A Thesis On

A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON USE OF

EMOTIONAL APPEAL IN ADVERTISING AND
ITS IMPACT ON CONSUMER BUYING
BEHAVIOR WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
FMCG PRODUCTS IN SRI GANGANAGAR CITY

By
Navneet Juneja
7NBGN018

Management Thesis Final Report

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 A THESIS ON

A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON USE OF

EMOTIONAL APPEAL IN ADVERTISING AND
ITS IMPACT ON CONSUMER BUYING
BEHAVIOR WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
FMCG PRODUCTS IN SRI GANGANAGAR CITY

By
Navneet Juneja
7NBGN018

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements of
THE MBA PROGRAM
(The Class of 2009)
INC Sri Ganganagar

Copies marked list:

Mr. Gagan Jasuja
(Faculty Supervisor)

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.
1. Declaration 5
2. Certificate 6
3. Acknowledgement 7
4. List of tables 8
5. Abstract 9-11
6. Introduction
i. Industry Profile 13-14
ii. Indian FMCG market 14-17
iii. Emotional Advertising 17-20
iv. Consumer Buying Behavior and Emotional 20-29
Advertising
a) Problem discussion 21
b) Purpose 21
c) Action Plan 22-23
v. Research problems/Objectives 30-31
vi. Limitations 32
vii. Benefits to. 33
7. i. Research Design/Methodology 35
ii. Process Flow of the Project 36
8. Review of Literature 38-49
9. Empirical Analysis 51-60
10 Findings and Suggestions 62-63
.
11 Conclusion 65
.
12 Appendices
. i. Questionnaire for non users 67

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 ii. Questionnaire for users 68-69
13 References 71-72
.
14 Glossary 74-76
.

DECLARATION

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I am Navneet Juneja hereby state that this Management Thesis Report has been
submitted to ICFAI National College in partial fulfillment of the requirements of MBA
(Master of Business Administration) Program Class of 2009.

The empirical information of this report is based on my own research and observation.
Any part of this project has not been reported or copied from any report of any university
and others.

Date: NAVNEET JUNEJA

Place: Sri Ganganagar (7NBGN018)

CERTIFICATE

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This is to certify that the Management Thesis work entitled “A comprehensive study on
use of emotional appeal in advertising and its impact on consumer buying behavior
with special reference to FMCG products in Sri Ganganagar city” is being submitted
by Navneet Juneja (7NBGN018) for partial fulfillment of MBA to the ICFAI National
College, Sri Ganganagar is recorded a Bonafide work carried out by him under my
guidance and supervision.

Date: Mr. Gagan Jasuja

Place: Sri Ganganagar (Faculty Supervisor)
ICFAI National College,
Sri Ganganagar

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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I am writing this Final Report of Management Thesis for the program of Master of
Business Administration for ICFAI National College, Sri Ganganagar.

It has been a great challenge but a plenty of learning and opportunities to gain huge
knowledge on the way preparing this management thesis. I would not succeed without
Mr. Gagan Jasuja, my amazing faculty supervisor, who seemed to be with me always;
and prepared to give me feedback and guidelines whenever I needed it. Thank You Sir!

I also would like to thank all my friends, my colleagues and all those persons whom I met
in this time period for all feedback and help which they provided to me. And of course to
all those store owners and sales persons from various stores whom I interviewed; for all
their help and support. Thank You all!

I have learned a lot during this time period of preparing this thesis and I hope you will
find my working as interesting and knowledge earning as I have and that this report is
presenting to all. And it will be useful for others wanting to learn about advertising world
and especially emotional appeals and advertiser’s policies and strategies towards promote
their products in FMCG market.

NAVNEET JUNEJA
(7NBGN018)

LIST OF TABLES

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• Ad Spends in Rupees pg 13
• Ad Growth pg 14
• Action Plan pg 22
• Process flow of the project pg 36
• Emotional Sequences pg 48

ABSTRACT

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In today’s competitive scenario where so many products and market players are coming
into the picture, there is a need to look into the customer or client behavior to know your
client well. And also there is a need to market their business/products like this so that one
can feel a bonding with the product or service. Till now here in India most of people
prefer unbranded and traditional products but after entrance of big giants in this market,
today’s emerging retailing environment, people’s growing income level and spending
power, increasing preference for fashionable products & new trends; hence there is a
wide scope in India for these players and till now it is at the flourish stage.

And as FMCG sector is the daily usage products market; so most of the big players and
even small players also continuously trying to capture this segment because it is the most
profit generated segment. Only this is the segment which is totally unaffected from
today’s recession and inflation. Its demand stays similar in every circumstance even
increases with population and growing income and spending patterns.

Because of high cut-throat competition, when all market players are fighting with each-
other for attracting and retaining customers. But today customers are also very smart and
they know the value of their money; and a lot of choices are available in the market for
them. So for advertise their products every marketer is trying to first identify those
factors which affects a large number of customers’ emotions and their buying behavior.
Researcher studied these all in preparing this thesis and found that these advertising
strategies; especially emotional appeals in advertising are continuously adopting by every
big and small marketer; because it is the demand of current time.

The researcher has always been interested in the art and science of Advertising not only
as a management student but also as a consumer. The researcher always pondered what
exactly makes us buy a particular product or service. With the formal management
training the researcher learned that there is no universal theory of these reasons, simply
because every individual is different not just in gender, age, color, physical appearance,
nationality etc. but also in their thinking patterns.

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India, a country of contrasts is tough market to survive and even tougher to perused. But
what makes it irresistible is the huge population of more than 1,028,610,328(source:
census2001), where almost 54% of the population is below 25years and 80% are below
the age of 45 years. It sure seems a haven for the FMCG giants. So, does this make
Indian market a cakewalk? The answer is “no”, this makes it even tougher. A country
with 32 states with the change in language, costume, living in every state; dialect and
culture changing after every 50 kms in a state and various other vagaries to be faced by
the marketer it is almost impossible to pursue everyone. On top of it the FMCG goods
require a great deal of persuasion and differentiation on marketer’s part to elicit sales.

But at end of the day we all are humans and humans are driven by emotions. Although
we might look and feel different but we all we all possess emotions. India is
characteristically a country driven by emotions. Mad duck defines emotion in his book
‘Marketing to the Mind’, emotion is “a feeling produced by the before the opportunity to
meet a basic need that drives the body to act to achieve it”. Other authors defined
emotion as “an immediate response of the body that tells you the degree of support for a
stimulus or situation”.

The Contingency Approach developed by Foote, Cone and Belding states that emotional
appeals should be made when promoting attitude changes towards feeling products like
jewelry, cosmetic and fashions. Perhaps this theory guides most of the FMCG players for
the promotional activities. Here it needs to be noted that Janice Jenkins says in an article
on Marketing Tips and Techniques quotes that Emotion stimulates people's minds up to
3000 times faster than non-emotional thought. If that is the case then what emotion drives
a women, an Indian women to buy an anti- aging cream. Most would say her insecurity,
desire to stay young and appreciated. The answer perhaps is not that simple and straight,
because there are various other factors that affect and reinforce her buying behavior.

Background

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The researcher aimed to understand how the emotional advertising contributes to the
buying behavior of consumer. Emotional advertising is considered as a method of
connecting one’s target market to their product or service at their most basic level i.e. the
emotional level. Janice Jenkins says in an article on ‘Marketing Tips and Techniques’
quotes that Emotion stimulates people's minds up to 3000 times faster than non-
emotional thought. There is no one who would not respond to emotional advertising, it
may be in a positive or a negative way but does this response turn into purchase decision
or does it contribute in any way to the purchase decision process? Females are
conventionally considered more emotional than males but does that makes them less
rational in buying a particular product? Well the answer was delivered in the research.

