the results from the students weren't quite what i'd expected in relation to the stereotypes i'd researched.
- they gave very limited answers wth no real clarity or reason behind them
- they were illogical with their decisions
- not many of them drive cars and those who did has no real say in why their parents got them for them. therefore i got limited responses in that section of the questionairre which is a really important part.
problems - i asked them very general questions leaving them a lot of room and freedom with their asnwers. however, they gave shitty answers. the problem is that if i gave them multiple choice questions then i would be limiting their options, certainly restricting the responses i'd get.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Revamped Questionnaire
Demographic Question:
- Name:
- Age:
- Genger:
- Where you live:
- Job:
If you were looking to buy an ideal car (your car of dreams where money was no issue), what are the 3 things that are most likely to sway your decision?
- looks (colour, make, style, model)
- space inside the car
- safety / protection
- is it the most recent model?
- petrol consumption / low petrol emissions
- power in the engine / top speed- accessories in the car (CD player, air conditioning , electric windows)
- low car tax
What type of car adverts do you find most interesting and entertaining?- adverts about the power of a car
- advertising the looks – SEXY CARS
- adverts about the safety of a car
- adverts regarding the practicality of a car (small, easily manoeuvrable, big boot space)
- adverts about the new and improved accessories in the car
- adverts about the advanced technology inside cars
- adverts which really don't advertise anything about the car but are entertaining to watch and thoroughly enjoyable.
Do you think that you would buy a car based solely on an advert you saw?
Do you prefer television or print adverts?
Do you have any favourite car adverts?
If so, what are the reasons for you liking these adverts?
Out of the following car adverts, write why you like/dislike them:
- Ford Ranger Opencab – where the dinosaurs play with the car like a toy yet afterwards it’s completely unharmed
- The Nissan 4x4 – the car transforms into a range of robotic animals to tackle the terrain it’s driving over
- The Citroen C4 – that transformer dancing robot car
- The Skoda Fabia – everyone loves the cake car
- The Ford Sportka – where the cats head is cut off by the sun roof
ONLY ANSWER THE FOLLOWING IF YOU DRIVE A CAR
What Car do you drive?
- make
- exact model
- how long ago did you buy it?
What were your reasons for choosing the car you own?
What features of your car are most important to you when buying it?
- price (high or low)
- looks (colour, make, style, model)
- space inside the car
- safety / protection
- is it the most recent model?
- petrol consumption / low petrol emissions
- power in the engine / top speed
- accessories in the car (CD player, air conditioning , electric windows)
- low car tax
Were you persuaded to buy that car by a certain advert you saw on TV or in Print? If so which one, and what about the advert made you want to purchase the car?
- Name:
- Age:
- Genger:
- Where you live:
- Job:
If you were looking to buy an ideal car (your car of dreams where money was no issue), what are the 3 things that are most likely to sway your decision?
- looks (colour, make, style, model)
- space inside the car
- safety / protection
- is it the most recent model?
- petrol consumption / low petrol emissions
- power in the engine / top speed- accessories in the car (CD player, air conditioning , electric windows)
- low car tax
What type of car adverts do you find most interesting and entertaining?- adverts about the power of a car
- advertising the looks – SEXY CARS
- adverts about the safety of a car
- adverts regarding the practicality of a car (small, easily manoeuvrable, big boot space)
- adverts about the new and improved accessories in the car
- adverts about the advanced technology inside cars
- adverts which really don't advertise anything about the car but are entertaining to watch and thoroughly enjoyable.
Do you think that you would buy a car based solely on an advert you saw?
Do you prefer television or print adverts?
Do you have any favourite car adverts?
If so, what are the reasons for you liking these adverts?
Out of the following car adverts, write why you like/dislike them:
- Ford Ranger Opencab – where the dinosaurs play with the car like a toy yet afterwards it’s completely unharmed
- The Nissan 4x4 – the car transforms into a range of robotic animals to tackle the terrain it’s driving over
- The Citroen C4 – that transformer dancing robot car
- The Skoda Fabia – everyone loves the cake car
- The Ford Sportka – where the cats head is cut off by the sun roof
ONLY ANSWER THE FOLLOWING IF YOU DRIVE A CAR
What Car do you drive?
- make
- exact model
- how long ago did you buy it?
What were your reasons for choosing the car you own?
What features of your car are most important to you when buying it?
- price (high or low)
- looks (colour, make, style, model)
- space inside the car
- safety / protection
- is it the most recent model?
