Effects of Advertisements On Buying Behavior A Comparative Study On Male and Female Consumers

Effects of Advertisements on Buying Behavior
A Research Report on
EFFECTS OF ADVERTISEMENTS ON BUYING

BEHAVIOR: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON
MALE AND FEMALE CONSUMERS
Submitted by:
Md. Tajirul Haque
Id: 080343
Supervised by:
Rafia Zaman
Lecturer
Submitted to:
Coordinator
Internship Placement Committee
Management and Business Administration School
Khulna University
Date of Submission: September 18, 2012
1 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

September 18, 2012
The Coordinator
Internship Placement Committee
Business Administration Discipline
Khulna University
Subject: Submission of Research Report.
Dear Sir,
Here is the report on “Effects of Advertisements on Buying Behavior: A Comparative

Study on Male and Female Consumers”. It was a matter of pleasure and a great
opportunity to explore my knowledge with practical research experience on effects of
advertisement on both males and females of Khulna city. Through the completion of
this report and the study undergone, I have learnt how to undertake a research study
and prepare a report in practice. This will surely help me in my future career and the
further endeavor of such kinds.
I have exercised all my honest efforts and tried my level best to make this report
flawless. Now, I have the honor to thank you for the opportunity.
Sincerely Yours,
_________________
Md. Tajirul Haque
ID No. 080343
Supervised By:
_________________
Rafia Zaman
Lecturer
Business Administration Discipline
Management and Business Administration School
Khulna University

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Preparing this research report on “Effects of Advertisements on Buying Behavior: A

Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers” has been a challenging journey,
during which the final destination has at times seemed unattainable. Now, when it
came to an end, I finally have a chance to express my deepest gratitude to Almighty
Allah and all those people who have helped and guided me throughout the study.
First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Rafia Zaman, Lecturer,
without whom this report would have never been completed. She gave me enough of
her valuable time to prepare this research report. She guided me with all the details in
every step of the study with immense patience. As a novice, I was not aware of many
aspects of undertaking a research and preparing a research report. She made me learn
and understand everything I needed.
Thanks also go to my juniors and friends who helped me in the hard work of data
collections. Thanks to the respondents also, as without their help, I would have been
without any primary data.
Finally, I would like to thank the coordinators and the members of Internship
Placement Committee for giving me a chance to undertake this research.

Chapter 1.0: Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study:
Advertising is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential

customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service.
Advertising is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential
customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service.
Many advertisements are designed to generate increased consumption of those
products and services through the creation and reinvention of the “brand image”. For
these purpose, advertisements sometimes embed their persuasive message with
factual information. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including
television, billboard, newspaper, internet, carrier bags, radio etc. Advertising is often
placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company or other organization. Bauer
and Greyser (1968) provide evidence that overall attitude towards advertising and
reasons why certain ads are considered informative, enjoyable, annoying or offensive.
Men and women have different tendencies of being affected by advertisements. This
is why companies do not know exactly that which customer group, men or women are
easier to influence through marketing campaigns. Therefore, the advertising budget is
not spent accordingly to come up with a precise promotional campaign needed. If
targeting men is easier, then the marketing should be done accordingly and if
affecting women is easier, then the marketing campaign should be tailor made in
order to reach that customer segment in a more effective manner.
This shows that companies lack the awareness of whom to target through their
promotional campaigns. Whether females would be easier to effect through the
advertisements or males, this still hasn’t been proven according to the Bangladeshi
market. This is the motivation behind this study. The main purpose of this paper is to
study the effects of advertisements on male vs. female consumer buying behavior in
Khulna city.
The study is based on the exploratory research titled “Effect of Advertisement on

male vs. female buying behavior” conducted by some independent researchers

namely Anila, Muhammed Bashir, Fatima Syed, Moeeza Saeed, Syed Usman Wazir
and Zain Malik of National University of Science and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
using the sample of around 500 people within the chosen age bracket of 18-50years
for neutral products/services in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. This study is done using
responses of 180 samples [90 females and 90 males] for neutral products/services in
Khulna city excluding chosen age bracket of 18-50years.
1.1.1 Definitions of Important Terms Used in The Study:
 Consumer Buying Behavior: As the main objective of this study is to

identify effects of advertisement on consumer buying behavior, Consumer
Buying Behavior is an important term we must clarify. Wilkie (1994) defined
consumer buying behavior as “the mental, emotional, and physical activities
that people engage in when selecting, purchasing, using, and disposing of
products and services so as to satisfy needs and desires”. Consumer-buying
behavior according to Kotler (2004, p.601) is defined as “The buying behavior
of consumers – individuals and households who buy goods and services for
personal consumption.”
 Brand Recall: Brand Recall has been used as an important indication for
identifying effects of advertisement on both male and females. Brand Recall is
the extent to which a brand comes to a consumer’s mind when any specific
product class is mentioned. In the market research, the term “Unaided Brand
Recall” is often used to find out the image of any particular brand.
Commonly, it is assumed that high level of Unaided Brand Recall is beneficial
for that particular brand. In short, Brand Recall is a qualitative measure which
is used to identify how well a brand name is related with a product class or
type of products by asking questions to consumers of that product class. Brand
Recall is frequently tested through interviews and surveys by asking
respondents questions like “Mention as many car models as possible” or “can
you clarify what Intel is?”

