Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review__________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836

Vol.2 (7), July (2013)

Online available at indianresearchjournals.com

COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF RADIO, PRINT AND WEB

ADVERTISING
PRITHVI B.J.; MIHIR DASH

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS,
ALLIANCE UNIVERSITY, ANEKAL, BANGALORE.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT
TV advertising is usually projected as the most effective form of advertising, but this is now met
with much skepticism. Also, in comparison to TV, the potential of other media such as radio,
print and web, are not given due importance. The objective of this study is to compare the
effectiveness of radio, print and internet advertising over and above TV advertising.

The findings of this study shed some light on the potential of the internet, print, and radio as
advertising media, particularly in targeting particular consumer segments. It shows the growing
importance of internet advertising in consumer purchase behaviour, particularly in delivering
product information. It highlights the popularity of radio, especially among the youth. It also
shows that print advertising is perceived to be effective in changing attitudes. Finally, it gives
enough reason to believe that TV advertising is indeed the most effective medium of advertising.
With the advent of new technology, two or more media can be combined and this prospect offers
great new avenues to be exploited.

KEYWORD: TV advertising, radio advertising, internet advertising, print advertising, media

preference, advertising effectiveness.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction
Advertising is a medium of mass communication, facilitating large scale marketing. The basic
purpose of advertising is to give information, to attract attention, to create awareness and finally
to influence the buying behavior of consumers. Advertising is within the scope of promotion
which is one element in the marketing mix. It is getting popularity in the present highly
competitive and consumer-oriented marketing, and new communication techniques are now used
for making advertising attractive and agreeable. All products old and new, consumer and
durable, cheap and costly need extensive advertising for sales promotion and consumer support.
Advertising is certainly needed in marketing, but is equally important and essential in social,
cultural and political aspects of our life.

Advertising is the most important tool in the marketing of products and services. Advertising can
be considered as an investment that reaps long-run and short-run profits. Businesses that keep on
advertising regardless of rise or fall in the economic times get a competitive advantage over
those that cut their ad budgets. There are many benefits of advertising. Advertising spreads
awareness of the various products available, and the benefits of purchasing them. An effectual
advertisement results in a swift change in the attitudes and habits of the people. Advertising
provides information about new products, keeping customers informed about the new
developments in the industry. Also, advertising takes care of customers. It helps in holding on to

12
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review__________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836
Vol.2 (7), July (2013)
Online available at indianresearchjournals.com
the loyal customer, decreasing the number of lost customers and enlisting new customers. Thus
the overall effect of advertising is increase in the number of customers that will gradually
become loyal to the product.

The different types of advertising media are: Print, which includes Newspapers, Magazines,
Journals and other publications; Broadcast, which includes Radio and TV; Non-Broadcast, which
includes Video, Cable/Closed Circuit TV and Cinema; Outdoor, which includes Posters,
Hoardings, Neon Signs, Sky Advertising, and so on; Transit/ Vehicular, which includes Railway
trains, Buses and Trams, Taxis and Auto-rickshaws, and Private Vehicles; Point of purchase,
which includes Banners, Hangings, Packaging, Stickers, Painted Signs, Window Display, and so
on; Specialty Media, which includes T-shirts, buttons, caps, stickers, diaries, key-chains,
calendars, and so on; and others, such as Direct mail advertising, Trolleys at airports, etc.
Advertising media have their special features, merits, limitations and suitability. An advertiser
has to consider his advertising budget and select the most appropriate advertising media and use
them for advertising purpose. The most popular medium of advertisement is through television.
Although the cost of TV advertising is quite high, the benefits in the long run outweigh the high
costs. Television has been referred to as the ideal advertising medium, and to many people it
personifies the glamour and excitement of the industry.

Radio is another mass medium, with twin advantages of wide coverage and cost effectiveness. It
is dominated by the state-owned All India Radio (AIR), which covers 91% of India's area and
reaches 99% of the population through a wide network of broadcasting centres and transmitters.
Also, there are twenty-one privately-owned FM stations in twelve major cities. Radio has
evolved into a primarily local advertising medium, characterized by highly specialized
programming appealing to very narrow segments of the population (for example, different music
programs give advertisers the choice of targeting a teenage audience, an older audience with an
interest in classical music or cultural events, or a general audience).