- petrol consumption / low petrol emissions
- power in the engine / top speed
- accessories in the car (CD player, air conditioning , electric windows)
- low car tax
Were you persuaded to buy that car by a certain advert you saw on TV or in Print? If so which one, and what about the advert made you want to purchase the car?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Essay 1
Give an account of, and evaluate, the research methods you used to investigate your chosen aspect(s) of advertising
Are car adverts specifically engineered to target gender?
The ever growing increase in competition within the car industry has led to the creation of some of the most fantastic and original adverts produced to date. With my own personal interest in cars and the expansion of its industry, I decided to investigate the relation between gender and car advertising; with the hope to finding out if car adverts are specifically engineered to target certain genders or if they are aimed at both. I was keen to discover how the industry manipulate their adverts to target gender, and to establish what both men and women wanted in a car, I would have to do extensive research into both gender and cars themselves. I hoped to attack this question on two fronts; the institutional and the audiences aspects of car adverts and what they offer – that is, finding out what different people actually liked about in cars and comparing this to what is produced by the industry. I decided that the most practical and logical way to approach my question was to produce a series of detailed and analytical questionnaires, as well as holding intense focus groups, in order to get a clear view on what different genders thought about cars and car adverts they’d seen. I though these were two great ways to get information as I’d get a variety of answers from my subjects, as well as being in complete control of all the questions aseked. Similarly, it would be necessary to contact people within the industry, and my uncle Nicholas Velody played a major part is Ford’s ‘Sportka’ advert campaign, so I decided to contact him about how he targeted gender when advertising for Ford.
However, before I tackled each of these methodologies, it made more sense to get a grip with my question before I started, so I searched the internet hoping to find someone who had done similar research into car advertising and gender. This proved very unsuccessful as there was little information relating the two together. Even more surprisingly was that I could find even less about car advertising itself, other than a book called ‘Classic Muscle Car Advertising’ by MJ Frumkin which proved very old and very irrelevant to my question on gender. I decided to approach the question differently and tackle gender in adverts, rather than cars, and this proved a lot more helpful. I would then link my findings to car adverts that I’d analyse and see if they bore a similar resemblance. I found a woman called ‘Amanda Stevens’ from ‘Splash Consulting; who had written in detail about what men and women seek in advertising, and how men make simple choices quickly, whereas women have a ‘complex range of purchasing criteria’. This gave me a grip on the differences between the genders, and gave me new ideas for research. It occurred to me that the basis for most advertising revolved on gender stereotypes, and I made a trip to the BFI library to do some more research into these gender stereotypes and hopefully would also find some information on car advertising.
At the BFI library I was actually very lucky with my findings and I stumbled across some great critical analysis of gender for my study. In Gillian Dyer’s ‘Advertising as Communication’ I found plenty of information regarding traditional cultural stereotypes within advertising. She states that “women are shown as very feminist, as 'sex objects', as housewives, mothers, and homemakers. Men however are presented in situations of authority and dominance over women”. She is therefore suggesting that the presentation of women and men mirrors their stereotypical roles in a patriarchal society, which men are dominant and women are recessive. In Jib Fowles ‘Advertising and Popular Culture’, we see this similar sense of male authority, as he suggests that adverts targeting men emphasise qualities of ‘toughness and experience’, whereas ones targeting women show ‘niceness and tenderness’. With this information, I started searching into picture advertising which led me across some very interesting and useful analysis by Judith Williamson in her famous book ‘Decoding Advertising’. Despite the fact that this book was written in 1978 with many of the models outdated, she does very thorough and detailed research into the meanings behind car adverts, namely the Monte Carlo 1975 (page 52), the Fiat132 GLS (page 52) and the Citroen GS (page 130/131). This research gave me my inspiration for my questionnaires as well as a focal point for my focus groups.
As I’d done plenty of research into the gender aspect of my question, I decided that I needed to put more of an emphasis on the actual cars. The questionnaires took a lot of consideration and I needed to be very thorough with the questions to get the right kind of responses about cars and adverts. I took me 4 drafts to get a final copy but I was very pleased with it. I’d asked demographic questions at the beginning to get a feel for who was answering the questions which would ultimately give me not only an idea of what each gender prefers in cars but also if there are other factors which affect what people want. These demographic questions involving the questioners name, age, gender, where they lived, if they were in a family, what car they owned, what their job was as well as their annual salary (if they were willing to disclose that information). I had initially planned to give me questionnaire out to students alone, as this was the most practical way for me to do this. However, it very quickly occurred to me that I was limiting my research to 17 and 18 year olds, most of who weren’t in the position to buy cars. When the results came back of the 17 I had handed out, the students had no real concept of the practicality needed to buy a car, but were completely focused on the looks and the speed of the car with no regard to price or safety. I then needed to branch out and handed the questionnaire out to family friends as well as neighbours along my street who I believed to be more capable of answering my questions. The questions themselves contained information regarding what people would want in their ideal car, as well as questions about cars that they could afford. I asked about the car they already owned, and enquired details about why they purchased their car. I also asked their preference on car adverts, which ones they liked and which ones they didn’t like, as well as asking if they would buy a car purely based on an advert they saw.
