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Archives of Business Research – Vol. 9, No. 3
Publication Date: March, 03, 2021
DOI: 10.14738/abr.93.9783.
Kenneth, C. A., Wami, S. (2021). Advertising Appeals and Customer Loyalty in Telecommunication Firms in Portharcourt. Archives of
Business Research, 9(3). 35-51.
Advertising Appeals and Customer Loyalty in
Telecommunication Firms in Portharcourt
Kenneth, C. Adiele (Phd)
Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing
Faculty of Management Sciences, Rivers State University
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Wami, Solomon
Department of marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences
Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between
Advertising Appeals and Customer Loyalty in Telecommunication firms in
Port Harcourt. The study population comprised four (4) registered and
functional Telecommunication service providing firms operating in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State. The authors adopted a census study due to the small
nature of the study population hence; there was no need for sampling.
Thirty two (32) strategic managers of the four telecommunication firms
constituted our respondents for the study. However, eight (8) respondents
were randomly drawn from each of the telecommunication companies and
thirty two (32) copies of structured questionnaire were administered to the
managerial staff of the firms at their respective offices while twenty five
(25) copies were retrieved, cleaned and used for the study. Descriptively,
measures of central tendencies and measures of dispersions were used in
analyzing the respondent’s demographics. Similarly, the Pearson Product
Moment Correlation was used in testing the various hypotheses in other to
ascertain the relationship between the predictor variable (Advertising
Appeals) and the criterion variable (Customer Loyalty). The result of the
analysis revealed that Advertising Appeals significantly influenced
Customer Loyalty in Telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt. The study
further discovered that amongst the dimensions of Advertising Appeals
used in this study that Rational advertising appeal was found to be the most
significant predictor of Customer Loyalty in Telecommunication firms in
Port Harcourt. Hence, the researcher concluded that Advertising Appeals
significantly affect Customer Loyalty and therefore recommended that the
management of Telecommunication firms in Port-Harcourt should adopt
the dimensions of advertising appeal used for the study as strategies for
improving their level of customer loyalty.
Key Words: Rational Appeal, Emotional Appeal, Moral Appeal, Perceived
Price Fairness and Telecom Customer Loyalty.
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Kenneth, C. A., Wami, S. (2021). Advertising Appeals and Customer Loyalty in Telecommunication Firms in Portharcourt. Archives of Business
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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.93.9783.
INTRODUCTION
The Nigerian telecommunication industry has experienced phenomenal growth in its
subscribers’ base, making it a highly competitive sector. And in this strongly competitive
and liberalized telecommunication industry, customers are able to choose among multiple
service providers based on the level of satisfaction, affordability, and service quality of
service providers. A major challenge facing telecommunication service providers in Nigeria
today is the continuous growing competition and customers’ expectation of service quality.
Customer demand and competition are forcing firms to cut loose from the traditional
customer satisfaction paradigm to adopt proactive strategies which will assist them to take
the lead in the market place.
Telecommunication firms operating in Rivers State Nigeria are consequently put into lot of
pressures due to increase in competition (Adiele and Grend, 2015).Various strategies are
formulated to retain the customers and the key of it is to increase the customer loyalty
level. Advertising appeals as a communication strategy is essential in the
telecommunication service context because it influences customer patronage, loyalty and
hence becomes a key to competitive advantage (Mosahab, Mahamad,and Ramayah, 2010).).
Furthermore, various advertising claims have been posited; some are genuine, while a
number of them may seem deceptive. The ability of the consumer to take a final decision
thereof is influenced by the nature of the advertising appeal used (Godwin, 2014).
Berkman and Gilson (2000) defined advertising appeals as an attempt at creativity that
inspires consumer’s motives for purchase and affect consumer’s attitude towards a
specific product or services. Advertising appeals can also be defined as an application of a
psychological motivating power to arouse consumer’s desires and attraction for buying
while sending broadcasting signal to change receiver’s concept of the product. Hence,
advertising appeals is applied to attract the consumer concept of the product and to affect
them emotionally about a specific product or services (Belch and Belch, 2002).
