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transcript
The influence of public relations on brand preference for
consumers of noodles products in Lagos. A case study of
Indomie Noodles
Introduction
1.1. Background of the Study
Since the Nigeria’s economic reforms and the opening of the Global noodles
market to the world in 1978, the Nigerian noodles market has become more
and more attractive to foreign companies and Nigerian dominated
manufacturing companies (Sun newspapers Saturday, November 10, 2007) .
However Some of them have been successful in Nigeria . In some fields,
foreign companies are the largest competitors to Nigeria domestic food
industries in which the instant noodle is one of them, which has become an
important food category. Instant noodles are dried or precooked noodles and
are often sold with packets of flavoring including seasoning oil. Dried noodles
are usually eaten after being cooked or soaked in boiling water for 2 to 5
minutes ,while precooked noodles can be reheated or eaten straight from the
packet. Instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Andō of Nissin Foods,
Japan(Retrieved ;Wikipedia.com/Instant Noodles history ).
Instant noodles was first marketed by Momofuku Ando, who was born in
southwestern Taiwan when the island was under Japanese colonial rule, in
Japan on August 25, 1958, under the brand name Chikin Ramen. In 1971,
Nissin introduced the Cup Noodles, instant noodles in a waterproof
polystyrene cup, to which boiling water could be added to cook the noodles.
A further innovation added dried vegetables to the cup, creating a complete
instant soup dish. According to a Japanese poll in the year 2000, instant
noodles were the most important Japanese invention of the century. As of
2008, approximately 94 billion servings of instant noodles are eaten
worldwide every year.
China consumes 45 billion packages of instant noodles per year – 48% of
world consumption – Indonesia, 14 billion; Japan, 5.1 billion. Per capita, South
Koreans consume the greatest amount of instant noodles, 69 per capita per
year. Instant noodles are not only popular with college students, they can
also be an economic indicator. In 2005, the Mama Noodles Index was
launched to reflect the sales of Mama Noodles, the biggest instant noodle
manufacturer in Thailand. The index was steady following recovery from the
1997 Asian Financial Crisis, but sales increased about 15% on a year-to-year
basis in the first seven months of 2005, which was regarded as a sign of an
inferior good, one whose consumption increases as incomes fall. The theory
was that the increase in sales of instant noodles, which are usually cheap,
occurred because people could not afford more expensive foods.
In Nigeria, Indomie is the most popular instant noodles brand. Since its
introduction in 1988 . Indomie has had a remarkable impact on the Nigerian
culinary landscape. Instant noodles are now eaten in most households across
the country. By 2008, nine other brands of noodle had appeared on the
market affirming Indomie's hold on the market . Christopher Ezendu, a
distributor at the popular Oke-Arin market on Lagos Island, reported that
these other brands are aspiring to be like the market leader.
(Retrieved :Wikipedia.com/,Instant Noodles 2009-11-02).
According to the World Instant Noodle Association, Nigeria is the 13th largest
consumer of instant noodles in the world in 2007. For so long, Nigerian
consumers have been the goal of the producers of the ready-to-eat foods in
Nigeria. The sector that produces food items such as noodles have not been
left out in the trend. However, the new entrants in this sector have
expanded the scope of the market as every producer of instant noodle
brands is now gearing to increase its market share. With this trend, the
average Nigerian consumer has become the biggest beneficiary of the on-
going battle in the instant noodles market. The instant noodles market is
quite intriguing and challenging the benefits of competition for the average
consumer as well as its impact in the life of a brand. When there is
competition, the consumer becomes king. It is good in the sense that it
brings out the best from the companies that are rendering such products and
services to the consumers. Obviously, competition is good for the consumer.
It gives him (consumers) an opportunity to choose and value for money
unlike in a monopoly situation where the consumer does not have a choice
whether the product is good or not; the consumer is forced to buy(sun
newspapers Saturday, November 10, 2007 ).
