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EFFECTIVENESS OF MESSAGE DELIVERED THROUGH EXPERIENTAL MARKETING AS

COMPARE TO CONVENTIONAL ADVERTISING

LONDON SCHOOL OF MARKERTING

MARCH 2012

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am thankful to God, my supervisor,family and friends for you support and assistant towards

the completion of this research study.

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DECLARATION

I declare that the entire thesis has been completed by me and the entire work has been done

by writing and no copy pasting material has been added in this thesis.

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ABSTRACT

In this research study, the researcher tries to explore to find out the effectiveness of message

delivered through experiential marketing as compare to conventional advertising. In traditional

marketing, marketers focus on mass selling, which is selling standardized products to large

markets through traditional media such as newspaper advertisements. Conversely, experiential

marketing emphasizes one-on-one personal experience with the brand or its representatives,

who facilitate two-way communication between the consumer and brand representative (e.g.,

store staff, online customer service). In this research study the mixed methodology was

employed. In this research, the responses of the managers and consumers proved that

experiential marketing is way better than conventional advertising in today’s competitive

world. The results help different companies to implement the experiential marketing for

attracting and retaining their customers. Thus, it can be concluded that the effectiveness of

message deliverance can be done by using experiential advertising techniques rather than the

conventional advertising.

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Aknowledgement .................................................................................. 2

Declaration.............................................................................................3

Abstract......................................................................................................4

CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION....................................................................8

Background of Research..................................................................................................8-9

Rationale of Study...........................................................................................................9-10

Research Aims & Objectives..............................................................................................10

a) Aims.......................................................................................................................10

b) Objectives..............................................................................................................10

Research Question.............................................................................................................11

Linkage of Experimential with other Strategies.................................................................11

Topic 1- Promotional Strategies.........................................................................11-12

Topic 2- Introduction to Advertising & its types................................................12-13

Topic 3- Events&Experience...............................................................................13-14

CHAPTER 2- Literature Review..................................................................15

Introduction..........................................................................................................................15

Topic 1- Experiential Markerting.........................................................................15-16

Topic 2- Traditional vs Experential Marketing......................................................16-18

Topic 3- The Characteristic of Experiential Marketing...............................................18

Topic 4- Narratives................................................................................................18-20

Topic 5- The Dimension of Experiential Marketing...............................................20-21

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Topic 6 – The Experiential Interface......................................................................21-22

Topic 7- The Advertisement encountered in Realistic Setting....................................22

Topic 8- The Advertisament Promotes Novelty Devergence...................................22-23

Topic 9- Transcending the Traditional Advertising Schema.....................................23-25

Topic 10- consumer Buying behaviour in Relation to Advertising............................25-26

Topic 11- Role of Online Markerting.........................................................................26-27

Topic 12- Marketing Experience...............................................................................28-30

CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY.........................................................................31

Introduction..............................................................................................................................31

Research Paradigm...................................................................................................................31

Appropriateness of Research...................................................................................................31

Research Method.................................................................................................................31-32

a) Mixed Methodology................................................................................................32-35

b) Secondary Research....................................................................................................36

c) Primary research.....................................................................................................36-37

Sampling Frame.......................................................................................................................37

Data Collection....................................................................................................................37-38

Research Instrument Used.......................................................................................................38

a) Interviews ...............................................................................................................38-39

b) Questionnaires.............................................................................................................39

Explanation of Mixed Methodology.........................................................................................40

Informed Consent................................................................................................................40-41

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Confidentiality......................................................................................................................41

Geographical Location.........................................................................................................41

Limitation of Study..........................................................................................................41-42

Sources for Searching Literature.......................................................................................42

CHAPTER 4- ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION.....................................................43

Introduction......................................................................................................................43

Descriptive Analysis of Questionnaires.........................................................................43-50

Descriptive Analysis of interviews................................................................................50-51

Secondary Research Findings.......................................................................................51-60

CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSION & RECCOMENDATION..................................60

Conclusion...................................................................................................................60-63

Recommendation........................................................................................................63-65

a) Objectives .......................................................................................................65-69

b) Research Aim Fulfilment.................................................................................69-71

c) Limitation of future research..............................................................................71

REFRENCES.......................................................................................72-74

APPENDIX.........................................................................................75-77

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Research

In an economic decline, the need to assess marketing effectiveness is essential to

survival. Many researchers have discussed a concept of marketing effectiveness extensively

because it has strong relations with many organizational outcomes such as growth, customer

satisfaction, competitive advantage, marketing orientation, promotion, and profit. Marketers

who understand the definition of marketing can adopt marketing practices easily. Marketing is

a discipline that enables producers of products and services to interpret customers’ desires in

delivering to target customers (Holt and Douglas, 1995,1).

Marketing researchers have made attempts to develop a measurement of marketing

effectiveness or even a complexity of the construct. In past studies, marketing researchers have

used two main models to measure marketing effectiveness: Return on Marketing Investment

(ROMI) and OME based on marketing orientation. In the concept of ROMI, marketing

effectiveness is a quality of how companies go to a market with the goal of optimizing their

spending to achieve satisfactory results for both the short-term and long-term. The concept

relates to logical, analytical, and data-driven approaches to problem solving by breaking down

the issues into addressable pieces.

Researchers have conducted empirical investigations involving a concept of marketing

effectiveness, but only a few conceptual measures of the construct exist. In 1977, Kotler

created Marketing Effectiveness Audit to measure OME. The concept of marketing

effectiveness based on marketing orientation in Harvard Business Review. OME reflects the

degree to which it exhibits the five essential attributes of a marketing orientation: customer

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philosophy, integrated marketing organization, adequate marketing information, strategic

orientation, and operational efficiency.

Several researchers found that marketing orientation has a positive relationship to

OME. Because only ROMI does not clearly relate to the overall view of an organization, many

researchers supported Kotler’s idea of measuring OME in essential areas of marketing

functions: environment, strategy, organization, system, and productivity (Dahlén and Edenius,

2007, 42). Kotler’s Marketing Effectiveness Audit has a broad framework of marketing

orientation to measure OME, and this framework has had widespread applications. The

benefits of using the Marketing Effectiveness Audit and implementing its recommendations lie

in perceptions of ability to influence a change in business performance. Identifying OME helps

companies implement an effective marketing plan and improve overall marketing orientation.

Since its first introduction, Kotler’s Marketing Effectiveness Audit has been widely adopted by

many marketing researchers and business practitioners. marketers need to be aware of the

symbolic aspects of consumption since symbolism can be an important aspect of many

experiential products, especially for younger consumers. By consuming offerings associated

with a peer group the consumer is able to signal to others that they are part of that peer group.

Marketers can reinforce the importance of these social/symbolic dimensions of experiential

offerings in advertising in cases where the consumer values this dimension.

Rationale of the study

In today’s competitive world it is not possible to hold on a product in the eye of the

customers for long. Because of globalization and competition new products enter into the

market every day. For taking a competitive edge over others and attracting customers

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companies use different marketing techniques. The more effectively the message delivers to

the customers, the more they become loyal to the brand. The main issue for conducting this

research study is to find out which marketing technique is efficient for retaining and attracting

customers in this competitive world. The research study helps in finding out whether

experiential marketing is essential for delivering message to the customers effectively or

conventional advertising is more effective. This study highlights this issue that helps the

marketing experts to know the significance and effectiveness of both marketing techniques in

delivering message to the customers.

Research Aims and Objectives

(a) Aims

The purpose of this research study is to determine the effectiveness of message

deliverance to the final consumers via experiential marketing and conventional advertising. This

research determines the comparison between conventional advertising strategies and

experiential advertising strategies.

(b) Objectives

The research objective of this research study is as following:

1. To find out the effectiveness of using experiential marketing and conventional

advertising for message deliverance.

2. To find out how message is delivered by experiential marketing and conventional

advertising.

3. To find out the difference between experiential and conventional marketing.

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Research Questions

This research study aims at answering the following research questions:

1. What is the effectiveness of using experiential marketing and conventional

advertising for message deliverance?

2. How message is delivered by experiential marketing and conventional

advertising?

Linkage of Experiental Marketing with Marketing Startegies

Promotional Strategies

One of the most essential marketing strategies is a promotion. A promotion is

coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up channels of information and persuasion to

sell products and services or promote an idea. An effective promotion is a plan for the optimal

use of various promotional strategies. A traditional promotion has four promotional strategies:

advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling. a modern promotion

included events and experiences and direct marketing as the fifth and sixth promotional

strategies, respectively.

According to Dahlén and Edenius, Promotional strategy is the function of informing,

persuading, and influencing a consumer decision. It is as important to nonprofit organizations

as it is to a profitoriented company like Colgate-Palmolive. Some promotional strategies are

aimed at developing primary demand, thedesire for a general product category.Promotional

strategy objectives vary among organizations. Some use promotionto expand their markets,

others to hold their current positions, still others to presenta corporate viewpoint on a public

issue. Promotional strategies can also be used to reach selected markets. Most sources identify

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the specific promotional objectives or goals of providing information, differentiating the

product, increasing sales, stabilizing sales, and accentuating the product's value.

Marketers often develop a promotional strategy to differentiate their goods or services

from those of competitors. To accomplish this, they attempt to occupy a"position" in the

market that appeals to their target customers. Promotions that apply the concept of positioning

communicate to consumers meaningful distinctions about the attributes, price,quality, or usage

of a good or service.

Introduction to Advertising and its types

Advertising. Advertising is any form of paid communication in which the sponsor or

company is identified. Traditional media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines,

billboard, and transit posts are most commonly used for one-way communication to

consumers. With increasing technology, marketers communicate their advertisements to

consumers in many innovative ways such as interactive video, the Internet, and e-mail. One of

the primary benefits of advertising is its ability to communicate to a large number of people at

one time. Advertising can reach the masses, but it can also reach target audiences and small

groups of potential customers through television advertisements on cable networks or print

advertisements in trade magazines. Although the cost of advertising per contact is low, the

total cost is relatively high. With a large capital investment, advertising cost tends to limit

advertisements on a national basis. (Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, 2006, 40)

A model for predictive measurements of advertising effectiveness classified advertising

and its effects into three levels. First, a cognitive component indicates that receivers receive a

message. Second, an affective component indicates the development of attitudes. Third, a

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behavioral component indicates actual actions taken by the target audience. The two

qualitative dimensions of the advertising process are the quality of advertising and media

weight. To be successful in advertising, sales-related feedback should be used to develop and

identify advertising.In this section we will discuss different types of advertisement and four

important decisions management takes in developing advertisement program. The objectives

of advertisements are to enhance the image of the company rather than selling the product.

