THE INFLUENCE OF ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS ON TELEVISION: A

CASE STUDY ON AIRTEL 4G CHALLENGE'S CAMPAIGNS

Dissertation submitted to

Department of Communication

in partial fulfillment of the requirements of

St. Joseph’s College, Autonomous

for the

Degree of Master of Science in Communication

By

Steven Mario De Nazareth

14COM6526

Under the supervision of

Rev Fr Pradeep Anthony SJ

January 2016

Address: PB 27094, 36 Lalbagh Road, Bangalore – 560027

Acknowledgments

There are several people I would like to thank for facilitating my research and guiding me with this

dissertation from Bangalore, Denmark, Singapore and the United States of America.

First and most importantly, I would like to thank Rev. Fr. Pradeep Anthony SJ, PG Co-ordinator of St.

Joseph's College (Autonomous), who has helped tirelessly and encouraged me through his guidance

and support to finish this dissertation well before schedule. His unconditional support and constant help

has enabled me to read, research and learn through his wise inputs.

Professor Dr. GM Prabhu of the Computer Science depart at Iowa State University, USA, who has been

the sounding board for my entire dissertation and advised me.

Special thanks to Dr. Nandagopal Menon in the Netherlands, Mrs. Ruta Vaidya, a Ph.D student of

Nanyang technological University, Singapore who generously sent me all the published papers

required, for the Review of Literature.

Thanks to Ms. Parinitha Shinde and Professor Syed Amjed Ahmed of St. Joseph's College for providing

me with their insights, interactions and reviews.

My family, Gregory, Marianne, David and Andrew De Nazareth for their unconditional support and

encouraging me.

Finally, I would like to thank Dr Fr Victor Lobo SJ, Principal of St. Joseph's College for encouraging

me to complete my Masters of Science in Communication and St. Joseph's College for imbibing with

values that have changed my life and attitude towards academics.

Steven De Nazareth

Contents

1 Introduction.................................................................................................................5

1.1 History of Television Advertisements...................................................................6

1.2 Advertising in India..................................................................................................8

1.3 Airtel 4G campaign...................................................................................................9

1.4 Television Ad Viewers interacting with social media.............................................10

1.5 Psychological nature of ads....................................................................................10

1.6 Cultural differences.................................................................................................11

1.7 Advertisements target human needs.......................................................................12

1.8 TV rules advertising platforms...............................................................................13

1.9 Affective responses of Advertising.........................................................................14

1.10 Attitudes and advertisements................................................................................15

1.11 Moods engender TV ad perception.......................................................................16

1.12 Utilitarian and value-expressive advertising.........................................................17

2 Review of Literature..................................................................................................21

3 Methodology.............................................................................................................32

3.1 Study Objectives.....................................................................................................32

3.2 Subjects and Procedure...........................................................................................32

3.3 Coding of stories.....................................................................................................33

3.4 Quantitative Analysis..............................................................................................34

3.5 Sample Size.............................................................................................................34

3.6 Tabulation of Quantitative Analysis........................................................................35

3.7 Survey.....................................................................................................................35

3.8 Questionnaire Design..............................................................................................36

3.9 Scope and Limitations............................................................................................36

4 Data Analysis and Interpretation...............................................................................37

4.1 Age based classification of data..............................................................................37

4.2 Survey to reveal Public Discourse..........................................................................40

4.3 Summary of the findings.........................................................................................60

4.3.1 Influence advertisements have on minds of the buyers....................................60

4.3.1.1 If the girl that announced the challenge was appealing.................................60

4.3.1.2 If they liked the advertisement......................................................................60

4.3.1.3 If they already had a 3G connections............................................................61

4.3.1.4 If the music played a role in ad.....................................................................61

4.3.1.5 If the colours influenced the viewers............................................................61

4.3.1.6 If the ad made the viewer finally buy the product.........................................61

4.3.2 Science in advertising..........................................................................................62

4.3.3 Reasons for the success of the campaign.............................................................62

4.3.3.1 Targeting the Youth.......................................................................................63

4.3.3.2 Showcasing product superiority over the competitor....................................63

4.3.3.3 Building a brand image.................................................................................64

4.3.3.4 Advertisements that go beyond budgets........................................................64

4.3.3.5 Opting for Television plus other traditional and social media......................64

5 Conclusion.................................................................................................................66

5.1 Connecting the Effects and Reception theories with the study..............................67

5.2 Limitations..............................................................................................................68

5.3 Recommendations and Future Studies....................................................................68

6 BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................70

7 APPENDIX – 1.........................................................................................................74

Introduction

Advertising is a science, a well thought out science of gaining the consumer's confidence and loosening

his purse strings to splurge on objects he might not have otherwise bought. Consumers are subjected to

numerous advertisements every single day, in fact the experience could be the whole day, on the

various channels on TV. Some are well researched and very professionally executed. Others are simple

using humour and slapstick to get to the consumer. And many pun on cultural idiosyncrasies to get the

viewer to connect.

However there are some consumers who need ads that have more depth and which are tangible in their

content. For them, the influence, effect and appeal provided by advertising, provides them a reason to

buy a product. Today's consumer is ready to change their phone, their fridge or even their car if the

advertising appeal works well for them. This was not so in the past where a consumer 'invested' in a car

or fridge for life. A consumer's mind has been changed with the role that advertising plays with today's

ads.

This study uses the Airtel 4G Challenge television commercials to examine the advertising-related

credentials based on viewing time. The study proposes a behavioural measure of consumers' viewing

responses to television commercials based on a simulation of the impacts of the ad. The researcher

analyses the multi-component representation of attitude towards the Airtel ads, the two dimensions of

emotional effects, and various aspects of advertising content.

In particular, this study focuses on the whether the Airtel 4G Challenge advertisements had an

influence on the minds of the buyers. This was proved through the relation through which the buyers

were motivated to make a purchase decision based on the five constructs namely: Brand Cognitions,

Attitude toward the Ad, Ad Cognitions, Attitude toward the Brand and Purchase Intention.

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The study examines the mediating roles of intervening variables along a specific chain of effects that

allows advertising content which influences emotions and attitude toward the ad. This also influences

viewing time and the desire to purchase the product being advertised.

1.1 History of Television Advertisements

Television advertisements have become synonymous with how we associate ourselves with various

brands. It is through television that we are informed and become secondary drivers of this information

within our social circles.

It was in the 1950s that television advertisements were prominent with the target audience that brands

focused on. The first few companies that took advantage of this trend were Colgate, Kraft and General

Electric.

In 1941, the first paid television ad was broadcast in the United States before a baseball game. The

advertisement was by Bulova watches. The advertisement displayed a clock, with showed the exact

time and the moment, that the ad was broadcast. The first advertisement in Asia was in 1953 by Seiko

watches. The ad also showed a clock with the time that it was broadcast, to coincide with the time of

the ad.

During the 1960s, NBC changed the face of television advertising forever. The network decided to air

one-to-two minute television advertisements or commonly known as Commercials in-between TV

programs. It was during this period that Tide and Crest advertised, their thirty to sixty second

advertisements in the nine minute period and this was done for every one hour show.

The 1970s popularised advertisements with music with jingles and popular tunes that were an instant

hit amongst television audiences. This created a drastic shift in the way television advertisements were

aired with the introduction of studios and audio engineers creating a new paradigm into how television 2

was to be broadcast to the masses.

The ban on television advertisements selling cigarettes was opposed by major television networks but

they had to adhere to the ban and focussed on alcohol companies to make up for the lost revenue.

In the 1980s, television advertising was targeted at children and a major portion of the budget was

created tendering especially for children. Some of the popular advertisements were Ridley Scott’s ad

for Apple Computers.

With the popularity of TV ads growing, new rules have been formulated where broadcasters and

advertisers are required to get a Clearance from the advertising standards board. It is only after the

board's approval can the advertiser air the advertisement on television. In India, advertisements go

through Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) before they are made suitable to be telecast.

The second step involves a post production, where companies approach media agencies to come up

with the theme for the advertisement, the ad is designed and shot and eventually broadcast on

television.

1.2 Advertising in India

In India, commercial advertising for companies was initially only done through the print and the radio

media. Dattaram was the first advertising agency in India. The company was founded in 1905 and

released their first ad 1907. In 1920, advertisements were placed on trams. This created an appeal with

the consumers who travelled to work, they noted these advertisements and were influenced to buy the

product advertised. In the 1930s, radio advertisements through talkies and announcements in shows by

radio hosts were made during the weekly programs.

1941 marked the year in which Indian film actress, Leela Chitnis endorsed the Lux soap in an

advertisement. This created a sense of credibility and enhanced the popularity of the product by 3

testifying for Lux.

In the 1950s, Burmah Shell had started advertising on their vans. This was also the time when cinema

attracted large audiences and created yet another platform for advertisements to be displayed to

audiences. Vividh Bharathi was launched in 1957.

Three years later, the first advertising convention was held in 1960 in New Delhi. They emphasised that

ads needed to showcase Indian thought and content. The gradual shift of advertisements needed to

move from being simply voices to the public and to move to a marketing approach. Advertisements

needed to focus on Market Rating Indices (MRI) and followed by being able review the effect of the ad

with the National Readership Survey (NRS).

The 1970s marked the beginning of television advertisements in India. This period included a lot of

research and experimentation that brought in a lot of companies to be a part of television advertising in

India. This brought about dramatic changes in the way a consumer perceived a product as their

intuition was being framed by ads that they saw on television. In this period, revenues in the ad

business touched Rs. 200 crores as television reached over 70 per cent of the masses of India.

The Indianisation of television began in the 1980s with the increase in the number of public sector

advertising firms. This led to rapid expansion and growth of these industries with the amount of

advertisements and the scale and size of these ads. Radio played a predominant part from the year 1982

and other forms of advertising such as colour printing were on the rise.

