HOWWECOMMUNICATE 191
onthepartofcompetitorsmeansthata companythatdidnotexhibita strongMCprogram
wouldappeardullandunconvincingtothecustomer.Thus,MCisemployedasbotha defen-
siveandoffensiveweapon.
ThefinalobjectiveofMCistoconvince.Althoughthisgoalismostoftenascribed
toMC,it is themostquestionable."Convince"and"persuade"arenotsynonymousterms.
Realistically,MCdoesextremelywellifit presentsideasina mannerthatissoconvinc-
ingthattheconsumerwillbeledtotakethedesiredaction.Theseideas,alongwitha host
ofotherfactors,willhelppersuadetheconsumertomakea particulardecision.Therefore,
theabilityofMCtopresentinformationina convincingmanneris critical.Itisalsonec-
essarytoreconvincemanyconsumersandcustomers.lustbecausea personbuysa partic-
ularbrandonceora dozentimes,orevenfora dozenyears,thereisnoguaranteethatthey
won'tstopusingtheproductifnotconstantlyremindedoftheproduct'suniquebenefits.
Ultimately,MCobjectivescanbebrokendown intoveryspecifictasks.Thepointis allMC
mustbeguidedbyobjectives.
Inconclusion,effectivemarketingcommunicationshouldpresentusefulideas(infor-
mation)ina mannerthatmakesthemclearlyunderstood(communicate),causethecon-
sumertobelievethemessageis true(convince),andisasappealingormoreappealingthan
themessagedeliveredbycompetitors(compete).
HowWeCommunicate
Becausecommunicationis suchanintegralpartofeffectivemarketing,it is importantthat
weprovidea basicunderstandingofitsprocess.Ourstartingpointisa basicdefinitionof
humancommunication:a processinwhichtwoormorepersonsattempttoconsciouslyor
unconsciouslyinflLenceeachotherthroughL'1euseofsymbolsorwordsinordertosatisfy
theirrespectiveneeds.
BasicElementsofCommunication
ThebasicelementswithinanycommunicationsystemaredepictedinFigure8.1.Itincludes
twoormorepeopleororganizationscalledcommunicators.Theunderlyingassumptionof
thismodelis thatallcommunications(dialogue)arecontinuous.Thisfactorsuggeststhat
weareconstantlyandsimultaneouslyintheroleofcommunicatorandreceiver.Eachcom-
municatoriscomposedofa seriesofsubsystems(i.e.,inputs,outputs,processing).Theinput
subsystempermitsthecommunicatortoreceivemessagesandstimulusfromoutsideaswell
asfromtheothercommunicator.It involvesthereceptionoflight,temperature,touch,sound
and,odorsviaoureyes,skin,ears,nose,andtastebuds.Thesestimuliareintimatelyeval-
uatedthrougha processcalledperception.Thus,weinputandperceiveadvertisingmes-
sages,a 50cents-offcoupon,theappearanceandwordsofa salesperson,andsoforth.^3
Theprocessingsubsystemofa communicatorincludesallthoughtprocesses.Aswe
process,wegenerate,organize,andreflectonideasinresponsetothestimulireceived.This
entireprocessisdeterminednotonlybythestimulijustreceived,butalsobyallstimuli
everreceived,suchaspastexperiences,education,health,genetics,andallotherfactorsin
ourenvironment.SomepeopleclearlyprocessthehumorinthePepsi-Colaadsbetterthan
others.
Theoutputsubsystemincludesthemessagesandotherbehaviorsproducedbythecom-
municator.Theseincludenonverbalmessages,verbalmessages,andotherphysicalbehav-
iors.Allofthesebecomeinput(feedback)forotherpeopleandcanhavebothintentional
andunintentionaleffectsonthem.
