The impact of advertising on male consumer - Essay Example

Introduction Advertising is a persuasive medium that uses a variety of tools to achieve its ends of getting people to consume. It uses semiotics, which basically means that they are symbolic and rely on connotation to get its message out. Its not just an image or text, but what people associate with these images and texts are what lies in the heart of advertising. Graphic design plays a part in this message, as well as psychoanalytic theory, which states that the visual is part of a human psyches decoding mechanisms, and how one deconstructs an ad depends upon that persons identity and experiences, and that the meaning is dependent upon these factors. Gender identity plays a role in consumption and the importance of brands, and in this decoding. However, since much has been written about female consumerism, and not as much attention is paid to male consumerism, the focus of this paper will be about the male consumer and how advertising shapes his consumption patterns. Male consumption patterns are determined by advertising, and advertising shapes how men consume. The basics of advertising persuasion Advertising persuades in a variety of ways. One of the ways that it it persuades is by the use of semiotics. The basics of semiotics is that there are two parts in a sign - the signifier, which is the material vehicle, and the signified, which represents the "mental concept or reference."1 Semiotics is basically a "system of signs, and can be verbal, visual, or a combination of the two. The study of semiotics would indicate that the meaning of advertisements is not found within the ad, but its meaning depends on how it operates, how signs and its ideological effect are organized internally (within the text) and externally (in relation to its production, circulation and consumption and in relation to technological, economic, legal and social relations)."2 Because ads rely upon signs, the audience does not passively absorb them, but, rather, are active participants in their signification or production. We bring our social background to these ads. Because brands are essentially the same – Coke is not really that much different from Pepsi, Reebok is not much different than Nike, Apples are not appreciably different from PCs – companies must find a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Goldman & Papson (1996) argue that this has led to a rather cluttered landscape for the world of advertising, as each brand tries to get a leg up on their competitors by branding themselves as somehow different from the rest. One way is by attacking and counterattacking – such as when MCI named AT&T in their advertisements for friends and family, thereby gaining market share away from AT&T, AT&T went on the defensive, deriding MCIs friends and family program as a “manipulator of personal relations” because the program involved giving MCI a persons information without that persons knowledge3. Another way is by showing what a product is not 4 – such as when Pringles potato chips transposed an image of their light chip with that of a guy eating greasy chips that dripped on his shirt. Moreover, because brands have a hard time saying that their product is better than the other guys, they instead seek to raise their symbolic image value – LL Beans flannel shirts may be the same in quality as Wal-Marts, but the image of wearing an LL Beans shirt makes the value more than Wal-Mart. A Kate Spade purse may be made with exactly the same materials as a purse from Target, but since the name “Kate Spade” is attached to the purse, the value is suddenly ten times higher. It is all about the image that has been carefully cultivated in the advertisements for these brands, where the product and the image coming together is known as a “commodity sign”. This is what is meant when somebody says that one is “paying for the name”.5 An excellent example of building a brand image and value that differentiated a company from a competitor was the advertisements featuring the “Mac Guy” and the “PC Guy” - the Mac guy was portrayed as a young, hip guy while the PC guy was an overweight, balding, dweeb. Hence the image is that Mac is fresh, hip and young, while a PC is outdated, slow and uncool. This brand value – Gucci, Coach, Louis Vitton, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Hermes, Apple, etc. - is an intangible worth billions, and has to be carefully maintained and cultivated for it to survive. Moreover, a price war can disrupt the brand differentiation if the differences in two products are minor.6 An example of this would be if Burger King suddenly dropped their prices substantially for their products, thereby cutting into McDonald’s market share. This would disrupt McDonald’s careful brand differentiation, as, in the end, consumers care more about price than the name when it comes to fast food. It probably would not work as well in the case of, say, a Gucci bag verses a Target bag – the Target bag can drop the price all it wants, but the person who wants the Gucci will still get the Gucci, because it is the label that they are after, price be damned. The way that many companies differentiate themselves from their competitors is by using images as their semiotics, as opposed to words. For this, advertising needs a talented