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43-429: In promotion and advertising , a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product . The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whereas the word " endorsement " usually applies to pitches by celebrities . Testimonials can be part of communal marketing . Advertisers have attempted to quantify and qualify

86-416: A challenge is having the audience believe that testimonials presented by a business are given by real people, not fabricated by the business itself. Even so, testimonials, reviews, and case studies are still considered by most marketing experts to be the most effective means of marketing and gaining brand trust by small- and medium-sized businesses. Testimonials have reached an all-time high in importance as

129-455: A class action being filed against Yelp to this effect in February 2010. Research by Martin, Wentzel and Tomczak (2008) found that the effectiveness of testimonials depends on the degree to which consumers are influenced by normative pressure and the quality of the product features highlighted. Results showed that people influenced by peer pressure place a greater emphasis on the testimonial than on

172-402: A conflict of interest. Both the illegal and legal gambling industries often use shills to make winning at games appear more likely than it actually is. For example, illegal three-card monte and shell-game peddlers are notorious employers of shills. These shills also often aid in cheating, disrupting the game if the mark is likely to win. In a legal casino, however, a shill is sometimes

215-427: A discussion forum or group in order to generate interest in that product, service, or group. Web sites can also be set up for the same purpose. In addition, some shills use sock puppetry , where one person poses as multiple users. In some jurisdictions and circumstances, this type of activity is illegal. The plastic surgery company Lifestyle Lift ordered their employees to post fake positive reviews on websites. As

258-439: A gambler who plays using the casino's money in order to keep games (especially poker) going when there are not enough players. The title of one of Erle Stanley Gardner 's mystery novels, Shills Can't Cash Chips , is derived from this type of shill. This is different from " proposition players " who are paid a salary by the casino for the same purpose, but bet with their own money. In marketing, shills are often employed to assume

301-461: A participatory media culture, social media platforms or social networking sites are forms of mass communication that, through media technologies, allow large amounts of product and distribution of content to reach the largest audience possible. However, there are downsides to virtual promotions as servers, systems, and websites may crash, fail, or become overloaded with information. You also can stand risk of losing uploaded information and storage and at

344-447: A person selling an item to bid on the item, even though eBay has no means to detect if a bidder is related to a seller or is in fact the seller. In his book Fake: Forgery, Lies, & eBay , Kenneth Walton describes how he and his accomplices placed shill bids on hundreds of eBay auctions over the course of a year. Walton and his associates were charged and convicted of fraud by federal authorities for their eBay shill bidding. With

387-504: A result, they were sued, and ordered to pay $ 300,000 in damages by the New York Attorney General's office. Reputable organizations may prohibit their employees and other interested parties (contractors, agents, etc.) from participating in public forums or discussion groups in which a conflict of interest might arise, or will at least insist that their employees and agents refrain from participating in any way that might create

430-418: A use can also be effected by a number of outside variables. Brands can explore different strategies to keep consumers engaged. One popular tool is branded entertainment, or creating some sort of social game for the user. The benefits of such a platform include submersing the user in the brand's content. Users will be more likely to absorb and not grow tired of advertisements if they are, for example, embedded in

473-434: A user's initial attention to the ad. However, this may be seen as a distraction to the user if they are trying to absorb a different part of the site such as reading text. Additionally, when brands make the effort of overtly collecting data about their consumers and then personalizing their ads to them, the consumer's relationship with the advertisements, following this data collection, is frequently positive. However, when data

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516-708: Is a modern way for brands to interact with consumers as it releases news, information and advertising from the technological limits of print and broadcast infrastructures. Digital media is currently the most effective way for brands to reach their consumers on a daily basis. Over 2.7 billion people are online globally, which is about 40% of the world's population. 67% of all Internet users globally use social media. Mass communication has led to modern marketing strategies to continue focusing on brand awareness, large distributions and heavy promotions. The fast-paced environment of digital media presents new methods for promotion to utilize new tools now available through technology. With

559-494: Is covertly collected, consumers can quickly feel like the company betrayed their trust. It is important for brands to utilize personalization in their ads, without making the consumer feel vulnerable or that their privacy has been betrayed. Sponsorship generally involves supplying resources (such as money) to a group or an event in exchange for advertising or publicity. Company will often help fund athletes, teams, or events in exchange for having their logo prominently visible. This

602-429: Is done by making use of the tagging feature that directly links to the original brand or the particular location that the picture was taken. Moreover, the description of the pictures are also used to write either the review or sentences that complements the product or place. Users with a large number of followers are commonly targeted for endorsement deal requests that aims to create these testimonial posts, where in return,

645-580: Is done through the use of product placement or by placing logos on team uniforms/equipment. Shill A shill , also called a plant or a stooge , is a person who publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with said person or organization, or have been paid to do so. Shills can carry out their operations in the areas of media, journalism, marketing, politics, sports, confidence games , cryptocurrency , or other business areas. A shill may also act to discredit opponents or critics of