1.2 Objectives of the Study:
This research paper is basically intended towards identifying the general trend in the
effect that advertising has on the buying behavior of consumers. The consumers will
have been specifically studied in accordance to their respective gender. The research
objectives as follows:
 To identify the distinction between male and female customers’ perceptions

towards advertisement.
 To identify whether brand recall lead male and female customers to purchase.
 To identify customers belonging to which genders have a better brand recall.
1.3 Scope of the Study:
The study has been carried on the male and female consumers in Khulna city based
on the exploratory research mentioned earlier. The said research focused on the
chosen age bracket i.e.18-50 years of around 500 [both male and female] samples for
neutral products/services in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. The present research is has a total
of 180 samples [90 females and 90 males] for neutral products/services in Khulna city
excluding chosen age bracket of 18-50years. The independent variable of the study is
the effect of advertisement and dependent variables identified are gender and brand
recall.
1.4 Rationale of the Study:
This research is beneficial, firstly, for the advertising agencies, as it will become
easier for them to formulate the exact integrated marketing strategies for their
customers so as to target the respective audience of the organization. It will also help
the organizations to optimally distribute their marketing expenditure over different
mediums of advertising, catering to their target group.
It will also provide a platform to the market researchers of the respective organization
to devise the marketing budget in accordance with a perfect balance between the

medium chosen and the audience targeted. This will support them in identifying their
target segment that they can influence and which can work in their favor. Hence
getting the maximum return on what they will invest for marketing their
product/services.
It will also guide the marketers to identify the factors that influence the audience
more effectively in any advertisement and so those can be worked on. Also it will be
analyzed that how men and women perceive advertisements differently and hence
what are the factors that lead to their purchase decision.
1.5 Limitation of the Study:
 The research study has just been catered to the Khulna city.
 Others may include the variables identified above.

Chapter 2.0: Literature Review
Advertising refers to a paid form of non-personal promotion of any goods, services or

ideas by an identified sponsor with the intention of disseminating information
regarding that specific product, service or idea. The main objective of advertisement
is to sell the product, service or idea advertised. Other objectives of advertisements
include preparing ground for a new product/service, creation of demand of that
product/service, facing competition, creating or enhancing goodwill, informing the
changes to customers etc. So, a product or service is advertised to make some positive
consumer behavior towards that product, service or idea. According to the Morden
(1991) advertising gives the knowledge about the product and create the idea in mind
about it. As Advertisement is a measure taken by companies to affect buying behavior
of consumers of that particular brand, the advertisers will certainly want to know
effectiveness of their advertisement efforts. Therefore, Consumer buying behavior is
an important area of research for marketers and business developers and they have
been studying on this for many years.
The importance of studying consumer behavior is imperative from the fact that most
product launch features, marketing strategies and positioning strategies are made
under the influence of consumer buying trends. These trends are further integrated
with regards to gender i.e. male consumer buying behavior vs. female consumer
buying behavior. In this regard the persuasiveness of a particular product is different
for each gender. This paper has been built on earlier papers to propose a model of
gender based buying behavior with regards to the impact of advertisements leading to
a higher brand recall.
Cobb and Hoyer (1986) found that women are more likely to plan their purchases
than men are. Supporting their statements, Block and Morwitz (1999, pp. 361-2)
attribute this tendency to three reasons. First, traditionally, females have been in
charge of grocery shopping. Second, because of such traditions, females tend to know
more about stores and products. Third, also due to their traditional role, females have
a better idea about inventory levels when they go shopping than males do. The study

of Block and Morwitz also found that the probability that a purchased product was
on a planned list was higher for females than for males. Women listed more objects
of sentimental value, while men chose more items relating to leisure and finances.
However, gender differences were pronounced in orientations towards sets of
material goods: by comparison, women saw their possessions as important because of
the emotional comfort they provide and the relationships with others they symbolize,
while, men referred more too use-related, activity-related and self-expressive features
of possessions. These differences can be interpreted as reflecting male and female
gender identity, because they echo the distinction between male self -oriented,
activity-centered identity construction and female other-oriented, relationship-
centered identity construction described in both the sociological and social
psychological literature Dittmar (1989, 1991). In support, Belch and Willis (2002)
reported that household purchasing decisions for items such as automobiles,
televisions, and financial planning are moving from being primarily male dominated
decisions to joint decisions. Household decision-making areas that were once
dominated by one gender were also becoming more influenced by the opposite
gender. Shoham A., Makovec Brenčič M. (2003) mentioned “Because of their
traditional roles as house-makers, females in the study were more likely to exhibit a
tendency for advertisement based purchasing. As house chores are split more evenly
in developed countries, the expertise of both husbands and wives may be more evenly
divided than it was in the past.
Thus, many advertisers and agencies believe that advertising creates “magic in the
market place” (Russell & Lane, 1996). Obviously advertisements have some effects
on consumer buying behavior. Men and women perceive advertisements in different
ways and thus both genders necessitate distinct persuasive techniques. This is
assumed by many that females are more affective by different advertisement efforts
of different brands. Wolin, and Korgaonkar (2003) suggest that males and females
exhibit different beliefs about and attitudes toward traditional media advertising along
with different advertising stimulated consumer behaviors. Furnham and Mac (1999)
focused on the portrayal of gender roles in television commercials in different

