Consumers’ perception of truth in advertising

Abstract

This research study surveys how certain advertising strategies affect consumers’ perception of truth in them with outcomes drawn from publics in Yola, Adamawa, Nigeria. There are two research questions raised and the literature review focuses on what consumers perceive to be truth in advertising. The theoretical framework for this study uses past experiences and advertising exposures as the key elements for evaluation. The sample size for this study were 200 respondents from the American University of Nigeria, Federal University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa Television, Fombina FM Radio and TV Gotel. Questionnaires were used as the research instrument. The results from the study shows that majority of the respondents have a negative approach towards how advertising practitioners display certain aspect of realism in their productions. The virtue of honesty and frankness were highly overemphasized to be what truth should be all about in the strategic and creative planning of advertisements. The outcome gotten from this research study revealed a positive attitudes towards the impact of advertisements in economic activities. However, the feeling towards how trustworthy and sincere advertisement content are, is a trait that advertising practitioners should resolve