2.literature review the definition of a spokes-character …special... · illustration, famous...
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2.Literature Review
2.1 Spokes Character
The definition of a spokes-character is vague, there is no a definite explanation
for spokes-characters. But most definitions for spokes-characters are all related to
some common qualities. In Phillips’ (1996) paper, the author collected many
definitions about trade characters, which are non-celebrity spokes characters. It is said
that trade character is a character created in association with a product (Norris1984).
Other definition for trade character is” people, animals, animated characters, objects,
or the like that are used in advertising a brand and that come to be identified with the
brand, in much the same way that a trademark is identified with a brand.” The
Keebler Elves for Keebler cookies and the Pillsbury Doughboy for Pillsbury products
are examples of trade characters, as is Betty Crocker for General Mills. Spokes-
character can be defined as a visual identification or personification of a particular
brand of merchandise or of a particular advertiser. For example, Tony the Tiger is the
trade character of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. According to Dunn and Barban (1986)
trade character is any visual symbol that is associated with a product. Garretson and
Niedrich (2004) think spokes-characters to be non-human characters used to promote
a product or brand.
But using the word trade character may be a little out-dated, because in the early days
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advertising character were registered as trademarks for a brand and/or company. For
many of the more recent characters, which are used for promotional purposes and
never registered as legal trademarks (Phillips, forthcoming), the term "trade character"
seems slightly misleading (Callcott and Lee,1995). In this paper, I will use the term
spokes-character to replace trade character or advertising character and define it as a
fictional character used to promote or represent for brands or products.
Previous research by Callcott and Lee provide a multi-dimensional framework for
spokes character definition along four parameters AMOP (table 1):
(1) physical Appearance of the character
(2) the Medium it appears in
(3) advertising or non-advertising Origin
(4) spokes-character Promotion of the product
2.1.1 Appearance
The appearance of the spokes character can be divided into human or non human
character. Research by Phillips and Gyoerick (1999) shows 45.5% of the
spokes-characters are human; 32.5% are animal; 15.3% are product personification
and 6.7% are mythical characters. While in Taiwan the most used spokes-character is
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animal, then product personification, human and mythical character respectively.
Fictitious Human spokes characters are usually pictured realistically through
illustration, famous characters are Quaker Oats man, Betty Crocker. Illustration
enable these character to be everyone, the appearance can reflect all the traits that the
brand or product wants to present and enhance consumers imagination also remain
untarnished through several generations. In Taiwan, the example can be Formosa
Chang (鬍鬚張).
Non-Human spokes-characters are animals, mythical beings, or product
personifications. Most of the animal spokes characters are anthropomorphized
characters, human have a tendency personify animals as they were also human beings.
The use of animal characters may also because of the symbolic meaning of the
animals, for example in Taiwan people like to use dragon which is represented as the
king in Chinese history to show that they are the king of the industry or the leading
brand. Taiwan Life use Taiwan A-dragon as their spokes-character in their advertising
may also conceive this notion of being a No.1. Macoto Bank baseball team use cobras
as their mascot is because cobras has the spiritual meaning in aboriginal tribes, it
means power and strength which fits the spirit of baseball team.
Mythical spokes-characters hail from a variety of literary and folklore traditions,
and include giants (Green Giant), fairies (Coca-Cola's Sprite), mermaids (Chicken of
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the Sea tuna), kiccoro and morizo (EXPO 2005). The peak of using mythical
spokes-characters is around 1950s’, but the new trend of spokes-character’s
appearance is becoming to product personification.
Product Personification can take the form of the product, itself, or of some
product-relevant concept. It is a common use in food product, for example Mr.
Peanuts and M&M chocolate.
2.1.2 Medium
The second parameter for spokes-character definition relates to the medium
through which these characters are presented to the public. There are four basic media
through which spokes-characters connect with consumers: print, film, radio and
merchandise. Now, internet is a new medium which combine print and film,
spokes-characters can be present in both static or motion ways (Phillips and Lee,
2005). Spokes-characters appearing in print are usually in the form of illustrations
(realistic or caricature), or photographs. Spokes-characters appearing on film may be
brought to life by some form of animation (computer, stop-motion, etc.) Live-action
spokes-characters include humans and animals in costumes or in character (e.g.,
Ronald McDonald ). As for radio, it is not a common medium in Taiwan and in
modern time because television becomes the prevalence medium for advertising.
