Samantha Weiss

CB Final Project

Prof. Pom

11/13/13

Regulatory Focus theory- preventative/ promotative focus:

The Regulatory Focus theory suggests that people and advertisements are focused

into one of two mindsets. Promotative focus, desire to extend the good, and preventative

focus, desire to decrease the bad. The textbook explains this theory, “consumers orient

their behavior either through a prevention focus or a promotion focus. A prevention focus

orients consumers towards avoiding negative consequences, while a promotion focus

orients consumers towards the pursuit of their aspirations or ideals. The prevention

terminology captures the motivation to maintain homeostasis and the promotion focus

shares similarly with self-improvement goals (Babin & Harris, 2013). Marketers use this

strategy to align their product or service with the consumer’s mindset. They can also use

either attitude to influence their consumer to feel a certain way.

The regulatory focus theory should be effective when using it to promote a product

that is already aligned with one of the focuses. For example, medication is a clear

preventative focus item. Medications prevent the increasingly bad symptoms. There is

not much persuasion that needs to be done to convince the consumer that they need the

medication to decrease the negative feelings. The regulatory focus theory is also

beneficial when people are easily persuaded, their attitudes towards a good or service can

be convinced into the mindset. This concept definitely takes a side and brings upon an

attitude of the product and tries to convince the consumer to buy the good or service by

using the argument that it will prevent something bad or increase something good. This

theory has been used aggressively to alter people’s decisions toward buying products if

used properly. I do not think this theory has any restriction on effectiveness as far as

consumer type, time of day or product type are concerned. However, I do not think this

theory will work in application if the product does not agree with the focus it is being

shown with. If there is an ad for a chocolate bar and it is using the prevention focus, I

don’t think that is a strong argument. Chocolate bars are not that filling and are not

considered a meal or food item someone would eat if they were hungry. Also, I feel it is

not always useful to use a promotion or preventative focus on an advertisement because

the attitude takes away from the product and its message. The push to buy the product

over takes the product its self.

Commercials are a way the regulatory focus theory can be shown to consumers.

Marketers have full control over what message gets sent out in a commercial. An

example of a preventative focus commercial is attached. As I mentioned earlier, the

Snicker’s commercials have been using the idea of preventing hunger to sell their

chocolate bars. They use flashy, high-budget commercials with celebrity endorsers and

catchy saying like “Snickers satisfies”, “Hungry? Grab a Snickers” and “You’re not you

when you’re hungry, grab a snickers!” Their point of persuasion is that Snickers

chocolate bars will not only fill you up when you’re hungry, but also prevent you from

not acting like yourself because of hunger. The commercial definitely exemplifies the

idea of preventative regulatory focus but I also think this is an example when the concept

does not work very well. I think the flashy commercials totally take away from the

chocolate bar, Snickers over powers their actual product with ridiculous over-the-top ads

that make little sense. Few people actually buy a Snickers bar to relieve hunger.

However, this is also an example of how the regulatory focus theory can be used to alter

people’s perceptions and change minds to a different attitude, which Snickers does well

here.

preventative ad-snickers- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxlOWVVQWEhttp://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=snickers+ad&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=xM9xW1f5lXR2GM&tbnid=I0_1ftVr_t38hM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F22907755%40N08%2F2385233797%2F&ei=rXWPUu_1CKzKsQTj5YCgBw&bvm=bv.56988011,d.cWc&psig=AFQjCNGOdS8YH2hfBPY8u_0CGHIEVruDvQ&ust=1385219808701346

Simplicity:

Simplicity is the idea that by keeping a message short and comprehensible, the

consumer will get more out of it and are more likely to remember it. “The simpler the

message the more likely a customer develops meaningful comprehension, which, of

course relies on a customer’s ability to process information”(Babin & Harris, 2013). This

concept says to use the simplest way to communicate important information. In doing so,

the consumer will understand the message more clearly and are more likely to purchase

the product. The ad campaign will end up being more effective than an ad that confused

consumers or gave too much unnecessary information.

The concept of simplicity will work when a consumer is looking for a quick and short

answer or information about a product or service. Simplicity is best for low involvement

or mundane items. Simplicity can also be effective at certain times of day, especially in

the early morning when people are tired or multi-tasking getting ready for their day.

People do not sit and watch television in the morning, by using a simple ad the consumer

is more likely to get the message and store the information. As for a consumer type,

simplicity is good for the elderly and children who either do not have the attention span

for a long involved ad or cannot understand complex information given to them.

However, simplicity may not be beneficial to use for a marketing team when they are

trying to promote a high involvement item. For example, not many people are willing to

purchase a car with minimal and simplistic information. Pharmaceutical companies

would not benefit by using simplistic ads to promote new medications. In these cases

people want all the information to ensure they are making the right decision. Also,

simplicity may not be good to promote a product or service with a lot of competition. The

marketers would want their good to stand out and that happen by providing the consumer

with more information to give them the advantage above the competition. A simple ad

may not suffice for a high involvement or high competition item or service.

Popular simplicity marketing strategies are using labels and packaging. The message

labels and packaging display on products says a lot about the company and the product

itself. The concept of simplicity would say that these labels should be short and easy to

understand. Many times companies either over simplify or try to fix excess information

on the packaging. Both can be harmful to the consumer’s decision-making process. When

a package has too much information the consumer can be turned off and feel obligated to

read the labels. This can also make the product seem complicated or complex just

because its label is. On the other hand, over simplifying has become a problem in the past

few years. By not putting enough information on products consumers feel tricked or

betrayed by he company. For example, “fat-free” and “low-carb” labels have become

very popular on packaging in the 21st century. Consumers want to feel healthy so the

marketers pay special attention to promoting the products “fat-free” characteristics on

their labels. However, this has brought up the issue of oversimplifying. The terms “fat-

free” and “low-carb” and the like, are not thoroughly explained on the package. And in

some products that say “fat-free”, there are other additives like chemicals and extras

sugar to make up for the less fat that consumers are not told about. Not only have those

specific labels become an issue but the simple “Organic” label raised confusion as well.

Not all consumers now what organic means. The process of ensuring tat a product is

organic is complex but the label is over simplified that consumers don’t always know

exactly what that means or what makes something organic compared to regular produce.

The advertisement attached is for Heinz spicy ketchup. The marketers definitely

utilize simplicity in their print ad here. The ad does not give any unnecessary information

and focuses the viewer’s attention on what the product does. The ad depicts a French fry

burnt at one end, the consumers find themselves questioning why it’s burnt. When they

look down to see the Heinz spicy ketchup label, they see that this ad clearly relays the

message that the ketchup is spicy. The take away message, Heinz came out with a new

product, hot ketchup and its really hot. The ad does not have a catchy saying, celebrity

endorser, persuasion or promotion, it is just an example of what the product does and the

product its self. I think this is a great ad and effectively uses simplicity to successfully

convey the message.

Simple ad- French fry -http://www.google.com/imgres?q=simple+advertisements&biw=1279&bih=650&tbm=isch&tbnid=GVFkajYCpXfvTM:&imgrefurl=http://adrageousness.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/15-creative-print-

advertisements/&docid=MvjHU6I-YPE2ZM&imgurl=http://adrageousness.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/heinz_fries.jpg%253Fw%253D700%2526h%253D505&w=700&h=506&ei=IyaEUpzWH4nj4APvzoDABw&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:31,s:0,i:188