons: to create awarenesslnew

want, to i ncrease the sale o f an established product a nd n ot protect the

advertisers against the effect of competition.

Creating a new want is the most important aspect of advertising.

This is true in the Nigerian context. The people seem to be intensely

interested i n new products b eing advertised o r introduced i n the market.

The case of consumers buying klin and A riel d etergents i nstead of o mo

and elephant detergents, and preference of wheat-o, instead of quaker-

oak are few conspicuous examples.

The customer's interest is captured through advertising that makes

clear the point of the advertisement, directing the advertisement to the

specific types of people by making it distinctive. Advertising is carried out

to create desire in people by appealing to their reasons and emotions, just

as in personal selling. This is made possible by depicting through

demonstrations, clearly written copy, persuasive talks, the special qualities

and the use of the products being advertised.

m e advertising message m ust move I he target prospect from the

base of ignorance to the affective level in order to ignite a buying action.

This nieans thal any advertising message must have the ability of creating

awareness lo enable the consumer have knowledge of the

productlservices, understand its importance, develop likeness for the

productlservices and prefer it to similar products. The message should

also have persuasion and conviction abilities to enable the consumer

makeup histher mind to buy the product.

Mnemonics such as symbols, rhymes, associations, and images that

assist i n I he learning and memory process a re helpful. Many advertisers

use lelephone numbers that spell out the company name and are easy to

rernember. Everyday put pictures of its pink bunny on packages to remind

consumers at the point of purchase of its creative advertisement.

Advertisers know consumers use selective perception to filter out

irrelevant or unwanted advertising messages. So, they employ various

creative tactics to get their messages noticed. One controversial tactic

advertisers have been accused of using is appealing to consumers'

subconscious.

Subliminal perception refers to the abilily to perceive a

stimulus that is below Ihe level of conscious awareness. Psychologisls

generally agree i t is possible to perceive things without being consciously

aware of them. The idea of marketers including consumers at a

subconsCious level has strong ethical implications.

Hardy (164:53-54) contended that one of the importance of

advertising is to help and maintain sales. Advertising communicates

information in such a manner as to persuade potential consumers to

become consumers, In fact, it is very much concerned in the task of

creating and maintains consumer demand.

Marketers strive to develop and maintain brand loyalty among consumers.

They use reminder advertisements to keep their brand names in front of

consumers, maintain prominent shelf positions and displays in stores, and

run periodic promotions to deter consumers from switching brands.

Maintaining consumers' brand loyalty is not easy.

Competitors use many techniques lo encourage consumers to try their

brands, among them new product introductions and free samples.

Marketers rnust conlinually batlle to maintain their loyal consumers while

al the same time replacing those who switch brands. Advertisements

should be repealed because people tend to forget what they have heard,

new customers enter the market place, people move, into a town who do

not know about the stores there, and new services and products are

introdused. Repetition in advertising is not wasted.

2.6 JUSTlFlCATlON OF MONEY SPENT ON ADVERTISING.

Marketers use adverlising to creale top-of-mind awareness among

consumers so their brands are part of the evoked set of their target

audience. The evoked set is generally, only a subset of ail the brands of

which the consumer is aware. Popular brands with large advertising

budgets use reminder advertising to maintain high awareness levels and

increase the likelihood they will be considered by consumers in the market

for the product. Marketers of new brands or those with a low market share

need to gain awareness among consumers and break into their evoked

sets. They can do this through methods such as comparative advertising -

where their brands are compared to market leaders.

Advertising is a valuable promotional tool for creating and

maintaining brand awareness and making sure a brand is included in the

evoked set. The concept of subliminal advertising was introduced in 1957

when James Vicary, a motivational researcher reported that he increased

the sales of Popcorn and Coke by subliminally flashing "Eat Popcorn" and

"Drink Coca-cola" across the screen during a movie in New Jersey. Since

then, numerous books and research studies have been published

regarding Ihe effectiveness of this advertising form. Some of these have

reported on the use of this technique by advertisers to manipulate

consumers.

Advertising lets all marketers - Competitors as well as market leaders

promote products and communicate information to consumers. Companies

should spend enough on advertisements to achieve their goals.

Advertisements should appear often enough to register in people's minds,

Advertising is only one element of the entire marketing mix. Just like

a salesman, advertising is indispensable lo any marketing organization in

slimulafing sales. Thus, Reever (1977:4), the head of one of the oldest

advertising agencies in the world Ted Bates & Co. has correctly said

"advertising is the art of getting a Unique selling proportion into the heads

of nl ost p eople a t t he l owest possible cost". Advertising coins messages

and appeals, which are in accordance with the potential consumer's

predisposition. The salesman's attitude and his personal appearance

which help in arousing a prospect's interest in sales talk is equally effective

in our arousing a prospect's interest in advertisement.

The marketing effort as a whole attempt to raise the demand for a

product or products, to a level, which enables the manufacturer to

maximize the contribution coming from the product. Advertising is a part

of marketing effort, but it is not always the marketing policy to use it.

Some manufacturers prefer to base their attack purely on price, and in

certain instances, this may be wise. With branded consumer products,

advertising is usually a very irnporlant part of the marketing effort.

The manufacturer should not only be interested in building

consumer demand for his brand, but he should be interested in developing

a means whereby he may shelter this demand from competitive attitude. In

more highly competitive market, competitors are watching his progress,

analyzing his products and generally considering his competitive position.

They are able to access, and i f necessary, to copy any product

improvehent in a relatively short time. Therefore, the manufacture should

also concern himself with building of brand image. Product name,

package design, price are factors concerned in the building of a brand

image, but the most important is product advertising. Where the right

brand image has been formed, a strong consumer brand preference may

well develop because the sets of ideas, feelings and attitudes that

consumers have about brands are crucial to them in picking and sticking to

ones that seem most appropriate. That i s why a person may decide to

smoke Benson and Hedges cigarette and another person may prefer Gold

Leaf cigarette.

