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EFFECTIVENESS OF MESSAGE DELIVERED THROUGH EXPERIENTAL MARKETING AS
COMPARE TO CONVENTIONAL ADVERTISING
LONDON SCHOOL OF MARKERTING
MARCH 2012
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am thankful to God, my supervisor,family and friends for you support and assistant towards
the completion of this research study.
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DECLARATION
I declare that the entire thesis has been completed by me and the entire work has been done
by writing and no copy pasting material has been added in this thesis.
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ABSTRACT
In this research study, the researcher tries to explore to find out the effectiveness of message
delivered through experiential marketing as compare to conventional advertising. In traditional
marketing, marketers focus on mass selling, which is selling standardized products to large
markets through traditional media such as newspaper advertisements. Conversely, experiential
marketing emphasizes one-on-one personal experience with the brand or its representatives,
who facilitate two-way communication between the consumer and brand representative (e.g.,
store staff, online customer service). In this research study the mixed methodology was
employed. In this research, the responses of the managers and consumers proved that
experiential marketing is way better than conventional advertising in today’s competitive
world. The results help different companies to implement the experiential marketing for
attracting and retaining their customers. Thus, it can be concluded that the effectiveness of
message deliverance can be done by using experiential advertising techniques rather than the
conventional advertising.
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Aknowledgement .................................................................................. 2
Declaration.............................................................................................3
Abstract......................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION....................................................................8
Background of Research..................................................................................................8-9
Rationale of Study...........................................................................................................9-10
Research Aims & Objectives..............................................................................................10
a) Aims.......................................................................................................................10
b) Objectives..............................................................................................................10
Research Question.............................................................................................................11
Linkage of Experimential with other Strategies.................................................................11
Topic 1- Promotional Strategies.........................................................................11-12
Topic 2- Introduction to Advertising & its types................................................12-13
Topic 3- Events&Experience...............................................................................13-14
CHAPTER 2- Literature Review..................................................................15
Introduction..........................................................................................................................15
Topic 1- Experiential Markerting.........................................................................15-16
Topic 2- Traditional vs Experential Marketing......................................................16-18
Topic 3- The Characteristic of Experiential Marketing...............................................18
Topic 4- Narratives................................................................................................18-20
Topic 5- The Dimension of Experiential Marketing...............................................20-21
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Topic 6 – The Experiential Interface......................................................................21-22
Topic 7- The Advertisement encountered in Realistic Setting....................................22
Topic 8- The Advertisament Promotes Novelty Devergence...................................22-23
Topic 9- Transcending the Traditional Advertising Schema.....................................23-25
Topic 10- consumer Buying behaviour in Relation to Advertising............................25-26
Topic 11- Role of Online Markerting.........................................................................26-27
Topic 12- Marketing Experience...............................................................................28-30
CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY.........................................................................31
Introduction..............................................................................................................................31
Research Paradigm...................................................................................................................31
Appropriateness of Research...................................................................................................31
Research Method.................................................................................................................31-32
a) Mixed Methodology................................................................................................32-35
b) Secondary Research....................................................................................................36
c) Primary research.....................................................................................................36-37
Sampling Frame.......................................................................................................................37
Data Collection....................................................................................................................37-38
Research Instrument Used.......................................................................................................38
a) Interviews ...............................................................................................................38-39
b) Questionnaires.............................................................................................................39
Explanation of Mixed Methodology.........................................................................................40
Informed Consent................................................................................................................40-41
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Confidentiality......................................................................................................................41
Geographical Location.........................................................................................................41
Limitation of Study..........................................................................................................41-42
Sources for Searching Literature.......................................................................................42
CHAPTER 4- ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION.....................................................43
Introduction......................................................................................................................43
Descriptive Analysis of Questionnaires.........................................................................43-50
Descriptive Analysis of interviews................................................................................50-51
Secondary Research Findings.......................................................................................51-60
CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSION & RECCOMENDATION..................................60
Conclusion...................................................................................................................60-63
Recommendation........................................................................................................63-65
a) Objectives .......................................................................................................65-69
b) Research Aim Fulfilment.................................................................................69-71
c) Limitation of future research..............................................................................71
REFRENCES.......................................................................................72-74
APPENDIX.........................................................................................75-77
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Research
In an economic decline, the need to assess marketing effectiveness is essential to
survival. Many researchers have discussed a concept of marketing effectiveness extensively
because it has strong relations with many organizational outcomes such as growth, customer
satisfaction, competitive advantage, marketing orientation, promotion, and profit. Marketers
who understand the definition of marketing can adopt marketing practices easily. Marketing is
a discipline that enables producers of products and services to interpret customers’ desires in
delivering to target customers (Holt and Douglas, 1995,1).
Marketing researchers have made attempts to develop a measurement of marketing
effectiveness or even a complexity of the construct. In past studies, marketing researchers have
used two main models to measure marketing effectiveness: Return on Marketing Investment
(ROMI) and OME based on marketing orientation. In the concept of ROMI, marketing
effectiveness is a quality of how companies go to a market with the goal of optimizing their
spending to achieve satisfactory results for both the short-term and long-term. The concept
relates to logical, analytical, and data-driven approaches to problem solving by breaking down
the issues into addressable pieces.
Researchers have conducted empirical investigations involving a concept of marketing
effectiveness, but only a few conceptual measures of the construct exist. In 1977, Kotler
created Marketing Effectiveness Audit to measure OME. The concept of marketing
effectiveness based on marketing orientation in Harvard Business Review. OME reflects the
degree to which it exhibits the five essential attributes of a marketing orientation: customer
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philosophy, integrated marketing organization, adequate marketing information, strategic
orientation, and operational efficiency.
Several researchers found that marketing orientation has a positive relationship to
OME. Because only ROMI does not clearly relate to the overall view of an organization, many
researchers supported Kotler’s idea of measuring OME in essential areas of marketing
functions: environment, strategy, organization, system, and productivity (Dahlén and Edenius,
2007, 42). Kotler’s Marketing Effectiveness Audit has a broad framework of marketing
orientation to measure OME, and this framework has had widespread applications. The
benefits of using the Marketing Effectiveness Audit and implementing its recommendations lie
in perceptions of ability to influence a change in business performance. Identifying OME helps
companies implement an effective marketing plan and improve overall marketing orientation.
Since its first introduction, Kotler’s Marketing Effectiveness Audit has been widely adopted by
many marketing researchers and business practitioners. marketers need to be aware of the
symbolic aspects of consumption since symbolism can be an important aspect of many
experiential products, especially for younger consumers. By consuming offerings associated
with a peer group the consumer is able to signal to others that they are part of that peer group.
Marketers can reinforce the importance of these social/symbolic dimensions of experiential
offerings in advertising in cases where the consumer values this dimension.
Rationale of the study
In today’s competitive world it is not possible to hold on a product in the eye of the
customers for long. Because of globalization and competition new products enter into the
market every day. For taking a competitive edge over others and attracting customers
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companies use different marketing techniques. The more effectively the message delivers to
the customers, the more they become loyal to the brand. The main issue for conducting this
research study is to find out which marketing technique is efficient for retaining and attracting
customers in this competitive world. The research study helps in finding out whether
experiential marketing is essential for delivering message to the customers effectively or
conventional advertising is more effective. This study highlights this issue that helps the
marketing experts to know the significance and effectiveness of both marketing techniques in
delivering message to the customers.
Research Aims and Objectives
(a) Aims
The purpose of this research study is to determine the effectiveness of message
deliverance to the final consumers via experiential marketing and conventional advertising. This
research determines the comparison between conventional advertising strategies and
experiential advertising strategies.
(b) Objectives
The research objective of this research study is as following:
1. To find out the effectiveness of using experiential marketing and conventional
advertising for message deliverance.
2. To find out how message is delivered by experiential marketing and conventional
advertising.
3. To find out the difference between experiential and conventional marketing.
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Research Questions
This research study aims at answering the following research questions:
1. What is the effectiveness of using experiential marketing and conventional
advertising for message deliverance?
2. How message is delivered by experiential marketing and conventional
advertising?
Linkage of Experiental Marketing with Marketing Startegies
Promotional Strategies
One of the most essential marketing strategies is a promotion. A promotion is
coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up channels of information and persuasion to
sell products and services or promote an idea. An effective promotion is a plan for the optimal
use of various promotional strategies. A traditional promotion has four promotional strategies:
advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling. a modern promotion
included events and experiences and direct marketing as the fifth and sixth promotional
strategies, respectively.
According to Dahlén and Edenius, Promotional strategy is the function of informing,
persuading, and influencing a consumer decision. It is as important to nonprofit organizations
as it is to a profitoriented company like Colgate-Palmolive. Some promotional strategies are
aimed at developing primary demand, thedesire for a general product category.Promotional
strategy objectives vary among organizations. Some use promotionto expand their markets,
others to hold their current positions, still others to presenta corporate viewpoint on a public
issue. Promotional strategies can also be used to reach selected markets. Most sources identify
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the specific promotional objectives or goals of providing information, differentiating the
product, increasing sales, stabilizing sales, and accentuating the product's value.
Marketers often develop a promotional strategy to differentiate their goods or services
from those of competitors. To accomplish this, they attempt to occupy a"position" in the
market that appeals to their target customers. Promotions that apply the concept of positioning
communicate to consumers meaningful distinctions about the attributes, price,quality, or usage
of a good or service.
Introduction to Advertising and its types
Advertising. Advertising is any form of paid communication in which the sponsor or
company is identified. Traditional media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines,
billboard, and transit posts are most commonly used for one-way communication to
consumers. With increasing technology, marketers communicate their advertisements to
consumers in many innovative ways such as interactive video, the Internet, and e-mail. One of
the primary benefits of advertising is its ability to communicate to a large number of people at
one time. Advertising can reach the masses, but it can also reach target audiences and small
groups of potential customers through television advertisements on cable networks or print
advertisements in trade magazines. Although the cost of advertising per contact is low, the
total cost is relatively high. With a large capital investment, advertising cost tends to limit
advertisements on a national basis. (Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, 2006, 40)
A model for predictive measurements of advertising effectiveness classified advertising
and its effects into three levels. First, a cognitive component indicates that receivers receive a
message. Second, an affective component indicates the development of attitudes. Third, a
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behavioral component indicates actual actions taken by the target audience. The two
qualitative dimensions of the advertising process are the quality of advertising and media
weight. To be successful in advertising, sales-related feedback should be used to develop and
identify advertising.In this section we will discuss different types of advertisement and four
important decisions management takes in developing advertisement program. The objectives
of advertisements are to enhance the image of the company rather than selling the product.
