10th Global Conference on Business & Economics ISBN : 978-0-980!

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The effectiveness of advertising: a literature review
Elisabetta Corvi
Associate Professor of Economics and Business Management
University of Brescia
corvi@ecounibsit
Michelle Bonera $corresponding author)
Assistant Professor of Economics and Business Management
University of Brescia
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mbonera@ecounibsit
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10th Global Conference on Business & Economics ISBN : 978-0-980!"#-1-#
Abstract
*he aim of the +a+er is to +ro+ose a sim+le a++roach to monitor an, control the enco,in-
+hase' too often ne-lecte, b) the ,octrine an, o+erators in the communication +rocess. *he
+a+er is ,iscusses a +ossible metho,olo-) to in/esti-ate the ,e-ree of coinci,ence 0
,iscor,ance bet1een 1hat is con/e)e, throu-h the a,/ertisin- an, 1hat is actuall)
un,erstoo, b) some consumers. *he ob2ect of in/esti-ation is the /erbal te3t of the s+ot in
or,er to /erif) the le/el of un,erstan,in- of the messa-e an,' if necessar)' to fin, the reasons
of a 1ron- +ercei/e, meanin-.
(ntroduction
4,/ertisin- effecti/eness can be ,efine, as the e3tent to 1hich a,/ertisin- -enerates a certain
,esire, effect. 5easurin- the effects of a,/ertisin- is /er) im+ortant' -i/en the amount of
in/estments nee,e, for a,/ertisin-. 6hile it is not +ossible to obtain a -lobal measure of the
a,/ertisin- effecti/eness' 1e shoul, see7 to ,e/elo+ an, a++l) metho,s an, measures for a
+artial /erification of results. (e-ar,in- the ,ifficult) of measurin- the o/erall effecti/eness'
1e belie/e that it is ,ue essentiall) to the follo1in- consi,erations:
a,/ertisin- interacts 1ith other business /ariables $beha/ior' mar7etin- +olicies'
financial ,ecisions etc.8 an, en/ironmental /ariables $com+etition' economic
con2uncture etc.8' har,l) isolable9
the effects of a,/ertisin- are /arie, an, not al1a)s translatable into :uantitati/e terms9
a,/ertisin- causes lon--term effects' not al1a)s' therefore' the results occur in the
same +erio, in 1hich are the costs.
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10th Global Conference on Business & Economics ISBN : 978-0-980!"#-1-#
In literature an, +ractice the e/aluation of a,/ertisin- effecti/eness has use, t1o basic
mo,els:
the ,ichotomous mo,el9
the three-,imensional mo,el.
*he ,ichotomous mo,el is a++lie, mainl) in +ro,uct an, bran, a,/ertisin-' ten,in- to isolate
an, e/aluate se+aratel) the follo1in-:
sales effect9
communication effect.
*he sales effect refers to the assessment of the ca+abilit) of a,/ertisin- to affect the sales
/olume an,0or the mar7et share' re-ar,less of the +ossible influence of other /ariables. ;or
Batra et al. $199"8' the effecti/eness of a,/ertisin- shoul, be consi,ere, for its effect on sales
in the short term. *his a,/ertisin- +erformance measurement is base, on the mar-inal theor)
$Chamberlin' 19!88. *he a,/ertisin- is therefore re-ar,e, as an in,e+en,ent /ariable that can
be combine, 1ith other mar7etin- /ariables to ha/e a certain effect on the ,e+en,ent /ariable'
i.e. sales. *he aim is to see7 the best combination of the ,eterminants of the sales increase.
*he effect of communication refers to the abilit) to reach' 1ith a++ro+riate messa-es' a more
si-nificant share of +ublic. Such effect is e3amine, in literature 1ith ,ifferent a++roaches:
sociolo-ical9
semiotic9
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+s)cholo-ical9
socio-+s)cholo-ical.
Sociolo-ical anal)sis focuses on the communit)' consi,ere, as a s)stem -o/erne, b) rules
an, social norms' an, on the social beha/ior $5oin-eon' 1998. *he role of a,/ertisin- an,
consum+tion in the societ) chan-e is a /er) fertile to+ic. Sociolo-) has e3amine, ho1
a,/ertisin- influences o+inions' attitu,es an, beha/iors of in,i/i,uals an, social -rou+s.
