CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

WHY WOULD A MARKETER CONSIDER SAYING

NEGATIVE THINGS ABOUT HIS OR HER PRODUCT?

WHEN IS THIS STRATEGY FEASIBLE? ILLUSTRATE YOUR

ANSWER WITH ATLEAST TWO DETAILED EXAMPLES.

Lecturer: Mr. Richard Small

PREPARED BY:

Arittra Basu

MBA Term 2-mba0710

Student ID: 28001348

Word Count: 5510

SUMMARY:1

The entire assignment of the consumer behavior is based upon one key issue, the use of negative

statements by the marketers in their advertising campaign. Moreover, it has been analyzed in the

whole report that why do the marketers do it and what are the major objectives of using it.

Whether it is feasible by companies to use it in their campaign or not? Primarily, an insight has

been given about advertising and its use by marketers in reaching the consumers and how

advertising nurtures the appetite of buying behavior of the consumers with the help of academic

theories like Negative WOM, psychology behind using the negative statements and its impact on

the consumers in general and human nature. Additionally, to support the report advertising

theories like AIDA model, use of ambiguous statements etc. have been analyzed to evaluate the

use of negative statements and critically access the rational objective of implementing these in

practical scenario. To illustrate the use of negative statements by marketers examples have been

taken from Nestle Yorkie case study and Kodak ESP printer TV add, both of which are real life

demonstration of how companies use negative marketing and its impact on the consumption and

image of the brand. Finally, a suggestive conclusion been given in support of the use of negative

statements by the marketers, keeping the rational judgment as a constant which in any

circumstances should not hamper the iconic figure of the company and brand.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Page Numbers

1.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………4-6

2.0 Psychological perspective of negative marketing……………………………………6-9

3.0 The perspective behind using negative statement in advertising…………………...9-11

4.0 The AIDA model and its use in advertising…………………………………………11-12

5.0 Case study of Nestle Yorkie and its association with negative marketing………...12

5.1 Objective………………………………………………………………………………13

5.2 Strategy design by nestle based on market research……………………………….13-14

5.3 Impact of campaign…………………………………………………………………..15

6.0 Case study of the Kodak advert……………………………………………………...15

6.1 The advert statement……………………………………………………………….....17

6.2 Objective…………………………………………………………………………….....17

6.3 The two fold impact of advertising…………………………………………………..17-18

7.0 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………......18

8.0 References………………………………………………………………………….......19-21

Appendix:

Adverts of Virgin Atlantic and Ford ……………………………………………………..22

Adverts of Yorkie chocolate bar ………………………………………………………….23

Advert of Kodak from different generation……………………………………………...24

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1.0 INTRODUCTION:

Consumers are defined as the normal people who are involved into the purchasing of products

based on the need and requirement of the individuals to satisfy certain desires and disposing off

the products or continuation with the product based on the inert self interest of the individuals.

However, Solomon (2007: 8) classifies the consumers into different segments as various people

are involved in the purchasing of a product. In many instances, it is not the actual user who is

purchasing the product from the buyer. Examples would be taken from the typical phenomenon

of parents buying cloths for their teenager son / daughter which turns out to be a ‘fashion

suicide’ from the viewpoint of the teenager as the selection procedure did not influenced the

fashion palate of the teenager. Therefore, it is not the purchaser who is the actual user of the

product and thereby consumers of the products and buyer are coming from totally different

perspectives with different set of perception towards consumption. On the other hand side there

is a role of ‘influencers’ in the buying process of the consumers which provoke the stimuli

generation within the consumers to make a purchase of a product. Often, consumers take the

assumption of appreciation or recommendation in the buying process which influences the

purchasing behaviour. It is somehow related to the group behavioural aspect of psychology

where people tend to do things which groups are doing in a cumulative fashion without

intellectual evaluation. Consequently, consumers might come from a variety of groups where the

purchase behaviour is done through consensus. This phenomenon is particularly evident in the

purchasing behaviour of organizations where all the administrative and operational departments

are having their voice in the consumption processes of the products. Another, facet of the

consumers is the families where the need and requirement are based on the members of the

family and the buying behaviours are influenced by the crucial roles played by the members of

the family rather than an individual purchase opinion. Hence, consumers are determined as

different actors or players in the purchasing phenomenon.

