Persuasion and the ELM, and the Evaluation for Advertising Effectiveness - Coursework Example

Persuasion and the ELM, and the Evaluation for Advertising Effectiveness Name Institution Instructor Course Date Persuasion and the ELM, and the Evaluation for Advertising Effectiveness Introduction The Elaboration likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion was initiated by Petty and Caciopo. This model is cognitive in nature and deals with the change of attitudes through persuasion. According to this model there are two routes that lead to attitude change. In the peripheral route, persuasion is in a form of short term acceptance based on what is acceptable in the society. The second route is known as the central route where the form of acceptance is long-lasting in nature. Attitude at this route is achieved through a lot of reflection on the information that is received. This route leads to behavior change as well as change in beliefs1. Some of the assumptions made in this route include that the audience is motivated to process any information that is of relevance to them and also has the ability to process the received information. FedEx Corporation applies ELM and persuasion in the promotion of its products to the targeted audience. In addition, its success in the transport industry can largely be attributed to effective advertising. Persuasion is some form of influence or an act of guiding someone towards accepting an idea or an attitude. In this context persuasion is used to imply the act of persuading an individual or an organization to accept or use the services offered by the FedEx Corporation. It is about the presentation of ideas to change someone’s’ beliefs or attitudes towards something. Persuasion through the peripheral route is achieved by social conformity2. When a company brand is achieved by attractive quality and value on the services and products offered, then that can be considered to be the peripheral route. For a long-term belief to be cultivated in clients, then the ads must be attractive and relevant to the targeted audience. They must also be simple to be clearly understood and based on actual facts to persuade the audience to buy the products being advertised. The main difference between the peripheral and the central routes is that one is about being convinced by the information presented while the other is being persuaded by social pressures. The two routes require different thoughts while approaching them. Central route requires a more thoughtful persuasion while the peripheral route is considered to take a low thought persuasion. A thoughtful persuasion is more persistent and is resistant to change while the behavior that results from low-thought persuasion is predictive in nature. FedEx Express is the largest express transportation company in the world. It provides reliable delivery to US and 220 more countries across the world. This company uses global air and ground network for speedy delivery to clients in various destinations. Its world headquarters is in Memphis although there are other headquarters in Hong Kong, China, Canada, Latin America and Europe. FedEx was founded in 1971 where it was known as Federal Express Corporation. Its principal officer is David Bronczek who is also the CEO3. FedEx Corp was formed in 1998 as it was originally known as the FDX Corp. the FedEx Corporation has many subsidiaries operating under the FedEx name. Some of these include FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Office, FedEx Services, and FedEx Supply Chain Solutions. The FedEx Corporation was established with an aim of providing more diversified services than it was providing before 1998. In order to establish a stronger brand name the FDX Corp was renamed FedEx Corporation while the Federal Express became the FedEx Express. FedEx provides a lot of transportation services with quite a wide range of shipments. It is important to note that FedEx applies the ELM model and persuasion to capture the attention of the potential customers in the competitive world. Both peripheral and the central routes are used at FedEx in order to sell its brand to the market. The FedEx Singapore was started in April 28th 2011 and is expected to be fully operational towards the end of 2012. The new FedEx in Singapore is being built within the Air Cargo Express (ACE) Hub at Changi Airport in Singapore. The facility is utilizing the Singapore’s access to world market for the FedEx clients in line with the Singapore’s objective of being the leading air cargo hub in the Asian Pacific region4. The FedEx facility in Singapore covers 282,700 square foot and is considered to be the second largest FedEx facility in the Asian Pacific region. Upon completion, FedEx will harbour FedEx delivery, pick-up, and air operations all under one roof. The new facility is expected to enhance the long commitment that FedEx has had with Singapore where it is already established in the South Pacific headquarters. Customers are expected to benefit fully from the new facility by getting faster and reliable access to the world opportunities in trading. In the shipping service industry the few competitors include UPS, DHL, and USPS but each of them has its own customers who are loyal to their brands. In a bid to attract more customers, the players in the