The focus groups were by far the hardest part of the process to do as it was difficult to note down what people had said while chairing the meeting and producing the material for the debate. I initially thought that a focus group of 8 would be suitable because it would allow for heated discussion, but it proved far too difficult to control so I had to limit the numbers to 4 per session. In total I held three sessions, one at school with students and two at home. Out of the twelve participants, six were male and six were female which allowed me to get detailed responses from both sexes. Each session lasted roughly two hours as I presented six television car adverts (Ford Ranger Opencab, The Nissan 4x4, The Citroen C4, The Skoda Fabia, The Ford Sportka and The New-Look Ford Mondeo) as well as 2 print adverts. As I’d found writing the replies to the adverts a hassle, I borrowed my brothers digital camcorder and recorded the conversations. This way I was able to accurately recall what was said in the focus groups and use it for me research. To make all of this easier, I uploaded my research onto an online blog I created on the internet so I could access all of my information from wherever I was. This included my focus groups, the results from the questionnaires I’d done as well as my own personal research from the internet and my trip to the BFI library.
In conclusion, the steps I took to acquiring my research involved a long and thought out process that took considerably longer than I had imagined. I never expected there to be so little information on gender and car advertising about and what I thought was going to be a project done predominantly on the internet was done mostly through my own primary research. I had to compare the results I obtained through my methodologies on car adverts and gender to secondary research done by other academics, hoping to find some similarities on the two different sections of gender and cars. I came to many roadblocks during my investigation, and what I thought was going to be a simple linear process became more jaded as my results took me off in different directions. It became hard to keep track of all my findings and that was why it was necessary for me to create a blog in order to keep everything together. I thought my findings proved very useful and through the process of trial and error I was able to find out what worked and what didn’t work, for example my draft questionnaires. I feel that I can now knowledgably talk about gender and relation to car advertising and can say with confidence that each car advert is specifically engineered to target gender, whether it be targeting one single gender or both at the same time. In hindsight, I would have critically analysed more print adverts as I feel that there is more to know. For example, different types of car adverts are printed in different magazines that target a particular gender. The adverts in Vogue magazine may vary wildly to car adverts printed in Zoo magazine.
WORDS - 1643
Are car adverts specifically engineered to target gender?
The ever growing increase in competition within the car industry has led to the creation of some of the most fantastic and original adverts produced to date. With my own personal interest in cars and the expansion of its industry, I decided to investigate the relation between gender and car advertising; with the hope to finding out if car adverts are specifically engineered to target certain genders or if they are aimed at both. I was keen to discover how the industry manipulate their adverts to target gender, and to establish what both men and women wanted in a car, I would have to do extensive research into both gender and cars themselves. I hoped to attack this question on two fronts; the institutional and the audiences aspects of car adverts and what they offer – that is, finding out what different people actually liked about in cars and comparing this to what is produced by the industry. I decided that the most practical and logical way to approach my question was to produce a series of detailed and analytical questionnaires, as well as holding intense focus groups, in order to get a clear view on what different genders thought about cars and car adverts they’d seen. I though these were two great ways to get information as I’d get a variety of answers from my subjects, as well as being in complete control of all the questions aseked. Similarly, it would be necessary to contact people within the industry, and my uncle Nicholas Velody played a major part is Ford’s ‘Sportka’ advert campaign, so I decided to contact him about how he targeted gender when advertising for Ford.