The objective of product advertising is to communicate about the product attributes to the
target customer. (Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, 2006, 40). Product advertising is further classified
into three types. They are Pioneer advertising: This mode of advertisements is used to create
awareness and demand in the initial stage of the product life cycle. Competitive
advertisements: This type of advertisement is used to highlight the differentiation of
organization’s product.
Events and Experiences
Events and experiences are time-based events and marketing experiences where a
company or brand is linked to the events and experiences. Marketers develop events and
experiences for the purpose of creating theme activities for consumers and promoting products
or services. Events and experiences have become popular in recent years as marketers develop
integrated marketing programs including a variety of promotional tools that create experiences
for consumers in an effort to associate the company’s brands with individual lifestyles and
activities (Dahlén and Edenius, 2007, 42). Marketers use events and experiences to identify
with target markets or lifestyles, increase awareness of the company or product, reinforce
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customer perception, enhance company image, create experiences or evoke feelings, and
express commitment to the community.
Marketers often set event marketing by associating their products with popular
activities such as sports events, concerts, and trade shows. Marketers can also create their own
events for promotional purposes. In event sponsorship, a company supports the event in return
for the right to present a brand name, logo, or advertising message that makes it identified as a
supporter of the event. Experience marketing is the practice of engaging target audiences in
personal experiences in which they internalize a sense of how the brand improves their
personal or professional lives. The forms of events and experiences were trade shows, product
exhibitions, artistic performance, company anniversaries, sports events, and event sponsorship.
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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Marketing isn't as simple as putting out a bunch of ads for your small business.
Marketing plans require multiple tiers and approaches to achieve maximum effectiveness and
to attract the most customers. Traditional and experiential marketing are two different schools
of marketing thought; both are effective and can be used in conjunction with each other.
( Elliott, Speck, 1998, 29)
The conceptual clarification of the literature will ascertain the reader what are the main
themes of the research understudy. It also covers what others have said about the term and
their findings. That would help in the overall research process of the Advertising in relation to
the buyer’s behaviour.
Topic 1-Experiential Marketing
When you watch a television commercial you see it, you hear it, but do you really
experience it? You don't. A television commercial is traditional advertising. It talks to you but
there is no interaction. Experiencial marketing is just that - An experience; it is designed to be
interactive with the consumer, to engage all of the consumer's senses so as to elicit emotional
responses in a way that traditional advertising, like television commercials cannot.How can
marketing be interactive? A company that takes its marketing message directly to the consumer
is interactive. (Bartlett, Ghoshal, 2009, 34). For example, a beer company that provides its
brand for free on a special promotion night at a popular nightclub is interactive. That's
experiential marketing. People encounter the product precisely where they will be exposed to it
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in the future. Proponents of experiential marketing believe that, like the nightclub example,
consumers will be more apt to internalize the marketing message this way than they would,
say, in seeing a beer ad on TV.
Experiential marketing is a relatively new concept and when a marketing campaign
designed around it works it becomes huge. Many business experiential marketing are a success
due to viral factors. People love it. They talk about it. They tell their friends. Brands can become
an instant success with a good experiential marketing campaign.In each case, experiential
marketing is about encountering a brand in an immensive experience that engages the senses
in a way that traditional advertising or marketing never has; it is a user experience.
Topic 2-Traditional VS. Experiential Marketing
Traditional marketing comprises those advertisements apromotions typically associated
with marketing. Billboards, flyers, and television commercials are all examples of traditional
marketing. These methods are effective in getting your name and your mission to the public,
but attaining a personal touch is difficult through traditional marketing.As the name suggests,
experiential marketing focuses on the experiences and the emotions of the customer.
Experiential marketing allows customers to take ownership of a product's marketing because
they have an emotional investment in that product. (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2009, 34).
Demonstrations and taste tests are common examples of experiential marketing; they draw
customers to the product, give them a reason to remember the product and, hopefully,
customers will give a good recommendation to their friends.
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Experiential marketing is about letting your customers experience the benefits of your
product or service by themselves instead of marketing it to them. This gives them a better
decision making ability, and the experience seals a customer’s confidence in your product or
service firmly, as he or she now has first-hand information and experience regarding the
product or service. It also pulls the emotional cords of consumers and thus helps increase
awareness of and loyalty towards your brand. It also helps marketers save tremendously on
their marketing costs, as costly promotional schemes and other marketing gimmicks to target
and lure the consumer are no longer needed. The best part is that experiential marketing brings
the marketer face-to-face with the consumer. (Gati and Ben, 1990, 263).
The difference between traditional and experiential marketing may be considered a
battle of old versus new philosophies, which is both true and untrue. Companies have used
both traditional and experiential marketing for decades and will continue to do so in the future.
However, as companies attempt to keep their costs down, experiential marketing is a more
viable option. Instead of paying for a newspaper ad that is only useful for one day, a company
can spend that same money to reach a group of customers that can market the product on the
company's behalf.
Today, the strength of a product or service alone does not sustain it for long. New
products are constantly introduced into the market with better features, making it difficult for
marketers to win customer loyalty. This leads to a rise in advertising spending by each player in
an attempt to win customers, creating a lot of noise in the market. Experiential marketing helps
customers relate to and distinguish a product from others available on the market by
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experiencing it first-hand. For marketers, this type of marketing helps in creating brand
awareness and makes the brand stand out from the competition.
Topic 3-The Characteristics of Experiential Marketing
The literature review pertaining to the three dimensions of experiential marketing
suggests a number of different elements of each dimension (Gati and Ben, 1990, 263). This
leads to one of the main questions that drives this dissertation: what are the essential
characteristics of experiential marketing? That is, is it possible to distil all of the elements of the
three dimensions down to those aspects that underlie experiential marketing and distinguish it
from other forms of marketing? Based on an analysis of the elements of the three dimensions,
this dissertation proposes that there are four main characteristics of experiential marketing: 1)
narratives, 2) connectivity, 3) liminality, and 4) multiplicity. Unlike the specific elements, these
characteristics represent broad concepts that encompass multiple aspects of experiential
marketing across the three dimensions. While it helps to separate these characteristics in order
to facilitate the examination of their properties, this approach should not suggest that they are
unrelated in theory or practice.
Topic 4-Narratives
The first proposed distinguishing characteristic of experiential marketing is narratives
(Holt and Douglas, 1995, 1). A narrative, which derives from narratology and narrative
discourse, refers to the properties and relationships of a narrative (Ducoffe and Curlo, 2000,
247). For this dissertation, a narrative is defined as a story that functions as an organizing
structure or framework that is used to make sense of experiences or events (Cook et al.2004,
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2). In fact, it has been argued that narrative is the mode of thought that best captures the
experiential particularity of human action and intentionality (Bilen and Devan and Okudan,
2002, 889). The narrative properties include its formal structure and contextual features
(Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2009, 34). The structure of a narrative refers to the elements of
temporality and causality that are used to suggest relationships between entities and events
(Anon et al. 2009, 2). Elements of the narrative structure include themes, plots, characters, and
settings. The context of a narrative refers to the specific events or experiences represented in
the story (Agrawal et al. 2004, 26). Elements of the narrative context include time, goals, and
outcomes. The narrative relationship refers to the process by which the story or theme is
transmitted by a narrator and interpreted by a narrate (Aaker and David and Joachimsthaler,
2009, 137).
The process of theme involves applying particular meanings and/or symbols to a
marketing experience (Tarnacha and Maitland, 2008, 67). The theme typically transcends the
experience and is often based upon a much more abstract and symbolic cultural reference (e.g.,
progress, nostalgia, or paradise) (Holt and Douglas, 1995, 1). Gati and Ben, (1990, 263) offer five
principles that should be considered when choosing and developing an experiential theme: 1)
the theme should alter a guest’s sense of reality; 2) the theme should address alternate forms
of space, time, and matter; 3) the theme should integrate space, time, and matter into a
cohesive whole; 4) the theme should be enhanced by creating multiple instantiations of it
within a space, and 5) the theme should correspond with the firm staging the experience.
Because the experiential literature suggests that theme is a critical factor in creating and
staging a marketing experience (Dahlén and Edenius, 2007, 42), this dissertation seeks to
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empirically determine its importance to experiential marketing and the particular role it plays in
the overall process. In addition to a theme, the literature suggests that a marketing experience
should convey some type of story (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2009, 34). Themes by themselves are
fairly abstract ideas that need to be brought to life for the customer. One way to instantiate the
theme of a marketing experience is to present it as a story in the form of theatre (Barczak et
al.2003, 56). In order to develop “experiential theatre” or “theatres of consumption,”
marketers can apply the elements of performance (Anon et al. 2009, 2). According to
performance theory, staged events consist of four things: drama, script, theatre, and
performance (Agrawal et al. 2004, 26). The drama is the story, the script is the means to
transmit the story, the theatre is the context of the story, and the performance is the
production of the story. Applying this to a marketing experience, the theme provides the basis
for the story the firm wants to convey, the script describes the particular manifestation of the
story, the theatre is the instantiation of the story, and the performance is the enactment of the
story (Aaker and David and Joachimsthaler, 2009, 137). Research has found that the
communicative staging of the experiential environment is an important component of a
marketing experience (Arnould et al. 1998).