Moreover, in the early days the interaction between the consumers and the producers in the

buying process was known as the buying behaviour, but along with time marketers tend to get

the idea that is not only the buying process which is based on the purchasing aspect, in fact a

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constant continuation of the relationship between the consumers and the producers building an

exchange programme which is termed to be as ‘consumer behaviour’. [Solomon (2007: 8)]

Subsequently, there is a variety of debate on the perspective of linking consumer behaviour

along with the marketing strategy design of an organization. Basically, consumers are having

specific needs depending on the time dimension and along with time these requirements can

change radically. It is to say that what is the present requirement or demand in the eye of the

consumers might not be the same tomorrow and therefore marketers should monitor the

changing attitude of the consumers in order to place their product in the right time getting the

competitive advantage in the market. In terms of the evaluation of the marketing strategy of an

organization consumer perception or response are vital. Consumer’s data help the organization to

frame up the scenario in the present market identifying the threats and opportunities that their

brand might suffer as in this continually changing world nothing lasts forever. Thus, constant

evaluation of the merits and demerits of the products are necessary to be judged from the point of

view of the consumers. Classic example would be taken from the use of portable cassette players

or Walkman as named by the inventor: Sony Corporation. In the late 90’s these portable cassette

players were the most technologically equipped devices used by the teenagers as a mode of

chilling out with music. But, at present they are referred to the Jurassic age, due to the influence

of data storage devices (USB) and organizations has to developed similar configured products

satisfying the taste of the modern kids. Thus, once Walkman producers are now producing a

different version of Walkman in the form of data storage devices either within mobile phones or

as a single unit. [Doole and Lowe (2007:434)]

Additionally, there are numerous types of consumers present in the world who are similar to each

other in one or many ways. But it is the concern of the marketers to identify the specific segment

of the consumers they are trying to serve. As our society is derived from the collection of many

different cultures and represents a homogenous group, where consumers share the same

preference to others by and large than a diverse preference factor. It is very important for

marketers to identify particular consumer segment in order to communicate with them using the

proper channel having specific messages for the identified segment. [Keegan and Schlegelmilch

(2001: 219)]

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Moreover, the job of the marketers is not only restricted to segment consumers but to pursue the

consumers for developing a continuous purchasing phenomenon with repeat buying. In contrast,

the modern day consumers are much more intelligent than their previous counterparts and

intelligently evaluate every aspect of the product even before buying a small necessity demand.

As the phenomenon of marketing products is a conventional pathway followed by organizations

from decades consumers are relatively conditioned to respond to the marketing tactics deployed

in the form of advertising which are fairly straightforward explaining the benefits and functional

aspects of the products in relation to the customer segment. In some cases consumers are rather

found not to respond to such mode of communication as they are too much established to evoke

the procurement demon within them. Here, comes the exclusivity of using negative marketing

tactics to initiate the purchasing behaviour among the consumers. As, it is obvious that

consumers are human beings so are intelligent animals and as Pavlov showed us that animals can

be conditioned to respond to certain behavioural attributes, similarly consumers are also

conditioned by the marketers to respond in a particular fashion. Sometimes, these conditioned

consumers are rather too cynical to respond to the marketer’s signals or communiqué and to

break this phenomenon negative marketing strategy is used by the marketers to promote their

product.

2.0 PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF NEGATIVE MARKETING:

Moreover, if we study the consumer psychology we will find that consumers are very much

conditioned in a particular fashion by the marketers to respond to the communication mode

applied to them. In some way it can be related to the theory of operant conditioning also known

as instrumental conditioning laid out by psychologist B.F. Skinner where he demonstrated the

effects of operant conditioning by teaching pigeons and other animals to perform the activities

based on what he wanted them to do with a systematic reward pattern for the desired outcomes.

[Weiner et. al., (2003: 379)]

However, there is another active role of consumer perception in the marketing field where the

marketers use the perceptive model to create discrimination by informing the consumers about

the differences between their brands and competitors’ brands. On the other hand, the perception

theory suggests that marketing stimuli should attract consumers’ attention otherwise it is difficult

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to achieve the marketers’ motive to penetrate the consumers mind with their offerings. Howard

and Sheth (1969) in Guido (2001) suggests that consumers tend to purchase products from their

awareness set which comprises of brands/ products that are related with the positive association

of consumers and breaking that set is very difficult for marketers. While linking this aspect with

negative marketing it could be assumed that marketers deliberately make the notion of negative

association which will create an automatic attention into the consumers mind about the product

and initiate a phenomenon of inquisitiveness to know more about the product/brand raising the

question why negative? These marketing stimulus generations is different from that of the other

stimulus generation process which are more positive in relation with the product attributes but

something negative always acts as a sensational news for the consumers and an immediate tactic

to generate attention. [Guido (2001)]