However, before I tackled each of these methodologies, it made more sense to get a grip with my question before I started, so I searched the internet hoping to find someone who had done similar research into car advertising and gender. This proved very unsuccessful as there was little information relating the two together. Even more surprisingly was that I could find even less about car advertising itself, other than a book called ‘Classic Muscle Car Advertising’ by MJ Frumkin which proved very old and very irrelevant to my question on gender. I decided to approach the question differently and tackle gender in adverts, rather than cars, and this proved a lot more helpful. I would then link my findings to car adverts that I’d analyse and see if they bore a similar resemblance. I found a woman called ‘Amanda Stevens’ from ‘Splash Consulting; who had written in detail about what men and women seek in advertising, and how men make simple choices quickly, whereas women have a ‘complex range of purchasing criteria’. This gave me a grip on the differences between the genders, and gave me new ideas for research. It occurred to me that the basis for most advertising revolved on gender stereotypes, and I made a trip to the BFI library to do some more research into these gender stereotypes and hopefully would also find some information on car advertising.
At the BFI library I was actually very lucky with my findings and I stumbled across some great critical analysis of gender for my study. In Gillian Dyer’s ‘Advertising as Communication’ I found plenty of information regarding traditional cultural stereotypes within advertising. She states that “women are shown as very feminist, as 'sex objects', as housewives, mothers, and homemakers. Men however are presented in situations of authority and dominance over women”. She is therefore suggesting that the presentation of women and men mirrors their stereotypical roles in a patriarchal society, which men are dominant and women are recessive. In Jib Fowles ‘Advertising and Popular Culture’, we see this similar sense of male authority, as he suggests that adverts targeting men emphasise qualities of ‘toughness and experience’, whereas ones targeting women show ‘niceness and tenderness’. With this information, I started searching into picture advertising which led me across some very interesting and useful analysis by Judith Williamson in her famous book ‘Decoding Advertising’. Despite the fact that this book was written in 1978 with many of the models outdated, she does very thorough and detailed research into the meanings behind car adverts, namely the Monte Carlo 1975 (page 52), the Fiat132 GLS (page 52) and the Citroen GS (page 130/131). This research gave me my inspiration for my questionnaires as well as a focal point for my focus groups.
As I’d done plenty of research into the gender aspect of my question, I decided that I needed to put more of an emphasis on the actual cars. The questionnaires took a lot of consideration and I needed to be very thorough with the questions to get the right kind of responses about cars and adverts. I took me 4 drafts to get a final copy but I was very pleased with it. I’d asked demographic questions at the beginning to get a feel for who was answering the questions which would ultimately give me not only an idea of what each gender prefers in cars but also if there are other factors which affect what people want. These demographic questions involving the questioners name, age, gender, where they lived, if they were in a family, what car they owned, what their job was as well as their annual salary (if they were willing to disclose that information). I had initially planned to give me questionnaire out to students alone, as this was the most practical way for me to do this. However, it very quickly occurred to me that I was limiting my research to 17 and 18 year olds, most of who weren’t in the position to buy cars. When the results came back of the 17 I had handed out, the students had no real concept of the practicality needed to buy a car, but were completely focused on the looks and the speed of the car with no regard to price or safety. I then needed to branch out and handed the questionnaire out to family friends as well as neighbours along my street who I believed to be more capable of answering my questions. The questions themselves contained information regarding what people would want in their ideal car, as well as questions about cars that they could afford. I asked about the car they already owned, and enquired details about why they purchased their car. I also asked their preference on car adverts, which ones they liked and which ones they didn’t like, as well as asking if they would buy a car purely based on an advert they saw.
The focus groups were by far the hardest part of the process to do as it was difficult to note down what people had said while chairing the meeting and producing the material for the debate. I initially thought that a focus group of 8 would be suitable because it would allow for heated discussion, but it proved far too difficult to control so I had to limit the numbers to 4 per session. In total I held three sessions, one at school with students and two at home. Out of the twelve participants, six were male and six were female which allowed me to get detailed responses from both sexes. Each session lasted roughly two hours as I presented six television car adverts (Ford Ranger Opencab, The Nissan 4x4, The Citroen C4, The Skoda Fabia, The Ford Sportka and The New-Look Ford Mondeo) as well as 2 print adverts. As I’d found writing the replies to the adverts a hassle, I borrowed my brothers digital camcorder and recorded the conversations. This way I was able to accurately recall what was said in the focus groups and use it for me research. To make all of this easier, I uploaded my research onto an online blog I created on the internet so I could access all of my information from wherever I was. This included my focus groups, the results from the questionnaires I’d done as well as my own personal research from the internet and my trip to the BFI library.