The objective of product advertising is to communicate about the product attributes to the

target customer. (Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, 2006, 40). Product advertising is further classified

into three types. They are Pioneer advertising: This mode of advertisements is used to create

awareness and demand in the initial stage of the product life cycle. Competitive

advertisements: This type of advertisement is used to highlight the differentiation of

organization’s product.

Events and Experiences

Events and experiences are time-based events and marketing experiences where a

company or brand is linked to the events and experiences. Marketers develop events and

experiences for the purpose of creating theme activities for consumers and promoting products

or services. Events and experiences have become popular in recent years as marketers develop

integrated marketing programs including a variety of promotional tools that create experiences

for consumers in an effort to associate the company’s brands with individual lifestyles and

activities (Dahlén and Edenius, 2007, 42). Marketers use events and experiences to identify

with target markets or lifestyles, increase awareness of the company or product, reinforce

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customer perception, enhance company image, create experiences or evoke feelings, and

express commitment to the community.

Marketers often set event marketing by associating their products with popular

activities such as sports events, concerts, and trade shows. Marketers can also create their own

events for promotional purposes. In event sponsorship, a company supports the event in return

for the right to present a brand name, logo, or advertising message that makes it identified as a

supporter of the event. Experience marketing is the practice of engaging target audiences in

personal experiences in which they internalize a sense of how the brand improves their

personal or professional lives. The forms of events and experiences were trade shows, product

exhibitions, artistic performance, company anniversaries, sports events, and event sponsorship.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

Marketing isn't as simple as putting out a bunch of ads for your small business.

Marketing plans require multiple tiers and approaches to achieve maximum effectiveness and

to attract the most customers. Traditional and experiential marketing are two different schools

of marketing thought; both are effective and can be used in conjunction with each other.

( Elliott, Speck, 1998, 29)

The conceptual clarification of the literature will ascertain the reader what are the main

themes of the research understudy. It also covers what others have said about the term and

their findings. That would help in the overall research process of the Advertising in relation to

the buyer’s behaviour.

Topic 1-Experiential Marketing

When you watch a television commercial you see it, you hear it, but do you really

experience it? You don't. A television commercial is traditional advertising. It talks to you but

there is no interaction. Experiencial marketing is just that - An experience; it is designed to be

interactive with the consumer, to engage all of the consumer's senses so as to elicit emotional

responses in a way that traditional advertising, like television commercials cannot.How can

marketing be interactive? A company that takes its marketing message directly to the consumer

is interactive. (Bartlett, Ghoshal, 2009, 34). For example, a beer company that provides its

brand for free on a special promotion night at a popular nightclub is interactive. That's

experiential marketing. People encounter the product precisely where they will be exposed to it

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in the future. Proponents of experiential marketing believe that, like the nightclub example,

consumers will be more apt to internalize the marketing message this way than they would,

say, in seeing a beer ad on TV.

Experiential marketing is a relatively new concept and when a marketing campaign

designed around it works it becomes huge. Many business experiential marketing are a success

due to viral factors. People love it. They talk about it. They tell their friends. Brands can become

an instant success with a good experiential marketing campaign.In each case, experiential

marketing is about encountering a brand in an immensive experience that engages the senses

in a way that traditional advertising or marketing never has; it is a user experience.

Topic 2-Traditional VS. Experiential Marketing

Traditional marketing comprises those advertisements apromotions typically associated

with marketing. Billboards, flyers, and television commercials are all examples of traditional

marketing. These methods are effective in getting your name and your mission to the public,

but attaining a personal touch is difficult through traditional marketing.As the name suggests,

experiential marketing focuses on the experiences and the emotions of the customer.

Experiential marketing allows customers to take ownership of a product's marketing because

they have an emotional investment in that product. (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2009, 34).

Demonstrations and taste tests are common examples of experiential marketing; they draw

customers to the product, give them a reason to remember the product and, hopefully,

customers will give a good recommendation to their friends.

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Experiential marketing is about letting your customers experience the benefits of your

product or service by themselves instead of marketing it to them. This gives them a better

decision making ability, and the experience seals a customer’s confidence in your product or

service firmly, as he or she now has first-hand information and experience regarding the

product or service. It also pulls the emotional cords of consumers and thus helps increase

awareness of and loyalty towards your brand. It also helps marketers save tremendously on

their marketing costs, as costly promotional schemes and other marketing gimmicks to target

and lure the consumer are no longer needed. The best part is that experiential marketing brings

the marketer face-to-face with the consumer. (Gati and Ben, 1990, 263).

The difference between traditional and experiential marketing may be considered a

battle of old versus new philosophies, which is both true and untrue. Companies have used

both traditional and experiential marketing for decades and will continue to do so in the future.

However, as companies attempt to keep their costs down, experiential marketing is a more

viable option. Instead of paying for a newspaper ad that is only useful for one day, a company

can spend that same money to reach a group of customers that can market the product on the

company's behalf.

Today, the strength of a product or service alone does not sustain it for long. New

products are constantly introduced into the market with better features, making it difficult for

marketers to win customer loyalty. This leads to a rise in advertising spending by each player in

an attempt to win customers, creating a lot of noise in the market. Experiential marketing helps

customers relate to and distinguish a product from others available on the market by

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experiencing it first-hand. For marketers, this type of marketing helps in creating brand

awareness and makes the brand stand out from the competition.

Topic 3-The Characteristics of Experiential Marketing

The literature review pertaining to the three dimensions of experiential marketing

suggests a number of different elements of each dimension (Gati and Ben, 1990, 263). This

leads to one of the main questions that drives this dissertation: what are the essential

characteristics of experiential marketing? That is, is it possible to distil all of the elements of the

three dimensions down to those aspects that underlie experiential marketing and distinguish it

from other forms of marketing? Based on an analysis of the elements of the three dimensions,

this dissertation proposes that there are four main characteristics of experiential marketing: 1)

narratives, 2) connectivity, 3) liminality, and 4) multiplicity. Unlike the specific elements, these

characteristics represent broad concepts that encompass multiple aspects of experiential

marketing across the three dimensions. While it helps to separate these characteristics in order

to facilitate the examination of their properties, this approach should not suggest that they are

unrelated in theory or practice.

Topic 4-Narratives

The first proposed distinguishing characteristic of experiential marketing is narratives

(Holt and Douglas, 1995, 1). A narrative, which derives from narratology and narrative

discourse, refers to the properties and relationships of a narrative (Ducoffe and Curlo, 2000,

247). For this dissertation, a narrative is defined as a story that functions as an organizing

structure or framework that is used to make sense of experiences or events (Cook et al.2004,

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2). In fact, it has been argued that narrative is the mode of thought that best captures the

experiential particularity of human action and intentionality (Bilen and Devan and Okudan,

2002, 889). The narrative properties include its formal structure and contextual features

(Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2009, 34). The structure of a narrative refers to the elements of

temporality and causality that are used to suggest relationships between entities and events

(Anon et al. 2009, 2). Elements of the narrative structure include themes, plots, characters, and

settings. The context of a narrative refers to the specific events or experiences represented in

the story (Agrawal et al. 2004, 26). Elements of the narrative context include time, goals, and

outcomes. The narrative relationship refers to the process by which the story or theme is

transmitted by a narrator and interpreted by a narrate (Aaker and David and Joachimsthaler,

2009, 137).

The process of theme involves applying particular meanings and/or symbols to a

marketing experience (Tarnacha and Maitland, 2008, 67). The theme typically transcends the

experience and is often based upon a much more abstract and symbolic cultural reference (e.g.,

progress, nostalgia, or paradise) (Holt and Douglas, 1995, 1). Gati and Ben, (1990, 263) offer five

principles that should be considered when choosing and developing an experiential theme: 1)

the theme should alter a guest’s sense of reality; 2) the theme should address alternate forms

of space, time, and matter; 3) the theme should integrate space, time, and matter into a

cohesive whole; 4) the theme should be enhanced by creating multiple instantiations of it

within a space, and 5) the theme should correspond with the firm staging the experience.

Because the experiential literature suggests that theme is a critical factor in creating and

staging a marketing experience (Dahlén and Edenius, 2007, 42), this dissertation seeks to

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empirically determine its importance to experiential marketing and the particular role it plays in

the overall process. In addition to a theme, the literature suggests that a marketing experience

should convey some type of story (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2009, 34). Themes by themselves are

fairly abstract ideas that need to be brought to life for the customer. One way to instantiate the

theme of a marketing experience is to present it as a story in the form of theatre (Barczak et

al.2003, 56). In order to develop “experiential theatre” or “theatres of consumption,”

marketers can apply the elements of performance (Anon et al. 2009, 2). According to

performance theory, staged events consist of four things: drama, script, theatre, and

performance (Agrawal et al. 2004, 26). The drama is the story, the script is the means to

transmit the story, the theatre is the context of the story, and the performance is the

production of the story. Applying this to a marketing experience, the theme provides the basis

for the story the firm wants to convey, the script describes the particular manifestation of the

story, the theatre is the instantiation of the story, and the performance is the enactment of the

story (Aaker and David and Joachimsthaler, 2009, 137). Research has found that the

communicative staging of the experiential environment is an important component of a

marketing experience (Arnould et al. 1998).