The researcher took an analytical look at the anti-aging cream segment advertisements
and found that all the five products (Recova, Pond’s Age Miracle, Garnier anti-wrinkle
cream, L’Oreal and Olay Total Effects) used the emotion of “Self- Improvement” with a
subliminal message targeting “Fear”, fear of being unattractive, unloved and uncared.
How their product would help them keep those youthful look and charm. The researcher
probed into these ways advertisements were perceived by the target market was the tools
successful or not?

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 1. INTRODUCTION
i. Industry Profile
ii. Indian FMCG market
iii. Emotional Advertising
iv. Consumer Buying Behavior and
Emotional Advertising
v. Research problems/Objectives
vi. Limitations
vii. Benefits to.

Industry profile

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Advertising is mass, paid communication, the ultimate purpose of which is to impart
information, develop attitude and induce action beneficial to the advertiser (generally the
sales of a product or service).

Advertising is the means of informing as well as influencing the general public to buy
products or services through visual or oral messages. A product or service is advertised to
create awareness in the minds of potential buyers. Some of the commonly used media for
advertising are T.V., radio, websites, newspaper, magazines, bill-boards, hoardings etc.

Advertising is one of the aspects of mass communication. Advertising is actually brand-

building through effective communication and is essentially a service industry. It helps
to create demand, promote marketing system and boost economic growth. Thus
advertising forms the basis of marketing.

Purpose of advertising

When it comes to defining the purpose of advertising everyone in the

company/organization will have different point of views. Like for instance, the President
of a company may be strongly minded toward building a “corporate image”. The Sales
Manager may regard advertising as a means of getting larger orders from retailers.
Financial people may regard advertising as an expense, chargeable to a given fiscal
period. The Advertising Manager or the agency account executive may regard advertising
as an investment, directed toward building a brand image and increasing share of market.

AD Spends (in Rs. Crore)

Categories Year 2002 2003 2004 2005

TV 3909 4300 4860 5412
Press 4400 4752 5450 6322
Radio 150 180 220 317
Cinema 108 117 134 145
OOH 690 790 850 897

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Internet 30 40 60 105
Ad industry 9287 10179 11574 13200
size
*Source : Marketing Whitebook 2006

Ad Spends Growth (%)

Categories Year 2003 2004 2005

TV 10 13 11.4
Press 8 16.1
Radio 2 22.2 44.5
Cinema 8 14.9 8.2
OOH 14.5 7.6 6
Internet 33.3 50 78.3
Ad industry size 9.6 13.7 14.1
*Source : Marketing Whitebook 2006

Indian FMCG Market

The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest in the economy and has a market size of
US$13.1 billion. Well-established distribution networks, as well as intense competition
between the organized and unorganized segments are the characteristics of this sector.
FMCG in India has a strong and competitive MNC presence across the entire value chain.
It has been predicted that the FMCG market will reach to US$ 33.4 billion in 2015 from
US $ billion 11.6 in 2003. The middle class and the rural segments of the Indian
population are the most promising market for FMCG, and give brand makers the
opportunity to convert them to branded products. Most of the product categories like
jams, toothpaste, skin care, shampoos, etc, in India, have low per capita consumption as
well as low penetration level, but the potential for growth is huge.

The Indian Economy is surging ahead by leaps and bounds, keeping pace with rapid
urbanization, increased literacy levels, and rising per capita income. The big firms are

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growing bigger and small-time companies are catching up as well. According to the study
conducted by AC Nielsen, 62 of the top 100 brands are owned by MNCs, and the balance
by Indian companies.

The Indian FMCG industry grew by 22 per cent in 2006. Food (43 per cent) and personal
care (22 per cent) constitute the largest contributors to the total sales. Well-established
distribution networks, intense competition between the organized and unorganized
segments characterize the FMGC sector. Hair care, household care, male grooming,
female hygiene, and the chocolates and confectionery categories are estimated to be the
fastest growing segments, says an HSBC report.

Growth Prospects

With the presence of 12.2% of the world population in the villages of India, the Indian
rural FMCG market is something no one can overlook. Increased focus on farm sector
will boost rural incomes, hence providing better growth prospects to the FMCG
companies.

Better infrastructure facilities will improve their supply chain. FMCG sector is also likely
to benefit from growing demand in the market. Because of the low per capita
consumption for almost all the products in the country, FMCG companies have immense
possibilities for growth. And if the companies are able to change the mindset of the
consumers, i.e. if they are able to take the consumers to branded products and offer new
generation products, they would be able to generate higher growth in the near future. It is
expected that the rural income will rise in 2009, boosting purchasing power in the
countryside.

However, the demand in urban areas would be the key growth driver over the long term.
Also, increase in the urban population, along with increase in income levels and the
availability of new categories, would help the urban areas maintain their position in terms
of consumption.

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At present, urban India accounts for 66% of total FMCG consumption, with rural India
accounting for the remaining 34%. However, rural India accounts for more than 40%
consumption in major FMCG categories such as personal care, fabric care, and hot
beverages. In urban areas, home and personal care category, including skin care,
household care and feminine hygiene, will keep growing at relatively attractive rates.
Within the foods segment, it is estimated that processed foods, bakery, and dairy are
long-term growth categories in both rural and urban areas. In 2007, the rural market
registered a growth of 17% in the first three quarters. The major contributors for its
growth were higher penetration, per capita consumption, increasing population base, and
increasing household income. The number of households in rural areas using FMCG
products has gone up from 136 million in 2004 to 143 million in 2007. The FMCG
sector is growing at a steady 12-13 per cent. It is expected to grow by over 60% by
2010. That will translate into an annual growth of 10% over a 5-year period. It has been
estimated that FMCG sector will rise from around Rs 56,500 crores in 2005 to Rs 92,100
crores in 2010.

Market research firm A C Nielsen says that the anti – aging market in India at over Rs
60 crore. Though just over 2% of the country’s Rs 3,000-crore skin care market, the
anti-aging segment is the fastest growing at 93% year-on-year.

While busy lifestyles and concomitant stress hasten skin aging, rising incomes and
awareness are facilitating fast consumer adoption of anti-aging products. But that’s not
all, for there is also another important factor at play here. Consumers today opt to prevent
and correct rather than repair at a later stage. Marketers are quick to spot this trend and
are responding appropriately.

Emotional advertising-

It is indisputable that emotions influence our desires, motivation and behavior. So this
makes it important for the advertisers to tap these emotions, after all it is they have to

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persuade, motivate and sell their product or service. So creating the suitable emotions in
advertising is likely to have a positive effect on persuasion which in turn will help to sell.

Advertisers have long believed that advertising must arouse some emotion to be
effective. This affective response is important for two main reasons. First, the key to
branding is the triggering of a meaningful emotional response, which is often, and
perhaps always, the major benefit of using the particular product. Second, the process that
consumers go through in deciding what brands to buy has a heavy emotion-based
dimension to it. In both cases, advertising can be an effective source of enhancement of
these emotional responses. While there is agreement about the need for an emotional
response to advertising in order for it to be effective, there is little agreement among
advertising researchers about how exactly emotion works to influence the overall impact
of advertising.

In the simplest words emotional advertising is the method through which advertisers
engage their consumers using ‘emotional appeal’. Emotional appeal can be defined as
“advertisements which elicit consumer’s emotional responses, either ‘pleasant or
unpleasant’.” According to Hoffman's (1986) typology of affective responses, these
emotional responses toward ads can be either (1) the direct affective responses to
physical/sensory aspects of the ads, or (2) the affective responses to the meaning of the
ads, or (3) Both.

When we talk about personal care products they are mostly used by the consumer
for self- improvement and most of the advertisers use this as a tool. In accordance with
the theory that consumers choose brands to fulfill both rational and emotional needs, it is
not surprising to discover that ads which evoke notions of personal enhancement have
been found to be highly effective (Kover, Goldberg and James, 1995). Messages that play
to consumers' desires for achievement of the ideal self arouse high levels of message
empathy and, in turn, ad liking and purchase desire.

