Relative Communication Power of Selected Advertising Media

Abstract

Advertising is a major communication tool employed to impart information, develop attitude and induce action. DAGMAR communication spectrum theory specifies that in order to attain its objectives, an advertisement must create awareness, ensure message comprehension and conviction; and stir purchase action. Achieving marketing and communication objectives have become more daunting with the present upsurge in media cost and fragmentation as consumers are exposed to ever-increasing number of media daily. Thus, attaining communication effectiveness requires pragmatic management of multimedia channels. Unarguably therefore, exploring different ways in understanding the potentialities of the many media types available is imperative. Hence, the present study sought to explore the relative strengths of some selected media such as television, radio, transit and packaging in moving prospects through the entire levels of the communication spectrum. The study was purely descriptive. Closed-ended structured questionnaires served as study instrument administered on 350 randomly selected respondents from Surulere local government area of Lagos state, Nigeria. Using SPSS (version 19) the generated data was rightly analyzed through the aid of pertinent statistical tools. Results show television to have relatively higher strengths than the other media under study in all four elements of the communication spectrum. Radio and transit have their best strengths in awareness creation while packaging’s strength lies best in moving prospects from message comprehension and conviction to stirring them to purchase action. A combination of television, radio and transit is recommended as the right media mix to achieve awareness creation. Also, a cocktail of television, packaging and radio will provide the best media mix when the overriding communication goals are to enhance adequate understanding of product/service, convince and persuade prospects to purchase action. Further study to unveil the strengths of the rest of the media, is suggested. Key words: Advertising; Media; Marketing communication; Promotion