Foundations of Marketing Communication and Consumer Behaviour

Introduction

Marketing communication is the organised use of messages, media, experiences and interactions to create understanding and influence relationships between an organisation and its stakeholders. Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups and organisations select, purchase, use, evaluate and dispose of offerings. These subjects are closely connected: communication attempts to influence behaviour, while knowledge of behaviour determines what should be communicated, to whom, when and how.

Modern marketing is not limited to advertising products. Organisations compete through customer experiences, brand meanings, service quality, social responsibility, digital communities and long-term relationships. A successful marketing communicator therefore needs to understand both the strategic purpose of marketing and the psychological, social and cultural processes that shape consumer decisions.

This chapter establishes the conceptual foundation for later study of advertising, public relations, sales promotion, digital communication, branding, research and campaign planning.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Explain the marketing concept and distinguish it from a product-orientation or selling-orientation.
2. Describe the principal elements of the marketing communication mix.
3. Explain customer value and its significance for competitive advantage.
4. Identify characteristics of consumer markets and the main influences on consumer behaviour.
5. Describe the roles of customers, organisations, employees, intermediaries, regulators and other stakeholders.
6. Explain the relationship between consumer insight, branding and integrated marketing communication.
7. Apply these concepts to a practical marketing communication problem.
8. Recognise ethical, legal and technological issues affecting contemporary communication.

1. The Marketing Concept

Marketing is a managerial and social process through which organisations understand needs, create value, communicate value, deliver value and develop exchanges and relationships. The central idea is not simply that an organisation should sell what it has produced. Rather, it should begin by understanding the problems, desires and circumstances of selected customers and then design an offer that provides superior value.

The marketing concept rests on three principles:

• Customer orientation: decisions begin with customer needs, expectations and experiences.
• Integrated effort: product, price, distribution, communication, service and internal operations should support one another.
• Mutually beneficial exchange: the organisation seeks sustainable outcomes for itself while delivering value to customers and other stakeholders.

A production orientation prioritises efficiency and wide availability. A product orientation assumes that customers prefer superior technical or functional features. A selling orientation focuses on persuading customers to buy existing output, often through intensive promotion. These orientations can be useful in particular circumstances, but they become problematic when organisational assumptions replace customer understanding.

A market orientation is more comprehensive. It involves generating intelligence about customers and competitors, sharing that intelligence across departments and responding through coordinated action. For example, a university that notices working adults need flexible study options may redesign timetables, improve online support, train staff and communicate the new service benefit. Advertising alone would not solve the underlying customer problem.

Exchange and relationships

Marketing traditionally emphasised exchange: a customer gives money, time or attention in return for a product, service or experience. Contemporary marketing also emphasises relationships. Customers may continue engaging with an organisation when they trust its values, appreciate its service or identify with its brand community. Relationship marketing therefore seeks retention, advocacy and mutual learning rather than only a single transaction.

Marketing can be applied to consumer goods, services, business markets, public services, charities, political campaigns, destinations, ideas and personal brands. The principles remain similar, although the decision processes, buying units and communication channels differ.

2. Customer Value and Value Creation

Customer value is the customer’s overall assessment of the benefits received compared with the sacrifices made to obtain and use an offering. Benefits may include functional performance, convenience, emotional satisfaction, social recognition, risk reduction and after-sales support. Sacrifices include money, time, physical effort, psychological effort, privacy concerns and opportunity cost.

A useful conceptual representation is:

This is a conceptual relationship rather than a precise accounting equation. Benefits and sacrifices may be difficult to measure and different customers may evaluate the same offering differently. The model is applicable when comparing alternatives from the customer’s perspective; it should not be interpreted as a claim that all value can be expressed in monetary units.

For instance, a low-priced airline may offer acceptable transport benefits but impose sacrifices through inconvenient airports, restrictive luggage rules and limited service. A customer may still select it if the monetary saving is more important than the non-monetary sacrifices. Another customer may choose a premium airline because reliability, comfort and reassurance create greater total perceived value.

Value is created through the entire customer journey. The journey may include need recognition, information search, purchase, delivery, consumption, service recovery and post-purchase advocacy. Marketing communication contributes by making benefits understandable and reducing uncertainty, but communication cannot sustainably compensate for poor performance. A promise that the organisation cannot fulfil creates dissatisfaction and damages trust.

