Communication Research free essay sample

In this assignment the nine creative characteristics in eight different advertisements, will be explored and describe by means of content analysis. 1MAIN ISSUE Explore and describe, by means of qualitative and quantitative content analysis, the characteristics of nine creative concepts and their creative application in eight different adverts, found in two different publications: cross sectional. 2RESEARCH CRITERIA Relevance: Advertising is directly related to marketing, which makes the issue relevant to communication science. Researchability: The issue can be researched by collecting and exploring the creative concepts of eight different advertisements from two different magazine or newspaper publications. Feasibility:The investigation is feasible as there are not many resources necessary, and it is easy and inexpensive to purchase two magazine or newspaper publications. Ethical acceptability: The research deals with eight advertisements from two publications, it will therefore be ethically acceptable because no persons are involved, so no harm can be done. 3EXTENT The research will be done in two magazines, namely the YOU magazine and Destiny both from January 3rd, 2013. Both of these magazines deal with fashion, beauty, entertainment, food and lifestyle. This is a cross sectional study, done on the 2013 January 3rd issues, because of their vast variety of advertisements that can be analysed. The research is done on all creative concept per each of the chosen advertisement. The advertisements chosen include: You magazine:Satiskin- page 33Toughees -page 39 HP- page 40Buccaneer- page 52 Destiny Magazine:DKNY- page 7Chevrolet- page 2-3 Landrover- page 9Bourneville- page 21 I chose these adverts because I found them to be the most creative, eye catching and exciting. This cross sectional study was conducted on July 10th 2013, well in time for the assignment due date. 4POPULATION There are two types of populations, the target population and the accessible population. The target population includes all possible publications and advertisements. The accessible population includes all the advertisements of the selected two publications, namely YOU magazine and Destiny magazine, January 3rd 2013 edition, The different characteristics of the accessible population include different creative concepts; language used/not used ; text and colour; and use of pictures. The units of analysis include the nine different creative concepts within each advertisement. These characteristics and units of analysis are appropriate for this research issue because it will aid me in describing the characteristics of the nine creative concepts and their creative application in eight different adverts. 5ASSUMPTIONS AND SUB-ISSUES Assumptions: Different creative concepts are used in different advertisements selected from the two publications. Car advertisements use more than three creative concept per advertisement. The creative concept, branding, is found in all advertisements. Each advertisement applies more than one creative concept Sub-issue: Do different advertisements use different creative concepts? Do car advertisements use more than three creative concept per advertisement? Is the creative concept, branding, found in all of the advertisements? Does each advertisement apply more than one creative concept? 6GOAL AND OBJECTIVES The goal is applied communication research because we want to investigate a practical issue. Th practical issue in this research is to determine the characteristics of the nine creative concepts in the selected advertisements from the two. The two objectives in this research include exploratory and descriptive objectives. Objectives are exploratory because we want to explore the nine different creative concepts. The objective are descriptive because we want to describe how these nine creative concepts are used in each advertisement. 7RESEARCH QUESTION Which creative concepts are used in different selected advertisements? How do the creative concepts used in the Toughees advertisement differ from those of the Buccaneer advertisement. If more than one creative concept is used in some advertisements, which advertisements are they used in? Is there any particular creative concept which is found in all advertisements? 8THEORETICAL APPROACH Content analysis Content analysis refers to the qualitative or quantitative analysis of the different creative concepts in the different advertisements selected from the two publications, YOU and Destiny magazine. Systematic observations are applied to messages as units of analysis, which include the nine different creative concepts within the selected advertisements. Content analysis is a research tool focused on the content and is used to determine the presence of certain words, concepts, themes, phrases, characters, or sentences within texts and then quantify these findings. To conduct a content analysis on a text, the text is coded, or broken down, into manageable categories and then examined (https://www. ischool. utexas. edu/~palmquis/courses/content. html). Operational definitions of creative concepts 1Benefit: Advertisers offers or promises a benefit of some sort. This creative characteristic is used to show how the product can satisfy the consumers wants and needs, and be beneficial to the consumer. In the Tounghees advertisement, in the YOU magazine, a 6 month guarantee is promised. The HP advert, in the YOU magazine, promises the reader that they will be able to print twice the amount of pages at the same cost, thus promising you the benefit of saving money. Buccaneers, in the YOU magazine, promises comfort and quality. The Satiskin advert, in the YOU magazine, promises quality and PH balance. 