1. INTRODUCTION
Communication is as old as mankind. Individuals as social beings had to develop different ways of communication within a group in order to survive. According to Koole (in Kesić, 2003) communication is a mechanism that fosters and develops interaction among individuals, and it comprises different symbols and different ways of conveying a message to the target audience. Furthermore, communication consists of facial expressions, attitudes, gestures, voice tone, words, printed elements, telephone and all other elements that can be incorporated into a communication message.
Although interactivity is important in today's world, majority of communication messages foster one-way communication where advertisers mainly present their message and do not listen to their customers (Peters and Hessan, 2003 in Johnson et al., 2005). Nonverbal elements of advertisements can communicate complex meanings to consumers that go beyond the obvious, straightforward meaning of the perceived advertisement (DeRosia, 2008). Therefore, nonverbal elements are important in a communication message as consumers perceive some advertisements not only through words but also through their implicit nonverbal communication.
Researches in nonverbal communication are mostly focused on exploring several nonverbal elements like music, type of music and picture processing. Punj and Stewart (1998) researched the influence of nonverbal (musical) elements on long-term memory and compared them to verbal elements showing that verbal and nonverbal elements are differently coded in individuals' minds and their associations to promotional messages are different. Music in marketing is explored in different ways, and mainly isolated from other nonverbal elements (Scott, 1990). Music, according to Hecker (1984), has different roles in advertising. It can attract attention, deliver a promotional message, or even provoke excitement or relax an individual. Music helps individuals to remember and recognize more efficiently an advertised product if music and communication message are aligned (Kellaris, Cox and Cox, 1993). A research related to picture processing (MacInnis i Price, 1987) identified different elements that influence picture processing like visuals, words, picture clarity and individual way of processing.
Very often recipients perceive the identity or personality of products or brands from static images. Therefore, images related to communication messages need to be carefully selected. Such a selection should take into account the possibility to provide congruence between individuals' cognitive characteristics and the experience of a communication message (Mannetti, et al., 2005). As positive congruence can result in creating positive attitude towards the advertised product it can also increase the amount of money that individuals are willing to spend to buy the product. Moreover, the consumer will choose the brand if the main traits of both the brand and the consumer personalities are similar, and will reject the brand if the main traits are different (Seimiene, 2012). This is closely related to the notion that an organization should know its target customers in order to create an effective communication message that would include nonverbal communication to supplement and repeat the desired perception of the advertised product. There is also a transfer effect from brand personality traits to consumer personality traits (Fennis, Pruyn, Maasland, 2005), hence, brand personality traits influence the assessments of different aspects of the consumer self-concept.
In a mass media world where we witness continuous technological development and plethora of information available to customers, an adequate promotional message is a key to success and a way to develop competitive advantage. The world around us is overwhelmed with the plethora of products and services. Information is becoming a resource that more and more blocks the individual’s reasoning instead of helping him to find and allocate adequate product or service. In their advertisements companies combine different media, vivid colours, melodies, sounds, gestures and other elements of communication. So, it is becoming more and more important how to successfully deliver a message to the target audience, how to attract their attention, provide a clear message to customers without using words. Hence, the aim of this paper is to explore and define nonverbal communication and its role in conveying a message to the target audience. The purpose of this paper is also to explore the influence of different nonverbal elements on individuals' perception of several products and personal characteristics.
The paper is organized as follows. First, a theoretical background related to nonverbal communication and the role of nonverbal communication is presented and the hypotheses are formulated. Secondly, a field research related to the perceived products and personal characteristics of three different product categories using static and video commercial is presented. At the end a conclusion is drawn and managerial implications are given.
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.1. Elements of nonverbal communication
Nonverbal communication for the majority of people is the communication that is accomplished with other means besides words (Rijavec and Miljković, 2002). It is regarded as a critical component in interpersonal communication carrying 93 percent of meaning in any message (Mehrabian 1971 in Coulter, Zaltman, 1994). Researchers (Johnson et al., 2005) point out that using multiple channels like video, print ad or animation, when communicating with the target market and incorporating nonverbal aspects of communication helps consumer to have a more holistic understanding of the communication.