countries (i.e. U.K, U.S.A, Australia and Asia) to study trends and cross-national
differences and similarities. This study demonstrated that sex role stereotyping was
surprisingly consistent across these countries, especially in the mode of presentation,
such as male were consistently more likely voice-overs of the advertisements than
women, females were more often visually portrayed. A recent estimate indicates
(Shimp, 2007) that almost 20 percent of all advertisements worldwide use celebrity
spokespersons. (Cooper, 1984) argues that messages delivered by celebrities provide
a higher degree of appeal, attention, and possibly message recall than those delivered
by non-celebrities. Marketers also claim that celebrities affect the credibility of the
claims made, increase the memorability of the message, and may provide a positive
effect that could be generalized to the brand.
The study titled “Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having and, Being” conducted by
Solomon (2004) states that compulsive buying refers to consumers‟ repetitive
shopping, at times excessive, because of boredom, tension, or anxiety (Solomon,
2004), which both can then be attributed to brand recall and advertisement effect.
Advertisement plays an important role in brand recall. In support, Freling, and Forbes
(2005), subjects that a brand's personality will have a significantly greater number of
brand associations; significantly greater proportion of brand associations;
significantly greater unique brand associations; significantly greater proportion of
congruent brand associations; and significantly greater proportion of strong brand
associations. Rajagopal (2006), argues that there are many psychographic variables
like emotions associated with the brand image which constitute the personality of a
brand. In case typical product category advertisements are associated with negative
effect, the particular advertising functions act as a counter-attitudinal message, which
is more persuasive in the case of a mismatch rather than a match with the category
advertisements. However, a persuasive advertising may affect consumer preferences.
Previous research has shown that in line with the theoretical arguments, gender was a
significant predictor of buying behavior based on brand recall. Thus, this study has
provided additional support to earlier research on impact of advertisement on males

vs. females with regards to brand recall (Block and Morwitz, 1999) and leading to
buying decision (Cobb and Hoyer, 1986).

Chapter 3.0: Research Methodology

3.1 Research Type
The main form of the research is exploratory study because there is not much material
regarding this specific topic already available. The data already available is mainly
regarding the foreign markets. This research will be conduct in the domestic market,
which is Bangladesh.
3.2 Population
First hand research will be carried out by exploring the consumer characteristics in
this region specifically. So, population of the research is all male and female buyers
in Khulna city. The responses of the respondents are the sources of information.
3.3 Sample
The study is based on the primary data to analyze how advertisement affects male and
female consumers differently. Dependant and Independent variables were identified
as per the data collected. For this purpose, a sample of 180 (90 males and 90 females)
people in Khulna city has been chosen on convenient basis. The study has focused on
convenient sampling. Although age is not an issue in the research, we surveyed only
people over 18 regardless of their occupations.
3.4 Sampling Technique
Some of the techniques that will be used to collect the data for the research are mainly
qualitative as no previous data is available on such a topic especially for Bangladesh.
They are as follows:
3.4.1 Self-Administered Surveys: A sample size of 180 has been surveyed

constituting of both the female and male population with equal proportions through a
structured questionnaire based on three hypothesis of the research. Questionnaire
included personal information of the respondents, close ended and self- explanatory
open ended questions. This survey helped analyze how males and females respond
differently to different advertisements and how their attitudes towards products are

shaped. The surveys provided data directly filled out by the customer themselves and
the survey acted as the starting point for some of the variables that are studied. The
questionnaire is attached in the appendix.
3.4.2 Interviews: However, while conducting the surveys it was realized that most
of the respondents did not have the knowhow of how to go about it. So during those
sessions they (respondents) were not only administered but also interacted so as to
make things sensible and easier for them. In fact, a discussion with the customer can
sometimes uncover several factors, which could have previously missed out on.
Based on this data, the qualitative techniques have given an in-depth analysis that
leads to the research findings.
3.5 Data Analysis Method

Different descriptive statistical tools have been used – frequency, Mean, median and
mode using Microsoft Excel to apply various statistical tests for data analysis
purpose.
As the first four questions were designed to identify if males and females perceive
advertisement differently or not, respondents were asked to rate different
advertisement mediums and advertisement themes (5 being the highest, 1 the lowest).
For analyzing these two questions, the total percentage of both male of female rated
different advertisement mediums and themes and thereby, trying to find out how the
perception of male and females differs. The calculated mean, median and mode value
of each advertisement mediums and themes for both male and female has also been
analyzed. Similarly, percentage, mean, median and mode value of different answer
choices for question no 3,4,5,6 have also been calculated.
Although question no 7, 8 and 9 were open-ended and self explanatory, number of

correct responses have been identified and calculated percentage, mean, median and
mode value of different responses of those questions.

3.6 Data Presentation

The data after analyzing has been presented in tabular format. To help the visual, with
every table a bar chart has been attached. A short explanation follows the table and
the bar chart.

Chapter 4.0 Analysis

This section covers the analysis based on questionnaires set to identify the objectives
of the study.
4.1 Question no. 1: Advertisement Mediums

Question no one was designed to find out perception of both male and female on
different advertisement mediums like TV, Billboards, Newspaper etc.
Table No: 4.1: Advertisement Mediums Ratings- Females and Males
Females Numbers Males

Numbers
5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1
Ad
Mediums Ad Mediums
Tv 75 7 3 2 3 Tv 47 29 7 6 1
Billboard 7 18 34 23 8 Billboard 2 22 37 17 12
Newspaper 5 17 33 28 7 Newspaper 10 32 24 17 7
Internet 8 11 11 25 35 Internet 9 5 27 29 20
Radio 2 6 9 21 52 Radio 2 3 12 25 48
Others 4 4 4 9 15 Others 2 1 0 13 31
80 75
Tv
70
60 Billboard
50
40 34 33 35 Newspaper
28
30 23 25
18 17
20 Internet
11 11
7 5 8 7 8 7
10 3 2 3
0 Radio
5 4 3 2 1
Figure 4.1- Advertisement Medium Responses- Females