2Curiosity: If the advertisement does not promise new or exciting benefits, the copy should provoke curiosity (Du Ploy 2009:261). This creative characteristic is used to get the consumers attention and arouse interest in the product or brand. The HP advertisement arouses interest with the statement â€Å"print more, pay less†, the reader becomes interested in the idea of saving money. The Bourneville advert, in the Destiny magazine, provokes curiosity with the picture of the woman being licked like a cat during bath time. This image is strange and arouses curiosity. The Buccaneers advert makes the statement â€Å"Making it easy for moms since 1905†, this statement provokes curiosity in the fact that they have been around for so long and are an established company. The Toughees advert, in the YOU magazine, provokes curiosity when they claim that you take 156400 steps at school, per year. The DKNY advert for Golden Delicious arrouses curiousity through the models eyes, and also by comparing the purfume to a delicious golden apple. The Land-rover advert states â€Å"The calm befor, during, and after the storm†, this indicates that this car is very stable and safeno matter what the weather is. 3Amplification: Amplification is done by elaborating and adding detail about the product or service, to make it more appealing or explain it to the reader. In the Buccaneer advert, in the YOU magazine, there is a history of the company they state that they have earned the title shoe school specialists. The Chevrolet advert, in the Destiny magazine, has a description of the car features included, aswell as a birds eye view of the interior of the car to showcase the spaciousness. 4Claims: Claims are assertions about the service or product supported by data. Claims must contain proof, which can be done by relying on credibility (ethos), or by using an emotional appeal (pathos), and/or a logical argument (logos)(Du Ploy 2009:261). Proof can take the form of guarantees. In the Tounghees advertisement, in the YOU magazine, a 6 month guarantee is promised. Claims can also take the form of approval from accredited source. In the Buccaneer advert, in the YOU magazine, they state that they have earned the title school shoe specialists, this being recognistion of credibility. The Buccaneers adverts also uses logic when they provide a 6 step checklist for a comfortable fit and how they adhere to all checklist items. 5Actions:This includes the actions the consumers take when purchasing a product or service. These invitations to contact the organisation are places at the end of the advertisement. In the advertisement for DKNY, in the Destiny magazine, they invite the reader to join the care club on facebook. Although none of the other advertisements invite the reader to contact the organisation, many of the advertisements do provide a website to visit and indicate that they are on Facebook and twitter to get more information. 6Brand name: The brand name, term or symbol is what makes a brand identifiable, and distinguishes it from other services or products. Brand names must be included in the advertisement and is usually repeated verbally or visually (Du Ploy 2009:263). In the Satiskin advert, the brand name is repeated in the information section as well as on the bottles. In the HP advertisement, the HP logo is shown twice and the name is shown another three times. The Buccaneers advertisement mentiones the brand name eight times in the advertisement. The brand name is very important in establishing a brand identity and creating brand awareness. In the selected adverts, the brand name is included in every advertisement. 7Appeals: This refers to the way the advertisement reaches out to the specific target audience. The Toughees and Buccaneer adverts in the YOU magazine, will both immediately appeal to mothers with school going children. The DKNY advert, in the Destiny magazine, appeals to females because of the statement â€Å"a fragrance for women†. The chevrolet advertisement appeals to the adventurous man through the use of the picture of the camping and climbing gear in the car. Land-Rover also appeals to men, by making the car look strong and masculine is the story weather 8Slogan: This is a motto, catchword, catch phrase or jingle used to make the brand more identifiable. Slogans are created for specific campaigns, or are used permanently for a company. Slogans should be short, simple and represent what the brand or product is. In the Destiny magazine, for Chevrolet, the permanent slogan is â€Å"where will Chevrolet take you? †. The Landrover slogan is â€Å"Above and beyond†, indicating that this car is better than the rest. In the YOU magazine the Satiskin slogan is â€Å"indulge your senses†, this suggests that the product is both good on the skin and has a great smell. The Bourneville slogan is â€Å"on the deliciously dark side†. 9Factual and emotional approach: Factual approach uses rational communication which is logical, descriptive or scientific (Du Ploy 2009:263). A factual approach makes strong claims and uses demonstrations to convince the consumer that they are scientifically proven. The HP, the Buccaneers and Chevrolet advert all use factual information, providing facts about the product. The emotional approach uses communication that expresses and excites feelings (Du Ploy 2009:263). The emotional approach creates feelings, images, meanings and beliefs about the product that may be activated when the consumer uses it. The Land-rover advert creates feelings of excitement and fearlessness because of the stormy backdrop, thus making the reader feel like this product will be exciting but stable and safe when driven. The Bourneville advertisements also creates emotions of desire and playfulness that is expected when one eats the ice cream. The satiskin advert appeals to a womens femanine side, and need for luxuary in the comfort of your own home. The image of the young boy and his monther doing math home work in the HP advert evoked the emotion of giving your child the best for less. 9RESEARCH DESIGN