A

Research based study

on
“Study on the impact of Advertisements on Buying Behaviour of Youth”

Submitted to:
AURO University, Surat, Gujarat, India

Under the Guidance of:

Assistant Professor Ms. Richa Agarwal

In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Subject:
Dissertation Seminar

Offered By:
Auro University, Surat

Prepared by:
Jay Agarwal
(Block 7th, Semester IV, MBA 2017-19)

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Executive Summary

This study aimed to establish the influence of advertising on consumer buying

behaviour of youth. The study aimed to identify media of advertising used to advertise
Products and determine ways in which advertisement influence purchasing behaviour
and establish how different advertisements influence consumer’s behaviour.

The study was conducted in Surat city in Gujarat. Both, primary and secondary data
collection methods were used to collect data. Primary data were collected with the use
of questionnaires as well as personal observation. Secondary data collection involved
the perusal of various documents.

The study used case study research design and comprised a sample of 50 respondents.

From the findings of the study, the researcher concludes that advertising plays a very
significant role in influencing consumers buying behaviour by providing attracting
their attention, arousing their interest, creating desire to purchase the Products.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Executive Summary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2

1. INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

TEENAGERS THE TARGET GROUP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10

i. Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10

ii. General objective of the study ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10

iii. Specific objective of the study ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10

iv. Research Design ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10

v. Scope of the Study --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10

vi. Sample and Sampling Techniques ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11

vii. Source of Data--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11

viii. Data collection method ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11

4. FINDING AND ANALYSIS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12

5. SUGGESTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17

6. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18

7. CONCLUSION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

9. ANNEXURE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21

9.1 Questionnaire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 21

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1. INTRODUCTION

Advertising is a way of communication to encourage an audience for making purchase

decision about a product or service and conveying information to viewers. It is
considered as a vital and essential element for the economic growth of the marketers
and businesses Advertising is usually a paid form of exposure or promotion by some
sponsor that reaches through various traditional media such as television, newspaper,
commercial radio advertisement, magazine mail, outdoor advertising or modern media
such as blogs, websites and text messages.

Marketers have always adapted to changing business demands when it comes to

creating new advertisements. The use of advertisements has significantly increased in
the 20th Century as industrialization expanded the supply of manufactured products.
However, not many businesses practiced advertising at the time. During the late 80s
advertisements were fairly limited to television, radio, billboards and newspapers. In
the modern times, businesses are leaning towards Digital Advertising. Companies are
so focused in social media and mobile advertisements that they may take over
Television advertisement very soon. In Bangladesh, the trend of Digital Marketing is
just on the bloom. Most large local and multinational giant companies are now
practicing digital marketing in full swing.

The major aim of advertising is to impact on buying behaviour; however, this impact
about brand is changed or strengthened frequently through people’s memories.
Memories about the brand are formed by associations that are related to brand name in
consumer mind. These brands continuously influence consideration, evaluation and
finally purchases.Consumers buying behaviour has always been given so much
importance and space in the literature study of impact of advertising regarding its
effectiveness. Most of the time consumers buying behaviour depends on liking or
disliking of consumer towards the advertisement of the product advertised. A good
quality advertisement is likely to influence consumers into buying that product while a
poor-quality advertisement will do the opposite.

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Previous studies have been conducted on effectiveness of advertisement and on
advertisement’s impact on consumer buying behaviour which depicted positive
relationships. However, in this paper we have introduced a combination of different
variables and attempted to examine their influence on consumer behaviour. This paper
aims to determine which of these variables carries the most importance in terms of
effecting consumer behaviour and which of these variables carries less significant
impact. This will help marketers to focus on the right factors and achieve maximum
benefit from their advertisement.

We believe that the study will offer useful insights for both advertising scholars and
executives to understand the ins and outs of advertising and to assist marketers in
introducing better approaches to advertising.

TEENAGERS THE TARGET GROUP

Teenagers now-a-days are considered by many marketers as the most vulnerablegroup
as they often patronize products with novelty and creativity. Most of the brandstoday
are targeted at youth market and linked to its emotions, feelings and behaviour.