Furthermore, advertising appeals aim to influence the way consumers view themselves and
how buying certain products can prove to be beneficial to them. The message conveyed
through advertising appeals influences the purchasing decisions of consumers.
Remarkably, the essence of the adoption of various advertising appeals (rational, emotional
and moral appeals) is to increase customer loyalty and patronage of a firm. The ability to
attract the right target market, making them buy or consume the product on a regular basis
and in high quantities and advocating for the product enabling more customers to shift
from the substitute products to your product is termed as Customer loyalty. It is often
described as the ability to generate repeat orders from the customers and securing good
ratings and reviews.
The authors’ preliminary investigations revealed that some of the telecommunication firms
in Port Harcourt experience low level of customer loyalty and patronage at one time or the
other in spite of the sales promotion strategies adopted. Could the inconsistent level of
loyalty experienced by these firms be associated to poor adoption and application of
advertising appeals strategies? Oliver (1999) posited that the customers who stay loyal to
an organization are considered as its asset. Moreover, according to Moisescu and Allen
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(2010) many practitioners and researchers acknowledged customer loyalty (CL) as a key to
success and survival of a business. Some researchers have also tried to separately measure
customer loyalty using different constructs and concepts (Lee, Lee, & Feick, 2001).).
Previous studies have been conducted on the relationship between service quality and
loyalty in retail stores in Egypt (Amin, etal, 2012.Sabir et al., 2013). The studies revealed
that service quality is positively and significantly related to customer loyalty. More so,
studies were conducted on the influence of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty in
Jordan telecommunication companies (Joachim et al., 2012; Caruana, 2002).It was however
revealed that customer satisfaction is one of contributing factors to customer loyalty. In
addition, Mosahab, Mahamad, and Ramayah, (2010,) in studying the relationship between
service quality and customer loyalty in UK telecommunication firms found that service
quality, perceived price and service reliability significantly relates to customer loyalty.
Furthermore, Kalu and Enyia, (2017), investigated the effect of Advertising Appeal and
Purchase Intention of beer consumers in Port Harcourt. Recently, Sadeghiet al, (2015)
examined the effect of advertising appeal of hamate oral mobile operator on attitude
towards advertising and brand attitude. To the best of our knowledge, it appears that none
of these studies examined the relationship between advertising appeals and customer
loyalty in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Therefore, against this
backdrop, this study is designed to empirically ascertain the relationship between
advertising appeals and customer loyalty in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State of Nigeria.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical Framework
Baseline Theory (Theory of Planned Behaviour / Reasoned Action)
The Theory of Reasoned Action was developed by Fishbein and Ajzen, (1975). The
theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) believes that an individual’s intention towards a
particular behaviour is a function of his attitude towards engaging in such behavour as well
as the subjective norms, which relates to purchase behaviour. This theory is relevant and
fits into this study because consumers of telecommunication firms must be attracted to
their products, sometimes through various Advertising appeals which may include:
rational appeal, emotional appeal and other times through moral appeals. All these
advertising appeals are for the ultimate purpose of influencing the mind of customers
towards continuous patronage and ultimate loyalty.
Nabsiah, Elham, and Tan (2011), noted that the extent to which the theory succeeds in predicting
behavioural intention is usually evaluated by means of linear multiple regression analysis. In this
study, variables external to the theory of reasoned action were included in other to predict
consumer’s behavioural intention to be loyal to telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State. The variables included are (Advertising Appeals, Rational Appeal, Moral Appeal,
Emotional Appeal, Perceived Price Fairness and Customer Loyalty).
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Understanding Advertising Appeals
Advertising appeals is one of the main communicator that a firm uses to expose consumers
to its products. According to Sadeghi et al (2015), advertising appeal is a process whereby
customers are communicated to understand how certain products proves to be beneficial
to them. Kotler (1997) further explains that advertising appeal forms the theme of every
marketing effort. In order to ensure that consumers/audience grab the message that
marketers pass through, it is very necessary that those who carry out advertising function
apply some driving effort into their action and this can be referred to as appeal. Every
appeal done by advertisers ought to have some element of attraction which could increase
the desires of target consumers towards purchasing such product.