Topic 5-The Dimensions of Experiential Marketing
The purpose of this section is to examine the three dimensions of experiential marketing
based on the extant literature. Part of the problem with understanding experiential marketing
is that the literature often does not clearly make these distinctions and blurs elements of one
into the other (Gati, Ben, 1990, 263). Thus, in an effort to facilitate our understanding of
experiential marketing, this section will extract from the literature what has been proposed and
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what we know on each dimension. The first part will examine the experiential subject, the
second part will examine the experiential process, and the third part will examine the
experiential object (Elliott, Speck, 1998, 29). In order to translate the three dimensions of an
experience into a more marketing oriented context, I will label the experiential subject as the
consumer experience, the experiential process as the experiential interface, and the
experiential object as the marketing experience. The consumer experience refers to the
consumer inputs and outputs associated with the experience. The experiential interface refers
to the process in which the consumer and offering interact. The marketing experience refers to
the market-based offering that is specifically created and staged for the consumer (Bradley,
Lang, Cuthbert, 1993, 970).
Topic 6 -The Experiential Interface
While the experiential consumption literature has addressed some issues concerning
the consumer experience, much of the literature focuses on the experiential process, or what I
call the experiential interface. That is, much of the literature is focused on the factors that are
involved in the process of consuming experiences. In addition, the literature has also focused
on the factors that are involved in producing experiences (versus elements of the offering)
(Cook, 2004, 1). As a result, I resisted calling this dimension either the consumption experience
or the production experience because it privileges one side of the equation over the other.
Cook, (2004, 1) highlight how river rafters develop a sense of communities, or a feeling
of belonging and group focus on a common goal. One way this is done is through a levelling
process of removing items that differentiate group members and by engaging in teamwork
activities. Although the establishment of rules and norms facilitates the building of
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communities, the playful aspects of the experience also facilitate the construction of
community. The study of the mountain men experience by Anon, (2009, 2) showed the similar
findings in the construction of communities, with the additional element of shared fantasy
engagement. The mythic and symbolic elements of the experience that are shared by the
participants often influence the feeling of community. This is evident in Tarnacha, Maitland,
(2008, 40) studies of both Star Trek fans and Burning Man participants in terms of how both
groups use different types of myths and symbols to develop utopian and non-commercial
communities.
Topic 7-The Advertisement is encountered in a Realistic Setting
The second component of the non-traditional conceptualization is that the
advertisement is encountered within a realistic setting. From the research obtained through
Agrawal et al. (2004, 26), encountering the message within a realistic setting describes how
viewers should interact with messages through non-mass mediated channels that they
encounter as part of their daily functions, such as placing advertisements directed towards
young adults on university campuses or messages targeting travellers on buses or trains.
Topic 8-The Advertisement Promotes Novelty through Divergence
The third component of non-traditional advertising is that the advertisement promotes
novelty through divergent approaches in the advertisement medium and message. A
compilation of research on non-traditional advertising has identified three distinct
characteristics that influence the production of novel advertisements: the ability to transcend
the traditional advertising schema, the integration of the advertisement into daily functions,
and the priming of the advertisement to enhance the consumer experience (Holbrook and
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Morris and Kim and Corfman, 1985, 32). Each of these characteristics integrates into the
identified variables of orienting response to show how non-traditional advertisements can
target audiences with novel mediated messages.
Topic 9-Transcending the traditional advertising schema
Non-traditional advertisements can generate novel advertising stimuli through their
ability to transcend the traditional advertising schema. Agrawal et al. (2004, 26) described the
traditional advertising schema as the subconsciously produced reaction of audiences towards
advertisements when they are recognized as such. According to the researchers, when a
mediated message is perceived as an advertisement it causes the viewers to habitually react to
the message, leading to various avoidance practices. The traditional advertising schema thus
suggests that familiarity results in avoidance, a claim that has been supported by research
including Gati and Ben, (1990, 263), which found that medium familiarity led to advertisement
avoidance. Specifically, Agrawal et al. (2004, 26) found that the increased recognition of media
functions allows audiences to anticipate advertisements before they appear and thus avoid
them altogether. Take for example the television commercial break. Since many consumers are
aware of the typical television program format, they can anticipate that a commercial break is
forthcoming when the show begins playing music or the screen fades to black (Ducoffe and
Curlo, 2000, 247).
This knowledge of the medium allows the viewer to switch the channel as the
advertisements commence, revealing both their desires to avoid the advertising messages as
well as their knowledge of the consumed medium. Non-traditional advertising transcends the
traditional advertising schema by breaking through the habitual confines of traditional
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advertising. This does not mean that non-traditional advertising manipulates consuming
audiences into classifying the advertisement as something other than advertising, as suggested
in Agrawal et al. (2004, 26), but instead relies on the unfamiliarity of the message and
placement to generate cognitive advertisement processing, ultimately increasing attitude
towards the advertisement and recall. One means through which non-traditional advertising
transcends the traditional advertising schema is through medium and message creativity (Cook
et al.2004, 2). Creativity is the caveat in producing novel advertisements as research shows that
audiences view creativity as the exceptional rather than the typical within the advertising
market. Prior research on the use of advertising creativity suggests its potential to transcend
the traditional advertising schema. One example is (Agrawal et al. 2004, 26), which found that
creative messages and placements increased unaided brand recall. Likewise, Holt and Douglas,
(1995, 1) found that creative executions influenced both the credibility of the medium and
message as well as attitude towards the message in general. Gati and Ben, (1990, 263) provided
the most applicable evaluation of creativity in describing how it is marked by divergence, or
extent to which something is different or novel. The focus on divergence as the generator of
non-traditional advertising creativity is realized through an examination of the traditional
advertising methods. Researcher including Agrawal et al. (2004, 26) has identified the
repetitive nature of traditional advertising practices, which have been limited in both medium
selection (television, radio, press) as well as message design (full page advertisement, 30-
second spot, etc).
From the limiting execution of traditional advertising practices, the research shows
consumers view advertising as a limited collection of cluttered media channels utilizing similarly
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designed mediated messages. With little divergence available within traditional advertising
practices, non-traditional advertising can use divergence to build novelty for both the
advertising medium and message. Specifically, studies including Holbrook and Morris and Kim
and Corfman, (1985, 32) and Bilen and Devan and Okudan, (2002, 889) have discussed medium
divergence in their evaluations of out of home media, revealing how the creativity of the
advertising medium has resulted in greater attention to and recall of the advertisement.
Whereas no specific studies have focused on the message content, divergence could be
applicable through the integration or priming of the message to the audience, two
characteristics that will be discussed in greater detail later in this section. By focusing on more
divergent approaches, non-traditional advertisements should transcend the traditional
advertising schema, resulting in greater cognitive processing.
Topic 10-Consumer buying behaviour in relation to Advertisement
Advertiser’s primary mission is to reach prospective customers and influence their
awareness, attitudes and buying behaviour. They spend a lot of money to keep individuals
(markets) interested in their products. To succeed, the need to understand what makes
potential customers behave the way they do.The advertisers goals is to get enough relevant
market data to develop accurate profiles of buyers-to-find the common group (and symbols) for
communications this involves the study of consumers behaviour: the mental and emotional
processes and the physical activities of people who purchase and use goods and services to
satisfy particular needs and wants (Arens, 1996). Proctor et al. (1982) noted that the principal
aim of consumer behaviour analysis is to explain why consumers act in particular ways under
certain circumstances. It tries to determine the factors that influence consumer behaviour,
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especially the economic, social and psychological aspects which can indicate the most favoured
marketing mix that management should select.
Consumer behaviour analysis helps to determine the direction that consumer behaviour
is likely to make and to give preferred trends in product development, attributes of the
alternative communication method etc. consumer behaviours analysis views the consumer as
another variable in the marketing sequence, a variable that cannot be controlled and that will
interprete the product or service not only in terms of the physical characteristics, but in the
context of this image according to the social and psychological makeup of that individual
consumer (or group of consumers). Economic theory has sought to establish relationships
between selling prices, sales achieved and consumers income, similarly,advertising expenditure
is frequently compared with sales. On other occasions financial accounting principles maybe
applied to analyse profit and losses.
Topic 11- Role of Online marketing
Nike uses online marketing strategy. For this, Nike will have a website and a
promotional campaign like banner advertising, search engines, emails to customers as well as
links to customers. In simple words, internet is the basic tool for online marketing (Cook et
al.2004, 2).
In the digital world, marketing communications is concerned with creating presence,
creating relationships, and creating mutual value. The Internet as a marketing channel is
interactive, accessible, ubiquitous, and integrates marketing communication with commercial
transactions and service delivery. As a channel, the Internet both sends content to an audience,
and acts as a route to a group of customers (Aaker and David and Joachimsthaler, 2009, 137).
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Online marketing communication is a method used by online firms to communicate to the
consumer and to strengthen brand expectations. Online marketing consumers seek out
information and advertising as the indicators of communication.
Different forms of online marketing communication include online advertising, e-mail
marketing, and public relations. Online advertising is defined as a paid message on a web site,
online service, or other interactive medium. There are a number of different forms of online
advertisements: banner ads (a pop-up image that comes out in the margin or other advertising
space in a variety of shapes and sizes when you open a web site), search engines (identifies web
pages that appear to match keywords), and sponsorships (a paid effort to tie an advertiser’s
name to particular information events) (Barczak et al.2003, 56).
The online marketing by the company utilizes the power of electronic commerce to sell
and market products. Electronic commerce refers to any market on the internet. Electronic
commerce supports selling, buying and trading of products or services over the internet. Online
marketing forms a subset of electronic commerce.
There are newer marketing techniques being invented all the time. It is significant to
know how the trend would be. Companies are inventing new techniques to find better ways to
make revenue and establish their brand on the internet. Consumers are becoming more and
smarter. They don’t want to be a party to the internet advertising campaigns made by
companies unless they get some incentive in doing so (Tarnacha and Maitland, 2008, 67). They
would be quite keen in participating in campaigns provided they are compensated in some way
by the companies.