Some people, however, argue that advertising brings higher prices by

stressing a product's differences, This product can then build up a loyal

custonier following. As a result, the firm may be able to charge higher

prices because the customers are now willing to pay more just to keep

buying their preferred products. But competing products can also use

advertising. I n fact, m any companies need a dverfising just to maintain a

certain s hare o f the m arket, rather t han g ain the a bility to charge higher

prices. Companies advertise to increase the sales, not because they want

to raise prices but because the economies of the larger-scale production

will let them lower their cost.

A study of the ready-to-eat cereal industry, for example, shows lhat

an industry wide price cut of 10 to 20% probably would not greatly

increase the total amount of cereals people buy. But more advertisements

might be able to increase demand.

Advertising may bring other economic benefits that price cuts would

not. A television advertisement for crest toothpaste also encourages good

oral hygiene, even i f the customer does not buy crest. And store brands of

loothpaste that sell for less than the major brands might not sell well if the

major brands' advertisements did not promote dental care.

I f advertised goods sell a1 a higher price than non-advertised

goods, i t is probably because their quality is better and more consistent

and their commercials provide useful information. The value of this

information alone may justify a higher price for the item.

2.7 TO KNOW THE POWER OF ADVERTISING AS NOW

PRACTICED TO INFLUENCE THE LIFE STYLES AND OPINIONS

OF CONSUMERS.

Once a consurner selecls and attends to a stimulus, the perceptual a

process focuses on organizing, categorizing, and interpreting the incoming

information. This stage of the perceptual process is very individualized and

is influenced by internal psychological factors. The interpretation and

meaning an individual assigns to an incoming stimulus also depend in part

on the nature of the stimulus. For example, many advertisements are more

ambiguous, and their meaning is strongly influenced by the customer's

individual interpretation.

Consumers experiencing cognitive dissonance may use a number of

strategies to attempt to reduce it. They may seek out re-assurance and

opinions from others to confirm the wisdom of their purchase decision,

lower their attitudes or opinions of the un-chosen alternative deny or distort

any information that does not support the choice they made, or look for

information that does support their choice. An important source of this

supportive information is advertising, consumers tend to be more attentive

to advertising for the brand they have chosen.

Advertisements can respond to consumers' desire to reduce

uncertainly or perceived risk by providing advertisement that offers

information and assurance. It can a Iso increase c ognilive d issonance b y

telling &rchasers of a competing brand that they could have made a

better choice. This kind of advertisement is trying to make consumers think

about the advertised product the next time they buy.

Thus, i t may be important for companies to advertise to reinforce

consumer decisions to purchase their brands. Marketers of these brands

want consumers to follow a routine choice process and continue to

purchase their producls. This means maintaining high levels of brand

awareness through reminder advertising. High levels of advertising may be

used to encourage trial or brand switching.

Classical conditioning can a Iso a ssociate a product or service with a

favourable emotional state. A study by Gerald Gorn used this approach to

examine how background music in advertisements influences product

choice. He found that subjects were more likely to choose a product when

i t was presented against a background of music they like rather than music

lhey disliked. These results suggest that emotions generated by a

commercial are important because they may become associated with the

advertised product through classical conditioning, Kollaris and Colleagues

also showed that music t hat was congruent with the message enhanced

both advertisement recall and recognition. Advertisers often attempt to pair

neutral product or service stimulus with an event or situation that arouse

positive feelings such as humor, an exciting sports event, or popular

music.

Reinforcement, the reward or favourable consequence associated

with a particular response, Is an important element of instrumental

conditioning. Behaviour that is reinforced strengthens the bond between a

stimulus and a response thus, if a consumer buys a product in response to

an advertisement and experiences a positive outcome; the likelihood that

the consumer will use this product again increases. If the outcome is not

favourable the likelihood of buying the product again decreases.

Reinforcement can also be implied in advertising. Many adverts

emphasize the benefits or rewards a consumer will receive from using a C

product or service. Reinforcemenl also occurs when an advertisement

encourages consumers to use a particular product or brand to avoid

unpleasant consequences for example, the advert for Dixie bathroom cups

shows how using this product will help avoid negative consequences.

Marketers must provide contiriuous reinforcement to consumers or risk

their switching to brands that do.

Another source of problem recognitiori is Marketers' actions thal

encourage consumers not to be content with their current state of

siluation. Advertisements for personal hygiene products such as mouth

wash, deodorant, and foot sprays may be designed to create insecurities

that consumers can resolve through the use of these producls. Marketers L

change fashion and clothing designs and create perceptions among

consumers that their wardrobes are out of style.

Sir Churchill concludes in Wingate (1976:7) that advertising nourishes Ihe

consuming power of man. It creates wants for a better standard of living. It

sets up before a man the goal of a betler home, better clothing, and better

food for himself and h is family. It spurs i ndividual invention a nd greater

production. It brings together in fertile union those things which otherwise

would not have been met. Indeed, the pervasive importance in our society

cannot be better described.

2.8 THE INFLUENCE OF ADVERTISING IN SHAPING CONSUMER

ATTITUDE TOWARDS AN ADVERTISED PRODUCT.

Marketers take advantage of consumers' tendency toward novelty-

seeking behaviour, which leads them to try d ifferent brands. Consumers

often try new products or brands even when they are basically satisfied

with their regular brand. Marketers encourage brand swilching by

introducing new brands into markets that are already saturated and by

using advertising.

Purchase decision for non-durable convenience items sometimes take

place in the store almost simultaneous with the purchase. Marketers must

ensure that consumers have top-of-rnind awareness of their brands so

they are quickly recognized and considered.

Another possible outcome of purchase is cognitive dissonance, a

feeling of psychological tension or post purchase doubt that a consumer

experiences after making a difficult purchase choice. Dissonance is more

likely to occur in important decisions where the consumer must choose

among close alternatives (especially if the un-chosen alternative has

unique or desirable features that the selected alternative dose not have).