Topic 5-The Dimensions of Experiential Marketing

The purpose of this section is to examine the three dimensions of experiential marketing

based on the extant literature. Part of the problem with understanding experiential marketing

is that the literature often does not clearly make these distinctions and blurs elements of one

into the other (Gati, Ben, 1990, 263). Thus, in an effort to facilitate our understanding of

experiential marketing, this section will extract from the literature what has been proposed and

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what we know on each dimension. The first part will examine the experiential subject, the

second part will examine the experiential process, and the third part will examine the

experiential object (Elliott, Speck, 1998, 29). In order to translate the three dimensions of an

experience into a more marketing oriented context, I will label the experiential subject as the

consumer experience, the experiential process as the experiential interface, and the

experiential object as the marketing experience. The consumer experience refers to the

consumer inputs and outputs associated with the experience. The experiential interface refers

to the process in which the consumer and offering interact. The marketing experience refers to

the market-based offering that is specifically created and staged for the consumer (Bradley,

Lang, Cuthbert, 1993, 970).

Topic 6 -The Experiential Interface

While the experiential consumption literature has addressed some issues concerning

the consumer experience, much of the literature focuses on the experiential process, or what I

call the experiential interface. That is, much of the literature is focused on the factors that are

involved in the process of consuming experiences. In addition, the literature has also focused

on the factors that are involved in producing experiences (versus elements of the offering)

(Cook, 2004, 1). As a result, I resisted calling this dimension either the consumption experience

or the production experience because it privileges one side of the equation over the other.

Cook, (2004, 1) highlight how river rafters develop a sense of communities, or a feeling

of belonging and group focus on a common goal. One way this is done is through a levelling

process of removing items that differentiate group members and by engaging in teamwork

activities. Although the establishment of rules and norms facilitates the building of

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communities, the playful aspects of the experience also facilitate the construction of

community. The study of the mountain men experience by Anon, (2009, 2) showed the similar

findings in the construction of communities, with the additional element of shared fantasy

engagement. The mythic and symbolic elements of the experience that are shared by the

participants often influence the feeling of community. This is evident in Tarnacha, Maitland,

(2008, 40) studies of both Star Trek fans and Burning Man participants in terms of how both

groups use different types of myths and symbols to develop utopian and non-commercial

communities.

Topic 7-The Advertisement is encountered in a Realistic Setting

The second component of the non-traditional conceptualization is that the

advertisement is encountered within a realistic setting. From the research obtained through

Agrawal et al. (2004, 26), encountering the message within a realistic setting describes how

viewers should interact with messages through non-mass mediated channels that they

encounter as part of their daily functions, such as placing advertisements directed towards

young adults on university campuses or messages targeting travellers on buses or trains.

Topic 8-The Advertisement Promotes Novelty through Divergence

The third component of non-traditional advertising is that the advertisement promotes

novelty through divergent approaches in the advertisement medium and message. A

compilation of research on non-traditional advertising has identified three distinct

characteristics that influence the production of novel advertisements: the ability to transcend

the traditional advertising schema, the integration of the advertisement into daily functions,

and the priming of the advertisement to enhance the consumer experience (Holbrook and

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Morris and Kim and Corfman, 1985, 32). Each of these characteristics integrates into the

identified variables of orienting response to show how non-traditional advertisements can

target audiences with novel mediated messages.

Topic 9-Transcending the traditional advertising schema

Non-traditional advertisements can generate novel advertising stimuli through their

ability to transcend the traditional advertising schema. Agrawal et al. (2004, 26) described the

traditional advertising schema as the subconsciously produced reaction of audiences towards

advertisements when they are recognized as such. According to the researchers, when a

mediated message is perceived as an advertisement it causes the viewers to habitually react to

the message, leading to various avoidance practices. The traditional advertising schema thus

suggests that familiarity results in avoidance, a claim that has been supported by research

including Gati and Ben, (1990, 263), which found that medium familiarity led to advertisement

avoidance. Specifically, Agrawal et al. (2004, 26) found that the increased recognition of media

functions allows audiences to anticipate advertisements before they appear and thus avoid

them altogether. Take for example the television commercial break. Since many consumers are

aware of the typical television program format, they can anticipate that a commercial break is

forthcoming when the show begins playing music or the screen fades to black (Ducoffe and

Curlo, 2000, 247).

This knowledge of the medium allows the viewer to switch the channel as the

advertisements commence, revealing both their desires to avoid the advertising messages as

well as their knowledge of the consumed medium. Non-traditional advertising transcends the

traditional advertising schema by breaking through the habitual confines of traditional

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advertising. This does not mean that non-traditional advertising manipulates consuming

audiences into classifying the advertisement as something other than advertising, as suggested

in Agrawal et al. (2004, 26), but instead relies on the unfamiliarity of the message and

placement to generate cognitive advertisement processing, ultimately increasing attitude

towards the advertisement and recall. One means through which non-traditional advertising

transcends the traditional advertising schema is through medium and message creativity (Cook

et al.2004, 2). Creativity is the caveat in producing novel advertisements as research shows that

audiences view creativity as the exceptional rather than the typical within the advertising

market. Prior research on the use of advertising creativity suggests its potential to transcend

the traditional advertising schema. One example is (Agrawal et al. 2004, 26), which found that

creative messages and placements increased unaided brand recall. Likewise, Holt and Douglas,

(1995, 1) found that creative executions influenced both the credibility of the medium and

message as well as attitude towards the message in general. Gati and Ben, (1990, 263) provided

the most applicable evaluation of creativity in describing how it is marked by divergence, or

extent to which something is different or novel. The focus on divergence as the generator of

non-traditional advertising creativity is realized through an examination of the traditional

advertising methods. Researcher including Agrawal et al. (2004, 26) has identified the

repetitive nature of traditional advertising practices, which have been limited in both medium

selection (television, radio, press) as well as message design (full page advertisement, 30-

second spot, etc).

From the limiting execution of traditional advertising practices, the research shows

consumers view advertising as a limited collection of cluttered media channels utilizing similarly

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designed mediated messages. With little divergence available within traditional advertising

practices, non-traditional advertising can use divergence to build novelty for both the

advertising medium and message. Specifically, studies including Holbrook and Morris and Kim

and Corfman, (1985, 32) and Bilen and Devan and Okudan, (2002, 889) have discussed medium

divergence in their evaluations of out of home media, revealing how the creativity of the

advertising medium has resulted in greater attention to and recall of the advertisement.

Whereas no specific studies have focused on the message content, divergence could be

applicable through the integration or priming of the message to the audience, two

characteristics that will be discussed in greater detail later in this section. By focusing on more

divergent approaches, non-traditional advertisements should transcend the traditional

advertising schema, resulting in greater cognitive processing.

Topic 10-Consumer buying behaviour in relation to Advertisement

Advertiser’s primary mission is to reach prospective customers and influence their

awareness, attitudes and buying behaviour. They spend a lot of money to keep individuals

(markets) interested in their products. To succeed, the need to understand what makes

potential customers behave the way they do.The advertisers goals is to get enough relevant

market data to develop accurate profiles of buyers-to-find the common group (and symbols) for

communications this involves the study of consumers behaviour: the mental and emotional

processes and the physical activities of people who purchase and use goods and services to

satisfy particular needs and wants (Arens, 1996). Proctor et al. (1982) noted that the principal

aim of consumer behaviour analysis is to explain why consumers act in particular ways under

certain circumstances. It tries to determine the factors that influence consumer behaviour,

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especially the economic, social and psychological aspects which can indicate the most favoured

marketing mix that management should select.

Consumer behaviour analysis helps to determine the direction that consumer behaviour

is likely to make and to give preferred trends in product development, attributes of the

alternative communication method etc. consumer behaviours analysis views the consumer as

another variable in the marketing sequence, a variable that cannot be controlled and that will

interprete the product or service not only in terms of the physical characteristics, but in the

context of this image according to the social and psychological makeup of that individual

consumer (or group of consumers). Economic theory has sought to establish relationships

between selling prices, sales achieved and consumers income, similarly,advertising expenditure

is frequently compared with sales. On other occasions financial accounting principles maybe

applied to analyse profit and losses.

Topic 11- Role of Online marketing

Nike uses online marketing strategy. For this, Nike will have a website and a

promotional campaign like banner advertising, search engines, emails to customers as well as

links to customers. In simple words, internet is the basic tool for online marketing (Cook et

al.2004, 2).

In the digital world, marketing communications is concerned with creating presence,

creating relationships, and creating mutual value. The Internet as a marketing channel is

interactive, accessible, ubiquitous, and integrates marketing communication with commercial

transactions and service delivery. As a channel, the Internet both sends content to an audience,

and acts as a route to a group of customers (Aaker and David and Joachimsthaler, 2009, 137).

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Online marketing communication is a method used by online firms to communicate to the

consumer and to strengthen brand expectations. Online marketing consumers seek out

information and advertising as the indicators of communication.

Different forms of online marketing communication include online advertising, e-mail

marketing, and public relations. Online advertising is defined as a paid message on a web site,

online service, or other interactive medium. There are a number of different forms of online

advertisements: banner ads (a pop-up image that comes out in the margin or other advertising

space in a variety of shapes and sizes when you open a web site), search engines (identifies web

pages that appear to match keywords), and sponsorships (a paid effort to tie an advertiser’s

name to particular information events) (Barczak et al.2003, 56).

The online marketing by the company utilizes the power of electronic commerce to sell

and market products. Electronic commerce refers to any market on the internet. Electronic

commerce supports selling, buying and trading of products or services over the internet. Online

marketing forms a subset of electronic commerce.

There are newer marketing techniques being invented all the time. It is significant to

know how the trend would be. Companies are inventing new techniques to find better ways to

make revenue and establish their brand on the internet. Consumers are becoming more and

smarter. They don’t want to be a party to the internet advertising campaigns made by

companies unless they get some incentive in doing so (Tarnacha and Maitland, 2008, 67). They

would be quite keen in participating in campaigns provided they are compensated in some way

by the companies.

