ABSTRACT

Public and nonprofit organizations (P&NPOs) communicate with their clients in various ways. They may rely on speakers, public relations, meetings and public events, or publications; they may communicate face to face using what a business manager would call a salesperson; or they may use advertising. Communication may be said to consist of seven elements: source, encoding, message, media, decoding, receiver, and feedback. To understand these elements is to understand advertising. The effect of advertising depends on the amount spent, as illustrated by the "S"-curve model. According to this model, at low levels of spending on advertising, returns to advertising investment increase as advertising increases, whereas at high advertising levels, returns to advertising decrease as advertising increases. One aspect of advertising that is particularly appropriate to public and P&NPs is the public service announcements (PSAs). PSAs are announcements promoting the activities of P&NPOs for which no charge is made.