Value propositions

A value proposition is a clear statement of the customer problem an organisation addresses, the benefits it offers and the reason it is preferable to alternatives. A strong value proposition is:

• relevant to a defined target segment;
• distinctive in comparison with competitors;
• credible and supported by evidence;
• meaningful in the customer’s situation; and
• deliverable through the organisation’s resources and processes.

The value proposition is not identical to a slogan. A slogan is a communication expression; a value proposition is a strategic statement that should guide the offering and the communication.

3. The Marketing Communication Mix

The marketing communication mix is the set of methods an organisation uses to inform, persuade, remind, reassure and engage audiences. The most commonly discussed tools are advertising, sales promotion, public relations and publicity, personal selling, direct marketing, digital and social media communication, sponsorship and experiential marketing.

Advertising

Advertising is paid, identified communication transmitted through media. It is useful for creating awareness, explaining benefits, shaping associations and supporting reminders. Its effectiveness depends on more than exposure. The message must be relevant, understandable, credible and connected to a meaningful customer benefit.

Sales promotion

Sales promotions are short-term incentives designed to stimulate a particular response. Examples include price reductions, coupons, bundles, samples, competitions and loyalty rewards. Promotions can support product trial or clear inventory, but excessive discounting may train customers to delay purchase or weaken the brand’s premium position.

Public relations and publicity

Public relations manages relationships and communication between an organisation and its publics. Publicity is media attention that the organisation does not purchase in the same way as advertising. Public relations may include media relations, community engagement, crisis communication, employee communication, investor communication and corporate social responsibility communication.

Personal selling

Personal selling involves direct interaction between a representative and a prospective or existing customer. It is particularly important when offerings are complex, expensive, customised or associated with risk. Effective selling is consultative: the salesperson identifies needs, explains solutions, responds to concerns and supports the customer after purchase.

Direct, digital and social communication

Direct marketing communicates with identifiable individuals or households through channels such as email, mobile messaging, catalogues or databases. Digital communication includes websites, search marketing, applications, online video, display media and social platforms. Social media enables audiences to respond, share, review and create content, so the organisation no longer controls every message about its brand.

Experiential marketing and sponsorship

Experiential marketing creates opportunities for customers to interact with an offering or brand in a memorable setting. Sponsorship links an organisation with an event, cause, team or cultural activity. Both approaches are strongest when the association is relevant to the target audience and supported by other communication activities.

4. Integrated Marketing Communication

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is the coordinated planning and management of communication tools and touchpoints so that they reinforce a coherent brand meaning while fulfilling different strategic roles. Integration does not mean repeating exactly the same message in every channel. It means ensuring that the channels work together and do not create contradictory expectations.

A basic IMC planning process is:

1. Analyse the market, organisation, competitors and stakeholders.
2. Define the communication problem or opportunity.
3. Identify and prioritise target audiences.
4. Establish communication objectives.
5. Develop a positioning and central value proposition.
6. Select messages, creative approaches and channels.
7. Coordinate timing, responsibilities and resources.
8. Implement the programme.
9. Measure outcomes and improve future activity.

Communication objectives should be specific. They may concern awareness, knowledge, attitude, preference, trial, purchase, retention, advocacy or reputation. A campaign objective such as “increase awareness among first-year students” is more useful than “communicate the brand better,” although it should eventually specify the target, level and time period.

The traditional hierarchy-of-effects perspective proposes that communication may move audiences from cognitive responses, such as awareness and knowledge, to affective responses, such as liking and preference, and then to behavioural responses, such as trial or purchase. This sequence is not universal. Low-involvement purchases may involve repeated exposure and behaviour before strong attitudes develop, while highly involved purchases may involve extensive information search.

Push and pull approaches

A push strategy directs communication towards intermediaries such as wholesalers, retailers or sales agents, encouraging them to stock, recommend or promote the offering. A pull strategy communicates directly with final customers, creating demand that encourages intermediaries to make the product available. Many organisations use a combination of both.

5. Consumer Markets and Consumer Behaviour

A consumer market consists of individuals or households purchasing goods and services for personal or household use. It differs from a business market, where organisations purchase for production, resale, institutional use or operational purposes. Consumer markets may be local, national or global and may include both physical and digital exchanges.

Consumer behaviour includes observable actions and less visible processes. Observable actions include searching, comparing, purchasing, consuming, reviewing and complaining. Internal processes include motivation, perception, learning, memory, emotion, attitude formation and decision evaluation.