Advertising appeal is the main message in an advertising message. In general, any message
that is designed to motivate consumers for purchasing is an advertising message. In fact,
the role of advertising appeal is in such a way that they attract the audience’s attention and
create reactions in them. Hence, Lin, et al, (2001) posited that advertising appeal is used to
attract the attention of consumers in changing the product concept for them. In summary, it
can be concluded that the purpose of advertising appeal is to influence consumer attitude
about a product or service. Therefore, advertisers use different persuasion tactics as the
advertising appeal to attract the attention of target audience. However, Kalu and Enyia
(2017), affirm that the essence of advertising appeal is to ensure that both affective and
cognitive components of consumer’s psychology are attracted to the product. According to
Belch and Belch (2012) since the buying motive is the reason for purchasing, the appeal is
the basic ingredient of the advertisement. It is therefore the focal point under which entire
advertisement is built or constructed. The next section discusses the dimensions of
advertising appeals used in the study as posited by Kotler and Armstrong (2010).
Rational Advertising Appeal
Rational advertising appeal as an aspect of advertising appeal are those appeal which focus
on consumer’s practical need of organizations products and such appeal only concentrate
on the products, its uses as well as how it would benefit customers (Kotler, 2003). Such
appeals are often advertised on print media and it also requires high level of involvement
as well as attention. Rational appeal often concentrates on products characteristics and
those consumers who would purchase the product would have been satisfied by the
features listed in the product.
Rational appeals focus on the consumer’s functional, utilitarian or practical need for the
product or service. It also emphasizes features of the product or service and the benefit of
owning or using a particular brand.
Moral Advertising Appeal
The relevance of moral advertising appeals in influencing consumer purchase decision and
loyalty cannot be over emphasized. Kotler (1994), Grayson and Ambler (1999) opined
that moral advertising appeal is the type of advertising appeal in which a firm employs a
person who is generally recognizable, famous or well known by the public to promote its
product or service. It is similar to celebrity advertising. More so, moral appeals are
directed to the audience’s sense of what they believe is right and proper. According to
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Beniers (2009), this may include such appeals as ecological appeals and nationalism. The
often-interchanging use of appeals and values by some researchers can be explained
looking at the interaction that is necessary between the two aspects such as the values a
consumer holds and values that are the underlying source of appeals.
Emotional Advertising Appeal
Emotional or “feeling” advertising appeals have received significant attention over the past
decade in consumer behavior research ((Claeys and Roozen 2009). According to Jamal
&Naser, (2002), emotional appeals can be described as those that appeal to the self-interest
of the audience. Further, Thorson and Leavitt (1992), noted that the main areas of the
emotional appeals are quality, value or the performance.
Notably, “emotions are strongly, relatively and uncontrollable personal feelings that affect
one’s behavior’’ (Lee, 2013).It means emotion can change customer behavior. Emotional
advertising is Advertisements that can evoke a wide range of emotional responses, from
disgust to happiness” (Lee, 2013). Kotler (1997) is of the opinion that emotional appeal is a
process whereby purchase intention of consumers is stimulated by ensuring that employee
emotion is aroused. Kotler (2003), further explained that emotional appeals could come in
form of sex appeal, social appeal, humor appeal, music appeal etc.
Understanding Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty has been measured by various researchers in different studies. Carmen,(
2007), used the following as measures of customer loyalty : repeat orders, positive word- of-mouth, repetitive purchase, referrals. Genoveva (2015) measured customer loyalty
using: repeat purchase, customer retention and referrals. Furthermore, Amna and Hamna
(2014) measures of customer loyalty were: repurchase intention, customer trust, repeat
orders, and repeat purchase behavior and customer retention. In this paper, the measures
of customer loyalty posited by Amna and Hamna (2014) were modified and adapted to suit
the study in the Nigerian telecommunication firms. Specifically, the measures of customer
loyalty used in paper comprise: Customer trust, Repeat purchase behavior and Customer
retention. These three measures are discussed in the preceding section.
