Credibility and advertising
charukesi October 13th, 2005
As I drive down to work every morning, I cross the bridge at Ghatkopar to get to the West side. On the dug up pavement I see people walking quickly with a purpose, a couple of cows seemingly without any purpose, and always a few children in the background, defecating as they squat and watch the passing traffic with interest.
On two ends of the short wall along the bridge are painted advertisements for English coaching classes. Expert from New York on one side and on the other is Hi Fi English Classes along with a painting of a man in a suit, whose face always reminds me of similar faces across the country on the doors of public toilets, saying Gentlemen / Purush (both these ads are written in English).
And I wonder every day about how many and what kind of people even see these ads. And believe them. And intuitively I know the answer- a lot of people see them and believe them - they see English as a necessary tool for social mobility.
In advertising research, apart from testing for factors like comprehension (does the consumer understand the ad and the message), relevance (of the message to the consumer), enjoyability (does the ad create interest or boredom), we also test for credibility - do people believe what the ad is saying?
The ideal situation is when people do - atleast the target consumer group - usually because the message is not entirely unbelievable (given that this is advertising we are discussing here). There are times it is obvious (even to the ‘objective’ researcher or the casual viewer) that the ad is making tall claims. In which case, the consumer is understandably put off by the ad / brand.
Yet, there are also times when consumers do not seem to notice. Or care. What is called ‘willing suspension of disbelief’.
Because they want to desperately believe.
So, when is the consumer willing to cast aside scepticism and buy the message - and the product / brand? Take a look at this matrix - and imagine the “tall claims” scenario in all four quadrants.
Low involvement : where the pay-offs for the consumer are not so significant, either at an emotional or functional level. Nor are the trade-offs or risk factors.
High involvement : as opposed to the earlier scenario, the consumer has a lot to gain or lose - the benefits sought are significant.
Humour : where the advertising is based on a light tone - either direct humour or even satire. Like this ad for Nerolac Paints)
Serious : the communication has a tone which intends to inform and convince.
Look now at the fourth quadrant - high involvement * serious tone of communication.
I immediately think of two business areas where we have been seeing the rise of tall claims, corresponding with an increase in demand for these, and therefore almost no questions about credibility of the claims from the consumers - beauty and education.
Quickly about the first - ranging from promises to find your prince charming - yes, the same man who ‘rejected’ you just six weeks ago when you skin was a few shades darker. To the new age man who is part of the “paradigm shift” (this phrase never fails to crack me up) from ‘dark and handsome’ to ‘fair and handsome’ - in the ad, men and women go from jeering to cheering within seconds (with the latter also lustily singing hi handsome to the tone of Pepsi’s Oye Bubbly). And creams which promise ‘glowing skin’ (which attracts your husband’s attention right back to you - why rove when the wife is so beautiful) to soaps which promise ‘younger looking skin’ (so young that women much younger than you are left feeling jealous).
So people desperately want to believe.
And the second - the education business. More depressing than the first. Going back to where I started this thought chain from - the English speaking courses that have sprouted across the country. Ads for which can be found not just on the Ghatkopar flyover but on walls across the city and the whole country. An ad for such a coaching centre in Dharavi (which has the ‘distinction’ of being the largest slum in Asia) proclaims, we don’t teach, we mould. While another says change your life in thrity days. For thousands of people in India, English = a way out. A better life.
So people desperately want to believe.
The countless private engineering and dental colleges found all over suburban and small town India. The coaching classes for IIT and CAT. And even for Class X and XII. Small and large MBA institutes offering degrees that are not worth even the paper the ads are written on.
Advertising for all of them promising jobs paying lakhs, trips abroad, international faculty, cottages by the seaside, real estate on the moon… Whatever.
Promising miracles. So people desperately want to believe.
Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon cosmetics said rightly ‘In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope’
Hope - that makes people desperately want to believe the promises made by the marketing companies, the MBA institutes, the beauty parlours, the coaching centres…
Some more thoughts : from the comments to this post. Apart from english language and “higher” education, computer training centres figure prominently in the education bit - open what is called thinnai pallikoodam (literally meaning school on the verandah) in Tamilnadu with two ancient computers, and become a millionaire in thirty days - or less…
And religion. High involvement. Tall claims. Zero accountability. Hope.
Health-care. As part of the larger “beauty” business or as a separate money spinner in itself. Overnight weight reduction to smile rectification to breast enlargement. And even a cure for AIDS?