DeRosia (2008) points out that there are different types of signs. Iconic signs, ones that have a physical resemblance to their meaning, and symbolic signs that relate their meaning by arbitrary convention and common understanding, and the meaning of the sign is often highly dependent on the context in which the sign is used. Hence, an advertiser should be careful, especially in international environment, about the way s/he uses signs in a communication message. In their research Ekman, Friesen and Ellsworth (1972) elaborate that non-verbal behaviour can be encoded into communication process through intrinsic, iconic or arbitrary perspective or coding system. Intrinsic coding system represents the smallest difference between the code used and the people that the message is sent to. It can be said, in extreme situations, that the person that codes the message represents the coding system. For instance, pointing a finger towards something, or approaching someone are examples of non-verbal behaviour in its essence. Using iconic coding system some aspects of the person that codes the message is kept. It can be said that the similarity between the code and the person is still present like for example in showing sand-clock shapes when aiming to illustrate someone’s figure. Arbitrary coding represents the biggest difference between the code and the person that codes the message, as for example with words that have an arbitrary meaning but letters that form them do not carry any meaning.
Nonverbal elements like gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, voice quality, pace of speech, inflexions, and loudness, which accompany verbal elements in a communication message, help organizations to convey intended meaning of the communication message to its target customers (Johnson et al., 2005). Moreover, in printed advertisements meaning is conveyed also through the accompanying pictures, paralinguistic codes such as the size and type of the letters, their position on the page, their association with images, and other typographical devices. Static images capture two types of nonverbal elements (Walker Naylor, 2007): kinesic and physical appearance cues. Kinesic elements include, in addition to what is popularly known as body language, facial expressions and eye gaze (Burgoon et al., 1996). Physical appearance elements include body shape, general physical attractiveness, height, weight, hair, etc.
Knapp and Hall (2010) classify nonverbal communication according to the manner in which the researchers explore a phenomenon, thus distinguishing three primary units: environment structure and conditions in which communication occurs; physical characteristics of communicating individuals, and different behaviours that those individuals manifest. People change environment in order to accomplish their communication goals; and vice versa, the environment can influence their mood, choices they made and words they use. Environmental factors are furniture, architectural style, interior design, lighting, colours, temperature background noises or music, and similar conditions in which the communication occurs. Physical characteristics of the persons communicating includes body built/body shape, general attraction, height, weight, hair, i.e. influential nonverbal signs that are not connected to movement. Body movements and pose usually involve gestures, facial expressions (smiles), body movements (arms, legs, head, and feet), eye movements (blinking, gaze focusing and length of eye contact, and pupils dilating) and posture. Wrinkling of the forehead, shoulder dropping and head tilting are also considered physical movements and positioning. Furthermore, using nonverbal elements in advertising is related to the impression of service provider (Walker Naylor, 2007). Similar, nonverbal elements that product ambassadors use in advertisements can form the impression of a certain product.
Consumers find it natural to characterize brands with personality characteristics (Maehle, Supphellen, 2010). Therefore, in order to create a desirable brand personality, brand managers need to focus on specific dimensions of personality. Brand personality is related to human characteristics that a typical brand user has, as well as to the characteristics associated with the company employees, top managers, and brand endorsers (Aaker, 1997). Beside personality also associations related to brand are important to be incorporated in a communication message. The consumer’s brand knowledge is related to functional and symbolic brand associations (Kressmann et al., 2006). Hence, these associations are related to the problem-solving capacity of a brand as well as to the meaning of a brand in a consumer life (Das, Datta, Guin, 2011). Brand personalities help marketers compete by providing more complete value propositions beyond functional benefits (Kum et al., 2012), although it is important to note that consumers prefer to choose brands that better suit their self-perception or even allow them to express the ideal self (Dikcius et al., 2013).
Based on the above stated the following hypothesis is advanced: H1: The elements of nonverbal communication (gestures, clothes, atmosphere, music, and ambience) used in a communication message are related to the perception of personal characteristics that advertised product possesses.