As the years went by, advertiser sponsored shows and programs played on CNN, Star, Zee and DD

Metro in the early 1990s. This trend was popularised and continued with movie channels and pay-per-

view channels. On the side lines, tracking by NRS enabled advertisers to learn about consumer tracking

and satisfaction with the many studies that were conducted.

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With the start of the new millennia, television advertisements were linked with the internet and this led

to the rise of Net advertising in India. Television continues to play the largest role in advertising in

India. These advertisements are also used in foreign countries to build stronger relationships with their

consumers abroad. Similarly, the Airtel 4G Challenge advertisements had a more modern cosmopolitan

Indian theme. The host in the ad who in this case was a pretty girl, challenged strangers to compete by

downloading large data items of the internet, and compete in terms of speed with a competitor network,

with the Airtel 4G internet speed.

1.3 Airtel 4G campaign

With Airtel acquiring Augere Wireless, it immediately rolled out plans to revamp it's 4G presence in

over 100 cities. The Airtel advertisement centred around a host challenging strangers to beat her Airtel

4G enabled smart phone. This resulted in consumers logging onto the internet to see if they could beat

the challenge. The challenge of course is if you can beat Airtel's 4G's mobile internet speed. If anyone

could perform such a task, he would get their mobile bills paid for a lifetime.

This spurred a lot of video blogger groups like TechGeekzHD, FoneArena, Geekyranjit and Krish Sanj

to talk about how impressive Airtel 4G internet speed was. This was a first for any company in India to

get consumers to engage to more than one platform after viewing the advertisements and posting their

reactions.

1.4 Television Ad Viewers interacting with social media

Another study titled, Cross-Media Advertising Effectiveness Using Passive Measurement of Ad

Exposure by Charles Buchwalter noted that interacting with social media while watching ads, increased

the experience of the viewers.

Though 40% of advertisement viewing happened when a viewer was multi-screening, viewers were

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found to search for related material about the advertisement and were also subconsciously watching the

advertisements when they were using their mobile devices. They actually recall advertisements better.

It was found that heavy television viewers were more likely to be exposed to the advertisements.

After the Airtel 4G Challenge garnered a large response, a number of mobile phone users started

tweeting about the 4G network with the hash-tags, #Airtel4G and #airtel4gspeedtest. The #Airtel4G

had a mixed response with twitter handles praising and discrediting the service. As opposed to the

#airtel4gspeedtest, twitter handles shared photos and memes condemning Airtel and expressing that

they were able to beat the challenge. Most of the memes revolved around how Vodafone 3G was faster

than Airtel 4G and that Airtel should improve their basic services in parts of different cities.

1.5 Psychological nature of adsAdvertisements provide an appeal that is positive, believable, make the audience attentive to the brand

and create a purchase option to which they are inclined. Advertisers investigate the psychological

aspects of their target audience and provide a change in attitude of the audience to the brand through

their advertisement appeals. Psychologists believe that advertisers try to fill a void in a human being.

They target their needs through advertising appeal, which could be associated with aura, uniqueness,

esteem, security and pleasure that consumers derive from advertisements.

In fact Indian advertising plays on cultural attitudes and quirks connected with Indian attitudes to bring

in humour and interest into the advertising milieu in the country. Patriotism, romance, the Indian

attitude to saving, and the use of children are some of the lenses used to make successful Indian ads.

The advertising effects span across all levels of hierarchy. This includes moving backward from sales,

behaviour to the affect, which includes the attitude to the brand. Additionally, cognitive beliefs,

attention and exposure are some of the advertising objectives.

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1.6 Cultural differencesToday, there is a gap between advertising in general and their influence on advertising effectiveness.

Durvasula, Lysonski, & Mehta, (1999) proposed that Indian and Singapore consumers analyse

advertisements differently. This makes it difficult and inappropriate to standardize advertisement

campaigns across the world.

Advertisement campaigns have more than one advertising appeal. This can be created by the use of sub

themes. The theme of the advertisement should be unique to make a positive impression about the

product to the target audience. All advertisements are pitched similar to their competition, to make

compelling stories that build a relationship with the target audience.

Advertisements need to be believable by the audience. These advertisements sell only if the viewer can

relate the advertisement to something that is not out of the ordinary. The advertisement campaigns

depends on the attention span of the viewer, whether he is able to understand the advertisement and

finally making the advertisement a buying-option that urges the consumer to make a purchase. The

revolves around whether the advertisement creates a desire to make a purchase and for the company to

make a decision if the advertisement will spur a consumer to buy his product.

The audience behaviour is moulded in such a way that the brand needs to rely on a focus that will help

the advertiser achieve their objective. Advertisers need to understand the psychology behind

advertisements and its effects in changing the attitude of the consumer towards the brand.

Advertisers should study and understand about the diffusion of the message that takes place with the

audience, in order to create a favourable environment with the buyer and seller. It is imperative for a

company to understand the message and the words behind the campaign and how it affects the mind of

the target audience.

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1.7 Advertisements target human needsResearchers, Lamb and Schewe feel that human activities are based on needs. These needs include

physiological, physical or latent. The first source for all consumers are primarily through

advertisements and the information that they gain from the field of marketing. Advertisements need to

fill this void and provide for consumer needs with their product offerings. As per the need of the

consumer, advertisements will act as the guiding tool that will help consumers make a decision and

respond for the product. With advertisements, consumers may be inclined towards the product offering

based on how they associate themselves with the appeal of the advertisements.

The appeal is the main message and central to advertising message. Advertisements create a demand,

en-kindle desires and addresses human needs that can be quenched with the product that has been

advertised.

These appeals are used in different execution styles on different types of media. The appeal attracts the

consumer and creates an interest in them. These could be suppressed interests, desires and attractions. It

is the goal of the advertising appeal to attract the consumers and fill that need with their products. It is

the underlying content in advertising. Advertising appeals may include esteem, sex, fear, security and

sensory pleasure.

With their creativity, advertisers emphases their message through advertisements. Advertising creates a

desire for the product and appeal create a sense of a buying obligation that consumers either succumb

to or find the product that they need and make the purchase. Appeals do not usually talk only about the

product aspects but create an atmosphere where the desires are evoked towards a product.

1.8 TV rules advertising platforms With the rise of smart phones and tablets dominating the market, it is only fair that there would be a

shift in the manner in which advertisements effect viewers and consumers in general. Despite the rapid

8

increase of social interactions through these platforms, the television remains the most effective way to

advertise. Advertisements through television is proven to have more profitable than other modes of

communication for the last four years as the trend toward multi-screening grows. (Thinkbox and

Ebiquity’s Marketing Performance Optimization practice)

An econometric analysis was conducted on more than 4,500 advertisement campaigns across 10

sectors, to analyse the impact of these advertisement campaigns. To understand how the effectiveness

of TV on multi-screening viewers, it was found that advertisers employ multiple advertisement

opportunities and integrate them with the television advertisements. This creates an opportunity for

higher quality environment for advertisers and has sustained the diminishing cost of television

advertisements as against Return on Investments (ROI).

Some of the effects of advertising campaigns include, an Optimum TV investment, this includes

FMCG, retail and finance industries earning an ROI of 60%. TV’s ‘halo effect’ enhances other forms of

advertising. 37% of TV advertising’s effect is accomplished on products not directly advertised. This is

seen through multi-screening viewers increasing branded search and making their purchase judgements

based on informed decision.

Television advertisements will now have to move from its measurement parameters of gross rating

point (GRP) to a more common measurement standard that would facilitate as a means to buy and sell

TV content whenever and wherever it is accessed through television and digital budgets. This could be

done through solutions that provide cross-screen interaction through log-ins, publisher Ids and similar

methods.

Advertisement campaigns have to work holistically with the way advertisers understand people's

interests and behaviours across several devices. Secondly, they will have to work on getting instant

feedback and creating insights and measuring it. For example, imagine being able to understand the 9

impact of television advertisements with online sales. Thereby, companies will understand how

consumers view their advertisements and react to it by creating an impact without losing the message

intended through the frequency of the advertisements. (Evolution of TV: Reaching Audiences Across

Screens, 2015)

The main objectives would be to create a workable delivery model. This would be through, reaching

across the screen, internet TV sharing and TV distribution and the cloud. Advertising will now be

measured and rely on programmatic advertising technologies and addressable advertising through

viewer engagement.

Today's advertising methods differ in the way in they address how consumers relate to advertisements

through multi-screening. These advertisements effectively measure sales deliverables through

integrating online analytical tools.

1.9 Affective responses of Advertising

Affective responses refer to an evaluative response to an advertisement. They must supplement the

cognitive responses of the advertisement. Affective advertisements deal with the emotional part of the

ad. Apart from admiration of the advertisement, the ad may make you connect through a past memory

that the ad evoked or a happy memory. The main components of this are the consumers' attitude to the

ad and the consumers attitude toward the brand.

The evaluative scales are based on how emotions are directed to entice the viewer. The advertisements

are divided into six sections such as love, hate, sadness, joy, admiration and desire. Additionally,

tendencies such as pleasantness-unpleasantness, relaxation-tension and calm-excitedness are

dimensions through which modern advertisements are made. This allows for the advertiser to gain a

sense of trust, obligation and connect with the viewers with the message that he is trying to convey.

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In 1973, Wright suggested that acceptance of advertisements by consumers was mediated by cognitive

responses. These were created by advertising agencies that have created a close-ended viewer response.

Persuasion impact comes from execution cues and source likeability. Greater attention is now paid to

respondent evaluations of ad-execution style and responses pertaining to execution. Studies have

centred around distinguishing between message-oriented and communicator-oriented responses.