shipping services industry tend to avoid engaging in war prices but instead use other methods to encourage customers to use their services. The war on prices is only likely to precipitate when there is an economic crunch prompting the companies to strive to remain in business. The shipping industry is quite dynamic in nature as there are numerous consumers’ needs to be met. The introduction of internet has contributed positively as it has changed the was shipping business is conducted as FedEx Corporation can now avail its services online where customers can have access to the various services offered by the company5. Customers can also order for the services via the internet. In its use of the ELM model of persuasion, FedEx corporation seem to rely largely on the central route of persuasion where the change of attitude in customers is achieved by presenting customers with the information about their services giving them a chance to make an informed decision whether to purchase them or not. This is done by letting the potential clients know all the services that can be offered by the FedEx Corporation and particularly in its Singapore branch. How FedEx manages its marketing communication messages FedEx is an organization that values its customers and hence employs effective communication strategies through integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). The IMC concept is strategic business approach that is used for effective and persuasive communication with consumers and other target audience in the market. At FedEx, communication to the target audience comes from the marketing department where IMC is developed in four stages. At stage one, communication coordination is done through such areas as advertising, promotion, and public relations functions where direct response is sought from the clients. At FedEx, all the activities at the marketing department are directed towards customers’ satisfaction through customer segments. Each of the customers segment is composed of a complete marketing team comprised of a manager, marketer, analyst, and an account representative6. The teams hold frequent meetings and the marketing representatives communicate to the FedEx through the FedEx corporate e-mail system. At stage two the scope of communication is redefined to incorporate the clients’ viewpoint. The main focus is on how the customer should access the products and services offered by the FedEx Corporation. The scope of communication at this stage also includes some of the internal marketing aspects such as employees, suppliers, and other stakeholders. The flattop management system that is used by the FedEx allows an easy flow of information. Foe instance, every Monday morning the marketing senior VP holds a meeting with all the other marketing VPs to get direct reports from them. The directors also meets with the people they report to and by Tuesday all the information from the Monday morning report is completely disseminated. The process is repeated every week. At stage three, IT is applied where any data gathered from the IT department is utilized towards identifying the impact of the external and the internal communication in various departments. The fourth stage involves the integration of the communication process with the communication process. The main focus is on the company’s strategic process by getting the customer’s insights on different aspects of service delivery7. Customer feedback becomes vital in the integration process and this could be via the email system. The financial decisions pertaining the marketing are based on the advantages towards customer acquisition and retention. At FedEx there are two IT teams that are located at the marketing department and report to the IT and the marketing department. The FedEx Corporation also maintains customers’ data from all its worldwide operations. The financial analysis at FedEx is done comprehensively after every marketing promotion where the results are compared to the actual business plan. The variables that FedEx should apply to determine the advantages and limitations of its persuasion strategies, and how can these variables can be measured FedEx has been very active in advertising campaigns where it persuades customers to use its products and services. For a long term time FedEx ahs been known for its reliability, speed and the great advertising it employs. In the year 2011, FedEx has continued to promote its brand image in the advertising strategy that is referred to as the brand campaign. What it aims to achieve is to have FedEx as the brand name that everyone thinks about when it comes to the transportations logistics8. In most of its advertisements, FedEx establishes itself as a “proud partner”, or an organization that facilitates great service and partnership with its customers. Any organization that seeks to advance in the corporate world then has to identify FedEx as its major partner in doing business as it is noted in one of its advertisements. Most of the advertisements are run in televisions, Newspapers, Radios, and internet. The introduction of the mobile commerce has also seen FedEx establish a great advertising campaign through the mobile phones internet. This is targeting the majority of the businessmen who are always traveling, and capturing this market segment