It is glaring that indomie enjoyed a monopoly in the noodles markets for over
10 years just as other seasonings are still referred to as maggi. Though, it is
quite common in Nigeria that people tend to retain names they heard first in
every category. He said that this situation is not only peculiar to Nigeria, it
happens everywhere. “The advantage of being the first product in the
market would never be under estimated. However, this advantage cannot
just be taken away from the people or organizations that deployed their
resources to develop a market. This trend is fast changing because a lot of
consumers do not just refer to seasonings as maggi. Now, some of the
consumers are saying that they want Knorr , Vedan, A-one and other
seasonings. However it all depends on how you're able to build your brand
such that consumers could equally remember your brand name and keep it
top-of-mind as some consumers are beginning to make demands on what
they want,” .
The competition in the noodles sector has always been on how the producers
could increase their market shares “ the first thing to do is to continue to
offer superior value to consumers by introducing innovative products that
will excite them and represent value for what they're paying. Actually, we
don't look at value in terms of price alone rather we consider value in terms
of service and quality that the consumer gets vis-a- vis what he/she pays. Of
course, most Nigerians know what is good, and they're prepared to pay a
little more for a better product” (sun newspapers Saturday, November 10,
2007 ; ‘Noodles war: Mimee is part of the competition to favour the
consumer) .
Within this framework of tying communication activities to financial gains,
there is an emerging recognition of the influence of public relations. Public
relations has a peculiar effect on other marketing communication activities.
“If you advertise in a time when you’re getting bad PR,” explained one
executive, “it doesn’t work. Conversely, if you advertise in a time of really
good PR, there’s a leveraging effect—it actually has more impact than it
would, all things being equal.” PR, operationalized as press mentions, has a
powerful effect on the company reputation. The impact of a negative
mention can be as much as 10 times as powerful as a positive mention, the
respondents explained, and often unpaid media can affect sales. “Anything
that comes from a respected third party, like consumer reports or Cnet,” said
one executive, “we tend to see those things pop in sales pretty
dramatically.”(Smith : 2008).
Measuring public relations has often accounted for missed sales forecasts, as
one study discussed in the current study revealed. A major consumer
packaged goods company missed its sales forecast by 9.5%, leaving millions
wasted on production. It was discovered that the problem was that the
company had ignored unpaid media in its measurement, and that factoring
in unpaid media would have solved the forecasting dilemma (Smith : 2008).
Whereas public relations cannot always be tied to sales, one respondent
explained that “to the extent there is nothing else that can explain a sales
spike…[the PR event in question] will essentially take credit for whatever the
other variables can’t account for.” According to the interviews, PR often
represents five percent to seven percent of sales. One of the difficulties in
tying public relations to results is the lagging effect that media coverage can
have.
Part of the value of public relations comes from its low costs vs. other
marketing activities, “On a cost-per-impact basis, high-priced media won’t be
able to compete with virtually free tactics like PR” . For this reason, “PR does
incredibly well vis-à-vis advertising,” said one interviewee.(Nail : 2002). In
this contextual point of view, the influence of public relations in building a
brand from its introductory stage to become star brand and consumers
becoming loyalist cannot be ignored in this highly competitive and dynamic
instant noodles sector due to the demand by public relations and its target
audience to captivate its target and create mutual lines of communications
to market and sell its product goods and services. Thus the survival of a
brand in the instant noodles business is its ability to bring fresh innovations
that would make targets mirror themselves to the brand which public
relations offers in its campaigns.
1.2 Statement Of The Problem
Marketing and public relations have much in common. Both involve human
relations and require strong communication and interpersonal skills. The
public relations manager can make practical contributions to marketing
strategy when it is understood on both sides that public relations techniques
can be useful in all aspects of the marketing mix.