Dahl distinguished the hedonic emotions as 'it' and 'me' emotions which are a feeling of pleasure-

displeasure among themselves. Lutz and Gardener have investigated the moods within the process of

advertising.

The advertiser needs to understand the moods, emotions and the attitudes that a consumer feels and

create an emotional connect based on affective responses. This in turn would create a loyal customer

and create the added affect that the company wants to engage with their customers.

1.10 Attitudes and advertisements

Most ads that are effective, are sensitized with persuasive appeals that are affective and connect at a

cognitive level. Researchers however have failed to account for structural characteristics of individual

responses. Another problem is that researchers have often failed to check the validity and readability of

a persons reaction to an ad. In fact they have found that, scales are idiosyncratic to specific attitudes.

This is due to the fact that validating these resources cost huge money and takes a lot of time. Also,

scales to measure affective and cognitive dimensions may not be comparable.

The relationship between attitude and behaviour is supported by affective or cognitive bases of an

attitude match that those behaviours. These attitudes are perfectly sensitised to their cognitive nature.

Persuasion is greater when the affective or cognitive nature of persuasion matches the attitudes of

individuals.

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These cognitive attitudes may be based on the affective scale that measures that are very favourable

and very unfavourable. Researchers have also found that the structural characteristics of the measures

may have varied affects on an individual's responses. The scales of measurement have been found to

have a varied measurement and thereby, reliability and validity are questioned.

When measuring attitudes, the properties of affective and cognitive bases are often idiosyncratic to

specific attitude objectives. Firstly, this is because developing these scales is both expensive and time

consuming. Secondly, a few of the affective and cognitive scales may not be comparable.

Advertisers should use their discretion while creating advertisements that require a favourable outlook

for consumers that would change their attitudes towards the product.

1.11 Moods engender TV ad perception

Advertisers create advertisements to get the maximum viewership and target specific consumers that

are looking for their product. It is unlikely that advertisers create advertisements based on the viewer's

perception and measure their effectiveness.

Questions like how does someone's mood created by the programme affect the perception of the

advertisement? This allows brands to create a happy or sad ad based on perception and its impact on

consumers. It is the viewer's mood at the time of the advertisement that directly affects the processing

of the ad.

For example, Coca-Cola USA stays away from news programs due to its stringent corporate policy.

This is due to news programs that may contain unpleasant information. They would not like to

associate their products with negative information.

Happy moods may be based on creating a better remembrance factor and idiosyncratic elaborations

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based on the viewer's mood. Srull (1983) realised that consumers in a positive mood would rate the

advertised product more favourably than consumers with a negative mood.

Television programs influence the consumer's mood and this influences processing of advertisements.

Consumers viewing a happy program produced greater message recall and a greater number of

commercial-directed cognitive responses.

One perspective explains that when we are in a happy mood, we are more efficient information

processors. This is because we bear wider and more integrated knowledge structures which permit

more efficient processing of information (Isen, 1984). The second perspective holds that we may

become more engrossed with the cause of our sad mood, the program in this case, and thus allocate

more attentional resources to the program and less to the advertisement.

1.12 Utilitarian and value-expressive advertising

Transformational advertising is based on building a personality with the product and creating an image.

Consumer behaviour is solely built on how to funnel the advertisements and develop a relationship that

is nurtured over years of planning.

The value expressive advertising appeal, makes a creative objective that makes an image of the

advertised product. Informational Advertising or the utilitarian appeal involves informing consumers

benefits that are functional important to target consumers.

These appeals develop advertising persuasion through self-congruity and functional congruity. Self-

congruity is stitching together of a product's value-expressive attributes and the audience's self concept.

Self-images contain an actual self-image, an ideal social self-image, a social self-image, and an ideal

self image. A self-image is simply an image of oneself. An ideal self-image refers to an image that

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consumers aspires to be. Social self-image revolves around how one is perceived by others. The ideal

social self-image is the imagined image one aspires others to have of themselves.

Value-expressiveness of a product is reflected in the personality-related attributes associated with the

product. For example, a consumer thinking about a product such as an exotic sports car could evoke an

image of the stereotypical driver who is young, energetic, attractive, modern, affluent, swinging, and

single.

Utilitarian appeal is established using a functional congruity process. utilitarian appeal persuades

through functional congruity, i.e., the greater the functional congruity, the greater the persuasion. This

appeal may be based on product-related and audience-related factors. Product-related factors are

created when products try to differentiate itself from their competitors. The product becomes highly

distinct with respect to different functional attributes Audience factors include audience involvement,

audience prior knowledge, and audience self-monitoring.

J.S. Johar and M. Joseph Sirgy suggest that research suggests that an audience first processes an

advertising message through a self-congruity route, because the audience first reflects on product

value-expressiveness cues that are associated with the ad.

The objective of this paper is to show the influence of the advertisement campaigns of Airtel 4G

Challenge on the minds of the buyers.

The impact of advertising on consumers has led the researcher to conduct research on the effects of

advertising on viewers. According to cultural behaviour, Indian families in the past, invested in

anything bought in the home, as a one time investment. Especially with consumer electronics like

fridges, televisions and phones.

A fridge was bought and stayed with the family for 30 years or more, the same with a car. But with

14

television advertisements making such an impact, a desire to upgrade to newer models seems to be the

norm. The researcher would like to analyse whether it is the effects of advertising, on viewers and

consumers, that has caused this phenomenon.

Does advertising play on the mindset of the viewer using various methods of persuasiveness,

distinctness, perfectness, fascination, sensation, energy, aesthetics, elegance and captivation to sell the

products? Why are good looking models, with the appeal to sell a product used? Is there are science

behind advertising which works towards compelling the viewer to buy and fulfil a need? The

researcher needs to analyse what are the driving factors behind creating effective advertisements that

provide an impact, and that make loyal customers and drive sales efforts.

The research questions being answered are:

RQ 1: What is the influence that advertisements have on minds of the buyers who have viewed

the ads?

RQ 2: Is there a science behind the 4G advertising campaign?

RQ 3: What are the reasons listed for the success of the campaign?

The relevance of my topic is how consumers are drawn to upgrade to Airtel 4G's break-neck mobile

connectivity, that streams and downloads movies, uploads pictures and gives you the right information

in an instant. The Airtel 4G Challenge campaign creates a sense of excitement and an impulse to buy

into the service almost instantaneously.

The first week of August marks one month since the advent of the Airtel 4G Challenge campaign and

which has been running successfully, on Indian prime time television. The campaign was to engage

Airtel subscribers and mobile users in general, to upgrade their internet data packages to Airtel's 4G,

that offers superior downloads, instant connectivity and unlimited usage.

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The study will comprise of analysing four advertisements on the Airtel 4G Challenge on television and

its relative influence and effects on viewers and consumers and of mobile phone users. The researcher

would like to prove with this research why advertisers find it profitable to advertise on TV. The large

quantum of funding obviously gets them results. In this case, the advertisements were well appreciated

and the total number of connections have surpassed the 0.1 million mark with 54.4 million data

connections users on Airtel, according to website research (medianama.com).

The study would focus on the effect of advertisement campaigns on viewers by providing empirical

analysis through qualitative content analysis and quantitative analysis through a survey of 100 viewers.

In case all the ads have not been viewed, by the person taking the survey, the researcher will show the

ad to the person taking the survey to be accurate in his results.

The Review of Literature chapter will examine the existing published literature on how television

campaigns influence the viewers, especially in the context of the framing of the story and the tone of

the advertisement. The Media theories that will be analysed in this context are the Effects Theory and

Reception Theory and the Literature which has been read is based on how television advertisements

play a vital role, in influencing the viewer.

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Review of Literature

According to the Effects Theory, mass media makes people powerless to withstand messages that the

media carries. They are often hypnotised by these messages and succumb to the effects of the

advertisements, and go out and purchase the product. In other words, the effect of the advertisement on

the mind of the viewer, brainwashes them into desiring what they have viewed, encouraging them to go

out and purchase it.

The Reception theory states that the media that is a movie, book, or a creative work, is not received by

the audience, but that the viewer interprets the text, through the lens of their individual life experiences

and cultural backgrounds. The meaning of a text is not determined by the text, but the relationship

between the reader and the text. That emphasises that every reader's reception or interpretation of

media text, is based on how the text is constructed and the emotions a consumer feels, making him feel

like it is created specifically, only for him, the consumer.

A researchers' cross-national study found that more women more strongly affected by negative

advertisements than men in the United States of America than in any other country (Kaid and Holtz-

Bacha, 2000). Women were found to be more responsive than men with regard to negative attack

messages (Kern and Just, 1997). They would rather disregard the object of the attack and blame the

author. While other researchers explained that girls are prone to be more passive and boys were more

aggressive (Ashmore and Del Boca, 1979). So happier and less negative ads made an impression on

girls rather than boys. These studies highlight how negative Airtel 4G Challenge campaign ads are

rendered to boys and girls.

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In order to understand the true effectiveness of negative advertisements, researchers have studied the

Backlash and the Boomerang effect on consumers to indicate that negative advertising can create the

opposite effect of what is intended. For a sponsor, negative advertisements can be aired to a certain

saturation point, after which it may affect the sponsor.

Advertisements need to be unique and project positive impressions that engages the target audience and

motivates them. Advertisements need to be believable by the audience (Kumar, 1998). It is believed by

psychologists that advertisers fill a void of need in a human being. Advertisements are based on

specific appeals like aura, uniqueness, esteem, security and pleasure. By this we mean, advertisements

bring in humour, a sense of seriousness, calm and interest into the advertisement environment.