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Topic 11-The Marketing Experience

Environmental relationship refers to the connection that the customer has with the

marketing experience. It can range from absorption, in which the customer is mentally

connected to the experience (e.g., watching a movie), to immersion, in which the customer is

physically (or virtually) connected to the experience (i.e., Renaissance festivals). Based on these

two dimensions, four “realms” of marketing experiences can be identified: 1) entertainment, 2)

education, 3) aesthetic, and 4) escapist. Entertainment experiences are characterized by

passive participation and absorption, and would include most types of performances (e.g.,

plays, musicals, and operas) (Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, 2006, 40). Educational experiences

are characterized by active participation and absorption, and would include offerings like

science museums, children’s museums, and zoos. Aesthetic experiences are characterized by

passive participation and immersion, which would suggest venues like national parks, art

galleries/museums, and heritage sites. Escapist experiences are characterized by active

participation and immersion, and would include venues like amusement/theme parks, casinos,

and cruises. While it is possible to define all marketing experiences narrowly in terms of these

four categories, Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) argue that the richest marketing

experiences are those that encompass all four realms. Renaissance festivals are a good example

of a marketing experience that offers entertainment experiences (e.g., the joust), educational

experiences (e.g., blacksmith demonstrations), aesthetic experiences (e.g., the medieval

village), and escapist experiences (e.g., manually controlled rides).

All of these facilitate the experiential interface and the consumer experience. Anon,

(2009, 2) in their study of rock concerts, argue that the performers and the atmosphere are

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also important elements of an experiential offering. These elements both direct the consumers’

attention and influence the type of experiential effect the consumers will have. Although the

consumer’s experience is very personal, researchers argue that the marketing experience needs

to be designed with the experiential effect in mind. In fact, the earliest research suggests that it

is the multidimensional, subjective, and holistic way that the offering affects the consumer that

distinguishes a marketing experience. Dahlén, Edenius, (2007, 33), argues that the best

experiential offerings affect the consumer in multiple ways. He argues, ideally, marketers

should strive strategically for creating holistically integrated experiences that possess, at the

same time, SENSE, FEEL, THINK, ACT, and RELATE qualities. Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40)

argue that all of these elements need to be be incorporated into the three main components of

a marketing experience: 1) the offering, 2) the service, and 3) the atmosphere. In addition, the

company must carefully control and manage all of the elements across these three components

to deliver a successful experience.

In keeping with the managerial perspective, Elliott, Speck, (1998, 29), in their analysis of

the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York, argue that three critical factors of a

marketing experience include integration (i.e., all the elements of the offering must

symbolically fit together), updating (i.e., the offering must continuously incorporate

innovation), and skill recognition (i.e., the offering must be accessible to consumers with

varying skill levels). On this last element, Cuthbert, Schupp, Bradley, Birbaumer, Lang, (2000,

111) emphasize the important role of employees, or what I call “experience providers,” in the

deliverance of the marketing experience. In many cases, they are not merely service providers,

but are an essential element of the offering (e.g., the Disney characters). Lastly, it has been

30

proposed that three conditions to creating a successful marketing experience include a

responsive customer base, congruent positioning throughout the experience, and the ability to

connect with customers.

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

Introduction

This chapter details the methodology used to conduct the research study. Development

of sampling size, design, measures, data collection procedures, data analysis and ethical

considerations will follow.

Research Paradigm

Webster Dictionary defines paradigm as "an example or pattern: small, self-contained,

simplified examples that we use to illustrate procedures, processes, and theoretical points."

The most quoted definition of paradigm is Thomas Kuhn's (1962, 1970) concept in The Nature

of Science Revolution, i.e. paradigm as the underlying assumptions and intellectual structure

upon which research and development in a field of inquiry is based.

In this research study the Pragmatic approach was used. The pragmatic approach

consists of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The need for selecting this approach

is that it would be helpful to attain the data via survey as well as via interview methods.

Appropriateness of research design

For this research study the mixed methodology was used, which included qualitative as

well as quantitative research methods.

Research Method

Mixed methodology was used in this research method. the advantage of using this

method was that it helps in gathering numerous types of data for attaining the variables’

understandings that would help the researcher to attain the most appraoriate data.

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However, the use of multiple types of research means that the researcher needs be

competent in the various types of study being conducted. Additionally, mixed-method research

can take longer to complete because of the multiple phases of research and multiple forms of

data being collected.

Mixed methodology

The research study employed mixed methodology; in this study the quantitative and

qualitative research methods were used. The reason of employing quantitative research

method is because it is useful in examining experimental and non-experimental research

projects. Quantitative research methods require a specific approach to sampling and statistical

analysis. The quantitative methods address various questions and hypotheses that explore

interventions. Quantitative research is generally experimental, quasi-experimental, correlation

or an in descriptive format where a researcher creates specific criteria to test a theory or

proposition for the purpose of defining a problem in need of a solution. Quantitative research

uses the deductive approach, starting with a hypothesis, and investigates to find out whether it

applies to the general population, otherwise referred to as deductive analysis (Creswell 2009,

35).

Unlike the qualitative approach, the quantitative analysis is homogenized to make it

possible to replicate conclusions over a larger population. Using quantitative methods,

according to Cooper and Creswell (2009, 35) will measure behaviours, knowledge, opinions, and

attitudes focusing on interpretive techniques to answer the many questions in the course of

data gathering. Creswell (2009, 35) posits quantitative research as an investigation to social or

human problems that tests a theory with a mixture of variables, measured and analyzed using a

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statistical formula to build upon a framework that explains or predicts the phenomenon of

interest. A quantitative researcher’s role is to monitor the survey instruments closely such as

the questionnaires, among other tools of acquiring data. Quantitative designs such as

descriptive, causal-comparative and correlation designs are used to study the situation as it is.

There are various types of quantitative studies that fall under the heading of descriptive

quantitative research. Descriptive studies are mostly concerned with finding out what is, and

rely on observation and survey methods to collect descriptive data. This type of research

involves either identifying the characteristics of an observed phenomenon or exploring possible

correlations among two or more phenomenon. Although it is argued that the behaviours

underlying an organization are best captured using qualitative methods, a quantitative method

of inquiry has been selected for this study (Creswell 2009, 35).

The advantage of using quantitative instruments is to study advertising and marketing

trends. In addition, surveys are easy to administer, and because of their standardization they

tend to be free from error. The most important aspect of the survey method relative to this

study was the ability to generalize results from a sample to a population so that inferences can

be made about the shared norms and expectations that influence the effective message

deliverance (Creswell 2009, 35). Creswell (2009, 35) is of the belief that the design of any

research methodology begins with a topic as well as a paradigm that helps to shape an

understanding of any particular phenomenon.

The qualitative approach deeply observes human behavior and the influences that

impact contextual variables. Qualitative research is a set of interpretive activities that are

difficult to clearly define. Researchers employ multiple theoretical paradigms claiming use of

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qualitative research methods and strategies because it is applicable across various disciplines.

Therefore, it requires a data collection instrument that is sensitive to underlying meaning when

gathering and interpreting data. Individuals are best suited for this task because to adequately

perform qualitative research through interviews, observations, and analysis of behaviour they

are able to provide insight and detail into research tasks as well as interviewee tasks performed

Qualitative research typically takes place in a setting with which the participant is familiar and

involves an attempt to add greater understanding to phenomena. Qualitative researchers use

inductive meaning to bring clarity to complex situations and take into account different

worldviews and the perceptions that create different realities for different people.

Qualitative researchers seek theories through inductive reasoning and usually take a

constructivist worldview approach, which involves seeking to develop narrative research that

contributes to a greater understanding. Qualitative design includes the underlying subjective

realities that help construct worldviews. Quantitative research is generalized and includes

numbers to prove hypotheses. Quantitative research is deductive as researchers use the

method to prove or test theories (Creswell 2009, 35). Quantitative research comes to definitive

conclusions using statistical evidence and includes post positivist worldviews that focus on

empirical observation and evidence. Quantitative research does not involve subjective aspects

of phenomena because it involves testing theoretical conclusions. A qualitative,

phenomenological approach was utilized in the current study. The phenomenological method

involves an attempt to understand human experience from the participants’ worldview.

Phenomenological researchers aim to understand the individual as well as the

environment because individuals and the environment are typically viewed as one

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embodiment. Realities are subjective in phenomenological research, meaning they vary

depending upon the circumstance and experiences of the participants. Phenomenologist seeks

the true essence of lived experience and attempt to elucidate the phenomena of behaviour in

their environment. The current study involved an attempt to understand the lived, professional

experiences of virtual team members (Creswell 2009, 35). The only way to understand these

aspects and perspectives is through phenomenological research. As such, a phenomenological

approach was used to capture these elements. Qualitative research provides a foundation by

exploring phenomena. The focus of quantitative research is statistics and data, but thorough

research often needs to go beyond the data to understand the elements that contribute to

numbers.

Qualitative research creates ideas that develop quantitative research and theory. The

intent of this study was not to examine, test, or formulate theory, but instead involved seeking

further understanding and idea development. When a lack of illumination occurs, the additional

research element can often distract the reader or limit the value of the findings. As such,

choosing single method for a particular study allows the researcher to exhaust the results and

findings properly, instead of being distracted by a less important secondary method (Creswell

2009, 35).

By using qualitative research practices, the current study might have provided more

definitive results on the practices and experiences that drive the effectiveness of message

deliverance via experiential marketing and traditional advertising.

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Secondary Research Methods

Secondary data are information/data that already exist orthat has been collected by another

person for a purpose.

Secondary Market Research, the company uses information gathered from other

sources that appears applicable to a new or existing (Creswell 2009, 35). The advantages of

secondary market research are that it is relatively cheap and easily accessible. A disadvantage

of secondary research that stands out is often not specific to the research topic and data used

may be biased and is difficult to validate. In this research study the already existed data that is

used was about Effectiveness of message delivered through Experiential marketing as compare

to conventional advertising. For collecting the abundant relevant data, various books, journals,

websites were searched and data has been extracted out from those sources.

Primary Research Methods

Primary research is when you acess information directly from those that have acess to such. It

can address question about past and current situation.

To make good decisions, the researcher needs good information. Just as researchers

need to carefully evaluate the quality of the secondary data they need to be careful when

collecting primary data, i.e. ensure their relevance, reliability, relevance and objectivity.