Customer Trust
Ba and Pavlou (2002) defined customer trust as an assessment of one's relationship with
others who will conduct certain transactions in line with expectations in an environment
full of uncertainty. Customer trust occurs when a person is confident in the reliability and
integrity of the people you trust. According to Costabile, et al (2002), customer trust is
defined as the perception of the reliability of the customer's perspective based on
experience or more in the sequences of transactions or interactions were characterized by
the fulfillment of expectations of product performance and satisfaction.
Trust on the other hand refers to the innate confidence customers demonstrate in regards
to the reliability and integrity of the supplier to deliver optimal service. There is no
organization that can progress without developing mutual trust with customers, which is
dependent on the ability to deliver exceptional service. More so trust involves the
willingness of a person to behave in particular way because of the belief that its partners
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will deliver what its expected with a general expectation that a person says, warranties or
representations of other people can be trusted (Barnes, 2004).When a customer feels good
about a particular brand then she will develop a positive attitude towards the purchase of
that brand. In summary, the authors defines customer trust within the confines of this
study in telecommunication firms as the faith, believe and conviction that customers have
in their preferred network provider’s ability to deliver on their product, services and
network promises consistently without compromising or taking the customers transaction
for granted.
Repeat Purchase Behaviour
Understanding consumer patronage and knowing customers are not simple tasks, because
consumers may say one thing today but do another thing tomorrow. Repeat purchase can
be described as consistent patronage that results from customer satisfaction with a specific
product from the same organization. It can also be seen as the buying of a product or
services by a consumer of the same brand. Repeat customers are customers who are
satisfied emotionally, intellectually, physically by an organization offering, which could be
in form of a product, which exceeds expectations Foster et al (2011). Wirtz and Lewin
(2009) posited that repeat purchase behavior is the willingness of an individual to re- patronize a services organization. In a relationship built on trust, commitment is
engendered and then becomes a major predictor of future purchases. Customers regularly
visit a particular firm based on their perception of trust that is, they belief that the
company has their best interest at heart when providing a service (Carpenter, Jason and Ann
2005)). Repeat patronage behaviour is often a measure of loyalty to a brand by consumers,
higher repeat patronage value means a well returned, satisfied customer, also higher
repeat patronage value drives higher customer value which means a better top line in the
loyalty ladder (Guenzi, Paolo and OttaviaPelloni , 2004).
Customer Retention
Today’s competitive environment maximizes customer retention probability so as to sustain the
company’s protection against inroads competition. Customer retention is needed to achieve this
goal. Ramakrishnan, (2006) defines customer retention as the marketing goal of preventing
customers from going to the competitor. Customer retention is the way in which organizations
focus their efforts on existing custom Customer retention is more than giving the customer what
they expect; it is about exceeding their expectation so that they become loyal advocates for your
brands. Buttle (2004) posits that customer retention is the number of customers doing business
with a firm at the end of a financial year expressed as a percentage of customers that were active
at the beginning of the year. (Mostert, Meyer, & Rensburg, 2009). Customer retention is
potentially one of the most powerful weapons that companies can employ in their fight to gain a
strategic advantage and survive in today’s ever- increasing competitive environment. It is vitally
important to understand the factors that impact on customer retention and the role that it can play
in formulating strategies and plans. However, a conceptual framework of the relationship
between Advertising Appeals and Customer loyalty is depicted in figure 1 as follows:
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Advertising Appeals
(AP)
Rational Advertising
Appeal (RAA)
Moral Advertising Appeal
(MAA)
Emotional Advertising
Appeal (EAA)
Customer Trust (CT)
Repeat Purchase
Behaviour(RPB)
Customer loyalty (CL)
Customer Retention (CR)
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK/STUDY VARIABLES
Figure1: The conceptual framework of the relationship between Advertising Appeals and
Customer loyalty in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt
Source: Authors conceptualization from the review of related literature 2020.