According to Maslow's theory, the lower level physiological and

safety needs must be satisfied before the higher-order needs become

meaningful. Once these basic needs are satisfied, the individual moves on

to attempting to satisfy the higher-order needs such as self-esleem. For

example, in the advertisement of its Cerelac and Nutrend, Nestle foods

PLC focuses on the love between a parent and child (social needs) in

addition to the nutritional value of the products. Some companies also use

advertisements to position their products as meeting the safety needs of

consumers with children. C

In advertisements, advertisers also use motivation research to help

them market their products. This means using variety of methodologies to

gain insight into the underlying causes of consumer behaviour ;- some of

the market research methods employed to probe the minds of the

consumer to know how to use advertisements to influence their demands

for goodslservices.

Motivation research is used to assess how and why consumers buy

and gain insight into lheir feelings, then use more aggressive and dislanl

advertisements lo influence consumer demands for goodslservices and

gain a desirable response.

When a customer sees an advertisement, helshe stores it in her

memory lo retrieve it when there is a problem or need to be satisfied by

the purchase of a product or service. Helshe wiH now decide to buy a

product based on past experiences andlor knowledge regarding various

purchase alternatives. Here, the customer considers past performance or

outcome from using a brand.

The perceptual process is also influenced by the characteristics of a

stimulus (such as its size, colour and intensity) and the context in which it

is seen or heard. This includes sensalion;- stimulus to advertisements.

Marketers recognize that il is important to understand consumers'

physiological reactions to marketing stimuli. For example, the visual

elements of an advertisement or package design must attract consumers'

favourable attention. Some advertisers use product packaging as the

"signature" used to create advertising emphasis.

Marketers sometimes try to i ncrease the l eve1 of sensory input so

that their advertising messages will get noticed. For example, marketers of

colognes and perfumes often use strong visuals as well as scent trips 10

appeal t o m ultiple senses a nd attract the attention of magazine readers.

Some advertisers have even inserted micro computer chips into their print

adverts to play a song or deliver messages.

Advertising is used lo create favourable atlitudes towards new

products/services or brands. reinforce existing favourable attiludes and/or

charge negalive attitudes. An approach to studying and measuring

attiludes Ihat is parlicularly relevant to advertising is multi attribute attitude

models:- a model which views an attitude object, such as a product or

brand, as possessing a number of attributes that provide the basis on

which consumers form their attitudes.

This model provides insight into several ways marketers can

influence consumer attitudes. For example, increasing or changing the

strength or belief rating of a brand on important attribute, Advertisers

commonly use this strategy.

They identify an altribule or consequence that is important and

remind consumers how well their brand performs on this attribute. In

situations where consumers do no1 perceive the marketer's brand as

possessing an important attribute, or the belief strength is low, advertising

strategies may be targeted at changing the belief rating. Even when belief

strength is high, advertising may be used to increase the rating of a brand

L on an important attribute. BMW's "The Ultimate Driving Machine"

campaign is a good example of a strategy designed to create a belief and

reinforce i t through advertising.

Marketers often attempt to influence consumer attitudes by

changing the relative importance of a particular attribute. This strategy

involves getting consumers to attach m ore i mportance t o the attribute i n

forming their attitude toward the brand. Marketers using this strategy want

to increase the importance of an attribute their particular brand has.

Another strategy for influencing consumer altitudes is to add or

emphasize a new attribule lhat consumers can use in evaluating a brand.

Mar-ketels often do this by improving their products or focusing on

additional benefils or consequences associated with using the brand.

Some advertisements stress a new attribute in an attempt to influence

consumers' attitudes.

A final strategy marketers use is to change consumers' beliefs

about the attributes of competing brands or products categories. This

strategy has become much more common with the increase in

comparative advertising where marketers compare their brands to

competitors' on specific producl attribules. An example of this is the Geze

advertisement where the company compares a number of important

attributes of its ski bindings to those of competitors.

Marketers selling familiar and popular brands may appeal to an

affect referral rule by stressing overall effective feelings or impression

about their products. Market leaders whose products enjoy strong overall

brand images often use advertisements that promote the brand as the best

overall. Coke's campaign "Always Coca-cola", Diet Pepsi's "you've got the

right one baby, uh-huh" and Budweiser's "The king of beers" are all

examples of this strategy.

2.9 THE INFLUENCE OF REFERENCE GROUPS ON CONSUMERS

PURCHASE OF ADVERTISED PRODUCTS.

I t is believed that people who have things in common tend to act in similar

ways. Markelers try to identify the reference groups of the particular target

market they are selling to. Reference groups influence a person in at least,

three ways. They expose the person to new behaviuors and lifestyles.

They also influence the person's attitudes and self-concept because he or

she normally desires to "fit in" and they create pressures for conformity

that may affect the person's actual product and brand choices.

'. The importance of group influence varies among products and brands.

Bearden a nd E tzel suggest that group influence will more strongly affect

product and brand choices for conspicuous purchase.

A product or brand can be conspicuous for some reasons: First, a product

may be noticeable because Ihe buyer is one of few people who owns it.

Luxuries are more conspicuous than necessities because fewer people

own the luxuries. Second, a brand can be conspicuous because it is

consumed in public where it can be seen by others. This means that

product and brand decisions for the purchase of public luxury will be

influenced by the opinions of others, while product and brand decisions for

private necessities are not much affected by group influences because *

neither the product nor the brand will be noticed by others.

Manufacturers of products and brands where group influence is strong

must figure out how lo reach the opinion leaders ip relevant reference

groups. The marketer tries to reach the opinion leaders by identifying

certain personal characteristics associated with opinion leadership,

determining the media read by the opinion leaders and directing messages

at the opinion leaders.

The more cohesive the reference group, the more effective its

conimu~~icalion; and Ihe more importan1 the group, the more influential i t C

will be in shaping a consumer's product and brand choice.

2.10 OTHER FACTORS T HAT INFLUENCE P URCHASE DECISIONS

AND THE DEMAND OF ADVERTISED PRODUCTS,

Buying behaviour is never simple, yet understanding it is the essential task

"

of marketing management. Consumers vary tremendously in age, income,

education level, mobility patterns and taste.

