Influence Of Television Advertising On Consumer Buying Habits

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
One function of the mass media which is becoming increasingly important in the modern world is the economic functions of advertising. The mass media perform this function for the people by bringing together buyers and sellers through advertisements.
Again, the world is fast becoming a common market place of ideas. Many multinational companies have come to realize that people have the same basic needs and desires. Consequently, they have heeded to calls for global marketing and can promote their goods and services using advertisements.
An advertisement is defined by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria(APCON) as a „communication in the media paid for by an identifiable sponsor and directed at a target audience with the aim of transferring information about a product, service, idea or cause.‟
According to Benson Eluwa (2005, p.5), „Advertising is a form of non-personal method of communicating information which is usually paid for by a sponsor through various media‟. These definitions can tell one that advertising is a persuasive communication, because it tries to persuade the reader, viewers or listeners to take to the sponsor‟s point of view and also take some appropriate actions towards an object of advertisement.
In an industrial and free competitive market economy, where the interplay of economic variables dictates the market, the problem of survival of business becomes a very nightmarish one for producers and manufacturers. The singular desire of manufacturers becomes how to create awareness and market for their goods. Advertising is then one strategy that fulfils the desire completely. The desire to be buoyant in business and to increase profit has given advertisement an irrevocable reputation.
Advertising is not undertaken by management just for fun or to keep products or services. It is principally involved in persuasion or advocacy even apparently just giving us information, using media that are paid for it to get through to the mass audience with the identity of the advertisers being clear. „Advertising has the mandate to sell the advertiser‟s goods and help the consumers to shop wisely‟- Okoro (1995, p.42).
Advertising is to communicate information about a product, service or idea and thus stimulate demand.
Evolution of Television Advertisements
A television advertisement or commercial is a form of advertisement in which goods, services, organizations, ideas etc. are promoted through the medium of television. Most advertisements are produced by an outside advertising agency.
Advertisers spread commercials across a number of programmes reaching many more viewers. Networks now own different „spot‟ commercials for many products in the same show. A spot has to stand out and be remembered and this brought about creativity in television advertising owing to the large number of advertisements, and many products with the same quality and cost. The unique selling point and brand awareness became ever more important.
The first television advertisement was broadcast in the United States at 14:29pm on July 1, 1941, when the Bolivia Watch Company paid $9 to New York city NBC affiliate WNBT(now WNBC) for a 20 second spot shown before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.
Television advertisements have heralded an unprecedented increase in economic activities. For some, television advertisements are always one of the best things to look out for on television because of their highly captivating, dramatic, entertaining and humorous nature. For others, this form of advertisement is nothing but an interruption of a nice quiet evening at home, especially when the viewer is seriously engrossed in a highly informative news programme.
However, beyond these two extremes, the advertiser must gain access to the consumer‟s mind in order to win his purchasing loyalty. This is why the advertiser capitalizes on the glamour and potency of television to reach out to a wide spectrum of consumers in order to market his wares. Ideally, television commercials are based on the same principle as the old-time medicine show where a medicine dealer uses banjo player and magician to attract customer‟s attention to his product and market his wares. In television commercials, the advertiser uses talents (for dramatic spectacle) and music to put the audience in good humour, so that the sponsor (manufacturer of the product) who corresponds to the medicine man will have a receptive audience when he peddles his wares.
The majority of television advertisements in Nigeria recently comprise brief advertising spots, ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes. In the Nigerian media, advertisement of this sort has been used to sell every product imaginable over the years from household products to goods and services. The effect of television advertisements upon the viewing public has been so successful and so pervasive that it is considered impossible for a politician to wage a successful election campaign in Nigeria without the use of television advertisement.
Lager products are without doubt among the products that have been given intensive and wide advertisement coverage. The products were able to arouse attention using promotional strategies.
Beer Market in Nigeria
Beer market is considered one of the fastest growing industries in Nigeria, and it is the most popular of all alcoholic beverages consumed, constituting roughly 96 percent of all alcoholic drinks sold. It contributes about 28 percent of Manufacturing Value Added (MVA). The Industry is a highly concentrated quasi-duopoly by both industry size parameters of labour and output.
The two largest firms, Nigerian Breweries Plc, (which is 54 percent controlled by Heineken), and Guinness Plc. (a brand of Diageo International Beer Supply, Ireland), have consistently dominated the Industry since 1949, both in terms of their output (sales volume) and their inputs (labour). They are also among the top 20 most capitalized companies on
the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
The Sector faces a tough future as high energy bills may force consumers to cut back on alcohol consumption. Nonetheless, the industry’s performance will still be driven by increasing number of brewpubs in the country as well as the numerous fiestas and celebrations. The industry is subjected to extensive government regulations at both the federal and state levels concerning distribution, labeling, advertising, container characteristics and alcoholic content. The ability of regulatory and excise authorities to impact on price and distribution of products is key in an analytical consideration for risk in the industry.
However, there is also a good potential in the Nigerian market such as the entry of young drinkers as well as the growing number of middle class citizens as a healthier alternative to consuming less alcohol. Overall, the beer industry will continue to grow If companies strive to broaden their markets locally and internationally by building attractive brand campaigns and developing new products. Landscape and Prospects
About Guinness Nigeria Plc.
Guinness Nigeria is a subsidiary of Diageo Plc. of the United Kingdom, and was incorporated in 1962 with the building of a brewery in Ikeja, the heart of Lagos. The brewery was the first outside of England and Great Britain. Other breweries have been opened over time; Benin City Brewery in 1974 and Ogba Brewery in 1982.
Guinness Nigeria produces the following brands – Foreign Extra Stout (1962), Guinness Extra smooth (2005), Malta Guinness (1990), Harp Lager Beer (1974), Gordon‟s Spark (2001), Smirnoff Ice (2006) and Satzenbrau (2006)
In 1965, Guinness Nigeria was quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange with 1200 investors; while in 2007 Guinness Nigeria became the first brewing company in West Africa to be ISO 14000:2004 certified – The highest certification for a clean environmental standard globally.

