Marketing communication: principles and practice

A
ttention, 
I
nterest, 
D
esire, 
A
ction).
Unlike the selling formula that requires the salesperson to point out all of
the features of the product, the customer-oriented approach starts by asking
about the customer’s needs. This is a communication problem because it
requires the salesperson to be sufficiently self-confident to control the sales
interview through questioning in conversation rather than by dominating
through presentation. The salesperson’s mental model of communicating is
crucial in this situation. The investment in turning this more time-consuming
and complex interaction into an interchange is rewarded by a greater
likelihood of making a mutually satisfactory sale by matching the customer’s
needs with the appropriate product’s features and benefits. If the distinction
between exploitative and transactional interactions is unclear, refer back to
the explanation of a social model of communication in chapter four.
THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF MARKETING
MEDIA
In the 1980s, desktop publishing became affordable, thus allowing low-cost
entry into design and publishing of magazines and other printed publications.
Today, almost all publishing firms use PC-based technologies to cost-
effectively produce small runs of printed materials. Since the 1980s we 
have witnessed a massive proliferation in the number of narrowly targeted
magazines catering for specialized interests.
Deregulation in TV and radio broadcasting has shifted the industry from
broadcast to ‘narrowcast’, with many channels and small audiences in place
of few channels with ‘mass’ audiences. Sponsored programming has also
become commonplace in media regions outside of the USA. ONDigital and
cable services offer interactivity, with online banking and shopping, and e-
mail facilities.
In the UK, around one-third of the adult population owns a PC. Almost
two in three households have a PC.
The advent of the Internet has opened up a means of (two-way) interchange
between providers and users, in place of the (one-way) sending of messages
from providers to (assumed passive) receivers. This interchange may be
initiated by either party and involves both listening and talking. Both shoppers