Moreover, salience has a power of attracting consumers’ attention, therefore while considering

consumers perception salient stimuli will have important consequence on the outcome of

consumers information processing. Therefore, if the salient feature of the marketing points out

the negative aspect of product association in advertising then that becomes the focus of impulse

for the consumers and they get more involved in the information processing aspect of the advert.

Interestingly, information processing activities are internal to the consumers and are unobserved

by the marketers. Consumers can be seen as passive recipients of marketing stimuli but they are

active processors and organizers of the received information. Information processing of negative

statements or product association is rather faster than that of positive associated adverts as

consumers are intelligent processors and something which is quite obvious seems to get

underestimated by natural consumers. What kind of perception the consumers are developing

through a negative advert, tend to follow a learning phase as consumers will indulge them into

the product to know the negative aspect. [Guido (2001)]

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If we see a simple model of consumer’s information processing then negative impact would be

illustrated specifically through the stages.

A Model of Consumer Information Processing and Negative Marketing [Adopted from

MacInnis and Jaworski (1989) in Guido (2001)]

Sensation occurs when consumers are exposed to the negative marketing stimuli, and this is

detected by consumers’ senses, followed by attention when the negative information is getting

processed from the received stimuli, interpretation occurs when consumers give meaning to the

negative association and become inquisitive to know more about the product. Why negative?

Followed by memory where the meaning for being negative of the product / brand is stored for

immediate action evolving a purchase decision or long term retention of the product.[Guido

(2001)]

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Sensation

Attention Perception area

Interpretation

Memory

Sensation

Negative Advert

Attention

Advert saying negative about the product / brand. Why so?

Interpretation

Information processing where consumers analyse whether it is actually negative or something different (learning process)

Memory

Meanings are perceived by the consumers and are stored in the mind for immediate action or long term, later having a purchase of the product.

Examples could be taken from the advertisements of Listerine where the person sees the germs

coming out after the wash, and the feel fresh factor with the use. But the advert tends to divert

the consumers to look at the ill effects of not using it by showing the negative bits which

generates the tendency of the consumers to use it. On the other hand advert of Obsession

perfume shows that a lady gets appreciation after using it, which reinforces the learning of using

the product next time again in order to achieve the desired effect by increasing the purchase of

the product. [www.youtube.com]

Moreover, enforcing negative factor into the consumers mind creates a sense of fear for the

adverse effects which creates awareness and concern leading to educating the consumers. Nelson

Dulio and Medvic (2002: 83) suggests that researchers in the field of advertising finds some

evidence of the use of ‘negative’ connotations in the television ads of modern age which are not

necessarily negative in contrast with the conventional ‘positive ads’ as they are categorized into

advertising with the implementation of useful policy information rather than preaching the

observable fact.

3.0 THE PERSPECTIVE BEHIND USING NEGATIVE STATEMENTS IN

ADVERTISING:

In the context of advertising it has been observed that marketers now a day enforce a lot of

negative statement about themselves in their advertising. Well precisely, it is to say that

spreading negative things about themselves is putting a question mark towards them, why do

they do it? Another dimension of the evaluation of the fact relates towards the positive

implementation of the product in the mind of the consumers. Moreover, a question might

concern us that with the negative impact of the advertising are the organizations or companies

not damaging the image of them. However, we might relate it to the human behavioural nature

where the normal habit of the people are not to rely on individuals spreading negative things

about themselves but relying on the evidence and supporting judgement provided by other

audience who has experienced the negative aspect of the person. Therefore, we assume that

consumers are really intrinsic towards their response to negative advertising and tend not to

believe in marketers saying rather they rely more on the negative experience, which initiates a

buying behaviour.

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In another words it could be argued that negative WOM influences the consumer and makes

them inquisitive about the product. Solomon (2003: 209) asserts that consumers give more

potential to the negative word of mouth of a specific product rather than the positive feedback

about the product. It has been demonstrated by the White House Office of Consumer Affairs that

90% of the happy customers are not willing to trade back with the company if the product or

services are affirmative. Stafford (1996) in Kahle and Kim (2006: 92) describes that

interpersonal communication has significantly influenced the purchasing behaviour of the

consumers because of its relation with normative social influence. Face-to-face personal

communication is considered to be more intense in influencing consumers due to its less

involvement with commercial motive and low/no vested interest in the persuasion process.