Pepsi promised to be the drink for the younger generation. Bikes like Bajaj, Hero
Honda, TVS Suzuki, Royal Enfield, Escorts Yamaha and others two wheelers like
Honda Activacompete each other to catch youth market. Similarly, some brands are
targeted atteenage girls, which constitute a major share of the total population. The
marketers alsotry to attract the teenagers by various means of media and also by
different mediavehicles. Since the advent of Television, it has become the major
media foradvertisements and many firms prefer to advertise their products through TV
as it has

wider viewers. TV now-a-days become a common man’s household item. On an

average, teenagers spend two to three hours a day in watching television. With the
emergence ofWorld Wide Web teenagers have started using the internet and browse
through variouswebsites of their own choice.

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2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Entertainment has been one of the primary criteria for creating an advertisement.
Entertainment is used as a tool to gain attention of customers. An interesting and
entertaining ad is more likely to be remembered by consumers rather than a boring
one. Therefore, it can be said that entertainment increases the effectiveness of
advertising. That is why many companies are investing a lot of money to make
advertisements that are humorous (Mandan, Hossein & Furuzandeh, 2013)
2. Entertainment plays both a co-operating and a conflicting role, depending on its
type (i.e., location in the ad). Entertainment that is associated with the brand is co-
operating, as it acts as a persuasion device both in the interest and purchase stages.
Entertainment that is not associated with the brand acts predominantly as an
attraction device at the interest stage, thus indirectly cooperating but also directly
conflicting with the ultimate goal of the ad. (Teixeira, Picard & Kaliouby, 2013)
3. Alba & Hutchison (1987) defined familiarity as the number of product-related or
service-related experiences that have been gathered by the consumer. These related
experiences include direct and indirect experiences such as exposure to
advertisements, interactions with salespersons, word of mouth contact, trial and
consumption. Johnson and Russo (1984) viewed familiarity as being tantamount
with knowledge. Johnson & Kellaris (1988) have considered experience
contributing to familiarity. Review of the literature shows that knowledge;
experience and familiarity are closely intertwined. Following Alba and
Hutchison’s (1987) definition, brand familiarity is identified as the accumulated
correlated experiences that customers have had with a brand (Ballester, Navarro &
Sicilia, 2012)
4. Zajonc (1968) in a research has demonstrated that experience to a stimulus can
enhance the fondness for that stimulus independently of cognitive evaluations or
contextual associations. Basically, this stream of research has confirmed that affect
is a linear function of the logarithm of exposure frequency (Harrison, 1977). So, as
exposure to an increase, affective reactions to the brand become more favourable.

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 It means the more a brand is exposed through advertisements and campaigns, the
more exposure it gets, which eventually leads to more familiarity of the brand
5. In a research conducted in 2009 it was observed that one of most influential ideas
spread by the media is society's perception of beauty and attractiveness. The thin
beautiful woman and the handsome muscular men are seen everywhere. And as the
influence of media increases, the pressure to hold on to these ideals increases
(Russello, 2009).
6. In 2008, the YWCA USA published a report, Beauty at Any Cost, which
highlighted the consequences of the beauty obsession on women and girls in
America through media. This feeling of insecurity and obsession is very much
likely to trigger purchase of beauty products (Britton, 2012).
7. Apart from the beauty industry, another great example of social image that is
solely created by advertisement is the brand “Rolex”. It is not necessarily the best
product in the market nor does it add a lot of usefulness to one’s life in this day of
cell phones. But through its careful ad placements they have gained the attraction
of millions. They have targeted sports and club members of the elite and portrayed
them in their advertisements. They have identified how the lifestyle of an ideal
customer of their product is, where they live, where they hang out, etc. In a way,
they have sent a subliminal message to the people that ‘Rolex’ is only for the rich
and sophisticated, it is what sets a person apart from the ordinary. Rolex is now
more of a social status rather than a time tracking device. As a result, a person who
has suddenly become rich would want to buy a Rolex just to have a sense of
belonging in that ‘elite’ class.
8. Advertising spending can have an effect in the buying behaviour of people in a
sense that the more money spent can be linked with the quality of advertisement
and the frequency of advertisement. It may result in creating a lasting impression
in consumer’s mind. Advertising is an important extrinsic cue signalling product
quality (Milgrom & Roberts, 1986). Heavy advertising spending shows that the
firm is investing in the brand, which means the organization has a huge investment
and thus implies that they might have a better quality of product (Kirmani &

