A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON BRANDS SELECTION AMONG CONSUMERS IN OWERRI, IMO STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

Producing for sales and profits is the raison d'être of each business enterprise. In order to stay in business, an organization must generate sufficient revenue from its products to pay its operational costs and generate enough profits (Tellis, 2004). For many organizations, budgeting or profit planning begins with a sales forecast. This is because, in most circumstances, it must be established before production units can be calculated, and production units influence material purchases (Burnett, 2011).

However, making sales choices is the most challenging duty for many business leaders. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to foresee, estimate, or evaluate accurately the desires of prospective customers since they are influenced by external, uncontrolled forces (McHugh, 2000). Considering the significance of sales to the existence of a business and the relationship between customers and sales, it is prudent for organizations to implement programs that may influence consumers' purchasing choices. This is where advertising and brand management are important. Advertising is a subset of the promotion mix, which is one of the 4Ps (product, price, place, and promotion) of the marketing mix (Nazir, 2001). As a promotional tactic, advertising is a crucial instrument for generating product awareness and priming a prospective consumer's thinking to make a buy choice. Advertising must inform consumers of the benefits and advantages of a product. This satisfies the advertiser's needs and promotes sales by making a product available to those who want it. According to Cohen, advertising is a corporate activity that uses creative approaches to create persuasive communication through mass media that promotes ideas, goods, and services in a manner that is compatible with the advertiser's goal, customer satisfaction, and the expansion of social and economic welfare. Advertising and other promotional messages are used to sell products and services as well as convince and influence consumers to buy a certain product or brand. Advertising is utilized to create a positive picture of the product in the consumer's mind. Advertising has become a crucial topic, and Kotler noted that the attractiveness of advertising is the advertisement's fundamental concept and how to attract the audience's attention (Kotler et al., 2005).

There are several ways in which advertising impacts the consumer and their decision-making. Not only does it educate him about his issues or demands, but it also supports him in evaluating the numerous possibilities and reaching a conclusion (Malik, 1999). As it is a cyclical process, it also influences the consumer's post-purchase behavior. Frequently, consumers are either unaware of their wants or unsure of their challenges. Advertising gives customers with hints; hence, advertising provides consumers with reasons to acquire the promoted product.

1.2 Statement Of The Study

In the present day, practitioners and marketing experts feel that advertising has an effect on consumers, both in terms of boosting recognition, enhancing preferences, inspiring desire to try and then converting that interest into action, as well as fostering connections between users and the brand they use (Lavidge, 2011). However, such ideas are not backed by actual evidence, making it exceedingly difficult for new players who want to sell their products to determine whether to use advertising as a communication channel with consumers or not (Johnson, 2003). Similarly, gamers who are used to advertising do not have a precise evaluation of the advertising's return on investment. Because advertising is not inexpensive, uncertainty and obscurity occur (Oladosu, 2009). Given the present level of media fragmentation, where advertising expenditures are more costly per viewer, this circumstance necessitates rigorous accountability and a more mature approach to calculation. Despite these apparent difficulties, organizations that have implemented advertising continue to attract customers to their brands. In light of the aforementioned, the purpose of this research is to determine the effect of advertising on consumer brand selection.

1.3 Objectives Of The Study

The overall aim of this study is to critically examine the impact of advertising on brands selection among consumers in Owerri, Imo State. Hence, the study will be channeled to the following specific objectives;

1.        Determine whether the dominance of advertisement influences consumers brand selection.

2.        Determine whether brand recall advertisement influences consumers brand selection.

3.        Determine whether stimulation advertisement influences consumers brand selection.

4.        Determine whether necessity of advertisement influences consumers brand selection.

1.4 Research Question

This investigation will be guided by the following question;

1)        Does the dominance of advertisement influences consumers brand selection?

2)        Does brand recall advertisement influence consumers brand selection?

3)        Does stimulation advertisement influence consumers brand selection?

4)        Does the necessity of advertisement influence consumers brand selection?

1.5 Significance Of The Study

The research is important for marketers to continuously understand consumer attitudes, by knowing the type of information on the brand owned by the consumer, the ability of consumer groups in information processing, and the ownership of motivation to process the information.

The need for prudent management of financial resources in an organization is of great concern. It’s amazing however; that at anytime an organization is going through some hard times financially, first thing that runs into the mind of the management staff is a cut-down on advertisement and promotion budget or eliminate them entirely as a step to ameliorate their predicament. This study therefore, has been designed in such a way as to aid organizational managers realize that measurement is very important in advertising. Therefore, before decisions are taken on whether to eliminate advertisement or cut-down the budgets, efforts must be made towards ascertaining the impact of such advertisement, hence; a call for checks and balances.

Additionally, subsequent researchers will use it as literature review. This means that, other students who may decide to conduct studies in this area will have the opportunity to use this study as available literature that can be subjected to critical review. Invariably, the result of the study contributes immensely to the body of academic knowledge with regards to the impact of advertising on brands selection in major supermarkets.

1.6 Scope Of The Study

This study is structured to generally examine the impact of advertising on brands selection among consumers in Owerri metropolis, with specific focus on necessity of advertisement, stimulation advertisement, brand recall advertisement, and dominance of advertisement. The respondents for this study will be obtained from selected supermarkets in Owerri Metropolis.

1.7 Limitation Of The Study

In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents. However, the researcher were able to manage these just to ensure the success of this study.

1.8 Definition Of Terms

Advertising: This is defined by the America Marketing Association as any paid form of non-personal presentation or promotion of ideas, good and services by an identified sponsor.

Advertisement: This is simple the message of copy. The brand bill itself for example is an advertising copy.

Brand: Is a name, symbol, sign or logo or a combination of items intended to identify the goods or services of the seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from that of their competitors.

Brand selection: Brand selection is an important part of any retail merchandise mix. The importance of a brand to a retailer depends of course on the category of retailer and its market niche, among other things.

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