Observation is a primary data collection through observation of interest to the

researcher by people, events and situations. Observation of as a method of study can be used

for information that people are not willing or able to provide. In some cases, observation may

be the only possible way to collect the required information. However, there are things that

cannot be determined by observation, feelings, attitudes, motives or behaviour. Therefore,

37

researchers often use the observation, in combination with other methods of collecting

information; it is best for gathering descriptive information. In this research study, the

questionnaire was filled by the UK consumers of different brands.

Sampling Frame

According to (Creswell 2009, 35)sampling is concerned with the selection of a subset of

individuals from within a population to estimate characteristics of the whole population.

Researchers rarely survey the entire population because the cost of a census is too high. The

three main advantages of sampling are that the cost is lower, data collection is faster, and since

the data set is smaller it is possible to ensure homogeneity and to improve the accuracy and

quality of the data.

The sample selected for this research study was managers and consumers. Managers

were selected from marketing department of different UK organizations; those managers were

interviewed in order to determine the appropriate way of delivering messages to the

consumers. For filling out questionnaire different UK consumers were selected randomly and

these consumers were 100.

Data collection

This study utilized various methods in the collection of qualitative data including

observation, interviews, and questionnaires. The use of multiple data collection techniques is

important because it not only provides a means of triangulating the results, but it also increases

the representative of the informants’ perspective. The use of mixed methods also helped to

provide a thicker description of experiential marketing and traditional advertising added depth

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to the research study. The data were collected via secondary data sources. Survey method and

interview techniques were used for extracting out the relevant data.

Research Instruments Used

(a) Interviews

In order to get in-depth information and insights from marketing managers, the study

also utilized long interviews. The long interview was chosen over the ethnographic interview

because it is more structured and efficient, thus allowing more information to be gathered over

a shorter period of time. As Creswell (2009, 35) writes, it the long interview is a sharply focused,

rapid, highly intensive interview process that seeks to diminish the indeterminacy and

redundancy that attends more unstructured research processes. Likewise, given that the scope

of the study (in terms of the number of contexts) warranted less time in the field than what is

advocated by traditional ethnography, the long interview was used to compensate for the

reduced amount of observation through its structure and method, though it did not completely

eliminate the need for observational data to inform the interview data. The long interview is

also an appropriate method because this research examines the phenomenon of interest

through an a priori descriptive-theoretical framework. Creswell (2009, 35) outlines four steps in

the long interview process relative to the use of a theoretical focus. In terms of the actual

interviews, the interview protocols consisted of various types of open-ended questions based

on the theoretical-descriptive framework.

Separate, though conceptually similar, interview protocols were created for marketing

managers of the different organizations of UK. Different types of questions (e.g., descriptive,

structural, and contrasting) were used to elicit various types of information from the

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interviewees. These questions began with an overall perspective of a particular marketing

experience and then probed more deeply into the various elements associated with the

dimensions, characteristics, and logic of experiential marketing and traditional marketing. In

general, managers were asked about the nature of the offering, the role of experiential

marketing in their overall strategy, and the specific elements of the offering that impacted the

consumer experience.

(b) Questionnaires

In addition to interviews, quantitative questionnaires were also used to collect data.

Questionnaires were used to supplement the interview data and increase the number of cases

in each context. In addition, the questionnaires also provided a check on researcher bias in the

interview process. A questionnaire is a set of questions designed to generate the data

necessary to accomplish the objectives of the research study. The survey method of obtaining

information for a research study is based on the questioning of the population who are asked a

variety of questions. With the questionnaire, there were no prompts or suggestions by the

researcher beyond the questions themselves to influence the respondents answers. Although

the questionnaire format led to the collection of less data than the interviews, the analysis of

the data found overall consistency between the questionnaire and interview responses.

Questionnaire will used and that will be filled out by the selected consumers. The questions

were close ended as well as open ended. The consumers of different brands were asked to fill

the questionnaire and there were 100 consumers who selected randomly.

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Explanation of using Mixed Methodology

The author decided to use mixed method research since the researcher wants statistical

truth as well as the understanding of the experiential marketing and conventional advertising.

Qualitative research was vital to this study as it attempted to examine the effectiveness of

experiential marketing as compared to conventional advertising. Quantitative descriptive

research was appropriate for this study because quantitative designs are effective for

answering research questions, validating or invalidating hypotheses statements, and expressing

relationships between variables in a study. This phase helped in understanding the strengths

and weaknesses of the marketing concepts. On the other hand, the methodology in the

quantitative approach is to describe and explain features of the objective reality by collecting

numerical data on observable behaviours of samples and by subjecting these data to statistical

analysis. The statistical analysis examined the effectiveness of the experiential marketing as

compared to conventional advertising.

Informed Consent

Securing participants in a research study on a voluntary basis and educating participants

about the use of opinions in a study is important. Participants in a research study must consent

to collaborate with the researcher and the researcher must collect and maintain completed

consent forms for all participants from the sample whose opinions and responses are used in

the research findings and conclusions. Researchers are obligated to protect a population’s

responses from misinterpretation and must protect the population from exploitation under the

guise of research (Creswell 2009, 35). Researchers are obligated to protect respondents’

confidentiality, right to be informed and right to privacy as a part of basic ethical behavior

41

expected by researchers reporting information and drawing conclusions from respondent

opinions. An Applied Consent form was distributed to every member of the population and

consent forms for all participants whose responses were used in the research findings were

collected and will be maintained for a minimum of three years (Creswell 2009, 35).

Confidentiality

Ethical issues are present in data collection and preserving the confidentiality of

participants from the population is the responsibility of the researcher (Creswell 2009, 35).

According to Creswell (2009, 35) failing to preserve the participants’ confidentiality is an abuse

of the rights of the respondent. A failure to protect the confidentiality of the participants in a

population could lead to resentment on the part of respondents and a refusal to take part in

any future studies (Creswell 2009, 35). The potential for biased data could result from a failure

to ensure confidentiality according to Creswell (2009, 35). To ensure the confidentiality of the

sample in this study, there was no provision in the survey instrument for respondents to

provide any personal information or information that identified the organization for which he

or she works. The stratification of the sample was based upon the category that best describes

the firm: (a) manufacturer, (b) wholesaler/distributor, (c) retailer, or (d) service provider

(Creswell 2009, 35).

Geographic Location

Geographical location selected for conducting and selecting participants was UK region.

Limitations of the study

In this research study, the chances of biasness were involved in the interview responses

and questionnaire responses. A limitation of the study was that respondents personally chose

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to participate in the study, even though they were randomly selected. Any difference in

perceptions or outcomes that address the success or failure of the model is limited to these

respondents. The study was also limited by the assumptions that all respondents answered

questions openly and honestly. Research is focused on demonstrating the uniqueness of a

certain group of people experiencing a phenomenon. The outcomes of this research study will

be specific to those who participated in the study. The external validity of this study will be

limited in that the results will not be generalized beyond the study group due to limited sample

size.

Sources for searching literature

In order to attain the most suitable literature or data for the research study numerous

libraries were searched. These libraries were Proquest, Ebsco host, Emerald, JSTOR, Ingenta

Connect, and Science Direct etc. there were different peer reviews searched for extracting out

relevant information, and websites were also taken into consideration. In data were also

collected from the questionnaire and interview responses.

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CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Introduction

In this section the analysis and discussion of the findings from the interview responses

and from the questionnaire responses was done. In this section apart from the responses the

research questions which already mentioned in the chapter 1 were discussed here in details.

The statistical software SPSS used for analyzing and interpretation the findings.

Descriptive analysis of Questionnaire

This chapter includes the questionnaire analysis in detail and the data has been

extracted out from the UK consumers who are using different brands. The data which were

collected from the consumers were from structured questionnaire. In this research study the

SPSS software was used in this analysis chapter.

Gender

Male 50%

Female 50%

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The above table depicted the gender description of the selected sample. For this

research study the gender selected was equal. Researcher has not done any gender

discrimination while selecting sample for this study.

Education

High school 30%

College 30%

Graduate 40%

The above table depicted the educational background of the selected sample. Majority

of the respondents selected were having graduate degree and the school going and college

going respondents were of equal numbers.

45

Do availability of the product affects your purchasing decisions?

Yes 85%

No 15%

In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample regarding their

buying decisions and availability of the products in the market. The respondents replied in

majority that availability of the product has an imminent importance and they purchase that

product which by the purchasing time is present. This shows that the availability of the product

has a significant role which influences the purchasing decisions.

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Do you watch billboards while travelling?

Yes 65%

No 35%

In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample that they watch

billboards or not. The respondents replied in majority that they do watch but billboards do not

influence their purchasing decisions much. This shows that placing ads on billboards do have

importance but usually this is not a significance medium of advertising for attracting customers

or transmuting brand message to them.

Do you watch advertising while watching television or listening radio?

Yes 40%

No 60%

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In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample that they watch

advertisements on TV or listen ads on radio or not. The respondents replied in majority that

they do watch advertisements and switch the channel. This shows that television and radio are

not an efficient medium for message delivering of any brand.

Are you customer loyal of any brand?

Yes 40%

No 60%

In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample that they are loyal

to any brand or not. The respondents replied in majority that they in this competitive world

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with every passing time new brand replacing the old one. Majority of the respondents are so

brand loyal so it is challenging task for companies to attract and retain their customers.

Do you try different brands which get entered in the market? If so then what makes you try

new brands?

Yes 40%

No 60%

In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample that they are loyal

to any brand or not. The respondents replied in majority that they in this competitive world

with every passing time new brand replacing the old one. Majority of the respondents are so

brand loyal so it is challenging task for companies to attract and retain their customers.

How do you know about the daily offers of any brands?

BTL medium 60%

ATL medium 40%

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In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample regarding their

awareness about the new brand. The respondents replied that they come to know by word of

mouth or through television ads. There are numerous respondents who said that they come to

know about the product by going to the shop and experienced some promotional activities

there. Respondents said that their life is quite busy and they do not find time to watch ads on

TV etc. so when they experience product in any shopping malls or roads they get to know about

the new product.

Do prices of the product affect your purchasing decision?