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 Wright, 1989). In addition, advertising spending levels are good indicators of not
only high quality but also good buys (Archibald, Haulman & Moody, 1983).
9. Yoo, Donthu & Lee (2000) examined the impact of the marketing mix variables on
consumer behaviour. The approach focuses on the indirect effect of these
determinants on brand loyalty. Since advertising spending affects expectations of
product or service quality in consumer’s mind (Kirmani & Wright, 1989; Yoo,
Donthu & Lee, 2000; Moorthy & Zhao, 2000), its role should be indirectly linked
to brand loyalty implying that rather than the advertisement itself, it is how
advertising affects customer perception of the firm that is more critical in
impacting consumer buying behaviour (Ha, Janda & Muthaly, 2011).

10. Senthil. M. Dr. N.R. V Prabhu S. Bhuvaneswari (2013) explored customer’s

perceptions towards advertising in the online shopping and social networking web
sites by distributing both physical and online questionnaires as well as conducting
in-depth interviews. Consumers believe that advertisements on the Internet are
more believable as compared to other mediums and very few people believe in
magazine advertisements. The study suggested that most reputable and well-
known companies may be more likely to meet these expectations, and may help to
lend credibility to the medium.

11. H. Hemanth Kumar, S. Franklin John and S. Senith, “A Study on Factors

Influencing Consumer Buying Behaviour in Cosmetic Products” (2014) defines
marketing personnel are constantly analysing the patterns of buying behaviour and
purchase decisions to predict the future trends. Consumer behaviour can be
explained as the analysis of how, when, what and why people buy.

12. Samar Fatima and Samreen Lodhi, “Impact of Advertisement on Buying

Behaviours of the consumers: Study of Cosmetic Industry in Karachi City” (2015)
revealed that Advertisement helps the company to create the awareness in their
customers and ingredients the advertisements shape the perception of the
customers either in the positive or in a negative way. People can perceive the
quality of the products by gathering the information which they usually get

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 through advertisements. The perception of the quality, awareness of the product
and consumer opinion drives the consumer buying decision. Study critically
evaluates these factors which shape the buying behaviour and provides the deep
insights towards the role of advertisements shaping the consumer behaviour.

13. Seema Johar, “To Study the Consumer Decision Making Behaviour to Purchase of
Durable Goods” (2015) explained that the character, behaviour and attitude of
consumer are the important dimensions in the decision-making process. All the
purchases made by a consumer follow a certain decision-making process. A
consumer is one who does some physical activities and deliberates to take
decisions concerning purchase and to dispose of on to evaluate products and
services. Purchase decision process which is characterized as more complex in its
nature, has been subject to research often, only recently.

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3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

i. Introduction
Market research can be defined as the systematic design of research, collection of data
(Primary or Secondary), analysis of the data, and reporting of the data and finding
relevant to a specific market situation facing the company/industry.

The Research methodology used for the study was very basic & convenience based. I
designed a questionnaire, also consulted books and websites for any type of
information related to the study.

The methodology so applied is briefly discussed below step-by-step.