The research design used for this research is both qualitative and quantitative applied research. Quantitative research, deals with the quantification of data (counting and representation of data in numbers and/or percentages); using statistical programmes to draw inferences and make calculations based on the collected data. The objective of quantitative design is to describe, predict and explain quantities and to generalise from a sample to the target or accessible population by collecting numerical data. (Du Plooy 2001:83). Questions in the questionnaire are closed-ended, where respondents merely had to answer yes or no, or select an option from a list, or list information in order of preference. The researcher explores the creative concepts identified in the chosen advertisements. By investigating how the creative concepts are applied practically in current advertisements, the researcher draws numerical comparisons between the selected advertisements and the creative concepts applied within. Qualitative research is where opinions are expressed. There will be no figures, only opinions and findings related to written responses. Qualitative research is appropriate because we intend to examine the properties, values, and characteristics of a message. The researcher analyses advertisements and creative concepts to confirm theoretical assumptions made. The objective is to explore areas where limited or no prior information exists and to describe the behaviour, themes, attitudes, needs or relations that are applicable to the units analysed (Du Plooy 2009:88). Both inductive and deductive methods of reasoning are used in this research. Assumptions, sub-issues, research questions are guided by the theory of persuasive communication as per deductive reasoning. Method of reasoning is deductive because operational definitions are formulated and researched with the intention to verify them. This study also seeks to test the theory on persuasive communication by accepting and/or rejecting said assumptions in as well as to answer the research questions. (Du Plooy 2001:82). Inductive reasoning is applied to the analysis of creative concepts to confirm the theoretical assumptions in order to draw general conclusions. Research questions are based on these assumptions and the specific frequency with which each creative concept is measured in advertisements. 10DATA-COLLECTION AND TECHNIQUES Cross-sectional research is done on both quantitative as well as qualitative designs due to applying both inductive and deductive reasoning. Quantitative method can be used as the creative concepts can be counted in each advertisement, how many times they appear. Content analysis method is used to record the frequency that the creative concepts appear in each of the eight selected advertisements. Content analysis uses four specific units of analysis. Physical units include the medium of the communication, the number of pages, the size and space of the print media (Du Ploy 2009:214). Syntactic units include the paragraphs, sentences, phrases, clauses or words used in the text (Du Ploy 2009:214). The thematic units are the repeating patters of propositions or ideas related to a specific issue (Du Ploy 2009:214). Propositional units involve the questions, answers, statements, assertions and arguments used (Du Ploy 2009:214). Qualitative design is appropriate when we intend examining the properties or characteristics of messages (Du Plooy2009:88). Qualitative content analysis will be used as a research method to explore and describe the creative concepts that are evident in the selected advertisements. This would be done by looking at one advertisement and finding out whether or not a creative concept is present. Method of reasoning is deductive because operational definitions are formulated and the theoretical approach discussed. Inductive reasoning is applied to confirm the theoretical assumptions in order to draw general conclusions. The goal is applied communication research because we want to identify and investigate the nine creative concepts within the eight advertisements from the two different selected publications, YOU magazine and Destiny magazine. Ratio level of measurement is used to give an indication of whether the particular creative characteristic is present or absent in each of the advertisements. A tally sheet is used to allocate the data into specific categories. Categories in the tally sheet include the nine creative concepts namely benefit, curiosity, amplification, claims and proof, action, brand name, appeals, slogan and factual or emotional approach. The eight different advertisements are also used as categories. The creative concepts are not mutually exclusive because an advertisement can fall into more than one creative concept category. The categories are exhaustive because each and every advertisement can be placed into a category of creative concepts. The target population for this research includes all possible publications and advertisements, while the accessible population includes all the advertisements of the selected two publications, namely YOU magazine and Destiny magazine, January 3rd 2013 edition. The researcher decides on the sample size before the research starts. Non probability sampling was used because of the small population. Non-probability sampling refers to a sample selected that does not have a probable chance of representing the target population (Du Plooy 2009:123). Purposive sampling is used because the sample needed to be selected with the research purpose in mind. These purposefully selected texts are chosen because they inform the research questions being investigated. The sample advertisements that were chosen, were chosen based on what was believed to be appropriate for the research study. The sample size of eight advertisements from the accessible population, was chosen by the researcher before hand. From the two publications,YOU magazine and Destiny magazine, four advertisements were chosen out of 12 full page advertisements in the YOU magazine, and four advertisements were chosen out of a total of 16 full page advertisements in the Destiny magazine, using the method of purposive sampling. Once the sample is drawn, the researcher then identifies the nine creative concepts applied in each of the eight advertisement. Qualitative data is done through the examination and observation of the characteristics, properties and values of the eight advertisement messages. Each advertisement is analysed to identify all the creative concepts applied in each. This quantitative data found is collected on a tally sheet, and the findings are allocate within categories. The tally sheet organises the data as a visual summary. 