Table No: 4.2 Mean, Median and Mode of Advertisement Medium- Ratings
Mean Median Mode
Females Males Females Males Females Males
TV 4.65 4.26 5 5 5 5
Billboard 2.92 2.83 3 3 3 3
Newspaper 2.83 3.23 3 3 3 4
Internet 2.24 2.48 2 2 1 2
Radio 1.72 1.73 1 1 1 1
Others o.90 0.78 0 1 0 0
60
52 Tv
47
50
Billboard
37
40 35
32 Newspaper
29 27 29
30 24 25
22 Internet
1717
20 13 15
10 9 12 Radio
7 6 87
10 53 3
2 22 1 0 Others
0
5 4 3 2 1
Figure 4.2 Advertisement Medium Responses- Males
5 5
5 4.56 TV
4.5
4 Billboard
3.5 3 3 3 3
2.922.83 Newspaper
3
2.5 2.24
2 Internet
2 1.72
1.5 1 1 1 Radio
0.9
1
0.5 Others
0 0
0
Mean Median Mode
Figure 4.3 Mean, Median and Mode of Advertisement Mediums- Females

5 5
5 4.26 TV
4
4 3.23 Billboard
2.83 3 3 3
3 2.48 Newspaper
2 2
1.73
2 Internet
0.78 1 1 1
1 Radio
0
0 Others
Mean Median Mode
Figure- 4.4 Mean, Median and Mode of Advertisement Mediums-Males

Discussion on Question No: 1
The question was designed to find the most effective medium of advertising that
influences male vs. female customers buying behavior. The exposure of different
advertising mediums is different among both the genders. In terms of response
count, for females 75 out 90 respondents rate TV “5” while for male it is 47 out of
90. The percentage of women making TV as the most important was much more
than that of male (Female: 83.33%, Male: 52.22%). The percentage of female
ranking billboard as the most effective medium was much more than that of men
(Female:7.78%, Male: 2.22%) while male rank newspaper as the most effective
medium 11.11% and for female it is 5.56%. In a similar way, female ranking for
internet, radio and others as the most effective medium is 8.89%, 2.22%, 4.4%
respectively and for male is 10%, 2.22% and 2.22% respectively.
Thus, the ranking of most effective medium is as for female: TV-Internet-

Billboard-Newspaper-Radio-others and for male: TV-Internet-Newspaper-
Billboard -Radio-others in terms of percentage based on response counting. On
the other hand, on the basis of mean comparison ranking for female: TV -
Billboard-Newspaper-Internet-Radio-others and for male: TV -Newspaper-
Billboard-Internet-Radio-others. The differences between two rankings can be
interpreted in this way:
 Since TV is the most popular medium, both male and female rank 1st
which is reflected by both percentage and mean value.

 In terms of percentage, Internet occupied 2nd rank both for male and
female. Social networking has become one of the mostly common
communication mediums. Surfing the web has just become a trend for
today’s generation. Both male and female are more passionate for being
connected by the internet to exchange ideas.
 Female response towards billboard is higher than that of males. Though
males are more outgoing in nature compared to female, they are not
attracted by the billboard while now-a-days females are not limited to
home boundary. They are tending to keep pace with the age of time. They
are easily attracted by the gorgeous billboard advertisement since most of
them are posed by celebrities.
 Male rank newspaper higher than that of female since males are tend to be
update always and the easiest source is the newspaper. While picking up
knowledge and information about variety of affairs worldwide and
searching for jobs, their attention goes to various advertisement published
in the paper.
 Since this is the Digital age, the use of radio is suppressed by internet.
Though FM radio is very much popular now-a-days, it is just for
entertainment which is primarily based on audio and so they are not
effective medium of advertisement.
 On the basis of mean value, Internet making is lagging behind billboard
and newspaper for both genders. This is solely responsible that the study
has been conducted in Khulna City which is yet to be digitally advanced
as like as mega city Dhaka. Here, internet connection is not available
every door to door. Thus, internet medium has lower mean value than
others.
So, from question no 1, it can be deduced that males and females of Khulna city have
considerable difference of perception regarding effectiveness of different
advertisement mediums.

4.2 Question no. 2: Advertisement Themes

Question no two was designed to identify perception of both male and females
regarding different advertisement themes like humorous, informative, emotional
etc.
Table No: 4.3 Advertisement Themes Ratings- Males and Females
Females Numbers Male
Numbers
5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1
Ad
Themes Ad Themes
Humorous 8 28 16 27 11 Humorous 23 21 20 14 11
Informative 18 16 19 25 12 Informative 12 28 29 17 4
Adventurous 7 8 21 25 29 Adventurous 3 26 18 35 8
Emotional 42 22 11 7 8 Emotional 19 23 16 21 11
Celebrity 48 20 9 12 1 Celebrity 9 15 22 21 22
Endorsed Endorsed
Others (42 6 0 9 8 25 Others 3 1 6 11 35
didn’t Ans)
42 females and 35 males didn’t answer “Others”

Informative
48
50
42 Adventurous
40
Emotional
29
30 25 25 25
22 21 Celebrity Endorsed
20 19
18
20 16
11 12 12
8 9 9 8 8 Others
10 7 6 7
0 1
0
5 4 3 2 1
Figure 4.5 Advertisement Themes Responses-Females
35 35
35 Humorous
28 29
30 26
23 23 Informative
25 21 22 2121 22
19 20
18 17 Adventurous
20 15 16
14
15 12 11 11 11 Emotional
9 8
10 6 Celebrity Endorsed
3 3 4
5 1 Others
0
5 4 3 2 1
Figure 4.6- Advertisement Themes responses-Males
Table No: 4.4 Mean, Median and mode of Ad Themes Ratings