688-435: Is illegal in many circumstances and under many jurisdictions because of the potential for fraud and damage. However, if a shill does not place uninformed parties at a risk of loss, the shill's actions may be legal. For example, a person planted in an audience to laugh and applaud when desired (see claque ), or to participate in on-stage activities as a "random member of the audience", is a legal type of shill. The origin of

731-410: Is the massive amount of fraud in the form of fake reviews or opinion spam , testimonials that are not authentic. Often, a business owner will open multiple email addresses and then corresponding Yelp! accounts and write a multitude of testimonials seemingly by many customers of said business. Similarly, the same owner may also write negative reviews of competitors. From a New York Times article about

774-475: The American version of Mrs. Malaprop , is a possible source. In online discussion media, shills make posts expressing opinions that further interests of an organization in which they have a vested interest, such as a commercial vendor or special interest group , while posing as unrelated innocent parties. For example, an employee of a company that produces a specific product might praise the product anonymously in

817-572: The Latin, promotionem meaning "a moving forward". The word entered the English language in the 14th century. The use of the term promotion to refer to "advertising or publicity" is very modern and was first recorded in 1925. It may be a contraction of a related term, sales promotion, which is one element in the larger set of tools used in marketing communications. The terms, promotion and marketing communications can be used synonymously, but in practice,

860-533: The air of satisfied customers and give testimonials to the merits of a given product. This type of shilling is illegal in some jurisdictions, but almost impossible to detect. It may be considered a form of unjust enrichment or unfair competition , as in California's Business & Professions Code § 17200, which prohibits any "unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising ". People who drive prices in favor of

903-518: The attribute information. In contrast, people who ignore the opinions of others are more influenced by attribute information. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that in US businesses, an alarming number of testimonials were in fact fictitious and misleading. In December 2009, they introduced a new set of rules governing testimonials. In essence, it is now illegal to use testimonials that "...mislead consumers and affect consumers' behavior or decisions about

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946-420: The customer. Facebook , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , Tumblr , as well as alternate audio and media sites like SoundCloud and Mixcloud allow users to interact and promote music online with little to no cost. You can purchase and buy ad space on social media platforms. Additionally, you can buy artificial Likes , Followers, and Clicks on your pages and posts with the use of third parties. As

989-487: The elements in the promotional mix, and what proportion of the budget should be allocated to each element. Promotion covers the methods of communication that a marketer uses to provide information about its product . Information can be both verbal and visual . The term promotion derives from the Old French, promocion meaning to "move forward", "push onward" or to "advance in rank or position" which in turn, comes from

1032-414: The field, such as in grocery or department stores. Interactions in the field allow immediate purchases. The purchase of a product can be incentive with discounts (i.e., coupons), free items, or a sweepstakes prize draw . This method is used to increase the sales of a given product. Interactions between the brand and the customer are performed by a brand ambassador or promotional model who represents

1075-545: The game as opposed to a bothersome pop-up ad. Personalizing advertisements is another strategy that can work well for brands, as it can increase the likelihood that the brand will be personified by the consumer. Personalization increases click-through intentions when data has been collected about the consumer. Brands must navigate the line between effectively promoting their content to consumers on social media and becoming too invasive in consumers' lives. Vivid Internet ads that include devices such as animation might increase

1118-560: The internet is now a plethora of reviews (synonymous with testimonials). Websites such as Yelp! , Google Maps , TripAdvisor , and many more have become 'go to' places for individuals who are seeking other customers reviews/testimonials about a particular business. To put the growth of this industry into perspective, for example, Yelp.com's growth alone can be noted: Yelp.com has more than 71 million monthly unique visitors as of January 2012. Instagram especially has increasingly been useful in distributing testimonials on products and places. It

1161-408: The latter is more widely used. There are three objectives of promotion. These are: The purpose of a promotion and thus its promotional plan can have a wide range, including: sales increases, new product acceptance, creation of brand equity , positioning , competitive retaliations or creation of a corporate image . The term 'promotion' tends to be used internally by the marketing function. To

1204-427: The management of national celebrities appearing in medical advertisements." Testimonials from customers who are not famous have been effectively used in marketing for as long as marketing has existed. A past or current customer will present a formal "word of mouth" testimonial that a business can use in marketing and to build trust with future customers. Testimonials are incredibly effective when believed to be true, but

1247-436: The person or organization in which they have a vested interest. In most uses, shill refers to someone who purposely gives onlookers, participants or "marks" the impression of an enthusiastic customer independent of the seller, marketer or con artist, for whom they are secretly working. The person or group in league with the shill relies on crowd psychology to encourage other onlookers or audience members to do business with

1290-792: The product in physical environments. Brand ambassadors or promotional models are hired by a marketing company , which in turn is booked by the brand to represent the product or service. Person-to-person interaction, as opposed to media-to-person involvement, establishes connections that add another dimension to promotion. Building a community through promoting goods and services can lead to brand loyalty . Examples of traditional media include print media such as newspapers and magazines, electronic media such as radio and television , and outdoor media such as banner or billboard advertisements. Each of these platforms provides ways for brands to reach consumers with advertisements. Digital media, which includes Internet, social networking and social media sites,