graphics designer to design the layout and images to suit the brand that is being advertised. The change in emphasis from hard copy to art occurred around the turn of the century, thanks to Earnest Elmo Calkins, who was the founder of the Calkins & Holden advertising agency in New York City during this time. Calkins not only pioneered the usage of modern art in advertising, such as cubism and futurism, but he also used acclaimed magazine illustrators for his ads. He thus was the first to really see the need for dynamic new designs for advertisements, and letting these designs speak for themselves.7 Heller (2001) argues that this emphasis on design is crucial to advertising, yet graphic designers snobbishly refuse to acknowledge the contribution that graphic design brings to advertising, seeing as advertising is focused on the outcome, sales, and not the form, which is the art. Since advertising is seen as having a lower form of artistic value than the formalistic art, such as graphic design, graphic designers feel that to associate their art with advertising diminishes its value and makes their work “shrink in stature from a paradigmatic piece of graphics to kitsch.”8 Heller argues that this schism is unnecessary, and that graphic designers should acknowledge that designs and art are used very prominently in advertising, and that these advertisements are works of art. This is illustrated by the fact that Alexey Brodovitch, a prominent advertising designer during the 1920s and 1930s, has seen his advertising artwork displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art, with art historians proclaiming his posters for Martini to be “among the major products of the fruitful period.”9 These images are the semiotics of many print ads, and these ads communicate without words, but with graphics. These ads owe much to advertising and graphics designers who live by the motto that a “picture says a thousand words.” These ads are important in our society, not just because they aim to sell merchandise, which, in and of itself, is very important, as the economy relies upon the smooth distribution of goods, which advertising helps facilitate, but for other reasons as well - reasons that are seen as somehow more “serious” than the mere hawking of wares. Since advertising relies upon semiotics, and the basis for this is that they are symbolic for something else, and this is where their persuasion lies, advertising has connotations that are related to a whole host of social issues. And, humans rely upon the visual for persuasion, and the visual is where the connotations make the connection between abstraction and symbolism. Much of these connotations are occurring at a subliminal level. The psychoanalysts, Sigmund Freud being one of them, believe that humans operate on two levels – the conscious and the unconscious.10 Modern theorists have elaborated or reinterpreted Freuds basic concepts of the id (unbridled desire and fear), the superego (repression of this desire and fear ) and the ego (the mediator between the two), and have theorized that the human psyche is understandable by analyzing linguistic models and decoding, which includes visual decoding. One such theorist is Jacques Lacan, who divides the psyche into three categories, each of which have application to visual culture. 11 How one approaches the visual in advertising has much to do with the identity that one has. This is because the visual, like words, are deconstructed by the individual, and that individual brings his or her own meaning to the ad. Advertisements meanings are fluid and personal, and have a multitude of different meanings that are dependent upon ones culture and identity.12 The identities that Clarke (2007) notes are that of the gay identity, in which, Clarke argues, the identity is one of resistance to the mainstream cultures oppression of their group; racial identity, in which there are disparities between the interpretation of visual objects and culture, depending upon the race of the person who is behind the visual object; and post-colonialism, which states that meta narratives, which are “universalising systems of belief or theory” are what colors ones identity, and that visual culture manifests these complexities.13 Clarke also noted that gender identity is another way that colors how people approach and deconstruct signs. Gender identity is at the core of what it means to be a woman or a man. One develops a gender identity when one develops an image of oneself as either a female or a male, and this image fits with the convictions of what one believes to be a part of that given group (Kacen, 2000, p. 346).14 Moreover, gender identity is both a personal and a social construct, and is dependent upon the culture in which we live. Where we are and who we are with are the social cues that give meaning to ones gender identity, and identity depends upon how society views the essence of a man or a woman.15 This is what drove gender consumption in the modern era- men were men, and women were women. Although Clarke concentrated on identity from the female perspective, the analysis in this project will concentrate on the male identity, and how the male identity is affected by advertising and consumerism, as this is a topic that is not as well positioned in our society as that of the female