Review Article: 2022 Vol: 26 Issue: 5
Rusha Nimavat, NMIMS University
Citation Information: Nimavat, R. (2022). A Study on The consumer recall of fmcg brand Advertisements. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 26(5), 1-6.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the brand recall of consumers of FMCG Advertisements. Research Implication: The brands should focus on a strategy mix of cause-based advertisement with celebrity endorsements since supporting a cause gives a good brand image along with the potential influence of the public figure. FMCG advertisements need to stand out in order to gain attention and brand recall from consumers. Findings: The ability of a consumer to remember a brand through its advertisement, external or internal stimuli as well as within the social groups is known as the brand recall. Celebrity endorsements catch the attention of the consumers and have been a common strategy in FMCG products but it is also a high-risk high return scenario. Cause Based marketing deeply connects with the consumer and creates empathy which is why it enhances the consumer recall for the brand. Originality/Value: Cause Based marketing as an effective brand recall strategy is a recent area for research. Brand recall has been studied with reference to celebrity endorsements and sales promotion but cause based marketing is a recent strategy being widely used.
Brand Recall, Celebrity Endorsements, Cause Based Marketing, FMCG Advertisements.
Consumer Recall or Brand Recall is the ability of the consumer to remember or recognize a brand with or without aid/stimuli. Consumer Recall happens when a consumer is attentive and has comprehended the basic advertisement. The mass consumer market which is known as the FMCG sector has various categories of products which are similar substitutes of each other and the consumer is constantly exposed to advertisements due to the large number of products. In such a scenario, it becomes difficult for the consumer to recall a particular brand. The marketers are in an effort to make sure that their advertising stands out so as to ensure that their FMCG product becomes recognizable for the consumer and enhances their brand recall. The paper aims to study consumer’s brand recall based on the advertisements of FMCG products and the various strategies the brands use to enhance the recall.
FMCG Traditional Advertising
The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is non-durable goods that have low profit margin and low cost but move quickly and in high volume in the market. These brands widely use traditional advertising which includes both broadcast media like TV and radio and the print media like newspapers, magazines. TV ads enables FMCG brands to reach the masses and also the rural areas. Chen (2021) Various strategies and trends have emerged in the advertising aspect of promotion like AR and VR, Cause Based, emotional, Negative marketing. Study has been conducted to understand that respondents still watch majority FMCG ads on TV Verma & Martolia (2020).
Celebrity Endorsements for Brand Recall
Marketers widely adopt a common strategy of celebrity endorsements for their products as the public figure carries the influential as well as spokesperson qualities for their brands. Celebrities can take various forms for viewers as spokesperson, critics, role model, endorsers or as an actor. The qualities impact the recall of the consumers Devi & Prashath (2021). A study was conducted with 250 respondents which found that celebrity endorsements have been helpful for brand recall as it catches attention and breaks through ad Clutters Kavita & Haran (2019).
Cause Based Marketing
Because based marketing can be simply defined as marketing mix adopted to promote and support some social cause in order to connect with the masses, to communicate an ideology rather than promotion of the product only. This form of advertising creates a good brand image and positions itself as a socially aware and responsible brand Raikar (2020) Saha & Dhar (2020).
Research Objectives
1. To study consumer recall of FMCG Advertisements.
2. To examine the impact of celebrity endorsements of FMCG products for consumer recall
3. To analyse the use of cause-based advertising as a strategy for consumer recall by FMCG brands.
H0: There is consumer recall in FMCG brand advertisements.
H1: There is no consumer recall in FMCG brand advertisements.
Research Questions
1. What is consumer recall of FMCG Advertisements?
2. What is the impact of celebrity endorsed FMCG Products on consumer recall?
3. How is the cause-based advertising strategy being used for consumer recall by FMCG brands?
Limitations of Study
The major limitation of the study is that it is based on secondary data. Consumer recall is highly associated with the cognitive aspects and stimuli of the consumer, based on human behaviour which could vary. FMCG sector in itself can be categorised further into various sectors and studied individually for consumer recall.
Research Methodology
The research is qualitative as well as quantitative in nature. It is based on secondary research and includes statistics from surveys conducted based on consumer recall of FMCG advertisements.
