PUBLIC PERCEPTION TOWARDS BILLBOARD ADVERTISMENT

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in two sub-headings:

• Conceptual Framework
• Theoretical Framework
• Chapter Summary

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Billboard Advertising

A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure. Billboard advertising remains a very cost effective way to reach a large audience. Advertising style of Billboard advertisements are designed to catch a person's attention and create a memorable impression very quickly, leaving the reader thinking about the advertisement after they have driven past it. They have to be readable in a very short time because they are usually read while being passed at high speeds. Once the Billboard Advertising method is decided, there are three very important elements left to deal with Proper Design, Print Quality of billboards, Installation etc (Kmar, 2012).

Keys to effective billboard campaigns:

• Keep the messages simple.
• Develop a strong tagline
• Repetition and volume is crucial, an effective campaign requires several billboards.
• Make the logo visible so people recognize the brand & can search you out.
• Place billboards in areas that your target market frequents.

Factors that attracts the Public to billboard advertisements

Solomon, (1998) noted that billboard advertisements should reach the public with its different stimulus’s, colours and designs. According to him, it is hard to catch peoples attention with this vehicle, because of the movement of the people. There is no time, to stop and look the billboard advertisement, while running from one place to the audience. There are also external environment stimulus’s, which interrupts target audiences’ perception. To catch the audience and to be more effective, billboard campaign’ visual and design criteria should be formed with perception criteria’s view. They should gather and attract audience attention. Perception is a process by which the stimuli (light, color, and sound) are selected, organized and interpreted. Solomon, (1998) mentioned that another important point is for target audiences attention that the visual and text figures of Billboards shouldn’t be in image confusion. To reach this purpose, there should be one focal point for audience to focus. To Attract the Interest and make them understand Billboard’s message it should be clear designed, it is essential to bring together the right visual elements which affect visual perception. According to him, there are factors that need to be consider before sending advertisement message. This includes;

. To place the Visual elements, which affect visual perception,

. Effective use of white spaces,

. Determine which element should be emphasized;

The most important characteristic of perception is perceptual selectivity; The need, interest and the expectations for the stimulus affect the individuals perceptual selectivity (Solomon, 1998).

Teker (2003) and Söker, (1999) enumerated other important point for effective billboard campaign. According to them the advertisement texts should be legible and easy readable. The Legibility depends on text’s language (used easy readable and understandable letter types) and the interest of the audience, whether he or she is interested with the campaign.

Becer (1999) noted that legibility is not enough alone for the message’s reach effect. The text of the billboard campaign should also be readable. Readability depends on the perception level of the letters by the reader and also depends on the characteristics of the letters, which affect the readability.

Teker, (2003) went further to state that for easy and successful perception of the billboard campaign, the factors like, the size of the letter , the character of the letter, the color of the letter, the white spaces between the letters and the sentences size should be appropriate to graphic design criteria.

According to him, colour of visual and text elements of an Billboard Advertisement should be appropriate with the information to be passed, they should be bright, saturated, contrast and high and attractive colour. For example, contrast colours are purple-yellow, red-high blue, green-magenta, black-white, orange-blue. The emotional, mental and physical stimuli of an individual determine the interest and attraction potential of a Billboard Advertisement. By determining the colour, it is important to know the emotional and mental effects of the colours of an individual.

Çellek (2004) stated that to arouse interest in a design, it is important that the focal point should have been formed. The focal point in a design is provided with emphasizing one of the elements design more than the other elements with help of size, color, shape and measure. Every focal point can obtained with contrast, because contrast means movement in a design and avoids from monotonous.

Also, he made mention of Balance, which is a type of equal dispersion of visual weight elements, is a basic design principle. Visual stimulation appears from correct balance or disturbing balance. Balance shows itself in shape, colour, movement, light and dark. There are two kinds of balance; symmetrical and as symmetrical balance. Symmetrical balance means that the reputation of the elements in same conditions. Assymetric balance is the form of the elements, which have not equal visual weights and attractions.

Çellek (2004) stated that emotional stimuli are more interesting than the other stimuli. The emotional effects of the pictures or visuals, which emphasize love, hate, happiness, freedom, entertainment, nourishment and sexuality of target audiences are impressive for the message of the billboard campaign.

Types Of Billboards

There are different kinds of billboards, below are some of them according to Rampur (2012):

1. Poster billboards: They are utilized for outdoor advertising. They are impressed on 8 to 30 sheets of heavy paper, according to the size. It could last for about a month, depending on weather conditions, after which it is best to remove them.

