COMMUNICATION AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

COMMUNICATION AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Communication is a unique tool used by marketers to persuade consumers to act in the manner desired. Communication consists of several aspects of them, can take the form of verbal (both written and verbal), visual (illustrations, drawings, product demonstrations, mimic the face) or a combination thereof. Communication can also be a symbol (a high price, high quality packaging, logos impressive) and who wish to convey special meaning instilled by marketers.

COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATION
There are five basic elements of communication, namely the sender, receiver, medium, message, and some form of feedback (feedback recipient).

Sender
Sender as the initiator of communication, can be a source of both formal and informal. Sources of formal communication may be the organization to gain profit (commercial) and nonprofit. Informal sources may be parents, or friends who provide information or advice about the product.

Recipient
Recipients of formal marketing communications tends to be a candidate or the targeted customers (ie members of the audience targeted by marketers). Audience and an unexpected intermediary also may receive communications of marketers. For example, audience intermediaries are wholesalers, distributors, and retailers, who receive a trade ad marketers that are intended to persuade them to want to order and hold inventory merchandise angry. Audience is not expected that everyone who is exposed to messages that are not specifically targeted by the sender.

Medium
Medium or perhaps impersonal communication channels (eg mass media) or interpersonal (formal talks between the salesperson and the customer or an informal conversation between two people or more that occur directly either by phone, mail or online).

Message
Messages can be verbal (oral or written), nonverbal (photos, illustrations, or symbols), or a combination of both. Verbal messages can usually include information on products or services that are more specific than nonverbal messages. Verbal message coupled with nonverbal messages often provide more information to the recipient than the one between the two.

Feedback
The feedback is an indispensable component in interpersonal communication and impersonal. Rapid feedback allows the sender's time to strengthen, change, or modify the message to ensure that can be understood in accordance with the intended.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Proponent Messages (Source)
Sponsor or initiator of the message must decide to whom the message should be sent and what should be conveyed, and then formulate a message in such a way that the meaning interpreted by the targeted audience exactly as intended. Impersonal communication sources usually are organizations that process and send the right message through a special department or spokesperson. Publicity is usually the result of the business community relationships and tend to be more trusted as a source or commercial purpose is not easily known.

Credibility
The credibility of the source affects the formulation of the message. The credibility of sources is an important element in the persuasive message often based on the expected purpose.

Credibility of Informal Sources
Informal sources or the sources of editorial deemed considered very objective and highly credible. Increased credibility provided by informal sources can not be fully guaranteed, although there is a perceived aura of objectivity.

Formal Source Credibility
Formal sources were deemed neutral to have more credibility than commercial sources because of the perception that they are more objective in assessing the product. Kredilitas commercial sources is more problematic and is usually based on a joint assessment or reputation, expertise, knowledge, retail channel, and a spokesman for the company.

Spokesman and Supporting Credibility
Consumers sometimes saw spokesman delivered the message that the product as a source or initiator of the message. Researchers have studied the relationship between consumer understanding about the message and persuasion, and have found that if the understanding is low, the receiver depends on the credibility of the spokesperson in shaping attitudes toward the product, but if the understanding and systematic information processing is high, much smaller source of expertise effects on attitudes receiver.

Kredilitas Messages
Previous experience gained consumers for specific products or retailers greatly affect the credibility of the message. Expectations for products that are met tend to increase the credibility of the message in the future, otherwise disappointing product that tends to reduce the credibility of the message the next time.

Effect of Source Credibility Against Time
Persuasive influence of the sources of highly credible do not always last long, though more influential than a low credible source. Research shows that both effects are positive or negative credibility tends to disappear after about 6 weeks. Symptoms such as these called sleeper effects (sleeper effect).

Audience (MESSAGE RECEIVER) targeted
The recipients of the message interprets the message they received based on experience and personal characteristics.

Definition
Level of accuracy obtained from a message meaning is a function of the characteristics of the message, the opportunity and ability of the receiver to process the message, and the motivation of the recipient. One's personal characteristics affect the accuracy in interpreting the message.

Mood (Mood)
Mood or feelings play an important influence on the way messages are received. The mood of consumers affect the way how an advertisement is received, remembered, and acted upon.

Communication Barriers
Various barriers to communication can affect the accuracy of interpretation of the message by the consumer. These barriers include:

Selective perception, consumers tend to ignore ads that do not contain any special interests or nothing to do with them.
Psychological disturbance, such as advertising messages that compete, can interfere with reception of a message.

FEEDBACK (RESPONSE MESSAGE RECIPIENT)
Sender of the message is important to obtain feedback as soon and as accurately as possible, because through the feedback sender can determine whether and how well the message is received.

Advertising Effectiveness Research
Advertisers often try to measure the effectiveness of the message by holding an audience research to find out what is being read, what television programs are watched and advertisements what is remembered. Research the effectiveness of advertising, called copy testing, can be done before the ad is really loaded (pretesting) or after sunrise (posttesting).

COMMUNICATION DESIGN persuasive
To create a persuasive communication, sponsor (individual or organization) first determine the purpose of communication, then choose the appropriate audience for the message and media to reach them and prepare (encode) the message in a way appropriate to each medium and each audience.

Communication Strategy
In preparing the communication strategy must first determine that the main purpose of communication. An important component of the communication strategy is to choose the right audience.

Media Strategy
The media strategy is an important element in the communication plan. This plan is required for the placement of advertisements in a variety of special media that is read, viewed, or heard by a variety of selected markets to target. Media selection depends on the product, audience, and purpose of advertising campaigns, media strategies can be done through:

World Wide Web (Internet)
A careful determination of target
Direct Marketing

Strategic Messaging
Messages are thoughts, ideas, attitudes, images, or other information to be conveyed to the audience expected sender.

Component in the strategy of the message include:

Rhetoric and Persuasion Advertising, the main focus of research rhetoric is finding the most effective way to express the message in certain situations. Submission of the most effective rhetoric against consumers who do not have the motivation. Ad Resonance is defined as a play on words combined with images that had something to do.
Involvement theory, that in situations of high involvement pembalian with people may be more actively devote cognitive effort to assess the things that is approved or not for a particular product. In situations of low involvement a person more likely to focus on message cues that are not principal.
Presentation of messages, among the various decisions to be taken by marketers in designing the message is the decision of whether to use the structure of positive-negative messages, the message is one-sided or two-sided, ads comparison, the influence of sequence, or repetition. The way the message is presented affects its impact. For example, one-sided message is more effective in some situations and the audience, two-sided message is more effective in other situations. Products with high involvement (a product which is strongly associated with the consumer segment) is best advertised by the principal through persuasion, which encourages active cognitive effort. Products with low involvement is best promoted through a variety of cues are not the principal, such as background scenery, music, or a celebrity spokesperson.

Ad Attraction
Emotional appeal that is often used in advertising includes fear, humor, and sexual attraction. If the sexual theme associated with the product, then this could be a very effective and if used only as a main focal point, the memory of the brand rarely achieved. Audience participation is a very effective communication strategy for encouraging the internalization of advertising messages. Further research is needed to identify the various variables product, audience and situation that mediates the influence of the order and presentation of messages in persuading consumers to buy.





Reference:
Schiffman, L.G., & Kanuk, L.L. 2007. Consumer Behavior, 9th ed. New Jersey, Pearson Prentice Hall.