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Merchandise is an important medium to contact with consumers, which
proliferates through promotional premiums and licensing. Many people are crazy
about these merchandises and collecting them. Merchandise featuring
spokes-characters can help to strengthen consumer awareness of the character, or even
the brand. Spokes-character premiums are perhaps better at promoting brand
awareness than other forms of licensed merchandise since proofs of purchase are
often required in order to obtain them. Recent years in Taiwan, convenience stores
often use this premium strategy to stimuli more consumption and also by giving
spokes-character merchandise to enhance consumer awareness.
2.1.3 Origin
Spokes-Characters can be defined as having an advertising or non-advertising
origin.
Characters with a non-advertising origin can be classified as celebrities like
Snoopy, Garfield the cat. They are not design to promote the product or brand but are
licensed as an endorser who uses self charisma to convince consumer to purchase the
goods. That is they are just functioned as human celebrity.
On the other hand, non-celebrity spokes-characters are those characters with an
advertising origin, which means, they were originally created strictly for advertising
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purposes. This study will focus on non celebrity spokes-character. Exploratory
research indicates that non celebrity spokes-characters may be more effective than
their celebrity counterparts because the identity they provide for a product belongs
only to that product (Callcott and Alvey 1991). The disadvantage of using celebrity
characters is to confuse consumers, over-use celebrity may actually decrease the
power of celebrity effect because consumers are confused by too many brands that the
celebrity present for. The other disadvantage is that because many messages focus
attention on the celebrity rather than on the products, the effect of changing brand
preference is not notable (Ogilvy and Raphaelson,1982). Previous experiment
(LaTour,2004) shows that different brands use the same celebrity spokes character
can mislead consumers of what they really saw on the television. Consumers may
think they’ve seen brand A’s advertising but it is actually brand B’s and enhance the
memory of brand A not brand B. It is important for companies to consider when they
want to use celebrity characters also they may need to consider the character-product
fitness. The non-celebrity characters can become almost "as one" with a product
through repeated exposure over the years, often earning the support and trust of
consumers.
2.1.4 Promotion
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Active promotion of the product involves speaking for the product or
demonstrating the product in some way. Passive promotion of the product is more
symbolic in nature. Phillips and Gyoerick (1999)’s study indicated that a majority
(62.1%) of spokes-characters were passive. companies move spokes-characters back
and forth between active and passive promotion for the products in order not to bore
the consumers, because when the same spokes-character shows too often for a long
time the spokes-characters can get wear out quickly.
2.5 Spokes-Characters in Taiwan
There are more than 200 spokes-characters in Taiwan in a board definition, this study
had select 100 spokes-characters to examine, these spokes-characters speak for
different institutions, some speak for public organization, some speak for private
organizations in different area. 46 out of 100 spokes-characters speak for service
industry, 5 speaks for non-profit organization, the rest 49 spokes-characters speak for
physical products or brand category from food to electronic product。It is found that
food products industry uses spokes-characters intensively, then followed with bank
and insurance industry, entertainment, electronic products. Spokes-characters are
thought to be child-oriented because the animated, cartoon look characters are
appealing to the children, 33 out of 100 spokes-characters represent for product or
service that’s aim at children.
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Table 2-1.
Framework for Spokes-Character Definition
Parameters Description
Appearance Fictitious Human
Actors
Caricatures
Non-Human
Animal
Mythical
Product Personification
Medium Print
Illustration
Photography
Film
Animation
Puppetry
Live-Action
Radio
Personas
Merchandises
Premiums
Character
Licensing
Origin Advertising
Non-celebrity
Non-Advertising
Celebrity
Promotion Active
Speak for product
Demonstrate product
Passive
Symbolic
Source: Callcott and Lee, 1995
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2.2 Purposes of Using Spokes-Character
According to Phillips (1996) there are three ways that spokes-characters are used
to communicate with consumers: by creating product identification, by promoting a
brand personality, and by providing promotional continuity.