A consumer decision process

A commonly used model identifies five stages:

1. Problem recognition: the consumer perceives a difference between a current state and a desired state.
2. Information search: the consumer recalls previous knowledge and seeks information from personal, commercial, public or experiential sources.
3. Evaluation of alternatives: available options are compared using criteria that may be functional, financial, emotional or social.
4. Purchase decision: the consumer selects an option, timing, seller, payment method and quantity.
5. Post-purchase evaluation: the consumer assesses performance and may experience satisfaction, dissatisfaction, dissonance, repeat purchase or advocacy.

The process is not always linear. Consumers may move back and forth between stages, omit stages, or make an impulse purchase with little conscious evaluation. Marketers should therefore identify the actual journey for a particular category rather than assume that every purchase follows the full model.

Psychological influences

Motivation explains the energy and direction of behaviour. Consumers may seek safety, convenience, achievement, belonging, pleasure, status or self-expression. A single purchase can satisfy several motives.

Perception is the process through which individuals select, organise and interpret stimuli. Selective attention means that consumers notice only some messages. Interpretation is influenced by prior experience, expectations, culture and context. Consequently, a message intended to signal simplicity may be interpreted as lack of sophistication by another audience.

Learning occurs when experience changes knowledge or behaviour. Trial, reinforcement, observation, reviews and usage experience can all affect future decisions.

Attitudes are relatively enduring evaluations of an object, person, issue or brand. Attitudes are often discussed in terms of beliefs, feelings and behavioural tendencies. Changing an attitude may require new evidence, emotional association, social influence or a change in the consumer’s experience.

Emotion influences attention, memory, evaluation and action. Emotional appeals can be effective, but they should remain relevant to the product and should not manipulate vulnerable audiences.

Social and cultural influences

Family, friends, colleagues, online communities and opinion leaders can shape product knowledge, norms and purchase confidence. A reference group may influence what a person considers desirable or acceptable. Culture provides values, language, rituals, symbols and assumptions that affect consumption. Subcultures and social identities create additional differences within a national market.

Social class, income, occupation, age, life stage, identity and lifestyle can be useful segmentation variables, but they should not be treated as perfect predictors. Two people with similar demographic characteristics may have very different motivations and media habits.

6. Stakeholders and Their Roles

A stakeholder is an individual or group that affects, or is affected by, an organisation’s activities. Customers are central, but marketing communication is also directed towards many other stakeholders.

The stakeholder perspective prevents an organisation from treating communication as a one-way broadcast to buyers. For example, an environmental claim may be directed at consumers but also examined by employees, journalists, regulators, community groups and investors. If these audiences discover inconsistency between the claim and organisational behaviour, reputational damage may spread across the stakeholder network.

Internal communication is especially important. Employees who understand the brand purpose and have the authority and resources to deliver it become credible brand contact points. Conversely, a campaign promising exceptional service will fail if employees are understaffed or poorly trained.

7. Consumer Insight, Branding and Communication

From data to insight

Data are recorded observations, such as transactions, survey responses or website visits. Information is organised data that provides descriptive meaning. Insight is a well-supported interpretation of why a pattern exists and what action it suggests.

For example, data may show that young customers abandon an online application form. Information may show that abandonment is highest on mobile devices. Insight requires investigation: perhaps the form requests unnecessary information, uses unclear language or creates anxiety about privacy. The resulting action may be a shorter form, clearer reassurance and improved mobile design.

Good insight is:

• grounded in evidence;
• focused on a meaningful customer tension or need;
• relevant to a strategic decision;
• capable of inspiring action; and
• tested against actual behaviour where possible.

Research methods may include observation, interviews, focus groups, surveys, social listening, customer-service records, experiments and behavioural analytics. Each method has limitations. Stated preferences may not equal actual behaviour, online comments may not represent the whole market, and automated data may reveal what happened without explaining why.

Branding

A brand is a name, symbol, design, reputation and set of associations that identifies an offering and differentiates it from alternatives. Branding is not merely a logo. It is the process of creating and managing meaning, recognition, expectations and relationships around an offering.

Important brand concepts include:

• Brand identity: how the organisation seeks to define and present the brand.
• Brand image: how audiences currently perceive the brand.
• Brand positioning: the distinctive place the brand aims to occupy in the target customer’s mind.
• Brand promise: the value and experience the organisation commits to provide.
• Brand equity: the additional value associated with a recognised and trusted brand compared with an otherwise similar unbranded alternative.

