Introduction
Psychologists define emotions as an experience that is psychologically integrated into the mind of an individual, as a result of the interaction of the external and internal forces biochemically, in most cases we find that an individual’s emotions are associated with the character of the person, since the biochemical interaction of both internal and external forces normally leads to various psychological arousals that express a number of characters of the individuals that include changes in moods, change in behavior among other conscious characters. Research indicates that these traits go hand in hand with the persons’ moods, tempers, personality and disposition, and even motivation. (Roberts, 1999)
Discussion
Research indicates that there are various emotional theories in psychology that have enabled individuals to understand what an emotion is and also the theories that engage in the development of emotions in individuals.
James-Lange theory of emotion
This theory was developed by two Danish psychologists, William James and Carl Lange in which they stated that emotions occur in an individual as a result of the effect of environmental forces that lead to psychological experience which finally leads to emotional changes in a person. The example that is given is that of a growling dog that makes an individual’s heart beat very fast and then the person reacts by running away (Cannon, 1997). Therefore in this case how does this theory apply in the advertising industry, in the case where a consumer comes in contact with a particular which carries a particular character that attracts the individual and then the product is purchased at the end of the shopping (Brassington and Pettit, 2000).
Studies carried out clearly indicate that emotions are normally attached to a number of psychological theories that are reported to go hand in hand with the emotional theories that enhance the decision-making process of the consumers in their purchasing of particular products that they intend to acquire. These theories include
Psychodynamic Theory
This theory is defined as the correlation of the transitory functioning of the individuals’ mind, this theory is derived from the thermodynamic and neurological practices principles, it is stated that the psychodynamic theory is a study covering the behaviors of people related to the consumer buying decision making process, this theory basically indicates that an individual reacts or responds to an action depending on the interactions of the genetic and the conscious and the unconscious mind and the environmental factors that the individual is exposed to, in summary the psychodynamic theory normally deals with how psychological factors affect the individuals behavior. (Bendersky and Lewis, 1994)
This theory puts more emphasis on the communication of the conscious and the unconscious motivation and the individual emotions carry out important roles in the decision making process of a human being. This mostly occurs at the unconscious level. These mental forces in most cases are divided into two parts. One of them is the emotional force interaction while the other one deals with inner forces that affect various behaviors (Eysenck, 1997).
These factors also affect an individual’s mental states and in most case those that exist in the subconscious level of the brain. All these factors are based on the principles of closed systems and thermodynamics. According to Freud, the energy in the psychological component of a person’s brain is normally constant. He says that the emotional changes just exist in the form of displacements (Marcia, 1966).
All these he says, tend to rest during discharge. Psychodynamics is also sometimes defined as a study of energy, motives and forces that are created by human needs that are quite deep in nature. The main focus is the connection that exists between the emotional states and the energetic. Freud says that the ego fights with various forces. These include the outside world, super-ego and the id. In fact the theory of psychodynamics interprets an individual’s behavior as that emanating from the emotional processes of forces (Roberts, 1999).
Trait theory
This is one approach of personality theory. Personality is normally referred to as the thoughts, emotions and behavior pattern that every person has. Personality trait can have immense variations between individuals. Many research hypotheses concur that personality has aspects that are prominent. They are very stable across situations that are referred to as shamone traits. Eysenck 1967 says that personality can be reduced to three traits that are quite major. Other scholars however, say that personality can be reduced to five traits (Eysenck, 1997).
According to the 3F model, there are traits like psychoticism, neuroticism and extraversion. Other scholars say that personality can be reduced to the following five traits, that is, neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness and openness. This method is well known to produce bipolar and continuous factors. All these actually describe one’s individual differences. The following chart shows the relationship between lower order factors, that is, agreeableness versus psychoticism.
The trait theory is based on various assumptions. One of them is that people are normally born with traits that are inherited. The trait theory asserts that these traits are quite different fro one person to another though some people may have similar traits that they inherited from parents or even grandparents etc. Some of these traits that are inherited can be suited for carrying out leadership responsibilities. In this case a person finds that he or she can easily handle leadership tasks without having any prior knowledge in the field. Inherent traits can be diverse such that one person may have many different traits. There are people who may have minimal traits that are inherited while others may have so many. (Basch, 1989)
Early studies that were done concerning the trait theory used successful leaders as the audience. So the attention was majorly based on discovering the inherent traits that made them to be successful. One of the scholars called Stogdill (1974) noted that the following skills and traits were very critical to leaders;
Source: Stogdill, R. (1974): Handbook of leadership; a survey of the literature; New York; Free Press
Eysenck (1997) asserts that majority of extroverts have got low levels of cortical arousal as compared to introverts who have higher levels.