Consumer recall of FMCG Advertisements. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) are non-durable goods that have low profit margin and low cost but move quickly and in high volume in the market. FMCG accounts for a significant part of the entire consumer goods category, the sales are huge which generally include food, cosmetics, toiletries, household and kitchen items, tobacco products and so on Chen (2021). In terms of the FMCG sector, marketers have used effective strategies in the traditional advertising, eventually moving towards the digital advertising scope as well. Advertising can be classified into two categories being the traditional media and the digital media. Traditional form of advertising includes TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, billboards whereas digital media includes social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, websites, landing pages, search engine marketing, email marketing and so on. Brand Recall is basically defined as the ability of the consumer to recognize or recall a brand when present in some situation. The recall can be triggered by aid or without aid Khurram et al. (2018). Brand recall plays a very important role for both the consumer and the marketer. If the consumer is aware of the brand or basically has retained even slightly the brand name and its product, Kaikati (1987) it will have an impact on the purchasing decision. For a brand, it requires that consumers’ attention is caught through the advertisement and they do remember the brand name and product which is one of the first steps in brand recognition. In order to catch the consumer’s attention, marketers come up with different strategies of advertisements. Marketers have moved from the traditional TV advertisements to digital platforms even for FMCG products due to the presence of masses on the social media as well. Since FMCG is a sector which is not limited to its demographics and the target market age category, many FMCG brands still use TV advertising to create awareness. In fact, in a survey conducted for FMCG, 68% respondents still watch advertisements on TV (Bhavsar, 2019). Newspapers and billboards are highly used for the FMCG product advertising since they are largely consumed.
FMCG can be known as the mass consumption sector as well. Considering the category of soaps, there are various brands available like Dettol, Pears, Lifebouy, Dove and so on. For each of the soap brands, it becomes necessary to create an advertisement which will stick in the consumer’s mind. One of the most innovative Ads created in this sub category was of Dove, wherein it showed actual consumers, asked them to use the Dove 7-day challenge and promoted natural beauty and skin. The innovation in the advertisement itself made the brand stand out and make you remember Dove from all other soap brands. Over the years, marketers have realized this fierce competition in the FMCG sector and have understood as well as adopted various marketing strategies. Cause-based advertising growing rapidly in the FMCG products, emotional advertising, creative/innovative ads like that of Dove Verma & Martolia (2020) or impacting the consumer recall due to the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) which is highly different in nature as what is offered by competitors that it tends to stick in the consumers mind. Dettol, lifebuoy, Palmolive etc are all hand-wash products sold in the pump bottle but when Dettol launched its automatic dispenser, it had a very unique selling point and stood out in the tight competition Baumann et al. (2015).
Brand Recall of Consumers of Celebrity Endorsed Fmcg Products
One of the most common strategies used by FMCG brands is getting their products endorsed by celebrities. It is believed that celebrity, being an McCracken (1989) influential personality and role models or inspirations for masses, a product endorsed by that public figure would lend it credibility and make it seem as if that public figure is that brand’s spokesperson and uses the product itself too Gopinath (2021a). This gives a nudge to people to not only remember the brand but to actually buy them. Considering the same soap example, Lux used strong influential female actresses like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rekha, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Katrina Kaif and others, and became a household name for many females. The Lux ads would show these female actresses using lux, portraying an image that such big influential personalities, women we look upto, use lux. The advantage of having a celebrity endorse a product gives a higher chance of brand recall because of the public figure using that product and vouching for it. It has been Dost et al. (2019) found through a survey conducted for understanding the attention and brand recall of consumers when celebrity endorse a brand that 25% respondents watch an Ad when Kamins (1989) there’s a celebrity and 62% respondents have a higher attention span when the celebrity is in a new Advertisement Kavita & Haran (2019). 60% respondents agreed that when there is a celebrity in an advertisement, it has the potential to break through the clutter of advertisements shown Kavita & Haran (2019). Statistics reveal that 81% of the respondents have a good to excellent brand recall when advertisements had celebrities Kavita & Haran (2019). One of the major reasons for a celebrity having such a huge impact on the brand recall of consumers is the potential influence as well as the consideration of such people as role models by consumers. The mass consumption sector offers products which are substitutes of each other but when one brand stands out by making a celebrity its spokesperson, it lends high credibility to the product and the brand Hussain et al. (2020). Although, there are many brands which have used the creative advertisement strategy which has actually led to the brand recall of consumers and did not have any celebrity endorsing the brand. Dove campaigns using actual consumers and not any celebrity to make it more relatable and create connectivity with the consumer, enhancing the attention of the consumer. The fact that only celebrities lend credibility or influence decisions is not always true, since a real consumer in the Ad lends way more credibility and helps the viewer to connect with the brand because normal people like them are shown endorsing the product Devi & Prashath (2021). There are some Ads aired a decade ago but they are still fresh in the minds of the consumer due to the creativity. Happydent advertised men instead of light bulbs and their teeth emitting bright light and said that ‘Happydent gum for a bright smile’. These advertisements did not depict any celebrity but they were so creative and innovative that it not only caught the attention but ended up sticking in the consumers mind for years. Celebrity endorsements catch the attention of the consumers and has been a common strategy in FMCG products but it is also a high-risk high return scenario Devi & Prashath (2021) Usharani & Gopinath (2021), especially in recent environment where any controversy of the celebrity itself harms the brand as well to a great extent Gopinath (2021b).