A positioning statement often identifies the target audience, frame of reference, customer benefit and reason to believe. For example: “For time-poor working learners, Brand X is the flexible professional education provider that combines practical assessment with expert online support, because its courses are designed with employers and supported by practising tutors.” This is a strategic statement, not necessarily public-facing copy.

Brand meaning is produced through every touchpoint: advertising, packaging, pricing, website design, employee behaviour, delivery, customer reviews and recovery from failure. IMC coordinates these touchpoints, but the actual experience determines whether the promise is credible.

The relationship among insight, branding and IMC

Consumer insight identifies what matters to people and why. Branding translates that understanding into a distinctive identity, promise and set of associations. IMC expresses and reinforces the brand across selected channels and stakeholder interactions. The relationship can be represented as a sequence:

Evidence and observation → consumer insight → value proposition and positioning → brand expression → integrated communication and experience → response and learning.

The sequence is iterative rather than one-directional. Campaign results, customer feedback and changing social conditions generate new evidence, which may refine the insight and positioning.

8. Applied Case: Repositioning a Sustainable Food Brand

The following is an illustrative case created for educational purposes.

Background

GreenBite is a small food brand selling plant-based lunch products through supermarkets and a mobile ordering application. Its packaging claims that the products are “good for you and better for the planet.” Sales are satisfactory among environmentally committed consumers but weak among students and young professionals, who consider the products expensive and believe that plant-based food is less filling.

Problem

Management proposes a large advertising campaign focused on environmental benefits. Initial research, however, shows that the target audience’s immediate concern is convenient, tasty and filling food at a reasonable price. Environmental benefit is welcomed but is not the primary purchase trigger.

Analysis

Interviews and purchase data identify three insights:

1. Consumers often want to reduce meat consumption without adopting a completely plant-based identity.
2. They are uncertain about portion size and protein content.
3. They trust peer recommendations and visible product information more than general environmental claims.

The existing communication is therefore misaligned with the target audience’s most immediate value concerns. The brand is also making a broad sustainability claim that could be questioned if evidence is not clearly provided.

Approach and solution

GreenBite revises its positioning around “a satisfying first step toward more flexible eating.” It introduces clearer nutritional information, larger meal photography and a trial bundle. Communication is integrated as follows:

• short social videos demonstrate preparation and portion size;
• sampling is conducted near colleges and transport hubs;
• creators compare taste and convenience rather than making unsupported superiority claims;
• the application offers a low-risk introductory bundle;
• packaging explains specific, verifiable sourcing and environmental practices;
• customer-service staff receive guidance so that the product promise is supported after purchase.

The campaign uses a consistent central idea but adapts execution to each channel. Paid media creates awareness, sampling enables experience, social content provides peer reassurance and direct communication encourages repeat purchase.

Outcome

In a real implementation, outcomes should be evaluated through measures such as trial, repeat purchase, customer feedback, perceived value, message comprehension and changes in brand associations. Sales alone would not show whether the campaign created a durable relationship. The organisation should also monitor whether the product experience fulfils the new promise and whether sustainability claims remain accurate.

Learning points

The case demonstrates that effective communication begins with insight rather than a preferred media channel. It also shows that a brand promise must connect functional, emotional and social benefits; that channel integration requires complementary roles; and that ethical claims must be specific and supportable.

9. Ethics, Regulation and Responsible Communication

Marketing communication influences choices and can affect vulnerable people, social norms, privacy and public trust. Professional practice requires honesty, fairness, transparency and respect for autonomy.

Important responsibilities include:

• avoiding false, exaggerated or misleading claims;
• distinguishing paid advertising, sponsorship and influencer content from independent opinion;
• obtaining appropriate consent for personal data collection and communication;
• providing accessible information and avoiding unjustified exclusion;
• protecting children and other vulnerable audiences from exploitative appeals;
• using evidence for health, environmental, financial and performance claims;
• respecting intellectual property, cultural symbols and personal dignity;
• ensuring that targeting and automated systems do not produce unfair discrimination.

Regulatory requirements differ by jurisdiction, but common principles include truthfulness, substantiation, identification of commercial intent, privacy protection and responsible use of endorsements. Organisations should maintain approval processes, records of evidence, clear data governance and procedures for correcting errors.

