Introduction

Back in June 1836, when the French newspaper La Presse introduced the first paid form of communiqu on its page, then this was beginning of advertising in modern era. Although advertising was present since the ear of Egyptians or Romans but those was not a paid form of communiqu but the effort by La Presse. Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand. It is very easy to confuse advertising with marketing, public relation, publicity and sales as these terms are often used interchangeably. However, they refer to similar but essentially different activities. It is hard to find a complete satisfactory definition of advertising. Advertising has advanced so rapidly through various changes that even the latest dictionaries and encyclopedias are out of date in their attempt to define it. Advertising of yesterday is not the advertising of tomorrow. It is a mode of communication designed with the attempt to convince people to begin or increase the use of product or service. Advertising is actually everywhere. It is on buses, billboards, hot air balloons. It invades our living rooms, our classrooms, and almost every aspect of human life. Evaluating the influence of advertising on the public is a very important factor in business in todays intensely competitive global market. Business firms spend huge amount of money in order to create a customer base and need to know whether their huge advertising budget are producing effective results. Just as the media of social communication themselves have enormous influence everywhere, so advertising, using media as its vehicle, is a pervasive, powerful force shaping attitudes and behavior in todays world. With advertising becoming a business in itself, the methods of using advertisements become even more formalized, controlled and systematic and the advertisements for products started appearing as newspaper ads, TV commercial, billboard, leaflets and most recently on the internet. Web advertising is a very powerful to take message across to the consumers. However to actually appeal to customers, advertising will have to work in accordance with the principles of psychology and sociology. Thus an advertiser and advertising professional will also have to be a sociologist or a psychologist to really have an impact on the minds of customers.
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Objectives of the study

Primary objective: To find out what is the impact of advertisements on consumers buying patterns and behavior.

Secondary: To get an overview of consumer behavior To find different angles and aspects of advertising To find out any problems with advertising To canvass some suggestion on advertising

Scope of the study

Consumer buyers behavior is very much unpredictable; every consumer is different so their thinking is also different. Advertising is very much influencing its been already written in our text. We have also seen many articles by various scholars in different times. But actually we got this knowledge from a secondary source not from a primary source. To increase our intuition its necessary to obtain knowledge from any primary source. In primary source we are the only manipulator of information and we might get any new type of information from this primary source which is not discovered before. Thats why primary information is much more helpful. There are several researches on this topics but nothing from our surroundings or perspective. Different scholars made research in their own way, in their prospection but not in our perspective. So we researched on this topic.

Research methodology
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This research primarily based on the qualitative information. To find out the key information of the research we have randomly taken 50 respondents from Sylhet city. Preparing questionnaire in purposive technique the respondents actively considered finding out the required output. Besides, secondary information used to analyze and synthesize the data. Commonly available literature like daily newspapers, articles and research papers, books, internet sites are used as the inputs of secondary information.

Literature review
Advertising has been a form of glorifying or gaining publicity for goods and merchandise since very early times. In competitive market to maintain position, companies are spending huge amount of money to create new advertisements. Some scholars have cited various felicitous comments. Advertising is salesmanship in print (John E Kennedy, 1905) [1]. It is a persuasive media communication designed to respond and help achieve the marketing objectives (Harold W Berkman and Christopher Gilson, 1986 p97, consumer behavior: concepts and strategies) [2]. It is also can be viewed as a form of communication intended to promote the sale of product/service to influence to gain public opinion, to gain political support or to advance a particular cause (The New Encyclopedia Britannica)
[3]

. Also advertisement can be viewed as any paid form of non-

personal presentation of ideas; goods or services by an identified sponsor (Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, P585)[4]. And finally advertising is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. (American Marketing Association, 2004)[5]So we can conclude that advertising consists of oral, written, and other types of communications disseminated or at the behest of an advertiser for the purpose of soliciting or encouraging the use of advertisers service/product.

Consumer Behavior: an overview

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Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. Customer behavior study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behavior analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions.

