CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION ON

SURROGATE ADVERTISING
-A STUDY BASED IN KOLKATA

NAME: ANAM SALIM

ROLL NO.: 1164
ROOM NO: 27
SEMESTER VI
PROFESSOR NAME: DR. SOMA NATH
 SYNOPSIS
INTRODUCTION
Advertising is a publicity tool used for the marketing of goods and services.
Various types of mass media such as television, radio, newspaper, magazine,
websites, social media, etc help promote and communicate any product, service, or
idea. The main aim of advertising is to lure the consumers towards various
emerging brands and diversify their customer base which thereby, helps escalate
the goodwill of the company against its competitors. It is a tactic to broaden
promotional messages in society. Advertising not only assists in launching a new
product but also enlightens the customers about such products. Although
advertising is beneficial to society, it carries a deleterious aspect too. It bemuses
the consumers and deceives them towards inferior goods. We cannot refuse the fact
that advertisements have laid down the parameters or set a benchmark of our
lifestyle as seasons change.

Among the 4Ps, Promotion is one of the most important tools for marketers.
Companies incur huge expenditures on the advertisement of their products.
Advertisements entice and sway the consumers to buy products irrespective of
their usage.

After the ban of advertisements on alcohol and tobacco products, it was difficult
for these manufacturers and marketers to attract people to this industry. Since
advertisements work for recalling the brand of any product, the marketers came up
with a new strategy. They termed it 'Surrogate Advertising.' Keeping the legal
barriers in mind, they started promoting different products such as soda, drinking
water, music CDs, pan masala, and others under the same brand name. These
specific brands are well known for whisky, alcohol, and tobacco products. Thus,
the consumers can correspond with the brand name and the original product.
Taking advantage of this veil, all these companies are indirectly marketing these
products successfully. It has a great impact on children, teenagers, youth, and even
women. Often its impact on society is negative. Many people are unaware of this
kind of advertisement. This study is conducted to bring out a clear idea about
Surrogate Advertising. It will investigate the knowledge and perception of the
consumers to get valuable suggestions from them.
In India, the Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) primarily acts as a
controller in the formation of advertisements since any kind of judicial authority to
govern is not present. The ASCI take some definite measures and impose obvious
rules on promotion of harmful substances like cigarettes, strong drink like liquor
and other alcoholic beverages and gutkha which are not acceptable by the society.
This done in order to keep such industries of tobacco and liquor under their control
and direct supervision.

Nature of the Problem

The ban of advertisements relating to tobacco and liquor products resulted in the
evolution of the term- “Surrogate Advertising”.
In a densely populated country like India, the consumption of such products is
massive. Also, in a few years when people reach the legal drinking age of 25 the
consumption of liquor is bound to increase. This increase will benefit the industry
entrants of tobacco, alcohol, and liquor. Hence, it is observed that this will hype up
the sales of such industries.
This paper aims to critically analyse the customer’s perception of surrogate
advertising and their buying behaviour. Ethical issues and social concerns ought to
be addressed. This analysis will help in understanding the theoretical framework of
surrogate advertising and its inference primarily in the city of Kolkata.

Literature Review
After studying the available literature, opinions of various experts, conclusions
derived from the conducted research and findings from recent research related to
surrogate advertising, the following information has been obtained regarding the
literature review.
• Punit Kumar, Amit Verma, Ranit Halder and Punjala Varun Datta
(2017) in their article "Effect of Surrogate Advertisements in Alcohol
Industry” explained how surrogate advertising has evolved over time and
the impact it made on youth. These ads may make target audience feel the
desire of having such a lifestyle. This article also includes literature reviews
of various other articles which gives us more staunch evidences and details
on the respective topic.
• Sangeeta Dodrajka (2011) in their article “Surrogate Advertising in
India” described how advertising is no longer a waste and how companies
are promoting their products which are banned via surrogate advertising.
• D. Ganesan, Umaya Salma Shajahan, R.Kiruthika (2019) in the article,
“Effectiveness of Surrogate Advertisements among Viewers” gave a
deep insight on surrogate advertisements and its impact on viewers. Their
article also showed how the youth was particularly affected moved by such
advertisements.
• Dr Saswati Gangopadhyay& Mr. Soumya Dutta (2015) in their article
Surrogate Advertisements on Satellite Television: Indian Experience
 focused on bringing out the ugly truth of surrogate advertising and the effect
on the youth. This article exclusively tells how such products are getting
stereotyped as being a symbol of superior lifestyle.
• Yugank Goyal (2009) in the article "Surrogate Advertising in India”
tried to bring out the negative impact on the health of poeple in India.
According to the study these ads are a reason why there is an increasing
demand of tobacco and liquor.
• Ahammed Shameer P.M (2012) in his article “A study on Impact of
Surrogate Advertisement in Surrogate Products” said that via surrogate
advertising companies have succeeded in their promotion technique
effectively.
• Neha Bansal (2014) in the article “ Surrogate Advertising or Brand
Extension Advertising: A need for strict Norms” talked about surrogate
advertisement within India’s legislative framework. People feel that such ads
are unethical and misleading in nature as these brands use brand extension to
promote the products which are restricted and banned by the Indian
government.
• Dhrity Ahuja (2015) in the article "Surrogate Advertisements: The
Marketers Tool" explained how such ads are risking the health, future and
life of youths as this promotional technique deeply distracts them. The
article also talked about how the various movie halls are trying to bring out
the negative sides of such advertisements via short clips.
• Ms. Deepa Nathwani (2016) in the article "Impact of Surrogate
advertising” said that ads relating to tobacco and liquor have high influence
on the target audience and their purchase decisions. These ads are portrayed
in a way that they are not only self explanatory but also act as reminders for
 the prospective buyers.
• Avadhesh Vyas and Dr. Gaurav Bissa (2017) in the article - Surrogate
Advertisement on Television "An Analysis with Special Reference to
Indian Youth” shared their view on the impact on Indian Youth because of
Television and its ads. Advertisements relating to liquor, alcohol and other
tobacco products are banned by Indian media. The article also tried to bring
to notice the celebrity endorsement in such ads which highly affects the
people across the country especially the youth.

