Comparative Advertisement: benefit to consumers

Research done is ambiguous on whether or not CA helps in improving the image of the challenging brand. While it may help in damaging the image of the challenged brand or denigrating it, it cannot be conclusively said whether it helps enhance the image of the challenging brand itself.

While CA may have its own advantages, advertisers should tread on this path cautiously and avoid overdoing it. It is alright to offer logical reasons in order to drive home product superiority. However, there is no point in using comparison unless there is genuine superiority.

A RECENT advertisement for Hyundai's Santro in the print media, comparing itself with Tata's Indica and Ford's Ikon 1.3 in terms of technology, features and design is simply attention seeking and interest generating. The increase in competition has resulted in a greater use of comparative advertising (CA) by companies to tell consumers why their products should be bought. With a plethora of brands sold in the market, consumers are confused and lost. There are enough advertisements that cater to emotional appeal, fear appeal, status appeal, and what not. But a consumer who plans to buy a high value, durable product, has some tough decisions to take. It is here that CA steps in.

One might wonder whether consumers in India are prepared for such plain speaking. The answer to this lies in what kind of comparison is made. If two individuals are compared it may leave a bad taste. However, if two brands are compared, the negative impact on the consumers in most cases is nil, especially if the comparison provides more information and thus educates consumers, so that they can take a better decision. It is natural for humans to evaluate ideas, products, individuals and to do this, they recollect from their memory substitutes, similar objects and unconsciously compare both in order to pass their judgment.

Research indicates that CA is not considered to be offensive by customers, in fact, it is welcomed. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission which legalised CA in 1971, has argued that the increased information in CA should better the decision making process. In India too it is legal and the increasing number of CAs appearing both in the print and TV media is testimony that it has the nod of the consumers.

The Hyundai's Santro v Indica advertisement is simply attention seeking. Anyone who owns a car or intends to buy one gets curious to know all that he does not know about `Santro v Indica'.

CA can be compared to a brave man challenging his enemy to fight a duel. The claim of superiority made in the advertisement may surely call for some retaliation by the competitor and may heighten the curiosity of the consumers.

Research done is ambiguous on whether or not CA helps in improving the image of the challenging brand. While it may help in damaging the image of the challenged brand or denigrating it, it cannot be conclusively said whether it helps enhance the image of the challenging brand itself.

CA can play the role of a salesman who helps remove and clarify doubts about a brand. A person who has already gone through the various buying process like need, recognition and information search may be stuck because he is not able to make comparative evaluation between the brands on which he zeroes in. It is at this stage that CA helps him to take a better decision. If CA gives very compulsive reasons to a potential consumer to buy a product, it can't be faulted, the very fact that the challenger is confident, can create a positive impression.

Ratings given by neutral organisations also come in handy for comparative advertisers. Ratings given by credit rating organisations are widely quoted to drive home claims of superiority. The very fact that ratings are given by reputed research organisations which are neutral give a certain authenticity and adds credibility to the claim.

CA has been widely used by consumer durable companies in particular. IFB Bosch, a well known washing machine brand compares the water consumed by top-loading washing machines and front-loading machines. The message from Bosch, whose slogan is ``The science of washing'', is that Bosch owners conserve water (which is scarce in most metros). Here the advertiser has used relative measures to enhance the effectiveness of the advertisement. Since the comparison is well illustrated with the help of buckets of water (IFB uses only four and a half buckets of water as against the rest of the brands which use 9 buckets of water) the advertisement appeals to even those who are low on cognitive ability. A majority of washing machines sold in India are top-loading machines and therefore, at one stroke, the advertiser tells the consumers that his brand is better on this particular benefit as compared to most other brands.

A majority of the advertisers in India use price as a relative measure of comparison. Just as CA is more suitable for consumer durables it seems to be more suitable for services as well.

While CA may have its own advantages, advertisers should tread on this path cautiously and avoid overdoing it. It is alright to offer logical reasons in order to drive home product superiority. However, there is no point in using comparison unless there is genuine superiority. Similarly comparisons offered to consumers who are more educated and have the cognitive ability to understand arguments might be more effective. On the other hand, in the case of consumers whose cognitive ability is less, CA may have little effect. The advertisers in such cases may have to resort to cheap gimmicks to denigrate the competitor's products which may not be in the interest of consumers and the industry as well.

When a comparison is made over something insignificant or trivial it is sure to boomerang. One thing is that consumers may soon find out the truth. Another is that the company unnecessarily takes the risk of exposing itself. Research has proved the following with regard to CA. The effectiveness of CA sometimes lies not in raising the preference ratings of the advertised brand but in lowering the preference ratings of the compared brands.

CA helps in increasing the perceived similarity of the advertised and comparison brands without affecting any preference measures at all. Comparative advertisements get more attention and higher recall than non-comparative advertisements.

Because of the interest evoking ability, comparative advertisements often succeed in increasing the extent to which consumers process the information.

CA that names competitors can lead to greater customer confusion about which brand is sponsoring the brand.

Followers can compare with the leader. A follower who compares himself with the leader gains in terms of being perceived similarly, positioning itself near the leader, by putting itself and the competitor on the same consideration set.

Thus, it is clear from research done in this area that comparative advertising has its own advantages. It helps in informing customers on the comparative features of two competitive brands. It is an effective positioning tool as well. The increase in the use of CA is viewed as offensive and considered as a negative trend by a few advertisers. However, from practical experience we know that much of what is right or wrong, good or bad is all relative. The truth of what is better, what is mediocre can be established only in comparison.

In India itself, brands that were considered to be of very high quality with practically no competition, have lost out to other international brands, with the opening up of our markets. CA truly gives an opportunity to help consumers decide on which product is better and what is best suited for him. Though, CA has created a lot of controversy, out of all this, the consumer may emerge awakened. The consumers may ultimately become more discerning with their evaluation skills sharpened. While the industry itself may temporarily witness some hardships, in the long run, when guidelines to CA are firmly established and misuses of the same severely dealt with, the benefits that emerge out of CA may be of a more permanent nature.

Sukanya Ashok Kumar

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