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CHAPTER 5
THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Chapter Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the communication process by introducing the student to the
fundamentals of communication and examining various models and perspectives of how consumers
respond to advertising messages. A basic model of communication developed by Schram is presented
which introduces the controllable elements of the communications process—source, message, channel
and receiver. Source, message and channel factors are discussed in Chapter 6 and the remainder of this
chapter is devoted to examining the target audience or receiver and the process by which consumers
respond to advertising and other promotional messages. The response process is analyzed in terms of
Learning Objectives
2. To examine various models of the communication process.
4. To examine the nature of consumers’ cognitive processing of marketing communications.
Chapter and Lecture Outline
I. INTRODUCTION AND THE NATURE OF COMMUNICATIONS
A commonality shared by all elements of the promotional mix is that their function is to communicate.
Thus, it is important that advertising and promotional planners have an understanding of the
communication process. This chapter reviews the fundamentals of communication and examines various
perspectives regarding how consumers respond to promotional messages.
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Professor Notes
II. A BASIC MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
Over the years a basic model of communications has evolved that represents the various elements of the
communications process. This model is shown as Figure 5-1 in the text. The elements of the model
include:
A. Source/Encoding—the sender or source of a communication is the person or organization that
has information to share with another person or group. It should be noted that the source can be
an individual (e.g., salesperson or hired spokesperson) or a nonpersonal entity such as the
B. Message—the encoding process leads to the development of a message that contains the
information or meaning the source or sender hopes to convey. Messages can take a variety of
C. Channel—the channel is the method or medium by which the communication travels from source
or sender to receiver. At the broadest level, channels of communication exist as two types:
• Personal Channels which involve direct interpersonal contact with target individuals or
groups. For example a salesperson serves as a personal channel of communication when
delivering a sales presentation. The text discusses “buzz marketing” whereby companies
work to generate favorable word–of-mouth communications for their company and/or brands.
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D. Receiver/Decoding—the receiver is the person(s) with whom the sender shares thoughts or
information. Receivers are generally viewed as the consumers in the target audience targeted by
E. Noise—throughout the communications process the message is subject to noise which refers to
factors that can distort or interfere with adequate reception or comprehension. Noise can occur
F. Response/Feedback—response refers to the reaction the receiver has after seeing, hearing and/or
reading the message. These responses can range from non-observable actions such as storing
Professor Notes
III. ANALYZING THE RECEIVER
To communicate effectively, marketers must have an understanding of who their target audience is and
how they need to be communicated with to influence their decision-making process. The relevant
audience must be identified as well as the process consumers go through in responding to a promotional
message. Understanding the target audience and their response process serves as an important foundation
for evaluating decisions regarding the controllable communication variables (source, message, and
channel) that are covered in Chapter 6.
A. Identifying the Target Audience—the marketing communications process begins with the
identification of the audience that will be the focus of the firm’s advertising and promotional
efforts. The target audience can be viewed as consisting of:
• Individuals—the target audience for some products and services can be viewed as consisting
of individuals for whom communications must be specifically tailored. Life insurance,
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Professor Notes
IV. THE RESPONSE PROCESS
An important aspect of developing effective communication involves having an understanding of the
response process the receiver may go through and how the promotional efforts of the market might
then discussing alternative models of the response process.