India has an estimated 180 million radio sets, reaching over 99% of its one billion inhabitants,
thus having vast commercial potential in India for this medium. For many people, radio is a
constant companion in their cars, at home, even at work. The average Indian listens to the radio
more than three hours each day. Globally, radio is enjoying a renaissance based on the support of
the youth. They seem to prefer it since unlike television it is more compatible with their lifestyle.
Today's busy teenagers love radio because it complements a faster-paced lifestyle - they can
listen to music and get information on the move. They have taken very quickly to interacting
with their favourite radio stations and RJs via email and SMS for song requests and
competitions. While consumption in India is still largely at home, 'the radio on the move' trend is
catching on in urban and semi-urban areas. Like TV viewers, radio listeners are an important
audience for marketers.

The largest potential benefactor for radio advertising is the local retailer. The retail segment
globally constitutes a major portion of radio's clients and sales, but in India it accounts for a
small fraction; for example, in USA, 70% of all radio revenues come from local retailers, and, in
contrast, in India, retail comprises only 8% of radio advertising. Clearly, there is a need to unlock
the advertising potential in the retail segment. International research indicates that radio has 60%
of television’s effectiveness at increasing campaign awareness amongst an audience of 16 - 44

13
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review__________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836
Vol.2 (7), July (2013)
Online available at indianresearchjournals.com
yr. old radio listeners, while advertising on radio costs just 15% that of television, making radio
significantly more cost effective than television. In India, where the cost of television advertising
is more than seven times that of radio advertising, the cost effectiveness of radio advertising will
be even more acute, which can be a great proposition for local retailers. Another potential
benefactor for radio is the small business. Radio enables small business to match advertising
campaigns with their geographical markets; for example, local businesses can use local or
regional stations to reach local customers, while small businesses targeting national markets can
advertise on national radio. In fact, using national radio in conjunction with an e-commerce
website means that small businesses do not have to build a network of outlets to reach a national
audience.

Print is one of the dominant media, and has greatly contributed to the development of media.
Print media is found in many different forms, from newspapers (the most popular form) and
magazines to newsletters, brochures and posters. Other forms of print media, including direct
mail marketing, flyers, handbills, banners, billboards and press releases are less popular. New
innovative layouts are being tried and tested in the print media rather than the traditional layouts
to attract consumer’s attention, particularly for food products and cellular services. With the
growth of the broadcast media, particularly television, reading habits declined. But despite the
competition from the broadcast media, newspaper and magazines have remained important
media vehicles to both consumers and advertisers.

Newspapers are still the primary advertising medium in terms of both ad revenue and number of
advertisers. Newspapers are particularly important as a local advertising medium for hundreds of
thousands of retail businesses and are often used by large national advertisers as well. Magazines
are also an important and highly specialized medium, reaching specific target audiences. While
the target market for niche print publications is an advantage for businesses looking to reach
those readers, some print publications have a variety of readers with varying characteristics who
read their publications on any given day. This is especially the case for local publications such as
newspapers.

Print media, unlike other media, is tangible. Readers are engaged as they turn page after page to
read articles, look at images and view advertisements in their favorite magazines or newspapers.
Newspapers and magazines differ from the broadcast media because they allow the presentation
of detailed information that can be processed at the reader’s own pace, and some effort on the
part of the reader for the advertising message to have an impact. Also, newspapers and
magazines are viewed as credible sources for information. While newspapers are often disposed
after use, the life span of a magazine can go on for years. These factors represent an important
aspect of print media that other media cannot offer.

While newspaper advertising is cost-efficient, magazine advertising can be costly depending on

the popularity of the magazine, its history, readership, frequency and production costs. Smaller
publications that are unable to garner the attention of large brands may offer lower advertising
rates. Since print advertising prices vary, companies offer databases which provide businesses
with advertising rates, contact information and advertising schedules for major and niche print
publications.

14
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review__________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836
Vol.2 (7), July (2013)
Online available at indianresearchjournals.com
Printing has become more cost-efficient and alterations were more easily executed with the
advent of new digital techniques. Despite this, more and more industry professionals are turning
to online options to accomplish advertising and marketing objectives, and many magazines and
newspapers are shifting away from print media as well.

Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web to deliver
marketing messages to attract customers. These include contextual ads on search engine results
pages, banner ads, blogs, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, interstitial ads, online
classified advertising, advertising networks and e-mail marketing, including e-mail spam. Web-
related advertising has a variety of sites to publicize and reach a niche audience to focus its
attention to a specific group. Research has proven that online advertising has given results and is
a growing business revenue.

The internet has become an ongoing emerging source that tends to expand more and more. This
growth has attracted the attention of advertisers as a more productive source to bring in
consumers. A major benefit of online advertising is the immediate publishing of information and
content that is not limited by geography or time. Thus, online advertisements are more
comprehensive in comparison to any other medium. Online advertisements are interactive,
giving consumers the control over the product, choosing whether to check it out or not. Online
advertisements may also offer various forms of animation, making them more attractive to
consumers. Another benefit is the efficiency of advertiser's investment. Online advertising allows
for the customization of advertisements, including content and posted websites. For example,
AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google AdSense enable ads to be shown on relevant
web pages or alongside search result.

Through internet advertising, one can target the right audience by placing it in a way so that the
right customers can see it. For example, if youngsters or the corporate world is what the target
audience comprises of, internet advertisement is the best way to sell one’s product since they are
hooked to the internet for most times of the day. Social networking sites could also used
effectively to reach youngsters.

Internet advertisements are in the long run cheaper than other forms of advertisement, as there
are no reprinting and redistribution costs. Internet advertisements are relatively easier to design
and produce, due to user-friendly internet advertisement packages. They are also easier to
update, if necessary. The advertisement is usually outsourced to a professional, to strategically
advertise the concerned product or service. Often the costs are partly fixed, and partly
determined by a set number of “hits”, which varies accordingly with each advertiser.

However, internet advertising is still in its infancy and is a limited market. Although increasing
number of people availing the web for their benefit, the effectiveness of internet advertising has
been limited, in terms of the number of people who actually buy the product.

Methodology
Research suggests that television advertising still remains the dominant form of advertising, and
it is suggested that the other forms of advertising only complement television advertising.
However, with the emergence of new media such as the internet and mobile, the effectiveness of

15
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review__________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836
Vol.2 (7), July (2013)
Online available at indianresearchjournals.com
traditional media is now being questioned. In particular, internet advertising has been growing
rapidly at the cost of other media. The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of
radio, print and internet advertising over and above TV advertising. The study also looks at the
influence of demographic factors such as gender, age and income levels on the perception of
effectiveness of advertising in different media.

The data for the study was collected through a survey, administering a structured questionnaire.
The respondents of the survey consisted of a sample of 151 consumers in Bangalore, India,
selected through convenience sampling. The respondents were predominantly men (65.6%), and
mainly youth (11.9% of the respondents were less than 18 years of age, and 64.2% were in the
age group 18 - 25 years). In terms of income groups, 38.4% of the respondents had a family
income of less than Rs.3 lakh, 30.5% had a family income in the range Rs. 3 - 7 lakh, 17.8% had
a family income in the range Rs. 7 - 11 lakh, and 13.3% had a family income of more than Rs. 11
lakh.

The media habits of the respondents were as follows. 72.8% of the respondents listened to radio
for less than an hour each day, 19.2% listened to radio for between one and two hours each day,
5.3% listened to radio for between two and four hours each day, and 2.6% listened to radio for
more than four hours each day. Similarly, 62.3% of the respondents read newspapers/magazines
for less than one hour each day, 31.8% read newspapers/magazines for between one and two
hours each day, 4.5% read newspapers/magazines for between two and four hours each day, and
1.3% read newspapers/magazines for more than four hours each day. However, the trend in
surfing on the Internet was quite different. 31.8% of the respondents surfed on the Internet for
more than four hours each day, 31.8% surfed on the Internet for between two and four hours
each day, 23.8% surfed on the Internet for between one and two four hours each day, and 12.6%
surfed on the Internet for less than one hour each day. The decline among the youth in listening
to radio and reading newspapers/magazines is perhaps due to the growth of the Internet. The
spectacular penetration of the Internet has made it a new medium to reach the customers.

Findings
The perception of the respondents with regard to the informativeness, attention, and attitude
aspects of radio, print, and internet advertisements are shown in the table below.

