There’s a lot that goes into commercials. One would be foolish to simply think that because an ad is funny it automatically elicits a positive emotion from the audience, and in turn predicts purchase intentions. There’s a lot that goes on when making a commercial. And there’s a lot that goes on towards researching the factors influences an audience to consume a brand. Am I going to give you a full lesson on commercials? Not today (…sorry, I know you’re begging for it!). I will however give you a small basic lesson on some of the finer points…
While other variables exists, a good amount of the advertising research focuses on a simple construct called ‘Attitude towards the Ad’ – abbreviated as ‘Aad’. Simply stated, attitude towards the ad is just that – its the audience’s attitude towards what is put on screen. Not towards the brand, not towards the company – but simply your attitude towards the advertisement itself, as a whole. Now there’s multitude of factors that can influence this variable ( and the variables it influences) but, I’ll give you the ol’ 1-2-3. Attitude towards the ad, usually leads to on’es attitude towards the brand being advertised (attitude towards the brand, marked as ‘Ab’). Finally, attitude towards the brand leads to purchase intentions, marked as ‘PI’. When its call said and done it looks like this: Aad –> Ab –> PI.
With this being said, researchers are doing what they can to influence attitude towards the ad. They do this because they know it will eventually play a key role in a consumer’s decision to purchase their brand.
Its no wonder why you say to yourself, these Geico commercials don’t really talk about insurance – they’re all about this little British frog…or, um, Gecko. The Gecko makes you laugh and in turn you like the ad. Because you like the ad, whether you believe it or not, your attitude towards the brand itself changes (…if you have bad feelings towards Geico, you may want to consider how you feel about the British Gecko). Because you have a certain attitude towards this ad, you will therefore consider purchasing said brand when it comes time to pick an insurance type.
SO. Now that this little mini lesson is over, I have to say that Dick’s Sporting Goods is doing an excellent job. Although they don’t have a location near me, I have made up my mind that I will be visiting one whenever I get the chance. Why? Well I made the decision without realizing that I went down the aforementioned formulaic path (Aad –> Ab –> PI). I just wanted to go, but I didn’t realize, until I thought it over, that my attitude towards their ads influenced my attitude towards their brand, and this in turn made me want to go to their store.
Dicks has been on a tare. Coming out with good commercial after good commercial. They don’t advertise the store at all. In fact, many of their ads don’t say anything at all – they are just flat out good commercials. They have certainly proved the point that Aad will eventually lead to PI. There’s no methods of persuasion, there’s no ‘our brand is better than yours’; these ads are just flat out good ads.
You can thank me for the lesson later, but as for now, I leave you with 3 of my favorites – all with a different feel – all having a sure shot to influence your attitude towards it.
And finally, here’s my favorite…With the Rudy Music!…
