The Impact of American TV Series - Essay Example

The effort to induce positive perception in consumers is so overwhelming that it has a tendency of affecting the decisions of even the most knowledgeable buyers (Romeo, 2009, pp. 18-25). Television is a powerful medium that reaches billions of viewers on a daily basis (Turow, 2005, pp. 105-113). Trends introduced through this medium affect millions of young viewers on daily basis (Spalding, 2010). The same ambition is apparent in our targeted TV series Gossip Girl. The TV series is based on a best-selling series of novels written by Cecily von Ziegesar about rich families living on the Upper Eastside in New York City.

Although researches of Turow (2005, pp. 105-113) and Spalding (2010) illustrate how TV, especially sitcoms, affect the behavior and preferences of consumers; Keum et al. (2004, pp. 372-391) present a different opinion by saying that media creates social consciousness and status consciousness which leads to spurring an awareness of the social responsibilities associated with consuming and pursuit of status-oriented lifestyles. This approach asserts that Gossip Girl also helped young women in becoming aware of the latest fashion trends and also make informed decisions because of knowledge regarding substitutes of different products (Keum et al.

, 2004, pp. 372-391). Gossip Girl demonstrates the lives of girls having a strong liking for high-street brands which does not provide a reflection of a regular young girl. This research is intended to examine how young female adults are affected by TV shows like Gossip Girls and how the spending patterns and overall lifestyle of youth are affected by it globally (McRobbie, 2008, pp. 536-542). Similar TV series have been made with the aim to inspire women and help them empower themselves however these series have ultimately become tools of prestigious fashion brands for the purpose of targeting rather a mature segment of women.

Sex and the City is one such series that transformed the fashion sense in women worldwide. Unlike regular TV series and sitcoms like Big Bang Theory having a waitress as a lead character and Two Broke Girls showing waitresses trying hard to make their ends meet, Gossip Girl has shown a diversion from regular girls’ persona to an affluent and powerful outlook (Toffoletti, 2008, pp. 72-5). Amongst young demographics, the most lucrative market segment is young, ready-to-spend, attention-seeking teenage and adolescent girls (McRobbie, 2008, pp.534-37). With steady changes in consumer preferences, young females are always looking for the next big thing (McRobbie, 2008, pp. 534-536). It is observed that the pace of fashion brands launching new collections is much faster than it was some ten years ago.

Although there can be various reasons for that such as market competition and increased consumer awareness, however, intended to capture major market share acts as a motivation for manufacturers to introduce new brands rather quickly (Hines, 20070. Surprisingly long females queue in lines to get their hands on the latest products which encourages companies to speed up their manufacturing and excessively use highly influential marketing campaigns such as ATL (above the line) and BTL (below the line) marketing techniques (Sands and Sands, 2012).

In the case of TV series, ATL activities are more effective as it involves the use of search engines, social media, and other media like TV, cinema, radio, newspaper, etc. On the other hand, BTL activities include sales promotion strategies such as kiosks, email marketing, etc. These techniques influence the buyer significantly and owning a product becomes a source of pride (Sands and Sands,