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Topic 11-The Marketing Experience
Environmental relationship refers to the connection that the customer has with the
marketing experience. It can range from absorption, in which the customer is mentally
connected to the experience (e.g., watching a movie), to immersion, in which the customer is
physically (or virtually) connected to the experience (i.e., Renaissance festivals). Based on these
two dimensions, four “realms” of marketing experiences can be identified: 1) entertainment, 2)
education, 3) aesthetic, and 4) escapist. Entertainment experiences are characterized by
passive participation and absorption, and would include most types of performances (e.g.,
plays, musicals, and operas) (Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, 2006, 40). Educational experiences
are characterized by active participation and absorption, and would include offerings like
science museums, children’s museums, and zoos. Aesthetic experiences are characterized by
passive participation and immersion, which would suggest venues like national parks, art
galleries/museums, and heritage sites. Escapist experiences are characterized by active
participation and immersion, and would include venues like amusement/theme parks, casinos,
and cruises. While it is possible to define all marketing experiences narrowly in terms of these
four categories, Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) argue that the richest marketing
experiences are those that encompass all four realms. Renaissance festivals are a good example
of a marketing experience that offers entertainment experiences (e.g., the joust), educational
experiences (e.g., blacksmith demonstrations), aesthetic experiences (e.g., the medieval
village), and escapist experiences (e.g., manually controlled rides).
All of these facilitate the experiential interface and the consumer experience. Anon,
(2009, 2) in their study of rock concerts, argue that the performers and the atmosphere are
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also important elements of an experiential offering. These elements both direct the consumers’
attention and influence the type of experiential effect the consumers will have. Although the
consumer’s experience is very personal, researchers argue that the marketing experience needs
to be designed with the experiential effect in mind. In fact, the earliest research suggests that it
is the multidimensional, subjective, and holistic way that the offering affects the consumer that
distinguishes a marketing experience. Dahlén, Edenius, (2007, 33), argues that the best
experiential offerings affect the consumer in multiple ways. He argues, ideally, marketers
should strive strategically for creating holistically integrated experiences that possess, at the
same time, SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT, and RELATE qualities. Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40)
argue that all of these elements need to be be incorporated into the three main components of
a marketing experience: 1) the offering, 2) the service, and 3) the atmosphere. In addition, the
company must carefully control and manage all of the elements across these three components
to deliver a successful experience.
In keeping with the managerial perspective, Elliott, Speck, (1998, 29), in their analysis of
the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York, argue that three critical factors of a
marketing experience include integration (i.e., all the elements of the offering must
symbolically fit together), updating (i.e., the offering must continuously incorporate
innovation), and skill recognition (i.e., the offering must be accessible to consumers with
varying skill levels). On this last element, Cuthbert, Schupp, Bradley, Birbaumer, Lang, (2000,
111) emphasize the important role of employees, or what I call “experience providers,” in the
deliverance of the marketing experience. In many cases, they are not merely service providers,
but are an essential element of the offering (e.g., the Disney characters). Lastly, it has been
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proposed that three conditions to creating a successful marketing experience include a
responsive customer base, congruent positioning throughout the experience, and the ability to
connect with customers.
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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter details the methodology used to conduct the research study. Development
of sampling size, design, measures, data collection procedures, data analysis and ethical
considerations will follow.
Research Paradigm
Webster Dictionary defines paradigm as "an example or pattern: small, self-contained,
simplified examples that we use to illustrate procedures, processes, and theoretical points."
The most quoted definition of paradigm is Thomas Kuhn's (1962, 1970) concept in The Nature
of Science Revolution, i.e. paradigm as the underlying assumptions and intellectual structure
upon which research and development in a field of inquiry is based.
In this research study the Pragmatic approach was used. The pragmatic approach
consists of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The need for selecting this approach
is that it would be helpful to attain the data via survey as well as via interview methods.
Appropriateness of research design
For this research study the mixed methodology was used, which included qualitative as
well as quantitative research methods.
Research Method
Mixed methodology was used in this research method. the advantage of using this
method was that it helps in gathering numerous types of data for attaining the variables’
understandings that would help the researcher to attain the most appraoriate data.
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However, the use of multiple types of research means that the researcher needs be
competent in the various types of study being conducted. Additionally, mixed-method research
can take longer to complete because of the multiple phases of research and multiple forms of
data being collected.
Mixed methodology
The research study employed mixed methodology; in this study the quantitative and
qualitative research methods were used. The reason of employing quantitative research
method is because it is useful in examining experimental and non-experimental research
projects. Quantitative research methods require a specific approach to sampling and statistical
analysis. The quantitative methods address various questions and hypotheses that explore
interventions. Quantitative research is generally experimental, quasi-experimental, correlation
or an in descriptive format where a researcher creates specific criteria to test a theory or
proposition for the purpose of defining a problem in need of a solution. Quantitative research
uses the deductive approach, starting with a hypothesis, and investigates to find out whether it
applies to the general population, otherwise referred to as deductive analysis (Creswell 2009,
35).
Unlike the qualitative approach, the quantitative analysis is homogenized to make it
possible to replicate conclusions over a larger population. Using quantitative methods,
according to Cooper and Creswell (2009, 35) will measure behaviours, knowledge, opinions, and
attitudes focusing on interpretive techniques to answer the many questions in the course of
data gathering. Creswell (2009, 35) posits quantitative research as an investigation to social or
human problems that tests a theory with a mixture of variables, measured and analyzed using a
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statistical formula to build upon a framework that explains or predicts the phenomenon of
interest. A quantitative researcher’s role is to monitor the survey instruments closely such as
the questionnaires, among other tools of acquiring data. Quantitative designs such as
descriptive, causal-comparative and correlation designs are used to study the situation as it is.
There are various types of quantitative studies that fall under the heading of descriptive
quantitative research. Descriptive studies are mostly concerned with finding out what is, and
rely on observation and survey methods to collect descriptive data. This type of research
involves either identifying the characteristics of an observed phenomenon or exploring possible
correlations among two or more phenomenon. Although it is argued that the behaviours
underlying an organization are best captured using qualitative methods, a quantitative method
of inquiry has been selected for this study (Creswell 2009, 35).
The advantage of using quantitative instruments is to study advertising and marketing
trends. In addition, surveys are easy to administer, and because of their standardization they
tend to be free from error. The most important aspect of the survey method relative to this
study was the ability to generalize results from a sample to a population so that inferences can
be made about the shared norms and expectations that influence the effective message
deliverance (Creswell 2009, 35). Creswell (2009, 35) is of the belief that the design of any
research methodology begins with a topic as well as a paradigm that helps to shape an
understanding of any particular phenomenon.
The qualitative approach deeply observes human behavior and the influences that
impact contextual variables. Qualitative research is a set of interpretive activities that are
difficult to clearly define. Researchers employ multiple theoretical paradigms claiming use of
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qualitative research methods and strategies because it is applicable across various disciplines.
Therefore, it requires a data collection instrument that is sensitive to underlying meaning when
gathering and interpreting data. Individuals are best suited for this task because to adequately
perform qualitative research through interviews, observations, and analysis of behaviour they
are able to provide insight and detail into research tasks as well as interviewee tasks performed
Qualitative research typically takes place in a setting with which the participant is familiar and
involves an attempt to add greater understanding to phenomena. Qualitative researchers use
inductive meaning to bring clarity to complex situations and take into account different
worldviews and the perceptions that create different realities for different people.
Qualitative researchers seek theories through inductive reasoning and usually take a
constructivist worldview approach, which involves seeking to develop narrative research that
contributes to a greater understanding. Qualitative design includes the underlying subjective
realities that help construct worldviews. Quantitative research is generalized and includes
numbers to prove hypotheses. Quantitative research is deductive as researchers use the
method to prove or test theories (Creswell 2009, 35). Quantitative research comes to definitive
conclusions using statistical evidence and includes post positivist worldviews that focus on
empirical observation and evidence. Quantitative research does not involve subjective aspects
of phenomena because it involves testing theoretical conclusions. A qualitative,
phenomenological approach was utilized in the current study. The phenomenological method
involves an attempt to understand human experience from the participants’ worldview.
Phenomenological researchers aim to understand the individual as well as the
environment because individuals and the environment are typically viewed as one
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embodiment. Realities are subjective in phenomenological research, meaning they vary
depending upon the circumstance and experiences of the participants. Phenomenologist seeks
the true essence of lived experience and attempt to elucidate the phenomena of behaviour in
their environment. The current study involved an attempt to understand the lived, professional
experiences of virtual team members (Creswell 2009, 35). The only way to understand these
aspects and perspectives is through phenomenological research. As such, a phenomenological
approach was used to capture these elements. Qualitative research provides a foundation by
exploring phenomena. The focus of quantitative research is statistics and data, but thorough
research often needs to go beyond the data to understand the elements that contribute to
numbers.
Qualitative research creates ideas that develop quantitative research and theory. The
intent of this study was not to examine, test, or formulate theory, but instead involved seeking
further understanding and idea development. When a lack of illumination occurs, the additional
research element can often distract the reader or limit the value of the findings. As such,
choosing single method for a particular study allows the researcher to exhaust the results and
findings properly, instead of being distracted by a less important secondary method (Creswell
2009, 35).
By using qualitative research practices, the current study might have provided more
definitive results on the practices and experiences that drive the effectiveness of message
deliverance via experiential marketing and traditional advertising.
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Secondary Research Methods
Secondary data are information/data that already exist orthat has been collected by another
person for a purpose.
Secondary Market Research, the company uses information gathered from other
sources that appears applicable to a new or existing (Creswell 2009, 35). The advantages of
secondary market research are that it is relatively cheap and easily accessible. A disadvantage
of secondary research that stands out is often not specific to the research topic and data used
may be biased and is difficult to validate. In this research study the already existed data that is
used was about Effectiveness of message delivered through Experiential marketing as compare
to conventional advertising. For collecting the abundant relevant data, various books, journals,
websites were searched and data has been extracted out from those sources.
Primary Research Methods
Primary research is when you acess information directly from those that have acess to such. It
can address question about past and current situation.
To make good decisions, the researcher needs good information. Just as researchers
need to carefully evaluate the quality of the secondary data they need to be careful when
collecting primary data, i.e. ensure their relevance, reliability, relevance and objectivity.
