A Low Involvement Hierarchy Model
Advertisements have become a part of our lives which cannot be removed or separated easily. For example, when we turn on the television, we not only enjoy the television shows but also the television commercials because the commercials are showed in-between the breaks of television shows. Although advertisements are sometimes annoying, our decisions on purchasing a product or a service somehow depend on them. We are so used to advertisements that sometimes we may not be conscious about their effects on us.
Advertisements, therefore is nearly a must for a successful product launching, service promotion, etc. More and more companies are launching advertisements and more competitions between same category products exist. In this way, companies who want to be outstanding focus more on, for example, the media strategies and creative tactics. McDonald’s is successful in this and I am going to explain the customer’s behavior, planning and strategies of “Sichuan Chili Grilled Chicken Burger” Television commercial.
A low involvement hierarchy model is consumer will first be aware of the specific brand or product. After that, they may purchase the product because of recognition of that product for the repetition of exposure to the advertisements and then develop a feeling or attitude towards it after consuming. In this case, consumers may learn there is a new burger approached in McDonald’s because of the repeated advertising exposure. After they have learnt about the new burger, they may try it and develop a feeling about it, that is delicious or not.
Consumers always act differently when purchasing high involvement product and low involvement product. Consumers will spend more time on researching and comparing different products’ details. On the other hand, most consumers make decisions of product choosing when they are in the store. Moreover, there is a higher chance that a consumer will choose a brand that is more familiar to them. It is because consumers sometimes do not have sufficient information that can vary their decision when purchasing low involvement products.
Some examples of low involvement products are soft drinks, chewing gums and fast food. For the McDonald’s “Sichuan Chili Grilled Chicken Burger”, consumer recognizes it because of the repeating exposure of advertisements. By the time they are hungry and choosing what to eat, the commercial of McDonald’s may pop up and they may make the decision that they are going to try the new burger. There is no research on the details of the burger and they make the decision all by the feelings towards the McDonald’s.
In another situation, when consumers see a McDonald’s and the great smell coming from it, they may think that it is time to eat and somehow decided to try the new burger because they have seen it on commercials. When planning an advertisement, defining target audience is a part that cannot be skipped. In the McDonald’s Sichuan Chili Grilled Chicken Burger commercial, the target audience should be mostly aged from 15 to 35 which love spicy foods. The main message of the commercial is to create awareness of the new burger approaching McDonald’s. Television commercial is an excellent choice.
The high reach of the television commercials is needed to create awareness and echoes. McDonald’s decided to focus the commercials in the TVB channel. When compared to ATV, TVB audiences are mainly from Hong Kong with more teenagers watching. The target audience of McDonald’s is Hong Kong people and a portion of teenagers, so that launching commercials in TVB is more effective. More than that, the day parts of the commercial is mostly around the time people are eating. It is because they want people to have a better recall of the new burger by the time they are hungry that there is a better chance people will try the burger.
The commercial is not too lengthy with only 30 seconds but with more repetition. It is a low involvement product; therefore creating recall is the main purpose, a lengthy and informative commercial would not be suitable. In the “Sichuan Chili Grilled Chicken Burger” Television commercial, the main message is there is a new tasty burger launched. In order to create a better recall, this commercial includes a series of tactics. Basically, this commercial is humorous and they tend to play with words. The focus of the “Sichuan Chili Grilled Chicken Burger” is on the Sichuan Chili sauce.
Sichuan is the “home” of panda, so that the celebrities are dressed as a panda to act like they are in Sichuan. Secondly, panda consumes on bamboo. The commercial plays the word “bamboo” in Chinese “? ” to create a better recall and sense of humor. For example, “Three-legged race” “???? ”, “chatting on the phone for a long time” “??? ”, etc. Moreover, the commercial was launched during the New Year; they have actively used the traditional Chinese culture that New Year needs new things. It is very effective to encourage people to try the new burger especially during the time people want new ideas.
For the music part, they have chosen delightful background music with the present of sound effects such as gongs, phone ringing, and mosquito flying noise. The sound effects are important to attract attentions and enhance the enjoyment of the commercial in order to create a better recall, the gong’s sound in the opening acts as a separation to the commercials or programs showed before to get you ready for it. The other sound effects are a good help in story telling with more reality. For the celebrities, they have chosen the group “Soft Hard”. Soft Hard” is well known for acting funny and energetic. It is perfect for them to present the commercial with humorous. Lastly, the ending of the commercial uses the close shot of the sauce and the burgers to attract audiences’ desire of eating and create a general image of the burger. It is important to show the burger because it is a product promoting that consumers need to know how it looks like. Every single advertisement has their considerations and reasons behind. When and where to launch, what elements should be included, can the main message be delivered correctly.
We may not be conscious about the planning of them but we are influenced by them. In the “Sichuan Chili Grilled Chicken Burger” commercial, McDonald’s was trying to create a better recall for both of their company and the burger. This new burger is a low involvement product that detailed information is not applied and therefore they chose to use to linkage between Sichuan, panda and bamboo, playing with words and to creating sense of humor. Nevertheless, they decided to launch the commercial on television in specific period of time in order to gain most effective reach and recall.