STUDY METHODOLOGY
The research approach adopted in this study is the non- experimental research type and it
was designed based on the cross-sectional survey method which offers a wide coverage
and permits generalizability of research findings. The population for this study consisted
four (4) mobile network companies, which are MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile
formerly known as Etisalat Company. These companies that constituted our study
population were the ones which are predominantly involved in voice call services only and
were also registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Nigeria
Communication Commission (NCC). They also operate on the 900/1800MHz spectrum
(Nigeria Communication Commission, 2020). The study was mainly restricted to Port
Harcourt which comprised two major Local Governments: Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt
City Local Government Areas. These Local Government Areas are the largest in Rivers State
in terms of population because of the heavy presence of oil and gas and other
manufacturing companies, thereby making the area a commercial nerve Centre. The
authors adopted a census approach to the study because the population of study was small
hence; there was no need for sampling.
The validity of the scales used in this study was assessed for content, construct and face
validity. The content validity was ensured based on review of similar constructs from
previous studies. The questionnaire used by Kotler, (2003), Amna & Hamna (2014) and
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especially Chaaminda and Wanninayake (2019), concerning emotional advertising appeals
and brand trust towards commercial banks in Sri Lanka was adapted, modified and refined
to suit our study. Similarly, the researcher used the Cronbach’s Alpha analysis to ascertain
the reliability and internal consistency of the measurement instrument while the Pearson
Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used in testing the relationship between
Advertising Appeals and Customer Loyalty of telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State of Nigeria with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
version 22.0, Table 1, shows the instrument reliability rate for the constructs of the study.
Table 1. Reliability Coefficients of Advertising Appeals and the attributes of Customer
Loyalty
Variables Construct No. of Items Alpha (α)
Advertising Appeal Rational Appeal 5 0.731
Emotional Appeal 5 0.752
Moral Appeal 5 0.752
Customer Loyalty Customer Trust 3 0.761
Repeat Purchase Behaviour 3 0.881
Customer Retention 3 0.841
Perceived Price Fairness 4 0.802
Source (SPSS) version 22.0.
Table 1, showed different Cronbach’s Alpha value for the 6 constructs of the scaled
questionnaire which were all considered sufficiently adequate for the study. Over all, this
indicated that there was internal consistency of the variables scaled and that the variables
construct exhibited strong internal reliability. Notably, the results therefore confirmed that the
instrument we used for this study had satisfactory construct reliability.
Test of Hypotheses, Results and Discussions of Findings
Univarate Data Analyses
Univarate analysis is basically the process of describing individual variables in a study.
According to Sullivan (2001), univariate statistics are used to describe the distribution of a
single variable through the use of simple frequency tables. According to Saunders et al
(2003), commencing initial analysis is best done by looking at individual variables and
their respective components. Earlier in this study, we clearly delineated our study variables
as – Advertising Appeals - predictor variable; and customer loyalty as the criterion variable.
Table 2. Descriptive Statistics for the Study Variables
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Advertising Appeal Variables 25 3.27 4.53 3.8533 .37761
Patronage 25 2.89 4.00 3.4933 .32248
Perceived Price Fairness 25 1.50 5.00 3.5500 1.16592
Valid N (listwise) 25
Source: (SPSS output version 23.0)
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The data in table 2 illustrates the descriptive statistics summary for the study variables
which are advertising appeal (independent variable), customer loyalty (dependent
variable) and perceived price fairness (moderating variable) with mean scores of 3.8533,
3.4933 and 3.5500 respectively. The high mean value suggests that the variables are
predominantly relevant in the firms that constituted our study population.
Bivariate Analysis
In a bivariate analyses, two variables that are associated or correlated is been evaluated to
ascertain the magnitude of relationship that exist between them. This section depicts the
test of hypotheses and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation is considered appropriate
and was used to test the hypothesized relationships in our study. The study hypotheses and
analysis are presented as follows:
Ho1: There is no significant relationship between rational advertising appeal and
customer loyalty in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt
Table 3. Rational advertising Appeal and customer Loyalty
Rational
Advertising
Appeal Customer Trust
Rational Advertising Appeal Pearson Correlation 1 .890
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 25 25
Customer Trust Pearson Correlation .890 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 25 25
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Source: Research Data 2020 (SPSS output, version 23.0)
The result of correlation matrix obtained between rational advertising appeal and
customer loyalty is shown in Table 3. Similarly displayed in the Table is the statistical test
of significance (p - value), which makes possible the generalization of our findings to the
study population. Based on the result shown in Table 3, the correlation coefficient (rho)
depicts that there is a significant and very strong relationship between rational advertising
appeal and customer trust. The correlation coefficient of 0.890 confirms the degree and
strength of this relationship and it is significant at p 0.000<0.01. The coefficient represents
a very strong correlation between the variables. Therefore, based on observed findings the
null hypothesis earlier stated is hereby rejected and the alternate upheld. Thus, there is a
significant relationship between rational advertising appeal and customer loyalty in
telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt.