Yet, the marketing mix concept has become increasingly discredited in
service markets, which usually now make up at least 60 per cent of most
Western countries’ gross domestic product. It offers a ‘checklist’ or ‘toolbox’
approach (Grönroos, 1994) and is usually unable to account for the nuances
associated with service markets, where interaction, trust and credibility are
key parameters in retaining and acquiring new customers. The new
marketing approach or, some argue, old approach relabelled, is more
focused on relationship marketing (RM) or customer relationship
management (CRM). PR techniques can be used to engender trust and
credibility. Thus, in a competitive marketplace, marketing PR is becoming
increasingly important. Research has indicated that the traditional marketing
mix approach can prove very restrictive (Gummesson :1987) in strategy
development, particularly as it appears unsuited to the modern dynamic
environment (O’Malley and Patterson : 1998).
Telecommunications, banking and air transport are all increasingly turbulent
service environments. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, public relations has
had an increasingly important role to play in all three industries in the UK.
Whilst telecommunications companies, particularly the mobile operators,
have been dealing with ‘churn’ (i.e. customer registration, then
deregistration) and increased competition resulting from deregulation, banks
have been tackling increasing levels of competition from, among many
others, supermarkets (e.g. Sainsbury’s, Tesco) and insurance companies
(e.g. Prudential’s Egg).
The major national carriers in the European air transport industry have been
particularly troubled, as low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and EasyJet eat
into their passenger volumes.
Marketing public relations has played an important role in all three cases. For
instance, telecommunications companies have moved into new media
markets offering broadband connectivity (e.g. BT’s division, BT Openworld)
and have used public relations specialists to launch new products (e.g. BT’s
Broadband Summit). Meanwhile, in a stroke of genius, easyJet managed to
become the subject of a new, consumer reality TV series, Airline, showing
the difficulties airline personnel faced when dealing with customers
demanding unreasonably high levels of service for the economy price they
had paid for their ticket.
These three industries, however, have all been hit by other problems, dealt
with by other types of public relations activity. The major European
telecommunications firms (e.g. Deutsche Telecom, the Dutch operator KPN,
and BT) have all been struggling over the last couple of years under heavy
debt loads, arising as a result of diversification into new markets, and the
purchase of 3G licences. This eventually ensured that they were downgraded
by credit rating agencies such as Moody’s. For the likes of BT, this took a
heavy toll, since it meant that its interest payments increased and future
equity offers became less attractive.
In this context , financial public relations activity became paramount in this
sector . Banks also required the services of public relations specialists,
particularly in the corporate image field as the sector has consolidated (e.g.
HSBC and its takeover of Midland Bank, Lloyds Bank and TSB, Halifax and the
Bank of Scotland). Meanwhile, in the airline industry, national carriers (e.g.
BA) have required considerable crisis management help as a result of the 11
September terrorist attacks and the subsequent downturn in their passenger
volumes, particularly to the Far East and the USA, which has precipitated
considerable downsizing and route rationalization.
Marketing public relations is therefore an important component of public
relations, but should not be seen solely as an optional element of the
communication mix. It could enter into product development, reflecting the
feedback received from the media and various publics about products and
services, ranging from complaints to suggestions and demands. For instance,
the content of a package holiday could be changed because of unfortunate
experiences in the past that required assistance in dealing with enquiries
from the media.
Based on the above postulations ‘on the influence of public relations on
brand preference of noodles brands it therefore presupposes that public
relations as a communication tool amongst consumer on brand preference
has a direct influence in bridging the gap between the brand and the
consumers thereby marketing the brand and letting them(consumers) mirror
themselves on the brand image of the brand, which in essence of consumer
behavior moves them towards preference for the brand (Indomie instant
Noodles) a clear and concise understanding of the intricate indices/indexes
goes a long way in creating a marketing channel using public relations as a
conduit pipe .
1.3 Research Questions
These questions are posed to find out the influence of public relations on
consumers brand preference of consumers of noodles products in Lagos of
which the study postulates the following research questions as basis for
giving fresh insights into answering the statement of the problem and to give
findings for the study:
1 Does public relations activities influence consumers of noodles to
prefer a particular noodles brand ?
2 What extent of influence does public relations have on the purchasing
decisions of consumers of noodles in Lagos ?
3 What level of influence does public relations have on the preferences
of consumers of noodles product in Lagos ?
