channel effect

Definition:
The effect that the channel through which a MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS message is transmitted has upon the target audience's perceptions of it and their reactions to it, along with SOURCE EFFECT, MESSAGE EFFECT and the time effects created by the MEDIA SCHEDULE. The most obvious such channel is the MEDIA VEHICLE in which an ADVERTISEMENT or the outcome of a PUBLICITY initiative appear, though DIRECT MARKETING communications reach their audience via the the telephone and postal systems. No satisfactory theoretical explanation of channel effect is to be found in the literature of marketing communications, and the general social communication textbooks concentrate on direct transmission of messages from individuals to individuals without the modulating effect of an intervening channel. We are therefore obliged to infer the ingredients of channel effect from studies of source effect, postulating that audiences will treat the channel vehicle to some extent as a second source. In that case, they are 'credibility' (perceived objectivity and expertise), 'attractiveness' (familiarity and perceived congruence with the audience's own values) and 'power' (authority and prestige). These attributes, if positive, will potentiate 'internalisation' of the message, 'identification' with the source and 'compliance' with the call to action in the message. There is experimental evidence only for ,credibility' dimension. Despite this shortage of theoretical support for the phenomenon, MEDIA PLANNERS demonstrate implicit acceptance of a channel effect when they use such terms as 'relaxed', 'urgent' or 'chatty' to describe types of newspaper, or discuss 'media values' and 'rub-off effect' in their professional journals.

Cross-References:
[advertisement, advert, ad] [source effect] [media planner] [publicity] [marketing communications] [media vehicle] [media schedule] [direct marketing] [message effect]

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