Successful advertisements addresses to the emotional needs of the audience using a

promise that the product being advertised can satisfy emotional needs such as:

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 • The need for acceptance/belonging to a group
• The need for security
• The need for change, variety and excitement
• The need to be attractive
• The need for self acceptance

Advertisers associate their products with luxury, wealth, fame, beauty, family, fitness,
happiness etc. There is a suggestion that by using their product some of these associations
will wear off onto the consumer.

Emotional advertising readily gains public attention when it evokes our fears and wants,
sometimes at a very deep level. It leaves us thinking, hurting or otherwise failing to
forget what we have just seen. These powerful messages are often ineffective, because
consumers, it turns out; often tend to remember the emotions but not the product.

Television Advertising

Television Advertising is generally considered the most effective mass-market

advertising format and this is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for
commercial airtime during popular TV events.

According to a recent study by Ball State University on the media consumption habits of
average Americans, despite the Internet's steady rise in popularity over the last few years,
television remains the dominant medium in most U.S. households. On average, the
general population spends over four and a half hours a day in front of the tube, making
TV watching one of the most common modern leisure activities. Is it any wonder then
that television advertising is also the most powerful form of advertising? The story is not
much different in India.

Advertising on television allows you to show and tell a wide audience your business,
product, or service. It allows you to actually demonstrate the benefits of ownership. You
can show how your product or service works and how it's packaged so prospective

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customers will know what to look for at the point of sale. In advertising, it often takes
multiple touch points to effectively influence consumers' purchasing behavior.

Television advertising has been a popular medium for large retailers ever since the TV
first began to appear in living rooms. With the arrival of cable television came lowered
production costs and the opportunity to reach smaller, more targeted markets, making it a
viable option for small to medium-size businesses as well.

To create an effective television ad, it's first necessary to have a good script that
highlights a strong offer. Ads must also be effectively produced, and it's for this reason
that it's often better to enlist the services of an advertising agency, which can help you
create an entire campaign. Some of the advantages to advertising your small business on
television include the following:

• TV reaches a much larger audience than local newspapers and radio stations, and
it does so during a short period of time.
• It reaches viewers when they're the most attentive.
• It allows you to convey your message with sight, sound, and motion, which can
give your business, product, or service instant credibility.
• It gives you an opportunity to be creative and attach a personality to your
business, which can be particularly effective for small businesses that rely on
repeat customers.

Rational Vs Emotional Advertising

There has always been a continues war waging on who is the best between ‘Rational and
Emotional advertising’. But the rational vs. emotional debate is uncalled for as:

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 a) ‘Rational’ thought is the precursor to emotions anyway,
b) Emotions rarely exist in the absence of thought, and
c) We can alternatively – forget rational or emotional messaging and just jump to
behaviors - encouraging people to act via a promotion (I can feel the creative department
groaning already). Once people act – through cognitive dissonance they post-rationalize
their thoughts and feelings to make sense of their behaviors anyway.

The goal of advertising is to create behavioral change. This can be attained via resonating
with people, rewarding people, or giving them information to appraise one’s brand.
Studies on the soon to launch in Australia TIVO demonstrate that it’s the rational
information based ads that avoid the fast forward button. In this case therefore it’s
rational ads that generate sales and build an ‘emotional connection’.

Consumer buying behavior and Emotional Advertising

Consumer behavior researchers have pointed out that individual differences among
message recipients may lead to wide variations in the manner in which people respond to
emotional advertising appeals. According to Aaker and Stayman (1989), some
individuals, when exposed to an emotionally charged advertising appeal, may exhibit a
characteristic tendency to experience their emotions with greater magnitudes of intensity.
As a consequence, these individual differences in affective reactivity may play an
influential role in determining the persuasive impact of advertising messages. To date,
however, this proposition has not been subjected to empirical validation. It is interesting,
though, that recent research provides a strong theoretical and empirical foundation for
testing this proposition (Larsen 1984; Larsen and Diener 1987). For example, Larsen and
Diener (1987), using the Affect Intensity Measurement (AIM) scale (Larsen 1984),
demonstrated that some people, compared with others, consistently experience their
emotions with greater strength when exposed to emotionally provocative stimuli.
However, these individual differences in emotional intensity tend to disappear when high
and low affect intensive individuals are confronted with a non-emotional stimulus
(Larsen, Diener, and Cropanzano1987). Affect intensity (AI) refers to individual

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 differences in the strength with which people experience their emotions, regardless of the
valence of these emotions (Larsen and Diener 1987).

1.1 Problem Discussion

What is emotional advertising and why is it employed might be justified but does this
turns to buying behavior if not always then when and how. Does it depend on an
individual need or the effective projection of emotion that the advertisement results in
purchase decision? Despite these one cannot overlook at various reinforcements to the
persuasion provided by these advertisements such as:
• Family

• Peers

• Experts (beautician or dermatologist)

• Brand name and perception

Thus, one can say a prospect might illicit a response to the emotion depicted in an ad but
there are other factors too which in turn make this to a purchase decision.

1.2 Purpose

How emotional advertising (television advertising) affects consumer buying behavior of

anti- ageing cream. And which all factors act as reinforcement to the stimuli posed by the
emotional advertisement.
1.3 Action Plan

S.No Week No Duration Details

1. 1st Week Nov 17- Nov 23 Commencement & orientation on

Management thesis-2
2. 2nd Week Nov 24 –Nov 30 Evaluation & approval of title &
synopsis
3. 3rd Week Dec 1- Dec 7 • Approval of MT title.

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 • Searching literature
pertaining to the title

4. 4th Week Dec 8 –Dec 14 Submission of MT Synopsis

5. 5th Week Dec 15- Dec 21 Analyzing the 5 advertisement

airing on the television (Recova,
Pond’s Age Miracle, Garnier anti-
wrinkle cream, L’Oreal and Olay
Total Effects) and Pilot study
6. 6th Week Dec 22- Dec 28 Add up some more data regarding
Management Thesis-2 & preparing
of Interim Report
7. 7th Week Dec 29- Jan 4 Formulation of objective

8. 8th Week Jan 5- Jan 11 • Review of methods and

action plan as the feasibility
was posing problems

• Schedule development

9. 9th Week Jan 12 - Jan 18 • Pilot study of the schedule

10. 10th Week Jan 13 – Jan 19 Gathering information from the

various secondary sources
11. 11thWeek Jan 20 – Jan 26 Collecting information

12. 12th Week Jan 27 – Feb 2 Reaching the samples

13. 13the Week Feb 3 – Feb 9 Adding up to more research

material
14. 14th week Feb 10 – Feb 16 Data compilation

15. 15th week Feb 17- Feb 22 • Final compilation

• Submission of MT final
report and presentation.

The top ten emotions according to the book titled "The Way of the Guerrilla" - by Jay
Conrad Levison, published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston New York, 1997.
Incorporating these 10 emotions into your design will help you produce more sales. Just

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remember, in keeping with the trust factor, that you are able to deliver on your promises
and statements.