Table: perception of respondents with respect to the informativeness, attention, and

attitude aspects of radio, print, and internet advertisements
radio print internet χ2 stat p-value
Informativeness:
Convenient source of information 09.9% 32.8% 56.3% 48.6887 0.0000
Relevant product information 02.6% 28.5% 68.9% 100.9404 0.0000
Timely and up-to-date information 08.6% 17.9% 73.5% 111.6291 0.0000

Attention:
Attention-grabbing 25.1% 53.0% 21.9% 26.4768 0.0000
Eye-catching and attractive 04.0% 64.2% 31.8% 82.4238 0.0000

Attitude:
Changes attitude towards product/service 18.5% 48.3% 33.1% 20.1192 0.0000
Entertaining 37.1% 22.5% 40.4% 8.1987 0.0166

16
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review__________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836
Vol.2 (7), July (2013)
Online available at indianresearchjournals.com

It was found that internet advertising was considered to be better than print and radio advertising
in terms of informativeness, with 56.3% of the respondents relying on the internet as a
convenient source of information, 68.9% of the respondents perceiving the internet to provide
relevant product information, and 73.5% of the respondents perceiving the internet to provide
timely and up-to-date information. Print advertising was considered to be the next best in terms
of informativeness.

There were found to be significant differences in perception of the respondents with regard to
informativeness with respect to demographics. It was found that male respondents (61.6%)
perceived internet to be convenient source of information more than female respondents (46.2%),
and that respondents in the age group 18-25 years (64.9%) perceived internet to be convenient
source of information more than other age groups. On the other hand, female respondents
(75.0%) perceived internet to provide relevant product information more than male respondents
(65.7%), and that respondents in the age group 18-25 years (77.3%) and the age group 25-40
years (68.0%) perceived internet to be convenient source of information more than other age
groups. Also, it was found that male respondents (70.8%) perceived internet to provide timely
and up-to-date information more than female respondents (67.3%), and that respondents in the
age group 18-25 years (79.4%) perceived internet to provide timely and up-to-date information
more than other age groups.

It was found that print advertising was considered to be better than radio and internet advertising
in terms of attention, with 53.0% of respondents perceiving print media to be attention-grabbing,
and 64.2% of respondents perceiving print media to be eye-catching and attractive. There was no
significant difference in male and female respondents’ perceptions of attention-grabbing and
attractiveness of print advertising, and no significant difference in the perception of attention-
grabbing and attractiveness of print advertising across age groups.

There were mixed results in terms of attitude. It was found that print advertising (48.3%) was
considered to be better than print and radio advertising in its potential to change attitude. On the
other hand, it was found that internet advertising (40.4%) and radio advertising (31.7%) were
considered to be better than print advertising in terms of entertainment. There was no significant
difference in male and female respondents’ perceptions of potential to change attitude of print
advertising, and no significant difference in the perception of potential to change attitude of print
advertising across age groups. There were found to be significant differences in perception of the
respondents with regard to entertainment with respect to demographics. It was found that male
respondents (46.5%) perceived internet to be the most entertaining medium, while female
respondents (42.3%) perceived radio to be the most entertaining medium, and that respondents in
the age group 18-25 years perceived internet (46.5%) and radio (34.0%) to be the most
entertaining media, while respondents in the age group 25-40 years perceived .print( 40.0%) and
radio (36.0%) to be the most entertaining media.

It was found that TV ads (82.8%) had the highest influence on purchase decision for high-priced
products, followed by newspaper/magazine ads (45.7%), internet ads (43.1%), and lastly radio
ads (9.3%). There was no significant difference in the influence of TV ads, print ads, and radio
ads between male and female respondents; however, there were significant differences in the

17
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review__________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836
Vol.2 (7), July (2013)
Online available at indianresearchjournals.com
influence of internet ads between male (50.5%) and female (28.9%) respondents. Similarly, there
was no significant difference in the influence of TV ads, print ads, and radio ads across age
groups; however, there were significant differences in the influence of internet ads across age
groups, with respondents in the under-18 age group being strongly influenced by internet ads
(72.3%), and respondents in the 18-25 years and 25-40 years age groups being moderately
influenced by internet ads (41.6% and 44.3%, respectively), while respondents in the above-40
age group being uninfluenced by internet ads (< 10.0%).