A. Traditional Response Hierarchy Models—Figure 5-3 in the text shows four of the best-known
response hierarchy models. These models are discussed giving attention to their origin and
implications and include:
• The AIDA Model
Attention→ interest→ desire→action
1. Implications of the traditional hierarchy models—The hierarchy models are useful to
promotional planners from several perspectives. They delineate the series of steps or stages
potential purchasers often must be taken through to move them from a state of no or little
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2. Evaluating traditional response hierarchy models—All four of these models view the
response process as consisting of movement through a sequence of stages and assume a
B. Alternative Response Hierarchy Models—Research and theorizing over the past two decades has
led to a questioning of the cognitive → affective → conative sequence of the response process
and has resulted in the development of alternative orderings of these stages. Michael Ray’s
“three–orders” model of information processing, which is shown in Figure 5-5 of the text,
identifies three alternative orderings of these stages based on perceived product differentiation
and product involvement. These include the:
1. Standard learning hierarchy—In many purchase situations consumers go through the
response process in the manner depicted by the traditional communications models or a
2. Dissonance/attribution hierarchy—In some situations consumers may behave first then
develop attitudes or feelings as a result of that behavior and learn or process information that
3. Low-involvement hierarchy—The low involvement hierarchy is thought to characterize
situations of low consumer involvement in the purchase process. The response hierarchy
Professor Notes
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V. IMPLICATIONS OF THE ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE MODELS
The various response models offer different perspectives on the way consumers respond to advertising
and other forms of marketing communication. From an IMC planning perspective, it is important that
marketers examine the communication situation for their product or service and determine which type of
response process is most likely to occur. The concept of involvement has received a great deal of attention
VI. THE FCB PLANNING MODEL
The advertising planning model developed by Richard Vaughn and his associates at the Foote, Cone &
Belding agency presents an interesting and useful way of analyzing the communication situation
advertisers may be facing. This model builds on traditional response theories such as the hierarchy of
Professor Notes
VII. COGNITIVE PROCESSING OF COMMUNICATIONS
The hierarchical response models were for many years the primary focus of approaches to studying
receivers’ responses to marketing communications. However, the inability of these approaches to explain
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A. The Cognitive Response Approach—A commonly used method for examining consumers
cognitive processing of advertising messages is through the assessment of their cognitive
responses or thoughts that occur to them while reading, viewing, and/or hearing the
communication. The focus of this approach, which is commonly used by academic researchers as
well as practitioners, is to determine the types of thought evoked by an advertising message and
how these responses relate to traditional “outcome” measures such as attitude toward the ad,
brand attitudes and purchase intention. The model shown in Figure 5-7 depicts the three basic
categories of cognitive responses identified by researchers and their relationship to attitude and
intention constructs. These include:
1. Product message thoughts—counterarguments and support arguments
IMC Perspective 5-1 discusses the results of an interesting study that compared differences between
men and women for visual processing of print ads using sexual imagery. In this study the
respondents were asked to move a computer mouse over the ad to show the part of at which they
B. The Elaboration Likelihood Model—The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) developed by
Cacioppo and Petty has become a very popular way of analyzing differences in the way
consumers process and respond to persuasive messages. The ELM is presented in Exhibit 5-8 of
the text. According to the ELM, there are two basic processes or routes to persuasion, which are
based on motivation and ability to process the message.
Professor Notes
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V. SUMMARIZING THE RESPONSE PROCESS AND THE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING
Professors Demetrios Vakratsas and Tim Ambler reviewed more than 250 journal articles and books in an
effort to better understand how advertising works and affects the consumer. They concluded that there is
little support for the concept of a hierarchy of effects in the sense of a temporal sequence. They note that
While a number of issues regarding hierarchy of effects models have been noted, they are still of value to
advertising practice and research as they provide insight into whether advertising strategies need to focus
on impacting cognition, affect and/or behavior. It has also been noted that consideration needs to be
given to how all IMC tool, not just advertising, influence the response hierarchy. The chapter concludes
with a discussion over the debate over the value of hierarchical response models of advertising effects.
While a number of issues and concerns over the use of hierarchy of effects models have been noted, many
Teaching Suggestions
This chapter is designed to introduce the student to the fundamentals of communication and is the first of
two chapters devoted to this topic. The opening vignette to the chapter discusses the social media-based
“Fiesta Movement” program used by Ford to introduce the new vehicle to the U.S market and is a very
good example of how marketers are finding new and innovative ways to communicate with their target
audiences. A new video case on the Fiesta Movement campaign is available on the Instructor DVDs that
accompany the text. This is the most theoretical chapter in the text. However, we feel this material is very
important as it presents the basic elements of communication and provides a detailed examination of the
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We have found that it is helpful to emphasize to students that decisions regarding the controllable
elements of the communication program, such as selecting a source, developing a message strategy and
appeal, and selecting advertising media, cannot be made unless the promotional planner has some insight
into how members of the target audience will respond to these factors. Students need to have some
understanding of the traditional hierarchical models including their implications and limitations. It is also