is an achievement to the company as it was noted by the FedEx President. FedEx also persuades customers to buy its products by participating in the sustainability campaigns. It emphasizes that even though it has to deliver packages to clients, it should not affect the future lives in the ecosystem9. It therefore participates in environmental friendly and sustainable initiatives such as recycling of its packaging material. In an effort to save the energy consumption and to reduce the rate of global warming, FedEx is also using solar paneled facilities in most of its outlets including the FedEx Singapore. Use of solar energy reduces carbon emissions into the atmosphere which leads to environmental degradation. In the past few years, FedEx introduced low carbon emission trucks that have been very effective in the promotion of the environmental conservation. In addition, FedEx recently purchased a Boeing 777 Freighter airplane that has double engine for fuel conservation and low carbon emissions. Through advertising, FedEx lets its customers know the wide range of products it has on offer. For instance, there is an advertising campaign that promotes the FedEx Office where the campaign slogan states, “We make you look good in paper10.” This demonstrates the expertise and the convenience of the printing solutions offered by the FedEx Office. It is important to note that quite a great number of clients are attracted to the FedEx Office even when they have no transport business to be attended to. Speed is very vital when it comes to the transport industry. The new FedEx Racing campaign tries to demonstrate how fast FedEx services can be by use of racing cars that are branded wit h big logos of FedEx. This has contributed in capturing the market segment that majors in the sports industry. To show its interest in the sportsmanship, FedEx has introduced the FedExCup to be used in the promotion of sports through golf tournaments. FedEx Golfing School has also been established to identify young talents in playing. This according to a marketing executive will promote the future of golf in the world. FedEx reminds its potential clients on how it takes part in the promotion of football through sponsorship deals in the NFL. In sports marketing, FedEx has established an advertising campaign by involving the FedExForum in the NBA Arena, FedExField, and the FedEx and Southern Heritage Classic. Some of the variables in FedEx persuasion strategies include the target audience. The persuasion strategy that is being applied is determined by the type of the target audience that a particular persuasion is directed towards11. When a persuasion strategy is being directed to the upper class people, then FedEx by consider sponsoring golfing tournaments in places such as Singapore. If the intention is to target the middle class people the persuasion strategy will vary because it might decide to advertise its products by sponsoring such events as NBA or football leagues. Another variable in persuasion is the cost of the persuasion strategy. The cost of advertising varies depending on the medium used to place the advertisement. Cost also depends on the number of people that are likely to be persuaded by an ad to buy the FedEx products. In this context a local newspaper is likely to be cheaper than an international media. The type of service to be offered to a client may also be a variable to persuasion. Different types of services offered by FedEx may require different persuasion strategies. For instance a shipment service foe a cargo may require different persuasion approach than a local delivery of a cargo12. In order to measure the variables to persuasion, FedEx can invest in target audience evaluation so as to determine the type of persuasion strategy to be applied to a particular audience. Cost variable can be measured by ensuring that any persuasion strategy falls within the set budget allocation t avoid overspending in one strategy. The strengths and limitations of FedEx’s current advertising in terms of its brand recognition FedEx has a strong brand equity which is as result of continuous advertising and promotions. The company has established a very strong infrastructure putting a lot of effort to innovation and technology. Using of racing, golf tournaments, NBA tournaments, and other sporting events as a form of advertising its brands has been quite effective to the FedEx Corporation. It has reached out to the potential clients in the sporting industry who can easily be identified with such events. These people also have their needs for transportation that can be handled by the FedEx Company but only they are recognized through the sporting activities. Television is also used as a means of advertising by the FedEx Corporation. The strength of television is that it reaches millions of people especially in the countries where FedEx is established. The advertisements on television can be designed to meet the needs of specific clients in the market13. Different languages are also used in the advertisements depending on the national languages of such countries. Most advertisements in FedEx are covered in English. The FedEx ads are straightforward, brief, and precise. This makes them easy to understand as it’s gauged by the number of responses from the potential customers. The