Observation is a primary data collection through observation of interest to the
researcher by people, events and situations. Observation of as a method of study can be used
for information that people are not willing or able to provide. In some cases, observation may
be the only possible way to collect the required information. However, there are things that
cannot be determined by observation, feelings, attitudes, motives or behaviour. Therefore,
37
researchers often use the observation, in combination with other methods of collecting
information; it is best for gathering descriptive information. In this research study, the
questionnaire was filled by the UK consumers of different brands.
Sampling Frame
According to (Creswell 2009, 35)sampling is concerned with the selection of a subset of
individuals from within a population to estimate characteristics of the whole population.
Researchers rarely survey the entire population because the cost of a census is too high. The
three main advantages of sampling are that the cost is lower, data collection is faster, and since
the data set is smaller it is possible to ensure homogeneity and to improve the accuracy and
quality of the data.
The sample selected for this research study was managers and consumers. Managers
were selected from marketing department of different UK organizations; those managers were
interviewed in order to determine the appropriate way of delivering messages to the
consumers. For filling out questionnaire different UK consumers were selected randomly and
these consumers were 100.
Data collection
This study utilized various methods in the collection of qualitative data including
observation, interviews, and questionnaires. The use of multiple data collection techniques is
important because it not only provides a means of triangulating the results, but it also increases
the representative of the informants’ perspective. The use of mixed methods also helped to
provide a thicker description of experiential marketing and traditional advertising added depth
38
to the research study. The data were collected via secondary data sources. Survey method and
interview techniques were used for extracting out the relevant data.
Research Instruments Used
(a) Interviews
In order to get in-depth information and insights from marketing managers, the study
also utilized long interviews. The long interview was chosen over the ethnographic interview
because it is more structured and efficient, thus allowing more information to be gathered over
a shorter period of time. As Creswell (2009, 35) writes, it the long interview is a sharply focused,
rapid, highly intensive interview process that seeks to diminish the indeterminacy and
redundancy that attends more unstructured research processes. Likewise, given that the scope
of the study (in terms of the number of contexts) warranted less time in the field than what is
advocated by traditional ethnography, the long interview was used to compensate for the
reduced amount of observation through its structure and method, though it did not completely
eliminate the need for observational data to inform the interview data. The long interview is
also an appropriate method because this research examines the phenomenon of interest
through an a priori descriptive-theoretical framework. Creswell (2009, 35) outlines four steps in
the long interview process relative to the use of a theoretical focus. In terms of the actual
interviews, the interview protocols consisted of various types of open-ended questions based
on the theoretical-descriptive framework.
Separate, though conceptually similar, interview protocols were created for marketing
managers of the different organizations of UK. Different types of questions (e.g., descriptive,
structural, and contrasting) were used to elicit various types of information from the
39
interviewees. These questions began with an overall perspective of a particular marketing
experience and then probed more deeply into the various elements associated with the
dimensions, characteristics, and logic of experiential marketing and traditional marketing. In
general, managers were asked about the nature of the offering, the role of experiential
marketing in their overall strategy, and the specific elements of the offering that impacted the
consumer experience.
(b) Questionnaires
In addition to interviews, quantitative questionnaires were also used to collect data.
Questionnaires were used to supplement the interview data and increase the number of cases
in each context. In addition, the questionnaires also provided a check on researcher bias in the
interview process. A questionnaire is a set of questions designed to generate the data
necessary to accomplish the objectives of the research study. The survey method of obtaining
information for a research study is based on the questioning of the population who are asked a
variety of questions. With the questionnaire, there were no prompts or suggestions by the
researcher beyond the questions themselves to influence the respondents answers. Although
the questionnaire format led to the collection of less data than the interviews, the analysis of
the data found overall consistency between the questionnaire and interview responses.
Questionnaire will used and that will be filled out by the selected consumers. The questions
were close ended as well as open ended. The consumers of different brands were asked to fill
the questionnaire and there were 100 consumers who selected randomly.
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Explanation of using Mixed Methodology
The author decided to use mixed method research since the researcher wants statistical
truth as well as the understanding of the experiential marketing and conventional advertising.
Qualitative research was vital to this study as it attempted to examine the effectiveness of
experiential marketing as compared to conventional advertising. Quantitative descriptive
research was appropriate for this study because quantitative designs are effective for
answering research questions, validating or invalidating hypotheses statements, and expressing
relationships between variables in a study. This phase helped in understanding the strengths
and weaknesses of the marketing concepts. On the other hand, the methodology in the
quantitative approach is to describe and explain features of the objective reality by collecting
numerical data on observable behaviours of samples and by subjecting these data to statistical
analysis. The statistical analysis examined the effectiveness of the experiential marketing as
compared to conventional advertising.
Informed Consent
Securing participants in a research study on a voluntary basis and educating participants
about the use of opinions in a study is important. Participants in a research study must consent
to collaborate with the researcher and the researcher must collect and maintain completed
consent forms for all participants from the sample whose opinions and responses are used in
the research findings and conclusions. Researchers are obligated to protect a population’s
responses from misinterpretation and must protect the population from exploitation under the
guise of research (Creswell 2009, 35). Researchers are obligated to protect respondents’
confidentiality, right to be informed and right to privacy as a part of basic ethical behavior
41
expected by researchers reporting information and drawing conclusions from respondent
opinions. An Applied Consent form was distributed to every member of the population and
consent forms for all participants whose responses were used in the research findings were
collected and will be maintained for a minimum of three years (Creswell 2009, 35).
Confidentiality
Ethical issues are present in data collection and preserving the confidentiality of
participants from the population is the responsibility of the researcher (Creswell 2009, 35).
According to Creswell (2009, 35) failing to preserve the participants’ confidentiality is an abuse
of the rights of the respondent. A failure to protect the confidentiality of the participants in a
population could lead to resentment on the part of respondents and a refusal to take part in
any future studies (Creswell 2009, 35). The potential for biased data could result from a failure
to ensure confidentiality according to Creswell (2009, 35). To ensure the confidentiality of the
sample in this study, there was no provision in the survey instrument for respondents to
provide any personal information or information that identified the organization for which he
or she works. The stratification of the sample was based upon the category that best describes
the firm: (a) manufacturer, (b) wholesaler/distributor, (c) retailer, or (d) service provider
(Creswell 2009, 35).
Geographic Location
Geographical location selected for conducting and selecting participants was UK region.
Limitations of the study
In this research study, the chances of biasness were involved in the interview responses
and questionnaire responses. A limitation of the study was that respondents personally chose
42
to participate in the study, even though they were randomly selected. Any difference in
perceptions or outcomes that address the success or failure of the model is limited to these
respondents. The study was also limited by the assumptions that all respondents answered
questions openly and honestly. Research is focused on demonstrating the uniqueness of a
certain group of people experiencing a phenomenon. The outcomes of this research study will
be specific to those who participated in the study. The external validity of this study will be
limited in that the results will not be generalized beyond the study group due to limited sample
size.
Sources for searching literature
In order to attain the most suitable literature or data for the research study numerous
libraries were searched. These libraries were Proquest, Ebsco host, Emerald, JSTOR, Ingenta
Connect, and Science Direct etc. there were different peer reviews searched for extracting out
relevant information, and websites were also taken into consideration. In data were also
collected from the questionnaire and interview responses.
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CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Introduction
In this section the analysis and discussion of the findings from the interview responses
and from the questionnaire responses was done. In this section apart from the responses the
research questions which already mentioned in the chapter 1 were discussed here in details.
The statistical software SPSS used for analyzing and interpretation the findings.
Descriptive analysis of Questionnaire
This chapter includes the questionnaire analysis in detail and the data has been
extracted out from the UK consumers who are using different brands. The data which were
collected from the consumers were from structured questionnaire. In this research study the
SPSS software was used in this analysis chapter.
Gender
Male 50%
Female 50%
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The above table depicted the gender description of the selected sample. For this
research study the gender selected was equal. Researcher has not done any gender
discrimination while selecting sample for this study.
Education
High school 30%
College 30%
Graduate 40%
The above table depicted the educational background of the selected sample. Majority
of the respondents selected were having graduate degree and the school going and college
going respondents were of equal numbers.
45
Do availability of the product affects your purchasing decisions?
Yes 85%
No 15%
In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample regarding their
buying decisions and availability of the products in the market. The respondents replied in
majority that availability of the product has an imminent importance and they purchase that
product which by the purchasing time is present. This shows that the availability of the product
has a significant role which influences the purchasing decisions.
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Do you watch billboards while travelling?
Yes 65%
No 35%
In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample that they watch
billboards or not. The respondents replied in majority that they do watch but billboards do not
influence their purchasing decisions much. This shows that placing ads on billboards do have
importance but usually this is not a significance medium of advertising for attracting customers
or transmuting brand message to them.
Do you watch advertising while watching television or listening radio?
Yes 40%
No 60%
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In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample that they watch
advertisements on TV or listen ads on radio or not. The respondents replied in majority that
they do watch advertisements and switch the channel. This shows that television and radio are
not an efficient medium for message delivering of any brand.
Are you customer loyal of any brand?
Yes 40%
No 60%
In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample that they are loyal
to any brand or not. The respondents replied in majority that they in this competitive world
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with every passing time new brand replacing the old one. Majority of the respondents are so
brand loyal so it is challenging task for companies to attract and retain their customers.
Do you try different brands which get entered in the market? If so then what makes you try
new brands?
Yes 40%
No 60%
In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample that they are loyal
to any brand or not. The respondents replied in majority that they in this competitive world
with every passing time new brand replacing the old one. Majority of the respondents are so
brand loyal so it is challenging task for companies to attract and retain their customers.
How do you know about the daily offers of any brands?
BTL medium 60%
ATL medium 40%
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In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample regarding their
awareness about the new brand. The respondents replied that they come to know by word of
mouth or through television ads. There are numerous respondents who said that they come to
know about the product by going to the shop and experienced some promotional activities
there. Respondents said that their life is quite busy and they do not find time to watch ads on
TV etc. so when they experience product in any shopping malls or roads they get to know about
the new product.