Emotions and Decision Making In Product Purchasing
Decision making in consumer purchasing is defined as the psychological process of selecting a particular course of action among other alternatives, this is said to be the simplest process that a consumer needs to apply before purchasing a particular product. But for one to be able to do this, he must first of all go through various stages that will enable him be aware of the product and how to obtain it (Holbrook, Morris and John O’Shaughnessy ,1984). These transactions are useful especially in determining the purchasing behavior of a consumer. The stages involved in this process are:
Awareness this is a stage where a consumer must be aware of the existence of a particular product in the market, this is because, if a buyer is not aware of the product then there will be no action taken on the purchasing process. This is then followed by understanding whereby, the consumer should be able to know how the particular product will meet his needs (Shiffman and Kanuk, 2002). The next stage is attitude under this the consumer must be able to develop a positive feeling towards the product depending on the persuasive message given about the product by the producers. Then the final stage is the purchase which is the buying decision made by the consumer, this may take some time later after trying to get the shop that stocks the favorite. (Kotler, 2003)
Though there are many goods to choose in the market the following factors, makes individuals to have the knowledge about the listed products that they have to purchase so that they meet their needs, getting more information about the product this is always done by visiting different stores ,discussing with friends, relatives, reading, listening and watching advertisements on media and also most information about the products are found on the Internet; through which various comparisons are made by considering the advantages and the disadvantages of the products, the availability of the product in the market and the resources available and how the good will meet the persons needs. The evaluation of the product’s quality, durability and usefulness among others was carried out. The following factors enable the consumers to come up with a decision in purchasing their listed products. (Shiffman and Kanuk, 2002),
- Need- Most decisions by the consumers to purchase a particular product in the market come as a result of the need of the particular product. For example a purchase of a perfume comes due to the need to have a good fragrance after shower, before leaving the house so that it can bring freshness throughout the day avoiding the odor that come as result of hard work throughout the day.
- Motives these are personal forces that make an individual to engage in various purchasing activities which will therefore satisfy his needs. Since actions are normally effected by motives, the following motives usually brings the need for the consumer to buy a particular product (Blythe, 2001).
- Knowledge under this, the ability of one to learn is applied, whereby a persons’ behavior is changed through the information given to the product purchased for example the knowledge of operating the mobile phone and the television set can lead a consumer to decide on the buying of these products knowing that there will be no loss or damage caused while operating them. Therefore the knowledge on the product to be bought must also be considered as a leading factor in a consumers purchasing behavior (Blythe, 2001).
- Attitude This is always referred to as the feelings of the consumer towards a product this can be a negative feeling or a positive feeling this is normally learnt through practice and communications with other people in the society, through interaction with different people and friends and family members, a positive attitude against various products is always developed whereby the decision to buy the products is developed.
- Personality this is the characteristics that makes an individual unique, this normally derives from inheritance and his personal experience. Such characters include: Self confidence, friendliness, ambitiousness, and aggressiveness in different aspects of the following factors
- Lifestyle this is always defined as a change towards an individual’s independence that leads to a preference for a particular type of life. For instance the buying of products such as a particular model of a mobile phone was decided upon the type of mobile phones that a particular class of people in the country posses and also the preferred type of perform that is normally used by the particular class of people. (Brassington and Pettit, 2000)
- Culture and Sub-Culture these are values, and attitudes accepted by the family members and the society at large these factors determine what product is tolerable within the family.
Consumer Purchase Decision
In fashion-oriented product areas, customers have a high expectation of change within the product range. Customers expect the product offering to change with seasons and be presented with a continuous array with new ideas. In other product areas, for example groceries, frequent changes to the product range would not only be confusing but also irritating to the customer. Many products and brands have loyal customers and constant demand and when such a brand goes missing from the shelves, customers are likely to show a high level of dissatisfaction. At the same time, however, the twenty first century customer would like to try new product variations and new product ideas. This means that product ranges have to be managed in a way that popular items can always be found while at the same time taking advantage of the customers’ tendency of seeking variety by introducing new product ideas and innovations.
