Communication - The process of establishing commonality of thought or shared meaning between the message sender (e.g. an advertiser) and a receiver (e.g. a consumer).

Source A communicator in some marketing communication capacity an advertiser, salesperson, sales promoter who has thoughts to share with an individual customer or an entire target audience Communication objectives Creating brand awareness Implanting positive associations in the consumers memory as a basis for a positive brand image Affecting behaviour Message The symbolic expression of what the communicator intends to accomplish Message channel The path through which the message moves from source to receiver Receiver The person or group of people with whom the source attempts to share ideas Feedback The means through which the source monitors how accurately the intended message is being received and whether it is accomplishing its intended objective(s) Noise Interference and distortion at any stage of the communication process Semiotics The study of signs and the analysis of meaning-producing events A sign: is something physical and perceivable that signifies something (the referent) to somebody (the interpreter) in some context means different things to different people at different times and in different contexts. Meaning The perceptions (thoughts) and affective reactions (feelings) to stimuli evoked within a person when presented with a sign (e.g. a brand name) in a particular context A symbol relation - formed when an object (brand) becomes a symbol of something else (referent). Simile uses comparative terms, such as like or as, to join items from different classes of experience Metaphor differs from simile in that the comparative term (e.g. as or like) is omitted creates a picture in the consumers mind and taps into meaning shared by the advertiser and the consumer Allegory is a form of extended metaphor conveys meaning in a story-beneath-a-story, where something other than what is literally represented is also occurring. Personification is often used in advertising of potentially mundane products

Two models of consumer behaviour: Consumer processing model (CPM) Behaviour is based on pure reason and is seen as rational, cognitive, systematic and reasoned. Hedonic, experiential model (HEM) Behaviour is based on pure feelings and is seen as passionate, spontaneous and irrational.

Stage 1: Exposure to information Consumers come in contact with the marketers message. Exposing consumers to a brands message is a function of key managerial decisions regarding the size of the budget and the choice of media and vehicles.Stage 2: Selective attention Focus on and consider a message to which one has been exposed Highly selective Attract customer attentionStage 3: Comprehension Understand and create meaning out of stimuli and symbol Perceptions influenced by consumer expectations, needs, personality and personal characteristicsStage 4: Agreement Agreement is premised on whether consumers accept the message they have comprehendedStage 5 and 6: Retention and retrieval These two information-processing stages retention, and information search and retrieval involve memory factors related to consumer choice. Memory involves the related issues of what consumers remember about marketing stimuli, and how they access and retrieve information when making consumption choices consists of a set of sensory stores short-term (or working) memory long-term memory.Short-term (or working) memory Limited processing capacity Information not recollected or rehearsed will be lost in 30 seconds or less.Long-term memory A virtual storehouse of unlimited information Information is organised into coherent and associated cognitive units: schemata memory organisation packets knowledge structures.

Stage 7: Decision makingConsumers resort to simple strategies, or decision heuristics, when deciding among alternatives

Stage 8: Action Action taken on the basis of the decision People do not always behave in a manner consistent with their preferences, due to the presence of events or situational factors.