Marketers have found il worthwhile to distinguish different consumer

groups and develop products and services tailored to their needs. Some

companies run special programs for their consumers, advertise their

producls in magazines read by lheir consumers, use their consumer's

models in their commercials and develop distinctive products (mostly used

by their target audience), packaging and appeals.

At the same time, these companies recognize that their target

audience contains several sub segments that may warrant different

marketing approaches.

In earlier times, marketers could arrive t a fair understanding of

consumers through the daily experience of selling to them. But the growth

in size of firms and markets has removed many marketing decision

makers from direct contact with their customers. Increasingly, managers

have had to turn to consumers, trying to learn: Who buys? h ow d o they

buy? When do they buy? Where do they buy? Why do they buy?

The company that really understands how consumers will respond

lo different product fealures, prices and advertising appeals has an

enormous advantage over its competitors. Therefore companies and

academics have invested much energy in researching the relationship

between marketing stimuli and consumer response.

Consumers do not make decisions in vacuum. Their purchases are

strongly influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors.

CULTURE: The broadest and most abstract of the external factors that

influence consumer behaviour is culture, or the complexity of learned

meanings, values, norms and customs shared by members of a society.

Marketers must also be aware of changes that may be occurring in

a particular culture and the implications of these changes for their

advertising programs. Nigerian cuilure continually goes through many

changes that have direct implications for advertising. Marketing

researchers monitor these changes and their impact on the ways L

companies market their products and services.

While marketers recognize that culture exerts a demonstrable

influence on consumers, they often find it difficult to respond to cultural

differences in different markets. The subtleties of various cultures are often

difficult to understand and appreciate, but marketers must understand the

cultural context in which consumer purchase decisions are made and

adapt their advertising accordingly.

International Markets know that cultures are at different stages of

developmenl with respect to buying some goods, and the concentrate on

those where interest is highly developed. For example, manufactures or

market8rs of cameras laryet men as their main audience as women

photographers are not too common in developing countries like Nigeria.

Other subcullural factors influence [he consumers demand for

goods and services. These are:- Nationality groups, Religious groups,

Racial groups and geographical areas.

Social Class - This refers to relatively homogenous division in a society

"

into which people sharing similar lifestyles, value, norms, interests and

behaviours can be grouped. Class structures in Nigeria are generally

based on occupational status, education attainment, and income. We have

upper, middle and lower classes.

Social class is an in~portant concept lo marketers, since consumers within

each social stratum often have similar values, lifestyles, and buying

behaviour. Marketers respond to these differences through the positioning

of their products and services, the media strategies they use to reach

different classes and the types of advertising appeals they develop.

Some major social classes:-

Upper uppers- this group is made up of less than one percent of the

population. They are the social elite who live on inherited wealth and have

a well known family background. They are a markel for jewelry, antiques,

I~omes and vacations. They serve as a reference group for others to Ihe

extent that their consumption decisions trickle down and are imitated by

the other social classes.

)I

Lower uppers- this group is made up of 2% of the population who have

earned high income or wealth through exceptional ability in the profession

or business. They buy symbol of status for themselves and their children

such as expensive homes. schools, automobiles.

Upper middles- this group is made up of 12% of the population and are

primarily concerned with career. They deal in ideas and high culture.

Mostly market for good homes, clothes, furniture and appliances.

Lower lowers- makes up 20% of the population. A large market for food,

television sets and used automobiles. Others are: the lower middles (30%)

'. and the upper lowers (35%).

Social classes show distinct product and brand preferences in such

areas as clothing, home furnishings, leisure activity and automobiles.

Some marketers focus their effort on one social class. For example,

certain stores like Roban stores and E astern shop, a ppeal to the higher

social classes, others, lo the lower social classes. Some manufacturers

design their products for higher social classes, while some design theirs

for lower classes. C

The social classes also differ in their media exposures, with higher

social class consumers having greater exposure to magazines and

newspapers. The advertiser has to be skillful in composing words and

dialogues that ring true to the target social classes.

FAMILY: Family members may assume a variety of roles in the decision-

making process. Each role has implications for marketers; first, the

advertisers must determine who is responsible for the various roles in the

decision-making process, so messages can be targeted at that person (or

these people). These roles will also dictate media strategies, since the

appropriate magazines. newspapers; Television or Radio Stations must be

used.

Second, understanding the decision-making process and the use of

infornlation by individual family members is critical to the design of

messages and choice of promotional program elements. In sum, a

marketer must have an overall understanding of how the decision process

works and the role that each family member plays to create an effective

advertisement.

In families, parents have strong influence on their children's buyers

behaviour, A buyer's spouse and children have a more direct influence on

everyday buying behaviour.

Marketers are interested in the roles and relative influence of the

husband, wife and children on the purchase of a large variety of products

and services.

Husband, wife involvement varies widely by product category. The

wife has traditionally been the main purchasing agent or the family,

especially in the areas of food. sundries, and clothing items. Though in

recent times, some husbands do more of the family purchasing.

In the case of expensive products and services, husbands and

wives qgage in more joint decision making. The marketer needs to

determine which member of the family has the greater influence on the

purchase of a particular product or service. For example, the husband has

grealer influence on [he purchase of life insurance, automobiles, lelevision

etc. while the wife has greater influence on the purchase decision of

washing machines, non-living- room furniture, kitchen- ware etc. the

husband and wife has equal influence on the purchase of living- room

furniture, vacations, housing, outside entertainment, etc.

ROLES AND STATUS: Ihe role and status of a person in a society

influences hislher demand for goods and services. For example, as a

brand manager of a company, the consumer will buy the kind of products

like clothing that reflects her role and status.

Marketers are aware of products' potentials for becoming status

symbols. However, status symbols vary not only for different social

classes, but also geographically.

AGE: People change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes.

Their taste in clothes, foods , furniture and recreation is also age-related.