11 DATA ANALYSIS Below is the tally table used to summarise the frequencies of nine creative concepts applied within each of the eight selected advertisements. The key below indicates what the advertisements the numbers represent. Along the top of the tally sheet all the creative concepts are labelled. Along the left the numbers of the advertisements are shown. Below is a key, showing what number represents which advertisement. Each magazine received a 1 if the magazine contained the creative concept and a 0 if it did not. Along the bottom the total number of each creative concepts used is indicated, and along the left the total number creative concepts used per advertisement is displayed. Table 1. 0 M A G A Z I N E A D V E R T S CREATIVE CONCEPTS Benefit curious Amplify Claims Action Brand name Appeal Slogan Approach Total % Fact Emo 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 4 40 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 6 60 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 40 4 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 6 60 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 4 40 6 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 5 50 7 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 5 50 8 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 4 40 Total 3 6 2 2 1 8 5 4 3 4 30 % 37. 5 75 25 25 12. 5 100 62. 5 50 37. 5 50 KEY: YOU magazine: 1=Satiskin2=Toughees 3=HP4=Buccaneer Destiny Magazine: 5=DKNY6=Chevrolet 7=Land-Rover8=Bourneville 1= Creative concepts applied 0= Creative concept not applied Qualitative data was collected through the observation of each of the advertisements, to identify the creative concepts applied in each. Each occurrence of a creative concepts, within the eight advertisements, were scored up on the tally sheet. The tally sheet organised the data to provide a visual summary of how many and which creative concepts are found in each advertisement. It is not possible to replicate the research due to the small sample size used. Because of the small sample size and the non-probability method used, the sample is not a good representative of the population. 12FINDINGS Thorough the analysis of the eight selected advertisements the following was found regarding creative concepts applied. 1Benefit:It was found that 3 out of 8 (37. 5%) advertisements used the promise of benefits to show how the product can be a benefit,and thus get the attention of the reader. In the YOU magazine, the Tounghees advertisement offeres the benefit of a 6 month guarantee, this guaratee is a benefit to the possible consumer because it is a gaurantee that the product will last for atleast 6 months, and if not the compant will replace the product. The HP advert promises the reader the beneifit of saving money by being able to print twice the amount of pages at the same cost. This benefit is apealing to all house holds and offices looking to save money and resources in the struggling economy. Buccaneers promises the reader comfort and quality. The Satiskin advert promises luxury, quality and PH balance. 2Curiosity: The concept of curiousity is found in 75% of the chosen advertisements. Curiousity was used in the most amount of the adverts chosen. In the Destiny magazine, the Bourneville advert arouses curiosity with the picture of the woman being licked like a cat at bath time. This image is unusual and peculiar, and arouses curiosity. In the YOU magazine, The Toughees advert provokes curiosity by claiming that a student takes 156400 steps at school, per year. This creates wonder in the reader as to if this number is correct. The Buccaneers advert makes the statement â€Å"Making it easy for moms since 1905†, this statement provokes curiosity in the fact that they have been around for so long and are an established company. The HP advertisement arouses interest with the statement â€Å"print more, pay less†, the reader becomes interested in the idea of saving money. The DKNY advert for Golden Delicious arrouses curiousity through the models eyes, and also by comparing the purfume to a delicious golden apple. The Land-rover advert states â€Å"The calm befor, during, and after the storm†, this provokes curiousity in the claim that this car can take on any weather. 3Amplification: 25% of the advertisments used amplification. In the Buccaneer advert, in the YOU magazine, there is a history of the company they state that they have earned the title shoe school specialists, and claim to be â€Å"Making it easy for moms since 1905†. The Chevrolet advert, in the Destiny magazine, has a description of all the car features, thus amplifying what the car has to offer. 4Claims: Claims and proof was used in 25% of the chosen advertisements. In the Tounghees advertisement, proof was given in the form of a 6 month guarantee. In the Buccaneer advert it states that they have earned the title school shoe specialists thus providing proof in the form of approval from an accredited source. The Buccaneers adverts also uses logic when they provide a 6 step checklist for a comfortable fit and how they adhere to all checklist items. 