Description
ABSTRACT
This research work is aimed at analyzing audience perception of female models in advertising message. The research method used was survey method and questionnaires being the instrument. The findings from the questionnaire shows that the audience, especially those in Enugu metropolis, now have positive perception of female models with the aid of the “Always ultra” commercials they watch on their TV sets, after the findings, the researcher recommended that advertising regulatory bodies should scrutinize adverts properly before they are shown on TV.
TABLE OF CONTENT
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.7 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF STUDY
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 CONCEPT OF ADVERTISING
2.2 FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING
2.3 CONCEPT OF AUDIENCE PERCEPTION OF FEMALE MODELS IN ADVERTISING MESSAGES
2.4 COMMERCIALS AND PORTRAYAL OF FEMALE MODELS
2.5 EMPIRICAL REVIEW
2.6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.6.1 Individual difference theory
2.7 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.2 AREA OF STUDY
3.3 POPULATION OF THE STUDY
3.4 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE AND SAMPLE SIZE
3.5 DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
3.6 VALIDITY OF DATA GATHERING INSTRUMENT
3.7 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
3.8 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 RESULTS
4.2 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 CONCLUSION
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
For any organization, advertising is one of the most important marketing activities, in modern economics; advertising occupies an important market position. The industry (advertising) has grown to become an important economic entity supporting lives of millions of people in the world. Advertising is not only an economic activity, but it articulates, different ideas, attitudes and values, which shape out social life and consumption patterns. Therefore, it can be said that advertising has become and form by virtue of signifying practices.
Advertisements, articulates meaning to words and images although this depends on how we interpret them.
Advertising is such a strong influence in our society that it determines our needs, what we care about, how we raise our children, what our interests are and so on. Advertising plays a role involving a number of relationships, power and satisfaction; in this light, advertising has over the years used women as a tool/ implement to persuade consumers into buying a product and portray the woman beautiful and desirable. As noted by Puranik(2011) “advertising is nothing, but a paid form of non-personal presentation or promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsors with a view to disseminate information concerning an idea, product or disseminated is called advertisement.
In present day marketing activities, hardly is there any business in the modern world which does not advertise. However, the form of advertisement differs from business to business.
Areas (2008) said that “advertising is the structured and composed, no-personal communication of information , usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products, services, and ideas, by identified sponsors, through various mass media like television, billboard, newspaper, magazine, with the aim of creating awareness”. This definition has a close link with that of Dominick (2007), which says that “advertising is any form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services, usually paid for, by an identified or known sponsor. Advertising makes use of various media to reach out to the consumers across the globe”. Thus it is seen as the process of persuading potential customers to buy products or promote its services. Wikipedia (2011) give way that any organization that wants its products to be known and looked for, has to create awareness through advertising.
Wilson, cited in Asemah (2010) said that advertising is controversial in nature and that in the early twentieth century, people clamored for the regulation of advertising. Believing much of it was exaggerated and untruthful. The United Nations conference on women recognized the importance of the mass media on the image of women/ female models. As noted by Ingham (n.d), television is widely known to represent and reinforce the main stream ideology of contemporary western culture: particularly. While television representations of women have changed greatly in the last twenty years alone, in other to accommodate the changing role of women on the society, one is led to ask how much the ideology has changed behind the more modern representations of women. If this is the case, then it is important for us to question how real the representations of women are on television and how this affects the attitudes of those who watch. Some of the most watched and perhaps influential genres of television viewing are advertisements and soap operas, in a world where women are numbered greater than men, can television be said to reflect the world as it is or dictate it?
Limipinnian (n.d) avers that gender representation on a small scale has always been important for one to understand what it means to be male or female. Looking at it in terms of advertising (possibly considering the most important aspect, powerful and influential medium in this ever-increasing commercial society) is to look at it with a more serious eye from the image inflicted upon us in the patriarchal mass media that surround us, it is assumed that we have been encouraged to mould ourselves into a set ideal. For a woman, that means having beauty, elegance, passivity and good domestic ability. One of the reasons televisions is resistant to the messages as conflicting with women’s desire to consume. Advertisers do not want to present to the audience a liberated woman, because this new woman does not want and thus, will not buy their products. For this reason, the paper critically examines the perception of the audience of female models in advertising messages, using “always ultra” commercials as the study.