Consumers do not shop only at one store. Consumers are aware of differences among retail formats and associate different categories with different formats. Consumers plan their purchases according to their need for categories mostly closely associated with the retail format; food for supermarkets, apparel and fashion accessories with the department stores, toys, appliances automotives at specialty stores and so on. Consumers can plan to purchase in advance or in the store. Research has shown 60% of purchases in supermarkets are planned. Factors that may lead to impulse purchases include time pressure, familiarity with shopping environment, purchasing alone or with others such as children (Deurzen and Arnold-Baker, 2005)
Once consumers have decided which store to go to, they have to decide what to buy. If the decision has been made in advance, it is likely advertising or past experience with the product will have influenced major decisions in advance of entering the store. If the decision is made in the store, than in-store factors such as store layout and in-store merchandising have, and store environment are dominant. Research onto customer purchase behavior have shown that about 55% claim to go with shopping list (Singh, 2000), with staples (milk, eggs, bread, ready-to-eat cereals and so on) being the most likely to be planned purchases. However, consumers usually purchase more items than in the shopping list itself, indicating many opportunities for the retailer to induce unplanned purchases. Consumers more likely to use shopping lists are likely to be educated, have children at home and more likely to own their own home.
After entering the store, the consumer has to decide which category, brand or item to buy depending on the consumer’s familiarity with the product. Often, these decisions are made simultaneously. In many categories, however, these decisions are made in stages, giving retailers an opportunity to influence the consumer purchase decision. Retailers can influence consumer purchase through four merchandising tactics (MacKenzie, Scott, Richard and George, 1986). These are: space allocated to the category and to the brand within the category and the location of the brand (top versus bottom shelf), assortment offered- adding or dropping items, the pricing decision- high/low or every day low pricing, the promotion decision- features; in-store displays and sampling.
Retailers should manage their shelf space upon consumer purchase behavior. Criteria used to determine space allocation include gross margin and direct product profitability
Emotional Intelligence
This is always referred to as the ability for an individual to reason and act on a level that is personal. Research indicates that anybody who understands emotions can achieve a certain goal that is anticipated therefore for the emotional intelligence to be beneficial to the advertisers then the following four clusters should be adhered to: self awareness, self-management, social awareness and management of relationships within the advertisement sector. These clusters are normally related to the emotional adaptability, self control, trustworthiness and optimism among the consumers. (Jones and Holt, 2005)
In the past, there was a hypothesis that stated that any form of intelligence be it emotional or academic is normally a potential that is inborn and within the individual. Recent researchers have however suggested that without being able to pass intelligence test, reading and writing abilities, it is possible to get some demonstrable abilities in such people that can be useful to the organizations they serve. Actually, research has indicated that there is a connection between groups, individuals and how emotional intelligence can actually be translated into beneficial phenomena at the workplace. Many organizations today are attempting to contain issues of diversity, competition, technology and liberalizations of markets and more importantly achieving more for less (Da Silva and Alwi, 2006). This calls for increased emotional intelligence and its relevance to leadership effectiveness and the success of the organizations.
Definition and Role of Advertising
Companies are focusing on their marketing mix: that is product, price, promotion and place. The aim is to develop a consistent mix where all elements work together to serve the target market or markets (Peter, 1994). Companies increasingly recognize that the starting point for making decisions on the marketing mix is by first understanding the consumers in their target markets (Smith, 1990).
After the other elements of the marketing mix are determined, a company can modify its production activities. Promotion may be defined as the marketing related communication between the seller and the buyer (Chrysler, 1996). Activities that are part of the promotional mix are personal selling, public relations, sales promotion and advertising.
Advertising is primarily concerned with marketing duty to inform, persuade and remind customers to believe in and buy the product. Chrysler (1996) showed that a company could spend millions of dollars every year and still fail. The importance of advertising varies from business to business depending on the nature of business and other marketing activities it employs (Aaker, 2002). Advertising is referred to as mass or non-personal selling (Bovee, 1989). It is used to inform, persuade and remind customers about particular products and services. Kotler (2003) says that certain factors indicate an opportunity for advertising success such as high demand, trend for the product, chance for significant product differentiation, high relative importance to the customer of hidden qualities as opposed to external appeals and substantial sums of support advertising.
