OFFICIAL38 The professor describes a research study in which advertisements for a car were placed in a cooking magazine. What did the researchers find?

[00:00.00]NARRATOR: Listen to part of a lecture in a business class.[00:02.82]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Last time, we talked about the design and production of advertisements. [00:07.84]Today we'll be discussing how advertisers decide where to display their ads.[00:12.90] This is critical to a successful marketing campaign because it builds up the consumer's brand awareness, their knowledge of a product made by a particular manufacturer. [00:22.99]And studies show that the more you are aware of a product, there's a greater chance you'll buy it.[00:28.00]Now, most ads we see in the media—like in newspapers, television, or magazines—are placed where the product is matched with a medium of a similar "theme."
[00:37.36]Let's take...uh...the medium of magazines as an example.[00:41.43]If you were to flip through, say, an automotive magazine, what kind of ads would you expect to find? Jack?[00:48.06]MALE STUDENT: Ads for cars...car parts—tires, stuff like that?[00:52.58]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Good. When you have an ad for a certain product in media with a similar theme, we call that congruent media.[00:59.06]Congruent simply means, [01:02.98]"it fits"—it's what you'd expect.[01:04.60] Congruent media placement is the most logical choice for marketing a product.
[01:09.15]First, it's obvious that people reading a car magazine are interested in cars.[01:13.80] So if you place a car ad there, you know you are reaching the right audience. [01:18.24] Also, research shows that when people read an ad in a congruent medium, afterwards, they have pretty good recall of what was advertised.[01:26.54]Now, there's another approach, that's placing ads in incongruent media.[01:31.98]Incongruent media are the magazines, newspapers, TV spots, where the theme doesn't match the theme of the product.[01:40.49] Even though it seems counterintuitive, research shows that this also is an effective marketing strategy.[01:46.42] One study tested this by placing car advertisements in a magazine that had an incongruent theme and it found that this contributed to consumers' positive attitudes toward the ad... and the car being advertised.[01:59.51]MALE STUDENT: What kind of magazine was it?[02:02.33]FEMALE PROFESSOR: A cooking magazine.[02:03.90]MALE STUDENT: Wow, that worked? [02:05.18] I'd have imagined it would be a distraction to see something like that, you know, out of place.[02:10.64]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Well, keep in mind that potential car buyers don't read only car magazines.[02:14.97] Most have other interests. [02:16.49]Many of them probably subscribe to other magazines, a news weekly, a financial publication, something related to a special interest or hobby. [02:25.55]So what marketers have to do then is carefully research potential customers and look for overlapping interests, which magazine overlaps most with the interests of the car buyer. [02:37.10] Then when they do choose to place ads in incongruent media, they know they'll be effective.[02:42.69]MALE STUDENT: O--K?[02:44.10]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Now this study suggests that because the people reading a cooking magazine didn't expect to see a car ad, they actually paid more attention.[02:52.83] And so, for example, when people who like reading about cars see a car ad in a car magazine, they might pass over it quickly, while here?[03:02.03]MALE STUDENT: ...they actually took more time to read the ad.[03:04.95]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Right! People paid more attention. [03:07.66] They processed the information more carefully when it appears in a medium with a different theme.[03:13.25] This ultimately results in stronger brand awareness, which leads to a more favorable impression of that product overall. Jenny?[03:21.72]FEMALE STUDENT: So, according to this study, basically, when I see an ad in an unexpected place, it'll make me want to buy the product?[03:30.34]FEMALE PROFESSOR: Well, yes and no. [03:32.64]The research shows you'll probably remember that ad and you are more likely to feel positive about that product. [03:39.79]Now, whether you'll go out to buy it is a different story.
[03:43.19]Of course, there are other factors at work here. [03:45.96]you-you remember, those criteria we discussed last week? [03:49.72]Anyway, this explains why most marketers today rely on a mix of congruent and incongruent media.[03:57.19]But there are limits to how incongruent the media should be.[04:02.36] You don't want a totally mismatch.[04:04.40] So in a magazine aimed at new parents, you often see car advertisements since parents buy and drive cars. [04:11.35] But there are different types of cars, right?[04:13.96] For example, placing an ad here for a big roomie van, which is popular with big families would make sense, but a snappy sports car with only two seats?[04:23.31] Well, that would clearly be too much of a mismatch.