Mean Median Mode
Females Males Females Males Females Males
Humorous 2.94 3.31 3 3 4 5
Informative 3.02 3.30 3 3 2 3
Adventurous 2.31 2.78 2 3 1 2
Emotional 3.91 3.20 4 3 5 4
Celebrity 4.13 2.61 5 3 5 3
Endorsed
Others 1.08 1.04 1 1 0 1

5 5 5
5
4.13 Humorous
3.91 4 4
4 Informative
3.02
2.94 3 3
3 Adventurous
2.31
2 2
Emotional
2
1.08 1 1 Celebrity Endorsed
1
0 Others
0
Mean Median Mode
Figure 4.7 Mean, Median and Mode of Advertisement Medium Ratings-Females

5
5 Humorous
4
4 3.31
3.3 3.2 Informative
2.78 2.61 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
3 Adventurous
2 Emotional
2
1.04 1 1 Celebrity Endorsed
1
Others
0
Mean Median Mode
Figure 4.2.4 Mean, Median and Mode of Advertisement Medium Responses- Males
Discussion based on question no 2:
The question was set to what kind of advertisement themes were preferred by males
and females. The analysis reveals that for female 53.33% rank celebrity endorsed
advertising as the most effective theme followed by 46.67% “emotional” and 20%
“informative”. For male 25.56% rank humorous theme as the most effective theme
followed by 21.11% “emotional” and 13.33% “informative” and 10% “celebrity
endorsed”. Actually, females are more affected by celebrity endorsed ad theme since
they are conscious about beauty and they like to follow celebs and their habituates as
well as cultural fusion often tends to influence females in our country towards them.
Overall, a beautiful model marketing a product would obviously be more attractive
than anything else. Females are more emotional since they are very sensitive in nature
and so for them, emotional advertisements are more effective. They are often more
affected by the emotional themes and also they are really aware about the information
being delivered in the ad and that is why that theme has not been ranked very high.
On the other hand, for male humorous theme are the most effective one. They aren’t

typically most serious in nature and they love to enjoy while emotion follows their
enjoyment. In fact, the emotional sense is growing up with them since now-a-days,
most of good advertisements of various companies are emotional appealing. Since
they are more interested in the facts and figures about everything and so obviously
informative advertisement is preferred and ranked 3rd in terms of percentages.
Thus, the ranking of most effective ad theme is as for female: celebrity endorsed-
emotional-informative-humorous-adventurous-others and for male: Humorous-
emotional-informative-celebrity endorsed-adventurous-others in terms of percentage
based on response counting. On the other hand, on the basis of mean comparison
ranking for female remain same: Celebrity Endorsed (4.13)-Emotional (3.91)-
Informative (3.02)-Humorous (2.94)-Adventurous (2.31)-Others ((1.08) and for male
ranking bit change: Humorous (3.31)-Informative (3.3)-Emotional (3.2)-Adventurous
(2.78)-Celebrity Endorsed (2.61)-Others (1.04) . The slight variation with mean
comparison for male reflects that though males have preference emotional appealing
ads that are few in numbers, curiosity or information seeking tendency suppress the
emotional them as a whole.
So, from here on Question No. 2, it can be deduced that there is a considerable
difference of perception on different advertisement themes’ effectiveness between
females and males.

4.3 Question no. 3: Perception Regarding Advertisement

In question no three respondents were asked to mention their perception if
advertisement gives a true picture of a product or service or not.
Table No: 4.5 Response Count on Question no 3

Numbers(Females) Numbers(Males)
Answers
Yes 47 52
No 14 27
Maybe 28 11
Question No 3- Females
28, 31% Yes

No
47, 53%
Maybe
14, 16%
Figure 4.8 Question 3-Females
Question No 3-Males
11,
12
% Yes
No
27, 30%
52, 58%
Maybe
Figure 4.9 Question 3-Males

Table No 4.6: Mean Median and Mode of Question no 3
Question no 3 Females Males
Mean 1.78 2.45
Median 1 3
Mode 1 3
Coming to question three, the respondents were specially asked what they thought
about advertisement giving a true picture of the products being marketed. A
significant percentage of male (57.78%) and female (52.22%) agreed that
advertisement were true. While about 15.56% female respondents and almost double
of it i.e. 30% male respondent confidently believe that the advertisements do no
portray the products very truly. This shows the differing perceptions very clearly.
About, 31% female and 13% male chose the option “may be” because they were not
really sure about advertisements’ authenticity. Yet once again a visible difference.
The recurring value (mode) for female is 1 score given to the response “yes” and for
male is 3 score given to the response “may be” which again reflects significant
difference among the gender.
4.4 Question no. 4: Personal Perception

In question no four respondents were asked to mention their perception how much
advertisement attract their personal attention.
Table No 4.7 Response Count and Mean, Median and Mode of Question no 4-
Females
Numbers Numbers
Answers Females Males
Extremely 28 5
A lot 25 20
Somewhat 31 53
No 6 11
Not at all 0 1

Question No -4 Females
6, 7%
Extremely
28, 31% A Lot
31, 35%
Somewhat
25, 28% No
Figure 4.10 Question No 4- Females
Question No 4-Males
11, 12% 5, 6%
Extremely
20, 22% A Lot
53, 60% Somewhat

