Could you tell me how many
marketing messages you've seen or heard since you woke up this morning?
Probably the answer is no. Messages stemming from advertising,
promotions, PR, direct marketing, and salesmen are everywhere. We
encounter them on our way to work, in newspapers and magazines, stores
and restaurants, when watching our favorite sports, looking out of an
airplane window, or even while socializing with friends. As a consumer,
it is impossible to keep track of everything marketers are trying to
tell us.
This abundance of marketing
messages is often referred to as clutter. Clutter makes consumers less
likely to pay attention to marketing messages. What is more, clutter
breeds avoidance behavior and skepticism, which makes consumers more
likely to actively resist marketing messages. This thesis sets out to
further our understanding of marketing communications in a cluttered
environment. The thesis comprises five articles in which issues of
clutter are empirically investigated.
Specifically, conventional wisdoms
regarding slogans, media choice, and PR are put to test in more
ecologically valid settings than what has been used in previous
research. By including these settings, our understanding of marketing
communications in the presence of competing messages is improved.
Whereas clutter to date is mostly
considered a challenge for advertising, the thesis broadens the
perspective by showing that clutter is a challenge to, and consequence
of, all types of marketing communications. By offering a framework for
understanding clutter, the thesis provides support for marketers trying
to make sense of message competition and what it means for their
marketing communications. It also provides ideas of how to face the
clutter challenge – or even benefit from it.
Sara Rosengren is a researcher at
the Center for Consumer Marketing