Marketers often define their target markets in life-cycle state terms and

develop appropriate products and marketing plans.

People 65 and older are better off financially and are attractive

markets for products such as laxatives, tonics and denture products. Some

old people under 75 identify strongly with "middle age" groups. Though old

people buy proportionately more health-related products, they also offer

attractive opportunities for marketers of other goods and services targeted 0

toward younger segments.

The fact that seniors have more leisure time and money makes

them ideal targets for products such as travels, entertainment, ealing out,

e.t.c. Their desire to look as young as they feel makes them good

candidates for specially designed products like cosmetics and personal

care products, clolhing, health foods and home physical fitness products.

Baby boomers, i.e. marketers of Baby's toys, clothes, furniture and C

food target childbearing couples. Furniture makers, life insurance

companies, sports equipment manufacturers target young adults and

advertise their products in a way that will suit them,

Early middle age (35-49 age group) is a good market for larger

homes, new aulomobiles, clothing, entertainment and investments. Lale

middle age (50 -64) is a good market for eating out, travel, expensive

clothing and recreation, while retirees, people 65 and over demand

retirement homes, quieter forms of recreation, single-portion food

packaging and medical goods and services.

OCCUPATION - A person's occupation has an influence on the goods

and services bought. A company president will buy expensive clothes, and

belong to a social club I ike Rotary Club b ut a cleaner o r messenger will

only buy what hetshe can afford.

Marketers try to identify the occupational groups that have an

above-average interest in their products and services. A company can

even specialize in producing products needed by a particular occupational

group and direct their adverts toward them too. For example,

Advertisements for better clothing, day-nursery services, home-clearing

services and frozen dinners are usually directed towards working mothers,

while marketers of tires, automobiles, insurance and travel services direct

their advertisements to working women.

REFERENCES

Bel-Molokwu, J(1995) "Advertising in Nigeria: Yesterday, today and

tornorrow" APCON New, Vo1.3 No 4 Dec., 19954.

Bovee Aren (1992). Contemporary Advertisinq .

Business Times Tuesday 9, Dec., 1980.

George E. Belch, Michael A. Belch (1998) Advertisinq and Promotion: An

tntqrated Marketing Communication Prospective. Fourth Edition.

Jugenheimerlwhite (1991) Basic Advertisinq Thomson Informational

' /Publishing group.

Nnayelugo 0 koro ( 1995), The B iz of Advertisinq E nugu, Nigeria: A cena

Publishers.

Ogbodo F.N. (1 990) Advertisinq Development in Niqeria Enugu: Nigeria:

Snaap Press.

Walters C.G. (1 978) Consumer Behaviour - Theory & Practice 3rd Edition.

Wilmshurst J Heinemann, London (1980) The Fundamentals & Practice of

Marketing.

Philip Kotler (1986) Princi~les of Marketinq Third Edition

Prentice - Hall International

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

The design of lhis study will be discussed under the following

headings:-

1. Sources of Data.

2. Method of Investigation

3. ' Determination of sample size

4. Sampling Method

5. Data analysis technique.

3.1 SOURCES OF DATA

The study involved the use of both primary and secondary data.

Primary Data.

The primary data was collected from respondents using structured

questionnaires and oral interviews. These were designed to ascertain the

influence of advertising on the turnover of Nestle Foods PLC.

However, two sets of questionnaires were distributed:- one for the staff of

Nestle Foods PLC and the other of the consumers.

Secondary Data.

This will provide a n a dditional i nformation to the primary information that

are derived. In this case, journals, lextbooks, magazines, newspapers,

and other research I business review texts were gathered from the

following sources:

I . UNEC Library

2. ESUl'Library

3. Personal library

4. Internet, etc.

3.2 ME'THOD OF INVES'I'ICATION

'I'hc principal instruments used to gather in formation for this study were

qwsiionnaircs and oral intcrvicw administcrccl on some sclectcd staff of'

Ncstlc 1;oods PLC and some consutncrs.

'I'l~c qucs~ionnaircs wcrc distributed personally to the various rcspondents,

thcrcfore giving t l x researcher an ainple opporti~nity to make first hand

ohsewation and independent judgment on the study.

3.3 DETERMINATION OF SAMPLE SIZE

The sample size will be determined from the study population. The sample

size is such that will allow us make inference about the population being

sti~died.

Our study population will be as follows:-

1 . 2,000 staff of Nestle foods PLC.

2. 1 17,000,000 consumers made up of students, traders, farnilics and

the general public.

According to thc Internet, the population of Nigeria in 2004 is 1 17,170, 948

approximately 1 17,000,000. We used the total population because it is

believed that everybody in Nigeria uses one or more of the products of

Ncstle Foods PLC.

'I'hcrcllor-c, the satnplc size will be determined using the statistical

l'orr~~ular below:-

I+N(c) ' Where n = Sample size

N = Study population

e = Error margin

1 - - A theoretical constant.

We uscd 5% error margin.

Approximately 400

2. Sample size of consumers will be:-

3.4 SAMPLING METHOD

Random sampling technique was used to distribute the questionnaires to

various respondents in this study. Given the nature of the study, financial

and time constraints, a convenient sample of 182 questionnaires were used.

83'for workers of Nestlc Foods PILC and 99 for thc consumcrs of their

3..5 DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE

'The approaches used for analysis of data in this study include tabulation

and percentages. 'The hypolhesis were also tested with the use of chi-

squqle (A=) meihod.

x2 =

e i

What Qi = Observed frequency

ei = Expected frequency.

REFERENCES

Asika N . (1 991) Nigeria: Longman Nig. PLC, Research M ethodoloqv in

the Behavioural Sciences.

Onwe 0. J. (1998) Lagos, Elements of Proiect and Dissertation Report.

Impressed Publishers.

CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

This chapter deals with analysis arid presentation of data collecled in the

previous chapters. However, only questions that have d irect bearing to

the main objective of the study will be analysed. The hypotheses in

chapter one were also tested.