Ho2: There is no significant relationship between emotional advertising appeal and
customer loyalty in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt
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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.93.9783.
Table 4. Emotional advertising Appeal and customer Loyalty
Emotional
advertising
Appeal Customer Trust
Emotional advertising Appeal Pearson Correlation 1 .731
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 25 25
Customer Trust Pearson Correlation .731 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 25 25
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Source: Research Data 2020 (SPSS output, version 23.0)
The result of correlation matrix obtained between emotional advertising appeal and
customer loyalty is shown in Table 4. Similarly displayed in the table is the statistical test of
significance (p - value), which makes possible the generalization of our findings to the
study population. Based on the result shown in Table 4. The correlation coefficient (rho)
depicts that there is a significant relationship between emotional advertising appeal and
customer loyalty. The correlation coefficient of 0.731 confirms the degree and strength of
this relationship and it is significant at p 0.000<0.01. The coefficient represents a very
strong correlation between the variables. Therefore, based on observed findings the null
hypothesis earlier stated is hereby rejected and the alternate upheld. Thus, there is a
significant relationship between emotional advertising appeal and customer loyalty in
telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt.
Ho3: There is no significant relationship between moral advertising appeal and customer
trust in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt
Table 5. Moral advertising Appeal and customer loyalty
Moral advertising Appeal Customer Trust
Moral advertising
Appeal
Pearson Correlation 1 .522**
Sig. (2-tailed) .007
N 25 25
Customer Trust Pearson Correlation .522** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .007
N 25 25
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Source: Research Data 2020 (SPSS output, version 23.0)
The result of correlation matrix obtained between moral advertising appeal and customer
loyalty is shown in Table 5. Similarly displayed in the table is the statistical test of
significance (p - value), which makes possible the generalization of our findings to the
study population. Based on the result shown in Table 5, correlation coefficient (rho)
depicts that there is a significant relationship between moral advertising appeal and
customer loyalty. The correlation coefficient of 0.552 confirms the degree and strength of
this relationship and it is significant at p 0.000<0.01. The coefficient represents a moderate
correlation between the variables. Therefore, based on observed findings the null
hypothesis earlier stated is hereby rejected and the alternate upheld. Thus, there is a
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significant relationship between moral advertising appeal and customer loyalty in
telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt.
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Relationship between Rational Advertising Appeal and Customer loyalty
The test of hypotheses one as shown in Table 3 revealed that there is a significant and
positive relationship between rational advertising appeal and customer loyalty in
telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt. This finding confirms the arguments of
Olalekanet al. (2015); Russo and Chaxel (2010) who believed that the impact of rational
advertising appeal on consumer choice and loyalty offered two significant advantages. It
allowed access to a large selection of naturally occurring stimuli. Next, it offered a natural
and observable consequence of successful persuasion namely the advertised product.
According to Ugwu (2014), the successful use of advertising helps to bridge the gap
between the various social classes (rich and poor) in the Nigerian society regarding
Nigerian Telecommunication Limited (NITEL). Furthermore, it shows that there are
influences in the purchasing habit of subscribers when engagement on advertisement is
evidently increasing sales.
The current finding agrees with Schiffman and Kanuk (2007) who indicated that
advertising appeal may change consumers’ attitude. by using broadcast messages to trigger
consumers’ inner momentum psychologically, consumers are likely to echo and recognize
the advertising messages and further change their attitude towards the advertised product.