Yes 70%

No 30%

50

In the above table the question was asked from the selected sample regarding whether

the price of the products. The respondents replied that they come to know by word of mouth

or through television ads. There are numerous respondents who said that they come to know

about the product by going to the shop and experienced some promotional activities there.

Respondents said that their life is quite busy and they do not find time to watch ads on TV etc.

So when they experience any brand in any shopping mall or road they get to know about the

new product.

Descriptive analysis of interview responses

(a) What do you consider as the main thing that the customer purchases?

According to the managers of different organizations of UK, to attract and influence the

decision of the customers’ purchases the sole thing is to tell them the existence and uniqueness

of the product. This can only be done by doing advertising of the brand. Now it’s up to the

company which advertising strategy the company wants to follow. The best mixed of

advertising strategies leads to increase in the customers’ loyalty and number of customers of

the particular brand.

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(b) Which type of marketing your organization would use for promoting brands?

Majority of the managers said that in this competitive world, the organization must

promote their brands via experiential marketing. Although the traditional methods will be used

but the greatest emphasizes would be given to the experiential marketing. The reason for

choosing this method is that the consumers can get more and more choices in this type of

marketing. By using this method, the market becomes more competitive and this competition

makes the firms to introduce something unique and creative. Direct interaction with the brand

is possible with this type of marketing and more consumers’ loyalty can be attained by

employing this type of marketing. this loyalty from the customers by personal interaction with

the brand enables the organization to get lucrative returns and return on investment would be

high.

(c) Do you think traditional marketing is failed in today’s world?

In today’s competitive world the companies are switching to implement the experiential

marketing. According to many managers the traditional marketing is not failed in today’s world

but many companies in order to deliver their brand information in an innovative way are

following experiential marketing strategies, in order to best deliver their advertising message to

the customers.

Secondary research findings

(a) Experiential Marketing and Conventional Advertising For Message Deliverance

Experiential advertising transcends the traditional advertising schema by breaking through the

habitual confines of traditional advertising. This does not mean that experiential advertising

manipulates consuming audiences into classifying the advertisement as something other than

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advertising, as suggested in Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40), but instead relies on the

unfamiliarity of the message and placement to generate cognitive advertisement processing,

ultimately increasing attitude towards the advertisement and recall. One means through which

experiential advertising transcends the traditional advertising schema is through medium and

message creativity. Creativity is the caveat in producing novel advertisements as research

shows that audiences view creativity as the exceptional rather than the typical within the

advertising market. Prior research on the use of advertising creativity suggests its potential to

transcend the traditional advertising schema.

One example is Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32), which found that creative

messages and placements increased unaided brand recall. Likewise, Anon, (2009, 2) found that

creative executions influenced both the credibility of the medium and message as well as

attitude towards the message in general. An experience involves the interaction between both

consumers and producers, so a more neutral term was chosen. Going back to the early work in

experiential consumption, Cook, (2004, 1) argue that the experiential interface is focused not

on the acquisition and utilization of knowledge and skills (which interestingly happens to be the

underlying proposition of the service-dominant logic), but on exploratory behaviour. This

discovery-based experiential behaviour is not based on problem-solving, but on lucid desire.

Simply put, consumers engage experiential offerings in order to play. Anon, (2009, 2) define

play as an intrinsically motivated [behaviours that] involve the expenditure of time on activities

that produce experiences enjoyed for their own sake. Consumers engage experiences not to

meet a need or achieve a goal, but simply to have fun. Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985,

32) reinforces this view in his typology of consumption practices by describing “consumption as

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play” as an auto telic practice that has no ulterior end; it is simply interaction for interaction’s

sake. But while Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) argue that play is self-oriented, Holt

demonstrates that it is also other-oriented. For Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) play

allows consumers both to share their experiences with others (i.e., communing) and to

entertain others (i.e., socializing). Building on this social framework of play, Holbrook, Morris,

Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) emphasize the rules that are part of play and argue that while the

structured aspects of play allow for consumers to be manipulated and seduced, it also provides

them opportunities to be subversive by breaking the rules. Anon, (2009, 2) demonstrate that in

an experiential context, issues of self-orientation and other-orientation are woven together in a

rule-based environment in which consumption is dialectically negotiated as all participants

endlessly adapt and change.

Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40) provided the most applicable evaluation of creativity in

describing how it is marked by divergence, or extent to which something is different or novel.

The focus on divergence as the generator of experiential advertising creativity is realized

through an examination of the traditional advertising methods. The repetitive nature of

traditional advertising practices, which have been limited in both medium selection (television,

radio, press) as well as message design (full page advertisement, 30-second spot, etc). From the

limiting execution of traditional advertising practices, the research shows consumers view

advertising as a limited collection of cluttered media channels utilizing similarly designed

mediated messages With little divergence available within traditional advertising practices,

experiential advertising can use divergence to build novelty for both the advertising medium

and message. Specifically, studies including Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) and

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Cook, (2004, 1) have discussed medium divergence in their evaluations of out of home media,

revealing how the creativity of the advertising medium has resulted in greater attention to and

recall of the advertisement. Whereas no specific studies have focused on the message content,

divergence could be applicable through the integration or priming of the message to the

audience, two characteristics that will be discussed in greater detail later in this section. By

focusing on more divergent approaches, experiential advertisements should transcend the

traditional advertising schema, resulting in greater cognitive processing.

(b) Evaluating Consumer’s Attitudes in Advertising

Initial research into experiential advertising has revealed that it can, comparatively,

produce more favourable audience attitudes than traditional advertising practices. This finding

is realized in (Barczak, 2003, 56). Their study incorporated a 2x2 design (product x placement)

using an eggshell as a experiential placement for a fictitious insurance company and an elevator

panel for a fictitious energy drink, each of which were protested and shown to have strong

product-to-placement correlations. Newspaper advertisements served as the traditional media

comparisons for each product. The results from Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40) revealed that

consumers expressed more favourable attitudes towards experiential placements, as the data

found significantly more positive results regarding attitude towards the non traditional

placements compared to the traditional. Additionally, the study identified that the respondents

found the actual experiential advertisement as well as the non traditional medium to be more

credible than the traditional placement. According to Cook, (2004, 1) people buy things not only

for what they can do, but also for what they mean.” He argued that there is often a relationship

between a consumer’s lifestyle and the symbolic meanings of a product. In 1982, Holbrook and

55

Hirschman provided the first systematic study of the consumer experience by outlining an

“experiential view” of consumption. Their experiential view focuses on the subjective and

holistic experiences that consumers have with offerings rather than the objective and problem-

solving nature of the decision making process.

According to Holbrook and Hirschman, this experiential perspective is

phenomenological in spirit and regards consumption as a primarily subjective state of

consciousness with a variety of symbolic meanings, hedonic responses, and aesthetic criteria. In

contrasting their experiential view with the information processing model, they argue that

consumers utilize different inputs and obtain different outputs in an experiential context.

Consumer experiential inputs include psycho-temporal resources and desires. Consumer

experiential outputs include imagery (e.g., fantasies and daydreams), emotions, and ludic

activities (e.g., play). Though not dealing specifically with experiences, a recent article by

Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, (2006, 40) also examines the inputs that consumers bring to

experiential consumption. They argue that consumer inputs include social (e.g., family, brand,

consumer, and commercial relationships), cultural (e.g., knowledge and skills, life projects, and

imagination), and physical (e.g., sensory-motor endowment) resources. In addition to outlining

the experiential view of consumption, Hirschman and Holbrook also examine the intrinsically

motivated hedonic aspects of consumption (Tarnacha, Maitland, 2008, 40). According to the

authors, hedonic consumption designates those facets of consumer behaviour that relate to the

multi-sensory, fantasy, and emotive aspects of one’s experience with products. Despite the

success of their study, Dahlén, Edenius, (2007, 33), design is flawed by the use of an

experimental setting in lieu of realistic placements. Specifically, Holbrook, Morris, Kim,

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Corfman, (1985, 32) utilized an experimental design that relied on photographs of the

placements to serve as a viable proxy for the actual placement. As a result, their findings were

ultimately hindered by the inability of participants to encounter the messages within the actual

proposed experiential settings.

(c) Advertising Increase Attitude and Recall

In describing the emergence of consumer culture, Tarnacha, Maitland, (2008, 40)

highlighted the ability of early advertising efforts to engage audiences with uniquely creative

and powerful messages, promoting new products ranging from mouthwash to insurance

coverage. With the upward expansion of mass media from print media to nationally

broadcasted television and radio programming, the innovative messages and the channels used

to convey advertisements appeared to engage audiences through their novelty. Yet, research

shows that advertising has lost its appeal in consumer culture. Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman,

(1985, 32) for example, identified the gradual decline of consumer attitudes towards

advertising from the 1930s to the 1980s, attributing the decline to factors including rising

clutter and the intrusion of advertising messages. The noted change in attitudes appeared to

result from increasing consumer familiarity with current advertising efforts. Bilen, Devan,

Okudan, (2002, 889) noted that the creative and engaging message has become the exception

rather than the norm in today’s advertising environment as the promotional landscape is

cluttered with a barrage of otherwise forgettable messages.

Likewise, Berkowitz, David, Hill, John, (2006, 40) have identified an inverse relationship

between medium familiarity and advertisement recall, revealing how audiences both ignore

and avoid advertisements on the media channels they regularly consume. Such findings suggest

57

that traditional advertisements may no longer be effective at garnering the attention of

audiences or raising consumer awareness of promoted goods and services. As research

continues to reveal the growth of clutter and advertisement avoidance, advertisers have begun

examining experiential advertising as a means of reaching audiences. Experiential advertising

has been defined as advertising found outside of the home or work environment, where

traditional television, radio, and print advertisements are found. Preliminary research on

experiential advertising has revealed that it can be utilized to increase consumer attitudes

towards the advertisement as well as advertisement recall.

One potential reason for the success of experiential advertising is its ability to break

away from the habituation of traditional advertising by utilizing unique media and messages to

target the consumer in an unexpected fashion. The effectiveness of this departure from

recognized advertising practices may be explained by the theory of orienting response.