In conclusion, the steps I took to acquiring my research involved a long and thought out process that took considerably longer than I had imagined. I never expected there to be so little information on gender and car advertising about and what I thought was going to be a project done predominantly on the internet was done mostly through my own primary research. I had to compare the results I obtained through my methodologies on car adverts and gender to secondary research done by other academics, hoping to find some similarities on the two different sections of gender and cars. I came to many roadblocks during my investigation, and what I thought was going to be a simple linear process became more jaded as my results took me off in different directions. It became hard to keep track of all my findings and that was why it was necessary for me to create a blog in order to keep everything together. I thought my findings proved very useful and through the process of trial and error I was able to find out what worked and what didn’t work, for example my draft questionnaires. I feel that I can now knowledgably talk about gender and relation to car advertising and can say with confidence that each car advert is specifically engineered to target gender, whether it be targeting one single gender or both at the same time. In hindsight, I would have critically analysed more print adverts as I feel that there is more to know. For example, different types of car adverts are printed in different magazines that target a particular gender. The adverts in Vogue magazine may vary wildly to car adverts printed in Zoo magazine.
WORDS - 1643
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Draft Questionairre
Demographic Questions
- Name:
- Age:
- Genger:
- Where you live:
- Job:
If you were looking to buy an ideal car, what are the 3 things that are most likely to sway your decision?
- price (high or low)
- looks (colour, make, style, model)
- space inside the car
- safety / protection
- is it the most recent model?
- petrol consumption / low petrol emissions
- power in the engine / top speed
- accessories in the car (CD player, air conditioning , electric windows)
- low car tax
OTHER
What type of car adverts do you find most interesting and entertaining?
- adverts about the power of a car
- adverts about the accessories in the car
- adverts about the advanced technology inside cars
- adverts which really don't advertise anything about the car but are entertaining to watch and thoroughly enjoyable.
OTHER
Do you think that you would buy a car based solely on an advert you saw?
Do you prefer television or print adverts?
Do you have any favourite car adverts? If so, what are the reasons for you liking these adverts?
What Car do you drive?
- make
- exact model
- how long ago did you buy it?
What were your reasons for choosing the car you own? What features of your car are most important to you when buying it?
- price (high or low)
- looks (colour, make, style, model)
- space inside the car
- safety / protection
- is it the most recent model?
- petrol consumption / low petrol emissions
- power in the engine / top speed
- accessories in the car (CD player, air conditioning , electric windows)
- low car tax
Were you persuaded to buy that car by a certain advert you saw on TV or in Print? If so which one, and what about the advert made you want to purchase the car?
- Name:
- Age:
- Genger:
- Where you live:
- Job:
If you were looking to buy an ideal car, what are the 3 things that are most likely to sway your decision?
- price (high or low)
- looks (colour, make, style, model)
- space inside the car
- safety / protection
- is it the most recent model?
- petrol consumption / low petrol emissions
- power in the engine / top speed
- accessories in the car (CD player, air conditioning , electric windows)
- low car tax
OTHER
What type of car adverts do you find most interesting and entertaining?
- adverts about the power of a car
- adverts about the accessories in the car
- adverts about the advanced technology inside cars
- adverts which really don't advertise anything about the car but are entertaining to watch and thoroughly enjoyable.
OTHER
Do you think that you would buy a car based solely on an advert you saw?
Do you prefer television or print adverts?
Do you have any favourite car adverts? If so, what are the reasons for you liking these adverts?
What Car do you drive?
- make
- exact model
- how long ago did you buy it?
What were your reasons for choosing the car you own? What features of your car are most important to you when buying it?
- price (high or low)
- looks (colour, make, style, model)
- space inside the car
- safety / protection
- is it the most recent model?
- petrol consumption / low petrol emissions
- power in the engine / top speed
- accessories in the car (CD player, air conditioning , electric windows)
- low car tax
Were you persuaded to buy that car by a certain advert you saw on TV or in Print? If so which one, and what about the advert made you want to purchase the car?
Thursday, March 20, 2008
puclicis - renaults campaigners
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/sections/advert04.html
ADVERT COMPARISON - Honda Civic and Honda Accord
Honda Civic - In this advert three men (approx. in their thirties) are in a CarPark, one of whom is getting ready to leave in his car (Honda Civic). The other two men (led by elder of the two) interrogate the car owner (in a superior manner) about the car’s additional features, to which the car owner responds by giving a technical description of the cars engine, to the surprise of the two men.
Honda Accord - In this advert four adults (approx. in their thirties – 2 female, 2 male) are sitting down to dinner, during which the subject of the hosts car arises in conversation. It becomes apparent that the choice of car (Honda Accord) was made by the female host, and she justifies her choice through technical description of the car’s engine, to the surprise of the guests.