However, WOM leads to two major directions: one in which negative WOM leads to

dissatisfaction of the customers and initiates repeat purchase and in another it involves the

customers to think and enrich their knowledge about the product with a question of critical

reasoning, why negative about the product ?

Additionally, the implications of negative statement provoke a phenomenon of stimulus

generation within the consumers. Often these are the deliberate strategies applied by the

organizations in order to create a scenario where negative associations relate to the involvement

of the consumers and these negative statements are unexpected for the consumers to believe.

They tend to associate them along with the product supporting their stimulus generation.

Negative statements are considered to be ambiguous statements which are very confusing mode

of communication and the message codes are hard to understand and process. Often consumers

struggle to pertain the real meaning from ambiguous statements but are very useful from

marketer’s point of view. Take the example of the Kellogg’s Crunchy Nuts statement which

states “Trouble is that they taste too good” [advertisingarchives.co.uk] or statements like “We

are not going to give you a good deal, but a great deal”. Generally, these statements are

having fragmentation, the former with negative connotations and the later with positive one.

Aronson and Linder (1965) in Biocca (1991: 251) suggest that the assimilation contrast theory

demonstrates the fact that the content of the messages influences the perceptions of consumers. It

describes that a prior negative comment in a statement increases the positive affect of the

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statement, because of the intelligence and humour applied into the framing of the statement

which causes the sense of liking than two positive comments consecutively used in a statement.

This particular technique is applied by many organizations and the notable ones are the airline

giant: Virgin Atlantic and Car manufacturer: Ford (see appendix 1)

4.0 THE AIDA MODEL AND ITS USE IN ADVERTISING:

Grover and Vriens (2006: 489) relate the phenomenon of using negative statements by

advertisers and companies to the AIDA model which is part of the hierarchy of effects theory.

AIDA model was originally demonstrated by St. Elmo Lewis in 1898, to explain how personal

selling affects the consumers in their buying behaviour. The AIDA model stands for:

A= Attention

I= Interest

D= Desire

A= Action

AIDA model is a type of linear theory which emphasizes the fact that consumers must go

through a systematic and rational process understanding the real meaning of the communication

being conveyed to them in the form of advertising. Moreover, each step in the model strengthens

specific meaning to the consumers. ‘Attention’ is about creating awareness about the brand and

product in the mind of the consumers whereas using proper sales message in the communication

process initiates ‘interest’ followed by creating ‘desire’ among the consumers which provokes

the tendency of buying the product and the 4th stage refers to the actual buying of the product i.e.

‘action’.[Grover and Vriens (2006: 489)] In relation with the use of negative statements it can

be observed that all the steps in the AIDA model are followed and carry particular meaning to

the consumers. What is negative always initiate attention and interest in the mind of the

consumers to know why it is negative and the desire to explore the negative aspect of the

product, putting the entire phenomenon into the action state where consumers actually buy the

product? On the other hand use of negative statements with a connection of humour in the

scenario always excites consumers and creates the desire to pursue the product. After all

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advertising is all about creating ‘desire’ which the important phenomenon in the ‘pre-purchase

dissonance’ area.

Moreover, Zaltman (2003: 459) suggests that managers in an organization should actually grasp

the idea of what consumers think of them as a brand. The main problem arise due to the existing

paradigm of the artificial connection of mind, body, brain and society and these are the essential

elements to be considered as they highly influence a consumer towards a brand. Considering and

understanding these elements would help companies to maintain a healthy relationship with their

consumers attaining them to sustain a perfect position in the competitive market. Therefore, it

can be assumed that no matter how clever the advertising campaign is designed with the help of

fragmented statements using negative sense and humour, if the perception building task of the

brand is not effective consumers are not going to provoke the desirable tendency to buy the

product. Hence, uses of negative statements in advertising by marketers are described as clever

and more rationalistic approach to initiate the stimulus generation portraying the real scenario

rather than the obvious positive aspect of the brand and product.