1.2 Statement of the Problem
It is a known fact that television advertisements use persuasive techniques to appeal to consumers‟ sense of buying. It is also inevitable that television advertisements have a lot of influence on human behaviour. This influence may be either positive or negative. The kind of influence depends on the kind of advertisement.
Many a time, consumers have turned down the content of advertisements due to various reasons. Some consumers maintain that the information content of the advert is not enough, while some say that the information content of the advert does not reveal the contents of the product.
What are the attitudes of consumers towards the Guinness Stout television advertisements? If the above submission is upheld, perception should explain or account for why a consumer should prefer Guinness Stout in a vast array of lager brands in the Nigerian market.
In the light of the above exposition, this study focuses on how Guinness Stout television advertisements influence consumer buying behaviour.

1.3 Objectives of the Study:
This study is aimed at finding out the impact of Guinness advertisements on the buying habits of its consumers in Ikeja community of Lagos. This will help in the formulation of a comprehensive marketing and promotional strategy for Guinness Stout. The short term objectives of this study are:
1. To discover to what extent people watch advertisements on television.
2. To assess what appeals to consumers of Guinness Stout in television advertisements of the product.
3. To determine the performance of Guinness Stout alongside other competing brands.
4. To evaluate how Guinness Stout advertisements influences consumer buying behaviour of the product.

1.4 Research Questions:
The following research questions are formulated to act as a guide in this research:
1. To what extent do people watch advertisements on television?
2. What appeals to consumers in Guinness Stout television advertisements?
3. What is the performance of Guinness Stout in comparison with other competing brands?
4. What level of influence does Guinness Stout advertisement have on consumer buying behaviour of the product?

1.5 Hypotheses:
1) H0 = Consumer choice of Guinness Stout is not related to exposure to advertisements of the product.
2) H0 = Loyalty to Guinness Stout does not depend on the volume of advertising.

1.6 Scope of the Study:
The study is limited to the residents of Ikeja in Lagos State. The researcher will only focus on the attitude of the residents of the Ikeja community in Lagos State towards Guinness Stout, more specifically on television advertisements of the product in comparison with those of similar products.

1.7 Significance of the Study:
The result of the study will be of immense benefit to advertisers of Guinness Stout as it will provide a guide on planning, production and placement of television advertisements for the product.
Essentially, this study makes a significant contribution to the existing literature on the attitude of consumers towards lager products. The study will also be of great use to mass communication and marketing students who intend to take up similar studies.
It is also envisaged that findings from this study would assist the management of Guinness Nigeria Plc.to effectively promote their products in the highly competitive environment of the brewery industry in Nigerian.

1.8 Operational Definition of Significant Terms:
In this research work, the terms defined reflect how the researcher wants them to be understood in the context of this work.
1) Advertising: A method used to attract the attention of the consumers or audience to a product. It is a means of persuading them to buy your view, opinion, ideas and products which are usually done by a sponsor.
2) Consumer: someone who buys goods for consumption
3) Television: A piece of electrical equipment with a screen on which you can watch programmes with moving pictures and sounds.
4) Buying habit: The decision process and actions of people involved in buying and using products.
5) Impact: The powerful, immediate or dramatic effect that something or somebody has over another thing or person.