No
Figure 4.11 Question No 4- Males
Table No: 4.8 Mean, Median and Mode of Question No 4

Mean 2.177 2.811
Median 2 3
Mode 3 3
In the question number 4, respondents were asked to what extent advertisements

attracted their attention. About 28% female respondents chose the “a lot” option
whereas 22.22% male chose this option which is nearly the same figure. There was
also an option of “somewhat” for people who were not very confident about whether
advertisement did or did not attract their attention. A significant percentage
constituting 59% males resided to this option whereas about 34% females ticked it
too. These percentage differences between men and women clearly depict the

differing perceptions that they about advertisements. The mean value and median
value also reflects the difference regarding perception of male and female.
In the previous question, about 30% male believed that advertisements did not
give a true picture of the products being marketed. Still around 59% said that
advertisements somewhat attracted their attention. This shows that male may
not believe that advertisements are true; still they attract their attention due to
possible reasons like males’ ranking the humorous-informative-emotional
advertisement very high.
So, from the question no 4, it is found that males and females of Khulna City have
considerable difference in their perception.
4.5 Question no. 5: Inert Feeling For Purchasing

In question no 5, respondents were asked “Did an advertisement ever create an inert
feeling to try out a product?”
Table No: 4.9 Frequency Count of Question No 5

Numbers Numbers
Yes 51 26
No 4 20
Sometimes 35 44
Question No 5: Females
Yes
35, 39%
No
51, 57%
Sometimes
4, 4%
Figure 4.12 Question 5- Females

Question 5-Males
Yes
26, 29%
44, 49%
No
20, 22% Sometimes
Figure 4.13 Question 5-Males
Table No: 4.10 Mean, Median and Mode of Question no 5

Mean 1.82 2.2

Median 1 2
Mode 1 3
In the question respondent were asked whether an advertisement ever created an inert
feeling in them to try out a product. About 29% said “yes” to this question while a
visibly greater percentage of female (about 57%) chose this option. Therefore, it can
be induced that it is easier to attract female’s attention through advertising than male.
About 23% males chose option “No” while only about 4% female chose this option
since males are not confident enough to be convinced by advertisement as their
emotional quotient is lower than female. The most incurring value (mode) for female
is 1 score given to “yes” whereas for male is 3 score given to “sometimes”. The
mean value also differs for both gender- male (2.20) and female (1.82).
After critical analysis of independent count figures for both genders, it can be stated
that the count for the response “no” was greater by 16 counts for male. Additionally,
the count of females for the response “yes” was also greater than that of males.
4.6 Question no 6:

In the question no 6, respondents were asked “How often is the purchase decision
based on an advertisement recall?”
Following are responses of all 180 respondents:
Table No: 4.11 Response Count of Responses of Question no 6

Numbers Numbers
Mostly 34 6
Often 45 35
Rarely 10 42
Never 1 7
Question 6- Females
1, 1%
10,
11
Mostly
%
34, 38%
Often
Rarely
45, 50% Never
Figure 4.14 Question 6- Females
Question 6- Males
7, 8% 6, 7%
Mostly
35, Often
42, 39 Rarely
46 %
% Never
Figure 4.15 Question 6- Males

Table No: 4.12 Mean, median and mode of responses of question no 6

Mean 1.75 2.55
Median 2 3
Mode 2 3
Discussion: To the question” How often is the purchase decision based on an

advertisement recall?”
In the question no 6, the respondents were asked how often their purchase decision
was based on brand recall. Most of the male respondents accounts for about 47% in
chose the “Rarely” option while for female it is only 11%. About 50% of the female
respondents chose the “often” option and for male is 39%. This shows an interesting
fact. The mode value for male is 3 score given to the “rarely” option meaning that the
majority of the respondents out of total 90 male sample size rarely based their
purchase decision on their brand recall. The mean value differs about 45% for both
genders (male: 2.56, female:1.76) also complement the rare purchase on brand recall.
The mode value for female is 2 score given to the “often” option reflecting that
females have a greater brand recall capacity compared to male as also analyzed in the
question number 7, 8, and 9.

4.7 Question no. 7: Brand Recall from Colors

In this question, Respondents were asked to list out brands that they recalled from
some specific colors. The results were pretty straight forward here.
Table 4.13: Response count of Question no 7
Number of time this Number of time this response is

Response Number response is received received (Males)
(Females)
0 4 7
1 1 4
2 7 7
3 8 20
4 18 21
5 31 15
6 15 9
7 5 6
8 1 1
40
31
30
21 20
18 Females
20 15 15
9 8 7 7 7 Males
10 5 6 4 4
1 1 1
0
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Figure 4.16 Question No 7- Response Count
Table No 4.14: Mean, Median and Mode of Question No 7

Mean 4.45 3.78
Median 5 4
Mode 5 4
In the first question, which was regarding brands recalled from five specific colors, it
was seen that the female respondents who scored the maximum mean value which
was higher than that of men. On average, men scored far less than women in terms of

remembering brands from different colors. The recurring value and the mean value
for female is 5 and 4.45 respectively which is greater than that of male. So, females
have better brand recall than males.
4.8 Question no. 8: Brand Recall from Tag Lines
In the question no 8, Respondents were given some tag lines of reputed brands and
were asked to mention name of the brand of those tag lines.
Table Number 4.15: Response count of question no 8
Number of time this Number of time this