2.2.1 Product Identification
spokes-character can create a link between the product, the packaging, and the
advertising in the minds of consumers. It works like a trademark, consumers see the
spokes-character they know that is the product. By appearing on the label spokes
-characters build product identification. Many researches (Mizerski, 1995) indicate
that children identify brands by their cartoon spokes-characters.
2.2.2 Personality
Spokes characters can show their personality to consumers through meaning
appeal and emotion appeal. It can give meaning to the brand by symbolizing its
character, and it can lend emotional appeal to the brand by personifying the product.
Spokes-characters lend the warmth of an actual personality to the product
(Kleppner,1966) and thereby create an emotional tie between the consumer and the
character (Zacher, 1967)
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2.2.3 Promotional Continuity
Spokes-characters can create promotional continuity across advertising
campaigns, across brands in a product line, and over time. Advertising continuity is
occurred when spokes character keep showing on the advertising and representing for
specific brand, it brings product identification. Product line continuity means spokes
characters can provide continuity across brands in a product line. This can result
cumulative publicity and connecting products can help to sell each other (Strasser,
1989). Spokes-characters can also provide continuity over time (Wright, Warner,
andWinter, 1971). This make consumers have deeper impression of the link between
spokes character and the brand.
2.3 Gender and Spokes-Character
Base on the target audiences’ gender, companies may need to use different
spokes-characters to attract consumers’ attention. Phillips and Gyoerick (1999) found
that more realistic animal spokes-characters appear in men’s magazine while
spokes-characters appear in women’s magazines are more personified. The
spokes-characters that are less personified are used as symbols of product attributes
and usually promote for high-involvement products, examples are the RCA dogs and
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Merrill Lynch Bull. Highly personified Spokes-characters are usually used for low-
involvement products in women’s magazines. Spokes-characters ads target toward
different gender presented in different appearance to get better effect. Gender of
Spokes-characters can also be a factor to influence consumers’ attitude toward
advertising effectiveness. Male spokes-characters dominate the ads for a long time,
the percentage of male spokes-characters is 45%, female 27%, and the rest are not
applicable (Phillips and Gyoerick, 1999). In men’s magazines, there is no female
spokes-character advertisement, while in women’s magazines there are about 30% of
the spokes-characters are female. Why there are more male spokes-characters than
female spokes-characters? The answer might lies in the traditional notion that men are
the symbol of authority and since we were still kids we were exposed by the
commercials dominate by male characters and male voices. Male spokes-characters
appear in all kinds of product commercials except cosmetic and household products.
(Courtney &Whipple, 1974; Dominick & Rauch, 1972; Doolittle & Pepper, 1974;
Marecek et al., 1978; O’Donnell & O’Donnell, 1978) Research by Peirce stated that
gender and product type affect the likability of spokes-characters and perceptions of
target audiences. That is male spokes-characters have more effective when used for
male-oriented products. It was hypothesized that when spokes-character is the same
gender as target audience, the advertising effectiveness will be better.
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To make spokes-characters likable, companies design spokes-characters in cute and
neotenous looks which attract female audiences more. It seems nature for female to
like cute things, and Taiwan is deeply influenced by Japan culture and Japan has an
obsession about cute things. Therefore the character design in Taiwan is lean to
Japanese style. As the spokes-characters are designed in cute image, the study
assumes female have more interest on and willing to accept spokes-character than
male do. Also the previous research indicated that boys will not watch cartoon shows
that have girls as lead characters but girls will watch cartoon with male leads. Which
means female have better Torrance for character gender than male do (Thompson and
Zerbinos, 1995).
H1: female consumers have more interest on spokes-characters than male consumers.
H2: female consumers are likely to have positive feeling toward the spokes-character
than male consumers.
2.4 Likable Characters
The reasons why consumers like spokes-characters are because their adorable
look and shape and they are entertaining. Callcott and Phillips (1996) had studied the
factors that make spokes-characters likable. There are four main factors: (a)
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personality, (b) physical characteristics, (c) humor, and (d) consumer experience.
