Advertising as a Persuasive Communication Process

Advertising is often considered a persuasive communication process, as it involves the use of various strategies and tactics to persuade the audience to take a desired action, such as purchasing a product or service.

Advertising is a form of persuasive communication that is used by companies and organizations to promote their products, services, or ideas to a target audience. It is a carefully crafted communication process that aims to influence the attitudes, beliefs, and behavior of the target audience.

Elements of advertising as a persuasive communication process:

• Sender: The sender is the advertiser who creates and sends the message to the audience.
• Message: The message is the information or content that the advertiser wants to convey to the audience. It includes both the verbal and visual elements of the advertisement.
• Audience: The audience is the target group of people that the advertisement is intended to reach and persuade.
• Medium: The medium is the channel through which the message is delivered to the audience. It could be a TV commercial, print ad, social media post, or any other form of advertising.
• Persuasion techniques: Advertising uses various persuasion techniques to influence the audience’s attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. These techniques can include emotional appeals, rational appeals, humor, fear, and celebrity endorsements, among others.
• Call to action: The call to action is the part of the advertisement that urges the audience to take a specific action, such as buying the product or visiting the company’s website.
• Feedback: Feedback is the response or reaction of the target audience to the message. The advertiser needs to monitor and analyze feedback to determine the effectiveness of the advertising campaign and make adjustments if necessary.
• Ethics: Ethics is the set of moral principles and values that guide the advertiser’s behavior and decision-making. Advertisers need to ensure that their advertising messages are truthful, fair, and not misleading or offensive.

The persuasive communication process used in advertising typically involves the following steps:

• Attention: The first step is to grab the attention of the target audience. This can be done through the use of catchy headlines, striking images, or attention-grabbing music.
• Interest: Once the audience’s attention is captured, the next step is to generate interest in the product or service being advertised. This is typically done by highlighting the benefits of the product or service, and how it can solve a problem or meet a need of the target audience.
• Desire: After generating interest, the next step is to create a desire for the product or service. This can be achieved by appealing to the emotions of the target audience, such as by creating a sense of urgency or by using aspirational messaging.
• Action: The final step in the persuasive communication process is to encourage the target audience to take action, such as by making a purchase or signing up for a service. This can be done by providing a clear call-to-action and making it easy for the audience to take the desired action.

Advertising as a persuasive communication process has several benefits, including:

• Increased brand awareness: Advertising can help to increase brand awareness by exposing the brand to a large audience, which can lead to increased recognition and recall.
• Increased sales: Advertising can help to increase sales by creating demand for the product or service being advertised, and by encouraging the target audience to take a specific action, such as making a purchase.
• Competitive advantage: Advertising can provide a competitive advantage by helping to differentiate the product or service from competitors, and by creating a positive image of the brand in the minds of the target audience.
• Increased customer loyalty: Advertising can help to build customer loyalty by reinforcing positive associations with the brand, and by creating an emotional connection with the target audience.
• Improved communication: Advertising can improve communication between the brand and the target audience by providing information about the product or service, and by creating a dialogue between the brand and the audience.

Scope:

The scope of advertising as a persuasive communication process is vast, as it can be used by a wide range of organizations and companies, across various industries and sectors. Advertising can be used to promote products and services in areas such as consumer goods, healthcare, education, finance, and more. Additionally, advertising can be used to promote social causes and ideas, such as public health campaigns or environmental awareness campaigns.

With the increasing prevalence of digital media and social media platforms, the scope of advertising has expanded even further, allowing organizations to reach a global audience and target specific demographics more effectively. However, with this expansion comes the need for advertisers to be more responsible and ethical in their messaging and to ensure that they do not mislead or offend their target audience.