4.1 DlSTRlBUTlON AND COLLECTION OF QUESTIONNAIRES

A total of 182 questionnaires were distributed to two categories of

respondents. The first category was the staff of Nestle Foods PLC. Who

were a dministered with 8 3 q uestionnaires designed s pecifically for them

while 99 questionnaires were distributed to the consumers. This can be

illustrated in the table below.

TABLE 4.1: DISTRIBUTION AND COLLECTION OF

PERCENTAGE NO. OF I PERCENTAGE-]

QUESTIONNAIRES

QUESTIONNAIRES

RETURNED ---

46 70 38

54 80 44

RESPONDENTS

---,--- MANUFACTURER

CONSUMERS - - - . - ,

TOTAL A-

- NO. OF

QUESTIONNAIRES

ADMINISTERED ---

83

99 ---. . ..

182

SOURCE: FIELD DATA : 2004

The table above shows that 46% of the questionnaires were distributed to

the manufacturers while 54% of the questionnaires were distributed to the

consumers. However, not all the questionnaires were returned.

ManuTacturers returned 70 which represent 38% while the consumers

returned 80 which represent 44Y0. In all, 150 questionnaires representing

82Y0 of the Iota1 questionnaires distributed were returned.

4.2 ADVERTISING IS VERY NECESSARY

This was meant to ascertain whether advertising is very necessary for

*

sales stimulation in the company. This can be shown in the table below:-

TABLE 4.2: ADVERTSING IS VERY NECESSARY.

----- ------- -

* , . 1- .]--__I --- - --.-.--- -

SOURCE: FILED DATA: 2004

This table shows that 100°h of the respondents agreed that advertising is

very necessary for sales stimulation.

TAB& 4.3: PERIOD OF ADVERTSING

I PERIOD NUMBER I PERCENTAGE

From the table above, 64 respondents representing 91% believe that

advertising usually takes place during the period of economic depression

while 6 respondents representing 9% believed i t is during the period of

ecor~orrric boom.

Z TABLE 4.4: ADVERTISING INCREASES SALES RETURNS

As shown in the table above, 68 respondents representing 97% believed

that advertising increases sales return while 2 respondents represent 3%

did not consider it so.

RESPONSE - - . - - - -- - -

YES

NO

TOTAL ---.-

4.5: TYPES OF MEDIA USED FOR ADVERTISING

TYPES NUMBER

SOURCE: FIELD DATA; 2004

NUMBER -- - --- P -

68

2 --

70

I TELEVISION 40

PERCENTAGE- - --.-

97

3

I00 --------

I - ( RADIO 10

I SIGN POST 1 6 -- "- -- OTHERS 4

PERCENTAGE 1

I SOURCE: FIELD DATA; 2004

5 9

The table above shows that 57% of the respondents said that they

advertised on Television, 14% on Radio, 11% on Newspapers, 3% on

point of purchase displays. 9% on Sign Post while 6% said they have

advertised on other media.

From the table, television is the mostly used media for advertising.

4.6: REASONS FOR ADVERTISING -

REASONS ---.-.--- - / -51- TO EFFECT IMMEDIATE BUYING ACTION. 7

----- -- - TO BUILD OVERALL COMPANY

IMAGEICUSTOMERS PATRONAGE 25 / 37

.---,-- ------.- .-.-- -- ---. .---

TOENSGRE BRAND INSISTENCE 1 10 / I 4 ----- -

TODEVELOPBRANDPERFERENCE 10 14 C - . . - - . - -. - - - - .- - - . . . - - - - . - - . . - . - - . - . - -

OTHERS. 5 7

TOTAL 70 100 ---- SOURCE: FIELD DATA; 2004

The table above shows that 7% of the respondents believe that

advertising effects immediate buying action, 37% believe that it builds

overall company image and ensure customers patronage, 2 1% believes

that advertising creates awareness of the company and its products, 14%

say that advertising ensures brand insistence, another 14% say it is

develops brand preference while another 7% believe that there are other

reasons why their company advertises their products.

basis.

4.7 DURATION I PERIOD OF ADVERTISING

4.8: EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING ON DESIRE FOR GOODS AND

SERVICES

-ME - ..--

DAILY

WEEKLY

MONTHLY

ALL.OF 'THE .

--

TOTAL

From the table above, 86% of the respondents believed that advertising

S O U R C E : FIELD DATA; 2004

From the above table, all the respondents said that Advertising is on daily

- - NUMBER

70 -- -

----

. . - --- 70

.. , - .. .--- INCREASED

DECREASED ,--.-

NORMAL

TOTAL

increases the d esire for goods a nd services o f t he company while 1 4%

P E R C E N ~ E

1 00 --- - ---..- - - ---

- - - . - - . - - - - I - - - - -

lob

believed it does not increase nor decrease the desire for goods and

services. No respondent believed that it decreases the desire for goods

' SOURCE: FIELD DATA; 2004

-- 60

- -

10

70

and services at all.

--- 86

-

14

100

4.9: INCREASE IN PRICE .---

[ ~ ~ ~ P O N E NUMBER

From the above, all the respondents said that advertising does not

increase the prices of consumer goods.

The table above, shows that all the respondents believed that sales and

4.10: EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING ON THE SALES AND PROFIT OF

THE ORGANISATION.

profit of the organization usually increase during the period of advertising.

RESPONSES ----- .-A-

INCREASE --- - -- -

DECREASE -- - TOTAL .

SOURCE: FIELD DATA; 2004

NUMBER -

70 -- .- - .- - - - . . - .- -

- 70

PERCENTAGE -

100 -- - -

--- I 00

4.11: TO KNOW WHETHER MONEY SPENT ON ADVERTISING IS

JUSTIFIED.

The table above shows that 86% believe that money spent on advertising

is justified, while 14OI0 believed that money spent on advertising is not

always Fstified. No respondent believe that money spent on advert is not

justified at all.

