Sex, gender and advertising - Essay Example

Sex, Gender and Advertising Gender roles in advertising are formed on the basis of psychological and physiological movements which are studied by the advertising and marketing people so that the clients (the company people) remain happy and their business flourishes in the longer run. However, to get this very message down to the intended people is not an easy job to start with. It needs to be very targeted, precise and significant for them in order for them to take notice and understand that the particular brand connects with them in the best and most easiest of manners possible and hence they should be the ones to buy it for themselves and for this reason satisfy their need or even please themselves more than they had already expected. It is a sure tough job for the people who have to extract the perfect message which needs to be sharpened again and again before it actually gets down to the right kind of people who will make the actual purchase and therefore the product will be sold in the end. However, on the flip side of the coin, this requires selling the product or the brand in the mind of the consumer before he actually decides to go and buy the very same. This is refereed as the pre-selling stage and advertising has got a lot to do with it. Children can have a totally different impression on their young minds when they see some specific advertisement on television or in the print media which attracts the attention of the opposite gender and thus brings to notice their interest as to why the brand or the product is being advertised to the opposite sex alone. Children therefore need to be told the plus points of their television viewing with regards to the different brands so that they do not extract a meaning which is not actually conveyed by the company for them in the first place. The branch of human psychology that deals with the behavior of groups and the influence of social factors on the children is indeed the social psychology and as we are getting the hang of things from the advertising and persuasion perspective of it, these both are seen as being quite imperative here. Also, the stereotypical setting of showing girls indoors as opposed to boys in the field and carrying out masculine acts suggest that there is a certain amount of gender ambiguity that is present in the ads of present times. These put more emphasis on the understanding that the advertising professionals of today lack imagination, creative touch and the much needed understanding of their responsibility towards the children in particular and the whole society in general. There has been a lot of hue and cry with regards to the equality rights of the women as compared to the men in the society in current times but less said the better in the real role played by the advertising professionals where they have more often than not failed to capitalize on the fact that they have perfect platform to get their act together and serve for the betterment of all concerned and more specifically the young ones, when one talks about a concise context here. Advertising and media communications demands a lot of word of mouth approach that essentially takes into consideration the fact that the more people are happy and satisfied with the brand and its related associations, the more they will buy it again and again as well as encourage their near and dear ones to take that step of having the eventual purchase on their part so as to give satisfaction to their own selves and thus indeed benefit the brand and more than that the company itself in terms of its business. But then again it is all about having positive associations here than disappointing a gender that is usually not that well presented in the ads, the result of which is in the form of wrath from all female quarters, no matter they hail from the rich strata of the society or are a part of the poor society values. When one talks about the specific ads that show boys as having a dominant role than the girls, we immediately come across the ones that exhibit some brands that are targeted more towards the children. Say for example, there is an ad of a candy bar that is liked more by children than adults. Now it is pretty natural to understand that boys and girls without any difference whatsoever of their genders, would like it and go for it day in day out. Yet somehow or the other, this ad will show the boy having the last laugh and the girl moaning that the boy took his bar away and ate it himself. This gives rise to a sort of gender difference between the two and thus the platform is set for the perfect war between the two. Add to that, there are adaptations for these ads where the same ad would be somewhat distorted and presented in a manner that the next sequence would demonstrate the boy losing out to the girl in this case. Rather than correcting their stance on the boy-girl war that they have brought to the fore, they should encourage a mutual sense of respect and care for each other, rather than the one going after the other to achieve one benefit or in some cases, more than that as well. A bad demonstration or for that matter association of a particular product according to the expectations of the consumers, who in this case are the children might just ask of them to refrain from buying this brand ever again. This is a vital factor in the marketing and advertising world and emphasis should thus be placed on turning these children who have somewhat negative perceptions due to associations with the brands into positive customers as well as force their say in the purchases made by other family members. This is a hectic exercise on the part of the advertising professionals but must be given significance on the part of the company producing the product because one child who goes against a company’s product means that he or she asks 8 out of 10 children in his or her gang not to make that vital purchase of the product and this figure thus gets exponentially higher. Thus one has to figure out that portrayal of gender roles in children’s advertising does not make him or her feel alienated and at the mercy of the society rather the child needs to relate with the product and more so the feelings that are given a fresh lease of life. One needs to be street smart when it comes to targeting children as they have the most impressionable minds and usually do not forget whatever is imprinted on their minds since their days of childhood. Stereotypes in the media and advertising exist amongst every society of the world in present times and same has been the case for so many decades now that all seems so very inevitable. However the manner in which this has been presented time and again needs to be stressed more on the lines of the programs that are shown across the board and the advertising that is done courtesy the different brands and products in the name of commercialism. Advertisements seek to bring the consumer out of the normally economic minded individual, frequent repetitions drive jingles deep into the memory of the audience, and catchphrases such as, “Milk does a body good” and, “ I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” become household terminologies (Lears, 1994). Cinema and music, similarly, have introduced phrases, and lines that have ingrained themselves into the consciousness of the American people, thus actually turning them into commercial vehicles. “Here’s looking at you, kid” and “Show me the money” are an integral part of American consciousness now. (Lears, 1994) Another flagrant example is the use of obscene language in certain forms of music. This language propagates itself instantly to the listener, causing him in turn to use it more and more frequently. Words like “ass” and “bling’ are now normal everyday vocabulary. This makes the