Entertainment

Entertainment has been one of the primary criteria for creating an advertisement. Entertainment is used as
a tool to gain attention of customers. An interesting and entertaining ad is more likely to be remembered
by consumers rather than a boring one. Therefore, it can be said that entertainment increases the
effectiveness of advertising. That is why many companies are investing a lot of money to make
advertisements that are humorous (Mandan, Hossein & Furuzandeh, 2013).

Former studies suggest that entertainment in advertising generates customer satisfaction (Chang, 2006).
This claim was tested by later empirical studies. For instance, Duncan and Nelson (1985) conducted a
research on how entertainment in advertisement affects consumers. They analysed 157 responses towards
advertising and found that entertaining advertisements can influence consumers. It influences consumers
into accepting and consuming the product (Duncan & Nelson, 1985). In a similar way, Chang (2006)
investigated about entertaining advertisements and its influence on consumer satisfaction and leave
impact on their behavioural intentions. Based on his research on 152 participants, he found that
entertaining advertising can positively increase consumers’ satisfaction, thus influencing consumer
buying behaviour.

Although use of humour in advertisements can be risky at times as a large number of people may not be
entertained by the same concept. Gulas and Weinberger in their book say that a failed attempt to
entertaining ads is a lost opportunity to connect with consumers. It may even offend consumers and drive
them away. They have exemplified this risk with a 1999 Super Bowl advertisement for ‘Just for Feet’. It
showed a group of white men tracking a barefoot, black Kenyan runner who was later drugged and forced
against his will to wear a pair of running shoes (p. 174). The advertisement was met with massive outrage
(Gulas & Weinberg, 2006).

However, entertaining advertisements do not necessarily mean humorous ads. Thrilling, full of suspense
advertisements can also be counted as entertaining. One of the biggest examples of all time is the Apple
super bowl commercial “1984”. It left people awestruck and it was immediately able to get attention of
people. It was very effective in terms of spreading news about a new era of computers. It also had a huge
part in generating sales for the company.

Harvard professor Teixeira has conducted an interesting study on this regard and wrote a paper “Why,
When and How much to entertain consumers in advertisements?” The study is based on a facial tracking
study (software used to track the facial emotions) in response to the TVCs. This is a first of its kind study
and is the latest (Teixeira, Picard & Kaliouby, 2013).

Teixeira found that entertainment plays both a co-operating and a conflicting role, depending on its type
(i.e., location in the ad). Entertainment that is associated with the brand is co-operating, as it acts as a
persuasion device both in the interest and purchase stages. Entertainment that is not associated with the
brand acts predominantly as an attraction device at the interest stage, thus indirectly cooperating but also
directly conflicting with the ultimate goal of the ad.

The previous research as provided us with diverse information about the impact of entertainment on
consumers. It is seen to influence consumers in a positive way by grabbing their attention and creating a
lasting impression. However, in some cases the impact was negative. In this research we will attempt to
find out if these varied impressions about entertaining advertisements really have any impact on
consumer’s buying intention.

Familiarity
Alba & Hutchison (1987) defined familiarity as the number of product-related or service-related
experiences that have been gathered by the consumer. These related experiences include direct and
indirect experiences such as exposure to advertisements, interactions with salespersons, word of mouth
contact, trial and consumption. Johnson and Russo (1984) viewed familiarity as being tantamount with
knowledge. Johnson & Kellaris (1988) have considered experience contributing to familiarity. Review of
the literature shows that knowledge; experience and familiarity are closely intertwined. Following Alba
and Hutchison’s (1987) definition, brand familiarity is identified as the accumulated correlated
experiences that customers have had with a brand (Ballester, Navarro & Sicilia, 2012).

The effect of brand familiarity can be observed through a process called ‘Product-class cues’. The product
class or subcategory to which the brand belongs could serve as a cue in many cases. A consumer may
want a "fruit juice" to have with a meal. Research on categorization processes has recognized the
importance of "prototypically" as an indication of the strength of association between a category concept
and members of the category (Rosch, 1975; Medin & Smith, 1981). Prototypically of a brand is known as
a measure of how representative the brand is of its product category. Operationally, prototypically is
measured by individuals' ratings of how "good an example" they consider the object of a category. Brands
that are prototypical are more likely to be recalled faster and more frequently (Nedungadi & Hutchinson,
1985; Barsalou, 1985; Rosch & Mervis, 1975). This leads to a higher probability of being included in the
evoked set and to higher probability of choice.

Zajonc (1968) in a research has demonstrated that experience to a stimulus can enhance the fondness for
that stimulus independently of cognitive evaluations or contextual associations. Basically, this stream of
research has confirmed that affect is a linear function of the logarithm of exposure frequency (Harrison,
1977). So, as exposure to a brand increases, affective reactions to the brand become more favorable. It
means the more a brand is exposed through advertisements and campaigns, the more exposure it gets,
which eventually leads to more familiarity of the brand.

Zajonc & Markus (1982) suggest that familiarity may lead to creation of positive impression of a service
or object. When confronted with a familiar service or brand, the consumer may feel a glow of warmth and
intimacy. Familiarity with the brand thus creates a sense of trustworthiness in consumer’s minds.

The previous researchers have all identified how familiarity towards a brand causes a psychological
change in the minds of the consumers. It is seen that familiarity mostly evokes positive emotions about a
brand on the consumer’s mind. This paper will attempt to find out whether these changes in the
psychology, eventually lead a consumer to purchase a product or not.