4.12: ADVERTISING INCREASES THE BUYER'S BRAND

------- ----- PERCENTAGE

------------ 86

-

RESPONESES + - - -

YES

NO

.- - - - - .

COMPREHENSlON AND CONFIDENCE.

NUMXER -".-

60

- --. -

------- F N U M B E R - I ~ E Z N T A G E - RESPONESES

NOT ALWAYS -

TOTAL -.

From the table above, 64 respondents representing 91% agree that

SOURCE: FIELD DATA; 2004

10

70 -.

- YES

NO

TOTAL

Advertising increases the buyer's brand comprehension and confidence

14

100 P

while 6 respondents representing 9% believe that advertising does not

increase the buyer's brand comprehension and confidence.

SOURCE: FIELD DATA; 2004

64

6

7 0

9 1

9 -

I 0 0 --- --

Nestle Foods PLC has different products. Consumers Choice of Product

is based on individual differences. This can be illustrated in the table

below.

4.13: FAVORITE PRODUCT CI

L- I I

SOURCE: FIELD DATA 2004

-- --- OTHERS

TOTAL

The table above shows that 50% of the respondents consider Milo as their

favorite product of Nestle PLC, 31.25% said it is Maggi Cube, 12.50%

-.-----

5

80

favoured Nutrend while 6.25% use other products.

- 6.25

100.00

4.A4: REASONS FOR PREFERRING THE FAVORITE PRODUCT I"̂ ---- 'Fa --

HIGH QUALEV

CHEAPER P-

L-, - .--- - SOURCE: FIELD DATA 2004

From the table above, 6.25% of the respondents prefer their favourite

project because of its high quality, 10% prefers i t for its cheapness, 8.75%

are influenced by their reference groups while majority of the

respondents,75% prefer their favourite brad because of the influences of

advertising.

4.15: EFFECT OF ADVERTISING ON LIFESTYLES AND OPINION

OF CONSUMERS.

1 HAS EFFECT 70

----. I EFFCTS THEM ALWAYS

DOES NOT HAVE EFFECT I-- I J

SOUR=: FIELD DATA; 2004

The table above shows that advertisement has an impact on the life styles

-

and opinion of 87.5% of the respondents, while 12.5% of the respondents

-

of the respondents said it is not always that advertising has impact on

their life styles and opinion. No respondent did not feel the impact of

advertisement on their lifestyles and opinion as consumers of the

products.

4.16: THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MEDIUM

[RESPONSES I N~MBER ( PERCENTAGE 1

I-- -I ------ ( TOTAL 80 100.00 I I-- SOURCE: FIELD DATA 2004

2 1

The table above shows that 50% of the respondents consider Television

as the media that influences their purchase most, 31.25% said it is Radio

advert Ihal influence their purchase most, 12.5% of Ihe respondents said

they prefer Newspaper as the mosl influenlial media while 6.25% said

they are influertced by adverls through other media.

4.17: REFERENCE GROUPS INFLUENCE ON CONSUMERS TO

BUY ADVERTISED PRODUCTS.

DOES NOT INLUENCE 20

The table above shows that 75% of the respondents agree that reference

groups influence consumers to buy advertised products while 25% of the

respondents do not believe so.

TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS

HYPOTHESfS 1

HO: Advertising does not increase the desire or demand of consumers

for goods and services.

HI: Advertising increases the desireldemand of the consumers for

goods and services.

Testing Techniques: Chi-square (x')

Where Oi = Observed frequency

Ei = Expected frequency

Degree of freedom = 2

Level of significance = 5%

. Table value = X20.05(2) = 5.99

Decision Rule: Accept Ho if calculated value is less than the table value,

otherwise, reject Ho and accept Hi

Table 4.8 will be used to test the hypothesis P. -----

RESPONSES Ei

-?---

TOTAL 70

Decision: Since calculated value, 35.8 is greater than the table value,

5,99 we will reject HO and accept H1. This means that

Advertising increases the desire of consumers for goods and

services.

HYPOTHESIS 2

HO: Advertising does not increase the buyer's brand comprehension

and confidence.

H I : Advertising increases the buyer's brand comprehension and

confidence.

Testing technique: Chi-square (x2)

Degree of freedom - - 2

Level of significance - - 5%

a

Table Value

Decision Rule: Accept HO if calculated value is less than the table

value, otherwise, reject HO and accept H I

TABLE 4.12: WILL BE USED TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS

Decision: Since calculated value, 48.06 is greater than the table value

5.99, we will reject HO and accept H1. This means that advertising

increases the buyer's brand comprehension and confidence.

CHAPTER FIVE

FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

5.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The aim of this study as earlier stated is to study the influence of

advertising on consumer demand for goods and services with a case study

of the Nestle Foods PLC.

The researcher also aims at studying advertising suitability to the

entire marketing objectives of the firm as well as the acceptability by the

consumers. Personal Observations have shown that the company

advertises its products on daily basis and in line with this, the study was

designed to address the following questions.:-

1. To what exten! does advertising affect the profil and sales levels of

the company?

2. To what extent does advertising affect consumers response?

3. Is the money spent on advertising justified?

4. Should advertising on daily basis be encouraged and acceptable to

the company?

The Major findings of this study are:-

I . Advertising is very necessary to Nestle Foods PLC.

2. Advertising increases sales returns

3. Advertising builds overall company image and customers patronage

4. Advertising increases the demand for goods and services C

5. Advertising increases sales and profit of the Organisation

6. Advertising increases the buyer's brand comprehension and

confidence.

7. Money spent on advertising is justified

8. Advertising has an impact on lifestyles and Opinion of consumers.

9. Reference groups influence consumers to buy advertised.

Advertising media should be carefully selected to show a good

impact on the consumer purchases and the media should be evaluated

from time to time in order to measure its effectiveness. Continuous

advertising is also necessary in order to prolong the products life cycle

(PLC). The constant change on an environmenl affects a product's image

even though the brand name remains unchanged.