It also covers instruments of data collection, data processing, analysis and presentation

ii. General objective of the study

The general objective of the study was to establish the influence of advertisement on
consumer buying behaviour by focusing on youth

iii. Specific objective of the study

 To identify the media of advertisement used by advertiser
 To determine ways in which advertisement influence purchase behaviour
 To establish how different advertisement influence consumer behaviour

iv. Research Design

The study employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Amalgamation of different qualitative and quantitative techniques were ensured. This

enabled the maximization of the quality of data. Amalgamation of both qualitative and
quantitative research methods is opted because it helps the research to become more
comprehensive due to the statistical analysis together with observation, interpretation
and interviews

v. Scope of the Study

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The study focused on how advertising influences consumer buying behaviour for
youth. The study was conducted in Surat city in Gujarat and involved a sample of 50
respondents.

vi. Sample and Sampling Techniques

This study sample included 25 respondents in total, this was enough size to represent
the entire population and enabled attainment of the purpose of measuring some
elements of the population and drawing conclusions regarding the entire population.
Purposive sampling and random sampling were used to select respondents from
among the population of the study

vii. Source of Data

The main sources of data are primary data which was collected directly from the
respondents through questionnaires, and secondary data which involves data already
collected by other others authors hence stored in articles, newspapers, books, and
research reports as examples, and these data was used based on the subject matter to
find out what they say about the impact of advertising on consumers buying
behaviour.

viii. Data collection method

This study has used Survey Questionnaire as the method of data collection from the
respondents.

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4. FINDING AND ANALYSIS

Most of the respondents said that they choose the brands by self assessment through
collecting information on internet & other sources. As collecting the information
provides wide understanding of different brands & their value.

Internet, Television & friends have been rated the most useful source by the
respondents for the information about the products & brands.

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Internet, Friends & Television is rated as the most frequent source of information by
the respondents to collect any data about the products. Therefore, companies should
rely on television & internet for their promotions & also try to create positive word of
mouth.

Availability of the product & price are the factors which are considered by most of the
respondents while buying any product. Also, advertisements play an important role in
creating a positive or negative image in consumer’s mind.

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Advertisements shape our decisions to buy or to not buy a certain product & it is
proved with 19 respondents selecting yes in the above questions.

Internet & Television are the media which are the most frequent source of information
for the consumers & it is also evident from the above data that they are the most
attractive source too.

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Music, message & theme are the most important factors in an advertisement. Out of
which, music & the message in an ad plays the most important part.

Around 75% respondents believe in advertising messages & hence, advertising is

important medium to attract customers.

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People do not buy products based solely on advertising & therefore, companies should
also focus on quality of the products & also positive word of mouth.

Most of the respondents felt satisfied after buying the advertised products which is
only possible if companies provide everything that they advertise or more.

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5. SUGGESTION

An aspect of the findings of this research based on responses given shows that people
also care about purchasing product with a peculiar branded image.
The researcher therefore suggests a study on “the impact of product brand image on
buying behaviour” this will help further studies to examine how people perceive
branded products and if that actually affects their buying behaviour.

Based on the data collected, companies should rely more on television & internet for
advertisements to create an strong positive impact in consumer’s mind as they are the
most frequent & attractive source of information.

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6. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The researcher faced time constraints since this is an academic paper and needed to be
completed according to the academic almanac of the university, hence it was a short
period of time for conducting the study. To address this, constrain the researcher had
to manage time used for data collection by using interview and questionnaire methods
which helped to collect data in short period of time. The researcher was willing to
cover more respondents; however, it was possible due to Time constraints due to the
fact that the amount available for conducting the study is not sufficient.

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7. CONCLUSION
According to cappo (2003), advertising is not enough to capture and keep clients.
The responses and result indicate clearly that advertising has a significance level of
influence in consumers decision to purchase. However, this is not absolute,
advertising may serve as a platform to inform or remind consumer of the existence of
the product but the purchase decision needs more than that.

After purchase, the buyer begins evaluating the product to ascertain if its actual
performance meets expected levels.

The consumer must be satisfied and convinced with all other factors such as
packaging, product quality, and endorsement against other to take and action towards
the product. Companies must improve on their services and be more concerned with
giving adequate information in advertisements to be able to meet the expectations of
the potential customers.