Do prices of the product affect your purchasing decision?
Yes 70%
No 30%
50
In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample regarding whether
the price of the products. The respondents replied that they come to know by word of mouth
or through television ads. There are numerous respondents who said that they come to know
about the product by going to the shop and experienced some promotional activities there.
Respondents said that their life is quite busy and they do not find time to watch ads on TV etc.
So when they experience any brand in any shopping mall or road they get to know about the
new product.
Descriptive analysis of interview responses
(a) What do you consider as the main thing that the customer purchases?
According to the managers of different organizations of UK, to attract and influence the
decision of the customers’ purchases the sole thing is to tell them the existence and uniqueness
of the product. This can only be done by doing advertising of the brand. Now it’s up to the
company which advertising strategy the company wants to follow. The best mixed of
advertising strategies leads to increase in the customers’ loyalty and number of customers of
the particular brand.
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(b) Which type of marketing your organization would use for promoting brands?
Majority of the managers said that in this competitive world, the organization must
promote their brands via experiential marketing. Although the traditional methods will be used
but the greatest emphasizes would be given to the experiential marketing. The reason for
choosing this method is that the consumers can get more and more choices in this type of
marketing. By using this method, the market becomes more competitive and this competition
makes the firms to introduce something unique and creative. Direct interaction with the brand
is possible with this type of marketing and more consumers’ loyalty can be attained by
employing this type of marketing. this loyalty from the customers by personal interaction with
the brand enables the organization to get lucrative returns and return on investment would be
high.
(c) Do you think traditional marketing is failed in today’s world?
In today’s competitive world the companies are switching to implement the experiential
marketing. According to many managers the traditional marketing is not failed in today’s world
but many companies in order to deliver their brand information in an innovative way are
following experiential marketing strategies, in order to best deliver their advertising message to
the customers.
Secondary research findings
(a) Experiential Marketing and Conventional Advertising For Message Deliverance
Experiential advertising transcends the traditional advertising schema by breaking through the
habitual confines of traditional advertising. This does not mean that experiential advertising
manipulates consuming audiences into classifying the advertisement as something other than
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advertising, as suggested in Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40), but instead relies on the
unfamiliarity of the message and placement to generate cognitive advertisement processing,
ultimately increasing attitude towards the advertisement and recall. One means through which
experiential advertising transcends the traditional advertising schema is through medium and
message creativity. Creativity is the caveat in producing novel advertisements as research
shows that audiences view creativity as the exceptional rather than the typical within the
advertising market. Prior research on the use of advertising creativity suggests its potential to
transcend the traditional advertising schema.
One example is Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32), which found that creative
messages and placements increased unaided brand recall. Likewise, Anon, (2009, 2) found that
creative executions influenced both the credibility of the medium and message as well as
attitude towards the message in general. An experience involves the interaction between both
consumers and producers, so a more neutral term was chosen. Going back to the early work in
experiential consumption, Cook, (2004, 1) argue that the experiential interface is focused not
on the acquisition and utilization of knowledge and skills (which interestingly happens to be the
underlying proposition of the service-dominant logic), but on exploratory behaviour. This
discovery-based experiential behaviour is not based on problem-solving, but on lucid desire.
Simply put, consumers engage experiential offerings in order to play. Anon, (2009, 2) define
play as an intrinsically motivated [behaviours that] involve the expenditure of time on activities
that produce experiences enjoyed for their own sake. Consumers engage experiences not to
meet a need or achieve a goal, but simply to have fun. Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985,
32) reinforces this view in his typology of consumption practices by describing “consumption as
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play” as an auto telic practice that has no ulterior end; it is simply interaction for interaction’s
sake. But while Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) argue that play is self-oriented, Holt
demonstrates that it is also other-oriented. For Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) play
allows consumers both to share their experiences with others (i.e., communing) and to
entertain others (i.e., socializing). Building on this social framework of play, Holbrook, Morris,
Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) emphasize the rules that are part of play and argue that while the
structured aspects of play allow for consumers to be manipulated and seduced, it also provides
them opportunities to be subversive by breaking the rules. Anon, (2009, 2) demonstrate that in
an experiential context, issues of self-orientation and other-orientation are woven together in a
rule-based environment in which consumption is dialectically negotiated as all participants
endlessly adapt and change.
Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40) provided the most applicable evaluation of creativity in
describing how it is marked by divergence, or extent to which something is different or novel.
The focus on divergence as the generator of experiential advertising creativity is realized
through an examination of the traditional advertising methods. The repetitive nature of
traditional advertising practices, which have been limited in both medium selection (television,
radio, press) as well as message design (full page advertisement, 30-second spot, etc). From the
limiting execution of traditional advertising practices, the research shows consumers view
advertising as a limited collection of cluttered media channels utilizing similarly designed
mediated messages With little divergence available within traditional advertising practices,
experiential advertising can use divergence to build novelty for both the advertising medium
and message. Specifically, studies including Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) and
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Cook, (2004, 1) have discussed medium divergence in their evaluations of out of home media,
revealing how the creativity of the advertising medium has resulted in greater attention to and
recall of the advertisement. Whereas no specific studies have focused on the message content,
divergence could be applicable through the integration or priming of the message to the
audience, two characteristics that will be discussed in greater detail later in this section. By
focusing on more divergent approaches, experiential advertisements should transcend the
traditional advertising schema, resulting in greater cognitive processing.
(b) Evaluating Consumer’s Attitudes in Advertising
Initial research into experiential advertising has revealed that it can, comparatively,
produce more favourable audience attitudes than traditional advertising practices. This finding
is realized in (Barczak, 2003, 56). Their study incorporated a 2x2 design (product x placement)
using an eggshell as a experiential placement for a fictitious insurance company and an elevator
panel for a fictitious energy drink, each of which were protested and shown to have strong
product-to-placement correlations. Newspaper advertisements served as the traditional media
comparisons for each product. The results from Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40) revealed that
consumers expressed more favourable attitudes towards experiential placements, as the data
found significantly more positive results regarding attitude towards the non traditional
placements compared to the traditional. Additionally, the study identified that the respondents
found the actual experiential advertisement as well as the non traditional medium to be more
credible than the traditional placement. According to Cook, (2004, 1) people buy things not only
for what they can do, but also for what they mean.” He argued that there is often a relationship
between a consumer’s lifestyle and the symbolic meanings of a product. In 1982, Holbrook and
55
Hirschman provided the first systematic study of the consumer experience by outlining an
“experiential view” of consumption. Their experiential view focuses on the subjective and
holistic experiences that consumers have with offerings rather than the objective and problem-
solving nature of the decision making process.
According to Holbrook and Hirschman, this experiential perspective is
phenomenological in spirit and regards consumption as a primarily subjective state of
consciousness with a variety of symbolic meanings, hedonic responses, and aesthetic criteria. In
contrasting their experiential view with the information processing model, they argue that
consumers utilize different inputs and obtain different outputs in an experiential context.
Consumer experiential inputs include psycho-temporal resources and desires. Consumer
experiential outputs include imagery (e.g., fantasies and daydreams), emotions, and ludic
activities (e.g., play). Though not dealing specifically with experiences, a recent article by
Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, (2006, 40) also examines the inputs that consumers bring to
experiential consumption. They argue that consumer inputs include social (e.g., family, brand,
consumer, and commercial relationships), cultural (e.g., knowledge and skills, life projects, and
imagination), and physical (e.g., sensory-motor endowment) resources. In addition to outlining
the experiential view of consumption, Hirschman and Holbrook also examine the intrinsically
motivated hedonic aspects of consumption (Tarnacha, Maitland, 2008, 40). According to the
authors, hedonic consumption designates those facets of consumer behaviour that relate to the
multi-sensory, fantasy, and emotive aspects of one’s experience with products. Despite the
success of their study, Dahlén, Edenius, (2007, 33), design is flawed by the use of an
experimental setting in lieu of realistic placements. Specifically, Holbrook, Morris, Kim,
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Corfman, (1985, 32) utilized an experimental design that relied on photographs of the
placements to serve as a viable proxy for the actual placement. As a result, their findings were
ultimately hindered by the inability of participants to encounter the messages within the actual
proposed experiential settings.
(c) Advertising Increase Attitude and Recall
In describing the emergence of consumer culture, Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40)
highlighted the ability of early advertising efforts to engage audiences with uniquely creative
and powerful messages, promoting new products ranging from mouthwash to insurance
coverage. With the upward expansion of mass media from print media to nationally
broadcasted television and radio programming, the innovative messages and the channels used
to convey advertisements appeared to engage audiences through their novelty. Yet, research
shows that advertising has lost its appeal in consumer culture. Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman,
(1985, 32) for example, identified the gradual decline of consumer attitudes towards
advertising from the 1930s to the 1980s, attributing the decline to factors including rising
clutter and the intrusion of advertising messages. The noted change in attitudes appeared to
result from increasing consumer familiarity with current advertising efforts. Bilen, Devan,
Okudan, (2002, 889) noted that the creative and engaging message has become the exception
rather than the norm in today’s advertising environment as the promotional landscape is
cluttered with a barrage of otherwise forgettable messages.
Likewise, Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, (2006, 40) have identified an inverse relationship
between medium familiarity and advertisement recall, revealing how audiences both ignore
and avoid advertisements on the media channels they regularly consume. Such findings suggest
57
that traditional advertisements may no longer be effective at garnering the attention of
audiences or raising consumer awareness of promoted goods and services. As research
continues to reveal the growth of clutter and advertisement avoidance, advertisers have begun
examining experiential advertising as a means of reaching audiences. Experiential advertising
has been defined as advertising found outside of the home or work environment, where
traditional television, radio, and print advertisements are found. Preliminary research on
experiential advertising has revealed that it can be utilized to increase consumer attitudes
towards the advertisement as well as advertisement recall.
One potential reason for the success of experiential advertising is its ability to break
away from the habituation of traditional advertising by utilizing unique media and messages to
target the consumer in an unexpected fashion. The effectiveness of this departure from
recognized advertising practices may be explained by the theory of orienting response.