(a) Personality, companies should give spokes-character a distinct and vivid
personality that consistent with the brand. Spokes-characters can show their
personality by the way they talk and what they wear. Spokes-characters are
dressed up in different costume to show their personality, for example Hello Kitty
dress a tennis suit shows that Hello Kitty is a bright and sunny sport girl or when
Hello Kitty dress a scuba diving suit shows that Hello Kitty is an adventuresome
girl. Companies use spokes-character’s personality to show their brand personality.
In a sense, spokes-character’s personality somewhat reflects target audiences’
personality or the personality they like. A strong congruence between the
spokes-character personalities strengthens brand equity (Aaker, 1993; Biel, 1992).
(b) Physical characteristics
Physical characteristic is about the shape, miniature props, and contemporary
appearance of the spokes-character. Overall people like cute characters with
rounded, childlike shape. Cute and little stimulate people’s love of them, which
contributes to positive affection. A contemporary appearance and modern dress
seems to be important aspects of spokes-character’s appearance (Callcott and
Phillips, 1996). The look of the spokes-characters should reflect the era that
consumers live in, out-of-step is not something consumers enjoy to watch. This
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points out the advantage of spokes-characters, they can evolve through time
without limitation, because they are animated made and can change all the time
once consumers feel bored about them.
(c) Humor
Humor plays a large role in spokes-character likability (Callcott and Phillips, 1996).
There are many way can present humor, in commercials advertisers make
characters do something funny, take Energizer Bunny for example people find that
funny when they see the bunny keeps running forward and drumming but falls. In
print advertisement, companies use comic narrative to entertain consumers. 乖乖
prints short comic stories in the back of their products and shows more personality
bringing humor to the consumers.
(d) Consumer experience
There are two experiences, one is cultural experience and the other is character
experience. The cultural experience factors that emerged from the data include
animal symbolism and stereotypes. We know that spokes-characters can be in
animal appearance, the animal chose to be spokes-characters for some reasons such
for cultural meanings or the symbol image they present. The meaning and cultural
experience triggers consumers’ feeling of like or dislike. In eastern cultural, dragon
is the symbol of king or something bring good luck, using dragon as a prototype
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for the spokes-character may increase the likability of consumers. Stereotype about
the ethnic group may also affect spokes-character likability, depending on how a
character is portrayed (Callcott and Phillips, 1996). Aboriginal people make good
liquor drinks is the prevalence notion in people’s mind, so using a aboriginal
people character in liquor drink product can increase the credibility and likability
of the product.
Character experience factors are defined as consumers’ prior knowledge of, and
attitudes toward, spokes-character. Consumers feel comfortable about familiar
spokes-characters when they don’t know from where to choose a product. There is
a important factor makes spokes-character likable, that is nostalgia. Seeing familiar
spokes-character reminds consumers about the experiences about the product, the
brand, and creates a stronger connection between spokes-character and brand.
Four factors above indicate what makes spokes-character likable, the first three
factors, personality, physical characteristic and humor, are related to spokes-character
itself which is the part that companies can control. The last factor-consumer
experience is depends on consumers. This study would like to examine the factors’
influence on spokes-character likability. The study contains two parts, one is on the
consumer side and the other is about the spokes-character. Other scholars (Walker and
Dubitsky,1994) mentioned other factor for liking: specific elements (include
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characters, action, music, storyline and visual element ), like the product/brand,
colorful/lively, cute, humorous, convincing/effective, clever/imaginative,
believable/realistic and appealing. Combining these liking factors, specific elements,
colorful/lively, cute and appealing can be included in physical characteristic;
humorous and clever/imaginative can be included in humor factor; like the
product/brand can be included in consumer experience. There for the study proposes
that:
H3: Distinctive personality is the reason impresses consumer.
H4: Cute is the reason impresses consumer.
H5: Humorous is the reason impresses consumer.
H6: Consumers form positive attitude toward the spokes-characters if the
spokes-characters are believable.
