Comparing perceptions of marketing communication channels

TLDR

The study aims to compare traditional and digital marketing channels on attributes such as intrusiveness, reliability, trustworthiness, convenience, and entertainment value, assess their perceived effectiveness for engagement and persuasion, and examine discrepancies between sender and recipient perceptions. The authors conducted a survey of consumer and business markets, comparing channels from both sender and receiver perspectives, and used experimentally generated scenarios to evaluate the relative effectiveness of 11 channels for two B‑to‑C and two B‑to‑B promotion offers. The results show that, despite widespread e‑mail use, traditional channels such as television, radio, newspapers, and direct mail remain preferred for trust and reliability, with both consumers and business receivers more likely to act on offers delivered via mass media or mail rather than e‑mail.

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is threefold: To compare many old and new media channels in terms of a range of attributes such as perceived intrusiveness, reliability, trustworthiness, convenience, and entertainment value. To compare the perceived relative effectiveness of alternative communication channels in terms of how a marketing proposition is evaluated by recipients and thus to establish whether some channels are better than others for achieving engagement and persuasion. To additionally survey the senders of marketing communications, to examine potential differences between how senders think recipients perceive each channel and what recipients actually perceive. Moreover, it is proposed that the survey be conducted in both consumer and business markets. Design/methodology/approach First, in a survey, the channels are compared from the perspective of both receivers and senders of marketing communications and additionally from that of consumer and business markets. Second, by means of experimentally generated scenarios, the paper assesses the relative effectiveness of the 11 channels in eliciting responses to two typical B‐to‐C and two B‐to‐B promotion offers. Findings The paper finds that, although e‐mail is well established and widely used, the traditional channels of television, radio, newspapers and direct mail retain their historically favored attributes of trust and reliability of information that make them still preferred by consumer recipients of marketing communications, even by “tech savvy” younger consumers who use e‐mail and SMS extensively. Business receivers are more accepting of e‐mail marketing communications than are consumers but, like consumers, they are more likely to act on a marketing offer if it comes through traditional mass media or mail channels. Originality/value The paper enables marketing managers to assess the relative benefits of a number of marketing communication channels.