Even though the communication boundaries between countries are diminishing and becoming more

transparent, there is always a cultural difference that arises between nations. Indian and Singapore

consumers analyse advertisements differently (Durvasula, Lysonski, & Mehta, 1999). This makes it

difficult and inappropriate to standardize advertisement campaigns across the world. Advertisement

campaigns have more than one advertising appeal. So the Airtel 4G Challenge are ads that appeal to

the Indian market and the Indian consumer.

Human activities are based on needs and the role of advertisements were supported by needs (Lamb

and Schewe,1992). Advertisers need to fill the void, the need for information through their product

offerings. This creates a bond and a loyalty that the consumer develop towards a product with how they

associate themselves with the brand. It is in the advertising appeal that viewer's perception and attitudes

are shaped and it is in the reaction to these messages, that create a favourable or unfavourable outcome

for the advertiser.

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Consumer ad acceptance was mediated by cognitive responses (Wright, 1973). The effort by

advertising firms is to create a close-ended response with the viewer. Greater attention is now paid to

respondent evaluations of ad execution style and responses pertaining to execution. The ads have to

produce a more prominent style, by either distinguishing themselves as message-oriented or

communicator-oriented responses.

The hedonic emotions were distinguished as 'it' and 'me' emotions which are a feeling of pleasure-

displeasure among themselves (Dahl et al, 2013). Investigations have been made on the moods within

the process of advertising (Gardener, 1985). Advertisers need to understand the mood of the audience

by learning their emotions and feelings. By doing so, they can build a long lasting relationship with

enticing stories that would lead them to change their assessment of the advertiser's product.

Luxuries are consumed for man's hedonic pleasure, while, necessities help address utilitarian goals

(Dubois, Laurent and Czellar, 2004). Hedonic goods are multisensory and are considered for their fun,

excitement and pleasure. Flowers, designer clothes, music, sports cars, luxury watches, and chocolate

fall in this category. Utilitarian goods are instrumental in making our lives comfortable and their

purchase is based on functional product aspects. For example, microwaves, detergents, minivans or the

PC. They are utilised for both utilitarian and hedonistic consumption and the difference is how they are

perceived by the user.

Consumers are less price sensitive, when they buy products that are hedonistic in character, instead of

buying products for their primarily functional nature (Wakefield and Inman, 2003). Saving may not be

a concern, as hedonistic products are consumed for fantasy and fun. Like a luxury soap or a top end

phone, they bring hedonistic pleasure to the buyer, so price is usually not a concern.

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Advertisements play a major role in associating a customer with the product, by introducing, educating

and creating a story. This helps in creatively weaving a story narrative about the product and how it

enriches the consumers. There are two stages to win a customer over. Advertisements need to firstly

change the consumer's attitudes or behaviour with regard to a brand or product. Secondly, based on

cost-effectiveness, advertisers need to convert attention drawing ads into making the customer agree to

buy a product (Texeira, 2014). These two approaches will make the difference between capturing the

attention of the consumer, by earning it or paying for it.

In order to capture the mind of the consumer and gain his attention, subliminal persuasion is required to

make the audience's mind interpret, the information being advertised. This allows an advertiser to

successfully engrave a message in the mind of the consumer. The advertiser creates a change in the

evaluation of the advertisement and encourages them to spread the idea with their friends and family.

Here the Reception theory comes into play where there is a relationship between the viewer and the

input of the ad. The ad input is received by the viewer and persuades at a subliminal level.

This persuasion changes the minds of the people, not how they accept information but spread it and the

manner in which they believe it (Sofi et al, 2013). Subliminal persuasion ensures that a consumer

always has a conscious evaluation of the change as they learn and understand the message.

When it comes to shopping, we fail to resist impulses (Baumeister, 2002). This is based on a person's

capacity for self-control supported by buying aspects. Research shows that the uncontrolled buying

explained that shoppers get more satisfaction and pleasure from making a purchase instead of owning

the product (O'Guinn and Faber,1989). Shoppers enjoyed the process of acquiring more than the object.

20

Similarly, stealing created a sense of satisfaction and a source of pleasure (Katz, 1989).

In order for a consumer to maintain cognitive consistency and psychological comfort, they would

narrow down their buying tasks, simplify information processing and reduce all risks that pose a threat

to them. Relational market behaviour is created due to family and social norms, government mandates,

peer group pressures, religious beliefs, marketer policies and influences by employers (Sheth et al,

1995). Cognitive responses may be seen as judgements, thoughts that are connected to attitudes

(Harben et al, 2010).

Cognitive responses refer to beliefs, judgements or thoughts associated with an attitude. Affective

responses are the feelings or emotions associated with the attitude and cognition influences provide

meaning (Schachter and Singer, 1962). But other researchers suggest that the affective construct

precedes cognition. This ties in to the Effects theory where people can turn powerless in resisting an ad.

A consumer's responsiveness to marketing, mix elements change over time and they ask what factors

would change if price sensitivity occurs (Mela, Gupta and Lehmann, 1997). In India, this especially

true as the price factor plays an important role in ascertaining whether the consumer will make a

purchase. Based on the price sensitivity and the information from advertisements, consumers will make

an informed decision and chose to buy the product.

Advertising is divided into segments and caters to these purchase groups. These can be examined by

the effect of increased advertising on consumers loyal to the brand and those not loyal to it. To

determine the effectiveness of the brand, the advertisements results should draw consumers away from

competitive brands or increase the amount of purchases made of the brand alone. The effectiveness on

21

the relationship between varying levels of loyalty and advertising effectiveness, based on the start and

end of an advertising campaign (Raj, 1982).

With respect to the growth in the importance of advertisements, cultural values, such as individualistic

cultures spend more time on newspapers as compared collectivist cultures that choose TV as their

overall media consumption (de Mooij, 1999). On the contrary, the amount of TV viewing is positively

connected with advertisements in general (Bush et al, 1999).

To determine the effectiveness of ads, advertisers tend to repeat advertisements over a given time

period. The consumers initially feel the effect of the ad and begins to get familiar with the ad (Tellis,

2004).

Over time, consumers develop an attitude towards advertisements. These attitudes determine whether

the advertisements were successful in their forays or otherwise. The attitude toward advertising in

general is an important influence with additional variables like the mood, ad perception ad credibility,

and attitude toward advertiser (MacKenzie et al, 1989).

The variance in viewing time is derived by the three attitudinal components. These are Hedonism,

Utilitarianism, and Interestingness. The two emotional dimensions, namely pleasure and arousal, and

the uniqueness of advertisement content provides a greater appeal than a standard set of advertising

appeals (Olney et al, 1991).

Based on the viewers attitude towards an advertisements, researchers examined variables on product

class importance and the product class knowledge (Lutz and MacKenzie, 1983). These were based on

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five constructs, Brand Cognitions, Attitude toward the Ad, Ad Cognitions, Attitude toward the Brand

and Purchase Intention.

With all four models, we can predict that Ad Cognitions leads to Attitude toward the Ad; that Brand

Cognitions leads to Attitude toward the Brand and that Attitude toward the Brand leads to Purchase

Intention. The other relationships are speculated to be found in more than one models but not present in

all four.

Recipients of an ad, acquire an attitude towards the ad (Lutz et al, 1983). This exerts an influence on

the measures of ad effectiveness like purchase intentions and brand attitude. Ads play the role of an

important mediator in creating a naturalistic situation and not just a testing situation (Shimp et al,

1981). There are two routes that are central and peripheral will change these attitudes (Petty et al,

1981). A distinction in referring to effortless message-based persuasion and heuristic appeal to

represent less effortless processing based sources towards ads (Chaiken, 1980).

Advertisers base their ads on an individual's reactions towards an ad by assessing the impact and

evaluation of the brand and the resultant purchase. A framework was created that judges the

relationship between individual's responses and brand attitude (Mitchell et al, 1981). The examination

on both temporal stability of an ad attitude and the state of an advertisement attitude and how it

compares with a brand attitude over a period of time (Moore et al, 1983). Thereby, the brand attitude is

compared with the advertisement and brand attitude on the basis of how a customer engages with the

brand over a period of time. Different subjects were tested for a variety of post-exposure responses

from different time delays, over a period of time based on the target ads (Burke et al, 1986). Prior to

assessing the subject's responses, they were shown the target ads. At a later period, the exposure prior

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to measurement assessed the effects of the delay in time on the attitudes and effects of a brand.

Warmth is regarded as a feeling or emotion that is presented in a number of contexts (Bush, 1972).

Warmth can be regarded as an experience connected to emotions (Davitz, 1969) and on the empathetic

emotional response (McDavis et al, 1978). Warmth creates a sense of belonging and an affection to the

ad. An example of this is the Pillsbury's "soft and cuddly" Doughboy. The advertisements are based on

sentiments such as family and kids, friends and feelings, the feel good factor approaches. Empathy is

used as a factor that advertisers use in their ads to bring in a sense of warmth through affectionate

couple, mother-child interactions and vacation settings (Schlinger, 1979). In the Airtel 4G

advertisement, the warmth factor can be seen in how the unconventional girl approaches a by-stander

and encourages them to compete with their network speeds and surprises you with the speed of the

Airtel 4G.

The advertiser plays on the emotions of the consumers and creates a dimension that entices them to

learn more about the product offered. Fear being a dimension of high unpleasantness and arousal,

sadness has a low dimension of arousal (Russell, 1980).

Based on the study that the feelings and emotions that audience members experience when exposed to

an ad, researchers have concentrated on fear and humour appeals (Sternthal and Craig, 1973). Other

researchers have investigated warmth and irritation (Aaker, Stayman, and Hagerty, 1986), researchers

have also studied urgency, elation, vigour and also the social affection and deactivation (Batra and Ray,

1986). Further researchers believe that ads show a studied happiness versus sadness (Alpert and Alpert,

1986).

