. INTRODUCTION

In today’s world, advertising is a commonly discussed type of communication and perhaps the one from which most things are expected. Advertising has become an indispensable phenomenon not only for producers but also, in a sense, for consumers (www.danismend.com.tr/13.02.2007). The primary objectives of the institutions and establishments, which endeavor to survive in this information age, are to achieve their goals through the most efficient utilization of their physical and human resources; to produce and to market their goods and services; and to derive greater profits. Advertising is one of the most effective applications of marketing communication for enterprises which wish to achieve these objectives, to survive within this competitive environment and to establish a competitive advantage (Yaylacı, 1998, p.43). Intense competition exists within all market sectors for attracting the interest of consumers to different or similar goods and for influencing their purchasing decisions. Accordingly, for institutions or enterprises, advertising is of great importance in drawing the attention of the customers and affecting their choices among numerous products (Oluç, 1990, p.3). On the other hand, advertising, from a consumer viewpoint, is regarded as a guide that helps consumer to choose the most appropriate and rational product for him/herself among the thousands offers on the market so as the best to meet his/her own needs. Advertising, when used for various purposes, such as the survival of the companies within this competitive atmosphere, promoting the sale of goods or helping consumers in their choice, is of great importance in our lives. Enterprises utilize several types of instruments in their advertising strategies, one of which is outdoor advertisements. The term; “Outdoor Advertising” corresponds to any advertisements located in open air, i.e, outdoor areas. An outdoor advertisement is the only advertisement medium to which we are exposed involuntarily. While some efforts involved for other kind of advertisements, outdoor advertising is unique in which we experience direct and involuntary exposure to messages. Outdoor advertising, which began with sign painting and large advertisements painted on buildings in Turkey in 1985, has developed rapidly in the last few years, particularly with partnerships of foreign advertising agencies within the sector (Güven, 1999, p.4).