2.2. The role of nonverbal communication
In nonverbal behaviour research it is common not to separate words from gestures; hence a broader term is used: communication or face to face interaction (McNeill, 2000). Argyle (1988) identified the following main functions of a nonverbal communication in human communication: expressing emotions, expressing relationship towards others (liking/not-liking, domination/submission, etc.), representing oneself to the others, following speech in order to regulate speech sequence, feedback reactions, attention, etc.
Ekman, Friesen and Ellsworth (1972) explored different ways in which verbal and nonverbal behaviour is used during human interaction: repetition, antithesis, supplementing, replacing, emphasis/moderation and regulating. After going through many different studies in this area of interest, Burgoon (1980) concluded that nonverbal signals transferred more information and that they were to be trusted more than verbal signals, and that visual signs held greater weight than the vocal ones. But in the case of visual-auditory discrepancies respondents were more inclined to rely on visual signs. However, when that discrepancy was greater, respondents were more inclined to rely on auditory signals (DePaulo, Rosenthal, Eisenstat, Rogers and Finkelstein, 1978).
Walker Naylor (2007) points out that that even in static images people judge inanimate objects based just on the object’s physical appearance, hence, judgements can also be formed about unfamiliar products. People can also form strong and reliable impressions about a target’s character based on physical appearance. The influence of culturally shared associations and stereotypes on judgements about unfamiliar products can be noticed.
Other researches dispute the interpretation of individuals relying on nonverbal signs in situations of conflicted messages. Vande Creek and Watkins (1972) discovered that some respondents were inclined to rely on verbal signs, while others were inclined to rely on nonverbal signs, and some reacted to a degree of emphasis no matter what channel was used. Burgoon et al. (2002) pointed out that the richness of nonverbal contextual information might reflect the interactivity of the communication. Hence, nonverbal information positively influenced the perception of organization's communication as interactive (Johnson et al., 2005) and therefore customers felt closer to that organization. The first impression of a service or a product heavily lay on nonverbal elements that consumer perceived through static images in some advertisement. The influence of that first impression that was formed before any actual experience with a service or a product, heavily influenced the consequent interaction and decision (Walker Naylor, 2007). Advertisers tried to avoid comprehension failures among customers, so they were expected to typically employ symbolic signs and metaphors that were relatively easy to interpret and understand (DeRosia, 2008).
Specific nonverbal cues like eye gaze, speech hesitations, and person attire affect the customer's impression of a person and the evaluations of a service (Leigh and Summers, 2002). Intercultural research that was conducted by Solomon and Ali (1975) suggests that knowing a language can influence the decision to rely on verbal or nonverbal signs. Individuals who did not know well the language used in composing the contradictory message, while estimating its affective meaning relied on its content. On the other hand, individuals who were familiar with the language based their estimation of the message meaning on the pitch in pronunciation. Punj and Stewart (1998) studied the influence of nonverbal (musical) elements in commercials on long-term memory and compared them with the verbal ones. Music in marketing has been studied in numerous ways, mainly isolated from other stimuli (Scott, 1990). Milliman (1982,1986) concluded that volume, tempo and type of background music can influence the time consumers spend in an environment. Music in advertising can have numerous roles, from attracting attention, bringing product information, to waking the state of arousal or relaxation etc. (Hecker, 1984). Kellaris, Cox and Cox (1993) discovered that remembering and recognizing a commercial enhanced if music and commercial were synchronized.
Static images contain sufficient nonverbal elements for consumers to form accurate impressions (Walker Naylor, 2007). This is similar to Nevid’s conclusion (2010) that brief exposures of targeted advertisements in movies or television scenes had effect on consumers' reactions. The impression about a product or a service that is originating from both static or short video exposures to advertised product have a strong influence on subsequent judgments a consumer makes about a service provider or advertised product. Advertisers should also be careful in shaping their communication message as the iconic nature of nonverbal signs is automatically comprehended, while the symbolic nature of infrequently observed nonverbal signs makes them relevant only to some consumers (DeRosia, 2008).
