COM706 ass. 1

COM3706 Assignment 01 Unique Assignment number

767337

Student number

47980109

Tayla Kennedy

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CONTENTS PAGE DECLARATION

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1 Main Issue

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2 Research Criteria

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3 Extent

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4 Population

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5 Four Assumptions and Four Sub-Issues

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6 Goals and Objectives

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7 Four Research Questions

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8 Theoretical Approach

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9 Research Design

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DECLARATION I declare the work contained in this assignment is my own, except where acknowledgement of sources is made. I authorise the University to test any work submitted by me, using text comparison software, for instances of plagiarism. I understand that this will involve the University or its contractor copying my work and storing it on a database to be used in future to test work submitted by others. Tayla Kennedy Student number: 47980109

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MAIN ISSUE: A content analysis of eight (8) different creative concepts utilised in eight (8) different advertisements over a period of a month (cross-sectional study) in order to determine (through qualitative and later quantitative research) if creative concepts are specific to an individual advertisement or whether multiple concepts may be present in each advertisement, by analysing the characteristics of the concepts themselves (qualitative) and later presenting a tally sheet (quantitative) representing the findings. RESEARCH CRITERIA: Research criteria comprises of four (4) factors: relevance; researchability; feasibility; ethical acceptability. The research is relevant as it aims to formulate an unbiased answer to a scientifically proposed hypothesis, through a structured and accepted method of content analysis. The researchability of the analysis is high as a definite resolution/answer may be deduced from the research findings and conclusions resulting from the data collected. The research is highly feasible as it has relatively low costs in order to fund the research (the cost of two magazines). Access to data is straight forward, providing the researcher has a stable internet connection or the relevant tutorial letter for the module. The biggest challenge to its feasibility is the time constraint (Fitting the time to conduct the research in with work, family etc) and even this is a minor inconvenience. Finally the ethical acceptability of the research, as the research is based on commercially available magazines. The idea of ethics is almost irrelevant as the content of the magazines will have already been through a strict screening process by their respective publishers. It now falls on the researcher to determine which magazines to base his/her research on and as there is very little additional human contact throughout the research process, it is safe to determine that the ethical acceptability is of a high standard. EXTENT: There are many varying magazines available worldwide and each will utilise a multitude of varying creative concepts, this is no different in South Africa. The research will be done in the city of Durban, more specifically, in the suburb of Westville during February 2017. The month of the publications fall long enough after the December holidays that families have slightly more expendable income, thus resulting in more advertisements being published. Only the February editions of CAR and FOOD & HOME magazines available in South Africa will be used. The following is a cross-sectional study as it takes place over a short yet specific period of time and compares data from two separate populations.

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POPULATION There are a few factors that surround and incorporate themselves into a research population, factors such as target population, accessible population and units of analyses. A target population is the name given to the entire group of object/subjects that the research findings are being generalized for. In this case, the target population would be all printed magazines across the world. Rationally, not every magazine in the world may be examined in order to contribute to the research which is why accessible population becomes so important. Accessible population is the group of objects/subjects that the researcher has direct access to and is the findings from which a generalisation will be drawn and applied to the entire population. In this instance, the accessible population will be magazines that the researcher has direct access to and has chosen to study (CAR and FOOD & HOME February editions and the advertisements found within them). The population being studied will have various characteristics that define and separate each creative concept found in each advertisement. These are known as population characteristics, below are four (4) examples of the population characteristics within the accessible population: 1. 2. 3. 4.

The use of colour The language used (colloquial or formal) Images or lack thereof Endorsements (well-known figures validation the product)

Whilst highlighting the population specifics we cannot forget to include the units of analysis in the discussion. A unit of analysis is the “what” or “who” that is being studied. In this instance, the unit of analysis is the creative concepts themselves. As the entire crux of this research is to analyse creative concepts within advertisements, creative concepts in magazines naturally become the unit of analysis.

FOUR ASSUMPTIONS AND FOUR SUB-ISSUES: What is an assumption? An assumption (in terms of research) is a belief/idea which has yet to be proven true or false and is what gives a research topic direction. A sub-issue on the other hand is a question that has been formulated based on the initial assumption. Below are four assumptions and for sub-issues relevant to the research; Assumption: All advertisements contain creative concepts Sub-issue: Do all advertisements contain creative concepts?

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Assumption: Branding as a creative concept is found in every advertisement Sub-issue: Is branding found in every advertisement? Assumption: Multiple creative concepts can be found in a single advertisement Sub-issue: Can a single advertisement contain multiple creative concepts? Assumption: Creative concepts have different characteristics Sub-issue: Do creative concepts have different characteristics?

