Student Researcher: John McGrath (PhD Student). This paper was based on a graduate project as part of a research methods course.
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Shyam Sundar Sethuraman
Introduction
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is an emerging field, borrowing from the rich traditions of two established disciplines: marketing and mass communications. A central theory of IMC is that marketing communications efforts can be more effective if they are integrated around a tightly focused theme, and executed in a manner consistent with this theme. These executional elements include a wide variety of the traditional marketing and communications aspects of a brand, ranging from the name of the product to its pricing, its distribution, and its promotion through advertising and other vehicles. However, empirical evidence for the effectiveness of IMC is relatively non-existent. This study aims to demonstrate a causal link between the execution of an IMC strategy and enhanced consumer attitudes toward the brand.
Hypotheses
An important perspective in IMC suggests that IMC's "value" derives from the richness and consistency of the relationship the communication creates with the consumer. This suggests that the smooth integration of message content across media and message executions somehow evokes a deeper, richer brand appeal, resulting in heightened Ab (Attitude toward the brand) levels. This leads to the following hypothesis:
H1: Among adult consumers, attitudes toward a given brand will be more favorable when that brand employs multiple-vehicle marketing communications stimuli which are more integrated in their visual appearance, text message and overall tone than multiple-vehicle stimuli of equal argument quality for the same brand which are less integrated in visual appearance, text message and overall tone.
A second perspective in IMC suggests that Ab measures are mediated by superior recall due to the repetitiveness of message across media vehicles and message executions. This leads to the second hypothesis:
H2: Among adult consumers, recall of a given brand's communication will be more favorable when that brand employs multiple-vehicle marketing communications stimuli which are more integrated in their visual appearance, text message and overall tone than multiple-vehicle stimuli of equal argument quality for the same brand which are less integrated in visual appearance, text message and overall tone.
Method
Thirty participants took part in a between-participants experiment. Two product types (beer and coffee) that were relatively non-involving but generally familiar to adult consumers were chosen. Once generic messages were chosen for each of the two products, four fictitious marketing communications vehicles were created for both the control and treatment conditions of each brand: a print advertisement, a coupon, a direct mail piece, and a web page. Participants in the control condition viewed 'traditional' stimulus materials while participants in the treatment condition viewed 'integrated' stimulus materials. After viewing the stimulus material, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire containing items pertaining to Ab, media usage, and recall, as well as some demographics.
Results
A key measure designed into the study was a manipulation check. This was intended to confirm whether or not participants perceived a difference in the integration level of the control versus treatment stimulus materials for the independent variable. Analysis of the data confirmed that the manipulation check was successful.
H1: Supported. The results indicate that Ab is statistically significantly higher for the treatment condition in which marketing communications stimuli were very highly integrated in terms of visuals, text and tone, than for the control condition in which integration of these features was less.
H2: Not supported. Data from the recall questions revealed no statistically-significant difference in participants' recall of product type, brand name, and coupon value for the control versus treatment sets of stimuli.
Conclusion
Though this study is exploratory in nature, it yielded some extremely interesting results which, from an empirical perspective, address some criticisms of IMC research to date. The evidence suggests that IMC theory may actually translate into enhanced brand attitude measures. This evidence could be a catalyst for future work in this area to strengthen the foundations of IMC theory which is being incorporated into a growing number of college texts. From a practical industry standpoint, this study adds further confirmation to the theory that brand equity can be enhanced by pursuing a strategy which integrates advertising, public relations, consumer sales promotion, direct marketing and other marketing communications tools.
Shyam Sundar Sethuraman
Associate Professor and Director
Media Effects Research Laboratory
College of Communications
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
Ph: (814) 865 2173
E-mail: sss12@psu.edu
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