important to point out the limitations of the traditional cognitive →affective → conative sequence
Of particular importance is the low-involvement hierarchy as a great deal of attention has been given to
the involvement issue. The Foote, Cone & Belding grid is a very useful way of showing how the concept
of alternative response hierarchies, involvement and rational versus emotional processing can be
combined for advertising strategy purposes. Students can be encouraged to find examples of
advertisements that correspond to these four strategies. The article by Vakratsas and Ambler “How
Answers To Discussion Questions
1. The chapter opener discussed the Fiesta Movement social media campaign used by Ford to launch its
new Fiesta subcompact car in the U.S. market. Discuss the pros and cons of this program and assess
the amount of risk Ford took in allowing the agents to use social media to communicate with their
friends about the car. (L01,02)
The Fiesta Movement social media campaign used for the launch of the Fiesta was a very innovative
program and was designed to build interest and buzz about the new car well before it even arrived in
the U.S. market. There are many positive aspects of this program including the way it utilized social
Chapter 05 – The Communication Process
2. Discuss some of the ways marketers can deal with communication problems such as mistranslations
when developing advertising messages in different languages. (L01)
Communication is a major barrier confronting marketers who market their products in foreign
countries as they often encounter problems in areas such as language as well as the interpretation of
3. What is meant by encoding? Discuss how encoding differ for radio versus television commercials as
well as for print. (L02)
Encoding refers to the process by which the sender of a communication puts thoughts, ideas, or
information into a symbolic form using words, symbols, pictures and the like. The encoding of a
television commercial involves the use of visual images, sound, motion, color, and words, which
provide advertisers with the opportunity to develop very creative messages. The encoding of a radio
commercial is limited to the use of sound, which usually comes in the form of words read by an
announcer and/or music. However, some astute advertisers may use a process called image transfer
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4. Discuss how marketers are using various techniques to generate word–of-mouth discussion and buzz
for their brands. Discuss the pros and cons of these techniques. (L02)
Buzz marketing refers to a technique whereby marketers try to make their brands and/or marketing
messages part of popular culture and consumers themselves are lured into disseminating information
through word-of-mouth. In many cases marketers may even hire individual opinion leaders and trend
setters, such as DJs, waiters and waitresses, bartenders and other influential people to talk about their
companies and/or brands and create excitement and interest in them. Many of the buzz marketing
techniques used by marketers have now gone viral as marketers are using social media such as
Facebook and YouTube to encourage consumers to share messages about their brands with friends
5. Do you think that a company that recruits consumers to participate in an online brand community
such as Procter & Gamble’s Voocalpoint programs should encourage participants to disclose their
association with the organization when discussing a product with others? Why or why not? (L02)
There may be ethical issues associated with the use of buzz marketing as consumers often are not
aware that the individuals from who they are receiving information or recommendations regarding a
brand are actually working for the marketer. Critics argue that stealth techniques, whereby
consumers are not aware that the information is coming from a marketer, are often part of buzz
marketing. This raises an interesting ethical issue as to whether consumers have a right to know that
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6. Discuss the characteristics of early digital adopters and the role they play in the introduction of a new
high-technology product. Find an example of an ad or blog for a new high-tech product that is
targeting early adopter and analyze its effort to do so. (L03)
Early digital adopters play a very important role in the diffusion process for a new product.
Innovators account for the first two to three percent of those who try a new product while early
7. Do you agree with critics who argue that many of the younger people who work in the creative
departments of advertising agencies cannot develop ads that connect with older consumers because of
the age gap? Do you think advertisers ignore older consumers? Evaluate both sides of this argument.
(L01)
The ageism problem in advertising has come about for several reasons. First, marketers are very
interested in younger consumers as this age group spends more on a variety of products including
automobiles, electronics, appliances and other items are more willing to switch brands and try new
products and services. The 18-49 demographic market is highly coveted for this reason. Also, by
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Many wonder why advertisers remain so focused on the younger market and argue that they are
ignoring the tremendous size and purchasing power of mature consumers. The mature market is
growing in size and has tremendous purchasing power since many older consumers control much of
the wealth and purchasing power in the U.S. Some of the things that might be done to ensure that
8. Discuss how one of the consumer response models presented in Figure 5-3 could be used by a
company such could be used by a company such as Apple in planning for the introduction of a new
product such as the iPad. (L03)
The innovation-adoption model would be very applicable to a company such as Apple in introducing
the iPad which is the company’s new tablet PC with a revolutionary 9.7 inch touch screen and a
myriad of apps. As Apple planned its IMC program to introduce this new product the company first
had to create awareness among potential adopters, then make them interested in the new product and
9. Discuss how marketers of low-involvement products such as soft drinks or paper towels would use
various IMC tools differently than a marketer of a high-involvement product such as a personal
computer or automobile. (L03)
For a company selling a low-involvement product such as a soft drink or paper towel, the consumer is
likely to go through a learn→do →feel response hierarchy whereby some minimal level of awareness
or passive learning may precede purchase and attitudes are formed after using the product. An
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For a company selling a high-involvement product such as a personal computer or automobile the
consumer is likely to go through a standard learning or learn → feel → do response hierarchy.