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/sections/advert04.html
ADVERT COMPARISON - Honda Civic and Honda Accord
Honda Civic - In this advert three men (approx. in their thirties) are in a CarPark, one of whom is getting ready to leave in his car (Honda Civic). The other two men (led by elder of the two) interrogate the car owner (in a superior manner) about the car’s additional features, to which the car owner responds by giving a technical description of the cars engine, to the surprise of the two men.
Honda Accord - In this advert four adults (approx. in their thirties – 2 female, 2 male) are sitting down to dinner, during which the subject of the hosts car arises in conversation. It becomes apparent that the choice of car (Honda Accord) was made by the female host, and she justifies her choice through technical description of the car’s engine, to the surprise of the guests.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
William Leiss - Social Communication in Advertising
Sex Stereotype - Advertisements portray men + women in specific ways that reflect and reinforce and reflect traditional sex-role stereotypes.
Representation of women
"Advertisement is influential on womens culture" - National organisation for women
It's believed that advertisers aren't keeping up with the changin roles of women in society. They are becoming more powerful yet are being presented as either a 'sex object or a housewife'.
WOmen are more likely to be shown in the home engaged in housework while men are more likely to be shown in empowered, professional roles or at leisure.
Representation of women
"Advertisement is influential on womens culture" - National organisation for women
It's believed that advertisers aren't keeping up with the changin roles of women in society. They are becoming more powerful yet are being presented as either a 'sex object or a housewife'.
WOmen are more likely to be shown in the home engaged in housework while men are more likely to be shown in empowered, professional roles or at leisure.
Jib Fowles - Advertising and Popular Culture
Gender portrayels in advertising - "in modern advertising, gender is probably the social resource that is used by most advertisers".
Females
- maritial + family status established
- less often showed as employed
- typically quite young and attractive
- a diminished status (especially in comparison to men)
Young males
- active
- aggressive
- rational
Advertising Imagery
Male - "toughness and experience"
Female - "niceness or tenderness", thin women, smiling, nudity, warm, accesible.
Females
- maritial + family status established
- less often showed as employed
- typically quite young and attractive
- a diminished status (especially in comparison to men)
Young males
- active
- aggressive
- rational
Advertising Imagery
Male - "toughness and experience"
Female - "niceness or tenderness", thin women, smiling, nudity, warm, accesible.
Gillian Dyer - Advertising as Communuication
Gender - "This again is a most important source of identification. The display of a characters gender refers to conventionalized portralals of culturally established correlates of sex. Analysis of ads suggests that gender is routinely portrayed according to traditional cultural stereotypes; women are shown as very femanist, as 'sex objects', as housewives, mothers, homemakers. Men however are presented in situations of authority and dominance over women. Femaninity and masculinity are prototypes of an essential expression.
"Language used by advertisers shows they think of people as targets on which they wish to make an impact, rather than as human beings. In advertisements, they use language which is subtle and cajoling".
Classic car advertising - 'a sports car is a mans mistress' - 'a saloon car personifies his wife'
Adverts portray sex-role stereotypes which itself influences the learning of sex-role stereotypes.
"Language used by advertisers shows they think of people as targets on which they wish to make an impact, rather than as human beings. In advertisements, they use language which is subtle and cajoling".
Classic car advertising - 'a sports car is a mans mistress' - 'a saloon car personifies his wife'
Adverts portray sex-role stereotypes which itself influences the learning of sex-role stereotypes.
Monday, March 17, 2008
'(Ford) Focus provided by misty'
We decided that you need to focus on particular texts and narrow your focus a bit. We have decided to limit it to British ads, TV and print only and to choose 2 brands. You have done a lot of initial secondary research but we need to read this and do some textual analysis before finalising the draft questionnaire.
Mrs T has some texts for you and will bring them in (when she remembers)
ta ra for now :-)
misty
Mrs T has some texts for you and will bring them in (when she remembers)
ta ra for now :-)
misty
Leighton Ballett
I've contacted Leighton Ballet who is a car advertiser and could be very helpful in my research.
I got hold of him through work experience done by Henry Mcgowan - fellow classmate.
I got hold of him through work experience done by Henry Mcgowan - fellow classmate.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
New technology and gender
www.arjournals.annualreviews.org
francesca.bray@ed.ac.uk
research into this - create an account a DO IT
francesca.bray@ed.ac.uk
research into this - create an account a DO IT
Women and Advertising
Men and women’s brains are wired differently and this affects responses to marketing messages. Women make purchase decisions on a more emotive level and will generally take longer to make purchasing decisions. They also make purchasing decisions on a more complex range of purchasing criteria.