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: The nature of the goal for the research is known as „applied communication research‟. This type of goal investigates practical issues as the research is to determine which creative concepts appear in selected advertisements with the intent of describing their characteristics, lends itself to this nature. The objectives for this research are what are known as „descriptive objectives‟ and „exploratory objectives‟. Descriptive research aims to describe characteristics and relationships between phenomena and variables. Exploratory objectives try to obtain new insight on an issue, or to identify key concepts within an unknown area of research. The two go hand-in-hand for this research as it is exploring the use of creative concepts in advertisements and describing the relationships that may potentially exist.

FOUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS: Research questions guide the research and actually indicate what it is that you want to determine by conducting the research. Four research questions relevant to the main issue: 1. Which advertisements utilize more than one creative concept? 2. Do advertisements for similar products (cars/motorcycles) utilize the same creative concepts? 3. Is there one specific creative concept that can be found in every advertisement? 4. Do particular companies repeat the same creative concepts across all their advertisements?

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THEORETICAL APPROACH: Theme: Identifying a creative concept in each of the selected eight advertisements with a view of describing their characteristics. Content analysis is a research technique used to make replicable and valid inferences by interpreting and coding textual material. By systematically evaluating texts (e.g., documents, oral communication, and graphics), qualitative data can be converted into quantitative data at a later stage. For the purpose of this report, the content analysis will be divided into Nine (9) headings: Main Issue; Research Criteria; Extent; Population; Four Assumptions & four Sub-Issues; Goal and Objectives; Four Research Questions; Theoretical Approach; Research design Creative Concepts listed and explained: Note: The 8 creative concepts listed below, correspond to 8 separate advertisements taken from two magazines: “CAR” and “FOOD & HOME”. 1) Benefit: An advertisement should promise a new or existing benefit that the consumer may capitalise on e.g. „No-stick baking!’ (FOOD & HOME pg 25) 2) Curiosity: The advertisement may evoke a curiosity from the reader to understand more or to understand something strange that may have been mentioned e.g. „Sometimes stopping to change a tyre just isn’t an option’ (CAR pg 11) 3) Amplification: The advertisement should contain an amplification of the product/service and/or its benefits. Usually utilized when advertising expensive/technically complex products e.g. ’Progressive carbon fibre design; maximum efficiency; eDrive technology; TwinPower Turbo combustion engine (CAR pg 28) 4) Claims: Advertisements may contain certain claims about their product/service and these claims must contain proof to verify them e.g. ‘As good as the best for less’, the Slogan used by SPAR in and advertisement to promote the quality of their products as well as the cost-effectiveness of the products. The focal point of the advert being a young gentleman who has clearly just graduated from some form of tertiary institution, with his proud parents standing beside him. Reinforcing the notion that if the products are good enough for this aspiring family then they are good enough for you (FOOD & HOME back cover page) 5) Action: The consumer/user is invited to take part in an action in order to engage with the product further, these invitations are normally found at the end of an advertisement in order to close the message on a more active note. ´SUBSCRIBE and you could receive a 23-piece tool set free!!’ (CAR pg 53) 6) Brand: if the product/service has a popular brand name, then this will be included in the advertisement either verbally or visually. „KOO’, in and advertisement for the tinned food brand „KOO‟, the logo which is also the brand name is repeated multiple times across the page (FOOD & HOME pg 38)

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7) Slogan: Not all advertisements need a slogan; however products that are sold repeatedly need hard-sell slogans that will change with each campaign. Alternatively a product/corporation may utilise a slogan in order to create a corporate identity e.g. „Get one, Get them all’ a slogan used by the company DYROACH to advertise their new range of products that are utilised to exterminate large colonies of pests in a household. ( FOOD & HOME pg 125) 8) Factual approach: Rational communication to the consumer that makes use of facts, logic, descriptive and scientific findings in order to promote their persuasive messages.‟ In the 2014 STANDARD BANK peoples wheels awards, KIA starred against one luxury German competitor, and ran rings around the other’ . This advertisement from car brand KIA, utilises a formal awards ceremony outcome help by a respected and trusted bank in order to validate its position as a top car brand against top German ( as German products are known for their quality) brands. (CAR pg 87).

RESEARCH DESIGN: There are two types of reasoning that may be applied whilst conducting a content analysis; inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is often used when making predications/forecasting and follows a logical process whereby multiple premises are proven/believed to be true and therefor a conclusion may be drawn. Deductive reasoning can be known as top-down reason, i.e a logical conclusion drawn upon multiple premises being proven to have been true. Added to the two types of reasoning, are two types of research; qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research is research that is non-numerical and represented in a narrative format. What this means is that it represents data that is observed, then understood and interpreted. Quantitative research on the other hand is almost the opposite of this. Data is captured and represented numerically and is used to make inferences, determining the influencing variables on others etc.

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