Do disclaimers during ads lower consumer preference of the advertised product ?

[Sarthak Brahma]

You see a hunk doing over the top stunts using a bike, You get thrilled. Just then a robotic voice( or a fine-print) tells you that the stunts are performed under expert supervision and they are not to be tried by you. Of course you are not silly to actually commit doing things like that but such disclaimers, even those related to other products leave you a bit puzzled. Does this affect your perception of the said product or brand?

[Abhirup]

Not quite Sarthak.. I feel its important that the disclaimer exists… imagine what happens if everyone starts performing these stunts.

[Karthikeyan NB]

Not exactly , the best example is a cigarette pack even after the fact posted that smoking it will cause lung cancer does not reduce the preference for it by large extent.

[Abhirup]

Point taken Karthikeyan. Nice example +1

[Sarthak Brahma]

It is a different thing when it comes to addictive products. and government imposed disclaimers. There is another level of thought process that goes behind that. But when we are talking about choice of people based on products with or without disclaimers, disclaimers do hurt a bit there. :yes:

 

[Rishabh Bhardwaj]

The roles of disclaimers are many. Sometimes, it is used to caution someone about the harmful effects of products like Cigarette, etc. Sometimes, it is used to tell the audience not to take the advertisement at the face value like Mountain Dew advertisements or Thumbs Up (Aaj Kuch Toofani Karte Hain). Sometimes it is used to caution about the risk of the product if not chosen carefully like Mutual Funds advertisements. But think from customer’s perspective. Customer’s purchasing cycle comprises Need or Problem Identification, Consideration, Purchase, After Sales. Now, during Consideration or Purchase phase, customers see which brands can fulfill their needs which further depends on the brand’s marketing mix.

Let’s take a small example of Mutual Funds. You see an advertisement from let’s say ICICI. Now, how will you think on hearing the disclaimer – “People are foolish who really do not read the clause in the agreement properly, but I am very intelligent. I can’t commit such mistakes.” It’s human psychology – we think that we can’t commit mistakes but others can.

So, disclaimers do not affect our buying behavior. Companies put them just to comply with authorities that too in such a manner that mostly it gets overlooked.

[Gaurav Andhansare]

In my opinion disclaimers are more of a mockery of the rules and regulations of information and broadcasting ministry in India.

Take Mutual Funds for an example; a 2 minute long ad is followed by a short disclaimer which is blabbered faster than perhaps Eminem himself! Advertisers have time limit allotted to each ad as a ready excuse for such things but the point is that they too, realise that somewhere, it hurts the whole ad campaign…

[Sarthak Brahma]

@Rishabh- I don’t quite agree. The said disclaimer, although may produce the same thought response as u suggested but some part of the brain is somewhat cautioned too. While that may not necessarily hamper the number of sales largely, they do play some role. Atleast, I feel so  😉

[Sarthak Brahma]

@Gaurav- Nicely put, Quite agree :yes:

[Rishabh Bhardwaj]

@Sarthak – As you have yourself said that they don’t hamper the sales largely, the point is already proved 😉

Even if we suppose that it will affect few audience, they will be those who do not trust the brand. Because think for a second, if a customer already trusts a brand, he/she will not think about such minor things (disclaimers,etc.) because he/she doesn’t give a damn about it. But suppose a customer is new for a brand, he/she then will go further in order to collect information about the brand. Remember the buying process is not hindered just by a disclaimer, it is a whole process starting with need identification, information collection, choosing alternatives, final selection. In the information collection part, a customer won’t restrict himself/herself just to an ad. He will go beyond that – like asking friends, searching on internet, calling customer care of the company, etc.

But at the end, you wrote on line – “I feel so”. Then it’s ok bro because if that’s what your inner feelings say it’s fine but bro we can’t generalize our opinion without proper logic.

[Author]

Posts