The communication process

There is a great need to understand the communication process as it is the key part of promotion. Successful marketing communications depends on a number of factors, including the nature of the message, the audience interpretation of it & the environment in which it is received. Feedback from the receiver helps the sender determine whether proper decoding has occurred or whether noise has interfered with the communication process. A model for communication process is represented below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_mFD3uuA4E

 For promotion planning, the main thing to be analysed is the target audience. The receiver can be analysed with respect to its composition( individual, group, mass audiences) & the response process it goes through. The following figure lists some of the traditional response models.

Recently some other response models has been suggested which has been a mixture of traditional models and some other inferences. Two of them are alternative response hierarchies & FCB planning model which are depicted below

This model integrates concepts from both high & low involvement response hierarchy perspectives & recognizes the effect of direct experiences with the product.

Similarly the cognitive approach examines the thoughts evoked by a message & how they shape the receiver’s ultimate acceptance or rejection of the communication. The elaboration likelihood model of attitude formation & change recognizes two forms of message processing, the central & peripheral routes to persuasion which are a function of receiver’s motivation & ability to process a message. It is depicted schematically in the following figure

We see that those responsible for IMC program should thus learn as much as possible about their target audience & how it may respond to advertising & other forms of marketing communications.