*here are t1o o++osite sociolo-ical +ers+ecti/es to the a,/ertisin- function in contem+orar)
societ). *he first maintains a +ositi/e a++roach to a,/ertisin-. It is belie/e, that the role
a,/ertisin- is to better or-ani<e economic an, social relations' to harmoni<e social beha/iors'
to ma7e +eo+le a,here to common /alues an, to hel+ them to better li/e to-ether 1ithout
+roblems. *he secon, a++roach is' b) contrast' rather critic' because a,/ertisin- ten,s to
-enerate a mass consum+tion. In or,er to a,a+t messa-es to a 1i,er au,ience' intro,uces ne1'
+oorl) ,ifferentiate,' s)mbolic /alues $;rie,man' 19798.
*he semiotic anal)sis focuses in the first instance' on s)mbols. *hese are i,entifie, as
an)thin- that con/e)s meanin-' e.-.' 1or,s' -estures' ima-es' an, ,ance. Semiotics stu,ies
the +roblem of enco,in-' an, more -enerall) of the co,e use,. *he ob2ect of in/esti-ation is
the messa-e itself containin- ,ifferent si-ns that can be inter+rete, accor,in- to a
+reestablishe, intention' 1ithout reference to the consumer an, the influence on the consumer
beha/ior. *his a++roach is useful es+eciall) in the conte3t of a,/ertisin- creation. 4uthors
assess the effecti/eness of a,/ertisin- in reference either to the lan-ua-e of the messa-e
$Barthes' 19&!9 =uran,' 19&!8 or the -ra+hic ima-e of the messa-e $Eco' 19799 5ic7' 198&9
Scott' 199!8. >o1e/er' the) anal)<e the :ualit) of messa-e from the /ie1+oint of its
construction' its +resentation an, the +lace of the communication +rocess. *he im+act of the
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10th Global Conference on Business & Economics ISBN : 978-0-980!"#-1-#
messa-e on the reci+ient is a minor +roblem in the +rocess of the messa-e e/aluation. *his is
an im+ortant limitation to the semiotic a++roach in terms of mar7etin-.
Communication in -eneral an, a,/ertisin- in +articular' 1ere treate, b) +s)cholo-ists startin-
from the moti/ations of reci+ients' 1hich occu+) a central +osition in the anal)sis. *his is
because of their influence on the +erce+tion of the reci+ient $5ittelstae,t' 19908. *he) belie/e
that the moti/ations ,ri/e consumer beha/ior. So the +ur+ose for the a,/ertisin- creator' is to
i,entif) the reasons of consumer beha/ior' in or,er to i,entif) the most effecti/e
a,/ertisement messa-e or to remo/e the communication barriers. 6ith the +s)cholo-ical
a++roach' other t)+es of research an, in/esti-ation ha/e emer-e,' than7s to the contribution
of neuroscience. *he e/i,ence $obtaine, throu-h scientific e3+erimentation8 has become a
necessar) su++ort to /erif) the assum+tions. *he +s)cholo-ical a++roach has the a,/anta-e to
measure the effecti/eness of a,/ertisin- 1ith reference to the reci+ient of the messa-e'
+articularl) to the consumers? characteristics. %n the other han,' the a++roach ,oes not
+ro/i,e e3hausti/e ans1ers' not ,el/in- into the e3act causes that lea, the reci+ient of the
messa-e +ublicit) to e3+ose themsel/es /oluntaril) to the messa-e' ,eco,e it' to store an,'
e/entuall)' to ma7e the +urchase. So it is not ta7en into account the entire communication
+rocess' an,' in +articular' the e3ternal factors' es+eciall) those relate, to the en/ironment'
that ma) +la) a crucial role in ,eterminin- the beha/ior of the reci+ient.