Happy or sad films induce positive and negative feelings (Gouaux, 1971). Respondents that watched a

sad film to be depressed and questioned why certain products associated their brand with depressing

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feelings (Axelrod, 1963). Subjects in a positive mood related favourably products more than those in a

neutral mood and those in a negative mood were found to be less favourable than those who had neutral

mood. To draw a parallel with the Airtel 4G ad, we can see the happy vibe that the host plays with both

the people she competes with and the viewers of the ad. This encourages them to be more favourable to

the change and switch their mobile data plans to Airtel's 4G.

The effect of an advertisement is based on the intensity of the attack of the ad (Pinkleton, 1997). The

harsher the attack, the greater the impact of the advertisement on the consumer and greater will be the

message recollection. When it comes to an advertising campaign, there is a margin of effectiveness for

the sponsoring candidate. This is measured before the sponsor gains and after which the sponsor loses

based on the effectiveness of the message.

Today, an advertiser compares their ads with competitors and based on their effectiveness, the ads are

televised. Traditional non comparative ads appear to be no more credible when the claims are made

based on the attitude towards the brand, the purchase intentions and the audience's actual behaviour

(Goodwin and Etgar, 1980). Studies view the audience as a homogeneous group and ignore the

heterogeneous nature of the audience that view these ads (Donthu, 1992).

Advertisements types are based between the rational and emotional appeals (Leonidou and Leonidou,

2009). Rational appeals focus on the rational thinking process of the consumer. This involves the

functional needs for the brand of product and how they measure. The emotional appeals target the

psychological aspects of the consumer that stir up feelings, create an affectionate atmosphere to

motivate the customer to buy their products. This brings in both the Effects and the Reception Theory

where rational and emotional appeals come into play.

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Emotional appeals are not only based on emotions but on the consumer’s memory. If the consumer's

conscience is excited or agitated, it prompts the consumer to make a purchase (Chunawalla et al,1998).

Emotional appeals can also be called Transformational appeals because they transform the feelings of

the consumers towards the product.

The rational advertisements concentrate on factual information to bring out a sense of the consumer’s

cognitive responses to the brands (Prashanth, 1999 and Wang, 2008). Emotional advertisements look at

attracting the consumer’s emotional responses to the brands. Rational appeals should meet the

consumer's functional with the product offered in the advertisements (Mishra, 2009). While, emotional

appeals are primarily founded on the feelings of fun, enjoyment or fear.

The effectiveness of ads are based on techniques of measuring recall and recognition and their feelings

and emotions towards the ad (Loken and Hoverstad, 1985). As against competitive advertising,

effectiveness is measured in terms of credibility and believability of the claims made, the attitude

towards the brand and purchase intentions (Dorge and Darmon, 1987). The Airtel 4G Challenge

advertisements build on emotions to create a sense of recall with the viewers. Also the download

seemed to be completed in front of the viewer doing the ad airing time. The reply that Airtel made to

the Advertising Standards Council of India's statement is, there is a sense of believability that can be

assured to their viewers and potential customers. And therefore they were not incorrect in their claim.

The role of advertising is to create a positive impression about the product, to the target audience. The

advertisements pitched are made similar to the competitors ads, in order to make compelling stories and

nurture relationships. These advertisements should not be something out of the ordinary and must be

believable. The ads depend on the attention span of the viewers, how they understand the

26

advertisements and whether they, the consumers would make a purchase. The advertisements will

determine whether it will spur the customers to buy their product. Advertisers need to understand the

diffusion of the message is what creates awareness and whether this message will help it meet its

objectives. It is the words and message that will play a lasting role and create an impact with the

viewer.

Advertisements create a demand, rekindle desires and addresses human needs that can be quenched

with the product that has been advertised. The appeal is the main message and central to advertising

success. The creative team at ad agencies intensify the content through ads. Then advertisements create

a buying obligation and a desire of the product to match a buyer's need and help them make a purchase.

They help in creating an atmosphere where the desires induce a product purchase.

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Methodology

This chapter contains the details of the methodology employed in this thesis which the researcher uses

to arrive at the results. The methodology used a survey of one hundred and fifty participants. The

survey questionnaire was planned to be able to cover all questions which could possibly come up to be

able to collect a proper result.

The questions will be based on five constructs that are the Brand Cognition, Advertisement Cognition,

Attitude towards the Ad, Attitude towards the Brand and Purchase Intention. Once all the surveys have

been completed by connecting face to face with the participants willing to take the survey, a

quantitative analysis framework of coding will be used, to ascertain the results of the thesis.

3.1 Study ObjectivesThe objective of this thesis is to study whether advertisements influence a customer's attitudes and

study whether consumers are influenced by these advertisements and make a purchase decision.

The main objectives of this study include:

1. To verify if the influence that advertisements have on minds of the buyers who have viewed the

ads.

2. To verify if there is a science behind the 4G advertising campaign.

3. To verify the reasons listed for the success of the campaign.

3.2 Subjects and ProcedureIn terms of the Quantitative Analysis, the researcher has collated the inputs of 150 respondents that

have answered a set of questions in order to answer the objectives. Once the sheets were complete, the 28

answers were tabulated and extrapolated in the form of graphs to collate the total findings. The focus of

the survey will suggest whether the Airtel 4G Challenge campaign had a significant impact on the

minds of them the viewers and created a sense of desire, that led them to switch to Airtel or upgrade to

4G connectivity.

Quantitative research generalises over age groups and the survey population's opinions and provides a

framework of the answers of the respondents based on whether they intend to make an informed

decision based on the television advertisement. Quantitative research consists of generalisation and an

approach that will provide for key analytically based answers that are framed within the five constructs:

Brand Cognition, Advertisement Cognition, Attitude towards the Ad, Attitude towards the Brand and

Purchase Intention.

3.3 Coding of stories

To show how the researcher worked out the coding of the questionnaires, the researcher will produce a

table that contains the five constructs namely: Brand Cognitions, Attitude toward the Ad, Ad

Cognitions, Attitude toward the Brand and Purchase Intention. The answers will be coded against the

constructs and from this the coding will provide answers related to the mindset of the buyers.

The research questions being answered are:

RQ 1: What is the influence that advertisements have on minds of the buyers who have viewed

the ads?

RQ 2: Is there a science behind the 4G advertising campaign?

RQ 3: What are the reasons listed for the success of the campaign?

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3.4 Quantitative Analysis The quantitative analysis is based on a questionnaire that will comprise of 15 questions. This

questionnaire will be distributed to a target audience between the ages 18 to 60. The answers will be

collated and graphs made of the findings based on the five constructs. These findings will substantiate

the qualitative findings.

The ads will be viewed and the content of each will be analysed against a coding of five constructs:

1. Brand Cognitions: This refers to viewer's awareness, understanding and recognition of the

brand. This also refers to consumers' perception of the brand idea.

2. Attitude toward the Ad: This refers to the viewer's response to a brand in a favourable or

unfavourable manner to the advertising of the brand.

3. Ad Cognitions: This refers to the viewer's perception to the brand's advertisement.\

4. Attitude toward the Brand: This refers to the viewer's reaction to advertised brand and whether

that in turn would create a desire to purchase the brand.

5. Purchase Intention: This refers to likeliness that the viewer would buy the product in the near

future.

3.5 Sample SizeThe sample size was considered by keeping in view the time and resources, the survey was designed

and carried out in Bangalore City. The cosmopolitan nature of the city makes it representative of the

other cities in India.

The size of the sample was decided based on how best it could represent the population. Sample size

assumes critically. Smaller the sample, larger will be the error, and larger the sample, smaller the error.

However, a large sample need not be truly representative of the population under investigation.30

A sample size of 150 respondents was drawn from across the city with respondents from the age group

of 18 – 60. The sample was drawn using the purposive sampling technique, which is a non probability

sampling method. While collecting the data, the researchers made sure that the respondents were from

different demographic backgrounds and from different parts of the city.

3.6 Tabulation of Quantitative Analysis Numerical graphs are used to summarize statistical data, and collate it clearly. The researcher has used

graphs as they are visually appealing, easy to interpret and the prominence of an attribute can be shown

effectively in a pie graph. A graph is the easiest method to use when working with nominal or ordinal

variables (Deacon et al, 2007). In a pie chart, the numbers that fall under each category are shown as

separate parts within a pie.

3.7 SurveyThe survey comprise of 15 questions that will provided to a minimum of 150 respondents. The

questions will be based on the influence that advertisements have on minds of the buyers. The users of

smart phones and internet data users are from a wide age group. This has enabled the researcher to

create a questionnaire for the age group between 18-60. The researcher will therefore provide these

questionnaires to students, professionals, house-makers and retired people.

The researcher has adopted Erik Erickson's stages of psychosocial development that categorises age

groups based on eight life stages. The stages include: Infancy (0-2 years), Early childhood (2–4 years),

Preschool age (4–5 years), School age (5–12 years), Adolescence (13–19 years), Early adulthood (20–

39 years), Adulthood (40–64 years) and Maturity (65 till death). Under this categorising, the researcher

conducted an age based classification for each question.

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3.8 Questionnaire Design The questionnaire was used to gather data for the quantitative analysis, for the study.

A survey questionnaire of multiple variables was formulated and provided as hard copy surveys and the

answers were written down and marked.

The questionnaire was divided into two sections: Part I consisted of a profile section and Part II

included questions based on study objectives.

See Appendix – 1 for a copy of the questionnaire. The data was collected in November and December,

2015.

3.9 Scope and LimitationsThe survey was conducted through a micro level study, and it determines the effects advertisements

have on the minds of the buyers who have viewed the ads. A drawback of the study was the small non

probability sample.

