The influence of public relations on brand preference for

consumers of noodles products in Lagos. A case study of

Indomie Noodles

Introduction

1.1. Background of the Study

Since the Nigeria’s economic reforms and the opening of the Global noodles

market to the world in 1978, the Nigerian noodles market has become more

and more attractive to foreign companies and Nigerian dominated

manufacturing companies (Sun newspapers Saturday, November 10, 2007) .

However Some of them have been successful in Nigeria . In some fields,

foreign companies are the largest competitors to Nigeria domestic food

industries in which the instant noodle is one of them, which has become an

important food category. Instant noodles are dried or precooked noodles and

are often sold with packets of flavoring including seasoning oil. Dried noodles

are usually eaten after being cooked or soaked in boiling water for 2 to 5

minutes ,while precooked noodles can be reheated or eaten straight from the

packet. Instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Andō of Nissin Foods,

Japan(Retrieved ;Wikipedia.com/Instant Noodles history ).

Instant noodles was first marketed by Momofuku Ando, who was born in

southwestern Taiwan when the island was under Japanese colonial rule, in

Japan on August 25, 1958, under the brand name Chikin Ramen. In 1971,

Nissin introduced the Cup Noodles, instant noodles in a waterproof

polystyrene cup, to which boiling water could be added to cook the noodles.

A further innovation added dried vegetables to the cup, creating a complete

instant soup dish. According to a Japanese poll in the year 2000, instant

noodles were the most important Japanese invention of the century. As of

2008, approximately 94 billion servings of instant noodles are eaten

worldwide every year.

China consumes 45 billion packages of instant noodles per year – 48% of

world consumption – Indonesia, 14 billion; Japan, 5.1 billion. Per capita, South

Koreans consume the greatest amount of instant noodles, 69 per capita per

year. Instant noodles are not only popular with college students, they can

also be an economic indicator. In 2005, the Mama Noodles Index was

launched to reflect the sales of Mama Noodles, the biggest instant noodle

manufacturer in Thailand. The index was steady following recovery from the

1997 Asian Financial Crisis, but sales increased about 15% on a year-to-year

basis in the first seven months of 2005, which was regarded as a sign of an

inferior good, one whose consumption increases as incomes fall. The theory

was that the increase in sales of instant noodles, which are usually cheap,

occurred because people could not afford more expensive foods.

In Nigeria, Indomie is the most popular instant noodles brand. Since its

introduction in 1988 . Indomie has had a remarkable impact on the Nigerian

culinary landscape. Instant noodles are now eaten in most households across

the country. By 2008, nine other brands of noodle had appeared on the

market affirming Indomie's hold on the market . Christopher Ezendu, a

distributor at the popular Oke-Arin market on Lagos Island, reported that

these other brands are aspiring to be like the market leader.

(Retrieved :Wikipedia.com/,Instant Noodles 2009-11-02).

According to the World Instant Noodle Association, Nigeria is the 13th largest

consumer of instant noodles in the world in 2007. For so long, Nigerian

consumers have been the goal of the producers of the ready-to-eat foods in

Nigeria. The sector that produces food items such as noodles have not been

left out in the trend. However, the new entrants in this sector have

expanded the scope of the market as every producer of instant noodle

brands is now gearing to increase its market share. With this trend, the

average Nigerian consumer has become the biggest beneficiary of the on-

going battle in the instant noodles market. The instant noodles market is

quite intriguing and challenging the benefits of competition for the average

consumer as well as its impact in the life of a brand. When there is

competition, the consumer becomes king. It is good in the sense that it

brings out the best from the companies that are rendering such products and

services to the consumers. Obviously, competition is good for the consumer.

It gives him (consumers) an opportunity to choose and value for money

unlike in a monopoly situation where the consumer does not have a choice

whether the product is good or not; the consumer is forced to buy(sun

newspapers Saturday, November 10, 2007 ).