Identified by Agrawal, (2004, 26) as the mental and bodily responses exhibited when an
individual encounters a novel stimulus, the theory suggests that familiarity has an inverse
relationship with the cognitive response to the stimulus. It proposes that stimuli viewed as
more unique will generate more attention than those classified as typical. Applied to the
practice of advertising, orienting response can be used to explain why consistent exposure to
certain advertisements or advertising media may result in less cognitive responses to the
presented messages. The focus on cognitive response is emphasized as research including
Barczak, (2003, 56) has found that cognitive media processing can generate greater viewer
arousal, ultimately leading to increases in attitude and recall, among other variables. Despite
the potential of experiential advertising to increase consumer attitudes and recall, little
58
research exists regarding this alternative advertising approach. The lack of research most likely
stems from two apparent limitations of experiential advertising studies. First, preliminary
research has not offered a satisfactory conceptualization of experiential advertising.
According to Benady, Simonian, (2005, 13), a conceptualization of a term should
produce a specific, yet encompassing definition that incorporates both the indicators and
aspects of the concept. Examining the current pool of non traditional advertising definitions
reveals a series of studies that predicate identifications of the term on individual researcher
perceptions of experiential advertising examples, not on recognized characteristics. The
ambiguous nature of the concept of non traditional advertising thus raises questions of
reliability among initial studies in producing clearly defined and supported examples of
experiential advertisements. For example, studies such as Benady, Simonian, (2005, 13) and
Dahlén, Edenius, (2007, 33), have debated the classification of cinema advertisements.
Whereas Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) classified cinema advertisements as part
of traditional advertising practices, others including Dahlén, Edenius, (2007, 33), have
evaluated cinema advertising as a experiential practice.
In each example, the researchers have used limited rationale for their classification of
the advertisements as traditional or non traditional, often appearing to rely on their individual
perceptions. Such examples suggest that a clearer understanding of experiential advertising is
required. In addition to the lack of a formal conceptualization, experiential advertising has also
suffered from a lack of perceived significance in the advertising field. Tarnacha, Maitland,
(2008, 40) have noted that experiential advertising practices are limited in regards to the larger
integrated marketing communication efforts, making research on this topic a secondary task.
59
Only a limited amount of the advertising budget is directed towards experiential advertising,
encouraging greater research attention on more significant marketing efforts including
traditional advertising and public relations campaigns. Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985,
32) attributed the lack of experiential advertising research to an apparent paradox in
advertising studies. That is, the researchers observed that the limited budget allocations
towards experiential advertising are a result of insufficient research and vice versa, suggesting
that greater research into non traditional strategies can generate insight into more effective
experiential advertising approaches, thus promoting increased budget allocation into this
marketing practice.
Recognizing the deficiencies in experiential advertising research, this paper addresses
concerns identified in early experiential advertising studies. Specifically, the work
conceptualizes experiential advertising by drawing together common concepts and theoretical
approaches found in the preliminary studies. Once conceptualized, an experiment is executed
utilizing the established conceptualization of non traditional advertising to evaluate its
influence, if any, on the recall and consumer attitudes of an unknown product (Baalbaki, Imad,
Malhotra, Naresh, 2003, 19). At the conclusion of this work readers should be able to answer
the following questions: 1) what defines an experiential advertisement and 2) how effective are
experiential advertisements in generating recall and positive consumer attitudes as compared
to traditional advertising.
(d) Customer loyalty and advertising techniques
In order to outperform competition and avoid eventual death or decline, firms must be
differentiated in ways that are unique and difficult to imitate. Cost leadership no longer enables
60
a firm to outperform competition for a sustained period. Enhancements in manufacturing
processes can be quickly imitated by competitors and aggressive cost-cutting does not yield
unique or innovative products and services that lead to customer loyalty Differentiation and
focus strategies for creating sustainable competitive advantage have changed the rules for
marketing in an organization (Tarnacha and Maitland, 2008, 67). No longer can a firm’s
leadership direct their marketing activities toward a mass market or broad demographic
grouping. There must now be a commitment at the highest levels of an organization to
conducting business on the terms of the best and most valuable customers. Leveraging
organizational CRM capabilities gives customers what they want, creating increased loyalty and
less sensitivity to competitive offerings or price promotions. Sustainable competitive
advantages are created when a firm focuses on developing unique and differentiated products
and services and targets narrow buyer segments. The integration of differentiation and focus
strategies yield loyal customers in profitable niche markets.
When a marketer is unable to capitalize on opportunities to capture and use data from
customer interactions, the marketer is unable differentiate customers by current and future
value to the firm. Firms that do not differentiate customers by current and future value cannot
successfully practice differentiation or focus strategies (Ducoffe and Curlo, 2000, 247).
61
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
The current globalization trend has impacted the way most companies perform their
business activities. Nearly all firms buy, compete or collaborate with multinational and
transnational corporations. Even smaller business entities that do not have foreign offices,
compete in one way or another with organizations that have international presence. One major
concern for firms targeting several international markets is the promotional component of their
marketing mix. Advertising along with sales promotion, public relations and personal selling
give rise to the promotional blend that is commonly used to persuade potential consumers to
move from the awareness stage to the actual consumption of a specific product/service.
Advertising is of significant relevance to international communication and business
practices because it can be utilized as an instrument to convey meaning. Advertising confers a
sense of how an actual good/service may be linked to the consumers’ world defined by
culturally established patterns. Experiences result from direct observation and/or participation;
they are not self-generated, but induced by external stimuli. These external stimuli can be
derived from product and brand experiences, environmental design, and interactions with
people. Marketers have tapped into these three aspects of experience to deliver exclusive
experiences to customers in order to influence their purchase decisions. This has been termed,
experiential marketing.
This is increasingly significant today since an increasing number of marketers are in need
of creating intense experiences to attract consumers in almost all industries. Realizing this
need, as researcher argues, many commercial design practices, from urban planning to
62
industrial design, have been borrowing the techniques and the logics of thematic experience
design in the entertainment industry.
Looking at service experience from the perspective of awareness and image, these two
authors note the importance of facilities, past experiences, word-of-mouth communications,
and employee input in the design of experiential branding. Few of these factors would appear
in a similar assessment of product brands and the product branding process. In contrast to the
traditional marketing of consumer goods, they develop service experience branding to include
place (“services cape”), people (employees and customers), process, and past experience
(personal and word-of-mouth). These four factors from the service branding research of Anon,
(2009, 2) represent a very different approach to consumer goods brand creation, development,
and promotion. They highlight the “people” element in the consumption experience and argue
that service delivery and experience staging involve real people and are not an impersonal
process. It is through people’s participation and absorption in the activities that a unique guest
experience is achieved. On the other hand, Anon, (2009, 2) experiential branding model centres
on the customer’s response and reactions to the service experience. To capture the emotional
and experiential elements of branding, Anon, (2009, 2) proposes the experience model that
depicts experiential branding from five realms: sense (sensory experiences), feel (affective
experiences), think (creative cognitive experiences), act (physical experiences, behaviour, and
lifestyles), and relate (social identity experiences that result from relating to a reference group
or culture).
Typically, research on brand experience examines the effect of one or several particular
elements (e.g., lighting, music, color) on the customer’s purchasing behavior. In the hospitality
63
industry, prior studies have focused primarily on elements such as color, design, employee
interaction, and customer engagement.
Experiences during consumption are key determinants of customer satisfaction and
brand loyalty. Hence, brands must move beyond concerns for product quality and price to
concern for brand experiences. In terms of the liminal characteristics of the experiential
interface, the study finds that the process is best characterized as an adventure. The data
suggest that this experiential adventure is a complex relationship of two main factors:
transcendence and risk. Transcendence refers to the environmental relationship between the
offering and the consumer that can be classified on a continuum from absorption to immersion.
Risk, in this context, refers to issues of control and predictability.
The relationship that customers have with products is not simply functional, but often
symbolic. People buy things not only for what they can do, but also for what they mean. There
is often a relationship between a consumer’s lifestyle and the symbolic meanings of a product.
In this research study the mixed methodology was employed. In this research, the
responses of the managers and consumers proved that experiential marketing is way better
than conventional advertising in today’s competitive world. The results help different
companies to implement the experiential marketing for attracting and retaining their
customers.
Recommendations
Companies must implement experiential more than the conventional advertising. If they
are not implementing experiential marketing strategies then they have to implement the cost
effective marketing techniques that would benefit them in the end because experiential
64
marketing provides customers with an opportunity to interact with brands, including brand
representatives, products, and services face-to-face. These personal, memorable, and engaging
experiences may assist customers in becoming well acquainted with and in appreciating a
brand. These experiences shape customers’ opinions of and buying preferences towards a
brand; they also enhance the perceived value of the product and build brand loyalty. Thus,
experiential marketing’s unique ability to reach, engages, and creates relevant connections
between the brand and customers have accelerated its growth.
Experiential marketing is the use of consumer-direct channels to reach or deliver goods
and services to customers without using marketing intermediaries. The promotional activity
includes direct mails, catalogues, telemarketing, interactive televisions, kiosks, websites and
mobile devices. Experiential marketing seeks a measurable response, typically customer orders.
Sometimes marketers call experiential marketing direct-order marketing. Many direct
marketers use experiential marketing to establish a long-term relationship with customers.
For example, during Ford’s launch of a new automobile in Los Angeles, brand
representatives provided customers with individual service and educated them about the car,
which helped convince customers that this automobile could satisfy their desires. During this
activity, customers formed fantasies about the experience of owning the car, leading to brand
loyalty. After partaking in engaging and memorable experiences, consumers may generate
buzz” by sharing their experiences with family, friends, and colleagues through positive word-
of-mouth.