FedEx brand name is associated with express package delivery. The company has managed to position itself in the minds of customers such that when they need to send their packages fast enough, they say “FedEx it.” FedEx is a great brand that customers are able to identify with due to its consistency in quality delivery14. For this to be achieved FedEx has differentiated its products by providing services in a unique manner that its competitors cannot match. The amount of assurance in its products comes from the fact that it is relatively difficult for the competitors to imitate the services offered at FedEx as they are quite unique and customers are already identified with them. For anyone to efficiently compete with FedEx, it requires a lot of investments in infrastructure and advertising, as FedEx owns an enormous fleet of aircrafts and delivery trucks. In 2005, FedEx spent more than $1.5 billion dollars in infrastructure investments. This is difficult for the competitors to imitate due to the large amount of capital involved. What FedEx advertises to the customers is very real due to its existing competency in innovation and technologies. The commitment to the provision of value added services is what makes FedEx to remain the leading express delivery company in the world15. As a way of improving its brand, FedEx was the first express company to embrace the use of World Wide Web. Currently some of the advertisements are run in the website which connects more than two million people from all over the world. The limitations of the FedEx advertising include the high costs involved in advertising in all the FedEx outlets in the world. The accounting department needs to undertake a serious financial analysis on the advertisement costs to find out the impacts to the company sales. As it is, the company could be investing a lot in ads and reaping very little from it or in the name of brand recognition. When the business is low, as it occasionally happens, the high fixed costs can be of disadvantage to the company’s financial performance. The limit will always be the financial allocation to the advertising as the costs should not surpass the budget allocation. While conducting its advertisement campaigns, FedEx always has to consider the advertisement strategies being used by Ups and DHL, who are its main competitors. Suggested actions to improve the effectiveness of FedEx’s current advertising strategies The emerging competition in the delivery and transport industry should trigger FedEx to invest more in advertisement. Whereas FedEx has strived to be the market leader in the package delivery, it is a challenge to remain in that position and requires application of new strategies in advertising16. FedEx should change to become a one stop source for the three main services it offers that include supply chain management, delivery, and logistic management. One major weakness in the FedEx’s advertising strategy is that it does not advertise itself as a whole. Other companies such as UPS, DHL, and TNT have made technological improvements to their services and are fast trying to catch up with FedEx and may soon claim a portion of the FedEx market segment17. Over the FedEx has earned customers loyalty and needs just to improve on its advertising strategy to cope with the modern trends. One way that FedEx can use to improve on its advertisement is by investing heavily in online marketing. FedEx has its presence in more than 200 countries but apparently boasts of having less than 10 million people visiting its website. These figures imply that the company is not utilizing the full potential of the customers who can access its services through the internet. If more vibrant online advertising is done, the number of people visiting its online site may double in the next two years. This is not likely to be difficult since the company has already established a trusted brand name. Instead of concentrating on the established sports such as golf where it sponsors several tournaments, FedEx should try associating its advertisements with more sports such as swimming and even athletics. When it comes to football, I think FedEx can focus more on the major leagues either in Spain, England, Germany, or in Italy. Its financial status allows to sponsor such big teams where it cam have its brand name being advertised to reach the bigger audience in the world18. The initial cost for engaging in such a venture might be overwhelming but at the end the company is likely to reap more profits by gaining more customer base. Should FEDEX aim to increase reach or frequency to improve the effectiveness of the current advertising campaign? FedEx has been investing heavily on the advertisement campaign that has seen quite a number of clients being reached via the advertising campaign. To be able to reach more people, FedEx should focus on increasing the effectiveness of the current advertising campaign. The company should do this by re-evaluating its target audience because any ad that is not directed to the right audience might be a waste of resources since it’s not likely to yield any positive results. Currently the target audience for the FedEx Company is the middle-income people and the high income individuals who can afford to pay freight charges to various destinations in the