Cause based Marketing Strategy to Enhance Consumer Recall
One of the most emerging trends is the use of cause-based marketing. Cause Based marketing can be simply defined as marketing mix adopted to promote and support some social cause in order to connect with the masses, to communicate an ideology rather than promotion of the product only. This form of advertising creates a good brand image and positions itself as a socially aware and responsible brand Raikar (2020). In recent times, many FMCG brands have used cause-based advertising to promote their brand and product as it connects with the consumer on a social, moral as well as emotional level. One of the most classic cause-based Ads is the Ariel’s Sharetheload campaign. This advertisement showed a couple who visits their neighbours and the wife points out to her husband how the two men are helping each other to do the house chores, where the husband remarks that he used to do the same with his college roommate. The wife expresses the fact to her husband that if he could do the same household chores with his roommate but not with his wife, he never considered her as his equal and believed that only she was supposed to do the work. The ad ends showing that the husband and wife use the washing machine together with the husband pouring the Ariel powder and ‘Share the load’ appears on the screen. The brand Ariel has various other ads as well supporting women equality and helping each other to do house chores, promoting its own product. Cause-based marketing leaves an impact on the viewer, creates a positive brand image for the consumer Raikar (2020); Saha & Dhar (2020). These ads are also creative and catch the attention of the consumer. Psychologically, it also satisfies the esteem needs of the consumer where it desires for respect, equality and dignity. This ad resonates with Indian women since they are the ones always doing the household chores by themselves and when an advertisement connects with the consumer, creates relatability and impacts on a deeper and social level, it tends to be in the consumers’ mind. Another creative ad was that of Cadbury, not just a Cadbury ad, where Shahrukh Khan is shown asking people to order or buy their products from local stores in their neighbourhood since the pandemic took a toll on their business and to support such small businesses. Dabur’s Fem Face Bleach also advertised their product depicting two women getting ready for Karwa Chauth and they are shown to be married to each other, the brand supporting same-sex marriages. However, this ad received backlash and had to be taken down. The Ariel Ad has 6.6 cr views till February 2022 on YouTube which shows the popularity and reach of the Ad. Cause Based marketing deeply connects with the consumer and creates empathy which is why it enhances the consumer recall for the brand. Because based marketing is also not free from controversies as the case is with celebrities, but there are instances where even the negative publicity in cases of social causes has led to the consumer actually recalling the brand.
With the advent of emerging technologies and changing landscapes, marketing promotion has also changed its methods and strategies and remained dynamic. The FMCG sector or the mass consumption sector is characterized by high-volume, low-price products Devi & Prashath (2021) which move quickly in the consumer market.
It becomes imperative for brands to create such awareness that it has an impact on consumer behavior. From the findings, it can be inferred that there are similar substitutes in each sub categories and there is a need for brands to create such advertisements that impact the consumer, catch their attention and lead to them actually remembering the brand. With a large portion of consumers still watching FMCG Ads on TV and also on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook, traditional advertising has been an important zone for FMCG sector marketers. Brands, in order to stand out, need to be creative and innovative whether they approach a celebrity for advertisements or not because even though a celebrity has an impact, creativity and uniqueness of the ad or product is enough to catch the attention of the consumer. In the current environment, where a celebrity controversy easily triggers brand image, celebrity can be a huge risk but high return investment. The brands should focus on a strategy mix of cause-based advertisement with celebrity endorsements since supporting a cause gives a good brand image along with the potential influence of the public figure.
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Received: 04-Jun-2022, Manuscript No. AMSJ-22-12125; Editor assigned: 08-Jun-2022, PreQC No. AMSJ-22-12125(PQ); Reviewed: 20-Jun-2022, QC No. AMSJ-22-12125; Revised: 24-Jun-2022, Manuscript No. AMSJ-22-12125(R); Published: 05-Jul-2022