1333-660: The product or service." However, despite new regulations, online consumers often view testimonials with a high degree of skepticism. Companies from the private sector have begun to offer testimonial verification services to help consumers verify the authenticity of displayed testimonials. Promotion (marketing) Promotion is also one of the elements in the promotional mix or promotional plan. These are personal selling , advertising , sales promotion , direct marketing , publicity , word of mouth and may also include event marketing , exhibitions and trade shows. A promotional plan specifies how much attention to pay to each of

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1376-400: The proliferation of live online auctions in recent years, shill bidding has become commonplace. Some websites allow shill bidding by participating auctioneers. These auctioneers are able to see bids placed in real time and can then place counter bids to increase the amount. One Proxibid auctioneers' website states, "At the request of the auction company, this auction permits bids to be placed by

1419-592: The public or the market, phrases like " special offer " are more common. Examples of fully integrated, long-term, and large-scale promotions are My Coke Rewards in the USA or Coke Zone in the UK and Pepsi Stuff . There have been different ways to promote a product in person or with different media. Both person and media can be either physically real or virtual/electronic. Promotions can be held in physical environments at special events such as concerts , festivals, trade shows , and in

1462-442: The purchase of an endorsed product into a status symbol. On 1 August 2007, laws were passed banning healthcare professionals and public figures such as movie stars or pop singers from appearing in advertisements for drugs or nutritional supplements . A spokesperson stated, "A celebrity appearing in drug advertising is more likely to mislead consumers, therefore, the state must consider controlling medical advertisements and strengthen

1505-464: The rise of technological advances, promotions can be done outside of local contexts and across geographic borders to reach a greater number of potential consumers. The goal of a promotion is then to reach the most people possible in a time efficient and a cost efficient manner. Social media, as a modern marketing tool, offers opportunities to reach larger audiences in an interactive way. These interactions allow for conversation rather than simply educating

1548-405: The same topic, "On another forum, Digital Point , a poster wrote, 'I will pay for positive feedback on TripAdvisor.' A Craigslist post proposed this: 'If you have an active Yelp account and would like to make very easy money please respond.' There are tens-of-thousands of ads out there all over the internet of people requesting you to write bogus reviews for their business and people offering to do

1591-436: The same.". However, there are legitimate and legal ways for business owners to build their portfolio of reviews such as mentioning to customers that they value honest feedback and then providing them with the appropriate instructions for where they can review the business. There have also been allegations that review sites themselves are prepared to manipulate reviews in return for companies buying advertising subscriptions, with

1634-451: The seller or accept the ideas they are promoting. Shills may be employed by salespeople and professional marketing campaigns. Plant and stooge more commonly refer to a person who is secretly in league with another person or outside organization while pretending to be neutral or part of the organization in which they are planted, such as a magician's audience, a political party, or an intelligence organization (see double agent ). Shilling

1677-625: The seller or auctioneer with fake bids in an auction are called shills or potted plants and seek to provoke a bidding war among other participants. Often they are told by the seller precisely how high to bid, as the seller does not lose money if the item does not sell, paying only the auction fees. Shilling has a substantially higher rate of occurrence in online auctions , where any user with multiple accounts can bid on their own items. One detailed example of this has been documented in online auto auctions . The online auction site eBay forbids shilling; its rules do not allow friends or employees of

1720-489: The term "shill" is uncertain; it may be an abbreviation of "shillaber". The word originally denoted a carnival worker who pretended to be a member of the audience in an attempt to elicit interest in an attraction. Some sources trace the usage back to 1914, or as far back as 1911. American humorist Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber (1814–1890), who often wrote under the guise of his fictional character Mrs. Ruth Partington,

1763-412: The use of celebrities in their marketing campaigns by evaluating the awareness generated, appeal, and relevance to a brand's image and the celebrity's influence on consumer buying behavior. Social media such as Twitter have become increasingly popular mediums for celebrities to endorse brands and to attempt to influence purchasing behavior. According to a study by Zenith, social media ad spending

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1806-525: The user receives commission for 'advertising' the place or product. However, it can only be called an endorsement deal when the company or label contacts the user directly to create such testimonial post, and the user receives commission. This is becoming a trend in Indonesia , especially amongst users with at least one thousand followers, where some are now known for posting pictures with advertising purposes. The downside to such explosive importance in this arena

1849-623: Was $ 29 billion in 2016 and is expected to rise to $ 50 billion in 2019. Advertising and marketing companies sponsor celebrities to tweet and influence thousands (sometimes millions) of their followers to buy brand products. For example, Ryan Seacrest (an American broadcaster) gets paid to promote Ford products. Companies that pay celebs to tweet for them subscribe to the Malcolm Gladwell theory of influence. Celebrity endorsements have proven very successful in China , where increasing consumerism makes

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