Abstract
Could you tell me how many marketing messages you've seen or heard since you woke up this morning? Probably the answer is no. Messages stemming from advertising, promotions, PR, direct marketing, and salesmen are everywhere. We encounter them on our way to work, in newspapers and magazines, stores and restaurants, when watching our favorite sports, looking out of an airplane window, or even while socializing with friends. As a consumer, it is impossible to keep track of everything marketers are trying to tell us. This abundance of marketing messages is often referred to as clutter. Clutter makes consumers less likely to pay attention to marketing messages. What is more, clutter breeds avoidance behavior and skepticism, which makes consumers more likely to actively resist marketing messages. This thesis sets out to further our understanding of marketing communications in a cluttered environment. The thesis comprises five articles in which issues of clutter are empirically investigated. Specifically, conventional wisdoms regarding slogans, media choice, and PR are put to test in more ecologically valid settings than what has been used in previous research. By including these settings, our understanding of marketing communications in the presence of competing messages is improved. Whereas clutter to date is mostly considered a challenge for advertising, the thesis broadens the perspective by showing that clutter is a challenge to, and consequence of, all types of marketing communications. By offering a framework for understanding clutter, the thesis provides support for marketers trying to make sense of message competition and what it means for their marketing communications. It also provides ideas of how to face the clutter challenge or even benefit from it.