Advertising is the process of persuading potential customers to buy products or promote its services. It is also the branch of marketing that deals with communicating to customers about products, brands, and services. Advertising is a type of communication used to persuade an audience (viewers, readers, or listeners) to take some action with respect to products, ideas or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media, including mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television commercials, radio advertisements, outdoor advertising or direct mail or new media such as website and text
Therefore, the real message, aim/objectives of advertising is effective communication and understanding between producers and consumers.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
It is important to know that advertisings increasing sophistication and sophistry are clearly evident. In today’s world, sophistication is manifested in attention grabbing advertisements copies, which virtually compel recipients to pay undivided attention. The primary stereotypes, is the portrayal of female models as sex objects. Women are often presented in limited roles because of the perception that they are not dependent and do not fit into the business votes or authority settings, they are portrayed to be more feminine. Men or male models are usually placed above the female models, because they (male models/men) are seen as calm and perfect for such roles. Therefore, the study is after the perception that is how the audience views female models or their thoughts of them in passing advertising messages.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are:
- a) To examine the role of female models in advertising messages.
- b) To find out audience perception of female models in advertising messages.
- c) To determine the effect commercials has on the advertising perception of the audience.
- d) To find out how commercials have portrayed female models to the audience.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- a) To what extent have female models passed advertising messages?
- b) How has commercials helped in terms of advertisements, to portray advertising messages to the audience?
- c) How has commercials influenced the audience?
- d) In what way manner does the audience see female models?
- e) Do models have negative or positive impact in advertising?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO1: Audience have positive perception towards female models in advertising message
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study will help to determine the extent of knowledge of audience and likewise their attitude towards commercials both on radio and television. Also, the research helps to ascertain the importance of electronic media especially the television as a media of bringing about people’s awareness innovation. As a result of this research/study, it helps to educate the audience on the benefits include positive view of female models in advertising messages, and the importance of the product been studied to the audience and finally eliminating the thought of female models as only sex objects and not product promoters.
1.7 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
Audience: a group or number of people that come together to watch, listen, or read the same thing.
Perception: it is an idea, belief, or an image you have as a result of how you understand the true nature of something.
Female models: a lady or woman that showcases a product/service.
Audience perception: what a group of people think of the true nature of a thing. Commercials: it is connected with showcasing goods and services and making profit. Advertisement: a notice, picture, or film telling people about a product, job, or service.
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF STUDY
The study comprises of 5 chapters. In chapter one, the concepts are introduced and the problem of the study is established with the research objectives and questions. Chapter two presents the literature review while chapter three presents the research methodology. The fourth chapter presents the results and discussion, and the last chapter presents the conclusion and recommendation.
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 CONCLUSION
The findings showed that: a great number of people in Enugu metropolis have access to TV sets; the audience in Enugu metropolis sees female models in advertisements and knows their roles in advertising; a good number of the audience in Enugu metropolis watch always ultra-commercials and also admit that the models have done great in portraying advertising messages; and as a result of the commercials (always ultra), the audience now have a positive perception of female models.
This study has demonstrated that the audiences in Enugu metropolis have TV sets in their homes, also the have knowledge of female models especially the one used in “Always ultra” commercials. Findings made, helped to show that the manner in which the audience in past times perceive the audience is not so in present time. The study also showed that the female models used in “Always ultra” commercials portrayed the models as decent, positive and good message passers. Female models can now be said to be viewed as information disseminators and product promoters, not sex objects and dependent on men.
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the following recommendations were made.
- Advertising regulatory bodies like APCON should promote good perception of female models by the audience, through proper censoring of adverts/commercials that have female model as product promoters.
- Room should be made for the audience through suggestion boxes, phone lines, through which they can lay their complaints to advertiser on adverts/commercials, which they think portray the female models negatively.
- Advertising agencies should not design adverts of high sexual exposition for companies/product owners, which can bring negative thoughts to the audience about the models used.
- Female models should be able to reject modelling contracts that entails exposition of body parts or portrayal of them as sex objects; this would go a long way in curtailing indecency in advertising.