H7: Consumers have more positive attitude toward the spokes-characters if the
spokes-character are convincing
H8: consumers who like the product/brand will have a more positive attitude toward
the spokes-characters
2.5 Liking
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Liking is a global positive response toward object or idea that has underlying
cognitive and affective components (Walker and Dubitsky, 1994). Liking may be a
valid indicator of relative sales performance and attitude toward brands. We can use
“dual mediation” model to explain how liking works, it influences attitude toward the
brand, which in turn, influence brand purchase intention; and it modifies brand
cognitions which also affect brand attitude, which again influence purchase intention.
Several studies (Stapel, 1991; Spaeth, Hess and Tang, 1990) show that there is a
significant relationship between advertising liking and brand liking and advertising
effectiveness. There are two hypotheses to explain how liking contribute to
advertising effectiveness. The first is if the consumers like the advertising, they are
more likely to notice and pay attention-and more likely to assimilate and respond to
the message. The other theory is “affect transfer”, that is if the consumers experience
positive feelings toward the advertising, they will associate those feelings with the
advertised brand. since the spokes-characters are used in advertising, we can assume
that like the advertising means like the spokes-characters. Under this notion, this
study purpose that:
H19: Consumers are more likely to pay attention to the advertising if they like the
spokes-character.
H10: Consumers are more likely to have positive attitude toward the product/brand if
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they like the spokes-character.
2.6 Brand
A brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more
specifically, it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as
a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme that convey the essence of a company,
product or service.
2.6.1 Brand Identity
A brand identity is a brand’s personality, which refers to the set of human
characteristic associated with a brand (Aaker, 1997). Perceptions of brand personality
traits can be formed and influenced by any direct contact that the consumer has with
the brand (Plummer 1985). Marketers view brand personality as a key way to
differentiate a brand in a product category (Halliday 1996), as a central driver of
consumer preference and usage (Biel 1993), and as a common denominator that can
be used to market a brand across cultures (Plummer 1985). To build a strong brand
identity, firms have to be consistent with it. Both the product and the promotion of the
brand have to match the brand identity, so consumers would not be confounded. A
brand might have associations that reflect products attributes personality dimensions,
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organizational associations, symbols and user images. The core identity plays a key
role in providing focus to the brand identity (Aaker, 2000). Firms need to find a strong
core identity in order to attract consumer’s attention. Spokes-characters can be a
physical and visual representation of the brand identity that connect the personal
relationship with consumers.
2.6.2 Brand Image
Brand image is developed form brand identity. It consists three parts: image of
maker (corporate image), image of product and image of user. Brand image is defined
as the associations linked to brands. We can describe the image of a brand as the
cluster of attributions that consumers connect to the brand name (Biel, 1992). A
well-communicated image should help establish a brand’s position, insulate the brand
from competition (Oxenfeldt and Swann 1964), and therefore enhance the brand’s
market performance (Shocker and Srinivasan 1979; Wind 1973). A brand image is not
simply a perceptual phenomenon affected by the firm’s communication activities
alone. Brand image also have a strong nonverbal component. For many
brands-especially strong brands-the unique symbols long associated with them may be
automatically accessed from memory as soon as the brand is shown (Biel,1992). King
(1989) suggested that a well-chosen “visual metaphor” can capture desirable values to
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be associated with a brand. In the end a strong brand image can drive brand equity.
2.6.3 Brand Building
Brand building is not only about advertising or promotion. It is more about
extend the brand further and make it powerful. In order to build a strong brand, the
brand building activities must fit the identity of the brand, and also make connection
with consumers on an emotional level. Usually firms build brand power by
advertising (media or web), and sponsorship to make the presence of brands stronger.
The main purpose of brand building program is to enforce the brand image. The
importance of brand building program is to connect the brand identity to the program,
so it will have a strong presence in consumer’s mind.
2.6.4 Brand Awareness
Recent research suggests that spokes-characters can create brand identity for the
brand or advertiser (Callcott &Alvey, 1991). They can catch consumers’ eyes and
lead to greater recall of the brand or product. Also the previous study by Callcott
stated that consumers pay more attention on the commercials with animated
spokes-characters than commercials without animated spokes-characters.
H11: brands with spokes-character are more likely to be remembered than brands
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without spokes-character.