Advertisements for high involvement products are usually very detailed and informative and provide
10. IMC Perspective 5-1 discusses the results of a survey showing how men and women differ in their
visual processing of sexual imagery in print ads. On the basis of these findings, what suggestions
would you make to a marketer of hard liquor who is considering using a revealing photo of an
attractive model in a print ad for the company’s product? Would your answer differ for the marketer
of a personal computer who was considering doing so? (L04)
The study discussed in this vignette was conducted by the advertising research company MediaAnalyzer
Software & Research and compared differences between men and women in visual processing of print
ads using sexual versus nonsexual imagery. In this study the respondents were asked to move a
11. Explain what is meant by a central versus peripheral route to persuasion and the factors that would
determine when each might be used by consumers in response to an advertisement. (L04)
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Under the central route to persuasion the message recipient is viewed as a very active and involved
participant in the communications process whose ability and motivation to process a message are very
high. The recipient will pay close attention to message content and will carefully scrutinize the
Additional Discussion Questions (not in text)
12. Discuss the various elements of the communications process. Find an example of an advertising
campaign being used by a company and analyze this campaign in terms of these elements of the
communications process. (L01)
The various elements of the communications process include the sender or source, the message, the
channel, the receiver, noise and feedback. The sender or source of a communication is the person or
organization that has information to share with another person or group. The source may be an
individual such as a salesperson or spokesperson who appears in a company’s advertisements or a
nonpersonal entity such as a company or organization itself. The message is the information or
meaning the source hopes to convey and may be verbal or nonverbal, oral, written or symbolic. The
problems in that occur in the encoding of the message, distortions in the transmission of the message,
and distractions at the point of reception are possible sources of noise. Feedback refers to the part of
the receiver’s response that is communicated back to the sender and may take a variety of forms such
as response hierarchy measures including awareness, knowledge, attitudes, purchase intentions,
preferences and behavior. The form of feedback of ultimate interest to marketers is, of course, sales.
Chapter 05 – The Communication Process
13. Discuss the various forms feedback might take in the following situations: (L02, 03)
• A salesman selling computer systems to large businesses has just made a sales presentation to a
potential account.
• A consumer has just watched an infomercial for a revolutionary new exercise machine on late-
night television.
• An avid book reader has just logged onto the website of a company such as Amazon.com or
Barnes & Noble.com.
Feedback from a book reader who has logged onto one of these websites can take various forms.
• TV viewers watching the hit show “American Idol” on a Tuesday evening see a commercial for
Calvin Klein jeans.
In this mass communications situation, feedback is not readily observable since the marketer is
not in direct contact with the message recipients. Feedback can be obtained through research–
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14. Those responsible for most of the advertising and promotion decisions for consumer products are
brand managers (client side) and account executives (agency side). These individuals are usually well
paid, well-educated marketing professionals living in urban areas. Consider the typical consumer for a
brand such as Budweiser beer or Mennen after-shave. What problems could these differences present
in developing an IMC program for these brands? How might these problems be overcome? (L01)
The brand managers and account executives are likely to be very different from the heavy users of
brands such as Budweiser or Mennen after-shave. The marketing and advertising executives will, as
noted, be highly educated with a college degree and perhaps a graduate degree such as an MBA while
15. Find an example of a print ad or a television commercial and evaluate it using the cognitive response
model shown in Figure 5-7. Identify the specific types of cognitive responses that the ad might
elicit from consumers and discuss why these might occur. (L04)
Students should be encouraged to find a print ad or commercial and evaluate it using the cognitive
response model shown in Figure 5-7. Many television commercials can be found on YouTube and/or
on web sites for various companies and/or brands. They might show the ad to their friends or fellow
IMC Exercise
Choose a print ad from the local newspaper or a magazine and evaluate it using the various elements of
the communications model presented in Figure 5-1. Your analysis should address the following areas:
• a discussion of the source used in advertisement and why s/he is or is not appropriate for the message
• the way in which the message is encoded including the use of visual and verbal elements.
Chapter 05 – The Communication Process
evaluate the effectiveness of the message/
What is your overall opinion of this ad from a marketing communications perspective? What changes, if
any, would you recommend to improve its communication effectiveness?
AdForum Exercise: Using Communications Models to Evaluate Advertising of High Tech
Products
(See Advertising and Promotion Playlist, Chapter 5)
Your assignment is to use the communication models discussed in this chapter to evaluate commercials
used by Apple, Amazon, and Sony to launch their new electronic reader devices. Watch the commercials
for the Apple iPad (“iPad’), Sony eReader (“Speed Reading’) and Amazon Kindle (“Fly Me Away”) and
answer the following:
1. Choose one of the models of the response process shown in Figure 5-3 and discuss how this model
2. IMC Technology Perspective 5-1 discusses how marketers of high tech products try to target early
digital adopters as this group plays an important role in determining the success or failure of new
3. Evaluate these three commercials using the model of the communications process shown in Figure
5-1 giving attention to source factors, encoding of the message, channel or medium used, the process