5.0 CASE STUDY OF NESTLE YORKIE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH

NEGATIVE MARKETING: [Smith and Taylor (2004: 331-337)]

In order to associate the impact of negative statements or negative advertising it is highly

recognized to illustrate the evidence of using it my marketers in the add campaign. Many

companies have used this formula to win the market and establish the brand among the

consumers. One of the major examples would be drawn from the negative campaign about

‘Nestle Yorkie’ which was launched as a masculine specific chocolate bar in competition with

the female dominated chocolate market by brands like Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Flake and different

flavours by Cadbury. As per the history of this brand, it was launched by ‘Rowntree’ in the year

1976 which was later acquired by Nestle.

In spite the fact that ‘Yorkie’ was launched in the market with a high masculine targeted

positioning but along with time the consumers perception about the brand was faded and was not

really recognized as a male specific chocolate bar, but counted as another companion in the

chocolate bar industry like Mars, Dairy Milk, Snickers etc. In order to retain the strategic

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sustainability of the brand ‘Nestle’ repositioned it in the market with the same sensation,

associating it with males more deliberately and spontaneously with the objective of reaching the

consumers with a rational aspect.

5.1 Objective: To retrieve ‘YORKIE’ as a chocolate for men only.

5.2 Strategy design by Nestle based on market research:

Moreover, in order to re-establish ‘Yorkie’ in the market Nestle had conducted a research on

men about the perception of gender identity. It has been found from the research that since 25

years after the launch of ‘Yorkie’ there has been some drastic changes in our society and the

main argument lies within the formation of power distance between men and women. From the

research outcomes the major consumer insights which were drawn are:

a) Re-genderization

b) Rise of feminism

Based on the consumer insights if we analyse the societal impact on the power distance between

men and women then it would be perceived that the modern society is moving towards a

phenomenon of defining human identity not only based upon gender. The modern society is

looking at the benefits of what a men and a women can contribute to a society and well being of

an economy. Thus, ostensibly contemporary thought about feminism and masculinity is getting

abolished. People and society are treating both genders on a performance measurement scale

rather than gender and power influence. The way of evaluating society by men with the phrase

‘men love being men’ is no more pertinent but rather amused in certain occasions by the upfront

women contenders? However, if we see the other side of the change; it could be argued that due

to the rise in feminism in the recent years men have lost their power in ruling the society.

Whether is it the improvements in the primary school for girl’s education or rise of female

graduates obtaining better degrees the rise of women in all aspects seems to flatten the masculine

power of men? Moreover, media is also boosting this change phenomenon with its high reach

communiqué. Today’s men doesn’t necessarily feel proud saying certain things with the

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dominancy of “that’s for me” as women have challenged men in many occasions and proved

them being a strong contender in the competition.

Now, going back to the Yorkie as a men’s chocolate Nestle found it hard to reposition the brand

in the current situation. It would be relatively easy for the marketing department of nestle to

launch a modern version of ‘the trucker’ in the Yorkie add, but the question is that whether it

would be capable enough to battle with the existing power distance in the society. Probably not

as many brands especially in the alcohol market where the target audience is basically male are

struggling with the invasion of female tide. Campaigns like ‘Cheeky Chappie’ of Smirnoff Ice or

‘Prankster’ of WKD identified the observable fact that Yorkie cannot redefine them in the

market with a ‘Yorkie sponsored vision of masculinity’.

Therefore, the strategy applied by the marketing and creative experts of the organization was to

communicate the image of ‘Yorkie’ to the audience penetrating the smouldering issue of gender

difference. In developing the logo ‘Yorkie’ experts tried to manifest the single ideology of using

a statement which would be able to convey the message to the entire audience specifically.

Hence, came the creative solution: ‘Yorkie. It’s Not for Girls’ (see appendix 2 for posters)

Subsequently, the use of strong negative statement in the advertising campaign by Nestle to

promote the brand enhanced significant advantage in the media. The campaign ‘Not for Girls’

was launched concurrently in the TV, press, posters, online sponsorship indents and with a

aggressive PR push in all media channels. The advertisement campaign grabbed the attention of

the media massively and as an adverse effect, the brand was barred from promoting in the

Liverpool street station as the campaigners refused to give samples to passing by women and

girls. Particular negative meanings were conveyed through statements like ‘DO NOT FEED

THE BIRDS’ and ‘KINGSIZE’ (Not Queen-size) which emphasized more on the women

pointing out certain characteristics and expressions which were seen offensive. As words like

‘Birds’ and ‘King-size not queen-size’ were used generally to undermine females by the male

counterparts and these words were having a sleazy impact on their use based on certain

circumstances were taken as disgraceful by the feminist forum.