Greenwashing occurs when environmental communication creates a misleading impression about an organisation’s environmental performance. It can arise through vague language, selective disclosure, irrelevant claims or attractive imagery unsupported by evidence. Responsible communication uses precise claims, explains boundaries and avoids presenting minor improvements as complete solutions.

10. Technology, AI and Contemporary Developments

Digital platforms allow organisations to personalise messages, monitor responses and conduct rapid experimentation. Artificial intelligence can assist with segmentation, content adaptation, sentiment analysis, recommendation and customer-service automation. These applications may improve relevance and efficiency, but they also create risks.

AI-generated communication can contain factual errors, biased assumptions, inappropriate personalisation or undisclosed synthetic content. Training data and automated targeting may reproduce social inequalities. Personalisation may also become intrusive when audiences do not understand how their data are used. Human oversight, transparency, data minimisation, security, testing and accountability are therefore essential.

The growth of creators, communities and user-generated content has shifted some influence away from formal advertising. Consumers increasingly evaluate brands through reviews, demonstrations, peer conversation and evidence of organisational behaviour. At the same time, misinformation, fake reviews and manipulated media make source credibility more important.

Contemporary communication is consequently less about controlling every message and more about designing trustworthy experiences, participating responsibly in conversations and responding quickly when evidence or circumstances change.

11. Professional Best Practices

A marketing communication professional should:

1. Start with a clearly defined customer or stakeholder problem.
2. Separate evidence, interpretation and assumption.
3. Define a specific target audience rather than addressing “everyone.”
4. Translate insight into a credible value proposition.
5. Ensure that the operational experience can deliver the communication promise.
6. Give each channel a clear role within an integrated plan.
7. Use accessible language and culturally appropriate representations.
8. Pre-test important messages for comprehension and unintended meanings.
9. Measure both short-term response and longer-term brand effects.
10. Document claim substantiation, consent, approvals and risk decisions.
11. Treat complaints and criticism as sources of learning.
12. Review campaigns after implementation and update future assumptions.

Chapter Summary

Marketing is a customer-centred process of creating, communicating and delivering value through mutually beneficial exchanges and relationships. The marketing concept differs from production, product and selling orientations because it begins with customer and market understanding and requires coordinated organisational action.

Customer value reflects perceived benefits relative to monetary and non-monetary sacrifices. A value proposition explains the relevant and distinctive benefit an organisation offers to a defined audience. The communication mix includes advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, direct and digital communication, sponsorship and experiential activity. Integrated marketing communication coordinates these tools so that they support a coherent brand meaning while performing different roles.

Consumer behaviour includes psychological, social, cultural and situational influences on decision-making. The consumer decision process commonly involves problem recognition, information search, evaluation, purchase and post-purchase evaluation, although actual behaviour may be irregular or impulsive. Stakeholders extend beyond customers to employees, intermediaries, media, regulators, communities and investors.

Consumer insight converts evidence into an actionable understanding of a meaningful customer tension or need. Branding turns insight into identity, positioning, promise and associations, while IMC expresses and reinforces these meanings across touchpoints. Effective communication must be credible, ethically responsible, legally compliant and supported by an experience that fulfils the promise. Technology and AI create opportunities for relevance and measurement but require strong governance, transparency and human judgement.

Key Terms

Marketing concept: A customer-centred philosophy that coordinates organisational activity around creating and delivering value.

Market orientation: The generation, dissemination and use of market intelligence across an organisation.

Exchange: The process through which parties give and receive resources, benefits or value.

Customer value: The perceived difference between total benefits and total sacrifices.

Value proposition: A statement of the customer problem, benefits offered and reasons to prefer an organisation’s offering.

Marketing communication mix: The collection of communication tools used to inform, persuade, remind and engage audiences.

Integrated marketing communication: Coordinated communication activities that reinforce coherent brand meaning.

Advertising: Paid, identified communication transmitted through media.

Sales promotion: A short-term incentive designed to stimulate a response.

Public relations: The management of relationships and communication with organisational publics.

Consumer behaviour: The study of how people select, purchase, use, evaluate and dispose of offerings.

Consumer insight: An evidence-based interpretation of a meaningful customer need, tension or motivation that supports action.

Brand: A name, identity and set of associations that identifies and differentiates an offering.

Brand identity: The way an organisation seeks to define and present its brand.

Brand image: The perceptions and associations held by audiences.