Where these conditions exist as in the cosmetic industry, large advertising expenditures are favored and the ratio of advertising to sale volumes is often high for completely undifferentiated products such as sugar, salt and other raw materials or commodities, the importance of advertising is usually minimal and the price is usually the primary influence (Haller, 2002).
The functions of advertising are many and varied; Fischer (1982) demonstrated one of the most basic functions, purposes or roles of advertising, which is to identify products and differentiate them from others. In order to lower the cost of sales, advertising uses the media to communicate the sale’s message to a large group of people known as the target audience (MacKenzie, Scott, Richard and George, 1986). Through advertising, the cost of reaching a thousand people in the target audience is usually far less than the cost of reaching one prospect through personal selling. Thus, in terms of the marketing function the overall effect of advertising is to lower the cost of sales. (Bar-On and Parker, 2002)
People learn from advertising. They learn about the products available to them and how they can better their lives (Bovee, 1989). Advertising, as an education tool, speeds the adoption of the new and untried and in so doing, accelerates technological advances in industry and hastens the realization of a fuller life for all. Advertising can add perceptional value to a product in the consumer’s mind. Ditcher (1974) has supported the view that the image of a product that is produced partially by advertising and promotions is an inherent feature of the product itself (Ditcher, 1974). While advertising may say nothing directly about the quality of a product, the positive image conveyed by advertising may denote the quality, make the product more desirable to the consumer and thereby add value to the product (Riodarn, 1984).
We may conclude therefore, that advertising can help to get new products off the ground by stimulating consumer demand for the product class. But in declining markets, advertising can only slow the rate of decline. We can also conclude that in growing markets, advertisers generally compete for shares of that growth in declining markets; they compete for each other’s share (Tranchberg, 1986).
Classification of Advertising
Advertising is always aimed at a particular segment of the population. When one sees advertisement that does not appeal to him or her, it is because the advertisement is aimed at a group of people to which one does not belong. The target audience is generally defined as that group of individuals to whom the advertising message is directed. There are many classifications of target audiences. However, the major one and of concern to this paper is consumers.According to Arens (1989), classification of advertising can be specified by: target audience, geographic area covered, medium and by function or purpose. Advertising is always aimed at a particular segment of the population that is always referred to as the target audience. When you see advertisements that do not appeal to you, sometimes it’s because the advertisement is aimed at a group of people to which you do not belong.
They are usually aimed at people who will buy the product for their own personal use or those who will buy the product for someone else’s use. Advertising can be classified on the basis of medium used to transmit the message (Arens, 1989). An advertising medium is any paid means used to present an advertisement to its target audience..Another way to classify advertising is on the basis of the sponsor’s general objectives. Some advertising is designed to promote a particular product while others promote corporate or institutional values. Product advertising is intended to promote products and services; non-product advertising is designed to sell ideas (Bovee, 2003).
Competitive Advertising
Competitive advertising is where various firms in the same industry employ advertising strategies that implicitly compete or rival each other (Becker, 1993). Advertisers thus want the ability to competitively communicate their message to their target audience, preferably when the consumers are engaged in a purchase decision but at the very least to inform them about the brand offering for future reference. Various forms of competitive advertising include comparative advertising, reputational advertising, innoculative advertising and endorsements (Deurzen and Arnold-Baker, 2005).Comparative advertising one promotional decision that often presents marketers with a dilemma is to use comparative advertising.This method is designed to compare the company’s brand against a competitors’.
Reputational advertising
This refers to the process of explicitly or implicitly stating competitive appeals (or consumer beliefs) and then refuting them, instead of dealing with brand benefits (Batra 2002).Herts and Avis advertising are examples of both reputational and supportive advertising.
Innoculative Advertising
This advertising method involves making a consumer resist attempts by competitors or outside influences to change his or her attitude.
Endorsements
Another form of competitive advertising is the use of endorse for their products or services. The endorser is the person celebrity spokesman, announcer, who endorses or who demonstrates the product.
A Model of Consumer Decision Making
External Influences
Consumer Decision-Making
Output
Conclusion
From this study we can therefore conclude that many advertising firms take advantage of the emotional theory in psychology to get the consumers purchase their products and services, since without the consumers’ emotions they could not be able to convince the buyers to buy their products.
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