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5.3 Impact of Campaign:

However, with the growing dispute about the negative add campaign of Yorkie, there aroused a

cold war situation among men and women in the society. As an affect of this phenomenon th

Yorkie chocolate was consumed more by the women rather than men, for whom it was meant to

be targeted. The agenda behind the consumption of the chocolate by the women more than men

was showing the power what women were having in the modern era and their superiority than

men in all aspects of life, be it in home or in work. On the other hand side if the sales figure were

evaluated then it can been seen that with the impact of the advertising campaign Yorkie’s eat

now market share increased by 40% throughout the launch of the advertisement, whereas the

base sales increased by an average of 20% which demonstrated the long term sustainability of

the brand putting the re-positing agenda in a measure of success.

[Adopted from the Case Study 11.2: Repositioning of the Yorkie Bar] by Smith and Taylor

(2004: 331-337)

6.0 CASE STUDY OF THE KODAK ADVERT:

As a history of tradition, the whole world considers Kodak to be one of the primitive inventors of

cameras and worlds most pre-eminent manufacturer of photographic imaging materials.

According to the 1995 data collected from the company insight it illustrates that it is one of the

notable companies which ranks 247th largest companies in the world with sales exceeding an

amount of $14.9 n billion with am employee profile of 96,600 on a worldwide basis. Its net

earnings were about $1.25 billion and it occupies about 70% of the market share in colour film

industry in U.S. and 36% in a global market. However, the above mentioned fact demonstrates

the viability of the company as a massive organization which was emerged in 1878 along with

the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of George Eastman, later known as Eastman Kodak

Company. Along with time Kodak has invested million of dollars behind their advertising

campaign to portray the very special “Kodak Moment” with its warm and fuzzy adverts.

[Devereaux, Lawrence, Watkins (2006: 145)]

However, in the recent years along with the invention of new digital cameras and other

technological improvements in the field of photogenic imaging, images are now captured into

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data storage device known Memory Stick, SD cards, Micro SD cards, USB storage devices etc.

The art of capturing moments and later printing it to catch the moments seems to be obnoxious

for 21st century technological puppets. In the mean time the company approaches towards its

branding as a patent provider to photographic and printing materials have changes

fundamentally. In early days where people use to print pictures by developing their camera’s

films in a studio, now they can easily do it in their own house with the use of technologically

advance printers like laser inkjets and Epsom. Therefore, the marketing campaign for the product

has changed radically along with time and invention. As criticized by Lippert, a columnist in

Adweek (April 6, 2009) that the new television advert of Kodak printing gadget is putting a

strong negative connotations in respect to its happy and prosperous image build through decades.

As per the advert it echoes a voice of a politically driven attack style with a tone of utter

graveness stating “The world's most expensive liquid isn't found in the Middle East, It's

found in your printer.” Well it is quite prominent that Kodak tries to engage the American

people with the agenda that in spite of the Iraque war, done deliberately in order to take control

of the oil fields and show the world the superiority of U.S. being the world super power, the most

usable product of the daily household life style of an American is still produced back in U.S.

However, if we analyze the most sophisticated graphically designed advert it would really scare

the audience as it depicts the phenomenon of dripping black ink on a white plot like an abstract

painting with a scary voice in background saying “your wallet is being drained” and slowly the

whole map of U.S. is been covered up by the pitch black colour as if the whole US is under the

attack of a biological threat and a genocide is grabbing the Americans burying them alive.

However, the consequence of the advert immediately concerns the audience who are viewing it

and rings a bell about the negative impact which is alarming and very sensitive to human beings,

but the later connotations of the message and graphical display engages the consumers about

their stupendous spending on cheap print cartridges and impulse buying which often comes as a

depiction of value offer from computer manufacturers who sells cartridges free along with

purchase. Thus, the consumers become more intrinsic about the fact that “there is no free

purchase at all” and companies makes money from replacement ink cartridges, which goes back

to old marketing policy of companies engaging consumers into a purposeful buying behavior

turning out to be an absolute ‘rip off’.

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6.1 The Advert Statement:

"Switch to a Kodak ESP all-in-one printer and stop overpaying for ink."

