IMPLICATIONS OF THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS IN ADVERTISING

Abstract

Everyday in our contemporary world our perceptual systems are bombarded by advertising messages which claim something that goes the gamut of the sublime to the ridiculous. These messages are not purposeless. Advertising messages are purpose-oriented communication which seeks, in the main, to persuade consumers and make them to be favourably disposed to a product, service, idea or cause. That such messages achieve their goals depends on the perception of the target audience exposed to them. Adverts perceived as credible, convince the audience and achieve the major advertising goal of "closing sales"; advertising perceived as "hullabaloo" by the audience achieves nothing but mere "show." This paper discusses the consumer perceptual process against the backdrop of the dynamics of advertising, and attempts to establish the part played by the perceptual process in eliciting a favourable or unfavourable response to advertising messages