Advertising should be persuasive in order to make consumers buy a

manufacture's brand rather than other's. If a manufacturer can persuade a

large number of Customers to buy hislher products, convincing them that

his products are superior to other brands, there will eventually be increase

in sales without reducing prices to undercut competitors.

So, Manufacturers should identify with opinion leaders and know

how best to direct their advertising messages to them and know the best a

media to use for more effective communication and better results.

This study investigated the influence of adverlising on consumer

demand for goods and services. The results are consistent with the

argument that advertising is an important marketing tool that cannot be

ignored.

The study explored both the process by which advertising responds

to purchase pattern and the media selection. The finding resulted into the

need to select a medium, which will reflect the advertising aims and

Objectives.

Advertising has been found to increase the sales of Nestle Foods

PLC and so should be used by the company to penetrate a wider market

and also create awareness of their products to the general public.

QUESTIONNAIRE TO THE MANUFACTURER

Dear sirhadam,

I am Okoroigbo Mary Nkechi, a post-graduate (MSc public

Relations) student at the university of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. I am

currently carrying out a study on "The lnfluence of Advertising on

Consumer Demand for Goods and Services." the Research work is in

partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a degree of MSc.

1 would be most grateful, if you would respond to these research

questions, as your response will be of immense benefit to the success of

this research study. All information provided shall be treated with the

utmost confidentiality.

1. Name of organization

2. When did YOU start opera tion in

Lagos?. .............. .. ... .... ..........................................~

3. Type of ownership, please tick the appropriate one

a. Sole proprietorship

b. Partnership

c. Private company

L

d. Public company

4. What are the major consumer products you

advertise?. . . , . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . , . . , . . , . . . . . . . . .

5. How often do you advertise?

a. Daily

b. Weekly

c. Whenever necessary

d. Monthly

e. Quarterly

g. Yearly

6. r Advertising increase sales returns of your organization

a. .Strongly agree

b. Agree

c. Strongly disagree

d. Disagree

e. No opinion

7. Do you believe advertising is very necessary for sales

stimulation?

Yes ( ) No ( )

8. Do you give special consideration to advertising in your annual

budget estimates?

Yes ( 1

9. What are !he e slimates of advertising expenditure of your firm

for the following years?

a. 2000 ............................ ....... .........................................

b. 2001 ............................................................................

............................................................................ c. 2002

d. 2003. ..........................................................................

e. 2004 .........................................................................

10. What was your profit in the years?

11. Does advertising increase your profit?

Yes ( 1 No ( )

12. Why do you advertise? (Tick more than one if necessary)

a. To create awareness

b. To build brand recognition

c. To develop brand prelerence

d. To ensure brarid insistence

e. To build overall company image

1. To effect immediate buying action.

13. Has advertising really helped to achieve your aim in No. 12

above?

Partially ( ) Fully ( 1 not at all ( 1 C

14. Which media do you use? (Tick more than one if necessary).

a. Television

b. . Radio

c. Magazines

d. Newspapers

e. Signposts

f. Point of purchase display

15. Which media do you use so often and why?

16, Does advertising increase the price of consumer goods?

Yes ( 1 No ( 1

17. How do you measure the effect of advertising on your sales?

....................................................................................

....................................................................................

18. Is the money spent on advertising your products justified?

Yes ( No ( ) Non of the above (

19. Do you use field salesmen in selling your consumer goods?

Yes ( 1 No ( 1

20. What means do you often use in promoting your

products?. ................ ., ... ... ...........................................

21. b o you d istribute within Lagos only or throughout the country?

Lagos ( 1 Nigeria ( ) Both ( )

22. What is your opinion about the Influence of advertising on

C consumer demands for goods and services?

23. What problems have you encountered

far?. ............... ... ......................................................

...................................................................................

QUESTIONAIRES FOR THE CONSUMERS

Dear Sir I Madam,

I am Okoroigbo Mary Nkechi, a post graduate (MSC Public

Relations) student at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. I am

currently carrying out a study on "The Influence of Advertising on

Consumer Demand for Goods and Services". The research is in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a degree of MSC.

I would be most grateful, i f you would respond to these

research questions, as your response will be of immense benefit to the

success bf this research study. All information provided shall be treated

with the utmost confidentiality.

NAME:. .........................................................................................

.......................................................... OCCUPATION..

......................................................................... MARITAL STATUS

AGE. .................................................. SEX.. .........................

1. Has advertising influenced you in making purchase?

Yes ( 1 No. ( 1

2. If yes, how many times?

a) Very many

b) Many

c) Very few

d) Few

e) Uncountable

3. Have you purchased a particular brand instead of an alternative

No. ( )

4. I f yes to No.3 above, was your choice influenced by

(Tick the appropriate one)

a) Salesman

b) Habit

c) Advertisement

d) Friends' Opinion

e) No Opinion

5. Do you become aware of existence and availability of certain

products through advertising? Yes ( ) No. ( 1

6. If yes to '5' above, give list of such

products.. ................ .. .......................~....................................

..........................................................................................

'7. Does Adverlising have any impacl on your lifestyle and opinion as a

consumer of a product? Yes ( 1 No. ( )

8. Is Advertising very necessary? Yes ( 1 No. ( )

No Option ( 1

9. Which product of Nestle Foods PLC is your favourite?

(a) Nutrend (b) Milo (c) Maggi Cube (d) Nido

(e) Golden Morn (f) Cerelac (g) Others.

10. Why. do YOU choose your answer in

11. Advertising increases the price of consumer goods.

No Option ( 1

12. Which of the following media influence(s) your purchase most?

a) Television

b) Radio

c) Magazine

d) Newspaper

e) Sign Post

f) Others

13. Why are you influenced by such media?. ...................................

14, Why do you buy from a particular store?

a) They advertise their product

b) The salesman shows courtesy

c) lt'is closest to my house

d) Other reason(s)

15. Does reference groups influence you to buy advertised product?

Yes ( 1 NO. ( 1

16. What is your opinion about the influence of Advertising on

Consumer Demands for Goods and Services?