Women are becoming increasingly difficult to reach. Today's female is increasingly busy, complex and time poor. Media choices are also becoming increasingly fragmented. Combined with the fact that many industries are becoming more competitive and crowded, reaching today's female consumer requires a carefully planned, creative and often highly innovative approach.
In that case, what are the significant differences of marketing.
Women are able to process more complex language structure and will generally respond to images that are more emotive and human. For example, when marketing a car, men will be engaged with a picture of a car whereas women will be more likely to respond to a picture of a car with people in it.
- Amanda Stevens (Splash Consulting)
Women are becoming increasingly difficult to reach. Today's female is increasingly busy, complex and time poor. Media choices are also becoming increasingly fragmented. Combined with the fact that many industries are becoming more competitive and crowded, reaching today's female consumer requires a carefully planned, creative and often highly innovative approach.
In that case, what are the significant differences of marketing.
Women are able to process more complex language structure and will generally respond to images that are more emotive and human. For example, when marketing a car, men will be engaged with a picture of a car whereas women will be more likely to respond to a picture of a car with people in it.
- Amanda Stevens (Splash Consulting)
The Ford Website
Whether a marketer is selling linen sheets or sheet metal, the frontline in the battle for the sexes’ dollars is simply this:
If marketers can meet women’s expectations, they’ve already exceeded men’s.
So says marketing guru Marti Barletta who wrote the book on it – “Marketing to Women” (Dearborn Press). She’s also the founder and CEO of the TrendSight consulting a research firm in suburban Chicago that advises marketers on what women – and men – want.
When it comes to buying a new car, the difference between men and women consumers is that guys focus on the basics – quality, reliability, safety, design, fuel economy – while women sweat the details.
“Men quickly figure out what they want and buy it, while women have longer lists,” Barletta says. ‘“Does that SUV have a back-up beeper and grocery-bag holders?’ ‘Does that minivan come with remote-control doors?’ ‘Is there enough storage under the floor? ‘Does the rear-view mirror also let me glance into the backseat?’
“It’s not that men don’t want all that stuff too. It just isn’t at the top of their conscious minds.”
And women tend to look at car attributes in a different way than men. Take the need for speed. For him it’s all about going from zero-to-60 before he can sing, “Tramps like us, baby we were born to run.” For her it’s all about being able to punch the accelerator when going from the on-ramp to the freeway so an oncoming 18-wheeler won’t squeeze her.
Men like convertibles for their sense of speed and power. Women like droptops because they appeal to their heightened sensory experiences, from feeling the wind in their hair to seeing the stars overhead and smelling the roses along the parkway.
And savvy carmakers, acutely aware that women now buy 62 percent of new cars, are responding by rethinking their advertising messages.
They know women don’t like hard-sell and they don’t take to patronizing “special-for-women” ad messages, which they perceive to really mean under-quality and over-priced. And so-called “pink-and-frilly” advertising themes went out with the Stepford wives.
A case in point: It’s no coincidence that the fashionable and authoritative Lincoln Mercury TV spokeswoman implores her audience to “add” the Mercury Milan sedan to their list, instead of the traditionally blatant, “you should buy it.”
"Women respond best to conversational and informal ad pitches and spokespeople who are ‘just like me,’” says Barletta. “I call it ‘the girlfriend factor.’”
The fine line for advertisers, of course, is not to turn off their boyfriends in the process.
************************************************
THE Y-BUY CHROMOSONE
Men and women car shoppers look for the same basic qualities, but there’s something Y chromosome-related that makes each sex view them in different ways, says Marti Barletta, who adds that the following generally apply:
SAFETY
He Says: “It’s all about avoiding accidents,” (tight steering, anti-lock brakes).
She Says: “It’s all about surviving accidents,” (seat belts, air bags).
FUEL ECONOMY
He Says: “Saving money at the pump”
She Says: “Saving the planet”
RELIABILITY
He Says: “Keeps me out of the repair shop.”
She Says: “Keeps me from being stranded at the side of the road.”
FUN TO DRIVE
He Says: “Single sense: Power, you can’t touch me.”
She Says: “Total sensory: Feel the wind, hear the engine purr, smell the new-car aroma.”
COMFORT
He Says: “Feeling bumps in the road can be fun.”
She Says: “Life has enough bumps. Give me heated seats and cushy leather.”
DURABILITY
He Says: “Important, but old cars aren’t cool.”
She Says: “As long as it’s reliable, drive on. Throwing away a perfectly good car is wasteful.”
