This paper examines communication theories and integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategies as applied to Woolworths Limited, one of Australia's largest retail companies. The paper provides an overview of Woolworths' market position and financial scale, then discusses foundational communication theories including Lasswell's communication model and Schramm's encoding/decoding model. It further explores IMC theory, the hierarchy of effects model, and McGuire's Information Processing Model, explaining how each framework informs how corporations like Woolworths craft and deliver messages to consumers, marketing personnel, and stakeholders across multiple channels.
Woolworths Limited is one of the most prominent companies in the Australian retail industry, and it has been operating since 1924. Woolworths is the largest food retailer in Australia and the second largest retailer in New Zealand (Commission: Red Shed takeover would create a 'pure duopoly,' 2007). The company was ranked as the 19th largest retailer in the world in 2008 (Woolies makes top 25 global retailer list, 2008). Woolworths recorded revenues of 54.28 billion Australian dollars, along with profits of 2.14 billion Australian dollars, in 2011. In Australia, the company is also considered the largest takeaway liquor retailer.
Communication theories are important for fully understanding the process of effective communication. Communication plays a vital role in everything a business deals with, and without effective communication no organization can grow (Werner, 1988).
There are three main areas of corporate communication: public relations, marketing communications, and stakeholder communication.
Harold Lasswell was a political scientist and communications theorist who defined communication as "who says what to whom in what channel with what effect." According to this theory, corporate communication requires that a corporation understand what it is trying to communicate, who the target audience is, and through which channels the message will be delivered. In doing so, corporations must carefully consider the kind of message they communicate to the public, to marketing personnel, and to other stakeholders.
Schramm's Model: In 1954, Wilbur Schramm developed a communication model according to which decoding and encoding are critical activities to be carried out by both sender and receiver (Duncan and Moriarty, 1998). Applying this theory to corporate communication, messages should be effectively encoded by the sender and decoded by the audience. When crafting messages, corporations must consider the perspectives of the public, marketing personnel, and other stakeholders.
In today's challenging business environment, it has become necessary to integrate and interrelate all marketing and communication channels in order to break through the clutter and stand out. The concept behind integrated marketing communication is that the same core message should be communicated to the audience and potential customers through all channels and advertising mediums (Holm, 2006).
There are different theories that define the impact and influence of advertising on the consumer decision-making process. One such theory is the hierarchy of effects, according to which target customers move toward a final purchase decision in steps as they are exposed to marketing information (Barry, 1987). Customers move through five different stages:
In addition to the hierarchy of effects model, there are several other consumer response models, including:
The table below compares these models across cognitive, affective, and behavioral stages:
Cognitive stage: AIDA — Attention; Hierarchy of Effects — Awareness, Knowledge; Innovation Adoption — Awareness, Interest; Information Processing — Presentation, Attention.
Affective stage: AIDA — Interest, Desire; Hierarchy of Effects — Liking, Preference, Conviction; Innovation Adoption — Evaluation; Information Processing — Yielding, Retention.
Behavioral stage: AIDA — Action; Hierarchy of Effects — Purchase; Innovation Adoption — Trial, Adoption; Information Processing — Behavior.
"McGuire's eight-step information processing model explained"
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