2. Painted boards: It is known as painted bulletins, are covered with an outdoor paint which is resistant to weather. Some outdoor paints are specially made to withstand fading.

3. Vinyl boards: It is one of the latest methods of billboards advertising. They have attractive color, durable life and really fine graphics and artwork. They have a brighter appearance, and look much better than conventional billboards. They are usually sprayed with an UV protective coat and can last for years. There is a possibility of damage from wind, since they are not stuck to the surface, instead are attracted to the edges. But of types, vinyl ones contribute largely to advertising effectiveness.

4. LED billboards: are from the newer lot of outdoor advertising tools. The bright backlight and use of different colors grab instant attention of the onlookers. The adverts that are displayed are of high quality, as they are generally computer prints, with the addition of animation and other visual effects, the ads are becoming more interactive.

5. Scrolling advert: Is also a good way of putting the world across. If the advertiser pays for the entire board, he or she has the advantage of displaying about 10-30 ads on the same billboards.

Strengths Of Billboard

Even though billboards are the most basic outdoor media used in reaching potential and actual consumers outside their homes. It has some advantages and disadvantages. Below are some of the benefits;

1. Messages on billboards can be viewed and reviewed as many times as possible. Nwabueze (2006, p.77) postulates that this provide high frequency of audience exposure to the message which is necessary in order to make an impression on the audience.

2. The billboard is a cost effective medium. It cost less to reach a greater number of people over a period of time than it would cost in other media. Just like other outdoor media, billboards offer the lowest cost per exposure of any major advertising medium (Arens and Bovee, 1994, p.471).

3. They are used to target consumers at odd times or during “unrelaxed” periods i.e. while they are on their way. This is different from other media which messages are consumed while the audiences are relatively relaxed.

4.Billboards are often large and intimidating, especially when placed in strategic places in middle of cities. This ensures that the message makes a quick but persuasive impression in the minds of the audience.

5.It ensures customized placement: you can place your billboard advertisement wherever you feel it will have impact the most.

Weaknesses of Billboards

1.Billboards targets only mobile audience. This means that if the target audience and not always on the road, its usage may become ineffective.

2. It is basically a reminder medium, i.e. reminds the audience of what they have watched, heard or listened to as carried by other media. Thus, if the audiences have not yet been exposed to a message through other media, they may find it difficult to understand a billboard message which is often short does not contain enough messages.

3. It could be expensive to produce a billboard message initially and the huge cost may discourage their usage.

Long-term commitment: billboards companies often have business enter into contracts that involve long-term commitment mainly, this is because it takes a lot of time, energy and money to constantly change billboards advert. According to Robertson (2012), billboard contracts usually cover duration of three months. This makes billboard advertising less conducive to business that frequently change their advertising companies on a weekly and monthly basis.

Billboard Messages

Billboard messages can influence one or more of response stages. The typical sequence is awareness, comprehension, conviction and action. According to Ray (1973), these stages can be subsumed under one of the three major levels of understanding, cognition, effective and continuous. Ray contended that the important question is whether cognition precedes effective and connotation or some alternative formulation is appointed. Implicitly, it is often difficult for advertisers to determine which hierarchy that best reflect a particular audience. Obviously, the amount of interpersonal interaction with respect to a particular type of product prior to a new message about the product is often impossible to determine. In such cases, the best is to assume that the relationship between the product and the buyer is practically non-existent than all levels must be considered. Polaitz (1960) notes that exposure is entirely the responsibility of the medium though the medium’s freedom goes beyond that into the mood, its confidence in the medium and other benefit the medium delivers for its advertising content. Given these extra functions performed by medium chosen for advertisement, the need for a thorough media study and optimal selection because resection are provocation and exalting the time and few subsequent times they are seen but at the twentieth or twenty-fifth time, they are obnoxious.

