Impact of media on consumer perception

Six fundamental principles can be used to understand attempts to affect human behaviour. These principles can be used by both businesses and customers to understand better the inner workings of purchasing behaviours and determine which methods are most likely to succeed.

Take a look at these six fundamental principles of consumer persuasion.

Reciprocity

Humans often feel the need to return a favour or reciprocate kind gestures. This might mean offering them a free sample or a generous discount for consumers.

Commitment

Once someone is engaged with something, they are more likely to stick with it. Once someone uses a product or service, they are more likely to pay for it again by cultivating brand loyalty.

Consensus

If more people do something, others are likely to do it as well. When brands can demonstrate their popularity or satisfaction across a wide customer base, other consumers are also likely to buy-in.

Authority

People are more likely to listen to an expert than anyone off the street. So, while pack mentality is important, a relevant expert speaking to the effectiveness of a brand's product or service is important to convert new consumers.

Liking

People similar to the target consumer are more likely to persuade the consumer to buy. People from similar demographics – whether in terms of ethnicity, socioeconomic class, religious inclination, or even shared interests – are far more effective at persuading consumers than those they perceive as vastly different.

Scarcity

“People tend to want what they perceive they cannot have. Making a product or service seem exclusive or as if it will go out of stock if they do not act quickly often makes it more enticing to the consumer and increases the likelihood that they will buy.” (Peek, 2021)

Have a look at the following silly commercial that is part of Heinz’s ad campaign in the UK right now, where the company is attempting to get ketchup just as popular there as it is in the US.

Can you recognise which of the six fundamental principles of consumer persuasion were used in the Ed Sheeran ad?

Customers might be influenced in various ways without them even noticing it. If you understand and implement these persuasive methods in your marketing efforts, you will most likely sell your product or service more readily. Let us look at the media consumption behaviour of customers, the consumption trends in the media and what target audiences prefer.

Media consumption behaviour and preferences of the target audience

In the last few years, we have been reaching for remote controllers, computers, tablets, and phones as both an important source of information and a distraction. Demand for subscription entertainment shows no signs of decreasing but managing and using those services is growing more complex as materials are spread out among numerous existing platforms. The race to fix viewer experience is on, with pay-TV providers and internet powerhouses all competing for the consumer’s time.

Look at the following infographic on how different consumers spend their time on their devices.

Media Consumer Survey 2021 by Deloitte © Deloitte 2022

Marketers in the modern era are responsible for attracting as many global consumers as possible, thanks to the advancements in digital technology. With these fresh insights, creative marketers can now create meaningful perspectives on promoting their products and services for their target audience and connect with the right generation of prospective buyers on the right platform.

Media consumption trends

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in how today's consumers watch content; instead of being glued to the television at 8 p.m. on Friday nights, most of us now prefer the flexibility to pick when we want to connect with content. Rather than using traditional channels, people increasingly use social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube or streaming services like Netflix to consume media.

In today's world of choice, customers have various free and paid entertainment options to choose from. The majority of people stated they use social media, subscribe to at least one paid streaming video service, and play video games regularly. Many people also have a standard pay-TV subscription and music streaming services. The following diagram reveals which entertainment options customers prefer.

In relation to existing forms of media such as television, print media, and radio, consumers are changing their preferences towards digital media consumption. People spend more time with digital media than they do with traditional media. This growth is primarily due to the degradation of traditional advertising mediums.

The growing popularity of digital media has resulted in a shift in worldwide advertising spending patterns. Marketers who want to generate content and develop their business follows the changing trend and spend more money on digital channels. Digital media spending as a percentage of total advertising spending climbed from 21% in 2010 to 28% in 2015 and reached 36% by 2020.

Preferences of the target audience

Identifying your target audience's media consumption patterns is essential for developing a communications strategy and initiatives. Within countries, communities, and families, media consumption can vary dramatically. When planning a media partnership, it is critical to identify the goals to be achieved, the appropriate target audience, and the best media channels to reach them through.

We will focus on different age groups and how creative marketers can target these audiences by looking at their media consumption preferences. While Millennials spend the most time on social media, Generation Z has huge purchasing power even though they are young.

“With so many entertainment options, asking consumers about their favourite activities can have valuable insights. Watching TV and movies at home continued to be the overall favourite, with 57% ranking it in their top three (out of 16 entertainment activities) were the top choice for Millennials, Generation X, and Boomers. When we looked at Generation Z, however, there were distinct differences. Playing video games was their favourite activity (26%), followed by listening to music (14%), browsing the internet (12%), and engaging on social platforms (11%). Only 10% of Generation Z said that watching TV or movies at home was their favourite form of entertainment.” (Westcott et al., 2021).

“If Generation Z's preferences for gaming, music and social media remain consistent over time, video entertainment's dominance may be challenged. If this is the case, media companies should be ready to adapt and diversify their strategies, beginning with gaming. All of these possibilities are significantly splitting the market. Companies should now be aware of the differences across client demographics, generations, and media types.” (Westcott et al., 2021)

How does media consumption affect a marketing strategy?

Knowing how a target audience consumes media can help a creative marketer design an efficient marketing strategy. You can use this information to offer your marketing messages directly to target consumers if they prefer a certain media channel, such as a television station, radio station, magazine, or newspaper.

Some of the media consumption habits to take is consideration are:

• Consumption. Consumers might watch a specific television show, listen to a specific radio programme, or open the newspaper to the sports section. Understanding media consumption habits help a creative marketer correctly place an advertisement within the correct media channel.
• Context. It also helps to know what consumers are doing while using a media channel. Knowing that target customers listen to the radio while working or preparing supper, the marketer may employ loud jingles and sound effects to grab the listener's attention.
• Market research. A market research agency can assist a business in determining tactics for addressing a specific demographic. Researchers could compile a database of media consumption habits using surveys, focus groups, and questionnaires.
• Media planners and buyers. Businesses use media planners and buyers to help them conduct marketing programmes. These professionals can plan intricate methods like airing television advertising in quick spurts when the target audience is most likely to be watching.

“By 2023, 12.6 million new homes will have cut ties on their pay-tv membership. As you might expect, the rapid shift towards digital media and streaming services will continue in the coming years, and all major syndicated networks are making sure they have a piece of the action. Peacock, NBC's newest streaming platform, and Disney+ are two of the newest streaming platforms to join the market and hook viewers.” (Merton, 2021)

Five things’ businesses should do to adapt to changing media trends

• Generate video content

  

  • In New Zealand, 94% of the population watch online video content.
• Mobile-first
  • The most significant increase in the use of smartphones is occurring among Gen Z and Millennials
• Focus on ecommerce channel

  

  

  • Small businesses need to have a strong online presence
  • 80.2% of the NZ population make online purchases or pay bills online
  • 88.4% searched online for a product or service to buy.
• Alter your messaging
  • Be empathetic towards consumers and make sure that messaging is appropriate
• Social is king

  

  • 73% of social users are over more than three different platforms. If you limit your ads to one or two platforms, you might miss out on possible customers.

As a brand and a marketer, you want your "voice" to be heard, listened to, respected, and repeated, not just as part of the larger conversation. You want your message to impact and do so, and you must be persuasive. By being aware of media consumption trends, you as a marketer will persuade your target consumer to invest in your product or service.