performing arts a powerful mode for language transitions, effecting the speech and ideas of the perceiver in subtle but unmistakable ways. By playing on their susceptibilities, media personnel can manipulate, and mould the audience in any way they please. Provocative wording, catch-phrasing, and dramatizing help in tinting what should be a completely objective news report with one’s own opinion. This technique of providing ‘opinionated’ news, that is, news highlighted with the reporters own personal judgments, is a major way of swaying the beliefs and emotions of the reading public. Body language, constant stressing on certain words, and using words that would naturally produce a sensation are great weapons for experienced communicators (Edwards, 1982). In the field of politics, where power depends mostly on one’s ability to sell one’s opinions, language usage is a necessary tool to master. The media has always been used as a tool to educate and stimulate the audience’s minds. The stereotyping of ethnic groups and communities might just benefit a single faction but the harm that it inflicts on the remaining ones is something to ponder upon in the long run. Similarly the gender roles and their responsibilities are also shattered as a result of the media’s stereotypical nature every now and then. Forming stereotypes can result in prejudices as well as have fights between different factions and groups and in no way this can be attributed as a plus point for the people who are at the helm and who consider themselves as running the media bandwagon. They have no right to ruin the lives of the common man and for this they should be held accountable. The basis of equality and oneness within the society is something that has to be addressed in due course of time and this is one subject that directly comes under the media’s formation of stereotypes with the passage of time, advancements in technology and the changes in the common man’s thinking mindset. The role of advertising in portraying the sexual aspects is one of an important one since it makes the distinction as to what comes clearly under its jurisdiction and what is not a part of the fragment that we are touching upon. Furthermore, the role played by the human beings in a sexual mode is one of a taboo kind since it invites for a lot of harsh judgment and bitter thoughts start pouring in left, right and center. Usually the racial and sexual stereotypes are removed before a message is deemed to be appropriate for a certain medium, let alone fit for the consumer to understand and seek some sort of change within the purchasing cycle of which he/she has to become a part of. Apart from the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ factors, it is also quite imperative here to state that the number of times the actual message is going to be run on television or radio or the size of the print ad in the newspapers and magazines or the exact placement of the billboard or shop sign in the outdoor medium reflects the favorable or unfavorable response from the people. So the amount of times the message is hit on the consumer’s mind and the heart reflects his or her positive or otherwise feelings about the product, not to forget the persuasion or repulsion towards this product as well. In the former case when the persuasion has taken place, he or she will now move on to the next step of purchasing the product which eventually is the final step that the customer has to take when he or she starts interacting with the product. This could happen on quite a relevant stage for the high involvement product and not so importantly for the low involvement ones but nonetheless it happens and must be taken note of by the people at the helm of affairs in the company producing the product and the ones who work in the ad agency promoting it courtesy marketing and advertising methods and strategies. For this reason, it is very necessary to understand the psyche of the consumers as well as their buying/spending patterns on a consistent basis so that they do not stray away from the already planned and chalked out strategy that is known as the target market. It would be better on the brand’s part to narrow down this target as well as potential target market so as to pinpoint the relevant people and also not to have any such wastage during the whole process. Governments do not directly take an active part in detailing their views to all about the racial differences that their charter has in accordance with the law of a particular country but they, every now and then, take certain significant steps, which help in curtailing racial discriminations from emanating in their respective societies. Their efforts in the field of health and providing basic first aid though are not that concrete at the best of times yet are overshadowed by a sudden outburst of racial fighting and hatred for each other which lead to the abandonment of any such proper healthcare that there was available in the first place. Racial and sexual discrimination can give rise to domestic violence across towns; suburbs, cities and even on a national level whereby the whole country can get affected due to it. People get disturbed, as do their families and the whole religious/race group feels knocked out at the hands of the suppressing party. Racial discrimination leads to hatred within the different peoples in varied societies and can also account for outbreaks of spill and disaster across a large amount of population. It can also lead to complete vacation of facilities and the like for the patients who are already under some sort of treatment. The same are hailing from the minority group and this subjugation leads to a form of hatred in the minds of the people. As it is known the world over, racial discrimination can be due to a number of reasons, big and little, large and small, as and when they might come or drop in a society or a country for that matter. But one should really think twice before they decide to involve the health and basic needs of a person with petty issues, one such being the entire desertion of the same, which in more ways than one is nothing short of an attitude that can be remarked as being inhuman to say the least. The connection and indeed the relation of sex and gender with advertising is a touch subject which must be seen in the related scheme of things before delved into any further. There needs to be a cultural context whenever necessary and all effort must be made to study the respective cases within their societal and ethical domains. All said and done, advertising must focus on being fair and equal to all people, irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity and so on. BIBLIOGRAPHY Edwards, John R. Language Applications and their implications among English Speakers: Social and Applied Contexts. In. Ryan, Giles & Howards (Eds), Attitudes towards language variations, 1982 Duncan, Tom. Standardized Multinational Advertising: The Influencing Factors. Journal of Advertising. Vol. 24, 1995 Mccullough, Wayne R. Global Advertising which acts Locally. Journal of Advertising Research. Vol. 36, 1996 Thorson, Esther. Television and Web Advertising Synergies. Journal of Advertising. Vol. 33, 2004 Eechambadi, Naras V. Does Advertising Work? The McKinsey Quarterly, 1994 Mitchell, Andrew A. Advertising Exposure, Memory and Choice. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1993 Wells, William D. Measuring Advertising Effectiveness. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997 Tuerck, David G. Issues in Advertising: The Economics of Persuasion. American Enterprise Institute, 1978 Cronin, Anne M. Advertising and Consumer Citizenship: Gender, Images and Rights. Routledge, 2000 Barthel, Diane. Putting on Appearances: Gender and Advertising. Temple University Press, 1988 Word Count: 2,535 Read More