The top ten emotions that sell or market are:

1. Achievement - How does your product/service contribute to the customer's

achievement or accomplishment of something notable in life? In this example,
your product/service becomes part of the customer's identity.
2. Pride of ownership - How does your product/service contribute to the pride
someone would feel from ownership? When you pit pride against features or
benefits, pride usually wins in the end.
3. Security - What kind of security does your product/service offer? This is a blanket
emotion that includes money, love, acceptance, power and control. Do not
emphasize it if you cannot offer it.
4. Self-improvement - How does your product/service appeal to a person's self
improvement needs? The internet was born from information relay ideas. Almost
everyone uses self-improvement books, articles, or newsletters of some kind.
Information is what keeps the internet moving, and content is king.
5. Status - How does your product/service contribute to the status your visitor
achieves? Everyone knows that you can fly in second class because it is cheaper
and more economical, but deep inside almost everyone would rather fly in first
class. What is the "first class" of your product or service?
6. Style - How does your product/service fit your buyers style? Are your
products/services the Cadillac of style, or are they the Hugo? Keep in mind that
their style needs can be real or imagined.
7. Conformity - Does your product/service fall into a conformity niche? People do
not want to be alone. They flock together in groups. You have seen them
throughout school, and surely have seen them in your adult life. Does your
product or service command a group following? How would your product/service
help to fulfill the need of community? Does peer pressure play a role in your
product/service?

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 8. Ambition - How does your product/service help people to get more out of life?
More out of life is a broad term and can be applied to money, love, security,
power, or just about anything else you can think of. What is it that people want
more of that your product or service can help them get more of?
9. Power - In what ways does your product/service offer a person more power?
Power can be over something as simple as their own lives, time, or any number of
other things. What ways can you come up with that will help people gain more
control over things that they want more control over?
10. Love - This one is the grand daddy of them all. As mentioned earlier in this article
where the person was looking for ways to expand their financial stability and
offer more to their children. That would be an example of a feeling of love.

The more of these feelings you can incorporate into your design and information, the
better chance you have of generating the emotions needed to compel a person to buy.

Coming down to Consumer Buying Behavior the factors which influence Consumer
Behavior are:

 Cultural factors- Culture are defined as the fundamental in determining the

wants and behavior of an individual; it is a set of value, perception, preference
and behaviors through her family and other key institutions. Furthermore the
culture consists of other factors such as:-

• Sub- Cultures: These are more specific in identification, socialization for

their members. These in the studies context are the geographical location
where the consumer resides.

• Social- stratification: It is the social classes which have homogeneous and

enduring divisions in the society, which are hierarchically ordered and
whose members share similar values, interests and behavior. The social
classes in India are :

 High

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  Upper – middle

 Middle

 Lower – middle

 Lower

There are several characteristics to these social classes

- Within each class they tend to behave alike in dressing, speech,
recreational preferences etc.

- They are perceived to occupy inferior or superior positions

according to social class.

- These are indicated by a cluster of variables like occupation,

Income, wealth, education and value orientation.

- Individuals can move up or down the social- class ladder during

their life time.

- They exhibit product and brand preferences.

Keeping these factors the researcher’s sample population belongs to the strata of upper –
middle class and upper class. The females of these strata are educated and aware about
the trends and the brands. Although they cannot alienate themselves from their emotional
self but they possess a certain kind of rationality in their buying behavior.
 Social factors

These comprise of:

• Reference group consist of the group that have a face to face or
indirect influence on his or her attitude or behavior.

 Membership groups are groups having a direct influence

on a person.

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  Primary groups such as family, friend, neighbors and co-
workers. Those with whom the person interact
continuously and informally.

 Secondary groups such as religious, professional etc.

 Aspirational groups are the one the person wants to join.

 Dissociative group are the ones whose values or behavior

an individual rejects.

 Opinion leaders are the person in formal, product- related

communications who offer advice or information about a
specific product or product category.

Among females the kitty parties and clubs act as membership groups. Primary groups also
act as a facilitator in buying decision process. The opinion leaders in this context could be
anyone from the retailer to the beautician or anyone from the family or surroundings.

• Family – Family members constitute the most influential primary

reference group. The taste and preference of a female are usually
influenced by the opinion and suggestion of her children, in-laws
or spouse.

• Roles and Status – An individual position in each group is

generally defined in terms of roles and status. A Role consists of
the activities a person is expected to perform. Each of these roles
carries a status. E.g. a mother is expected to take care of the needs
and wants of her family.

 Personal factors

• Age and stage in the life cycle – Consumption of anti – aging cream is
shaped by the age of a female. Most females using these creams belong to

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 the category that has adult or adolescent kids and age group of 30 – 55
years.

• Occupation and economic circumstances – When it comes to females it’s

not always their occupation but also their husband’s occupation which
counts. The economic circumstances such as spending income(level,
stability and time pattern), savings and assets, debts, borrowing power and
attitudes towards spending and saving. As all the anti- aging creams fall in
the price range of Rs. 250 to 400 so we cannot expect a female falling in
lower- middle class sending this amount for a grooming product.

• Personality and Self-Concept – A personality can be defined as a set of

distinguishing human psychological traits that lead to relatively consistent
and enduring responses to environmental stimuli. But it is often described
as self-confidence, dominance, autonomy, deference, sociability,
defensiveness and adaptability. It is a very useful variable for analyzing
consumer brand choices.

• Lifestyle and Values – A person’s pattern of living in the world is

expressed by his/her activities, interests and opinion. It portrays the
“whole person” interacting with his/her environment. In the consumption
pattern of anti- wrinkle creams lifestyle plays a vital as it is aligned with
need.

The buying decision process: The five stage model

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1. Problem Recognition – In case of buying the product category a female has to
observe the wrinkles and need to get rid of them. She has to possess a desire to
look good with a good skin and also desires to fight back her age. So, we can say
wrinkles are her problem. In this case she could also be unsatisfied with her
previous or present anti- wrinkle cream.

2. Information Search – In case of these females most of them will first refer to the
television advertisements to know about the creams in the market then perhaps
take suggestions from her spouse, kids , friends, club members, people from
work, expert, beautician etc.

3. Evaluation of alternatives – After collecting all the data she evaluates all the
options. If the researcher considers that she chooses her cream from the four
brands available in the market then she might go for quick results and choose
“Pond’s age miracle” she might bear the reference and use “Olay total effects”
because she thinks it’s brand ambassador ‘Sushmita Sen ’ is a trustworthy person
or her ideal female or ex- Miss Universe or she might buy because a celebrity
says she uses it and is satisfied.

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4. Purchase Decision - After all this she ponders on her purchase decision which she
might take based on various factors such as lifestyle, advice of family, peer group,
professionals etc.

5. Post purchase decision – After purchase she might be satisfied or bear dissonance.
She might be unsatisfied by the results or value for the money or any other reason.
If she is satisfied she would preach the product thus facilitating the promoter’s
efforts

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 RESEARCH PROBLEM/OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Management Thesis is a part of the MBA Program. The objective of a Management

Thesis is to train the student in designing and implementing a research project in respect
of a business problem. A Management Thesis is the culmination of training provided to
the student on practical applicability of the theoretical concepts learned by them. Apart
from this objective the other objective related to the project study is given below.

The study was performed aiming at the following objectives:

Primary Objectives of the study-

• Understanding the emotional appeal concept and its usage by advertisers.
• To study the impact of it on consumer buying behavior.

Associated Objectives-
• To know about the latest trends in advertising industry and what advertisers are
trying to attract more and more customers.
• Grasping the knowledge about how customers in Sri Ganganagar take these
appeals adopted by advertisers and their response towards it.

So in this thesis, researcher has to find out answers of following problems-

• Emotional advertisement acts as a stimulus, what kind of responses it elicits?

• Does these responses are always positive that is turn up as buying behavior?

• In the buying decision how much rationality is opted for by the consumer?

• What are the major emotional approaches of emotion used by advertisers?

• What is more dominant in purchase decision, emotional appeal or reference?

• Who are the major referential sources for these products?

• Which advertisement is the most convincing?

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And apart from these all stated objectives my first and foremost objective was to acquire
the practical knowledge about the various advertising appeals and their impact on
customer buying behavior like how customers behave and how it influence their buying
decisions.

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 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

• Time constraint- The major limitation of this project is the time period for this
thesis because it is not possible to look in to each and every aspect of advertising
and FMCG sector in such a short span of time.

• Because all research is related to Sri Ganganagar city only and here a limited
scope is available for these types of studies.