Response Number response is response is received
received(Females) (Males)
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 3 4
3 3 7
4 9 8
5 9 25
6 16 16
7 16 15
8 17 6
9 10 7
10 6 1
30
25
25
20 17 1615 1616
15 Females
10 9 9 8 Males
10 7 7
6 6
5 3 3 4
1 1 1
0
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Figure 4.17 Response count of question no 8

Table Number 4.16: Mean, Median and Mode of question No 8
Question 8 (Females) Question 8 (Males)

Mean 6.56 5.65
Median 7 5.5
Mode 8 5
In the next question, in which respondents were supposed to recall brands from
different tag lines, once again females were the maximum scorers. Around 72.22%
women scored seven or above out of a total of ten while men who scored seven or
above were only around 50%. This clearly shows the huge difference in terms of
better brand recall. The mean values of female responses is 6.56 which is 16% greater
than that of male.
So, from the question no 8, it is found that based on tag lines of different reputed
brands both male and females have almost similar brand recall yet females have a
better brand recall as compared to males as there is about 1 difference in their mean
values.

4.9 Question no 9: Brand Recall from Celebrity Endorsement

Respondents were given the names of different celebrities who endorsed different
brands. Once again respondents were asked to write as many brands as they can
remember which every particular celebrity endorsed.
Table Number 4.17 Response Count of Question No 9
Number of time this response is Number of time this response is

Response Number received(Females) received(Males)
0 1 0
1 0 0
2 0 0
3 0 2
4 0 2
5 1 5
6 4 11
7 3 9
8 3 8
9 10 9
10 5 11
11 10 6
12 8 8
13 9 2
14 10 5
15 11 5
16 15 7

16
15
14
12
11 11 11
10 10 10
10
9 9 9
88 8
8 Females
7
Males
6
6
5 5 5 5
4
4
3 3
2 2 2
2
1 1
0 0 00 0 0 0
0
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Figure 4.9.1- Response Count of Question No 9
Table Number 4.18: Mean, Median and Mode of Question No 9
Female Question 9 (Females) Question 9 (Males)

Mean 12.02 9.74
Median 12.5 9.5
Mode 16 10
For the last question too, the total score was ten and respondents had to list the brands
that they remembered from different celebrities. Once again, around 87% of the
women were nine and above out of sixteen scorers which was higher than the males
which stood at approximately 58%. The gap of 2.28 in the mean value (female: 12.02,
male: 9.74) and the 32% difference in the median value along with mode value for
female is significantly higher.
It is seen that when women were inquired about the most effective marketing medium
and advertising theme in their opinion, they had chosen TV and celebrity endorsed
and an emotional advertising theme. This shows that women usually spend more time

at home watching TV as the working woman concept has not evolved in our society
at a greater extent till now and also they are more emotionally attracted to the ads as
opposed to men. This is why women tend to remember what they see more as
compared to men. It is also seen that when it was inquired whether advertisements
give a true picture of the product being marketed or not, it was seen that mostly
women chose the “maybe” option because of which it can be said that they may tend
to believe more that ads can be honest and that is why they may watch the ads with a
greater interest than men who had mostly chosen that ads are not true.

Chapter 5.0 Findings of the Report

Following are the scope for further research:
 TV is the most effective advertisement medium for both the genders while
Billboards and Newspaper as the second most effective mediums for females
and males respectively. Males have a higher exposure rate to Newspaper as
compared to fem
 Males and females have a greater exposure to TV as opposed to males.
Perception of both male and female customers regarding advertising medium
is different.
 Females are more affected by celebrity endorsed and emotional themes than
males are. Males are more affected by humorous and informative themes than
females are. Their perception also various also vary in terms of advertising
theme.
 As compared to females, males perceive that advertisement do not portray the
true picture of products.
 According to male, advertisements were not effective enough to create an
inert feeling to purchase a product for male while females are prone to being
affected by the advertisements to try out the product.
 An advertisement can create an inert feeling to try out a product, but when it
comes to actually purchasing the products, consumer buying decision is rarely
based on brand recall. Just getting a feeling is different than getting an
intention to buy the product. Brand recall leads to a purchase would not be
very authentic as the results show that people may remember a product due to
its advertisements but it’s not necessary that they would buy it too when they
remember it.
 However, due to advertisement recall there are more females as compared to
males who make their purchase decision.
 Females have a better brand recall as compared to males.

Chapter 6.0: Conclusion and Recommendation for the Further

Research
Based on the findings and analysis of this research, the following can be concluded
and recommended:
 Females are easier to target and affect through marketing due to their higher
emotional quotient and TV exposure. It is also more beneficial to target
females as their brand recall was also proved to be better so this obviously
means that they are more prone to spread the product’s awareness through
word of mouth. Due to these reasons, companies should spend a greater
proportion of their marketing budget on targeting females through adverting
campaigns based on emotional and celebrity endorsed themes.
 TV is the most effective mediums for marketing to consumers belonging to

both the genders. Billboard and newspapers are second best effective
advertisement medium for females and males respectively.
 It is necessary that brand recall leads to purchase but still promotion is

important and effective in terms of creating awareness and recall potential in
the consumers. Males and females perceive advertisements differently so
different advertising themes are important to target both these genders more
effectively. For targeting females there should be more focus on celebrity
endorsed and emotional content and. For targeting males on the other hand the
focus should be more on humorous and informative content about the product
being marketed.
The research study can be further carried out on both gender group at other cities or
even countries with similar cultural and demographical aspects. Further research can
also be studied considering the customers of different age brackets that in such
regions would help in generalizing the findings of this research.