*he socio-+s)cholo-ical a++roach ta7es simultaneousl) into account the messa-e an, the
reci+ient of the messa-e. *his a++roach aims to stu,) the effecti/eness of a,/ertisin- in terms
of +ersuasi/eness $(a)' 198#8' obser/in- the effects on the formation +rocess of attention'
memor)' attitu,e an, beha/ior $@a+ferer' 19908. *his research metho,olo-) consi,ers the
en/ironment of the communication +rocess an, its actual interactions. *he e3+erimentation is
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10th Global Conference on Business & Economics ISBN : 978-0-980!"#-1-#
1i,el) use,. It also allo1s to consi,er all h)+otheses teste, to-ether' an, all the lin7s that
ma) e3ist bet1een /ariables' throu-h a +re-test' -ettin- an a,/anta-e in terms of /ali,it) of
the research. (ather than focusin- solel) an, e3clusi/el) on ,irect effects of certain /ariables
ta7en in,i/i,uall)' that is ,ifficult to control in realit)' this a++roach stu,ies the actual
contribution of these /ariables in e3+lainin- the e/olution of the ,e+en,ent /ariable' sales.
*he ma2or criticisms to the ,ichotomous mo,el concern the +artial e/aluation an, the
inabilit) to +ro/i,e reliable brea7,o1ns of the effects achie/e, b) a,/ertisin- an, b) other
com+an) +olitics $mar7etin- an, communication8. ;or these reasons' sometimes' the three-
,imensional mo,els $i.e. 4I=4 mo,el an, mo,el =a-mar8 are +referre,. *hese mo,els are
use, both in +lannin- a,/ertisin- cam+ai-ns an, e/aluatin- their effecti/eness. *he) +ro+ose
a hierarch) of communication effects' co-niti/e affecti/e an, beha/ioral $Brasini et al. 1999
5arbach an, ;abi #0008.
Namel) the anal)sis of co-niti/e ,imension concerns the messa-es un,erstan,in- an, storin-
an, must ta7e account of ,ifferent t)+es of memor): s+ontaneous recall' 1ithout an) a,,e,
in,ication9 stimulate, recall' facilitate, b) the +resentation of certain e/i,ence9 relate,
memor)' 1hen res+on,ents are able to ,escribe at least one s+ecific element of the
communication9 reco-nition' or i,entification of the a,/ertisin-9 bran, allocation' the memor)
not onl) of the a,/ertisin- but also of the a,/ertise, bran,8.
*he affecti/e ,imension is lin7e, to the attitu,e to1ar, an, +erce+tions of communication.
4ffecti/e reactions an, emotional acce+tance of that t)+e of cam+ai-n are in/esti-ate,. *he
affecti/e attitu,e to1ar,s the ima-es +ro+ose, an, the s+rea, o+inion of consumers is
,etecte,.
*he beha/ioral ,imension ,escribes chan-es in bu)in- beha/ior' ,etectable b) intentions an,
actions measure, b) sales an, mar7et share.
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4ll the mo,els mentione, so far are mainl) focuse, on three elements of the communication
+rocess: the reci+ients $in terms of au,ience' memor)' stora-e8' the me,ia use, $in terms of
im+act' co/era-e' fre:uenc)' etc..8 an, the fee,bac7 $in terms of attitu,es' beha/iors'
o+inions' etc...8. *he) totall) omit other elements $source' co,e' conte3t8 assumin- essentiall)
that the communication +rocess 1as con,ucte, in o+timal con,itions or at least 1ithout
,istortion. 5oreo/er a fun,amental element for an effecti/e communication +rocess is the use
of the same co,e b) the source an, reci+ient. %ther1ise' the reci+ient 1ill not un,erstan, the
messa-e or -i/e a ,ifferent meanin- an, this 1ill lea, to the +henomenon Eco calle,
Aaberrant ,eco,in-A. >o1e/er' since as state, b) 6at<la1ich the messa-e is 1hat 1e
un,erstan,' not 1hat it 1as inten,e, to un,erstan,' it becomes im+ortant to e3amine not so
much an, not onl) 1hat the firms 1ante, to communicate' but 1hat 1as actuall)
communicate,.
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10th Global Conference on Business & Economics ISBN : 978-0-980!"#-1-#
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