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8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aaker, D.A. & Jacobson, R. (1994). The financial information content of perceived
quality. Journal of Marketing Research, 31(2), 191-201.

Ahmed, S. & Ashfaq, A. (2013). Imapct of advertising on consumer buying behavoiur

through persuasiveness, band image and celebrity endorsement. Global Media

Journal, 6(2).

Alba, J.W. & Hutchinson, J.W. (1987). Dimensions of consumer expertise. Journal

of Consumer Research, 13, 411-454.

Archibald, R., Haulman, C. & Moody, C. (1983). Quality, price, advertising and
published quality ratings. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 347-356.

Abideen, Z. U., & Saleem, S. (2011). Effective advertising and its influence on
consumer buying behavior. European Journal of Business and Management,3

Abideen, Zain Ul., Farooq, Waqas and Abdul -Latif,. How urban children process
advertising message: Special reference to television advertising in Pakistan. African
Journal of Business Management, Vol.5 (10), pp. 3962- 3974. 18 May 2011.

Ballester, E.D., Navarro, A. & Sicilia, M. (2012). Revitalising brands through

communication messages: The role of brand familiarity. European Journal of

Marketing, 46(1/2), 31-51.

Barsalou, L.W. (1985). Ideals, central tendency and frequency of

instantiation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and

Cognition, 11, 629-654.

Britton, A.M. (2012). The beauty industry's influence on women in

society. Honors theses and capstones, University of New Hampshire Scholars'

Repository.

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9. ANNEXURE

9.1 Questionnaire

Influence of advertisement on
consumer buying behaviour of
youth
I'm a student of Auro University pursuing the course of MBA in Marketing
Specialization. I'm conducting a research to evaluate the 'Influence of
advertisement on consumer buying behaviour of youth' & so I need your
opinion to collect the data related to the study.

Name
Your answer
Age
Below 18
18 to 25 Years
25 to 40 Years
40 to 60 Years
Above 60 Years

Gender
Male
Female
Prefer not to say
Other

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1. How do you select the brand of products you are
using?
Self
Recommended by Family Members
Recommended by Friends
Other:

2. Please tick the usefulness of sources of

information about the products:
Most useful
Useful
Less useful
Least useful
Television ads
Newspaper
Magazine
Radio
Friends and relative
Shopkeepers
Internet
Anyother
Television ads
Newspaper
Magazine
Radio
Friends and relative
Shopkeepers
Internet
Anyother

3.Please tick the frequency of exposure to these

sources of information about the products:
Daily
Frequently
Once in week
Never

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Television ads
Newspaper
Magazine
Radio
Friends and relative
Shopkeepers
Internet
Anyother
Television ads
Newspaper
Magazine
Radio
Friends and relative
Shopkeepers
Internet
Anyother

4. What factors do you while buying the product,

please assign score to them (1 to 4) by assigning 4
as most important and 1 as least important:
1
2
3
4
Advertisement
Cost
Availability of the product
Usage of the product
Overall performance of the product
Advertisement
Cost
Availability of the product
Usage of the product
Overall performance of the product

5. Do advertisements help you in making decisions

for purchase of your products:
Yes

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No

6. Which advertisement media attracts you the most

T.V
Radio
Newspaper
Internet
Other:

7. What features of the advertisements appeal to

you? Please go through the features and indicate the
response against each feature:
Always
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
The music
The song
The composition
The color and focus of the product
The attributes of the product
The free/special offer
The theme and story of the ad.
The celebrity endorsing product
Slogan
Message
The music
The song
The composition
The color and focus of the product
The attributes of the product
The free/special offer
The theme and story of the ad.
The celebrity endorsing product
Slogan
Message

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8. Do you believe advertising messages?
Yes
No

9. Do you buy products based solely on advertising?

yes
No
Sometimes
Many times

10. What is your level of satisfaction after

purchasing and advertised product?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Unsatisfied
Very unsatisfied

SUBMIT

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 THANK
YOU!
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