(See appendix 3 for posters)

6.2 Objective: The objective behind the campaign was to make consumers aware of the

unnecessarily spending they are doing on their printers and the problem of overpriced ink which

is engaging the market.

6.3 Two fold impact of the advertising:

Evaluating the impact of the Kodak add on the screen and in print media it has a two fold impact

on the consumers and also on the image of a traditional company. The major implications which

come out as an outcome of the advertisement are:

a) Enrichment of the rational perspective of knowledge building among the consumers and

making them intrinsic about the consumption of overpriced product. Also it shows the

phenomenon that nothing is actually free in the buying world and what they think is a free

buying is rather not free but a policy applied by the companies to restore the consumers for a

long term basis involving them to purchase certain product from time to time.

b) The other aspect of the association of Kodak along with negative image building. Primarily, it

has always associated consumers with the happy aspect of life and family relating ads to the

cognitive dissonance. Additionally, the overpriced mark of the printer in the recent economic

situation makes a concern for the consumers whether they are willing to spend $200 for buying a

printer, rather would consider buying a laser printer. They have created a choice for the

consumers: pay more now or pay later, but good products are always having a price.

Subsequently, the main argument rose by Lippert (April 6, 2009) concerns the destruction of the

image of the company which has been built through ages and associated Americans to grow and

familiarize along with the photographic world. She states that in the recent election in U.S. the

mass has seen a lot of negative adverts and they really don’t need to depict the phenomenon by

17

Kodak saying that “the $5 million stain which is there in the U.S. economy is coming from

your printer”. Why Kodak is trying to destroy their heritage of goodness and unbound vitality.

As West (2000) suggests that Kodak has taught the Americans to capture their moments of

nostalgia in the form of taking snapshots, which carries their lives taking from the pleasant and

painful aspects of their lives. Kodak has also launched some creative and most popular

marketing campaigns like the “Kodak Girl”, the invention of the brownie camera in 1990, the

“Story Campaign” during the World War 1, and the vanity Kodak camera which was facilitated

with a lipstick introduced in 1926. Lippert (April, 6 2009) argues that the Kodak has changed the

cultural landscape of America and educated the people to visualize their past in the form of

capturing moments, which was having a happy and smiley connection with the family lives of

Americans. Now, with the advent of new technologies when the Brownie and Instamatic cameras

are outdated the “Kodak moment” will never erase from the lives of the Americans.

The question is that is it feasible for Kodak to sell all the goodwill and the glorious past of the

company just by selling “ink” in half price with a negative marketing campaign like this? Kodak

should let the wonderful past alive rather than destroying it.

7.0 CONCLUSION:

However, in the whole report about the impact of negative statements used by the marketers it

has been very prominent that negative statements are useful in terms of advertising as it initiates

the consumers to get involved into a more rational behavior of consumption. Moreover, the

theories and psychology behind using negative statements justifies a phenomenon that negative

things always arouse curiosity in the mind of the consumers and this particular aspect is being

used by the companies to promote their brand. Additionally, negative WOM and use of

ambiguous statements having negative and positive connotation along with the use of humor is a

popular method of using negative statements by the brands in their advertising campaign. But on

the other hand side uses of negative statements are harmful for brands as well. Using negative

statements in a very clever and intelligent way is always desirable by the companies and experts

pay a great concern about the use of negative statements by companies that in certain occasions

the use unintentionally harms the public image and brand of the company due to the negative

18

influences emphasized in the adverts. Therefore, it can be concluded that there are both positive

and negative impact of using negative statements by marketers in their advertising and

companies should use this technique keeping the use in modernity.

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8.0 REFERENCES:

1. Biocca, F., (1991), ‘Television and Political Advertising: Psychological Processes’, Edition: illustrated, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London, U.K.,

2. Calvin Klein – Secret Obsession Advert, (2009: You Tube, LLC), updated on: 29/08/08, [online] Accessed from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V756fkVF63A [Accessed on 18/04/09 @ 12:30 pm]

3. Devereaux, C., et. al., (2006), ‘Case Studies in US Trade Negotiation: Revolving Disputes’, Edition: illustrated, Peterson Institute, New York, U.S.A.,

4. Doole, I., and Lowe, R., (2007), ‘International Marketing Strategy: Analysis, Development and Implementation’, Edition: 5th illustrated, Cengage Learning EMEA, London, U.K.,