It was found that TV ads (53.0%) had the highest influence on purchase decision for low-priced
products, followed by radio ads (43.7%), newspaper/magazine ads (41.7%), and lastly internet
ads (38.4%). Thus, all the media (radio, print, TV and web) influence purchase decision of low-
priced products. There was no significant difference in the influence of print ads and radio ads
between male and female respondents; however, there were significant differences in the
influence of TV ads between male (44.4%) and female (69.2%) respondents and in the influence
of internet ads between male (44.4%) and female (26.9%) respondents. There was no significant
difference in the influence of the different media across age groups.

Discussion
The findings of this study have shed some light on the potential of the internet, print, and radio
advertising, particularly in targeting particular consumer segments.

A major finding concerns the growing importance of internet advertising in consumer purchase
behaviour, particularly in delivering product information. The emergence of the internet has
paved way for a more accessible and convenient source of up-to-date information in real-time.
However, print advertising is still considered attention grabbing, eye catchy and attractive. This
may be due to various favourable factors such as wider reach with lower costs. Also, print
advertising is more effective in changing the consumers’ attitude towards a product or service,
and providing greater visibility. Thus, though internet advertising is growing rapidly and
becoming more effective, print advertising still has a role to play in the advertising arena.

TV is everyone's cup of tea, and thus it ranks highest in influence on purchase-decision of high-
and low-priced products. Moreover, Statt (1977) has argued that women process information
comprehensively, whereas men process information through heuristic devices such as
procedures, methods or strategies for solving problems. Men prefer to have available and
apparent cues to interpret the message, whereas women engage in more creative, associative,
imagery-laced interpretation. This could explain the stronger influence of TV ads on women than
on men.

Youngsters today use the web as a social medium. This is a key driver in the growing importance
of internet in affecting purchase decision of high priced products. India has the youngest internet
using population making it a popular media of advertising among the youth. The radio also
enjoys a widespread young audience. This explains why internet and radio are preferred among
the youth for purchase decision making. The older population, being not very receptive to
technology, prefers other forms of media.

The average Indian listens to the radio more than three hours each day, hence, it would be

18
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review__________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836
Vol.2 (7), July (2013)
Online available at indianresearchjournals.com
expected that radio influences purchase of low-priced (if not high-priced) products in the lower
and middle income groups. The higher income groups, on the other hand, are more exposed to
technology and hence more receptive to the internet as a reliable medium of advertising. Hence,
internet is an influential medium for purchase of low-priced products also to the higher income
groups.

The study has some limitations. The sample used for the study is relatively small and was limited
to a specific geographic region, and so may not be representative of the general Indian consumer.
Also, the perceptions elicited in the survey pertained to general products/services, so the findings
may not exactly apply to specific products/services, as there may be some product-specific
factors that may also influence consumers’ perceptions of media effectiveness. There is scope to
extend the present study to specific products/services, taking these factors into consideration.
Further, with the advent of new technology, two or more media can be combined, and this
prospect offers great new avenues to be exploited. The present study has considered each
medium on its own, not in combination with other media. There is a vast scope for further
research to study the possibility of optimizing the media mix.

References
Aronson. B., and Zeff, R.L. (1999), Advertising on the Internet, New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Block, M. P., and Brezen, T.S. (1990), “Using database analysis to segment general media
audience,” Journal of Media Planning, 5(4), 1-12.

Cook, W.A. and Dunn, T.F. (1996), “The changing face of advertising research in the
information age,” Journal of Advertising Research, 36(1), 55-71.

Davis, J.J. (1996), Advertising Research: Theory and Practice, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall Business Publishing.

Mehta, A. and Purvis, S.C. (1997), “Evaluating advertising effectiveness through advertising
response modeling,” in W. D. Wells (Ed.), Measuring advertising effectiveness (pp. 325-334).
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Schultz, D. and Barnes, B. (1994), Strategic advertising campaigns, Lincolnwood, IL: Business
Books.

Statt, D. (1977), Understanding the Consumer - A Psychological Approach, London: Macmillan

Press.

Wimmer, R.D. and Dominick, J.R. (2000), Mass Media Research: an Introduction (6th ed),.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

19