Two-way experiential marketing is one of the fastest-growing avenues for servicing
customers. A few business marketers have turned to direct mailings and telemarketing to
65
reduce the costs of reaching business customers through a sales force. Sales from experiential
marketing generate almost nine percent of the UK economy. In addition to increasing
productivity, companies are seeking to have mail- and phone-based selling units to reduce field
sales expenses. With the outburst of internet growth, online marketing has started becoming
very popular. It is said that Online marketing first began in the beginning of 1990 with just text-
based websites, which offered product information. With growth in the internet, it is not just
selling products alone, but in addition to this, information about products, advertising space,
software programs, auctions, stock trading and matchmaking. A few companies have
revolutionized the way; internet can be used for marketing, such as Google.com, Yahoo.com,
Amazon.com, Alibaba.com and Youtube.com.
Online marketing has been brought so many strategies such as affiliate marketing which
consists of pay per click, pay per view, pay per call, and pay per click advertising. Affiliate
marketing also includes banner advertisements. In addition to this e-mail marketing, viral
marketing, interactive advertising, blog or article-based marketing are also popular.
There are usually 2 or 3 parties involved in online marketing. It is companies and end
users or companies, online marketing companies and end users. If it is two party model then
companies themselves directly gets revenue from the end users. If it is a three party model
then online marketing service providers acts as intermediate revenue providers for companies.
(a) Objectives
(1)To find out the effectiveness of using experiential marketing and conventional
advertising for message deliverance.
66
Experiential marketing benefits customers in many ways. Experiential marketing may
take time to reach prospects at the right moment and receive high responses because
experiential marketing focuses on interested prospects. Experiential marketing permits the
testing of alternative media and messages in search of the most cost-effective approach.
Experiential marketing also makes direct offers and strategies less visible to competitors, direct
marketers can measure responses of their campaigns to decide which ones have been the most
profitable. Looking at service experience from the perspective of awareness and image, these
two authors note the importance of facilities, past experiences, word-of-mouth
communications, and employee input in the design of experiential branding. Few of these
factors would appear in a similar assessment of product brands and the product branding
process.
(2)To find out how message is delivered by experiential marketing and conventional
advertising.
In contrast to the traditional marketing of consumer goods, they develop service
experience branding to include place (“services cape”), people (employees and customers),
process, and past experience (personal and word-of-mouth). These four factors from the
service branding research of Anon, represents a very different approach to consumer goods
brand creation, development, and promotion. They highlight the “people” element in the
consumption experience and argue that service delivery and experience staging involve real
people and are not an impersonal process. It is through people’s participation and absorption in
the activities that a unique guest experience is achieved. On the other hand, experiential
branding model centres on the customer’s response and reactions to the service experience.
67
To capture the emotional and experiential elements of branding proposes the
experience model that depicts experiential branding from five realms: sense (sensory
experiences), feel (affective experiences), think (creative cognitive experiences), act (physical
experiences, behaviour, and lifestyles), and relate (social identity experiences that result from
relating to a reference group or culture).
Understanding and measuring experience intensity also has important practical
implications for marketers. Managers whose aim is to create meaningful market encounters
need to understand why consumers find specific market encounters with specific characteristics
more meaningful and attractive, and search for them in the marketplace. This understanding is
crucial in order to engage their consumers and create higher levels of value, both for their
consumers and for their businesses. By understanding the logic of experiences consumers
perceive as intense, marketers can develop strong tools for creating encounters more desirable
by their consumers, and can differentiate their businesses in the intensifying competitive
environment.
Experiential marketing emphasizes one-on-one personal experience with the brand or
its representatives, who facilitate two-way communication between the consumer and brand
representative (e.g., store staff, online customer service). These options help the brand deliver
a clear message, as well as gain valuable feedback from customers.
(3)To find out the difference between experiential and conventional marketing
Consequently, the major difference between experiential marketing and traditional
marketing, which emphasizes promoting product functions, is that the former views customers
68
as affective decision makers who consume for excitement and joy. Distinction between
branding goods and branding experience therefore emerges, since branding not only serves as
a product identifier, but, even more so, as a memorable and unique experience provider.
Branding goods helps to establish product identification and differentiate the product from
competitors’ products. However, branding experience creates the engaging and memorable
experiential appeal in the market. Indeed, a field of research has emerged around the concept
of experiential branding; this work studies the dimensions of consumers’ experiences and
highlights the differences between traditional marketing and experiential branding.
In the service industry in particular, branding is noted for having inherent features that
are different from traditional consumer goods branding. Using the same marketing principles
for physical goods and service experiences is inconsistent with the inherent differences
between the two. The major difference is that the core service offering is more complex and
largely comprises processes, people, and physical facilities. To achieve the goals of satisfying
consumer needs on these three levels, 4Ps are considered as experiential branding factors.
Traditional marketers believe that customers are rational individuals who attempt to
acquire benefits from a product. In traditional marketing, the focus is on product benefits or
features that differentiate the brand from competitors’ offerings. Traditional marketing of
apparel may stress features of garment design and quality. According to an experiential
marketing perspective, customers desire more than utilitarian product benefits. They desire
value derived from innovative and aesthetic aspects of products, as well as memorable and
engaging product experiences. These aspects can express the customers’ uniqueness and
personal identity as well as satisfy their craving for innovation. Apple is frequently used as an
69
example of a brand that focuses on design to differentiate itself from competitors, such as
offering brightly coloured computers when other brands offered industrial-looking colours.
In addition, limited edition and exclusive products offer the consumer added value
because of their uniqueness. Many companies develop products in response to customer
feedback. A smaller number of firms, such as Nike and Timberland, offer rewarding product
experiences through mass customization that allows customers to contribute to the
development of a unique and personalized product. Thus, experiential marketing focuses on
design innovation and delivery of memorable product experiences. In this new environment,
brand experience is recognized as a sustainable competitive edge for brands. It advocates
creating unique and memorable experiences in terms that go beyond the traditional mix of
price and location. This concept has become of interest to areas such as psychology, economics,
retailing, marketing, organizational behavior, and consumer research.
(b) Research aim fulfilment
The study finds that control is a function of customer participation that ranges from
passive to active. Interestingly, passive participation was often associated with low risk and
active participation with high risk. The study finds that predictability is a function of security
that ranges from high security (i.e., more predictability) to low security (i.e., less predictability).
It is the combination of these various factors that determines the type of adventure that the
consumer has and its appeal. Unlike the experiential literature that often classifies adventure
with high-risk activities.
Overall, in terms of practical implications, this study is expected to contribute to a better
understanding of the details of the more desirable techniques and the logics that businesses
70
can use in order to achieve greater success in attracting contemporary consumers. in today’s
market customers take functional features and benefits, product quality, and a positive brand
image as a given. He stated that what they want is products, communications, and marketing
campaigns that dazzle their senses, touch their hearts, and stimulate their minds. They want
products, communications, and campaigns that deliver an experience and that they can relate
to and incorporate into their lifestyles. Prior to Schmitt’s statement about “dazzling”
experience, researcher went further in his claim that the criteria for successful consumption are
essentially aesthetic in nature and hinge on an appreciation of the product for its own sake,
apart from any utilitarian function that it may or may not perform.Thus, the process of
experiential consumption is similar to the appreciation of art in its emphasis on the nature of
the product or service without regard to its functional utility.
As the results have shown, it appears that experiential advertising can effectively
increase both attitude and recall for an unknown product, but advertisers must be cautious of
the utilized approaches, especially in creating advertisements that may appear too intrusive.
The results showed that experiential advertising as an essential tool in reaffirming audience
knowledge or recall of the product or service, especially near the point of sale, but that this
approach is most successful when the campaign is front-loaded by traditional advertising
efforts.
The data suggest that consumers’ desires to engage a marketing experience are not
driven by some causal relationship, as they are with goods and services, but by a meaningful
relationship between the nature of the offering and the consumer’s personal interests. This
holistic tie is not directed at any particular element, but at the common interests between the
71
offering and the consumer. This is usually what facilitates the intentional connection in the
experiential interface. In fact, this holistic tie only has to be a potential, rather than an actual,
connection because most consumers seek to enhance their personal interest from engaging the
offering. Thus, it can be concluded that the effectiveness of message deliverance can be done
by using experiential advertising techniques rather than the conventional advertising.
(c)Limitation and future reserarch
This study found that an adventure can take a variety of forms depending on the level of
transcendence and risk. More research needs to be done on the nature of experiential
adventure. In terms of the liminal characteristics of the consumer experience, the study finds
that consumers of marketing experiences envision themselves as explorers on this adventure.
Contrary to the claims of the experiential literature that consumption of these offerings is all
about escape from the oppressive conditions of modern society, the study finds that escape is
only a condition that allows for the real enjoyment of the offering. That is, the consumer
desires the freedom that comes from leaving the ordinary world behind, if only temporarily, in
order to explore new vistas.
The study finds the desire for discovery is extremely strong among consumers of these
offerings. In fact, it is usually what is suggested or what lies at the “edge” of the context that
intrigues consumers. While the process of discovery is different for every consumer, they all
seem to enjoy the new, or at least different, perspective that they get from exploring the
extraordinary. Although research has examined “edgework” in terms of consumers operating
on the edge of their abilities, more research is needed to examine consumers’ desire to explore
the edge of the unknown, which is facilitated through this form of marketing.
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APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Q1. Gender
1. Male
2. Female
Q2. Education
1. High school
2. College
3. Graduate
Q3. Do availability of the product affects your purchasing decisions?
1. Yes
2. No
Q4. Do you watch billboards while travelling?
1. Yes
2. No
Q5. Do you watch advertising while watching television or listening radio?
1. Yes
2. No
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Q6. Are you customer loyal of any brand?
1. Yes
2. No
Q7. Do you try different brands which get entered in the market? If so then what makes you
try new brands?
1. Yes
2. No
Q8. How do you know about the daily offers of any brands?
1. BTL Medium
2. ATL Medium
Q9. Do prices of the product affect your purchasing decision?
1. Yes
2. No
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Time table
(a) Gantt chart
MONTHS (2012)
TASKS
Feb March April
Construct research proposal
Draw up questionnaires
Submit proposal
Timetable interviews
Begin interviews and hand out questionnaires
Analysis and redefine problem(s)
Implement findings
Prepare draft report
Begin full data analysis
Write dissertation
Submission
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