5Actions: Only one out of the eight advertisements invited the readers to get in contact with them. In the advertisement for DKNY, they invite the reader to join the care club on facebook. 6Brand name: All of the eight advertisements used the organisations brand name in their advertisement. It is not a surprise that 100% of the advertisements used their brand name, as this is very important in establishing a brand identity and creating brand awareness. In the Satiskin advert, the brand name is repeated in the information section as well as on the bottles. In the HP advertisement, the HP logo is shown twice and the name is shown an additional three times. The Buccaneers advertisement mentiones the brand name eight times in the advertisement. The Land-Rover and Chevrolet both show their logo or brand name on the cars aswell. 7Appeals: 62. 5% of the chosen advertisements apeals to a apecific reader. Both the Toughees and Buccaneer adverts appeal to mothers with school going children. The DKNY advert, in the Destiny magazine, appeals to females because of the statement â€Å"a fragrance for women†. The chevrolet advertisement appeals to adventurous men because of the camping and climbing gear in the car. The Land-Rover also appeals to men, by making the car look strong and masculine is the story weather. 8Slogan: 50% of the advertisments use a slogan. For Chevrolet, the permanent slogan is â€Å"Where will Chevrolet take you? †. The Landrover slogan is â€Å"Above and beyond†, indicating that this car is better than the rest. The Satiskin slogan is â€Å"indulge your senses†, this suggests that the product is both good on the skin and has a great smell. The Bourneville slogan is â€Å"on the deliciously dark side†. All these slogans help with optimising brand identification. 9Factual and emotional approach: A factual approach is used by 37. 5% of advertisements and 50% of advertisements used an emotional approach. The HP, the Buccaneers and Chevrolet advert all use factual information by providing additional facts about the product. The Land-rover advert creates feelings of excitement, fearlessness but still plays on the emotions of safety. The Bourneville advertisements also creates emotions of desire and playfulness. The satiskin advert appeals to a womens need for luxuary in the comfort of your own home. The image of the young boy and his monther doing math home work in the HP advert evoked the emotion of giving your child the best for their education. The statement â€Å"its pretty easy maths† ties in the young boys math home work, making the reader feel that buying this product is an easy choice to make. Sub-issues: Do different advertisements use different creative concepts? Yes, each one of the selected advertisements used a different combination of the creative concepts. Below is a list of the different combinations used, the different colours are used to make the different combinations more ecident. Satiskin- Benefits, Brand name, Slogan and emotionan approach Toughees– Benefits, curiousity, claims, brand name, appeal and factual approach. HP- Benefits, curiousity, brand name and emotional approach Buccaneer-Curiousity, amplification, claim, brand name, appeal and factual approach. DKNY- Curiousity, action, brand name, and appeal. Chevrolet- Aplification, appeal, brand name, slogan and factual approach. Landrover- Curiousity, brand name, appeal, slogan and emotional approach. Bourneville- Curiousity, brand name, slogan and emotional approach. Do car advertisements use more than three creative concept per advertisement? Yes, car advertisements use more than three creative concepts. Both car adverts for Chevrolet and Land-Rover, made use of brand name, slogan and appeal. The two car adverts differed in some of their creative concepts used. The Chevrolet advert made use of amplification and factual approach, while the Land-Rover advertisement made use of creating curiousity and used an emotional approach to appeal to the consumer. The below tally table is an extract from the tallly table 1. 0. This extract shows the different creative concepts applied to the two different car advertisements found in the Destiny magazine publication, and proving that car advertisements use more than three creative concepts per advertisements. Table1. 0 extract Benefit curious Amplify Claims Action Brand name Appeal Slogan Approach tot % Fact Emo Chev 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 5 50 Land 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 5 50 Is the creative concept, branding, found in all of the advertisements? Yes, all of the eight chosen advertisements contain their relevant companies brand name and logos. The below tally table is an extract from the tallly table 1. 0. This table shows that each of the eight selected advertisements used their brand name in the advertisement, and thus making the company more indentifiable and creating brand identity. Advertisements Brand name 1Satiskin 1 2Toughees 1 3 HP 1 4 Buccaneer 1 5 DKNY 1 6Chevrolet 1 7 Land-Rover 1 8 Bourneville 1 Total 8 % 100 Does each advertisement apply more than one creative concept? Yes, every chosen advertisemesnt from the two puplications makes use of more than one of the nine creative concepts. Toughees and Buccaneer adverts for school shoes contains the most creative concepts with 6 creative concepts used in each of their advertisemesnt. Due to the fact that this publication was from January, just before school was starting, these finding are not a suprise as these companies were competing for their clietelle. Chevrolet and Land-rover contains both make use of 5 creative concepts each. Bourneville, Satiskin, DKNY and HP all contain 4 creative concepts in each advertisement. The above claims can be supported by the evidence in the tally table 1. 0. The tally sheet used to simplify the findings into visual categories.