Ray and Batra (1983) pointed out that emotional identification comes before rational
identification during a cognitive process. Emotional messages are more vivid and thus
rational appeal works better than emotional appeal in attracting consumers’ attention.
Aaker and Norris (1982) found that the advertising attitude created by rational appeal is
better than that by emotional appeal. Rational appeal appears to provide information
explicitly and directly related to a product, which attracts consumers’ attention more easily
and generates a better advertising attitude. Gloden and Johnson (1983) proposed that
rational appeal covers more product information and practical content thus, attracting
consumers and creating better purchase intentions and customer loyalty than emotional
appeal. They believed that rational appeal works better in arousing consumers’ interests
than emotional appeal. Furthermore, when service or product performance is in
consonance with the advertised messages it increases customer satisfaction, retention,
repeat purchase and enhanced customer loyalty.
Furthermore, the current finding confirmed the findings of the study of Kalu and Enyia
(2017) on advertising appeal and purchase intention of Beer consumers in Port Harcourt in
which they found that rational appeal affects consumer purchase intention. They also
added that rational appeal has the ability of influencing the behaviour of consumers and
their purchase intention and loyalty. This finding also was corroborated by Chu (1996)
who posited that rational appeal as a means of advertising has high influence on purchase
intention of consumers and influencing brand loyalty.
Furthermore, in a study conducted by Marin et al (2014), on rational and emotional
communication in advertising in women’s magazine in Brazil, based on exploratory study,
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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.93.9783.
it was found that advertising with rational appeals motivates consumers through
information and logical arguments. This is also supported by Manso (2004) that
information or rational content which focuses on practical, functional or utilitarian needs of
the consumer for the products has positive influence on purchase behaviuor and customer
loyalty. In this case, by assuming rational arguments in advertising their products,
advertisers believe that receiving different levels of information, consumers can make
smart purchasing decisions, choosing different product alternatives that will maximize
their benefits and ensure value for money. From the forgoing discussion thus far and also
based on the empirical results obtained, the authors conclude that rational advertising
appeals affect customer loyalty in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt.
Relationship between Emotional Advertising Appeal and Customer loyalty
The test of hypotheses two in Table 4 revealed that there is a significant positive
relationship between emotional advertising appeal and customer loyalty in
telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt. This finding confirms the arguments of Belch
and Belch (2012) that emotional appeal enhances the consumers’ emotional need and in
fulfilling their psychological status. Some characteristics of emotional appeals are related to
personal feelings such as fear, love, joy, affection, safety, security, nostalgia, sentiment,
comfort, self-esteem, pride, sorrow and grief. Other characteristics of emotional appeals are
related to social based feelings such as recognition, status, respect, involvement,
embarrassment, affiliation, rejection, acceptance and approval (Belch and Belch, 2012).
Again, the current finding corroborate with the views of Thorson and Leavitt (1992); Choi
and Thorson, (1983) who opined that emotional appeals are more effective and memorable
than rational appeals. The result of their study also supported the findings of the research
done in the twin cities of Pakistan by Ghulam et al. (2012); that, there is positive
relationship of emotional responses with consumer buying behavior, that consumers
purchase behavior is by emotional response. More so, Belch and Belch (2012), in their
study on “The effect of emotional versus rational appeal in advertising on Malaysian
consumers’ purchase intention of hybrid car posited that rational appeals advertisements
are often dull and too informative. In their views, adapting a new innovation such as hybrid
cars that focus more on improving the environment, emotional appeal might also work in
igniting a sense of responsibility by purchasing an eco-friendly product that may help the
environment, increase patronage and customer loyalty. In addition, emotional appeals
could also give the competitive advantages on promoting a products and services loyalty.