It is glaring that indomie enjoyed a monopoly in the noodles markets for over

10 years just as other seasonings are still referred to as maggi. Though, it is

quite common in Nigeria that people tend to retain names they heard first in

every category. He said that this situation is not only peculiar to Nigeria, it

happens everywhere. “The advantage of being the first product in the

market would never be under estimated. However, this advantage cannot

just be taken away from the people or organizations that deployed their

resources to develop a market. This trend is fast changing because a lot of

consumers do not just refer to seasonings as maggi. Now, some of the

consumers are saying that they want Knorr , Vedan, A-one and other

seasonings. However it all depends on how you're able to build your brand

such that consumers could equally remember your brand name and keep it

top-of-mind as some consumers are beginning to make demands on what

they want,” .

The competition in the noodles sector has always been on how the producers

could increase their market shares “ the first thing to do is to continue to

offer superior value to consumers by introducing innovative products that

will excite them and represent value for what they're paying. Actually, we

don't look at value in terms of price alone rather we consider value in terms

of service and quality that the consumer gets vis-a- vis what he/she pays. Of

course, most Nigerians know what is good, and they're prepared to pay a

little more for a better product” (sun newspapers Saturday, November 10,

2007 ; ‘Noodles war: Mimee is part of the competition to favour the

consumer) .

Within this framework of tying communication activities to financial gains,

there is an emerging recognition of the influence of public relations. Public

relations has a peculiar effect on other marketing communication activities.

“If you advertise in a time when you’re getting bad PR,” explained one

executive, “it doesn’t work. Conversely, if you advertise in a time of really

good PR, there’s a leveraging effect—it actually has more impact than it

would, all things being equal.” PR, operationalized as press mentions, has a

powerful effect on the company reputation. The impact of a negative

mention can be as much as 10 times as powerful as a positive mention, the

respondents explained, and often unpaid media can affect sales. “Anything

that comes from a respected third party, like consumer reports or Cnet,” said

one executive, “we tend to see those things pop in sales pretty

dramatically.”(Smith : 2008).

Measuring public relations has often accounted for missed sales forecasts, as

one study discussed in the current study revealed. A major consumer

packaged goods company missed its sales forecast by 9.5%, leaving millions

wasted on production. It was discovered that the problem was that the

company had ignored unpaid media in its measurement, and that factoring

in unpaid media would have solved the forecasting dilemma (Smith : 2008).

Whereas public relations cannot always be tied to sales, one respondent

explained that “to the extent there is nothing else that can explain a sales

spike…[the PR event in question] will essentially take credit for whatever the

other variables can’t account for.” According to the interviews, PR often

represents five percent to seven percent of sales. One of the difficulties in

tying public relations to results is the lagging effect that media coverage can

have.

Part of the value of public relations comes from its low costs vs. other

marketing activities, “On a cost-per-impact basis, high-priced media won’t be

able to compete with virtually free tactics like PR” . For this reason, “PR does

incredibly well vis-à-vis advertising,” said one interviewee.(Nail : 2002). In

this contextual point of view, the influence of public relations in building a

brand from its introductory stage to become star brand and consumers

becoming loyalist cannot be ignored in this highly competitive and dynamic

instant noodles sector due to the demand by public relations and its target

audience to captivate its target and create mutual lines of communications

to market and sell its product goods and services. Thus the survival of a

brand in the instant noodles business is its ability to bring fresh innovations

that would make targets mirror themselves to the brand which public

relations offers in its campaigns.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

Marketing and public relations have much in common. Both involve human

relations and require strong communication and interpersonal skills. The

public relations manager can make practical contributions to marketing

strategy when it is understood on both sides that public relations techniques

can be useful in all aspects of the marketing mix.

Yet, the marketing mix concept has become increasingly discredited in

service markets, which usually now make up at least 60 per cent of most

Western countries’ gross domestic product. It offers a ‘checklist’ or ‘toolbox’

approach (Grönroos, 1994) and is usually unable to account for the nuances

associated with service markets, where interaction, trust and credibility are

key parameters in retaining and acquiring new customers. The new

marketing approach or, some argue, old approach relabelled, is more

focused on relationship marketing (RM) or customer relationship

management (CRM). PR techniques can be used to engender trust and

credibility. Thus, in a competitive marketplace, marketing PR is becoming

increasingly important. Research has indicated that the traditional marketing

mix approach can prove very restrictive (Gummesson :1987) in strategy

development, particularly as it appears unsuited to the modern dynamic

environment (O’Malley and Patterson : 1998).

