Advertising helps to make consumers aware of a product and aims to build preference for that product over its competitors. If advertising succeeds in those two tasks, consumers will choose the advertised product when they make their next purchase. However, building awareness and preference through advertising is a cumulative process. A single campaign only raises awareness for a short period, so it is important to allocate the budget for advertising over a period of time to sustain high levels of awareness and use.
By advertising, you can make consumers aware of the existence and availability of your product. However, raising awareness is only the first stage in persuading consumers to buy and use your product. Your advertising must convince them of the quality of the product. Including testimonials from satisfied customers or reporting achievement of quality standards in your advertisements helps to build confidence and preference for your product.
Awareness and preference increase or decrease over time, depending on the weight and frequency of advertising, according to David W. Olson in an article for "Advances in Consumer Research." Frequent advertising can build the level of awareness from recognition of some elements of a product through to detailed understanding of the nature of the product and its benefits. Levels of awareness and preference can decline if you do not continue to advertise or if competitors increase their weight of advertising compared to yours.
Advertising on the Internet makes it easier to measure the effects of advertising on product awareness and use, according to Paul A. Pavlou and David W. Stewart in the "Journal of Interactive Advertising." When consumers click on your Internet advertisement to obtain further product information, you can immediately measure the success of a campaign in terms of the number of responses. If consumers then purchase the advertised product online, you have a direct measure of campaign effectiveness on product use.
Although you can use advertising to raise product awareness and use, you must also take into account the other methods consumers use to obtain product information. Consumers collect and share information by searching or posting reviews and feedback on websites. They also exchange information and preferences through social networking sites, influencing other consumers’ choices in a way similar to traditional advertising.