• The respondents were not always the consumers of the anti – aging product.

• Since the results will draw on the basis of Information which will be provide by
the respondents; chance of response error might possible. Disinterest of customers
may generate non response while collecting data.

• The buying behavior was mostly studied from the point of view of emotional
advertisements thus the researcher could not give much attention to other factors.

• Some respondents used two or three anti – aging creams at a time simultaneously.

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 BENEFITS TO

i. To Self-
• Knowledge earning.
• Gaining practical exposure to Emotional Advertising and customer buying
behavior.
• Gain knowledge about customer preferences by direct interactions with
customers.

ii. To company-
• This report will be beneficial for these companies and stores also because
from this report they get to know about their customer’s preferences.
• From this report they will get the knowledge about required changes in
their promotional strategies, advertisements, features and customer base.

iii. To customers-
• They will get to know about companies’ offerings and their work process.
• From this report they can say their views and their opinions about the
products available in the market, so it is beneficial for them to make all
required changes in system.

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 2.
 Research Design/Methodology
 Process Flow of the Project

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Data Collection methods

The researcher opted for both primary and secondary method of data collection. Through
the respondents the primary data was collected and for schedule construction and
literature survey books, articles, various search engines and websites were referred.

Sample size - Sample size is around 10 for shopkeepers and 100 for customers.
Sample units – Individual customers and shopkeepers. ( Because FMCG market is
very wide, it have a lot of type of products in it so for ease of understanding,
researcher conduct a comparative study between major cosmetics - anti ageing cream
brands for this study and this thesis limits between these cosmetics users and non-
users.)
Sampling method – Researcher opted for non- probabilistic sampling, in which
convenience sampling was opted. The researcher went for personal interview and
telephonic interviews for qualitative reasons.
Sampling area - Sri Ganganagar city.

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Process Flow of the Project-

DESIGN OF QUESTIONNAIRE

PILOTING BASED ON
QUESTIONNAIRE AFTER
FEEDBACK

REDESIGN THE
QUESTIONNAIRE

QUALITY CHECK

GETTING QUESTIONNAIRE FILLED

CORRECTION OF DATA

DATA ENTRY

DATA CLEANING

ANALYSIS

FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS &

CONCLUSION

Figure-1 - P R O C E S S F L O W O F T H E P R O J E C T

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Review of Literature

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 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

As advertising strategies and emotional advertising are one of the most important issue
for consideration for marketers, and by this an organization can gain a high level
promotional advantage over their rivals companies. So for this research, researcher has to
go through-
 Past reports/information available on this topic.
 References books or study materials for understanding the topic in details.
 Available data on internet, through electronic databases.

And for this topic, the areas of literature should be examined are-
 Advertising Plans
 Establishing advertising objectives
 Selecting the advertising message
 Developing media strategy
 Advertising effectiveness
 Creative approaches in advertising
 Various types of emotional appeals as humor, sex, fear, music etc.

Literature review is important for-

 Identify critical issues in literature,
 Discuss how different authors works have complement one another
and how they can disagree,
 Writing literature review develops research’s focus.

And on this topic, here in Sri Ganganagar before this study, never a research has been
conducted and because Sri Ganganagar is not a big city so here sources are limited but
scope for these type of study is very huge.

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Books-

1. Title – Marketing Management

Author – Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller

Chapter 6, Analyzing Consumer Markets

2. Title - Research Methodology

Author - D K Bhattacharyya
The researcher referred the book study about various methods and tools of research, their
characteristics, utility, advantages and disadvantages.

3. Title - The Marketing Whitebook 2006

A BusinessWorld publication
The researcher referred various statistics pertaining to population, consumption etc.

Articles-

Exploring a New Typology of Emotional Appeals: Basic versus Social, Emotional

Advertising by Ming-Hui Huang.

Studies of emotion, both in psychology and sociology, have suggested that there are a
handful of basic emotions, such as happiness, anger, fear, sadness, and love, that are the
instinctual biological reactions that human beings possess universally, and are recognized
by people in cultures around the world (Ekman 1984; Kemper 1987; Shaver, Wu and
Schwartz 1992). Social emotions, such as humor, guilt, warmth, and nostalgia, are
derived from basic emotions, and are social reactions that are acquired at a later stage of
human development through the socialization process, and are culturally or sub-culturally

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specific (Harris and Saarni 1989; Kemper 1987; Malatesta and Wilson 1988;
SchefTl990).

Following from that line of thinking, this study suggests that basic emotional appeals can
be used to capitalize on the similarity in response among consumers. Due to the universal
tendency of basic emotions, consumers tend to have more similar emotional responses,
and probably more similar evaluative responses, toward those ads which intend to
generate basic emotions. It is this which makes basic emotional appeals more appropriate
for a standardized advertising strategy. Alternatively, due to the cultural-specific nature
of social emotions, consumers are more likely to have less similar emotional and
evaluative responses toward those ads which are intended to generate social emotions.
Social emotional appeals, thus, are more appropriate for a specialized advertising
strategy.

In other words, by taking the basic versus social distinction of consumers' emotional
responses into account, advertisers can generate the appropriate types of emotions in ads
to maximize the effects of advertising in accordance with the objectives of advertising
and marketing strategies.

Emotional appeals are defined in this study as those ads which elicit consumers'
emotional responses, either pleasant or unpleasant. According to Hoffman's (1986)
typology of affective responses, these emotional responses toward ads can be either (1)
the direct affective responses to physical/sensory aspects of the ads, or (2) the affective
responses to the meaning of the ads, or (3) both.

This definition opens up the possibility that the same executional content, in the ads, may
receive widely different reactions from consumers, given that consumers interpret the
meaning of the ads differently. A typical example of this phenomenon in advertising is
found in the use of humor-appeals. Many studies advise against the use of humor in a
global context because the same humorous content will not receive the same response
across subcultures, or cross-culturally (Klein 1991; McCuIlough and Taylor 1993; Shimp

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1993). The Distinction between the Basic versus the Social Emotions. Although human
beings may experience a myriad of emotions, along with their blends, which include their
variations, mutations, and nuances, many studies in sociology and psychology, each
based on a different theoretical approach, have suggested there are relatively few
emotions considered as basic to all human beings and which enjoy a great degree of
cross-cultural homogeneity. Each basic emotion possesses an evolutionary survival value
(Epstein 1984), is associated with a different pattern of autonomic nervous system
activity along with a facial expression (Ekman 1984; Izard 1977), and is developed and
acquired early in the socialization process (Harris and Saarni 1989). Due to these reasons,
basic emotions are universal in all social demographic groups (Kemper 1990). On the
contrary, all the countless emotions, other than the few basic emotions that human beings
may experience, are social emotions. Social emotions are the blends of basic emotions,
developed at a later stage of the socialization process. Accordingly, consumers who share
the same experience of reality learn the same types of social emotions, whereas those
consumers who share no common experience learn different types of social emotions.
The following sections, first, draw conclusions from past studies regarding which
emotions can be considered as basic emotions. Second, they discuss the hierarchical
relationship between basic and social emotions, and third, explore consumers' response
pattern toward basic and social emotional appeals.

