The Relationship And Effect Of Television Advertising Of Select Noodles And Mother’s Patronage

The Relationship And Effect Of Television Advertising Of Select Noodles And Mother’s Patronage

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the Study

It will be safe to say that advertising has become an integral part of our life and society such that we cannot imagine our lives without advertising in any way. Due to the powerful influence of advertising, companies spend lots of money on advertisement to stimulate sales and influence consumer’s buying behaviour. The term “advertising” is derived from the original Latin word “advertere” which means “to turn” the attention. Every piece of advertising turns the attention of the readers, listeners, viewers or the onlookers towards a product or a service or an idea. According to Dilogini and Shivany (2015), advertising is a form of communication intended to promote the sale of a product or service. Bovee and Arens (2005) as cited by Sambe (2013) defined advertising as a non-personal communication of information paid for and usually identified with the sponsor through the various media.

Television advertisement remains the primary medium of food and beverage promotion (Landon, 2013) and constitutes the greatest child-targeted food advertising expenditure in many countries (WHO, 2017). The strength of television advertisement is attributed to its high reach, ability to demonstrate, high impact medium and prestigiousness. As a result, television advertisement attracts its viewers with images and graphics. According to Bryman and Bell (2011), television advertising is the most influential media even when there is no intention to purchase, the product still remains in our consciousness. Similarly, television advertisement impacts attitude, value, customs, norms, ethnicity, culture, religion and some other behaviours. According to Belk and Pollay (1985) and Kumaran (1987) cited in Dilogini and Shivany (1985), sometimes television advertisements may change our lifestyle, especially mothers’ choice of meals. Television advertising exposure is positively related to mothers’ choice of product which lead to an increased number of product denials from parents and may cause conflict between parents and children (Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2003).

On the other hand, mothers’ food choice is defined in terms of food knowledge, preferences and behaviour. Food promotion is having an effect on mothers’ preference, purchase behaviour, and consumption pattern. Hastings et al. (2003) suggest that such an effect is independent of other factors and operates at both a brand and category level. The study of Lewis and Hill (1998) cited in Haroon, Qureshi, Zia-Ur-Rehman and Nisar (2011) showed that food is the most advertised product category on children’s television. Ogunmoyela (2014) said that food has become an increasingly important targeted product for advertisement in recent times largely because their buying power is expanding.

In addition, several studies have found strong association of increase in television advertising resulting to consumption of innutritious food and rates of obesity (Whalen, Harrold, Child, Halford & Boyland, 2017), also exposure to television food advertisement brings about parent-child conflicts as regards food choices (Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2003).

Furthermore, a new study in the journal of pediatrics supports previous studies suggesting that food advertisements directly influence mothers’ brain and their food choices. Television advertising and branding have an influence on both food familiarity and preference. Research examining the effects of television food advertising has shown that mothers exposed to advertisements prefer branded foods at much greater rates than mothers not similarly exposed.

Television advertising impacts food consumption and eating behaviours as well. Behavioural studies have documented the relationship between receptivity to food commercials and the amount of food consumed. Meanwhile, no study has attempted to investigate the influence of television advertising on mothers’ choice of food focusing on noodles.

• Statement of the Problem

In today’s competitive world, advertisement have been the order of the day. In addition, previous studies have shown that exposing mothers to different types of food advertisements on television may influence their preferences and subsequently food choices (Lewis & Hill, 1998; Furnham et al., 1997) cited in (Marikar, Jayathilaka, Abeydeera & Wickramasinghe, 2017). However, due to the high patronage of select noodles stand by mothers in Uyo, the researcher seeks to investigate the relationship and effect of television advertising of select noodles and mother’s patronage in Uyo Metropolis.

• Objectives of the Study

1. To examine whether mothers are exposed to advertisements on noodles products.
2. To examine the frequency of exposure of mothers to noodles advertisement.
3. To find out the extent to which advertisement of noodles influence mothers patronage of noodles product.
4. To determine the relationship between television advertising of noodles and mothers patronage.

• Research Questions

1. To what extent are mothers exposed to advertisements on noodles product?
2. What is the frequency of exposure of mothers to noodles advertisement?
3. What is the extent to which advertisement of noodles influence mothers patronage?
4. What is the relationship between television advertising of noodles and mothers patronage?

• Justification of the Study

It is very important that the consumers might not be aware of products available for their disposal until it is brought to their notice. The study was prompted by the desire to research and investigate on how television advertising had increased patronage of select noodles brands among mothers in Uyo Metropolis. The outcome of this will be useful to noodles company since the researcher is a prospective advertising practitioner, embarking on this research will bring my knowledge on media planning also. Each corporate institution like the advertising agencies will gain from this study because it will help them know the importance of television advertising on the patronage of select products and how better to structure their message to enhance message retention in the minds of their consumers. Moreover, it will add to the body of knowledge as well as serve as a reference material for the future researchers who will delve into this area of study.

• Delimitations of the Study

Every research work is always centralized on a particular idea and this study is not exempted. Therefore, this topic streamlines us to television advertising. Therefore, there were no attempt made to investigate whether other advertising media influences the patronage of select noodles; secondly, this study is limited to only mothers in Uyo Metropolis.

• Operational Definition of Terms

Patronage: Buying of select noodles by mothers.

Television Advertising: The medium through which the mothers in Uyo Metropolis are exposed to noodles.

Mothers: Mothers are women of childbearing age who are the subject of the research and reside in Uyo.

Metropolis: Uyo, the place where the mothers’ choice of food is influenced by television advertisement.

Noodles: A kind of pasta food mostly eaten by children and young people in the tropical areas and oriental areas.