Telecommunications, banking and air transport are all increasingly turbulent

service environments. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, public relations has

had an increasingly important role to play in all three industries in the UK.

Whilst telecommunications companies, particularly the mobile operators,

have been dealing with ‘churn’ (i.e. customer registration, then

deregistration) and increased competition resulting from deregulation, banks

have been tackling increasing levels of competition from, among many

others, supermarkets (e.g. Sainsbury’s, Tesco) and insurance companies

(e.g. Prudential’s Egg).

The major national carriers in the European air transport industry have been

particularly troubled, as low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and EasyJet eat

into their passenger volumes.

Marketing public relations has played an important role in all three cases. For

instance, telecommunications companies have moved into new media

markets offering broadband connectivity (e.g. BT’s division, BT Openworld)

and have used public relations specialists to launch new products (e.g. BT’s

Broadband Summit). Meanwhile, in a stroke of genius, easyJet managed to

become the subject of a new, consumer reality TV series, Airline, showing

the difficulties airline personnel faced when dealing with customers

demanding unreasonably high levels of service for the economy price they

had paid for their ticket.

These three industries, however, have all been hit by other problems, dealt

with by other types of public relations activity. The major European

telecommunications firms (e.g. Deutsche Telecom, the Dutch operator KPN,

and BT) have all been struggling over the last couple of years under heavy

debt loads, arising as a result of diversification into new markets, and the

purchase of 3G licences. This eventually ensured that they were downgraded

by credit rating agencies such as Moody’s. For the likes of BT, this took a

heavy toll, since it meant that its interest payments increased and future

equity offers became less attractive.

In this context , financial public relations activity became paramount in this

sector . Banks also required the services of public relations specialists,

particularly in the corporate image field as the sector has consolidated (e.g.

HSBC and its takeover of Midland Bank, Lloyds Bank and TSB, Halifax and the

Bank of Scotland). Meanwhile, in the airline industry, national carriers (e.g.

BA) have required considerable crisis management help as a result of the 11

September terrorist attacks and the subsequent downturn in their passenger

volumes, particularly to the Far East and the USA, which has precipitated

considerable downsizing and route rationalization.

Marketing public relations is therefore an important component of public

relations, but should not be seen solely as an optional element of the

communication mix. It could enter into product development, reflecting the

feedback received from the media and various publics about products and

services, ranging from complaints to suggestions and demands. For instance,

the content of a package holiday could be changed because of unfortunate

experiences in the past that required assistance in dealing with enquiries

from the media.

Based on the above postulations ‘on the influence of public relations on

brand preference of noodles brands it therefore presupposes that public

relations as a communication tool amongst consumer on brand preference

has a direct influence in bridging the gap between the brand and the

consumers thereby marketing the brand and letting them(consumers) mirror

themselves on the brand image of the brand, which in essence of consumer

behavior moves them towards preference for the brand (Indomie instant

Noodles) a clear and concise understanding of the intricate indices/indexes

goes a long way in creating a marketing channel using public relations as a

conduit pipe .

1.3 Research Questions

These questions are posed to find out the influence of public relations on

consumers brand preference of consumers of noodles products in Lagos of

which the study postulates the following research questions as basis for

giving fresh insights into answering the statement of the problem and to give

findings for the study:

1 Does public relations activities influence consumers of noodles to

prefer a particular noodles brand ?

2 What extent of influence does public relations have on the purchasing

decisions of consumers of noodles in Lagos ?

3 What level of influence does public relations have on the preferences

of consumers of noodles product in Lagos ?