Based on the above stated the following hypothesis is advanced H2: The role of nonverbal communication is supplementing, emphasising, repeating and explaining verbal communication.
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The purpose of the research was to explore the role of nonverbal communication in advertising when observing product characteristics and characteristics of a person the used that product. With the aim to test the hypotheses advanced, a field research was done using static advertisements and video material for three different convenient products. The questionnaire had a general part with demographic information (gender and age), and three separate but identical parts for each of three chosen products. In the part related to the perception of the person who used certain product twenty character strengths were provided (selfless, loyal, scared, pumped, boring, boisterous, uneducated, irresistible, modest, sexy, intelligent, curious, social, strong, sensuous, loved, sloppy, energetic, shy, adventurous). When selecting before mentioned individuals' character description insights from Macdonald, Bore and Munro (2008) were obtained.
In the part related to product characteristics several characteristics were chosen (quality, modern, expensive, practical, must have, elusive, lame, exciting, average, and ordinary). When selecting characteristics, insights from Johnson et al. (2008) were used and adapted to the research. A 5-point Likret scale anchored in I do not agree (1), and I completely agree (5) was used for these two sets of characteristics. Identical questions were provided for each of three products used in the research. Furthermore, the idea for the research originated in the research related to social status and personality characteristics where respondents related three different car brands (“Fićo”, “Zastava”, “Škoda”) with person's avocation and personality characteristics of the perceived car owner (Petz 1976 in Sudar, 1979).
3.1. Research design
The respondents were divided into two groups. The first group of thirty respondents was shown video commercials for three different products, while the other group of respondents was shown the static commercial of the same products. The first commercial for 5 RPM chewing gums, shows a younger man, enviably physically fit jumping over hurdles in front of him, while a voice in the background talks about 5 RPM chewing gum flavours that stimulate the senses (“New 5RPM gum; choose your energy; An energizing fruit or relaxing mint flavour stimulates your senses”). The scenario alone and the commercials atmosphere remind the viewer of a video game. The second commercial for King ice cream has sublime ambiance and classiness. Elegantly dressed woman guides the viewer through the ice cream creating process while the aria from Nessun Dorma plays in the background, and the woman’s voice asks “Have you ever wondered how a perfect ice cream is made?” Schweppes wedding is the title of the third commercial for Schweppes soft beverage. A handsome middle aged man is walking through a room, while jazz music is playing in the background and a male voice narrates throughout the commercial “Another wedding, but this one is special. Everybody says that I should settle down.” Wedding party interacts with him, women look at him lustfully, and he takes and drinks his Schweppes and approaches the newly-weds, and the voice in the background continues: “And I will, one day, but not today. Schweppes for experienced.”
The second group went through the same procedure, however they were not shown the commercials, but only pictures of the products in this order: 5RPM, King, and Schweppes. After showing both groups the assigned video commercials or static commercial they filled out the questionnaire part related to that product.
The research was conducted with the university students at Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka during May 2013. Respondents' age ranged from 22-39 years. Furthermore, research sample (N=61) consisted of 25% male, and 75% female respondents. Group 1 (N=31) and group 2 (N=30) consisted of 22% male and 78% female and 27% male and 73% female respondents, respectively. The sample size was determined according to two similar researches Luna (2005), and Coats and Feldman (1995). The analysis was done using SPSS ver. 20. In the analysis paired samples T-test was used for the two groups (group 1 video commercials, group 2 static commercial).
3.2. Research results
The research was conducted in order to analyze the perception of persons that use the products explored. Twenty different personal characteristics were explored in the research. When comparing the results for video and static commercials some differences were found. The research results are given inTable 1.