Edell and Moore (2006) opined in their study that emotional advertisement attracts
customer attention and enhance the interest in advertisement and encourage them to
embrace the experience of the celebrity who endorsed it. Correspondingly, customer start
relating advertisement message with themselves and the likeability and convincing power
of advertisement has dramatically increased. Alvarez & Cavanagh (2004) described in their
study that emotional advertisement put customer in a good mood and they immediately
have a nice feeling about the advert. Hermeking (2006) conclude in his study that
emotional advertisement is the most memorable and create pleasant association with the
brands and increase brand recognition. Several researches conducted in the related
domain found a significant and positive relationship between emotional advertisement and
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Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol 9, Issue 3, March-2021
customer buying practices and customer loyalty. Emotional advertisement enhances
message comprehension, cultivate a strong relationship with customer and increase
credibility of brand choices. It provokes the intention of purchase regardless of specific
product need (Samovar & McDaniel, 2012). Batra and Ray (1986) investigated the role of
emotions in generating purchase appeal and suggest a logical association between
emotional adverts and customer acceptance rate. He also found that responses driven
through emotional advertisement has the power to affect buying decision (Batra and Ray,
1986).
Niazi, Siddiqui, and Alishah, (2012) found in their study that there is significant
relationship between emotional advertisement and people buying decision. Due to
increasing exposure, people have become more responsive to the emotional cues rather
than rational appeal. Emotional advertisement helps to memorize the brand and leads to
direct purchase and repurchase. According to (Hermeking, 2006), emotional factor in
advertisement grab customer attention, arouse interest, create desire and motivate them to
take final purchase decision. William, (2000) analyzed in their study that customer brand
recognition, brand recall, brand preferences finally purchase decision depends on the type
of emotion used in advertisement. Marketers use advertisement to promote their brands
and emotions in advertisement can create positive and negative brand image in the minds
of customer, influence patronage and ultimately improve customer loyalty. The result of
this study corroborates the views of Plutchik (2003) that one of the most influential
approaches to getting emotional responses from consumers is the use of emotional
advertising appeals. From the forgoing discussion thus far and also based on the empirical
results obtained, the authors conclude that emotional advertising appeals affect customer
loyalty in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt.
Relationship between Moral Advertising Appeal and Customer loyalty
The test of hypotheses three as evidenced in Table 5 revealed that there is a significant
positive relationship between moral advertising appeal and customer loyalty in tele- communication firms in Port Harcourt. This finding confirms the arguments of Beniers
(2009) on cultural differences in television advertising, in which it was revealed that those
who engage in advertising often refer to core values when selecting their moral appeals
which has enhanced the loyalty of customers as evidenced in the patronage behavior of
consumer based on their cultural differences.
The current finding also agree with the views of Dick and Basu (1994) in their study on
consumer loyalty toward an integrated conceptual framework found that the use of moral
appeals or the values held by consumers in advertising appeals positively impacted on
their buying behaviour and consequently elicit loyalty towards the company. Batra and Ray
(1985) in their study on how advertising works at contact found that use of values and
morals held in high esteem by individuals will drive them towards such appeals and
behaviour.
Again the current study finding gives credence to Keller (2006), in his study on importance
of corporate branded personality traits to a successful 21st century business found that
advertising appeals using personalities with high moral values in the society importantly
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Kenneth, C. A., Wami, S. (2021). Advertising Appeals and Customer Loyalty in Telecommunication Firms in Portharcourt. Archives of Business
Research, 9(3). 35-51.
48
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.93.9783.
affected the business success of corporate organizations. In addition, Morris and Elizabeth
(1982) also avowed this position that majority of the product consumption in a company is
influenced by the type of advertising appeal that they adopt especially those appeals that
consider consumer morals and values. From the preceding discussion thus far and also
based on the pragmatic results obtained, the authors conclude that moral advertising
appeals affect customer loyalty in telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt.
CONCLUSION
This study has shown that people will remember advertisements and respond more
favorably if the adverts exhibit different product benefits and features that are in line with
consumer expectation and personality. It is widely believed that the emphasis on product
features and benefits serve as a veritable marketing strategy, thus these findings support
such assertion because there was statistical evidence. Based on the empirical findings and
results obtained from the test of postulated hypotheses in this paper, the authors conclude
that advertising appeals affect customer loyalty of telecommunication firms in Port
Harcourt, Rivers state and recommends that telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State Nigeria should adopt the dimensions of advertising appeals used for the study
as veritable strategies to communicate their product and service offerings to their
customers.
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