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Data Analysis and Interpretation

This chapter presents the a comprehensive analysis of the collated data that has been collected, cross

checked, tabulated, analysed and interpreted in to a meaningful representation of the data. This analysis

was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on one hundred and fifty respondents in order to

gauge whether the Airtel 4G Challenge ads had an influence on the minds of the buyers. The survey

had fifteen questions which contained two parts: Part I – Profile Section, Part II – Questions based on

study objectives.

These questions were based on the five constructs namely: Brand Cognitions, Attitude toward the Ad,

Ad Cognitions, Attitude toward the Brand and Purchase Intention.

The results were presented based on graphs of the eleven questions. Additionally, since age plays an

important role for advertisements, the results of each question based on age group were analysed and

written and supplemented the previous results.

In the profile section of the survey, 5 questions were posed to the people surveyed, as one indicator in

itself, is usually not enough to adequately characterize the socio-economic status of the people survey.

4.1 Age based classification of dataBefore conducting a survey, a preliminary round was conducted among a group of individuals in a

prominent club. It was found that people that have smart phones and a 3G connection and those that

have a firm knowledge about Airtel 4G are those between the age group of 18 to 60 years. This enabled

me to create an age bracket between the age group of 18 to 60 years to conduct my survey. 33

Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development defines age groups based on eight life stages that

an individual should pass through from infancy to late adulthood. Based on Erik Erikson's stages, my

survey encompasses people who are Young Adults (18 – 35 years), Middle Age (36 – 55 years) and Old

Age (56 – 60 years) and an age based classification was conducted on the responses for each question.

The three ranges in the parentheses is based on an inclusive method of classification. For instance,

Nanacy M Petry (2002) among others, has used the inclusive method where she categorized her sample

into young adults (ages 18 – 35 years), middle-aged adults (ages 36 – 55 years), and older adults (aged

older than 55 years).

Marketers use segmentation to target a specific audience. It is important to determine the feelings and

beliefs that different generations of consumers associate with schemas and understand consumer

behaviour. Advertisers use factors like measurability, accessibility, substantiality, and action-ability to

evaluate segments desirability. The segments are identified as geographic, demographic, psychological,

and behavioural variables. Appealing to nostalgic feelings and memories gives consumers the feeling

that the product is being specifically directed towards them, and allowing them to connect to the

product or service on a personal level. Segmentation is based on prospective buyers consume, behave,

and spend. This advertisement association based on age, is in respect to the differences in lifestyle,

desires, needs and how they respond to the product that invokes these attitudes and emotions.

Therefore, advertisers make ads that will in the process create on long-term relationships with

consumers. This will provide companies with consumers that are brand loyal.

The results of the age group from the graphs made from 150 surveys conducted were: 46.67% in the

34

Young Adults group (18 – 35 years), 47.33% in the Middle Age group (36 – 55 years), and 6% in the

Old Age group (56 – 60 years).

This indicates the age of the participants of the 150 surveys undertaken by the researcher. 58% were in

the age group of 18 to 39 years and 42% were in the age group of 40-60 years. This is important as they

are involved in decision making and making a purchase based on income. The 58% in the age group of

18 to 39 years comprise of those that are of the new-age generation that are more influenced by

technology as they have been accustomed to gadgets and the internet for a longer period than the 42%

in the age group of 40 to 60 years who have slowly adapted to technology after initially objecting it.

The results of the education level: Below SSLC: 0%, Plus 2 or Diploma: 30%, Graduation: 50% and

Post-Graduation: 20%

This indicates the education level of the 150 participants surveyed. Therefore one can summarise that

they can capable of forming their own opinions using their education abilities.

The results of the occupation of the people surveyed: Student: 36.66%, Housewife: 12.67%, Business:

24%, Service: 26.67%

This points out the calibre of the viewers from the 150 respondents that were surveyed conducted with

regard to the occupation of the viewers. This result also shows the level of disposable income an

individual can devote to gaining access to media and communication technologies.

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4.2 Survey to reveal Public Discourse1) Do you watch Television?

Figure 1: Number of respondents that watch Television

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 150 (100%) and No: 0 (0%). This shows

that television is the most effective medium today even with social media gaining in importance in the

last decade. India is the third in television viewership after the United States of America and China.

Television has a larger audience base with over 400 million in India as compared to 300 million

internet users. This also suggests that there is a larger audience that is reached through the television

which are from rural India.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 70 (100%) 0 (0%)

36 – 55 years 71 (100%) 0 (0%)

56 – 60 years 9 (100%) 0 (0%)

36

The table shows that irrespective of age group, all the 150 respondents watch television and this

therefore establishes the importance of advertising on television to engage with larger audience and

gauge whether an advertisement is successful based on the number of views, how the audience takes to

the advertisement campaign and whether the ads are effective in influencing the viewer to make a

purchase.

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2) Do you skip the ads?

Figure 2: Number of respondents that skip ads

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 72 (48%) and No: 78 (52%). This infers

that in spite of 100% of the 150 surveys watch television, advertisements are often skipped as in the

case of 52% of the respondents and have an impact on only 48% of the respondents. This could be due

to ads repeated at frequent intervals that bore the viewer and cause them to switch to another channel

when the ad is being aired. The viewer is informed about the number of minutes before their show

would resume and therefore, they may switch to different channels in the given time or may be in the

mood to surf channels.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 35 (50%) 35 (50%)

36 – 55 years 28 (39.44%) 43 (60.56%)

56 – 60 years 9 (100%) 0 (0%)

38

This results of the 70 surveys of the age group of 18 – 35 years explains that unlike the other age

groups, it is found that 50% of Young Adults tend to skip advertisements and the remaining 50% tend

to enjoy watching advertisements. The 71 surveys of the age group of 36 – 55 years suggests that there

are only 39.44% that skip ads as compared to 60.56% that do not switch between channels when an

advertisement is being aired. In the 9 surveys of the age group of 56 – 60 years proposed that all the

respondents do not skip advertisements. This implies that surveys under the category of Young Adults

have a lesser amount of patience as compared to surveys in the category of Middle Age and Old Age.

This is also due to the increase in smart phone usage among a younger audience and the aspect that

they would like to get more entertainment from the time they spend watching television programmes

instead of looking at advertisements. Since this is a survey conducted on the amount of time people

spend watching television advertisements, due consideration was not paid to those individuals who also

used their smart phones to find out more information on the product through advertisements, reviews,

videos and through the medium of social media.

39

3) Have you watched any Airtel ads?

Figure 3: Number of respondents that have watched Airtel Ads

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 150 (100%) and No: 0 (0%). This shows

that the viewers associate themselves with the Airtel advertisement and that Airtel as a brand instantly

recognizable by 100% of the viewers. The researcher infers from this that the knowledge of the Airtel

ads has been built up over time by Airtel with its regular telecast of its advertisements on TV.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 70 (100%) 0 (0%)

36 – 55 years 71 (100%) 0 (0%)

56 – 60 years 9 (100%) 0 (0%)

This results of the age-wise categorisation of data suggests that all the respondents recognise the Airtel

40

ads and are fully aware of the Airtel brand. This also shows that irrespective of age category and

demographic, the Airtel ad reaches all age groups irrespective of the intended target audience.

4) Have you watched the recent Airtel 4G Challenge ads?

Figure 4: Number of respondents that watched the Airtel 4G Challenge ads

The graph made from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 148 (98.67%) and No: 2 (1.33%). From the results

we learn that 148 respondents are aware of the Airtel 4G ads and 2 respondents were unaware of the

ads. The percentage shows that it is a very popular ad and has been enjoyed by the viewers. It can be

duly noted that the sales of a commodity are mainly dependent on the success of an advertisement. It is

therefore apparent to note that Airtel showcases the ad repeatedly due to the popularity of the ad

campaign.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 68 (97.14%) 2 (2.86%)

41

36 – 55 years 71 (100%) 0 (0%)

56 – 60 years 9 (100%) 0 (0%)

The results of the age-based categorisation of data suggests that respondents in the age groups of 36 –

55 years and 56 – 60 years are completely aware of the Airtel 4G ad as compared to respondents in the

age group of 18 – 35 years were 2.86% were unaware of the Airtel 4G ads.

42

5) Did you find the girl who challenged the rest appealing?

Figure 5: Number of respondents that find the girl's challenge appealing

The graph made from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 130 (86.67%) and No: 20 (13.33%). From the

results we learn that the model selected for the role of the main protagonist in the ad was appealing to

all as seen by the viewers. She had an engaging manner and regular looks and a happy personality

which added to her charm. Irrespective of male and female respondents interviewed, there was a large

number that found that the model was appealing and caught the attention of the audience through the

manner in which she casually addressed her competitors and expressed that Airtel 4G was far superior.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 55 (78.57%) 15 (21.43%)

36 – 55 years 66 (92.96%) 5 (7.04%)

56 – 60 years 9 (100%) 0 (0%)

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From the results of the age categorisation, we can derive that with respect to the survey conducted on

all age groups that respondents that recorded that 86.67% found the girl appealing, only 78.57% of

Young Adults (18 – 35 years) felt that girl was appealing as against 92.96% of the Middle Age (36 – 55

years) and 100% of the Old Age (56 – 60 years). This therefore implies that the Young Adults found

other characteristics like the Challenge, the use of props in the ad and method in which the

advertisement was shot were found to be more appealing than the model in the ad.

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6) Did you like the ad?

Figure 6: Number of respondents that like the ad

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 126 (84%) and No: 24 (16%). From the

results we learn that by clubbing the percentages of the three questions, an interesting point was noted

by the researcher that 98.67% have watched the ad, 86.67% like the girl and 84 per cent like the ad.