perspective. The male consumption model and identity through consuming A mans identity used to be dependent upon his role as a provider and his place of employment – this has been the traditional way that has defined the essence of the male identity in the modern society. This is known as the “hegemonic gender identity.” This morphed into contemporary society, in which, it is argued, Henry Ford is responsible for the increase in consumption, for he pioneered the idea that workers should be paid well, which led to more disposable income and, thus, more consumption.16 In advanced capitalist societies, Ford made consumption more egalitarian, and less the province of the rich.17 Modern consumption is driven by the choices that were being offered in modern society, choices that were not offered in earlier societies, before mass production of goods became the norm.18 According to Naomi Klein (2000), this led to competitive branding and, ultimately, to the rise of designer labels, such as Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.19 During this period, men were traditionally thought of as producers – too busy working to bother with consuming – marketers traditionally have catered to females, as they were considered to be the consumers to the male producers.20 Therefore, advertising and marketing in the modern era catered to women, with particular emphasis upon women in their traditional gender-defined roles – looking beautiful and doing domestic chores, while men were in the background.21 This is how modernity treated the concept of gender consumption – marketers provided consumers with products that were pre-packaged and fixed for each gender, and consumers used these products to maintain their identities.22 However, in the post-modern society, the concept of gender became less set, as did ones identity. Identity became a construct of consumption, in that people, both men and women, started using consumption not as a way to express ones identity, but to construct it - “brands are how we figure out who we are.”23 This reflects the fluidity of an individuals identity, and reflects that gender identity is also a fluid concept, as opposed to a fixed attribute.24 Part of this was made possible by the Nikes and Tommy Hilfigers of the world who are not just selling products, but the image that their brand connotes. Therefore, mere manufacturing has been replaced by marketing.25 This has affected the patterns of male consumption, as males have evolved from merely being producers and providers, but towards being consumers as well. This has resulted in some men constructing their identity from consumption, just like women stereotypically do, as brand names and looking good are increasingly an area that defines the post-modern man. Analysis of male centric ads and how they drive consumption To understand how this male consumption is driven by advertisements, it is useful to decode ads in mens magazines, with an eye towards the psychoanalytic theories put forth by Freud and Lacan, and with visual semiotics as a basis. As semiotics are concerned with connotations and symbolism, understanding the symbolism of these ads will help one understand that how the semiotics of these ads translate into the subliminal messages that are imparted to the male audience, which will, in turn, help explain the male patterns of consumption – why certain males rest their identity upon certain brands and consuming. As the topic is male consumerism, the best place to find ads to analyse for this purpose would be in GQ Magazine, an upscale magazine that caters to men. The first thing that one notices about these ads are that, true to Hellers essay, these ads rely upon graphics and visuals, and text definitely takes a backseat. Therefore, the decoding of these ads relies upon their visual presentation. The first ad that will be analysed is that for Nautica (Image 1).26 The first image itself is arresting, although difficult for the audience to really discern the product that Nautica sells. It is of a very handsome man in his early twenties dressed in a sweater with a button-down shirt underneath it and a pair of khaki-colored pants. He is also wearing a very expensive-looking watch. The gold band on his left hand shows the audience that this man is married. The man looks detached, as he is staring at something that is not in the visual line of the audience. He is sitting outside a house in a wooden chair, and he has a very happy little boy resting his head on the mans lap. This image obviously appeals to the family man. It shows the family man that it is okay to consume, and that is acceptable to look good, even though one has a family to support. This is important, as one of the aspects of the male gender identity is that there seems to be a dichotomy in the male brain – that somehow if a man has a family, his identity should be as a provider for that family, and not as a sexy, well-dressed man. His visual image is supposed to mean less to his identity than that of a provider. This particular ad shows that it is important to look good too. This ad encourages male consumerism by urging the importance of the right sweater, shirt, pants and watch, and these items are just as important to the family man as they are to anybody else. Then, you pull out the flap that is associated with