APPENDICES
Questionnaire
“Effects of Advertisements on Male vs. Female Consumer Buying Behavior in

Khulna City”
[BBA program, Business Administration Discipline, Khulna University]
(This research is being conducted as a partial fulfillment of BBA program of Khulna

University. Data provided by you will be used for academic purposes & will be kept
concealed).
General Information:
Name of the respondent: ____________________________________________
Gender: Male Female
Occupation: [ ] Service [ ] Student [ ] Self-employed [ ] Housewife

[ ] Others
Q1) Which advertising medium do you think is most effective? (Rate, 5 being the
highest, 1 the lowest)
 TV ________
 Billboard ________
 News paper ________
 Internet ________
 Radio (FM) ________
 Others ________
Q2) How would you rate the following advertisement theme? (5 being the highest, 1
the lowest)
 Humorous ________
 Informative ________
 Adventurous ________
 Emotional ________
 Celebrity endorsed ________
 Others ________

Q3) Do you think that advertisements give a true picture of products/services being
marketed?
[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ]May be
Q4) To what extent do you think that advertising attracts the attention?
[ ] Extremely [ ] A lot [ ] Somewhat [ ] No [ ] Not at all
Q5 ) Did an advertisement ever create an inert feeling to try out a product?
[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Sometimes
Q6 ) How often is the purchase decision based on an advertisement recall?
[ ] Mostly [ ] Often [ ] Rarely [ ] Never
Q7 ) Which brand comes to the mind from the following colors? (List as many as you
remember)
 Yellow ____________________________________________
 Blue ____________________________________________
 Red ____________________________________________
 Green ____________________________________________
 Black ____________________________________________
 Pink ____________________________________________
 Indigo ____________________________________________
 Others ____________________________________________
Q8) Fill in the following blanks:

Brands Tag Lines
 _____________________ Making a Difference
 _____________________ Connecting People
 ___________________ Stay Close
 _____________________ Good Food, Good Life

 _____________________ Take Care
 _____________________ Life can’t Wait
 ____________________ It’s not Just a Cream, it’s a Fairness Treatment

 _____________________ "Because I’m worth it"
 _____________________ The Best a Man Can Get.

 _____________________ World’s No 1 Fairness Cream For Men
 _____________________ Join the Whitening Revolution
Qno:9) Which advertisement comes to ythe mind when you think of the following
celebrities. (List as many as you remember)
 Priyanka Chopra ________________________________
 Kajol ________________________________
 Aishwarya Rai ________________________________
 Kareena Kapoor ________________________________
 Katrina Kaif ________________________________
 Shahrkuh Khan ________________________________
 Shahid Kapoor ________________________________
 John Abraham ________________________________
 Salman Khan ________________________________
 Ranbir Kapoor ________________________________
 Shakib Al Hasan ________________________________
 Tamim Iqbal ________________________________
 Mosharaf Karim ________________________________
 Tisha ________________________________
 Abul Hiyat ________________________________
 Joya Ahsan ________________________________
Thank You for the Co-Operation

References
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The Consumer View, Boston, MA: Harvard University.
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grocery shopping: influences on list writing and list fulfillment”. Journal of
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Berkowitz (Ed.), “Advances in experimental social psychology” (pp. 229 –
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Effects of Advertisements on Buying Behavior

EFFECTS OF ADVERTISEMENTS ON BUYING

Internship Placement Committee

Management and Business Administration School

Date of Submission: September 18, 2012

1 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

September 18, 2012

Internship Placement Committee

Business Administration Discipline

Subject: Submission of Research Report.

Here is the report on “Effects of Advertisements on Buying Behavior: A Comparative

Md. Tajirul Haque

2 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

Preparing this research report on “Effects of Advertisements on Buying Behavior: A

3 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

Chapter 1.0: Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study:

Advertising is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential

The study is based on the exploratory research titled “Effect of Advertisement on

4 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

1.1.1 Definitions of Important Terms Used in The Study:

 Consumer Buying Behavior: As the main objective of this study is to

5 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

1.2 Objectives of the Study:

 To identify the distinction between male and female customers’ perceptions

 To identify customers belonging to which genders have a better brand recall.

1.3 Scope of the Study:

1.4 Rationale of the Study:

6 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

1.5 Limitation of the Study:

7 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

Chapter 2.0: Literature Review

Advertising refers to a paid form of non-personal promotion of any goods, services or

8 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

9 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

10 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

11 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

Chapter 3.0: Research Methodology

3.4 Sampling Technique

3.4.1 Self-Administered Surveys: A sample size of 180 has been surveyed

12 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

3.5 Data Analysis Method

Although question no 7, 8 and 9 were open-ended and self explanatory, number of

13 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

3.6 Data Presentation

14 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

Chapter 4.0 Analysis

4.1 Question no. 1: Advertisement Mediums

Table No: 4.1: Advertisement Mediums Ratings- Females and Males

Females Numbers Males

Figure 4.1- Advertisement Medium Responses- Females

15 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

Females Males Females Males Females Males

Figure 4.2 Advertisement Medium Responses- Males

Figure 4.3 Mean, Median and Mode of Advertisement Mediums- Females

16 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

Figure- 4.4 Mean, Median and Mode of Advertisement Mediums-Males

Thus, the ranking of most effective medium is as for female: TV-Internet-

17 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

18 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

4.2 Question no. 2: Advertisement Themes

19 A Comparative Study on Male and Female Consumers

Figure 4.5 Advertisement Themes Responses-Females