INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Advertising is a paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor with a view to disseminate information concerning an idea, product or service (Puranik, 2011). The message which is presented or disseminated is called advertisement. In the present day marketing activities, hardly is there any business in the modern world which does not advertise (Asemah, Edegoh and Ojih, 2013). However, the form of advertisement differs from business to business.

Advertising is the structured and composed non personal communication of information, usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products, services and ideas, by identified sponsors, through various mass media (Arens 2008, p.7). This definition is closely related to Dominick’s (2007, p.321) definition which asserts that advertising is any form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services, usually paid for, by identified sponsor. Asemah, Edegoh and Ojih (2013) state that advertising is a controlled, identifiable and persuasive communication that is presented via the mass media and designed to develop product demand and to create a favourable image for a company. The major purpose of advertisings is to promote the sales of a product or service and also, to inform the masses about the highlights of the product or the service feature. Advertising is an efficient means of communicating to the world, the value of the product or the service.

Advertising is any communication that is paid for, identified by a sponsor, directed at a target audience through the various mass media like radio, television, billboard, newspaper, magazine, with the aim of creating awareness about goods and services. The essence of advertising is to make known in order to sell or buy goods and services. The power of advertising depends on the use of creative and planning skills to achieve its objectives. Advertising is the process of persuading potential customers to buy products or promote its services (Kenechukwu, Asemah and Edegeoh, 2013). It is the branch of marketing that deals with communicating to customers information about products, brands, and services. Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to take some action with respect to products ideas and services (Asemah and Edegoh, 2012a). Advertising commends ideas, goods and services to potential consumers through various traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, the new media and outdoor media such as billboard.

Outdoor advertising is a medium of advertising which is used to reinforce the recall of brand names and pay offs (Okoro, 1998, p.158). It is one of the channels of mass communication. It is a medium usually used for dissemination of information or advertising message to a mass audience. The outdoor media have been described severally as “out–of-home media” and as the “traffic or position” media since they depend on people and/or vehicular traffic passing by their locations to deliver their advertising message (Amaechi, 1991, p.77). The billboard as a type of outdoor advertising is asserting itself as a powerful medium for the introduction of new products, with its appeal to all classes of consumers and its high visual impact. Billboard advertising generally belongs to point of purchase (POP). It is one of the most effective outdoor advertising techniques that are used in business everyday. This explains why Russell and Lane (1962, p.50) cited in Mbadi (2005, p.65) successfully claim that “billboard survived the decline of the Roman Empire to become the decorative art of Europeans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries”.

In contemporary Nigerian society, the use of models has been predominant and widespread in billboard advertising which has brought tremendous change especially on sales of products. Belch and Belch (2001) opine that companies spend huge sums of money to have models appear in their advertisement. This is because of the attractive force in drawing attention of people to product, sustaining their interest and giving the product a personality. A model is a person employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products (notably fashion clothing) or to serve as a subject of works of arts (Wikipedia).

Celebrity branding refers to branding in which a celebrity becomes a brand ambassador and uses his or her status to promote a product, service or charity, and sometimes also appears as promotional model (Wikipedia). The source defines a promotional model as a model hired to drive consumer demand for a product, service, brand or concept by directly interacting with potential customers. The most important characteristic of the vast majority of promotional models is that typically they tend to be attractive in physical appearance. Their major function is provision of information about the product or service and make it appealing to customers (Wikipedia). This study, therefore is an examination of audience assessment of the use of models in advertising, using Amstel malt consumers in Onitsha the commercial nerve centre of South East Nigeria, as a case study.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The most important role of advertising is to sell product, service, idea, etc. This is also the major aim of billboard advertising. Although billboard advertising could appear fascinating, the crux of the matter lies in its effectiveness in capturing and sustaining attention and in making consumers take required action by buying the product, idea, opinion or service. Inspite of the many benefits inherent in the use of attractive models in billboard advertising there is a raging argument regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of these attractive models to pass across the intended message (and nothing more) to the buyers.

The problem associated with the use of attractive models in billboard advertising is many and varied. First, the commuter has very little time to note and appreciate the advertisement before his vehicle speeds past. Second, there exists a problem as to whether the audiences are attracted to the models or to the product they endorse, and whether the audience eventually recall the product advertised or the face of model used. This is a problem because the audience needs to be attracted to and recall the product before he or she can take the desired action. This study therefore attempts to ascertain whether the use of attractive models in billboard advertising is a strength or weakness; whether the models attract attention to themselves or to the product they endorse.