In some cases, advertising receives severe cynicism, because of this therefore products or services it is promoting. As Allport (1970) again emphasizes, people exposed to alcoholic beverage advertising, those who find some current motion pictures offensive objects to those movies. In some similar view, advertising sometimes criticize because some people dislike the medium practice on the whole, the most persistence and or articulate criticism against advertising is its supposed tendency to deceive consumer into making sometimes irrational purchase decision. Most critics of advertising especially billboard see it as a manipulative tool of business whereby the consumer who they presume ignorant and incapable of making rational economic judgment is unfairly bludgeoned into buying things he does not need or really want. Beulding (1955) stated that advertisers should be devoted to an attempt to building up in his or her mind the consumer irrational preference for certain brands of goods. Also in their book titled consumer behavior, Reynold and Well submit that: Advertising can have the impact of misinformation and misleading consumer goods. The sponsor advertisement has a resistless use to present his product in the best possible light. That is, the advertiser displays his product at the pact of his attainable perfection and a bit beyond, when he thinks he can get away these short comings notwithstanding, advertising entices, accept the need for some form of product information since an informed consumer is considered fundamental to the classic model of a free economy. On the other hand, protagonists of advertising never cease to argue in its usefulness and necessity for the total economic wellbeing. Advertising is considered the lynch-pin by which everything in the economic system hangs together the consumer benefits, the economic growth, the corporate profits, and the technological advertisement. It is also to the credit of advertising that promote freedom of choice among consumers.

Uses of the Billboard Signs

The outdoor is one of the most important for the national advertiser. It is most suited for intensively distributed impulse goods bought by advertisers by brand name. In this category are cigarettes, soft drinks, beer, and chewing gum and so on. The medium is also good for automobile service and product like tyres, batteries, oil, etc. The outdoor is at times used as a supplementary medium which uses short slogans to amplify effort by other media. It reminds the audience repeatedly and makes last minute appeal as the audience goes into a commercial area or market. It is quite an effect medium, it is displayed for at least 30 days and for repeated impact on audience. Wimeck (1982) believes that where advertising is placed, its vehicle affects recall of its message, ratting of its sponsor and returns of its coupon. The billboard or outdoor is basically a communication for people in a hurry, people moving at high speed but whose attention must be caught and held instant. This medium shows the advertiser’s art at its best. The basic design principles fully apply here, layout and illustration have to be very well balanced. Only the basic essentials should be included, everything appearing on the poster must contribute to its effectiveness. Every advertising design must have something to say. This has to be important and should be said straight, plain and simple. The audience does not have time to stop and read between lines for hidden meanings. It has given simple and crisply.

Polaitz (1980) notes that exposure is entirely the responsibility of the medium through the medium’s function goes beyond that into mood it creates in its readers, viewers or listeners, their confidence in the medium and other benefit the medium deliver for its advertising content. The outdoor medium keeps the message in audience mind and makes the last minutes appeal to audience on their way market. It highlights the more elaborate messages uses repeated impression to make impact, the message has long exposure and ways displayed at strategic points for at least 30 days. Though the outdoor message is open to a large non-selected audience, selectivity and targeting is possible with different posters directed at particular areas where a service or the advertiser product is available.

The Major Vehicles of the Outdoor Advertising Medium in Nigeria

The major vehicles of the outdoor advertising medium in Nigeria today include:

1. Crown and Double Crown Posters: Which measure 10 inches X 15 inches and 20 inches X 15 inches respectively and are mostly for indoor application on notice boards, in buses or on walls of premises.

2. Street Signs: It measures 2ft X 2ft, boxed and may or may not be illuminated. They are usually located at road junctions with names of streets on separate metal sheets pointing to appropriate directions.

3. 4 Sheet: This poster measures 40 inches X 60 inches and is mostly posted in constructed aluminum framed boxes, covered with glass, located both indoors and outdoors within and around shopping complexes, airports, hospitals, schools, parks, beaches, market and alongside-walks. Frequency of posters change depends on the location indoor or outdoor.

4. 8 sheet and 16 sheet: These measures 6ft.8inches X 5ft and 6ft.8inches X 10ft respectively and are posted on billboards within the city, along streets with high foot traffic and average speed vehicular movement. Averagely, posters are replaced bimonthly during the dry season and every six weeks or as necessary during the rainy seasons.

5. 40 Sheet: These measures 6ft.8inches X 25ft and is posted on billboards along highways and areas within the city, which command high speed vehicular movement. Frequency of poster change is as for 16 sheet billboards above.

6. Bulletin Boards: This is larger than the 40 sheet boards, measuring 9ft.6inches X 36ft and may be larger. The main function of this size of hoarding is that rather than being over-posted with posters, this allows for special effects such as illustrations sticking out beyond the boards of the hoardings. Because of its size, it is located exclusively along highways where its message can be read from a reasonable distance from a speeding vehicle.