5. Grover, R., and Vriens, M., (2006), ‘The Handbook of Marketing Research: Uses, Misuses and Future Advances’, Edition: illustrated, SAGE Publication, New York, U.S.A.,

6. Guido, G., (2001), ‘The Salience of Marketing Stimuli: an incongruity- salience hypothesis on consumer awareness’, Edition: illustrated, Kluwer Academic Publishers, London, U.K.,

7. Kahle, L.R., and Kim, C.H.,(2006), ‘Creating Images and the Psychology of Marketing Communication’, Edition : illustrated, Routledge, London, U.K.,

8. Keegan, W.J., and Schelegelmilch, B.B., (2001), ‘Global Marketing Management: A European Perspective’, Edition: illustrated, Pearson Education, London, U.K.,

9. Kellogg’s Adverts (2005), Advertisingarchives.co.uk, U.K., [online] Accessed from: http://www.advertisingarchives.co.uk/imagedetail.php?Image=37518[ Accessed on 15/04/09 @ 11:30 am]

10. Lippert, B., (6th April 2009), ‘Kodak Goes Negative: Do we really want attack ads from one of America's happiest brands?’, www.adweek.com [online] Accessed from: http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/creative/critique/e3i965b4d32129d971fb757d4a71245fcec?pn=2 [ Accessed on 21/04/09 @ 02:40 am]

11. Nelson, C.J., et. al., (2002), ‘Shades of Gray: Perspectives on Campaign Ethics’, Edition: illustrated, Brookings Institution Press, London, U.K.,

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12. Smith, P.R., and Taylor, J., (2004), ‘Marketing Communications: An Integrated Approach’, Edition: 4th illustrated, Kogan Page Publishers, New York, U.S.A.,

13. Solomon, M.R., (2003), ‘Conquering Consumer Space: Marketing Strategies for a Branded World’, Edition: illustrated, AMA COM DIV American Management Association, New York, U.S.A.,

14. Solomon, M.R., (2007), ‘Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being’, Edition: 7th, Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi, India.,

15. Weiner, I.B., et. al., (2003), ‘Hand Book of Psychology: Experimental Psychology’, Edition: illustrated, John Wiley and Sons, London, U.K.,

16. West, N.M., (2000), ‘Kodak and the Lens of Nostalgia’, Edition : illustrated, University of Virginia Press, Virginia, U.S.A.,

17. Zaltman, G.,(2003), ‘How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market’, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, U.S.A.,

21

Advert of Virgin Atlantic and Ford: (appendix number 1)

Image courtesy: [www. advertisingarchives.co.uk]

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Brand: Ford Motors

A 1990’s advert from Ford Escort convertible

version showing the use of negative statements by

pointing the car as mean and roofless to associate

the car along with certain level of consumers who

live their life in a superiority complex.

But on the other hand it shows the appeal which the

car has and its association with sexiness.

Brand: Virgin Atlantic

A 1990’s add from Virgin Atlantic comparing the seats of the airline with that of seat in the dental clinic. It shows the use of humor and negative connotations in the advert to attract the attention of the consumers.

Adverts of the Yorkie Chocolate Bar (appendix number 2)

Brand: Yorkie

Origin: U.K.

Decade: 2000’s

Year: 2002

Image Type: Magazine Advert

Category: Food Sexist

Keywords: Chocolate sweets sexism

Credit: Image Courtesy of the Advertising Archives

Brand: Yorkie

Origin: U.K.

Decade: 2000’s

Year: 2002

Image Type: Magazine Advert

Category: Food Controversial Sexist

Keywords: Chocolate sweets sexism

Credit: Image Courtesy of the Advertising Archives

[Adopted from Advertising Archives online advert dictionary at www.advertisingarchives.co.uk]

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Advert of Kodak from different generation: (appendix number 3)

Brand: Kodak, Origin: USA, Decade: 2009, TV advert

Kodak ESP Printer Advertisement in television showing

the negative aspect of using cheap printers by

dripping the black ink on a white backdrop, and slowly

covering the USA map. (adopted from adweek.com)

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Brand:

Kodak

Origin:

USA

Decade:

1960s

Image type:

Magazine Advert

Category:

Christmas Families Festivals Food Home Photography Sexist

Keywords:

thanksgiving turkey dinners meals cameras family eating sexism discrimination

Credit:

Image courtesy of The Advertising Archives