Source: Research results
Note: Group 1= video commercial, Group 2= static commercial;
**, * the difference between groups is statistically significant at 0.05 and 0.1 level, respectively
Several things can be observed when exploring elements of nonverbal communication (gestures, clothes, atmosphere, music, and ambience) used in these three communication messages and comparing them to the perceived personal characteristics of the person who uses the advertised products. Having in mind the brand message and the perceived personal characteristics of a person that uses the product, a high congruence is noticed first. For the majority of the explored characteristics higher values are noticed for video commercials. Secondly, personal characteristics that are related to body movements and the perception of a person based on these like for e.g. energetic, sensual, adventurous and social, have received higher grades. Moreover, only for ‘irresistible’ and ‘sexy’ as personal characteristics statistically significant differences in answers were noticed between video and static commercials for all three explored products. While, for ‘generous’ and ‘loyal’ as personal characteristics no statistically significant difference in answers when comparing video and static commercial for all three explored products is noticed. All this indicates that, H1 is confirmed.
Secondly, the research was conducted to explore the perception of product characteristics for 5RPM, King and Schweppes. Ten different product characteristics were included in the research. The research results are given inTable 2.
Source: Research results
Note: Group 1= video commercial, Group 2= static commercial;
**, * the difference between groups is statistically significant at 0.05 and 0.1 level, respectively
Comparing the desired brand meaning with the perceived characteristics of the explored products several differences between groups were noticed. Furthermore, for majority of the explored product characteristics video commercials received higher values. With ‘must have’ as a product characteristic statistically significant grades for all three explored products were obtained, while for product characteristics such as ‘modern’, ‘down-to-earth’, ‘ordinary’, ‘trivial’ and ‘typical’ no statistically significant difference in answers when comparing video and static commercials for all three explored products was noticed.
If all of the above mentioned characteristics of the product/person are compared with the verbal aspect of the commercial/picture (“New 5RPM gum; choose your energy; An energizing fruit or relaxing mint flavour stimulates your senses”; “Have you ever wondered how a perfect ice cream is made? The King of pleasure!”; “Another wedding, but this one is special. Everybody says to me that I should settle down. And I will, one day, but not today. Schweppes for experienced.”) it can be concluded that the nonverbal elements (gestures, clothes, music, atmosphere) had a role of accentuating, amending, repeating and explaining the verbal communication component. Consequently the H2 is confirmed.
4. CONCLUSION
In an advertisement equal attention should be addressed to both verbal and nonverbal communication components. The role of nonverbal communication is repeating, conflicting, replacing and highlighting or mitigating the verbal component. Nonverbal communication includes physical characteristics of a person: communication, movements and pose, and the communication environment. Although both verbal and nonverbal communication components are often used and stressed separately, their synergy should be recognized and appropriately used.
The research results can be used as a guideline in creating new ideas for commercials as nonverbal advertising components can enhance the desired product perception. In order to create a communication message a company can use several nonverbal elements, like for example music, gestures, symbols etc. To enhance its desired perception among customers all these nonverbal elements together with verbal components should be carefully unified to provide a communication message. Moreover, if the experience of using a product is positively related with its perception established through advertising, high brand awareness is present. As a consequence customers buy other products of the same brand or recommend the brand to friends, hence, customer loyalty is experienced (Dlačić, Kežman, 2014).
Furthermore, depending on the product category, non-verbal communication contributes to a greater or lesser, but always positive extent in evaluating characteristics of a person that uses the advertised product. Therefore non-verbal communication can be used to augment the desired brand perception. Careful building and conveying the desired brand perception through non-verbal messages will enhance its desired brand image. Similarly, First and Gržinčić (2010) concluded that the desired brand image should be created by choosing ad appeal that best suits target customers' driving needs. Therefore, a desired brand image can be enhanced if a company carefully combines non-verbal communication with adequately chosen ad appeal that suites its target market. The research results could serve advertising agencies in finding optimal ratio among different personal characteristics that are planned to be used for creating the brand image.
Several limitations have been noticed. As two out of three brands that are used in the research are present on the market, the brand recognition could have influenced respondents' reactions. Hence, the brand recognition as well as attitudes toward brands used in the research could have influenced the perception of certain product's characteristics. For further research it is suggested to compare brands related to specialty or luxury products as well as to explore reactions based on commercials for brands with which respondents are familiar and others that they are completely unfamiliar with and not present on the market. Moreover, it would be interesting to conduct a research on a bigger differentiated sample so that the difference in gender/age could be explored.