this ad. On the front of the flap is an image of an elaborate Christmas tree on a dock (Image 2). Then you pull out the ad, and you see the same man who was on the porch with the little boy sitting on lobster cages, talking with a man in waders, with his little boy in between them (Image 3). The top of the ad states “Camden, Main. Holiday”. At first glance, this would seem to be a counterpoint to the earlier image. While the earlier image showed the man at ease, and making relaxing look damn good, this other image seems to show the man at work. In other words, the ad states even more strongly that a working man should look good. The first image does not have as strong of a message as the second one, for the man in the first image could be a man of leisure – perhaps a trust-fund baby who does not have to work – but the second image clearly shows that this is a working man, and a working-class man at that, judging by the fact that he is sitting on lobster cages and talking with a man in waders. This connotes that this man is a lobster fisherman. This tells working class men that it is just as important for them to look stylish as it is for white collar men, thus encouraging the consumerism of the working class man. Then it gets confusing. The ad is labeled “Camden, Maine. Holiday”. In other words, the man is on a holiday, and apparently the lobster fishing is a past-time, not a vocation. What is interesting is that the other man who is in the pull out, the man in waders, somehow looks like a lobster fisherman - not just because he has on waders, but his profile appears to be that of an older man who does not appear as well-to-do as the first guy. And the first guy, in the pull-out spread, looks a lot more of a “guys guy” than he did in the initial image. So, the ad works for both the well-to-do man and the working class man. On one level, it appears that, in the pull-out, the men are at work. Only the phrase “holiday” and the presence of the little boy disabuse this notion. So, at the unconscious level, one registers that this is a working class man, hence encouraging the working class to consume these probably expensive clothes. On the other level, the sophisticated image connoted in the original picture, the picture that is first seen by the audience, tells the well to do family man that it is acceptable to look good while tending to ones family. Therefore, the ad works to not only encourage the working class man to consume, but also the family man and the well to do. Apparently Nauticas clothes appeal to all of these demographics, which is why the ad caters to all of them as well. The next ad that is examined is that for The Gap.27 These ads seem to appeal to the college student, as all three of the men in these ads appear to be college-aged, and, unlike the Nautica ads, there is no semiotic that would indicate that these men are working-class or have a family or wife. In fact, the first guy in this ad clearly does not have a wife, as he does not have a wedding ring on (Image 4). The other two men have their left hand in their pockets (Image 5), leaving it ambiguous as to whether they are married, but they probably are not, as they look young and have rather young-looking hairstyles and facial hair, in that the first guy and the third guy are unshaven. So, the images connote to college students the importance of looking good and being well-dressed. Then, like with the Nautica ad, there is another layer. In very small writing, these men are identified – the first guy is an actor by the name of Ryan Kwanten, the second guy is a writer and comedian named Donald Glover and the third guy is a dancer and choreographer named Benjamin Millepied. Each is identified as supporters of causes, such as the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Community Connections and City of Hope. Therefore, the images become something else – these men are creative men, not merely college students, and they have causes as well. These ads thus appeal to the creative, passionate men with causes, as they are encouraged to look good. At the same time, Gap looks socially responsible for featuring men who are philanthropic as their models for the clothing. This ad layout hits the trifecta – it appeals to college students, as the men look, at first glance, like college students; it appeals to creative men because the men are all in creative fields; it appeals to philanthropic men, as these men in these ads are all socially responsible philanthropists; and its message to the world is that the Gap cares about causes, which brings further sheen to their image and appeals to people of both gender who are into causes as well. All the while encouraging male consumerism on different levels - the student, the creative male, and the male philanthropist. Two other ads appeal to the gay man, as their models look gay and/or androgynous. These ads are for Gucci and for Burberry. The Gucci28 ad shows a well-dressed man in a Gucci suit, an expensive watch, carrying a large leather bag (Image 6). In the ad with him is a woman with a severe hairstyle and makeup. The man is not interacting with the woman, however. He might not even notice that she is there. Instead, he is looking, sternly, directly at the camera. The man has rather feminine features – bow-shaped lips, small nose – and it also