Black box model

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Marketing Environmental Stimuli Product Price Place Promotion Stimuli Economic Technological Political Cultural Demographic Natural BUYER'S BLACK BOX Buyer Decision Characteristic s Attitudes Motivation Perceptions Personality Lifestyle Knowledge Process Problem recognition Information search Alternative evaluation Purchase decision Post-purchase behavior Product choice Brand choice Dealer choice Purchase timing Purchase amount BUYER'S RESPONSE

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The black box model

[6]

shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics, and decision

process and consumer responses. It can be distinguished between interpersonal stimuli (between people) or intrapersonal stimuli (within people). The black box model is related to the black box theory of behaviorism, where the focus is not set on the processes inside a consumer, but the relation between the stimuli and the response of the consumer. The marketing stimuli are planned and processed by the companies, whereas the environmental stimuli are given by social factors, based on the economical, political and cultural circumstances of a society. The buyers black box contains the buyer characteristics and the decision process, which determines the buyers response. The black box model considers the buyers response as a result of a conscious, rational decision process, in which it is assumed that the buyer has recognized the problem. However, in reality many decisions are not made in awareness of a determined problem by the consumer.

The buyer decision process [7] Need recognition

The buying process starts with need recognition the buyer recognizes a problem or need. The need can be triggered by internal stimuli or external stimuli. At this stage marketers need to research what kind of need has arisen in the mind of consumers.

Information search
Once the consumer has recognized a problem, they search for information on products and services that can solve that problem. Belch and Belch (2007) explain that consumers undertake both an internal (memory) and an external search. Sources of information include:

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Personal sources Commercial sources Public sources Personal experience

The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with information search is perception. Perception is defined as "the process by which an individual receives, selects, organizes, and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world". The selective perception process Stage Description

Selective exposure consumers select which promotional messages they will expose themselves to. Selective attention consumers select which promotional messages they will pay attention to. Selective comprehension consumer interprets messages in line with their beliefs, attitudes, motives and experiences. Selective retention consumers remember messages that are more meaningful or important to them.

The implications of this process help develop an effective promotional strategy, and select which sources of information are more effective for the brand.

Information evaluation
At this time the consumer compares the brands and products that are in their evoked set. How can the marketing organization increase the likelihood that their brand is part of the consumer's evoked (consideration) set? Consumers evaluate alternatives in terms of the functional and psychological benefits that they offer. The marketing organization needs to understand what benefits consumers are seeking and therefore which attributes are most important in terms of making a decision.
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Purchase decision
Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the consumer is ready to make a purchase decision. Sometimes purchase intention does not result in an actual purchase. The marketing organization must facilitate the consumer to act on their purchase intention. The organization can use variety of techniques to achieve this. The provision of credit or payment terms may encourage purchase, or a sales promotion such as the opportunity to receive a premium or enter a competition may provide an incentive to buy now. The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with purchase decision is integration. Once the integration is achieved, the organization can influence the purchase decisions much more easily.

Post purchase evaluation

The EKB model was further developed by Rice (1993) which suggested there should be a feedback loop, Foxall (2005) further suggests the importance of the post purchase evaluation and that the post purchase evaluation is the key due to its influences on future purchase patterns.

Internal influences
Consumer behavior is influenced by: demographics, psychographics (lifestyle), personality, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. Consumer behavior concern with consumer need consumer actions in the direction of satisfying needs leads to his behavior of every individual depend on thinking

External influences
Consumer behavior is influenced by: culture, sub-culture, locality, royalty, ethnicity, family, social class, past experience reference groups, lifestyle, sex and all

Data findings and analysis

1. Source dependability
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Although there are several source of getting information about any product but we have disclosed to the respondents about some of the media. Target consumers eternally get information but no every source can influence them so much. Any particular source may be liked by someone and may dislike any other sources. So we asked respondent about their liking of the source;

TV com

Billboard

Direct marketing

Word mouth 1 2%

of Opinion leader 3 6%

Print media 15 30%

total

23 46%

6 12%

2 4%

50 100%

25 20 15 10 5 0 1

TV com direct marketing word of mouth opinion leader print media billboard

2. Reliability of ads on information and evaluation Except advertisement there are several source for searching information and alternative evaluation. One most common source is getting the experience of previously experienced user. Other sources are thru direct marketing effort, reference group or opinion leaders etc. although we questioned respondent about this reliability and responses are the followings

Highly agree

Agree

Moderate

Disagree

Highly

total
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disagree 10 20% 30 60% 10 20% 0 0% 0 0% 50 100%

