MBA Distance education / Persuasive Communications

Q: Explain the Designing Persuasive Communications?

Ans: The following key issues will help us to understand the Designing Persuasive Communications.

the key issues in designing the Designing Persuasive Communications are:

1. Communications strategy

2. Media strategy, and

3. Message strategy the key

Let us study each of these issues in greater details.

1) Communications strategy

The sponsor must first establish the primary communications objectives, which might be awareness, promoting sales, encouraging certain practices, etc.

One example is a model based on the key factors of perception, experience, and memory.

Target Audience

Selection of the appropriate audience is key. It is essential that the sponsor segment the audience into groups that are homogeneous in terms of some relevant characteristics.

There is a need for an umbrella message for all audiences.

2) Media strategy

First, the sponsor should develop a consumer profile of the target market.

Next, a medium with an appropriate audience profile needs tobe selected.

Before selecting a specific medium, the advertiser needs to selecta general media category that will enhance the message.

Once marketers have identified the appropriate media category, they can then choose the specific medium (or media) in that category that reaches their intended audiences.

Some of the more important criteria for evaluating a media plan are:

a) Cost of space/time- the price for a one-page ad or a 30second TV spot

b) Reach- The size of the audience reached (ex. Times of India circulation of 1,432,000)

c) Audience composition- description of the audience in terms of various demographic characteristics such as age, income, or education.

d) Impact- is one media type more forceful at commanding attention than another.

e) Exposure value- evaluation of a given media vehicle may be undertaken on the basis of cost per thousand (CPM) exposures.

3) Message strategy

What is a message?

It is the thought, idea, attitude, image, or other information that the sender wishes to convey to the intended audience.

Nonverbal stimuli, such as photographs or illustrations, are commonly used to add meaning or to reinforce message arguments.

Message strategies will include

A) Advertising Rhetoric and Persuasion: Researchers need to study both semantics and the syntax of the ad message.

Semantics include the meanings of the words used and Syntax means the structure of the sentence used.

B) Message Presentation: Presentation of the message is a very important aspect of communication. In this case you need to take care of the following things:

a. Message framing

b. One-sided versus two-sided messages

c. Order effects

d. Repetition

C) Advertising Appeals

As we all know, the appeals that we use in advertising is very important. Some of the popular appeals that we use in advertising are:

a. Fear b. Humor c. Abrasive Advertising d. Sex in Advertising

e. Audience participation