Others are:

1. High-rise / Roof-top Boards.

2. Spectacular / Illuminated Billboards.

3. Aerial Balloons and 4. Transit Ads Taxi and Bus Panels.

Development of the Outdoor Medium in Nigeria

Outdoor advertising is one of the oldest mass media in the Nigerian market, coming a close second to the newspaper. The medium makes its debut in the country in 1928, having been introduced by the United African Company (UAC) limited, with the display of Raleigh Industries and Oval time metal signs and double crown posters (Olaghere, 1991). Initially, the company’s outdoor operations were part of the services of the in-house advertising unit of the Unilever Group the West African Publicity Limited (WAPL), which is 1951 introduced the noun sign technique to flash messages across the country, beginning with the Hercules bicycle. The outdoor unit of WAPL was subsequently merged with Pearl and Dean in the early 50s to provide a joint outdoor and cinema service. By 1954, the business had grown substantially to justify the creation of Afromedia as an autonomous commercial outfit offering full outdoor advertising services while Pearl and Dean concentrated on the cinema business. Along the line, however, this pioneer medium yield its prominent position to the radio and television media soon after they were introduced in 1959. By 1962, when all the then regional governments and the federal government had established radio and television stations, outdoor was completely supplanted to the third position in the order of advertising media mix ranking. That was the status quo until the peak of economic recession in the country between 1983 and 1986 (Amaechi, 1991). As a direct result, the sharp fall in Nigeria’s crude oil export earnings during that period, the country’s foreign exchange reserves collapsed. It became extremely difficult to source funds in hard (convertible) currencies (dollar, pound sterling, etc) for the importation of essential industrial raw materials and spare parts.

Consequently, many industries were forced to shut down. A few managed to limp along at grossly reduced installed production capacities (less than 30 percent in many cases) as a result of which fewer goods were produced or supplied to the markets. Advertising became virtually irrelevant to marketing and the media suffered severely from the absence of advertising patronage. During this trying period for the media and advertising industry, the outdoor medium sprang back to life emerging the primary medium for maintaining established brand names in the minds of loyal consumers. Many advertisers also used the outdoor medium at this critical period because their rates were relatively the cheapest. There was virtually no advertising in the other mass media such as the radio, television, newspaper and magazine. In the euphoria of the windfall to the industry, outdoor contractors embarked on sporadic and arbitrary rate increase first from ₦30.00 per 16 sheet site per month in 19/86 to ₦53.00 monthly per 16 sheet site (Amaechi, 1991). Eighteen years later, outdoor rates had hit an all-time high, with conventional 16 sheet site rate at ₦5,000.00 per month and above. But that is nothing when compared to 2005 average rental of ₦60,000.00 per month for the 16 sheet billboard and up to ₦3 million annually for an illuminated bulletin board. This spate of arbitrary rate increases has often been a source of conflict between outdoor contractors and advertising agencies. Also, more outdoor companies soon hurriedly came into existence to join in the scramble for revenue from the windfall. As a result, many hoardings were recklessly sited without any respect for professional standards. Billboards were poorly maintained and clutter of the environment had become a cause of grave concern to state governments, advertisers, the reputable outdoor contractors and advertising professionals. Unfortunately for the outdoor medium, with the introduction of the second – tier Foreign Exchange Market (SFEM), which significantly abated the foreign exchange problem of manufacturers with the attendant increase in production levels, the radio and television once more took over the centre-stage of media advertising in the country. The outdoor has however, remained one of the three principal advertising media in the country, fluctuating between the first and third positions in most major media mixes, depending on the product or service from data collected from major advertising agencies. According to Amaechi (2004), the following is the average annual national media budget share breakdown.

Television 35% – 65%

Outdoor 25% – 35%

Newspaper 10% – 25%

Magazine 8% – 15%

Cinema 15% – or more(Amaechi, 2004)

In order to enhance the image of outdoor business, control/monitor and maintain professional standards in the country, outdoor contractors organized themselves into a body called Outdoor Advertising Contractors of Nigeria (OACN) (Owoborode, 1991). In the more glorious days of outdoor advertising, specifically in 1985, the OACN was renamed Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN).

Today, this body has about 76 corporate members who account for at least 80 percent of the ownership of all outdoor display hoardings and perhaps as much as 95 percent of the rentals revenue accruing from standardized display of hoardings in Nigeria. It is estimated that the total number of billboards (of all sizes) in Nigeria today is 100,000 with billings running into billions of Naira. In 2003, when advertising generally was reported to have accounted for about ₦75 billion of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, with the formal advertising group under the umbrella of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) believed to have billed about ₦14 billion (Clifford Amuzuo, 2004), outdoor billings was estimated at about ₦19 billion.