Highly agreeagree agree Moderate disagree highly disagree

3. Role of ads in changing buying decision Actually no or a little consumers can definitely argue what the main reason is for his/her purchase behavior. According to Sigmund Freuds theory iceberg theory peoples behavior are actually much unconscious. People dont even know what the main motivating facts for behavior are. Although we questioned our respondent about this question

Absolutely 5 10%

Normally 23 46%

Moderately 20 40%

Rarely 2 4%

never 0 0%

total 50 100%

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absolutely normally moderately rarely none

4. Willingness to watch more ads Consumers do watch advertisement thats a fact. But the question is how much are they eager to watch it. When a consumer recognizes the problem then s/he begins the purchasing process. Now thru out the process it is very common, whether the consumer does rely on ads or not for information search and evaluation, for any consumer to see or visualize more or new ads. Consumers do watch a lot of ads, now our question is to how much extent consumers watch advertisements before anything Yes, always 5 10% Yes, generally 24 48% Moderate 20 40% Yes, seldom 5 10% never 1 2% total 50 100%

yes, always yes,generally moderate yes,seldom never

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5. Consumers reaction toward the products of the companies, which advertise no or less ads In this global competitive market it is very much essential for firms to advertise their products or services for gaining the best possible market share. Companies spend millions of dollars in advertising for lifting themselves up. But still there are a few companies who dont usually show ads or show very less ads. That company might be willing to get its market share thru other possibilities like promotion, publicity, sales force etc. so our question was for respondent on that fact that how the decision by the companies to use alternative to advertisement for gaining market share is effecting the mind of the consumers. More frequently 0 0%
40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 more freqently frequently moderate occasionally none Series1

Frequently

Moderate

Occasionally

none

total

0 0%

15 30%

35 70%

0 0%

50 100%

6. Products that are bought directly

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Buyers depend on advertisement but not always. Sometimes they might go directly for buying anything. In their intuition for some product advertisements are not everything and going to buy directly is the right choice. Some products or services are very common. Although advertisement is an invitation from the manufacturer or seller but the reactions of the respondent are as follows

Real estate 5 10%

Clothing 10 20%

Electronics 10 20%

Restaurants 10 20%

Cosmetics 12 24%

Others 3 6%

total 50 100%

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 real estate clothing electronics restaurants cosmetics others Series1

7. Products generally bought by watching ads Advertising is an invitation from the manufacturers or sellers to customers or consumers for selling products. Now for some category of products for which consumers may need to watch more and more ads. This is because for this category it is very much prudent to watch more ads and choose the best alternative. So our question was what category of products is searched after watching ads.

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Real estate 8 16%

Clothing 9 18%

Electronics 11 22%

Restaurants 7 14%

Cosmetics 12 24%

Others 3 6%

total 50 100%

real estate clothing electronics restaurants cosmetics others

8. Reaction of consumers to new product on new advertisement Advertisement is necessary for any product especially for new products. Because if no advertisements are shown then how consumers will learn about it. That product might be the best among all in this category but soon it will be out of market. So their target by showing ads is to catch the mind of the target customer group and they need to success in it. If customers dont react to a product well everything is in vein. So our question was how reacts to new products after watching ads if it matches their perception.

Strongly curious 5 10%

Curious

Moderate

Indifferent

None

total

30 60%

10 20%

5 10%

0 0%

50 100%

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strongly curious curious moderate indifferent none

9. Searching products induced by ads There are two strategies for manufacturers to increase sales thru push and pull promotion. In pull promotion advertisement holds a large contribution. In pull strategy advertisements need to create the sense of need about that product, so that the consumer forces the intermediaries to ask for that product. So creation of need is very important for an advertisement for being successful. The answers of the respondents are Tremendously 0 0% Usually 20 40% Moderate 25 50% Infrequently 5 10% None 0 0% total 50 100%

tremendously usually moderate infreqently none

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10. Remembering the message Consumers watch a numbers of ads every day. It is obvious that they will be oblivious about the advertisements messages. Ads may induce them for that product but better option can be find thru other ads. So if they dont remember the ad messages perfectly then how can they choose the best option? A consumer generally takes his/her final decision at the moment before buying. Before that s/he always fluctuates about options. Do the consumers remember the ad messages before buying any product so that till the final moment they can have their options on? Always yes 0 0%
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 always yes usually yes sometimes yes seldom yes never yes Series1