Brand positioning: The distinctive place a brand seeks to occupy in a target audience’s mind.

Stakeholder: An individual or group that affects or is affected by an organisation.

Push strategy: Communication directed through intermediaries to encourage distribution and selling.

Pull strategy: Communication directed at final customers to create demand through the channel.

Greenwashing: Misleading communication that creates an inflated impression of environmental responsibility.

Review Questions

5 Short Answer Questions

1. What are the three central principles of the marketing concept?
2. Define customer value and identify two possible customer sacrifices.
3. Name four elements of the marketing communication mix.
4. What is the difference between brand identity and brand image?
5. What is meant by consumer insight?

5 Long Answer Questions

1. Explain how a market orientation differs from a selling orientation, using an organisational example.
2. Discuss the strengths and limitations of advertising, sales promotion, public relations and personal selling.
3. Explain the stages of the consumer decision process and why consumers may not follow them in a fixed sequence.
4. Describe how employees, intermediaries and regulators influence marketing communication.
5. Explain how consumer insight, brand positioning and integrated marketing communication work together.

3 Analytical / Application Questions

1. A retailer receives high website traffic but few completed purchases. Apply the concepts of customer value, consumer decision-making and insight research to diagnose the problem and propose an integrated response.
2. A company wants to promote a product using a broad claim that it is “100% sustainable.” Analyse the ethical and communication risks and recommend a more responsible approach.
3. Design a brief IMC outline for a new service aimed at working students. Specify the target audience, value proposition, communication objectives, channel roles and methods for evaluating results.

Multiple Choice Questions with Answers

Question 1

Which statement best reflects the marketing concept?

A. Produce as much as possible and sell the output through intensive promotion.

B. Begin with customer needs and coordinate organisational activities to create value.

C. Improve technical product features regardless of customer preferences.

D. Focus only on reducing production costs.

Correct Answer: B. Begin with customer needs and coordinate organisational activities to create value.

Question 2

Which item is a non-monetary sacrifice in customer value assessment?

A. A product’s functional benefit

B. A loyalty reward

C. The time required to obtain and use the product

D. A brand association

Correct Answer: C. The time required to obtain and use the product

Question 3

Which communication tool is most associated with direct dialogue and adaptation during a customer interaction?

A. Personal selling

B. Mass advertising

C. Publicity

D. Packaging design

Correct Answer: A. Personal selling

Question 4

What is the central purpose of integrated marketing communication?

A. To use exactly the same wording in every medium

B. To eliminate all communication channels except social media

C. To coordinate communication activities so they reinforce coherent brand meaning

D. To focus only on immediate sales results

Correct Answer: C. To coordinate communication activities so they reinforce coherent brand meaning

Question 5

Which stage occurs immediately after problem recognition in the commonly used consumer decision process?

A. Post-purchase evaluation

B. Information search

C. Brand advocacy

D. Product disposal

Correct Answer: B. Information search

Question 6

Which statement best distinguishes consumer insight from data?

A. Insight is always numerical, whereas data are always descriptive.

B. Insight is an evidence-based interpretation that suggests meaningful action.

C. Insight is a slogan used in advertising.

D. Insight is information collected only from social media.

Correct Answer: B. Insight is an evidence-based interpretation that suggests meaningful action.

Question 7

A push strategy primarily communicates with which audience to support movement through the channel?

A. Final customers only

B. Competitors

C. Intermediaries such as retailers or wholesalers

D. Regulators only

Correct Answer: C. Intermediaries such as retailers or wholesalers

Question 8

Which example best illustrates brand image?

A. The logo guidelines approved by the organisation

B. The associations customers currently hold about the brand

C. The organisation’s internal mission statement

D. The media budget for the next campaign

Correct Answer: B. The associations customers currently hold about the brand

Question 9

Why can a communication campaign fail even when its advertising receives high exposure?

A. Exposure always reduces customer interest.

B. Customers never respond to advertising.

C. The product experience may not deliver the promised value.

D. High exposure prevents brand recognition.

Correct Answer: C. The product experience may not deliver the promised value.

Question 10

Which practice is most appropriate when making an environmental claim?

A. Use vague positive language without supporting evidence.

B. Make the claim precise, relevant and supported by reliable evidence.

C. Hide important limitations in order to simplify the message.

D. Assume attractive environmental imagery is sufficient proof.

Correct Answer: B. Make the claim precise, relevant and supported by reliable evidence.