1.4 Purpose Of The Study

The purpose of the study is to determine the influence of public relations on

brand preference of consumers of noodles product in Lagos , taking into

focus selected youth segments in Lagos to assess the influence public

relations has on the consumers preference of noodles products in Lagos.

Furthermore, the study was also concerned with understanding the influence

of public relations has on consumers preference for noodles taking indomie

noodles which has had a long standing large market share in the noodles

market to understand the influence its public relations activities has had on

the brand preference of consumers of noodles.

1.5 Rationale Of Study

A long standing stream of public relations research has dealt with roles of

public relations and its influence on consumers in terms of its marketing

point of view . Pasadeos et al. (1999) found in a bibliometric study of public

relations scholarship that public relations roles research was the “largest

category of most cited works” (Pasadeos et al : 1999).

Individual and collective power sources (or influence resources) in

organizations have been categorized for decades. French and Raven (1960)

laid a foundation for thinking about power in organizations. They identified

five power sources – authoritative or legitimate power, coercive power,

reward power, expert power, and referent power. Authoritative or legitimate

power comes from reporting position in the organizational hierarchy.

Coercive power is based on ability to mete out punishments.

Reward power is based on the authority to distribute organizational rewards

and resources. Expert power is based on specialized knowledge or aptitude.

Referent power has its basis in personal charisma or attractiveness.

Bachrach and Lawler (1980) added a sixth base of power to this typology,

information power, which is based on access to important information, or

controls over important information.

Kanter (1977) included being visible and taking risks as power resources.

She also noted that relational resources are key to wielding influence.

Relational resources include mentors, sponsors, networks, coalitions, and

relationships with, or access to, those in power. Public relations researchers

also have underscored the importance of relational resources to

practitioners, particularly when they possess limited formal or authoritative

power (Grunig, 1992; Hatch, 1997; Holtzhausen and Voto ; 2002).

Power and influence are closely related terms. Power is often described as a

capacity, or something possessed, that allows one to get things done or get

others to do what you want them to do ( Hay and Hartel et.al : 2000).

In an essay on power and resistance, Barbalet expressed this broad

conception of social power:

Ordinarily . . . “power” is understood as the expression of capacity to

initiate . . . . In the

broadest terms power has to do with getting things done, or getting others to

do them. If it

means anything, social power is the generative force through which social

relations and

institutions are directed (Barbalet : 1985).

If power is the capacity or potential to get things done, then influence is the

use, expression, or realization of power (Hinkin and Schriesheim, 1990;

Mintzberg, 1983; Salancik and Pfeffer :1977). Influence is the process

through which power is actually used or realized (Pfeffer, 1992). Influence is

the use of power to get things done, or to accomplish something, for some

purpose in organizations (Kanter :1977& Mintzberg: 1983).

For the purpose of this exploration, we define influence as the ability to get

things done by affecting the perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, opinions,

decisions, statements, and behaviors of others.

Kipnis et al.(2006) identified specific influence tactics in a survey of 165 part-

time graduate business students. They found that the most common

influence tactic was explaining the rationale for the request (17 percent of

respondents), followed by a direct request (10 percent), or an exchange such

as a compromise or calling in favors (8 percent). Less forthright and positive

tactics also were relatively common.

Clandestine tactics such as manipulating information or cajoling the

influence target accounted for 8 percent of responses. Personal negative

actions such as slowing the job, expressing anger, or threatening accounted

for 8 percent of responses (Kipnis et al : 1980).

A factor analysis of the 58 items by Kipnis et al. yielded eight influence

dimensions. Those dimensions are ingratiation, rationality, assertiveness,

sanctions, exchange, upward appeal, blocking, and coalitions. Kipnis et al.

found rationality tactics most prevalent when attempting to influence

superiors.

Thus this study was embarked upon based on the assumption that public

relations has a significant influence on consumers preference for noodles in

terms of its patronage by consumers of noodles in Lagos.