2.2. CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS

CONCEPT OF ADVERTISING

Advertising is the non-personal communication of information, usually paid for and persuasive in nature about products ( goods, services and ideas) by an identified sponsor through various media (Aliede in Benson, 2005). According to Kotler (2003), advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. Chelmsford (2003) defined advertising as any written, electronic or printed telephone messages or transmitted medium, including film strips, motion pictures and ideas, published, disseminated, or placed before the public, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of creating an interest or inducing a person to sell a life insurance pursuant to a settlement contract. Watson (1990), defined advertising as paid, non-personal communication through various mass media by business firms, non profit organization and individuals who are in some way identified in the message, and who are to inform or persuade members of a particular audience. Gillian (1997) also defined advertising in its simplest way, as a means of drawing attention to something or non-formal method of informing somebody of something. Arens (1996) viewed advertising as a non personal communication of information usually paid for and identified with sponsor through various media. Dyer (1998) stated that advertising is the structured and composed nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products (goods, services and ideas) by identified sponsor through various media. The advertising practitioners council of Nigeria (APCON) (1998) defined advertising as a form of communication through mass media about product, services or idea paid for by an identified sponsor. Furthermore, Stanton (1983), defined advertising as consisting of all the activities involved in presenting to a group a non personal, oral or visual, openly sponsored message regarding a product, service or idea. This message called advertising is disseminated through one or more media. Some important consideration should be noted in connection with this definition. First there is a significant difference between advertising and advertisement. The advertisement is the message itself, while advertising is a process. It is a programme or a series of activities necessary to prepare the message and get it to the intended consumers. Advertisement on the other hand is directed to groups of people not individuals. This is the more reason why it is not personal. Advertisement could be segmented as it could be for youths, adult, married, unmarried, male, female, retailers, wholesalers, rural and urban, educated and uneducated etc, members of a given society. Most advertisement are persuasive so as to win or lure consumers to patronize goods, services or ideas. Often times, it could be to convince people about a particular product that will benefit them, while some aim at providing information about the existence of a particular product, services or ideas and where they can be purchased (Wikipedia, 2008). Another point about advertising is that the public knows who is behind the advertising because the sponsor is openly identified. Also payment is made by the sponsor to the media that carry the message. The last two considerations differentiate advertising from public relations. No payment is made even though the purpose may be to improve image and increase sales (Kalu, 1998). Stanton (1983), stated that the only purpose of advertising is to sell something- a product, service or an idea. Stated another way, the real goal of advertising is effective communication. The ultimate effect of advertising 14 should be to modify the attitude and/or behaviour of the receiver of the message. Osuala (1998) enumerated certain specific objectives of advertising which include to increase the number of units of products, to counteract competition from competitors, to increase the number of product uses, to remind customers about products, to maintain brand loyalty, to build a positive business image, to obtain dealer support and secure leads for assistance to salespeople. Okwandu and Ekerete (2001) also stated objectives of advertising as follows; increasing demand to the point where economics of scale are achieved, to build “brand” in competitive mature market, to create product awareness in the minds of the consumers and to increase profitability in a less tangible way by creating good will for the firm as a whole and by raising the moral of workers. Kotler (2006) explained that advertising objectives can be classified according to whether their aim is to inform, persuade, remind or reinforce. Informative advertising aim to create brand awareness and knowledge of new products. Persuasive advertising aim to create liking, preference, conviction, and purchase of a product or service. Reminder advertising aim to stimulate repeat purchase of product and services. For example, difference colours of men’s packet shirts advertisement in a magazine(s) is intended to remind people to purchase the shirts. Reinforcement advertising aims to convince  current purchasers that they made the right choice. Kotler emphased that in developing an advertising program, marketing managers must always start by identifying the target market and buyer motives. Then they can make the five major decisions, known as “five Ms”. Mission: what are the advertising objectives? Money; How much can be spent? Message; what message should be sent? Media; what media should be used? Measurement; How should the result be evaluated? According to Osuala (1987), advertising directed at business may be classified into four groups: trade advertising, industrial advertising, farm advertising or advertising to professional buyers. According to him, trade advertising is that advertising which is directed at wholesaler and retailers urging them to buy the product for resale to their consumers. Industrial advertising promotes goods that will be used in the operation of a business or will become part of another product. Farm advertising is directed at those engaged in agriculture stress, efficiency, low costs, profitability and similar product attributes. Professional advertising is directed at a member of the profession such as doctor, teacher or architects. An advertising medium is any means of bringing an advertising message to the public (Osuala 2000). Advertising media includes newspapers, magazines, direct mail, television, radio, e-commerce, billboards, public spaces, outdoor advertising etc. Osuala (1998) opined that newspapers are a 16 universal medium. Both rich and poor, old and young, men and women, read newspaper. Because of the wide variety of interests of the readers, the newspapers are best adopted to advertising goods and services that are in more or less general use. Kotler (2006) explained that newspapers can provide much detailed product information and can effectively communicate users and use imagery. At the same time, the static nature of the visual image in newspapers and magazines makes it difficult to provide dynamic presentations or demonstrations. Daily newspapers are read by roughly three-fourth of the population and tend to be used a lot for local-especially retailer advertising. The great virtue of newspaper advertising is flexibility. Stores owners can advertise products and carry out sales promotions, national companies can use newspapers for test marketing, small firms can reach their limited customer pool.(Osuala, 2000). News papers are also a good way of distributing coupons, but they are not very intrusive. Many advertisement go unseen or unread even by people who buy the paper. Stanton (1981) stated that magazines are the best forms when high quality printing and colour are needed. He explained that they reach more diversified market as well as a selective audience with minimized time wastage. This suggests that shopping goods can be best displayed on magazines in order to bring out their colour and high quality. Osuala (2000) stated that magazines are highly flexible. National magazines like newswatch and News times are printed at a number of locations so that both local and regional advertisements are possible. Anyanwu (1999) stated that direct mails are those media of direct advertising that are sent through the mails. Osuala (1998) explained that marketers use direct mail advertising to reach prospective buyers on an individual basis. According to him, examples of direct mail media include; sales letters, announcements, enclosures, catalogues, calendars and handbills. Radio and televisions are broadcast media. Radio and televisions use airwaves to transmit their messages. Though radio lacks visibility which limits its usefulness in advertising products that are complicated or need demonstration to be fully understood, and therefore need to be seen to be fully appreciated (Osuala, 1998). Osuala stated that but then, it has its own advantages which include flexibility and timeliness. it can be listened to or heard by listeners who are driving, walking, working or engaged in any number of other activities. Television commercials tend to have a greater impact on the senses than radio or print commercials because they combine sound, sight, movement and colour (Ray, 1982). George et al (2003) observed that the vast majority of television advertising ranges in length from few seconds to several minutes. Advertisements of this sort have been used to sell every product imaginable over the years, from household product to goods (shopping goods) and 18 services. Wikipedia (2008) stated that television advertising has certain characteristics, viz: use of songs/jingles and humor. Many television advertisements feature catchy jingles (songs or melodies) or latch-phrases that generate sustained appeal, which may be retained in the minds of television viewers long after the span of advertising campaign. Wikipedia explained that some of these advertising jingles or catch phrases may take on lives of their own, spawning gaps or raffs; that may appear in other form of media, such as comedy movies or television variety shows etc. These long lasting advertising elements may therefore be said to have taken place in the pop culture history or the demography to which they have appeared. E-commerce is simply any business transaction that takes place via digital process over a network (Osuala, 2004). E-commerce is also a way for organization to exchange information with customers and vendors to the benefit of everyone involved. Eventually e-commerce will likely replace the movement of papers within and between organizations as well as between organizations and consumers (Osuala, 2004). E-commerce is transforming the way products, services and information are bought, sold and exchanged. E-commerce also changes the way organizations interact with customers and business partners. E-commerce involves making use of the internet to penetrate new markets, discover or create new sales channels, and get closer to customers and business partners through communication channels. Some pioneers achieve real success 19 for both small and large organizations because size matters less low, all organizations stand an even chances because they have access to the same type of resources. However, significant obstacles can pop during e-commerce initiatives (Osuala, 2004)). E-commerce is a tool for reducing costs, and cycle time streamlining business processes. It also improves relationships with both business partners and customers. Osuala also explain that newspapers and television together account for almost half of all advertising in industrial countries. Direct mail, radio and magazines are also used. According to him, outdoor advertising account for only one percent. Each of these media has its strengths and weakness. Some offer the advantage of intrusiveness, meaning that consumers can not avoid seeing or hearing the advertisement, others are flexible, making it possible to reach a target market defined in terms of income, region or occupation. Some have the virtue of being cheap.