Therefore, we understand that the all the viewers did not like the ad in spite of having seen the ads and

found the girl appealing.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 50 (71.43%) 20 (28.57%)

36 – 55 years 67 (94.37%) 4 (5.63%)

56 – 60 years 9 (100%) 0 (0%)

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The results from the table show that 71.43% of Young Adults (18 – 35 years) like the ad which is

significantly lesser than 94.37% of Middle Age (36 – 55 years) and 100% of Old Age (56 – 60 years)

that liked the advertisement. Hence, we can decipher that even though the advertisement was targeted

specifically to the youth, there is a larger percentage in the Middle Age and Old Age that enjoy the ad

even more than the Young Adults.

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7) Do you have a 3G connection already?

Figure 7: Number of respondents that have a 3G connection already

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 124 (82.67%) and No: 26 (17.33%).

From the results we learn that if 82.67% are connected they are concerned with the speed of their

bandwidth.

This allows us to understand that there is a larger percentage of the surveys that rely on faster

broadband connectivity and demand faster speeds as compared to those that just have a basic mobile

internet data package like 2G. Hence, there are a larger number of respondents that could switch to 4G

as they are conscious about mobile internet speed and demand a faster internet speed.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 61 (87.14%) 9 (12.86%)

36 – 55 years 56 (78.87%) 15 (21.13%)

56 – 60 years 7 (77.78%) 2 (22.22%)

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The results of table show that 87.14% of Young Adults (18 – 35 years) which is a high percentile

explains that they have a 3G connection and acknowledge that they need a fast mobile internet

connection. While 78.87% of the Middle Age and 77.78% of the Old Age also use 3G connections.

This suggests that the respondents have fast mobile connections and that a large number of this group

would upgrade to 4G given that they are prefer faster internet speeds, greater connectivity, better

coverage and are price conscious.

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8) Did you like the music in the ad?

Figure 8: Number of respondents that like the music in the ad

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 133 (88.67%) and No: 17 (11.33%).

From the results we learn that 88.67% like the music in the ad and this connotes the importance of

choosing the right music that is an extension of the advertisement and increases recall value. Music in

advertisements are as important as visuals as it is the music and the Jingles that create a story and

implants the brand's message in the viewers' subconscious.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 59 (84.29%) 11 (15.71%)

36 – 55 years 66 (94.29%) 5 (5.71%)

56 – 60 years 8 (88.89%) 1 (11.11%)

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The results of the table state that there were a large number of respondents that liked the music in the

ad. There were 84.29% of Young Adults (18 – 35 years), 94.29% of Middle Age (36 – 55 years) and

88.89% of Old Age (56 – 60 years) that enjoyed the music in the advertisement. Therefore, we can

conclude that music plays an important aspect in the advertisement and a successful jingle can increase

recall value of the advertisement and can also influence the buyers to make a purchase.

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9) Did you like the colours in the ad?

Figure 9: Number of respondents that like the colours in the ad

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 129 (86%) and No: 21 (14%). From the

results we understand that 86% of the respondents liked the colours in the advertisement. The red and

white colours dominate the advertisement and convey the elements of action, excitement and youth

which are the dominate features of the advertisement.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 55 (78.57%) 15 (21.43%)

36 – 55 years 67 (94.37%) 4 (5.63%)

56 – 60 years 7 (77.78%) 2 (22.22%)

The results of the table convey that 78.57% of the Young Adults (18 – 35 years), 94.37% of the Middle

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Age (36 – 55 years) and 77.78% of the Old Age (56 – 60 years) groups like the colours in the

advertisement. This suggests that the Middle Age (36 – 55 years) are highly influenced by the colours

as compared to the other groups. Colours help us identify ourselves with the brand and the

advertisement and when it comes to red and white, people automatically associate themselves with

Airtel.

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10) Do you think the challenge appears realistic?

Figure 10: Number of respondents that think the challenge appears realistic

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 99 (66%) and No: 51 (34%). From the

results we learn that 66% of the viewers feel the ad is good value for money and therefore the

advertiser is running a successful ad. This makes the advertisers realise that the ad campaign is

successful and the amount invested in the ad campaign is money well spent. Some of the viewers felt

that there was a lot of hype created in the advertisement. But, there was a sizeable amount that feels

that the ad is realistic and feel that the Airtel 4G is truly faster than its closest competitor.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 37 (52.86%) 33 (47.14%)

36 – 55 years 54 (76.06%) 17 (23.94%)

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56 – 60 years 8 (88.89%) 1 (11.11%)

The results of the table suggest that 52.86% of the Young Adults (18 – 35 years), 76.06% of Middle

Age (36 – 55 years) and 88.89% of Old Age (56 – 60 years) groups feel the ad is realistic. You can see

that there is a significantly lower number of respondents of Young Adults that find the ad realistic as

compared to the Middle Age and Old Age groups.

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11) Did the ad influence you to make a purchase?

Figure 11: Number of respondents that were influenced to make a purchase

The results of the pie chart from 150 surveys conducted: Yes: 91 (60.67%) and No: 59 (39.33%). From

the results we learn that 90 per cent enjoy the ad but the actual conversion ratio of those who want to

make a purchase after watching the ad is 60.67%.

The data of the 150 surveys are further categorised as below:

Age Categories Yes No

18 – 35 years 35 (50%) 35 (50%)

36 – 55 years 50 (70.43%) 21 (29.57%)

56 – 60 years 6 (66.67%) 3 (33.33%)

The results of the table explain that only 50% of the respondents in the Young Adults age group (18 –

35 years) were influenced by the ad to make a purchase which is important to note as it is much lesser

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in comparison to the 60.67% results in the pie chart. The other age groups were higher with 70.43% for

the Middle Age group (36 – 55 years) and 66.67% for the Old Age group (56 – 60 years). This can be

due to the purchasing power of individuals in three age groups. This point can be argued as 87.14% of

the Young Adults (18 – 35 years), while 78.87% of the Middle Age (36 – 55 years) and 77.78% of the

Old Age (56 – 60 years) have a 3G connection. Hence, we now understand that the influence that the ad

had on the minds of the Young Adult (18 – 35 years) buyers was considerably lesser for those who are

willing to upgrade or switch to a 4G connection. While there was large percentage of respondents that

were influenced by the advertisement in the Middle Age (36 – 55 years) and Old Age groups (56 – 60

years).

4.3 Summary of the findingsFrom the findings we can use the data acquired to answer the following study objectives:

4.3.1 Influence advertisements have on minds of the buyersFrom the questions in the survey, we can learn that the advertisements had a distinctive influence on the

minds of the buyers. This is based on certain criteria such as:

4.3.1.1 If the girl that announced the challenge was appealing86.67% respondents found the girl in the advertisement appealing and her persona and her mannerism

was well appreciated by the viewers. The Airtel 4G Challenge was not your regular advertisement as

the protagonist created a fresh sense of competition and imbibed the feelings and excitement that the

'Youth' project in the ad.

4.3.1.2 If they liked the advertisement84% of the respondents enjoyed the advertisement and expressed that there were certain elements that

they liked. These elements include the theme, the liveliness in the ad and the way the challenge was

presented in a unique and distinct manner. Many respondents explained that they were drawn to the

concept of Airtel sponsoring your phone calls and mobile internet data for a lifetime, if you could prove

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that your phone had a faster internet speed.

4.3.1.3 If they already had a 3G connectionsThis question was important as it dwells on the fact that a large number of respondents already have a

3G connection. With this we can derive that 82.67% of the respondents are concerned about the speed

with which they receive their data and it is this specific group that are likely to switch to 4G given the

performance and durability that Airtel promises their current and prospective customers.

4.3.1.4 If the music played a role in ad88.67% of the respondents liked the music in the ad and the researcher found that music was an

important aspect of the ad as it not only entertained the viewer but help in increasing the recall value of

the advertisement with the viewers. It was important to note that the jingle that was played at the end of

the advertisement when the ad displays the Airtel logo is immediately recognised with the audience.

4.3.1.5 If the colours influenced the viewers86% of the respondents liked the colours in the ad and appreciated the rich and vibrant reds that are

shown in the ad. Colours play a major role in creating a certain persona and creates a distinction

between two similar brands. They are pleasing to the eye as against others and helps in making a

connect among certain age groups.

4.3.1.6 If the ad made the viewer finally buy the product60.67% of the respondents reacted positively that they would upgrade and switch to Airtel 4G. The

percentage may be lower as compared to the number that currently own 3G connections as some are

price conscious, happy with their current mobile internet data plans, operate on a competitor's network

and others would like their friends and relations subscribe to the network and based on their positive

feedback, would they make the transition to Airtel 4G.

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4.3.2 Science in advertisingAccording to Advertising Age, advertisers in the United States of America spend $170 million in 2014,

be it traditional and digital marketing. There is a science in advertising as successful advertising

techniques use positive memories and emotions to effect our behaviour over time and prompt us to buy

something on a later date. Advertisements and marketing leads to subconscious of the human brain. It is

known that people do not like to feel that they are easily influenced. Therefore, advertisers use models

and colours based on what they are trying to convey to their target audience. The red in the Airtel

conveys action, excitement and youth which are the dominating factors that can be seen in the Airtel

4G Challenge. For instance, the people in the challenge are the youth, there is a lot of enthusiasm seen

with the use of camera techniques and the speed in which the shots are shown in terms of excitement

and actions. This clearly defines the Airtel brand.

Brands seldom use the technique of compare their brand with others. This can be easily associated with

the ad as the host shows how her Airtel 4G is superior to her rivals. This can be seen in terms of how

total strangers are zapped with the speed that the Airtel 4G delivers and the offer that host states that if

your phone is faster than her network, you stand a chance to win unlimited phone calls and free mobile

internet data and that Airtel will pay your bills.