Usually yes 20 40%

sometimes yes 25 50%

Seldom yes 5 10%

Never yes 0 0%

total 50 100%

11. Creation of need in consumers mind It is often common that we have bought all the things now we dont have any need about any particular good. Thats such an obsolete thinking. Firms are using various strategies to pursue you that need for that product is not finished yet. For example, Unilever using the slogan, use the paste for two times in a day in its Pepsodent toothpaste advertisement. Firstly people used to wash their teeth once in a day but now they are using it for twice and in future they will use it for even more. Through the advertisement Unilever is successful to persuade consumer. Certainly yes Midly yes Moderate Midly no Certainly no total
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0 0%

30 60%
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 certainly yes

15 30%

5 10%

0 0%

50 100%

Series1 midly yes moderate midly no S1 certainly no

12. Comprehension of advertisement message Comprehension of the ad messages is very important. If a consumer doesnt understand the ad message how can he pursue for that product. It is ambiguous is the ad message is understood differently by the target consumers. It can create a division in the target market of that product. So if too many people dont understand the ad message completely then the effectiveness of the advertisement will decrease. So comprehension of message by consumers is necessary. 80~100% 15 30% 60~79% 25 50% 40~59% 5 10% 20~39% 5 10% 0~19% 0 0% total 50 100%

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25 20 15 10 5 40~59% 80~100% 60~79% 20~39% 0~19% 0 Series1

13. Deceptive ads and consumers reaction Many consumers use a product. So they generate a base of experience about that product. The advertisement messages also contain some good features about that product. Sometime advertisement may over valuate the consumer perception to that product. So if a consumer gets a bad experience after using that product it may impact adversely in the mid of the consumers. If a consumer finds deception in one product of a company it may affect other products. so firms should avoid deceptive messages in their ads. Highly satisfied 0 0% 0 0% 17 34% 24 48% Satisfied Moderate Dissatisfied Highly dissatisfied 9 18% 50 100% total

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30 25 20 15 10 5 0 highly satisfied satisfied neutral dissatisfied highly dissatisfied Series1

14. Visualization of ads on local languages Many people do want to visualize ads on local language. They feel exhilarate after watching ads o local languages. This also impact on their purchase decision. Certainly 5 10% Usually 15 30% Sometimes 15 30% Seldom 7 14% never 8 16% total 50 100%

certainly usually sometimes seldom never

15. Time to show TV or listen to radio

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People show TV or listen to radio on different times of the day. When they watch TV it is very much wise to telecast much advertisement at that time to reach to the most consumers. Evening 13 26% Night 17 34% Daytime 13 26% others 7 14% total 50 100%

evening night daytime others

16. Sole dependency on advertisement Its a very abstract because according to Freuds theory consumers dont know what the actual motivating factors are. By the by we asked respondent what is their reaction towards that comment.

Highly agree

Agree

Moderate

Disagree

Highly disagree

total

0 0%

25 50%

20 40%

5 10%

0 0%

50 100%

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30 25 20 15 10 5 0 highly agree agree moderate disagree highly disagree Series1

17. Helpfulness of advertisement Last question is asked to respondent about helpfulness of advertisements in buying decision. There are several influencing and motivating factors in our purchase behavior. Advertisement is one of them. So how consumers think that to what extent advertisements are helpful to them Strongly yes Mildly yes Moderate Mildly disagree 5 10% 30 60% 10 20% 5 10% Strongly disagree 0 0% 50 100% total

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10

15

20

25

30

strongly agree

moderate

strongly disagree

5 Series1

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Recommendations
From analysis of data we get that most of our respondents like advertisements. They are depending largely on advertisements for their buying decisions. They think that advertisements do have a motivational force in itself that drive them to get for the product or service. But the analysis also shows that some respondents are not such that dependent on advertisement for their buying decision. So this report comes with some recommendations that the advertisers should be more aware about the consumers to catch them. The recommendations are: The media of news and information should make it a point to keep the public informed about the world of marketing Advertisers should advertise those things what the product can perform Most important television ads should be shown at night Advertisement of clothing, electronics, restaurants, real estate should provide more information Any anti-cultural factors should be removed Advertisement message should be convenient to all so everyone can comprehend it Strong associations should may made so that consumers can remind the advertisement totally Advertisements should be more interesting and informative so that more people can rely on it Advertisement should hit in the core point of the consumers whether it is emotional or need so that consumers can feel tension for the product Consumers habitually like to show more ads, but excessive telecast of advertisements bore them. Advertisement shouldnt be shown excessively.