Identified by Agrawal, (2004, 26) as the mental and bodily responses exhibited when an

individual encounters a novel stimulus, the theory suggests that familiarity has an inverse

relationship with the cognitive response to the stimulus. It proposes that stimuli viewed as

more unique will generate more attention than those classified as typical. Applied to the

practice of advertising, orienting response can be used to explain why consistent exposure to

certain advertisements or advertising media may result in less cognitive responses to the

presented messages. The focus on cognitive response is emphasized as research including

Barczak, (2003, 56) has found that cognitive media processing can generate greater viewer

arousal, ultimately leading to increases in attitude and recall, among other variables. Despite

the potential of experiential advertising to increase consumer attitudes and recall, little

58

research exists regarding this alternative advertising approach. The lack of research most likely

stems from two apparent limitations of experiential advertising studies. First, preliminary

research has not offered a satisfactory conceptualization of experiential advertising.

According to Benady, Simonian, (2005, 13), a conceptualization of a term should

produce a specific, yet encompassing definition that incorporates both the indicators and

aspects of the concept. Examining the current pool of non traditional advertising definitions

reveals a series of studies that predicate identifications of the term on individual researcher

perceptions of experiential advertising examples, not on recognized characteristics. The

ambiguous nature of the concept of non traditional advertising thus raises questions of

reliability among initial studies in producing clearly defined and supported examples of

experiential advertisements. For example, studies such as Benady, Simonian, (2005, 13) and

Dahlén, Edenius, (2007, 33), have debated the classification of cinema advertisements.

Whereas Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985, 32) classified cinema advertisements as part

of traditional advertising practices, others including Dahlén, Edenius, (2007, 33), have

evaluated cinema advertising as a experiential practice.

In each example, the researchers have used limited rationale for their classification of

the advertisements as traditional or non traditional, often appearing to rely on their individual

perceptions. Such examples suggest that a clearer understanding of experiential advertising is

required. In addition to the lack of a formal conceptualization, experiential advertising has also

suffered from a lack of perceived significance in the advertising field. Tarnacha, Maitland,

(2008, 40) have noted that experiential advertising practices are limited in regards to the larger

integrated marketing communication efforts, making research on this topic a secondary task.

59

Only a limited amount of the advertising budget is directed towards experiential advertising,

encouraging greater research attention on more significant marketing efforts including

traditional advertising and public relations campaigns. Holbrook, Morris, Kim, Corfman, (1985,

32) attributed the lack of experiential advertising research to an apparent paradox in

advertising studies. That is, the researchers observed that the limited budget allocations

towards experiential advertising are a result of insufficient research and vice versa, suggesting

that greater research into non traditional strategies can generate insight into more effective

experiential advertising approaches, thus promoting increased budget allocation into this

marketing practice.

Recognizing the deficiencies in experiential advertising research, this paper addresses

concerns identified in early experiential advertising studies. Specifically, the work

conceptualizes experiential advertising by drawing together common concepts and theoretical

approaches found in the preliminary studies. Once conceptualized, an experiment is executed

utilizing the established conceptualization of non traditional advertising to evaluate its

influence, if any, on the recall and consumer attitudes of an unknown product (Baalbaki, Imad,

Malhotra, Naresh, 2003, 19). At the conclusion of this work readers should be able to answer

the following questions: 1) what defines an experiential advertisement and 2) how effective are

experiential advertisements in generating recall and positive consumer attitudes as compared

to traditional advertising.

(d) Customer loyalty and advertising techniques

In order to outperform competition and avoid eventual death or decline, firms must be

differentiated in ways that are unique and difficult to imitate. Cost leadership no longer enables

60

a firm to outperform competition for a sustained period. Enhancements in manufacturing

processes can be quickly imitated by competitors and aggressive cost-cutting does not yield

unique or innovative products and services that lead to customer loyalty Differentiation and

focus strategies for creating sustainable competitive advantage have changed the rules for

marketing in an organization (Tarnacha and Maitland, 2008, 67). No longer can a firm’s

leadership direct their marketing activities toward a mass market or broad demographic

grouping. There must now be a commitment at the highest levels of an organization to

conducting business on the terms of the best and most valuable customers. Leveraging

organizational CRM capabilities gives customers what they want, creating increased loyalty and

less sensitivity to competitive offerings or price promotions. Sustainable competitive

advantages are created when a firm focuses on developing unique and differentiated products

and services and targets narrow buyer segments. The integration of differentiation and focus

strategies yield loyal customers in profitable niche markets.

When a marketer is unable to capitalize on opportunities to capture and use data from

customer interactions, the marketer is unable differentiate customers by current and future

value to the firm. Firms that do not differentiate customers by current and future value cannot

successfully practice differentiation or focus strategies (Ducoffe and Curlo, 2000, 247).

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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion

The current globalization trend has impacted the way most companies perform their

business activities. Nearly all firms buy, compete or collaborate with multinational and

transnational corporations. Even smaller business entities that do not have foreign offices,

compete in one way or another with organizations that have international presence. One major

concern for firms targeting several international markets is the promotional component of their

marketing mix. Advertising along with sales promotion, public relations and personal selling

give rise to the promotional blend that is commonly used to persuade potential consumers to

move from the awareness stage to the actual consumption of a specific product/service.

Advertising is of significant relevance to international communication and business

practices because it can be utilized as an instrument to convey meaning. Advertising confers a

sense of how an actual good/service may be linked to the consumers’ world defined by

culturally established patterns. Experiences result from direct observation and/or participation;

they are not self-generated, but induced by external stimuli. These external stimuli can be

derived from product and brand experiences, environmental design, and interactions with

people. Marketers have tapped into these three aspects of experience to deliver exclusive

experiences to customers in order to influence their purchase decisions. This has been termed,

experiential marketing.

This is increasingly significant today since an increasing number of marketers are in need

of creating intense experiences to attract consumers in almost all industries. Realizing this

need, as researcher argues, many commercial design practices, from urban planning to

62

industrial design, have been borrowing the techniques and the logics of thematic experience

design in the entertainment industry.

Looking at service experience from the perspective of awareness and image, these two

authors note the importance of facilities, past experiences, word-of-mouth communications,

and employee input in the design of experiential branding. Few of these factors would appear

in a similar assessment of product brands and the product branding process. In contrast to the

traditional marketing of consumer goods, they develop service experience branding to include

place (“services cape”), people (employees and customers), process, and past experience

(personal and word-of-mouth). These four factors from the service branding research of Anon,

(2009, 2) represent a very different approach to consumer goods brand creation, development,

and promotion. They highlight the “people” element in the consumption experience and argue

that service delivery and experience staging involve real people and are not an impersonal

process. It is through people’s participation and absorption in the activities that a unique guest

experience is achieved. On the other hand, Anon, (2009, 2) experiential branding model centres

on the customer’s response and reactions to the service experience. To capture the emotional

and experiential elements of branding, Anon, (2009, 2) proposes the experience model that

depicts experiential branding from five realms: sense (sensory experiences), feel (affective

experiences), think (creative cognitive experiences), act (physical experiences, behaviour, and

lifestyles), and relate (social identity experiences that result from relating to a reference group

or culture).

Typically, research on brand experience examines the effect of one or several particular

elements (e.g., lighting, music, color) on the customer’s purchasing behavior. In the hospitality

63

industry, prior studies have focused primarily on elements such as color, design, employee

interaction, and customer engagement.

Experiences during consumption are key determinants of customer satisfaction and

brand loyalty. Hence, brands must move beyond concerns for product quality and price to

concern for brand experiences. In terms of the liminal characteristics of the experiential

interface, the study finds that the process is best characterized as an adventure. The data

suggest that this experiential adventure is a complex relationship of two main factors:

transcendence and risk. Transcendence refers to the environmental relationship between the

offering and the consumer that can be classified on a continuum from absorption to immersion.

Risk, in this context, refers to issues of control and predictability.

The relationship that customers have with products is not simply functional, but often

symbolic. People buy things not only for what they can do, but also for what they mean. There

is often a relationship between a consumer’s lifestyle and the symbolic meanings of a product.

In this research study the mixed methodology was employed. In this research, the

responses of the managers and consumers proved that experiential marketing is way better

than conventional advertising in today’s competitive world. The results help different

companies to implement the experiential marketing for attracting and retaining their

customers.

Recommendations

Companies must implement experiential more than the conventional advertising. If they

are not implementing experiential marketing strategies then they have to implement the cost

effective marketing techniques that would benefit them in the end because experiential

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marketing provides customers with an opportunity to interact with brands, including brand

representatives, products, and services face-to-face. These personal, memorable, and engaging

experiences may assist customers in becoming well acquainted with and in appreciating a

brand. These experiences shape customers’ opinions of and buying preferences towards a

brand; they also enhance the perceived value of the product and build brand loyalty. Thus,

experiential marketing’s unique ability to reach, engages, and creates relevant connections

between the brand and customers have accelerated its growth.

Experiential marketing is the use of consumer-direct channels to reach or deliver goods

and services to customers without using marketing intermediaries. The promotional activity

includes direct mails, catalogues, telemarketing, interactive televisions, kiosks, websites and

mobile devices. Experiential marketing seeks a measurable response, typically customer orders.

Sometimes marketers call experiential marketing direct-order marketing. Many direct

marketers use experiential marketing to establish a long-term relationship with customers.

For example, during Ford’s launch of a new automobile in Los Angeles, brand

representatives provided customers with individual service and educated them about the car,

which helped convince customers that this automobile could satisfy their desires. During this

activity, customers formed fantasies about the experience of owning the car, leading to brand

loyalty. After partaking in engaging and memorable experiences, consumers may generate

buzz” by sharing their experiences with family, friends, and colleagues through positive word-

of-mouth.