The Psychology of Advertising

One very complex question about advertising is, how does advertising work? One thing we do know is that advertising may communicate a number of messages in a number of areassimultaneously, for example, at the same time you understand a copy point, you may also be forming an unfavourable or favourable opinion of the product being advertised (Folarin, 1998).

Perception

When something has been perceived, the message has registered on of the biggest challenges. This is harder than it appears. Not only the consumer misses more than half the messages directed to them, other messages continuously compete for their attention. One may be tempted to ask that, why do people have different perceptions of the same situation? All of it is learned by the flow of information throughout five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. Kotter (1997) records that perception, which is a process that aid people to select, organize and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the word, macro consumers receive, organize and interpret the sensory information in an individual way.

Selective Retention

It is possible for people to target much of what they learn. They tend to retain information that supports their attitude and beliefs. Moreover, some messages are forgotten more quickly than others.

Folarin (1998) hold that we accurately remember messages that are favourable to oneself image than messages that are unfavourable. The saliency of the message (relevance to our needs), the method of transmission and interest and belief of the receiver are also known to affect retention rate.

Selective Distortion

It describe the tendency of people to adopt information to personal meaning, people tend to interpret information in a way that will support what they already believe. Ifezue (1990) maintains that an individual will be more inclined to purchase a product when he or she likes the product, likewise, a person will be more inclined to buy the preferred brand when he or she prefer one brand to the other. An advertiser will try to build positive attitude for a new product and maintain positive attitude for a successful nature product. When a product is liked well enough by consumer to generate repeated sales, it is referred to as brand loyalty. It suffices to say now that, it is more unusual and much harder to try to change negative attitudes. If a product has a negative image, maybe because that initial product or marketing strategies was family, then the major objective is to turn that consumer’s attitude around (Wells et al, 1998). According to Nwanwene (2001) through advertising, it is possible to create distinct impression in the minds of people with respect to certain product or service attitudes, reason, logic and emotions are all part of the persuasive package, what they lead to is belief, we believe something about every product we buy. If not, why buy it in the first place? We believe it is good for us; it will make us iron better or kill better or will make us richer or healthier.

A conviction is a particularly strong belief that has been anchored firmly on the attitude structure, it is often built on strong rational argument that use such techniques as test results, before and after visuals and demonstration to prove something. Wells et al (1983) an advertiser who can build conviction in the temper audience achieves a strong competitive advantage, as opinion based on convictions are very hard to change, convictions which may be based on demonstrated trends to remove doubt and increase beliefs in the sales messages, buying is also shaped by economic situation. A person’s economic situation will greatly affect product choice, marketers of income of sensitive goods, closely watch trends in personal income, savings and interest rates. Kotter (1997) also, a person’s lifestyle shapes buying, people coming from the same subculture, social class and even occupation may have quite different lifestyle, that is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in his/her activities. It is of great importance to know that interest, opinion and lifestyle captures, it profiles a person’s whole pattern of acting and interacting in the world.

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The study is based on one key theory that formed the foundation for the study.

Uses and Gratification Theory

Uses and Gratification theory claimed that media do not do things to people,rather people do things with media. In other words, the influence of media is limited to what people allow it to be.

Resources were unable to ignore obvious media effects such as the impact of advertising. They turned their focus to media consumers to explain how influence is limited. This resulted to the Uses and Gratification theory.

Uses and Gratification approach, this theory states that man makes use of the mass media as a means of satisfying certain personal interest, wishes and needs. Advertising in this case, motivates people for making specific consumption choices. In other words, it is the people that decides what they need from the media messages. Uses and Gratification theory is very important in advertising because advertisers has to know what the people want, how to persuade them with their adverts, so as to give them what they want. Advertising a product is making known to the public what a product is, its uses and how it is used, persuading them to buy that product. When the public watch, view or listen to the advertisement, they will be motivated and the desire to purchase that product grows. Advertising can create awareness to the people but it does not tell the people what to desire or purchase but the people use media to get what they want. Aeker and Mayer (1982) stated that one reason why viewers attempt to advertising is to gain useful information. Thus, one motivation to generate advertising that is perceived as informative to generate attention on his side. Zieike (1999) state that advertisement will be quickly forgotten if one is not continuously exposed to it.

2.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY

This chapter looked at the literature review on the concept of billboard, types of billboard, factors that attracts the public to billboard advertisement. Literature examined on billboard massages etc.