AN EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSUASION AND CHOICE OF DAILY NEWSPAPER BY READERS IN KENYA

Abstract

An average consumer is exposed to a range of persuasion marketer generated communications seeking to get his/her attention and elicit some desired response. This communications may make decision making less demanding reducing the time and effort spent in selecting a product/ service (consumer involvement). Also the level of involvement a consumer places on a particular purchase has a bearing on the actual selection (consumer choice) that will be made. But, some of the persuasion messages are relayed at a speed that makes it impossible to comprehend the communications, raising questions on the nature of elaborations consumers make, and involvement level they experience, which ultimately influences choice of product or service they make. To better understand this concept the Consumer Involvement Theory (CIT) and Elaborate Likelihood Model (ELM) were used to evaluate persuasion and its relationship with consumer choice. The study postulated that all forms of persuasion have a positive and significant relationship with consumer involvement in the choice of daily newspapers by readers in Kenya; consumer involvement has a weak, positive and significant relationship with choice of daily newspapers by readers in Kenya; there is a significant difference between relationships of different forms of persuasion and consumer involvement in the choice of daily newspapers by readers of different gender in Kenya; and there is no significant difference between relationships of consumer involvement and consumer choice between male and female daily newspaper readers in Kenya. A multi stage sampling technique was employed to get a sample of 384 respondents who completed close ended questionnaires. The findings of this study revealed that a positive correlation existed between all forms of persuasion and consumer involvement. Self persuasion and subliminal persuasion predicted consumer involvement but interpersonal persuasion did not. Further, daily newspapers strongly displayed features of low involvement product purchase and the study results showed a weak relationship existed between consumer involvement and consumer choice. Generally, all hypotheses were supported with exception of the first one, which stated that all forms of persuasion have a positive and significant relationship with consumer involvement in the choice of daily newspapers readers in selected counties in Kenya. The study recommends that daily newspapers publishers should research further on their customers and/or potential customers to understand content that appeal to them more and then strategically infuse this in their dailies to gain a competitive edge. The newspaper publishers could also explore possibility of growth in their sales through online prints targeted at those within age ranges of 18 and 24 years as their computer literacy level is high (94.4%). Advertising clients are similarly advised to identify the daily newspaper with the highest readership when pitching their adverts. This is because a large percentage of daily newspaper readers (65%) do not purchase and read more than one daily newspaper. The findings of this study contribute to knowledge in the area of persuasion, consumer involvement and consumer choice, thus building on existing theories. Policy formulators will be sensitised by the findings related to subliminal persuasion‘s ability to influence, hence they can take appropriate steps in regulating its influence on consumers and challenges that may result. Marketers and advertising practitioners on the other hand, have knowledge generated by this study that is critical for strategic preparation of persuasive messages that will elicit desired outcomes.