Another technique used by Airtel is the use of a model to endorse the Airtel 4G product. This has been

cleverly played by Airtel as they created challenges to prove the product's superiority and in the

advertisement, the host exclaimed that her product is faster based on the results.

4.3.3 Reasons for the success of the campaignThere are several reasons for a successful television advertisement campaign and some of them where

the announcement of a superior product which was launched for the first time in India, the Challenge

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where Airtel would pay your mobile bills for life if your mobile internet data connection was faster and

major elements in the advertisement such as the colour, music and the endorsement made by model

employed by Airtel.

The key elements that lead to the Airtel 4G Challenge's success are:

4.3.3.1 Targeting the Youth

The Airtel 4G campaign was built around the concept of whether you have a faster mobile internet

service than than what Airtel can provide you with their break-neck speed 4G plan. The Challenge was

specially targeted to the youth as it usually the youth that drive the market and once the market is

established with the youth, only then the product trickles down to the other age groups. The idea of

catering to the youth was also to create a sense of energy and excitement which entices the viewers to

engage with the advertisement and be an automatic conversation starter with the viewers' friends,

relatives and peers. This enabled the advertiser to speak to the viewers on a personal level and create

the special connect that made the viewers frequently responded on social media and influenced the

audience to make a purchase and switch or upgrade to the Airtel 4G plan.

4.3.3.2 Showcasing product superiority over the competitor

With the Airtel 4G Campaign, the mobile provider immediately struck a chord with the audience with

respect to the performance of the product and its competitive edge over its rivals. Being one of the

pioneers in 4G connectivity, Airtel instantly showcased reasons why you should make the move based

on the upload and download speeds which were head and shoulders above its rivals . They did this by

displaying several ads in the form of challenges to strangers where the anchor and the competitor

would have to battle it out to see if their internet speed was faster. Benefits such as good connectivity

were addressed with the anchor going to different areas and challenging people with internet enabled

phones. The benefits of always staying connected and receiving the faster mobile internet data speeds

where highlighted through all the Airtel advertisement campaigns.

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4.3.3.3 Building a brand image

Airtel has constantly been advertising on television, billboards, radio, websites, social media and

related mediums to inform their viewers, readers and listeners about the brand and what the brand has

to offer. Airtel has pushed all their products through smart advertising and continuous monitoring of

their brand, diversifying areas where ad was projected and researching on how to appeal to their

clientèle and prospective customers by advertising in the right places and making advertising budgets

by associating costs with the amount of sales that the ads deliver.

People associate Airtel straight away with the logo and the red colour. They have a strong recall of the

products and this is cleverly done by imparting messages to the target audience through campaigns and

stories that they convey through advertising.

4.3.3.4 Advertisements that go beyond budgets

If Airtel had to impress their viewers they had to have huge advertising budgets which did not dictate

the costs that Airtel was willing to pay but rather the effects that the ads have on the sales. This was

done by closely monitoring the amount of time viewers tuned in to their favourite programmes and

which channels drew a larger audience. Airtel knew which channels to broadcast their campaigns and

how often they needed to repeat advertisements to inform the viewers with their offerings. This

assessment was studied through the careful analysis of network TRPs, monitoring through specialised

advertising agencies like Taproot Dentsu to create the right impact and create a buying impulse with the

viewers.

4.3.3.5 Opting for Television plus other traditional and social media

The Airtel 4G Challenge was accepted well by audience across demographics and age groups but they

continued to create an awareness of the challenge through the radio and print advertisements. These

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forms of advertisements not only providing the readers and listeners with information about the product

but were leading advertisements that made the audience watch the advertisement to thoroughly

understand the campaign and lead them towards a purchase decision. Airtel was active on social media

sites like Twitter and created the Airtel 4G Challenge TVC, where they made a Tweet to Unlock widget

which eventually opened once users tweeted #Airtel4G. There were both positive and negative debates

which Airtel addressed in a few moments from when the tweet was published.

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Conclusion

In this study entitled: The Influence of Advertising Campaigns on Television: A Case Study on Airtel 4G

Challenge's Campaigns, the researcher has analysed viewers responses to understand what influence

the Airtel 4G Challenge advertisements have on the minds of the buyers. Using various methodology,

the researcher has been able to come to a reasonable conclusion.

To cover the angle of Public Discourse and understand the viewers' perception and conceptualisation of

the brand, the researcher conducted a preliminary survey prior to the 150 respondents that were

surveyed. They were surveyed by meeting them personally and filling the hard copies to prove the

findings conclusive.

The data collected was analysed through by evaluating the questions based on the dichotomous answers

and evaluating the influence and effects of the advertising challenge.

The study finds that the Airtel 4G Challenge campaign was effective and had a great impact on the

audience's purchase decision. The sample also shows that 82.67% have a 3G connection and that only

60.67% were influenced by the advertisement to switch over to Airtel 4G. The reason for this is

because respondents found that the advertisement was a little exaggerated, 4G is a new product in the

market and needs to be adopted by friends and family before they would opt for it. Some respondents

wanted to continue with connections that were not Airtel as they were satisfied with it and some were

price conscious, and their decision was based on that.

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5.1 Connecting the Effects and Reception theories with the study

The study contains two theories: Effects Theory and Reception Theory. With these two theories, the

researcher looks to create a meaning and prove the weightage of the theories through the assessment of

the literature review and the analysis and interpretation of data.

The Effects Theory with the Frankfurt School based on Marxist Germans reaction to Nazi propaganda

and American advertising. The Effects Theory explains about the link between violence and media and

the importance of protection of the young from it. The theory is influenced by media text, where

opinion leaders diffuse information to the media consumers. The theory looks at the rise in TV between

the 1950's and 1960's and the fear of media effects on those that consume the ads, which in turn

influences their buying interests. People are hypnotised by messages carried by the media and yield to

the influences of the ads, and make a purchase. This effect of the advertisement is created on the minds

of the viewers, creates a desire and encourages the viewers to purchase the product.

The Reception Theory originated from the work of Hans Robert Jauss. Later, the cultural theorist Stuart

Hall, regarded as one of the main advocates of Reception theory, developed it further for media and

communication studies. The theory states that the viewer interprets the text and based on the

individual's perception and cultural aspects. Therefore, the reader's perception is based on how the text

is created and feelings that are derived, especially when the viewer feels that it was made for them.

From the study, both the Effects and Reception Theories were proved based on the outcome of the

survey conducted by the researcher. This is proved in the relation that the questions were posed and the

manner in which the respondents reacted. In the survey, 98.67% have watched the ad, 86.67% like the

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girl, 84 per cent like the ad and those influence to make a purchase 60.67%. Hence, the theory has been

proven factually correct.

5.2 Limitations

The researcher states that one limitation of the thesis is that the study was conducted only on one

hundred and fifty respondents and therefore the results of the study on a larger demographic and in

different states in the country, could provide varied results. The study was conducted on individuals of

the age group between 18 to 60. This could cause a bias to the results as people above and below age

group may or may not know about the Airtel brand and the Airtel 4G Challenge advertisements that

were aired on television. The study focused on the elements that create an influence on the minds of the

buyers and did not measure the effects based on brand strategies, advertising tools and metrics and

other instruments that measure actual purchase based on the return on investment of the advertisement

and the sales conversion rates.

5.3 Recommendations and Future Studies

The researcher states that future studies may be conducted if other service providers come up with

competing 4G services. With no other 4G providers the results could be monopolistic. With other

providers of 4G, the survey results may have been different if users had a service to compare with. New

research could cover this angle.

It is interesting for the researcher that while this thesis was being written, the Advertising Standards

Council of India (ASCI) banned the advertisements that the researcher had analysed saying Airtel was

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brazenly making claims of their 4G service which they wanted concrete proof of, if the ads were to be

allowed back on the air. It can be noted that Airtel had provided a detailed explanation to the ASCI but

instead of waiting for the pending decision of the ASCI to telecast the Airtel 4G Challenge ads, they

changed the advertisements to provide more information about the 4G product and Airtel's new

offering. This angle would add an interesting dimension to the thesis.

65

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APPENDIX – 1

St. Joseph CollegePost Graduate CentreLangford Road, Bangalore

Dear Sir/Madam,

I seek your cooperation in the conduct of a study to assess the intent that advertisements have on minds of the buyers who have viewed the Airtel 4G Challenge advertisements.

Your involvement in the study is valuable. As a first step, you need to fill in the details sought as under. Most of the questions can be answered by placing a tick (✔) mark against your answer choice. You have to then identify the advertisement you have watched and describe the way in which it has influenced your buying choice.

I assure you that your personal details and responses will be used for the purpose of this study. These will not be revealed to anyone.

Yours Sincerely,

Steven De Nazareth

MS. Communication Student, St. Joseph's College

PART – I

Name (optional) : …………………………………………………………………….

1) Age (in completed years) : …………………………………………………………………….

2) Gender : Male □ Female □

3) Occupation : Student □

Housewife □

Business/Self-employed □

Service- public sector/private sector □

Any other, specify …………………………………………….…..

4) Education : Below SSLC □

Plus 2/Diploma □

Graduation □

Post-graduation □

Other, please specify ……………………………………………

PART – II

5) Do you watch television? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

6) Do you skip the advertisements? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

7) Have you watched any Airtel ads? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

8) Have you watched the recent Airtel 4G Challenge ads? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

9) Did you find the girl who challenged the rest appealing? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

10) Did you like the ad? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

11) Do you have a 3G connection already? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

12) Did you like the music in the ad? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

13) Did you like the colours in the ad? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

14) Do you think the challenge appears realistic? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □

15) Did you buy or upgrade to the Airtel 4G? [Place a tick (✔) mark in the choice that most appropriate in your case]

a) Yes □

b) No □