world19. It also targets companies that deal with export and imports business for the delivery of their products. What the company needs to do is to up its advertising campaign to target even the low income people, who can at least afford to pay for the delivery of products within their country. More effort needs to be put into the local advertising where even electronic banners should be fixed in local towns and villages to reach for a wider audience. Instead of placing general ads, FedEx should aim to redesign its ads so that they can meet the specific audience. When a potential customer comes across a tailor-made ad, he is likely to feel associated with it and in return would want to try the products and services being advertised. Potential customers need to be recognized and appreciated by simply taking the ads where they van access them20. When the FedEx initiates advertisement campaigns that are associated with racing cars and golf, then to some it might seem to be targeting the rich or the upper class while in the real sense it is actually targeting even the common people. Conclusion More attention also needs to be driven towards the sporting events in local communities. Such events might not be in the national or international limelight, but the company should basically use such events as a way of advertising its products. In most cases,communities that are cultural events that FedEx could engage in as a way of advertising products and promoting its brand name. It would be of great benefit if FedEx introduced more modes of advertisement such as distribution of fliers in local towns21. This is a relatively cheaper way of advertising but is likely to be effective if administered well. An ad will not be considered to be effective if it fails to meet the budgetary requirements. An ad campaign should be controlled by the budget allocation instead of controlling the budget. After ensuring that the ad falls within the set budget FedEx should scrutinize it to ensure that it does not divert from the targeted audience. When the targeted customers are understood, the ads are then improved based on those prospects. FedEx should also assess the effectiveness of its ad campaigns by having a team that researches on the impacts of the ads in the society22. It will also be vital to how the ad is received by the customers and take into consideration any suggested improvement from the potential customers. When an ad does not augur well with the intended audience, the company should not gamble with it but should instead withdraw it from the market or make the necessary adjustments to improve on it. References Altstiel, T., & Grow, J. 2006. Advertising strategy: creative tactics from the outside/in. Florida: SAGE. Bartels, G., & Nelissen, W. 2010. Marketing for sustainability: towards transactional policy- making. California: IOS Press. Baumeister, R., & Finkel, E. 2010. Advanced social psychology: the state of the science. London: Oxford University Press. Bohner, G., & Wanke, M. 2002. Attitudes and attitude change. Boston: Psychology Press. Dillard, J., & Pfau, M. 2002. The persuasion handbook: developments in theory and practice. London: SAGE. Donovan, R., & Henley, N. 2010. Principles and Practice of Social Marketing: An International Perspective. London: Cambridge University Press. Drewniany, B., & Jewler, A. 2007. Creative Strategy in Advertising. New York: Cengage Learning. Finney, S., & Hansen, M. 2010. “International marketing as a change management tool: A case study in re-branding.” Journal of Marketing Communications. Vol. 16, Issue 5, pp. 325- 344. Kitchen, F., & Kim, I. 2008. “ Integrated Marketing Communications: Practice Leads Theory.” Journal of Advertising Research. Vol. 48, No. 4 pp.531-546. Krishna, A., & Ahluwalia, R. 2008.” Language Choice in advertising to Bilinguals: Asymmetric Effects for Multinational versus Local Firms.” Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 21, Issue 2, pp. 67-70. Lakhani, D. 2005. Persuasion: the art of getting what you want. Boston: John Wiley and Sons. Lau-Gesk, L., & Meyers-Levy, J. 2009. “Emotional Persuasion: When the Valence Versus the Resource Demands of Emotions influence consumers’ attitudes. “Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 30. No. 5, pp.136-143. Levy, M., & Peracchio. 1995. “ Understanding the Effects of Color: How the correspondence between Available and Required Resources Affects Attitudes.” Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 22. No. 2, pp.121-138. McGoon, C. 2011. "Cutting-edge companies use integrated marketing communication". Communication World. Retrieved on May, 2011 from, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4422/is_1_16/ai_53527379/ Murray, R. 2011. “ FedEx Express Building Singapore Regional Hub.” The Journal of Commerce. 21(5), pp 58-62. Neelan, B. 2009. 5 Strategies for maximizing search and Email Marketing. Journal of Marketing. Vol. 5, Issue 56, pp. 78-84. O’Keefe, D. 2002. Persuasion theory and research. London: SAGE. O’Shaughnessy, J., & O’Shaughnessy, N. 2004. Persuasion in advertising. New York: Routledge. Simons, H. 2001. Persuasion in the society. New York: SAGE. Stone, G., & Lewis, L. 2000. “Recall, liking and creativity in TV Commercials: A New Approach. Journal of Advertising Research. Vol. 40, No. 3 pp. 45-54. Read More