Objective of the study

• To explore the concept and awareness of surrogate advertising.
• To get the inference on the effect of such advertisements on people’s mind
and their buying decisions.
• To analyze the target audience’s perception regarding such promotions.
• To assess whether people are relating to the original products of the
companies that use surrogate advertising.
• To discover various strategies that companies use to attract their target
audience.

Research Methodology

• The study will be inclusive of explorative as well as empirical in nature.

• It will include primary and secondary data.
• The primary data will be collected using a Questionnaire which will be
issued to people to get an overall insight on the topic chosen.
• The secondary data, however, will be gathered from journals, websites,
 research papers, interviews, periodicals, magazines, blogs and articles
relating to the topic.

Sample Selection
The sampling technique used will be convenient sampling. The sample size of
the research will be more than 100 respondents. The sample will be based
majorly in Kolkata and a few states across India.

Plan of Work
• Introduction
• Nature of Problem
• Literature Review
• Objectives of the study
• Research Methodology
• Analysis
• Finding and Observations
• Recommendation
• Conclusion
• Limitation
• Scope of Study
• Bibliography
• Annexure
 Bibliography
Websites
• https://www.mondaq.com/india/advertising-marketing-
branding/606974/surrogate-advertisements-in-india
• https://www.feedough.com/what-is-surrogate-advertising-why-is-it-used/
• https://www.ijerm.com/download_data/IJERM0408006.pdf
• http://www.slideshare.net/mobile/vishalchaudhury560/surrogate-advertising-
full-report.
• http://journal.indianlegalsolution.com/2019/10/15/surrogate-advertising-in-
india-alegal-perspective%EF%BB%BF-anchal/
• https://www.scribd.com/document/363331343/7-Impact-of-Surrogate-
Advertising-Deepa-Nathwani
• https://www.slideshare.net/shampm88/a-project-report-on-the-impact-of-
surrogate-advertisement-in-surrogate-products-at-ogilvy-mather
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258172523_Surrogate_Advertising
_in_India
• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/surrogate
-ads-luring-kids-into-smoking/articleshow/3093034.cms
• www.thehindubusinessline.com
• http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/1346-surrogate-
advertisements.html
• https://www.ijitee.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/v9i2/B6874129219.pdf
 • https://www.mondaq.com/india/advertising-marketing-
branding/606974/surrogate-advertisements-in-
india#:~:text=Surrogate%20advertisements%20are%20used%20to,Blue%20
Cassettes%20and%20CDs%20etc.

Journals & Articles

• Surrogate Advertisements in India: An Assessment of Recall and Affect by

Mrinalini Pandey in August 2010.
• Kotni, Devi Prasad VV The Banned Surrogate Marketing as Brand- New
Brand Extension Advertising in 2011.
• An an empirical study on surrogate advertisements: A pioneer a pioneering
trend by Varalakshmi T. on January, 2013.
• Article by Neha Bansal “Surrogate Advertising or Brand Extension
Advertising: A need for strict Norms” in2014.
• Impact of Surrogate Advertisement on Consumer Perception in Indore City
by Shivesh Rajpal and Amrita Nayak on April, 2015.
• Article by Ms. Deepa Nathwani "Impact of Surrogate advertising”, 2016.
• Bangari, Monika. Advertising Ethics and Surrogate Advertising Practices:
An Empirical Study. International Journal of Research in Commerce &
Management in April, 2016.
• Abin P Jose, Reshma Roy. Effect of Surrogate Advertisement on Consumer
 Response in India. International Journal of Managemeny in March, 2020.
• Article by Dr. Varinder Singh and Ms. Pallavi – “Surrogate Advertising: Is it
Ethical or a Monster in a Mask?” in 2018.