Three negative emotions—anger, fear, and sadness— and two positive emotions—
happiness and love—have been suggested as basic emotions in past studies. Of the five
emotions, anger, fear, sadness, and happiness have received the most research support as
the basic emotions, while love is more controversial but is still more basic than other
emotions. All emotions other than the above-mentioned five basic emotions are social
emotions. From the evolutionary perspective, Plutchik (1980) and Epstein (1984)
considered that emotions are adaptive devices in the struggle for individual survival at all
evolutionary levels, and that there are a small number of pure or primary emotions which
possess evolutionary survival value, and form the essence of emotional existence. For
example, happiness allows individuals to rest and to renew themselves; fear and anger
energize individuals to undertake urgent activity for survival purposes when faced with

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danger, or a threat from others; and sadness produces social cohesion by making
separation a painful experience, and, hence, one to avoid. All other emotions are mixed;
that is, they can be synthesized from various combinations of the primary emotions. For
example, fear mixed with sadness will result in despair; happiness mixed with fear will
generate guilt; and sadness mixed with anger will produce envy. Based on the neural
approach, Izard (1977) developed his differential emotions theory and infers the basic
emotions, in terms of their neurophysiologic underpinnings, facial patterns, and
experiential/motivational characteristics. Of necessity, both the subjective experience and
the bodily changes have neural substrates. For example, when we have the subjective
experience of anger, we may also be aware of a hot flushed feeling in our faces, tension
in our muscles, and a pounding of our hearts. Along this line of thinking, Ekman (1984)
conducted a series of cross-cultural facial expression analyses of emotion and found that
there are a small number of basic emotions and that each is associated with a different
pattern of autonomic nervous system activity along with a facial expression. For example,
the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity of anger is a high heart rate and high skin
temperature, while the ANS activity of fear is a high heart rate and low skin temperature.
From the social relational approach to emotions, Kemper (1987, 1990) considered that all
human emotions result from real, anticipated, recollected, or imagined outcomes of
power and status relations. Power implies the ability to overcome the resistance of others
when others do not wish to comply. Status refers to the compliance that individuals
voluntarily accord each other, unaccompanied by threat or coercion. One's own power
can increase, decrease, or remain the same; one's own status can increase, decrease or
remain the same.

Similar results can occur with the other individual's power and status. This paradigm
results in twelve possible outcomes, only four of which will actually occur. That is to say,
each episodic interaction will produce an outcome as to one's own, and another's, power
and status. For example, elevation of the other's power will lead to fear, as will a decline
in one's own power. An increase in status obtained from the other will lead to happiness,
while a decrease in status will lead to anger or sadness. The four possible outcomes result
in four primary emotions which are cross-culturally held.

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In studying children's understanding of emotion, Harris and Saarni (1989) found that
children acquired certain emotions through the socialization process. The pre-school
child has a good understanding of the causes and consequences of such basic emotions as
happiness, sadness, fear, and anger. Sometime during their years in school, this basic
knowledge is elaborated upon and a finer diagnosis of emotion becomes possible as
children then begin to experience mixed feelings. Only after experiencing mixed feelings
do they understand more complex emotions, such as pride and shame. Taking a prototype
approach to emotions, Shaver, Wu and Schwartz (1992) suggested that basic emotions
are emotion prototypes which are located at the basic-level of emotion categories and are
perceived and understood with reference to emotional categorization. They synthesized
several empirical cross-cultural studies of emotion, which included America, Italy, and
China, and concluded that there is a universal set of basic emotions, although some
receive more attention and enjoy greater articulation than others in a particular culture.
These basic emotions have similar abstractly characterized antecedents, similar action
tendencies, and similar social-relational functions across different cultures. Different
cultures have only to create different subordinate-level terms to convey degrees of
intensity, and locally common antecedent situations, from these basic emotions. For
example, in the United States, joy due to individual achievement is emphasized, as are
the emotionally positive aspects of attachment. Italians seem to view bliss as part of love
rather than as a consequence of individual achievement. Their cluster results suggested
six "basic-level" categories of emotion, and the 135 clustered prototypical terms of
emotion designate subordinate-level forms of these basic-level emotions. Above the basic
level, where two lines join at the top of the hierarchy, the largest categories seem to be
positive and negative emotions. For example, love was the super ordinate-level emotion
of love, arousal and longing; joy was the super ordinate-level emotion of joy, excitement
and pleasure; and anger was the Super ordinate-level emotion of irritation, anger and
disgust. Kemper (1987) also suggested a similar hierarchical relation, and considered that
guilt is a socialized response to fear, shame is a response to anger, pride to happiness, and
so on. Studies of emotion from advertising also suggest a hierarchical relationship.

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Dealing with the fundamentals of emotion greatly simplifies the marketing task. In
understanding the range of feelings and emotions and their interrelationships precipitated
by advertising, Aaker, Stayman and Vezina (1988) hierarchically clustered 180 emotional
terms, and obtained a 22-cIuster result. Their findings suggested that most of the feelings
that have been studied in advertising have several variants. For example, warmth might
be represented by "Friendly," "Warm/ Tender," and "Pride." The feeling clusters
"Playful/ Childish," and "Humorous" may be related to humor. Their study confirmed
that there exists a hierarchical relation among feelings and emotions precipitated by
advertising, and the study and creation of emotion in advertising should not be conveyed
at a too gross level.

Brief Results of the Hierarchy Cluster Analysis of Emotion Names from Schwartz
and Shaver (1987)

Emotion Hierarchy

1. Positive emotions
Love
o Love
o Arousal
o Longing
Joy
o Joy
o Excitement
o Pleasure
Pleasure
Surprise
2. Negative emotions
Anger
o Irritation
o Anger

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 o Disgust
Sadness
o Agony
o Sadness
o Shame
Fear
o Fear
o Anxiety

Emotional Advertising by John Hallward

The good news is that ads that do create favorable emotional

responses have greater ad recall potential and also greater persuasion.
(By recall potential and persuasion, we refer to the measures in Ipsos-
ASI Next* ad pretests; and by emotional responses, we refer to our
new Emoti*Scape, which is used in our ad pretests.) Specifically, we
see that ads that increase brand associations for “emotional, touching,
sensitive, and feeling” correlate more strongly with persuasion (versus
ads that make a brand rational, practical, and organized). This is
consistent with the many published views about how great brands
create experiences, and how great brands emotionally touch people.
Advertising that improves brand perceptions of “pleasure, sensuous, an easier
life, and appreciation or protection of others (or nature)” tends to be more persuasive. In
our brand equity research (conducted separately from ad testing), we see many parallels.
Brands that have created stronger emotional and personal associations tend to have higher
purchase interest. Engaging the consumer and getting a favorable emotional response is
only the beginning of the motivational process. Ads that only create “good, happy, warm,
and fuzzy” emotions and fail to engage the consumers’ interest or curiosity are likely to
be weak in persuasion. If an ad can generate feelings of curiosity or interest, it is much
more likely to be successful. Some ads can score strongly for “happy, warm, and fuzzy”

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but still fail to persuade or motivate a change in behavior. Conversely, some ads that stir
curiosity are quite persuasive without being warm and fuzzy.

Inner Workings of Emotional Advertising

FAQs of Emotion In Advertising

What techniques are commonly used in emotional advertising and how successful
are they?

Advertisers strive to engage consumers through their choice of message tone. Some
of the most common emotional appeals focus on fear, humor and self-idealization. The
use of fear as a motivation in advertising places emphasis on the severity of the threat.
Zeitlin and Westwood (1986) found that fear appeals range in intensity from mild to
severe. Their research suggests that in order to be most effective (not just attention
getting), fear-based messages should present a mild to moderate threat and provide a do-
able solution. If the fear instilled is either too severe or not followed up with a reasonable
solution, the viewer will not be able to surmount his/her sense of dread and process the
advertising message. In a similar vein, negative ads (ads in which the viewer is exposed
to annoying or unpleasant creative content) can also be effective if the negative technique
is used to promote a product benefit. This situation is often referred to as the "love that
product, hate that ad" syndrome (Zeitlin and Westwood, 1986) and has been used to
describe Charmin's Mr. Whipple and Wisk's Ring around the Collar campaigns.

Humor is another frequently used emotional technique which must be employed

with caution (Kover, Goldberg and James, 1995). Some advertisers view humor as a
can't lose method for enticing viewers into paying attention to the message. However, it
is important that the humorous creative technique does not result in a loss of product
message. Research by Kover, Goldberg and James (1995) indicates that in most cases,
humor has little on viewers' interpretations of advertising effectiveness.