appears that he is wearing makeup. He also has a slight, narrow build, that would indicate that he is quite skinny underneath this well-tailored suit. Because of his feminine features and apparent makeup on his face, there is a subliminal message that this is a gay man. Burberry29 is more blatant in portraying its male models as gay (Image 7). One of the models has bleached-blond hair and makeup, and looks considerably more feminine than the woman is posing next to, a brunette with rather sharp features. The blond boy, and the word boy describes him well, as he looks about fifteen, has his arm around another boy, who appears slightly older and slightly less feminine than the blond boy, yet looks young and feminine compared to anybody else. The blond boy has pouty lips and large eyes and would make a lovely woman. The friend is dark-haired, with a feminine mouth and large eyes. Neither of these boys would qualify as a man, and they certainly do not look masculine. Therefore, Gucci and Burberry are targeting the gay demographic. Since the stereotypical gay male needs no fashion advice, these ads seem rather superfluous. However, they do appeal to the gay man who maybe does not know how to dress and is not into consumerism. They encourage all gay men to consume, not just the stereotypical ones, and gives subtle fashion advice to the gay man who does not have fashion sense of his own. Conclusion These ads shape the male understanding of fashion, labels and consumerism. Each has a message to a different male demographic, subtly urging these demographics to entwine their identities with fashion and labels, and encouraging the male demographics who might not consider fashion to be high on their list to reconsider. Nautica appeals to the working class, while also targeting the upper class and family man with its layers of semiotics. The Gap appeals to students, philanthropists and creative men with its semiotic layers. Burberry and Gucci appeal to the gay man, and there are no layers to these messages. Each contributes to male consumerism and to our societys understanding of male consumerism and consumption in these ways. Annotated Bibliography Clarke, Michael. Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design Into Words. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2007. In the chapter covered by this paper, titled “Language and Ideology”, Clarke expounds on how ideology influences how one receives visual imagery, and how the human psyche works to decode the visual imagery it processes. This includes ideology related to feminism, racism and homosexuality, and how one associates and identifies with these different groups colors how they receive visual stimuli. Dyer, G. (1982). Advertising as Communication. New York, NY: Routledge Press. This book covers the basics of how advertising persuades by the use of semiotics, coding and tropes, which are devices that use words in specific ways – such as irony, metaphor and simile. Gentleman’s Quarterly. New York, NY: Conde Nast Publications. Goldman, Robert & Stephen Papson (1996). Sign Wars: The Cluttered Landscape of Advertising. New York, NY: Guilford Press. In the chapter covered by this paper, Goldman and Papson examine the value of a brand, and why brand image is so important to a company. They state that commodities are basically the same, so, in order to become more valuable, the company must carefully cultivate a brand image. If a companys brand image cannot be cultivated so that it is more valuable, than the only way for a company to survive in the cluttered landscape would be cannibalize its competitors with price wars and direct attacks. Heller, Steven. “Advertising: The Mother of Graphic Design.” In Graphic Design History, edited by Steven Heller and Georgette Ballance. New York, NY: Allworth Press, 2001. 294-302. This chapter concentrates on the schism that exists between graphic designers and advertising, arguing that there should not be such a schism because advertising is considered to be artistic, therefore any concerns that the graphic art industry has about being associated with advertising is unfounded. Kacen, Jacqueline J. (2000) “Girrrl Power and Boyyy Nature: the Past, Present and Paradisal Future of Consumer Gender Identity.” Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 18/ 6-7, 345-355. In this article, Kacen examines the nature of gender identities, and how genders use brands and consumption to shape and express their gender identities. Klein, Naomi. No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs. New York, NY: Picador USA, 2000. In this book, Klein exposes why brands are so important, and how they have become ubiquitous. She traces it to the beginning of the industrial revolution, because goods became plentiful and mass produced, which means that these goods had to differentiate themselves from their competitors. The way that this happened is through branding, and this is responsible for the rise of mega brands such as Coca Cola and Tommy Hilfiger. Gabriel,Yiannis and Tim Lang. The Unmanageable Consumer, London: Sage, 1995. This book look at modern Western consumerism, examining key demographics. It shows that consumers are unpredictable and that consumerism is fragile. Appendix Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Image 5 Image 6 Image 7 Read More