1.6 Significance Of The Study

Talking a gross observatory analysis of the noodles industry, the Global

Instant Noodles Market is expected to reach 139.2 Billion Packs by 2015,

According to a News Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.(Retrieved :

http://www.StrategyR.com/Instant Noodles: A Global Strategic Business

Report Quote. The global market for Instant Noodles is forecast to reach

139.2 billion packs by the year 2015. Key factors driving market growth

include low cost, wide variety of taste and flavor profiles, and minimal

cooking time. Further, changing lifestyles and buying behavior of consumers,

increased working time, growing number of women working, and consumers

having less time to cook meals at home are other factors propelling market

growth.

With the overwhelming pace of modern man’s busy lifestyles, set by

increased working time, heavier traffic, growing importance given to

workouts and healthy existence, people have an ever dwindling free time at

their disposal and thereby demand more convenience foods and ready

meals. Against this backdrop of an era characterized by the growing desire

for minimal cooking efforts, reduced labor time and liberation from extensive

time consuming cooking, the future for instant noodles stands palpably clear.

Harried lifestyles brought upon by the growing number of women working,

has triggered a shift in cooking habits away from conventional time

consuming preparation of fresh foods to easy precooked, easy to prepare

meals. With consumers having less time to cook meals at home and with the

contemporary mom no longer cooking, the task of preparing foods is

transferred to the food processor.

Increasing number of nuclear families, rise in disposable incomes, young

singles with little or no cooking skills, enhanced awareness of healthful diets

and increased interest in ethnic and international foods, represent additional

factors that are expected to have a bearing on eating and food preparation

habits. As the next generation of convenient ready and easy to prepare

foods hit the market, instant noodles, as a product category, banking on its

strength of convenience are poised to encounter days of plenty in the

upcoming years. Instant noodles are finely tuned to fit into the consumers’

ever-dwindling cooking time schedules. The trend of cooking meals in just a

few minutes is gaining momentum not only among individual consumers but

also among institutions and public food outlets. Even restaurants and fast

food joints are turning to convenience food to meet the ever-busy consumers

demand for quick service and quality food.

Global recession had a major impact on virtually all industries, but some

segments fared better than others. Decline in sales of fast food products was

relatively less when compared to durables during the years 2008 and 2009.

Instant noodles market across the globe was minimally affected by the

recent slump in macro economy. Demand for noodles stood positive across

several geographies including the matured as well as developing nations.

Recession has in fact proved to be a boon in certain regional markets, as

instant noodles are considered cost-effective alternative for cutting down the

cost of living during tiring times. Today, instant noodles have become an

integral part of the individuals’ diet plan.

Disposable income and purchasing power parity of consumers in various

regions across the globe represent major economic factors that influence the

demand for and consumption of instant noodles. Typically, consumers with

higher disposable income consume higher amounts of instant noodles.

Demand in the future will stem from countries presently not ranked among

the top consuming countries worldwide. Driving forces will include product

characteristics such as lesser cooking time, anytime-anywhere consumption,

affordability, hygiene, safety and nutrition. Innovation in flavors will however

represent a key factor, kindling consumer interest. Given the unimaginable

variety in satisfying flavors, instant noodles add a new dimension to

traditional meals all over the world.

Although widely consumed, instant noodles, as a product category, have

been forced to confront health issues just like any other packaged food

product. Few of the controversial health issues pertaining to instant noodles

include among others its high fat content. Moreover use of partially

hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVO), which are rich in trans-fatty acids

present potent health issues related to obesity. The use of Monosodium

Glutamate (MSG), an artificial additive, has also been a controversial issue.

The excessive use of this synthetic additive according to research studies

poses potential health hazards, and hence brings instant noodles directly

under the microscope.

However the crux of this study is to find out how the influence of public

relations on consumers d has improved their services, competition and even

patronage on advertisers in terms of doing business as an outdoor agency.

Thus based on the above postulations as asserted above it is in the opinion

of the researcher that the , the findings and the recommendations at the end

of this study will be of immense benefit to public relations practitioners in

Nigeria in order to gauge how public relations in an evaluative and feedback

strategy has made an impact its services in terms of competition, patronage

and services to its targets and advertisers and client( or in the case of In-

House Public Relations to access management input of resource for brand

growth )also to know the extent of influence public relations Marketing has

on the practice.

