TABLE OF CONTENTS Advertising and sales promotion are an integral part of what is termed marketing communications . The word communications' is derived from the Latin word communis meaning common . Communication can be thought of as the process of establishing a commonality or oneness of thought between a sender and a receiver . This definition highlights two important ideas. First, communication is a process that has elements and inter-relationships that can be modelled and examined in a structured manner. Secondly, oneness of thought must develop between sender and receiver if true communication is to occur. This implies that a sharing relationship must exist between sender and receiver.
It is a mistake to view the sender (for instance, a speaker) as the active member in the relationship and the receiver (a listener) as passive. Consider a person (the sender) speaking to a friend who is not really listening (the intended receiver). It might appear that communication is taking place, but no thought is being shared, and there is no communication between these friends. The reason for this lack of communication is the passivity of the intended receiver. Note that we call one of the people the intended receiver. Although sound waves are being transmitted, the intended listener is not receiving and sharing thought. A human receiver can be likened to a television set. A television set is bombarded by television (electromagnetic) waves from several stations. However, it receives only the station to which the channel selector is tuned. Human receivers likewise are...