1.4 Purpose Of The Study
The purpose of the study is to determine the influence of public relations on
brand preference of consumers of noodles product in Lagos , taking into
focus selected youth segments in Lagos to assess the influence public
relations has on the consumers preference of noodles products in Lagos.
Furthermore, the study was also concerned with understanding the influence
of public relations has on consumers preference for noodles taking indomie
noodles which has had a long standing large market share in the noodles
market to understand the influence its public relations activities has had on
the brand preference of consumers of noodles.
1.5 Rationale Of Study
A long standing stream of public relations research has dealt with roles of
public relations and its influence on consumers in terms of its marketing
point of view . Pasadeos et al. (1999) found in a bibliometric study of public
relations scholarship that public relations roles research was the “largest
category of most cited works” (Pasadeos et al : 1999).
Individual and collective power sources (or influence resources) in
organizations have been categorized for decades. French and Raven (1960)
laid a foundation for thinking about power in organizations. They identified
five power sources – authoritative or legitimate power, coercive power,
reward power, expert power, and referent power. Authoritative or legitimate
power comes from reporting position in the organizational hierarchy.
Coercive power is based on ability to mete out punishments.
Reward power is based on the authority to distribute organizational rewards
and resources. Expert power is based on specialized knowledge or aptitude.
Referent power has its basis in personal charisma or attractiveness.
Bachrach and Lawler (1980) added a sixth base of power to this typology,
information power, which is based on access to important information, or
controls over important information.
Kanter (1977) included being visible and taking risks as power resources.
She also noted that relational resources are key to wielding influence.
Relational resources include mentors, sponsors, networks, coalitions, and
relationships with, or access to, those in power. Public relations researchers
also have underscored the importance of relational resources to
practitioners, particularly when they possess limited formal or authoritative
power (Grunig, 1992; Hatch, 1997; Holtzhausen and Voto ; 2002).
Power and influence are closely related terms. Power is often described as a
capacity, or something possessed, that allows one to get things done or get
others to do what you want them to do ( Hay and Hartel et.al : 2000).
In an essay on power and resistance, Barbalet expressed this broad
conception of social power:
Ordinarily . . . “power” is understood as the expression of capacity to
initiate . . . . In the
broadest terms power has to do with getting things done, or getting others to
do them. If it
means anything, social power is the generative force through which social
relations and
institutions are directed (Barbalet : 1985).
If power is the capacity or potential to get things done, then influence is the
use, expression, or realization of power (Hinkin and Schriesheim, 1990;
Mintzberg, 1983; Salancik and Pfeffer :1977). Influence is the process
through which power is actually used or realized (Pfeffer, 1992). Influence is
the use of power to get things done, or to accomplish something, for some
purpose in organizations (Kanter :1977& Mintzberg: 1983).
For the purpose of this exploration, we define influence as the ability to get
things done by affecting the perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, opinions,
decisions, statements, and behaviors of others.
Kipnis et al.(2006) identified specific influence tactics in a survey of 165 part-
time graduate business students. They found that the most common
influence tactic was explaining the rationale for the request (17 percent of
respondents), followed by a direct request (10 percent), or an exchange such
as a compromise or calling in favors (8 percent). Less forthright and positive
tactics also were relatively common.
Clandestine tactics such as manipulating information or cajoling the
influence target accounted for 8 percent of responses. Personal negative
actions such as slowing the job, expressing anger, or threatening accounted
for 8 percent of responses (Kipnis et al : 1980).
A factor analysis of the 58 items by Kipnis et al. yielded eight influence
dimensions. Those dimensions are ingratiation, rationality, assertiveness,
sanctions, exchange, upward appeal, blocking, and coalitions. Kipnis et al.
found rationality tactics most prevalent when attempting to influence
superiors.
Thus this study was embarked upon based on the assumption that public
relations has a significant influence on consumers preference for noodles in
terms of its patronage by consumers of noodles in Lagos.
