ABSTRACT

The general focus of the study was to investigate the effect of advertisement on consumption of Alcoholic Beverages at Port Harcourt metropolis in Rivers State. objectives were to analyse the nature of advertisement of alcoholic beverages, determine factors that influence the consumption of Alcoholic beverages and to examine the influence of advertisement on the consumption of Alcoholic beverages. A convenient sampling, which is a non-probability sampling, was used to select 200 respondents for the study. Instrument used to collect data were questionnaires. It was revealed that electronic medium was the biggest vehicle through which adverts of alcoholic beverages reach consumers. again, consumers were more attracted to adverts that made bare the product functions or performances and musicians made the highest impart on consumption patterns of consumers among the celebrities used in adverts of alcoholic beverages among others, the alcoholic brewing industries in order to assert themselves well and widen the scope of their product to their target consumers should endeavour to sponsor public events.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Advertising is a form of communication like other forms of communication, it has many different effects and these effects are often related to another. The message in an advertisement, no matter how strong and persuasive, will have no effect, if the consumer does not see the advertisement or pay attention to it. The hierarchy of effects mode identifies communication in different stages in the communication process. Every effective communication must begin by obtaining the attention of consumer. The consumer also, must process the information carried in the advertisement. This information processing may be followed by an evaluation process of the desirability of any actions suggested by the communication. Different characteristics of an advertisement have effects at different points in the hierarchy.

1.1.    THE BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Advertising is as old as trade; when manufacturing began to develop, man who had or made shoes, bread and other products walked around the street shouting their ware. As their business expanded, the early Greek criers, today known as radio announcers were selected for their agreeable business men often used symbols and advertisement.

Every company must design and disseminate information about the product qualities and how these will benefit the target market. Every company is inevitably involved in the process of communication by the application of advertising modern marketing to create awareness and attract buyers’ attention to the products. Advertising is therefore as important as any other; it is classified among other tools as an important promotional action in the communication mix. The survival of any business depends on the application of the effective advertising strategies. Advertising is a communication which involves all activities in presenting an oral or visual message regarding a product through the mass media.

Effective communication in advertising tends to inform or persuade and convince the audience or customer to buy advertised product and increase company sales, so as to maximum profit. it intervenes in nearly all aspects of culture and socio economic well being of the society. The study is set out to probe the effect of advertising on customer buying to alcoholic beverages. Adverting communications to the general public about the existence of alcoholic beverages and for the consumer, to make choice of buying, or patronizing the company’s products.

Churchill (1989, 2003), said that advertising nourishes the consuming power of man. it creates want for better standard of living. Through advertising, consumers are able to anticipate satisfaction to compare values and to do much of their shopping before they leave their home.

According to Awa (2002), marketing exercises will fall if the target publics are not adequately communicated about the existence of a product/services, thereby firstly their major concern as to anticipate and identify its customs, needs and wants to satisfy them effectively. Secondly, when they find out, they will react to the particular product, they ensure its exchange. This is vital because as the government changes economy, people ideas and taste changes with it.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE STUDY

Advertising is used to promote the existence of a product and aids its sales in the contemporary world. Advertising has been used to abused in the sense that most of its claims are false. As a result, consumers no longer rely on such messages heard. They see them as misleading. As such, advertising plays very little role in the sales of a product.

also, people see advertising as a way of increasing costs of products, consumers are already aware of existing drinks; therefore any advert as regards to that drink has little or no effect.

1.3     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. Analyze the nature of advertisement of Alcoholic beverages at Port-Harcourt metropolis.
2. Determine factors that influence the consumption of alcoholic beverages in Port-Harcourt metropolis.
3. Examine the effect of advertisement on the consumption of alcoholic beverages by consumers in Port-Harcourt metropolis.
4. Make recommendable to stakeholders on the level of influence of alcoholic advertisement on the competition patterns at Port-Harcourt metropolis.

1.4     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Advertising helps in educating customers, creating customers needs and pushing products and services to fulfill the need generated. Producers of alcoholic beverages expands their opportunities for stagnated market to grow an upcoming market the need to maintain market shares in stagnated market, and increase shares in growing market requires more marketing and advertising investments. At the same time increasing customers base, ever growing product lines and the need to react out to the new customers segment called for even investment in advertising.

It takes time for the market to understand the shift in customers taste and preferred. With time customers media consumption also changes. Advertisers need to keep innovating ways and means to reach out to their customers in other to appeal to them.

1.5     SCOPES AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study focused mainly on the “The effect of advertising on consumption of alcoholic beverages, using consumers in Port-Harcourt metropolis. This was performed by administering questions to consumers in Port-Harcourt Rivers State.

In this study, findings of the research work will be used to generalize on the impact of advertising on consumptions behavior in the brewery industry.

The first constraint has been that of finance. One of the economic situation in the country, the researcher has limited resources which makes it to visit other breweries for any comparative study.

Lack of Time: The second constraint was time; this is the greatest limitation while conducting a research work, since reported is accepted to be distributed and retrieval problems. The distribution of all the questionnaires form was not easy as it took many trips to the company to ensure distribution to the staff likewise, the retrieval of the forms was not easy too, it was tedious coupled with academic work, which can be attributed to the inability to reach the respondents in one day, this resulted in not collecting all the forms distributed.

Lack of Material: Lack of material for the research has also been a great constant to the research carried out. The researcher has limited materials for the research.

1.6     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research will be guided by the following questions.

1. What is the nature of advertisement of alcoholic beverages at Port Harcourt in Rivers State?
2. What factors influence the consumption of alcoholic beverages at Port Harcourt in Rivers State?
3. What is the influence of alcoholic beverages advertisements on the consumption of alcoholic beverages in Port Harcourt?
4. Does an increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages based on its advertising effectiveness?

1.7     DEFINITION OF TERMS

In other not to confuse the reader of this project and to remove any doubt, as the intended meaning of the words and the terms in the society. The researcher defined certain word and terms as follows:

1. Advertising Effectiveness: This is the process of knowing whether the advertisement is achieving the intended communication effect.
2. Consumer: This is someone who use or the actual user of the good and services which satisfies his or her needs and desire.
3. Marketing Research: This is the systematic collection recording and analyzing the data about marketing problem to facilitate decision making.
4. Media: It is the vehicle that carries message to potential customers through advertising.
5. Effect: It relates to the qualitative values of an exposure through a given medium e.g T.V, Radio.
6. Brand Loyalty: This is the adherence a customer has for a particular product to the exclusion and existence of others.
7. Promotion: It is the ingredients used to inform and persuade the regarding a company’s product such as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relation and publicity stations (1975:74)
8. Product: This is an item that is capable of satisfying customers need and want. Modern A.R (1987)
9. Marketing: This is seen as a human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange process. kotler (1986)
10. Market: It is set of all current and potential buyers of a particular product or service.
11. Competition: It is a situation whereby firms work in hand in promoting their product so that it will not be forgotten or overshadowed by other firm product.
12. Competitor: This is a firm that competes against other firm so as to know the firm that will be the market leader.
13. Marketing Concept: This is a philosophy of business that states the customers wants, satisfying the economic and social justification for a firm existence W.J Stanton (1998).
14. Competitive Marketing: This is a market in which organization an individual in a healthy rivaly with a view of offering better customers satisfaction. Anyanwu (2003).