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Those companies which dont or lees show advertisement might get out of market. They should show more advertisements.

For new products more and more advertisements should be shown unless it is excessive

Conclusion

The final goal of all advertisers and promoters is to ensure that products and services sell and to increase sales and potential consumer interest. Creating curiosity is a first short term step while introducing a new product in the market. Retaining customer interest is a different ballgame and requires reputation of the brand, product quality, right pricing and continued high quality advertising to ultimately ensure success of the product. There are many ways that the media and advertisers can influence the masses through deceptive means. But the advertisers should think about consumer and society. To be successful in long term advertisements should be authentic, relevant, being which it is easier to take position in consumers mind.

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References Source of definition in literature review

1. John E Kennedy, 1905, copywriter at Lord and Thomas Advertising Agency, cited by

Advertising, new concept S. S. Kaptan, 2002, p7

2. Harold W Berkman and Christopher Gilson, 1986 p97, consumer behavior: concepts

and strategies, cited by Advertising, new concept S. S. Kaptan, 2002, p7

3. The New Encyclopedia Britannica, cited by Advertising, new concept S. S. Kaptan,

2002, p7
4. Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, 12th edition. P585 Advertising, new concept

S. S. Kaptan, 2002, p7 Advertising, new concept S. S. Kaptan is available at books.google.com and search by respective book name
5. American Marketing Association, 2004, available @

http://magnostic.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/ama-proposes-new-definition-ofmarketing/
6. Black box model @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_behaviour 7. Purchase decision process: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_behaviour

For more to know about consumer behavior please visit

http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/ or en.wikipedia.com or consumerbehavior.net

We also gathered help on consumers behavior from some of our texts, these are Principles of marketing by P. Kotler 12th edition Marketing Management by P. Kotler 12th edition For conducting research we took help from Research Methods for Business Students by Saunders, Lewis and Thronhill 3rd edition
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Department of Business Administration ShahJalal University of Science & Technology, Sylhet Impact of advertisement on consumer behavior (The collected data will be used only for preparing report and will be kept confidential) Questionnaire Respondent name: Res. Sex: Res. Age: Res. Occupation:

1. Which influential factor does pursue you in purchase decision? TV com. Billboard Opinion leader Word of mouth Direct marketing Print Media 2. Advertisement is a good source for searching information and alternative evaluation, how do you evaluate this? Highly agree Agree Moderate Disagree Highly disagree 3. Can advertisement change your buying option? Absolutely Normally Moderately Rarely Never 4. Would you like to wait to see more or new ads before buying anything? Yes, always Yes, generally Moderate Yes but seldom Never 5. Many companies dont usually show many ads or no ads, do you generally buy those product or services? More frequently Frequently Moderate Occasionally None 6. What type of products you prefer to search after watching ads? Real estate Clothing Electronics Restaurants Cosmetics Others 7. For what type of products you directly go for buying? Real estate Clothing Electronics Restaurants Cosmetics Others 8. By watching a new product in a new advertisement your reaction towards that product? Strongly Curious Curious Moderate Indifferent None
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9. Can advertisements generally induce you to search for that product? Tremendously Usually Moderate Infrequently None 10. Do you always or even try to remind the advertisement while buying any product? Always yes Usually yes Sometimes yes Seldom yes Never yes 11. Can Advertisement create need in your mind about that product? Certainly yes Midly yes Moderate Midly no Certainly no 12. Do you always comprehend ads messages as being a target consumer? 80~100% ads 60~79% ads 40~59% ads 20~39% ads 0~19% ads 13. What would your reaction be if there is a mismatch in the advertisement message and your experience? Highly satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highly dissatisfied 14. You would like to visualize advertisement on local languages and does it impact on your buying decision? Certainly Usually Sometimes Seldom Never 15. In which time on TV or Radio, you generally concentrate on ads? Evening Night Day time other 16. Do you solely depend on buying products just depending on advertisement? Highly agree Agree Moderate Disagree Highly disagree 17. Your reaction at this statement `Advertisement really helps us in our purchase decision? Strongly agree Midly agree Moderate Midly disagree Strongly disagree Any Recommendations Thank You

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