1.6 Significance Of The Study
Talking a gross observatory analysis of the noodles industry, the Global
Instant Noodles Market is expected to reach 139.2 Billion Packs by 2015,
According to a News Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.(Retrieved :
http://www.StrategyR.com/Instant Noodles: A Global Strategic Business
Report Quote. The global market for Instant Noodles is forecast to reach
139.2 billion packs by the year 2015. Key factors driving market growth
include low cost, wide variety of taste and flavor profiles, and minimal
cooking time. Further, changing lifestyles and buying behavior of consumers,
increased working time, growing number of women working, and consumers
having less time to cook meals at home are other factors propelling market
growth.
With the overwhelming pace of modern man’s busy lifestyles, set by
increased working time, heavier traffic, growing importance given to
workouts and healthy existence, people have an ever dwindling free time at
their disposal and thereby demand more convenience foods and ready
meals. Against this backdrop of an era characterized by the growing desire
for minimal cooking efforts, reduced labor time and liberation from extensive
time consuming cooking, the future for instant noodles stands palpably clear.
Harried lifestyles brought upon by the growing number of women working,
has triggered a shift in cooking habits away from conventional time
consuming preparation of fresh foods to easy precooked, easy to prepare
meals. With consumers having less time to cook meals at home and with the
contemporary mom no longer cooking, the task of preparing foods is
transferred to the food processor.
Increasing number of nuclear families, rise in disposable incomes, young
singles with little or no cooking skills, enhanced awareness of healthful diets
and increased interest in ethnic and international foods, represent additional
factors that are expected to have a bearing on eating and food preparation
habits. As the next generation of convenient ready and easy to prepare
foods hit the market, instant noodles, as a product category, banking on its
strength of convenience are poised to encounter days of plenty in the
upcoming years. Instant noodles are finely tuned to fit into the consumers’
ever-dwindling cooking time schedules. The trend of cooking meals in just a
few minutes is gaining momentum not only among individual consumers but
also among institutions and public food outlets. Even restaurants and fast
food joints are turning to convenience food to meet the ever-busy consumers
demand for quick service and quality food.
Global recession had a major impact on virtually all industries, but some
segments fared better than others. Decline in sales of fast food products was
relatively less when compared to durables during the years 2008 and 2009.
Instant noodles market across the globe was minimally affected by the
recent slump in macro economy. Demand for noodles stood positive across
several geographies including the matured as well as developing nations.
Recession has in fact proved to be a boon in certain regional markets, as
instant noodles are considered cost-effective alternative for cutting down the
cost of living during tiring times. Today, instant noodles have become an
integral part of the individuals’ diet plan.
Disposable income and purchasing power parity of consumers in various
regions across the globe represent major economic factors that influence the
demand for and consumption of instant noodles. Typically, consumers with
higher disposable income consume higher amounts of instant noodles.
Demand in the future will stem from countries presently not ranked among
the top consuming countries worldwide. Driving forces will include product
characteristics such as lesser cooking time, anytime-anywhere consumption,
affordability, hygiene, safety and nutrition. Innovation in flavors will however
represent a key factor, kindling consumer interest. Given the unimaginable
variety in satisfying flavors, instant noodles add a new dimension to
traditional meals all over the world.
Although widely consumed, instant noodles, as a product category, have
been forced to confront health issues just like any other packaged food
product. Few of the controversial health issues pertaining to instant noodles
include among others its high fat content. Moreover use of partially
hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVO), which are rich in trans-fatty acids
present potent health issues related to obesity. The use of Monosodium
Glutamate (MSG), an artificial additive, has also been a controversial issue.
The excessive use of this synthetic additive according to research studies
poses potential health hazards, and hence brings instant noodles directly
under the microscope.
However the crux of this study is to find out how the influence of public
relations on consumers d has improved their services, competition and even
patronage on advertisers in terms of doing business as an outdoor agency.
Thus based on the above postulations as asserted above it is in the opinion
of the researcher that the , the findings and the recommendations at the end
of this study will be of immense benefit to public relations practitioners in
Nigeria in order to gauge how public relations in an evaluative and feedback
strategy has made an impact its services in terms of competition, patronage
and services to its targets and advertisers and client( or in the case of In-
House Public Relations to access management input of resource for brand
growth )also to know the extent of influence public relations Marketing has
on the practice.