In accordance with the theory that consumers choose brands to fulfill both rational
and emotional needs, it is not surprising to discover that ads which evoke notions of

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personal enhancement have been found to be highly effective (Kover, Goldberg and
James, 1995). Messages that play to consumers' desires for achievement of the ideal self
arouse high levels of message empathy and, in turn, ad liking and purchase desire. Nike's
"Just Do It" campaign is a prime example of successful advertising based on consumers'
desire to achieve the ideal self.

How are levels of emotional response tested?

Researchers use a variety of verbal, visual and physiological response tools to

measure consumers' emotional responses to advertising. Verbal measurement scales
involve extensive adjective check lists which are often viewed as time consuming and
lengthy for users to complete. Visual measurement tools include dial turning instruments
and the Self Assessment Manikin (SAM). Morris (1995) supports the use of the SAM as
an easier method for PAD (pleasure-arousal-dominance) measurement that commonly
uses verbal listings. Finally, physiological response tools include the galvanic skin
response meter and pupil dilation monitors which base emotional response levels on
changes in the physical state of the viewer. These measurement tools provide the benefit
of immediate response measurement, which in many cases, cuts through the clutter of
respondent self-monitoring, a situation which may occur when using either verbal or
visual measurement tools (Kover, Goldberg and James, 1995).

When should (or should not) an advertiser employ emotional appeals?

Decisions regarding advertising message tone can be divided into a number of

consideration sets including informational/ transformational message, high/ low
involvement and perceived risk, emotional/ rational benefits and congruency between
product and message. In many instances, creative executions are developed by
approaching the question, "Should our brand message cater to informational or
transformational needs?". In the case of informational motives, the brand seeks to provide
a solution to a problem, satisfaction where there is disappointment or reminder in case of
shortage. Transformational motives are addressed when advertising elevates itself to a
less information-driven, tangible level where brand messages fulfill sensory and social

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needs (Kover and Abruzzo, 1993). As the figure below shows, both motivational
perspectives elicit emotions which may be felt by consumers.

Source: Kover and Abruzzo, 1993

Chaudhuri's (1998) studies on luxury and necessity items have yielded information
on the relationship between high-involvement and low-involvement products, perceived
risk and emotional experience. High-involvement purchase decisions often involve high
levels of perceived risk, sending consumers into a state of increased information search.
This suggests that informational motives should be addressed in advertising for many
high-involvement products. Conversely, low-involvement decisions usually incorporate
low levels of perceived risk. When developing message appeals for either high or low-
involvement categories, it is important to know that perceived risk shares a direct, inverse
relationship with emotional experience. That is to say that high perceived risk is
decreased through positive emotional experiences, while low levels of perceived risk are

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increased when a person is in involved in a negative emotional experience. Advertisers'
may attempt to influence opinions of perceived risk to their benefit by using a negative
emotional approach to increase the perceived risk associated with brand switching in a
low involvement category. Meanwhile, a high-involvement brand may employ a positive
emotional message to lower the perceived risk of a consumer who is carefully studying
brand alternatives.

Foote, Cone and Belding have developed a model called the Contingency
Approach (Holbrook and O'Shaughnessy, 1984) as a guide for choosing whether to apply
emotional or rational messages in their clients' advertising. The Contingency Approach
states that emotional appeals should be made when promoting attitude changes towards
feeling products like jewelry, cosmetic and fashions. Thinking products such as cars and
furniture should employ rational messages, according to this model. It is important at this
point to introduce the concept of congruency (Zeitlin and Westwood, 1986). Advertising
congruency is achieved when the brand message is consonant with the tone of the
advertising. When congruency is not achieved (for example, through misapplication of
sex appeal or inappropriate choice of celebrity spokesperson) ads are often not liked and
considered to be uncreative and not persuasive. Therefore, it is important to recognize the
potential for exceptions to the Contingency Approach. Thinking aspects of fashion do
exist, as do feeling aspects of cars. Advertisers who fail to understand this duality do so at
their own risk.

Who responds to emotional advertising?

Of course, the short answer is everyone. However, Stout and Rust (1993) found that
females and older people are most easily persuaded by emotional advertising. These
groups are more likely to feel empathy toward the situations presented in emotional ads
and as a result, view the brand more favorably than those competitors advertising based
upon rational appeals.

( Source:www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/98_fall/theory/weirtz/Inner.htm)

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 Empirical Analysis

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 EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

The researcher studied and analyzed the TV commercials of five anti – aging creams.

1. Pond’s age miracle (HUL)

The commercial provides a promise of visible difference in just 7 days. The whole
advertisement emphases mostly on this promise of “7 days challenge” it slightly
hints towards the emotion of getting old and the vulnerability attached to it. It is
directly addressed to women.
2. Recova (Paras laboratories)

This one touches upon the loss of youthful look. It intrigues the fear, the
insecurity and the loss. It refers to the role of husbands in taking the buying
decision. The story of regaining the lost ‘spark in romance and the glow on your
face’ is not only convincing but also persuasive. It uses the fear method of
persuasion, the fear of being unattractive and being neglected.
3. Garnier anti- aging cream

It projects the “fighter” inside the women. The ad projects the women in boxing
gloves showing some boxing moves. It has a certain appeal to the working urban
women who see themselves at constant war with the world and themselves. The
ad is not customized according Indian consumers.
4. Olay total effect (P&G)

This is the only commercial which has local ‘Brand Endorsement’. Sushmita Sen
as its Brand Ambassador is an apt choice. She has a set of traits which are
appealing to both urban and small town women, to housewives and to working
women. She is a celebrity and a mother. Though not married but has an adopted

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 child. Ex – Miss Universe and Miss India and plus an actress and a sensible
sensitive human all in a pack for the emotional femme.

She clearly is a good choice when it comes to acting as facillator in buying

decision. Plus the product projected not only as an anti- aging cream but also as a
moisturizer and a sun screen which fights with the ‘7 signs of aging’. Here again
the promise is emphasized.

5. L’Oreal Paris

It again is a bundle product as it is a skin lighting cream and anti – aging cream. It
has a brand ambassador too but a Chinese actress. The ad depicts a confident
modern woman who gives consumers logical reasons for using the product.

The obvious fact in the time slot it is flashed is during the prime time shows and
mostly aligned with the serials related to ‘saas - bahu soaps’. The ad makers can
also introduce the kid factor in these commercials as they also act as an important
decision making facilitator to the mother.

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Now the results of the research are-

Q.1. Which anti-aging cream do you use/buy?

Product No. of consumers

(a) Recova 2

(b) Pond’s age miracle 7

(c) Garnier anti- wrinkle cream 18

(d) Olay total effects 12

(e) L’Oreal 34

(f) Others 20

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Q.2. What made you buy this particular product?

Bought because No. of respondents

Satisfied with initial use 53
Friends/families advice 40

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Q. 3. When did you feel that you should use an anti- aging cream?

Started using Reason

Appearance of wrinkles 81
Friends advice 5
Arrival of certain age 7

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Q.4. Can you recall an anti-aging cream ad?

Recall of product
Product No. of respondents
Olay 38
Ponds 17
Garnier 17
Recova 15
L’Oreal 6

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Q.5. Which anti -aging cream ad is the most appealing to you?

Which ad appeals the most

Product No. of respondents

Olay 43
Ponds 18
Garnier 13
Recova 10
L’Oreal 9

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Q.6. Why does this particular ad appeal to you?

What is most appealing in them?

Storyline 20
Model 62
Can’t say 11

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Q.7. While buying these creams whose advise or suggestion do you take?

Buying behavior is influenced by

Factors who aid buying decision No. of respondents

Friends 31
Colleagues 9
Kids 8
Spouse 32
Expert 13

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Q.8. What is more important to you?

