India is the largest print market of the world and is growing at a faster rate with increasing literacy rate. In the case of print media, newspapers and magazines are full of advertisements depending on the readership. On the one hand, these advertisements enhance the quality of the magazines and newspapers, as they generate revenue for them, but on the other, it creates irritation in the minds of readers because of the number of advertisements in a single issue. The first paper, “Measuring the Attitude of Individuals Towards Print Media Advertisements”, by Samir Sarkar and M K Chowdhury, measures the overall attitude of people of Guwahati City towards print advertisements by using four factors, i.e., amusement, informativeness, credibility and nuisance. The study considering 744 respondents drawn from the population and covering a period from May, 2011 to December, 2014 reveals that although newspapers and magazines are two different vehicles for advertisement, both have similar impact on individual’s attitude. Amusement, credibility and information are directly and positively related to attitude towards both newspaper and magazine advertisements, while nuisance is not at all related to individual’s attitude towards newspaper and magazine advertisements.

The second paper, “Social Comparison of Luxury Fashion Brands: Impact of Ostentation and Media Habits”, by Preeti Tak, Ashish Pareek and Bikramjit Rishi, contributes to academic research done in the area of luxury brands and social comparison and relates media and ostentation to social comparison. The paper attempts to determine the factors of social comparison and examine the influence of ostentation and media habits on the factors of social comparison in Indian context. It identifies four factors, i.e., self-evaluation, peer evaluation, self-improvement and self-enhancement that could prove to be highly useful for designing an effective marketing strategy for the luxury brands. Understanding the influence of ostentation and media habits on social comparison in India in context to luxury brand consumption would help marketers to target their customers and position their products effectively.

Literature shows that there is a statistically significant impact of the dimensions of the social media marketing on brand equity, therefore companies need to focus more on social media marketing and increase its share in marketing mix activities that will in return help companies to generate huge revenues from enhanced brand equity. The third paper, “Social Media Marketing and Brand Equity: A Literature Review”, by Syed Zeeshan Zahoor and Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, makes an attempt to study the relationship between the social media marketing and the brand equity and proposes a framework wherein the relationships between the underlying variables of the two constructs are established.

The Indian economy is undergoing a major revolution. Positive business sentiments, improved customer confidence and more controlled inflation are increasingly being witnessed and are likely to propel the economic growth of the country. The fourth paper, “An Analysis of Adoption Pattern of Alternative Banking Channels by Indian Customers”, by Reeti Agarwal and Ankit Mehrotra, reveals increasing trend in the usage of mobile banking as a channel of banking, especially in the age group of 46 to 60 years with balance enquiry being the most common reason for using mobile banking. Accessibility was found to be the most important factor affecting customer’s choice of a banking channel. Specifically, this study aims to contribute to the industry and literature alike, by identifying the usage pattern of customers with respect to the different banking channels in India.

Ambi Parameswaran, in the book, Nawabs, Nudes, Noodles: India Through 50 Years of Advertising, through personal experiences and storytelling, shares anecdotes of iconic and legendry names of the advertising world and memorable ads that created history. Rachna Sharma critically reviewing the book which is divided into four sections, namely, People, Products, Services and Ad Narratives claims that the book is a treasure trove for advertising professionals and simply anyone who is enamored with the advertising sector.

-- B Shafiulla
Consulting Editor