Communication - The process of establishing commonality of thought or

shared meaning between the message sender (e.g. an advertiser) and a

receiver (e.g. a consumer).

Source
A communicator in some marketing communication capacity an
advertiser, salesperson, sales promoter who has thoughts to share
with an individual customer or an entire target audience
Communication objectives
Creating brand awareness
Implanting positive associations in the consumers memory as a basis
for a positive brand image
Affecting behaviour
Message
The symbolic expression of what the communicator intends to
accomplish
Message channel
The path through which the message moves from source to receiver
Receiver
The person or group of people with whom the source attempts to share
ideas
Feedback
The means through which the source monitors how accurately the
intended message is being received and whether it is accomplishing its
intended objective(s)
Noise
Interference and distortion at any stage of the communication process
Semiotics
The study of signs and the analysis of meaning-producing events

A sign:
is something physical and perceivable that signifies something (the
referent) to somebody (the interpreter) in some context
means different things to different people at different times and in
different contexts.
Meaning
The perceptions (thoughts) and affective reactions (feelings) to stimuli
evoked within a person when presented with a sign (e.g. a brand
name) in a particular context
A symbol relation - formed when an object (brand) becomes a symbol of
something else (referent).
Simile
uses comparative terms, such as like or as, to join items from different
classes of experience
Metaphor
differs from simile in that the comparative term (e.g. as or like) is
omitted
creates a picture in the consumers mind and taps into meaning shared
by the advertiser and the consumer
Allegory
is a form of extended metaphor
conveys meaning in a story-beneath-a-story, where something other
than what is literally represented is also occurring.
Personification
is often used in advertising of potentially mundane products

Two models of consumer behaviour:

Consumer processing model (CPM)
Behaviour is based on pure reason and is seen as rational, cognitive,
systematic and reasoned.
Hedonic, experiential model (HEM)
Behaviour is based on pure feelings and is seen as passionate,
spontaneous and irrational.

Stage 1: Exposure to information

Consumers come in contact with the marketers message.
Exposing consumers to a brands message is a function of key managerial
decisions regarding the size of the budget and the choice of media and
vehicles.
Stage 2: Selective attention
Focus on and consider a message to which one has been exposed
Highly selective
Attract customer attention
Stage 3: Comprehension
Understand and create meaning out of stimuli and symbol

Perceptions influenced by consumer expectations, needs, personality and personal

characteristics

Stage 4: Agreement

Agreement is premised on whether consumers accept the message they have

comprehended

Stage 5 and 6: Retention and retrieval

These two information-processing stages retention, and information search and

retrieval involve memory factors related to consumer choice.

Memory
o involves the related issues of what consumers remember about
marketing stimuli, and how they access and retrieve information
when making consumption choices
o consists of
a set of sensory stores
short-term (or working) memory
long-term memory.
Short-term (or working) memory

Limited processing capacity

Information not recollected or rehearsed will be lost in 30 seconds or less.

Long-term memory

o
o

A virtual storehouse of unlimited information

Information is organised into coherent and associated cognitive units:
schemata
memory organisation packets
knowledge structures.

Stage 7: Decision making

Consumers resort to simple strategies, or decision heuristics, when deciding among
alternatives
Stage 8: Action
Action taken on the basis of the decision
People do not always behave in a manner consistent with their
preferences, due to the presence of events or situational factors.