Important factors in buying behavior

Important factor in buying Respondents answer

Brands 37
Price 5
Value for Money 13
Quality 38

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 Findings & Suggestions

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

As for this topic, there are two type of hypothesis can be possible, i.e.-
1. Null Hypothesis- Emotional Advertising is an essential part for any marketer in
today’s arena for attracting more and more customers & these strategies affects
customer buying behavior.

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 2. Alternative Hypothesis- Marketers can ignore it and customers also have
negative attitude towards it, these strategies don’t have such effect on customers
buying behavior.

Data collected after survey-

 Researcher went to all those sample units for collecting data and found data from
direct interviews and surveys from customers and retailers.

The researcher also observed that:

• Although many respondents could recall Olay ad more but not that many used it.

• L’Oreal was the most preferred brand and apart from that many other brands like
oriflamme, Avon, etc were also popular due to the value they delivered.

• Satisfaction from initial use and friends and family advice played a significant
role in repeat purchase.

• Most of them started using the cream on appearance of wrinkles.

• Most of them referred to the advice of spouse and friends in buying behavior.

• To them the most appealing ad was that of Olay as it had Sushmita Sen. ( Now at
the time of completion of this project, the commercial of L’Oreal with Aishwarya
Rai is telecasting on TVs; and it is also a great appealing add.)

• Brand and quality were the most important factor in buying behavior.

• Most of them could recall an ad because of the models in it.

Among the non- consumers of anti – aging creams there were 19 respondents. Out
of these 9 said they did not use it because they were too expensive and 8 said because
they don’t mind wrinkles and rest 1 said she didn’t feel like using one and other answered
‘can’t say’. All of them agreed that they would use a free sample and were able to recall
more than two anti – aging cream ads.

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 Conclusion

CONCLUSION

The researcher has thus come to the conclusion from the above study that the buying
behavior in anti- aging cream is not much affected by emotional advertising but factors/

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facilitators like spouse and friends play a significant role in purchase decision. Brand
recall did not always result in buying. Although aroused by emotion almost all of them
were very rational enough.

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 Appendices

APPENDICES

Schedule (for non- users)

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1. Do you use an anti – aging cream?

(a) Yes

(b) No

2. What is the reason behind not using an anti-aging cream?

(a) I don’t feel I need one.

(b) They are too expensive.

(c) I don’t mind wrinkles.

(d) Don’t know.

3. If provided with a free sample of any anti- aging cream would you use them?

(a) Yes

(b) No

(c) Can’t say

4. Can you recall any anti-aging cream ad?

(a) Yes

(b) No

5. Do any of the prevalent anti- aging cream ads inspire you to buy them?

(a) Yes

(b) No

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 (c) Can’t say

Schedule (for anti- aging cream consumers)

1. Which anti-aging cream do you use/buy?

(a) Recova

(b) Pond’s age miracle

(c) Garnier anti- wrinkle cream

(d) Olay total effects

(e) Others

2. What made you buy this particular product?

(a) Satisfaction with the initial use

(b) My friends / family’s advice

3. When did you feel that you should use an anti- aging cream?

(a) On appearance of wrinkles

(b) On a friends advice

(c) On arrival of certain age

4. Can you recall an anti-aging cream ad?

a. Recova

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 b. Pond’s age miracle

c. Garnier anti- wrinkle cream

d. Olay total effects

5. Which anti -aging cream ad is the most appealing to you?

(a) Recova

(b) Pond’s age miracle

(c) Garnier anti- wrinkle cream

(d) Olay total effects

(e) Others as L’Oreal, Lakme

6. Why does this particular ad appeal to you?

(a) The story line / concept

(b) The model

(c) Can’t say

7. While buying these creams whose advise or suggestion do you take?

(a) Friends

(b) Colleagues

(c) Kids

(d) Spouse

(e) Expert (beautician/ dermatologist)

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8. What is more important to you?

(a) Brand name

(b) Price

(c) Value for money

(d) Quality it delivers

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 REFERENCES

REFERENCES

List of Books referred-

• Marketing management (11th edition), Philip Kotler, Pearson Education , Inc

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 • Consumer behavior emerging trends and issues, Edited by: G Radha Krishna,
ICFAI Books, the ICFAI University Press.

• Marketing management (12th edition), Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller,
Pearson Education, Inc.

• Consumer Behavior buying, having and being (6th edition), Michael .R. Soloman,
Pearson Education.

• Research methodology, DK Bhattacharya, Exil book, 2004.

Articles-

• The buying impulse by Dennis W Rook(1987)

• Journal of consumer research volume 14 No.2

• Exploring a New Typology of Emotional Appeals: Basic, versus Social,

Emotional Advertising by Ming-Hui Huang.

• Inner working of emotional advertising,articlecity.com

• David J. Moore, William D. Harris and Hong C. Chen

Affect Intensity: An Individual Difference Response to Advertising Appeals

Websites-

• www.mymarketinguide.com

• www.thinkit.com

• www.knowthis.com

• http://EzineArticles.com/?expert)

• www.wikepedia.com

• www.googlescholar.com

• www.articlecity.com

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• www.sanders-consultation-group-plus.com

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 GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY

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Advertisement Campaign: An advertisement campaign is usually short-term marketing
communication program consisting of a set of related advertisements designed to meet a
set of immediate objectives or solve some problem.

Advertising Appeal: An advertising appeal can be defined as the manner in which an

advertising message is developed and expressed, to derive a particular consumer response
or influence decision making.

Attitudes: Attitudes are defined as a learned predisposition, feeling, or conviction to

react toward an object or class of objects in either a favorable or unfavorable manner in a
more or less consistent and characteristic way.

Aided Recall Tests: These tests are one of the forms of recall tests where customers are
requested to recall the advertisements in a particular category (like which television
advertisement can be recalled in the recent issue of a magazine). The respondent taking
this test in prompted with few elements of the advertisement, to remember the
advertisement.

Advertising attentiveness: Advertising attentiveness refers to the level of interest that

the customer shows towards the advertisement. Advertising attentiveness is measured by
employing various techniques. These include attentiveness studies, brand recall studies,
and brainwave research.

Advertising persuasion: Advertising persuasion refers to the change in consumer

behavior due to the advertising exposure and advertising communication.

Advertising response: Advertising response refers to the customer action that is

followed by the advertising exposure. The action may be visiting a showroom, sending
the reply card, calling the company, or even purchasing the product.
Brand Awareness: Brand awareness is the ability of a prospective customer to recall that
a brand is a member of a product category.

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Creative format: The presentation of advertising appeal is called as creative format.

Emotional Appeal: Emotional Appeal uses human feelings like warmth, affection,
humor or fear to evoke a favorable response in the viewer.

Evoked set: An evoked set consists of the brands in a product category that the consumer
remembers at the time of decision making.

Fear Appeal: Advertising with fear appeal is capable of arousing fear in the viewer
about the effect of the viewer’s lifestyle. These appeals are generally used to persuade a
consumer to buy some unsought goods/services like insurance, fire extinguishers etc.

Humor appeal: An advertisement with humor appeal prompts heightened arousal, smiles
and laughter among the audience.

Informational Appeal: The advertisement with informational appeal concentrates on

product features, benefits derived from the product and so on.

Recall: Recall is defined as the process of remembering something or recovering

information by mental effort.

Subliminal Advertising: It involves exposing customers to brand names, product

pictures or other things to simulate their senses, when they are not consciously aware of
it.

Teaser advertising: Teaser advertisements give a short preview about a new product.

Threshold effect: It refers to the minimum level of advertising exposure that is required
to create a change in the consumer’s behavioral response.

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Unaided Recall: In unaided recall the respondent is not prompted with any elements of
the advertising, to remember the advertising.

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