Two-way experiential marketing is one of the fastest-growing avenues for servicing

customers. A few business marketers have turned to direct mailings and telemarketing to

65

reduce the costs of reaching business customers through a sales force. Sales from experiential

marketing generate almost nine percent of the UK economy. In addition to increasing

productivity, companies are seeking to have mail- and phone-based selling units to reduce field

sales expenses. With the outburst of internet growth, online marketing has started becoming

very popular. It is said that Online marketing first began in the beginning of 1990 with just text-

based websites, which offered product information. With growth in the internet, it is not just

selling products alone, but in addition to this, information about products, advertising space,

software programs, auctions, stock trading and matchmaking. A few companies have

revolutionized the way; internet can be used for marketing, such as Google.com, Yahoo.com,

Amazon.com, Alibaba.com and Youtube.com.

Online marketing has been brought so many strategies such as affiliate marketing which

consists of pay per click, pay per view, pay per call, and pay per click advertising. Affiliate

marketing also includes banner advertisements. In addition to this e-mail marketing, viral

marketing, interactive advertising, blog or article-based marketing are also popular.

There are usually 2 or 3 parties involved in online marketing. It is companies and end

users or companies, online marketing companies and end users. If it is two party model then

companies themselves directly gets revenue from the end users. If it is a three party model

then online marketing service providers acts as intermediate revenue providers for companies.

(a) Objectives

(1)To find out the effectiveness of using experiential marketing and conventional

advertising for message deliverance.

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Experiential marketing benefits customers in many ways. Experiential marketing may

take time to reach prospects at the right moment and receive high responses because

experiential marketing focuses on interested prospects. Experiential marketing permits the

testing of alternative media and messages in search of the most cost-effective approach.

Experiential marketing also makes direct offers and strategies less visible to competitors, direct

marketers can measure responses of their campaigns to decide which ones have been the most

profitable. Looking at service experience from the perspective of awareness and image, these

two authors note the importance of facilities, past experiences, word-of-mouth

communications, and employee input in the design of experiential branding. Few of these

factors would appear in a similar assessment of product brands and the product branding

process.

(2)To find out how message is delivered by experiential marketing and conventional

advertising.

In contrast to the traditional marketing of consumer goods, they develop service

experience branding to include place (“services cape”), people (employees and customers),

process, and past experience (personal and word-of-mouth). These four factors from the

service branding research of Anon, represents a very different approach to consumer goods

brand creation, development, and promotion. They highlight the “people” element in the

consumption experience and argue that service delivery and experience staging involve real

people and are not an impersonal process. It is through people’s participation and absorption in

the activities that a unique guest experience is achieved. On the other hand, experiential

branding model centres on the customer’s response and reactions to the service experience.

67

To capture the emotional and experiential elements of branding proposes the

experience model that depicts experiential branding from five realms: sense (sensory

experiences), feel (affective experiences), think (creative cognitive experiences), act (physical

experiences, behaviour, and lifestyles), and relate (social identity experiences that result from

relating to a reference group or culture).

Understanding and measuring experience intensity also has important practical

implications for marketers. Managers whose aim is to create meaningful market encounters

need to understand why consumers find specific market encounters with specific characteristics

more meaningful and attractive, and search for them in the marketplace. This understanding is

crucial in order to engage their consumers and create higher levels of value, both for their

consumers and for their businesses. By understanding the logic of experiences consumers

perceive as intense, marketers can develop strong tools for creating encounters more desirable

by their consumers, and can differentiate their businesses in the intensifying competitive

environment.

Experiential marketing emphasizes one-on-one personal experience with the brand or

its representatives, who facilitate two-way communication between the consumer and brand

representative (e.g., store staff, online customer service). These options help the brand deliver

a clear message, as well as gain valuable feedback from customers.

(3)To find out the difference between experiential and conventional marketing

Consequently, the major difference between experiential marketing and traditional

marketing, which emphasizes promoting product functions, is that the former views customers

68

as affective decision makers who consume for excitement and joy. Distinction between

branding goods and branding experience therefore emerges, since branding not only serves as

a product identifier, but, even more so, as a memorable and unique experience provider.

Branding goods helps to establish product identification and differentiate the product from

competitors’ products. However, branding experience creates the engaging and memorable

experiential appeal in the market. Indeed, a field of research has emerged around the concept

of experiential branding; this work studies the dimensions of consumers’ experiences and

highlights the differences between traditional marketing and experiential branding.

In the service industry in particular, branding is noted for having inherent features that

are different from traditional consumer goods branding. Using the same marketing principles

for physical goods and service experiences is inconsistent with the inherent differences

between the two. The major difference is that the core service offering is more complex and

largely comprises processes, people, and physical facilities. To achieve the goals of satisfying

consumer needs on these three levels, 4Ps are considered as experiential branding factors.

Traditional marketers believe that customers are rational individuals who attempt to

acquire benefits from a product. In traditional marketing, the focus is on product benefits or

features that differentiate the brand from competitors’ offerings. Traditional marketing of

apparel may stress features of garment design and quality. According to an experiential

marketing perspective, customers desire more than utilitarian product benefits. They desire

value derived from innovative and aesthetic aspects of products, as well as memorable and

engaging product experiences. These aspects can express the customers’ uniqueness and

personal identity as well as satisfy their craving for innovation. Apple is frequently used as an

69

example of a brand that focuses on design to differentiate itself from competitors, such as

offering brightly coloured computers when other brands offered industrial-looking colours.

In addition, limited edition and exclusive products offer the consumer added value

because of their uniqueness. Many companies develop products in response to customer

feedback. A smaller number of firms, such as Nike and Timberland, offer rewarding product

experiences through mass customization that allows customers to contribute to the

development of a unique and personalized product. Thus, experiential marketing focuses on

design innovation and delivery of memorable product experiences. In this new environment,

brand experience is recognized as a sustainable competitive edge for brands. It advocates

creating unique and memorable experiences in terms that go beyond the traditional mix of

price and location. This concept has become of interest to areas such as psychology, economics,

retailing, marketing, organizational behavior, and consumer research.

(b) Research aim fulfilment

The study finds that control is a function of customer participation that ranges from

passive to active. Interestingly, passive participation was often associated with low risk and

active participation with high risk. The study finds that predictability is a function of security

that ranges from high security (i.e., more predictability) to low security (i.e., less predictability).

It is the combination of these various factors that determines the type of adventure that the

consumer has and its appeal. Unlike the experiential literature that often classifies adventure

with high-risk activities.

Overall, in terms of practical implications, this study is expected to contribute to a better

understanding of the details of the more desirable techniques and the logics that businesses

70

can use in order to achieve greater success in attracting contemporary consumers. in today’s

market customers take functional features and benefits, product quality, and a positive brand

image as a given. He stated that what they want is products, communications, and marketing

campaigns that dazzle their senses, touch their hearts, and stimulate their minds. They want

products, communications, and campaigns that deliver an experience and that they can relate

to and incorporate into their lifestyles. Prior to Schmitt’s statement about “dazzling”

experience, researcher went further in his claim that the criteria for successful consumption are

essentially aesthetic in nature and hinge on an appreciation of the product for its own sake,

apart from any utilitarian function that it may or may not perform.Thus, the process of

experiential consumption is similar to the appreciation of art in its emphasis on the nature of

the product or service without regard to its functional utility.

As the results have shown, it appears that experiential advertising can effectively

increase both attitude and recall for an unknown product, but advertisers must be cautious of

the utilized approaches, especially in creating advertisements that may appear too intrusive.

The results showed that experiential advertising as an essential tool in reaffirming audience

knowledge or recall of the product or service, especially near the point of sale, but that this

approach is most successful when the campaign is front-loaded by traditional advertising

efforts.

The data suggest that consumers’ desires to engage a marketing experience are not

driven by some causal relationship, as they are with goods and services, but by a meaningful

relationship between the nature of the offering and the consumer’s personal interests. This

holistic tie is not directed at any particular element, but at the common interests between the

71

offering and the consumer. This is usually what facilitates the intentional connection in the

experiential interface. In fact, this holistic tie only has to be a potential, rather than an actual,

connection because most consumers seek to enhance their personal interest from engaging the

offering. Thus, it can be concluded that the effectiveness of message deliverance can be done

by using experiential advertising techniques rather than the conventional advertising.

(c)Limitation and future reserarch

This study found that an adventure can take a variety of forms depending on the level of

transcendence and risk. More research needs to be done on the nature of experiential

adventure. In terms of the liminal characteristics of the consumer experience, the study finds

that consumers of marketing experiences envision themselves as explorers on this adventure.

Contrary to the claims of the experiential literature that consumption of these offerings is all

about escape from the oppressive conditions of modern society, the study finds that escape is

only a condition that allows for the real enjoyment of the offering. That is, the consumer

desires the freedom that comes from leaving the ordinary world behind, if only temporarily, in

order to explore new vistas.

The study finds the desire for discovery is extremely strong among consumers of these

offerings. In fact, it is usually what is suggested or what lies at the “edge” of the context that

intrigues consumers. While the process of discovery is different for every consumer, they all

seem to enjoy the new, or at least different, perspective that they get from exploring the

extraordinary. Although research has examined “edgework” in terms of consumers operating

on the edge of their abilities, more research is needed to examine consumers’ desire to explore

the edge of the unknown, which is facilitated through this form of marketing.

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APPENDIX

Questionnaire

Q1. Gender

1. Male

2. Female

Q2. Education

1. High school

2. College

3. Graduate

Q3. Do availability of the product affects your purchasing decisions?

1. Yes

2. No

Q4. Do you watch billboards while travelling?

1. Yes

2. No

Q5. Do you watch advertising while watching television or listening radio?

1. Yes

2. No

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Q6. Are you customer loyal of any brand?

1. Yes

2. No

Q7. Do you try different brands which get entered in the market? If so then what makes you

try new brands?

1. Yes

2. No

Q8. How do you know about the daily offers of any brands?

1. BTL Medium

2. ATL Medium

Q9. Do prices of the product affect your purchasing decision?

1. Yes

2. No

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Time table

(a) Gantt chart

MONTHS (2012)

TASKS

Feb March April

Construct research proposal

Draw up questionnaires

Submit proposal

Timetable interviews

Begin interviews and hand out questionnaires

Analysis and redefine problem(s)

Implement findings

Prepare draft report

Begin full data analysis

Write dissertation

Submission

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