Also the research study in terms of its findings will also be beneficial to the
Manufacturers in the noodles sector most especially Dufill industries makers
of Indomie instant noodles and a host of its competitors to know and
understand the marketing value/influence of public relations as a concept for
creating mutual understanding and a marketing/brand beneficial effect on
making targets become brand loyalist, understanding them in a better
perspective to mirror the image of the brand to its targets and cost efficiency
to company objectives and goals in terms of productivity ,brand growth and
brand loyalty .
In a general the study will be beneficial in a scholarly perspective to
students in the field of public relations to adding value and intellectual-
impetus on the concept of the influence of public relations for creating
brand preference for noodles product, thus bringing into limelight a whole
new idea in public relations influence to students/scholars of of public
relations as a means of marketing noodles products in Lagos and Nigeria as
a noodles market.
Theoretically this study as asserted by its theoretical basis in its theories
utilized the: the informational theory otherwise know as the Shanon &
Weaver Mathematical model of Communication which in its core
assumptions asserts that According to Shannon and Weaver, information is
defined as “a measure of one’s freedom of choice when one selects a
message”. In information theory, information and uncertainty are closely
related. Information refers to the degree of uncertainty present in a
situation. The larger the uncertainty removed by a message, the stronger the
correlation between the input and output of a communication channel, the
more detailed particular instructions are the more information is transmitted.
Uncertainty also relates to the concept of predictability. When something is
completely predictable, it is completely certain. Therefore, it contains very
little, if any, information. A related term, entropy, is also important in
information theory. Entropy refers to the degree of randomness, lack of
organization, or disorder in a situation. Information theory measures the
quantities of all kinds of information in terms of bits (binary digit).
Redundancy is another concept which has emerged from the information
theory to communication. Redundancy is the opposite of information.
Something that is redundant adds little, if any, information to a message.
Redundancy is important because it helps combat noise in a communicating
system (e.g. in repeating the message). Noise is any factor in the process
that works against the predictability of the outcome of the communication
process. Information theory has contributed to the clarification of certain
concepts such as noise, redundancy and entropy. These concepts are
inherently part of the communication process which public relations as part
of its activities communicates to its target publics to bridge the
communication gap between its targets and its publics so also streamlining it
in a mutually beneficial effect to the organization and its publics. So also the
theory of planned behavior/Reasoned action will also be harnessed which in
its core assumptions it asserts that Theory of Reasoned Action suggests that
a person's behavior is determined by his/her intention to perform the
behavior and that this intention is, in turn, a function of his/her attitude
toward the behavior and his/her subjective norm. By reason of this assertions
it therefore proffers that the impact of public relations activities on
consumers of noodles product can go along way in creating an influence on
the behavior of consumers in terms of creating an intention to buy through
its activities, Conclusively theoretically the social cognitive theory will be
harnessed which however asserts and explains how people acquire and
maintain certain behavioral patterns, while also providing the basis for
intervention strategies (Bandura, 1997). Evaluating behavioral change
depends on the factors environment, people and behavior. This in a nutshell
goes to explain the influence public relations has on consumers preference
for noodles brand.
1.7 Deliminitation of study
This study covers few agencies in Lagos only of which selected agencies of
these agencies were selected on the basis of their level of digital technology
usage in their outdoor practice’s as to ascertain the influence digital
technology has on their practice .Furthermore the is also concerned only on
the outdoor practice in Lagos and will be limiting itself on this area alone .So
also the study does not cover other aspects of outdoor like it business
activities, production and placement in terms of media placement with also
consumer perception rather it focuses on its influence on agency practice.
1.5 Definition Of Terms
Public relations: this is a means of communication utilized by organization to
create mutual understanding between its organization and its publics in
terms of its activities.
Indomie Noodles; is an instant noodle brand in the Nigerian market, and is
eaten by adding its seasoning into it to get the eventual Indomie instant
noodle