Also the research study in terms of its findings will also be beneficial to the

Manufacturers in the noodles sector most especially Dufill industries makers

of Indomie instant noodles and a host of its competitors to know and

understand the marketing value/influence of public relations as a concept for

creating mutual understanding and a marketing/brand beneficial effect on

making targets become brand loyalist, understanding them in a better

perspective to mirror the image of the brand to its targets and cost efficiency

to company objectives and goals in terms of productivity ,brand growth and

brand loyalty .

In a general the study will be beneficial in a scholarly perspective to

students in the field of public relations to adding value and intellectual-

impetus on the concept of the influence of public relations for creating

brand preference for noodles product, thus bringing into limelight a whole

new idea in public relations influence to students/scholars of of public

relations as a means of marketing noodles products in Lagos and Nigeria as

a noodles market.

Theoretically this study as asserted by its theoretical basis in its theories

utilized the: the informational theory otherwise know as the Shanon &

Weaver Mathematical model of Communication which in its core

assumptions asserts that According to Shannon and Weaver, information is

defined as “a measure of one’s freedom of choice when one selects a

message”. In information theory, information and uncertainty are closely

related. Information refers to the degree of uncertainty present in a

situation. The larger the uncertainty removed by a message, the stronger the

correlation between the input and output of a communication channel, the

more detailed particular instructions are the more information is transmitted.

Uncertainty also relates to the concept of predictability. When something is

completely predictable, it is completely certain. Therefore, it contains very

little, if any, information. A related term, entropy, is also important in

information theory. Entropy refers to the degree of randomness, lack of

organization, or disorder in a situation. Information theory measures the

quantities of all kinds of information in terms of bits (binary digit).

Redundancy is another concept which has emerged from the information

theory to communication. Redundancy is the opposite of information.

Something that is redundant adds little, if any, information to a message.

Redundancy is important because it helps combat noise in a communicating

system (e.g. in repeating the message). Noise is any factor in the process

that works against the predictability of the outcome of the communication

process. Information theory has contributed to the clarification of certain

concepts such as noise, redundancy and entropy. These concepts are

inherently part of the communication process which public relations as part

of its activities communicates to its target publics to bridge the

communication gap between its targets and its publics so also streamlining it

in a mutually beneficial effect to the organization and its publics. So also the

theory of planned behavior/Reasoned action will also be harnessed which in

its core assumptions it asserts that Theory of Reasoned Action suggests that

a person's behavior is determined by his/her intention to perform the

behavior and that this intention is, in turn, a function of his/her attitude

toward the behavior and his/her subjective norm. By reason of this assertions

it therefore proffers that the impact of public relations activities on

consumers of noodles product can go along way in creating an influence on

the behavior of consumers in terms of creating an intention to buy through

its activities, Conclusively theoretically the social cognitive theory will be

harnessed which however asserts and explains how people acquire and

maintain certain behavioral patterns, while also providing the basis for

intervention strategies (Bandura, 1997). Evaluating behavioral change

depends on the factors environment, people and behavior. This in a nutshell

goes to explain the influence public relations has on consumers preference

for noodles brand.

1.7 Deliminitation of study

This study covers few agencies in Lagos only of which selected agencies of

these agencies were selected on the basis of their level of digital technology

usage in their outdoor practice’s as to ascertain the influence digital

technology has on their practice .Furthermore the is also concerned only on

the outdoor practice in Lagos and will be limiting itself on this area alone .So

also the study does not cover other aspects of outdoor like it business

activities, production and placement in terms of media placement with also

consumer perception rather it focuses on its influence on agency practice.

1.5 Definition Of Terms

Public relations: this is a means of communication utilized by organization to

create mutual understanding between its organization and its publics in

terms of its activities.

Indomie Noodles; is an instant noodle brand in the Nigerian market, and is

eaten by adding its seasoning into it to get the eventual Indomie instant

noodle