Social Imaging

Advertisements generally have influence on how we perceive things around us. Through various types of
advertisements, especially TVCs portray how a user of a certain product is or should be. It sometimes
shows the social class the user of a product belong to, their lifestyle and attitudes.

In cases of beauty product this concept is highly applicable. In a research conducted in 2009 it was
observed that one of most influential ideas spread by the media is society's perception of beauty and
attractiveness. The thin beautiful woman and the handsome muscular men are seen everywhere. And as
the influence of media increases, the pressure to hold on to these ideals increases (Russello, 2009).

In 2008, the YWCA USA published a report, Beauty at Any Cost, which highlighted the consequences of
the beauty obsession on women and girls in America through media. This feeling of insecurity and
obsession is very much likely to trigger purchase of beauty products (Britton, 2012).
The mass media is the most powerful way to spread these images that represent sociocultural ideals
(Tiggemann, 2003). Advertising promote social messages and life style by illustrating the position of
ideal consumer and stimulates consumer’s willingness to purchase (Pollay & Mittal, 1993).

Apart from the beauty industry, another great example of social image that is solely created by
advertisement is the brand “Rolex”. It is not necessarily the best product in the market nor does it add a
lot of usefulness to one’s life in this day of cell phones. But through its careful ad placements they have
gained the attraction of millions. They have targeted sports and club members of the elite and portrayed
them in their advertisements. They have identified how the lifestyle of an ideal customer of their product
is, where they live, where they hang out, etc. In a way they have sent a subliminal message to the people
that ‘Rolex’ is only for the rich and sophisticated, it is what sets a person apart from the ordinary. Rolex is
now more of a social status rather than a time tracking device. As a result, a person who has suddenly
become rich would want to buy a Rolex just to have a sense of belonging in that ‘elite’ class.

Even the smart watch by Apple that offers a great functionality failed to compete with Rolex as it was
reported by Tech Times:

“Apple may be the numerouno smart watch seller in the world and while it can revel in the fact that it
thwarts its wearable rivals such as Samsung, Sony and LG in this sphere, the Cupertino-based company
is still not a shine on Swiss watchmaker Rolex, which is synonymous with luxury”.

Prior studies have shown that stereotyping and classification of a certain gender or group of people has a
huge impact on mass population. People feel pressurized to look a certain way to get a feeling of
belonging. This may have both positive and negative impact on the society. But in this research, we will
focus on finding out if ‘social imaging’ in an advertisement is successful in persuading people to purchase
a product by inducing their desire to belong in a certain social class.

Spending

Advertising spending can have an effect in the buying behaviour of people in a sense that the more money
spent can be linked with the quality of advertisement and the frequency of advertisement. It may result in
creating a lasting impression in consumer’s mind. Advertising is an important extrinsic cue signalling
product quality (Milgrom & Roberts, 1986). Heavy advertising spending shows that the firm is investing
in the brand, which means the organization has a huge investment and thus implies that they might have a
better quality of product (Kirmani & Wright, 1989). In addition, advertising spending levels are good
indicators of not only high quality but also good buys (Archibald, Haulman & Moody, 1983).

Yoo, Donthu & Lee (2000) examined the impact of the marketing mix variables on consumer behaviour.
The approach focuses on the indirect effect of these determinants on brand loyalty. Since advertising
spending affects expectations of product or service quality in consumer’s mind (Kirmani & Wright, 1989;
Yoo, Donthu & Lee, 2000; Moorthy & Zhao, 2000), its role should be indirectly linked to brand loyalty
implying that rather than the advertisement itself, it is how advertising affects customer perception of the
firm that is more critical in impacting consumer buying behaviour (Ha, Janda & Muthaly, 2011).

The earlier studies have concluded that when a huge sum is spent on advertisements and other marketing
campaigns consumers began to expect more from that particular brand. It creates and illusion of better
quality of product or service from that brand. In this study, we will try to find out that how these
associations that consumers make with ‘Advertisement Spending’ and the ‘Brand’ effect their purchase
decision. In other words, we will attempt to find out how consumers perceive advertisement spending and
if it ultimately influences them to purchase the product.
Nowadays, people have access to the endless supply of advertisements. However, they fancy
something new, entertaining and something that can grab their attention. Boring advertising will
not sustain in consumers’ minds long enough. Therefore, entertainment has been termed as a
significant advertising strategy for increasing advertising effectiveness and imploring them to make
a purchase (Madden & Weinberger, 1982).

Familiarity created by advertisement for a certain brand is also an important factor that affects
consumer buying behaviour. Macinnis and Park (1991) carried out a study with consumers to
investigate the effects of familiar songs in advertising and consumer behaviour. In their research,
consumers depicted satisfaction for products with familiar songs and a significant relationship was
confirmed between the level of familiarity of the songs in the advertising and its amiability.

Social role and image reflects that ads influence individual life style and the extent to which an
individual seeks to present him or herself in a socially acceptable manner. In addition to selling
products and services, ads sell image and life style. Consumers learn about new life style, image and
trend through ads (Pollay & Mittal, 1993; Burns, 2003). Advertising promote social messages and
life style through illustrating the position of ideal consumer and stimulate social action toward
purchase of that product.

Advertising spending also creates positive impression about a brand in the minds of the consumers.
Aaker and Jacobson (1994) also find a positive relationship between advertising and perceived
quality. Hence, advertising spending is positively related to perceived quality, which leads to
greater amount of purchase from that brand as consumers generally prefer to purchase from a well
know brand in order to avoid disappointments over quality.