VALUE
He Says: “All the categories above.”
She Says: “Those categories are just the short list.”STYLING
He Says: “The exterior --What other people see.”
She Says: “The interior -- Where I live.”
POWER
He says: “The thrill of it all.”
She says: “The confidence to keep up on the freeway”
WORST CAR AD PITCH
He Says: “Special for women.”
She Says: “Special for women.”
Detailed Proposal
1. Topic Area
Advertising
2. Proposed title, question, hypothesis
How are car adverts specifically engineered to target both genders?
3. Teacher approval granted, in principal?
Yes
4. Principle texts (if text based study)
- Gillian Dyer - Advertising as Communication
- Jib Fowles - Advertising and Popular Culture
- William Leiss - Social Communication in Advertising
- Judith Williamson - Decoding Advertising (photographs with detailed analysis)
- The Morgan : The Art of Selling a Unique Sports Car
5. Reason for choice
Car adverts are often the most entertaining ones you see on television
They are available on many different media platforms
I have a personal interest in cars
I watch a lof of Top Gear
Adverts for cars are always cleverly created and are always different
They always make you think and contrast heavily with most other adverts
They usually have a replay factor where you can watch them repeatedly.
6. Academic context for this study (similar research, relevant theory, named theorists)
Gillian Dyer, Jib Fowles, William Leiss, Judith Williamson, The Morgan
7. Institutional context for this study (industry focus, other texts for comparison, named practitioners, relevant theory, issues, questions)
- Focusing on how the car industry present their latest car models in order to attract a certain gender.
- Looking at certain car producers - honda, ford, toyota, kia, skoda, bmw, mercedes, nissan and how their adverts and cars target gender.
- the works of Nick Velody - worked for 'Ford' adverts
- the works of Leighton Ballet - workds in car advertising
8. Identify the audience context for this study (audience profile, access to audience, potential sample)
A comparison between genders
Mainly targeted at adults because they are the ones tha adverts are aimed at
Easy to access to adults through family friends and teachers.
Samples taken from these various adult groups
9. How will the 4 key concepts be relevant to your study (audience, institution, forms and conventions, representation)?
audience - my primary reseach is based on audiences responses to questions relating to car adverts. therefore this is a primarty concern of mine. i will seperate my findings into gender, as well as seeing if there is a difference relating to ages of genders and what they like.
institution - as the car companies are the ones who are producing the adverts i will be studying, it is crucial that i research into the companies themselves and their intentions. my whole project is based on the cars produced by these companies.
representation - representation of genders through car advertising. are car adverts aimed at the stereotypical man and women? do stereotypes still exist? do they play a part in car advertisin? how are the cars represented?
forms and conventions -
10 Potential research sources (secondary): secondary academic books and websites, secondary industry books and websites, secondary popular criticism. Please identify specific examples you have come across.
- Gillian Dyer - Advertising as Communication
- Jib Fowles - Advertising and Popular Culture
- William Leiss - Social Communication in Advertising
- Judith Williamson - Decoding Advertising (photographs with detailed analysis)
- The Morgan : The Art of Selling a Unique Sports Car
11. Potential research sources (primary): audience reception research, your own content/textual analysis etc
- Analysis of car adverts from the television
- Analysis of car adverts from magazines and newspapers
- Focus groups - getting audiences to respond to certain adverts
- Gender analysis - getting responsess from both men and women on car adverts and comparing them.
- Questionairres
12. Modifications agreed with your lead teacher
none
13. Potential limits/obstacles/problems?
- not enough material around on my actual topic
- getting enough samples from adults on cars.
- finding a time when adults are available to talk about cars. they generally are busy with work and children so it will be hard to find a time.
14. Teacher concerns
15. Teacher approval
Advertising
2. Proposed title, question, hypothesis
How are car adverts specifically engineered to target both genders?
3. Teacher approval granted, in principal?
Yes
4. Principle texts (if text based study)
- Gillian Dyer - Advertising as Communication
- Jib Fowles - Advertising and Popular Culture
- William Leiss - Social Communication in Advertising
- Judith Williamson - Decoding Advertising (photographs with detailed analysis)
- The Morgan : The Art of Selling a Unique Sports Car
5. Reason for choice
Car adverts are often the most entertaining ones you see on television
They are available on many different media platforms
I have a personal interest in cars
I watch a lof of Top Gear
Adverts for cars are always cleverly created and are always different
They always make you think and contrast heavily with most other adverts
They usually have a replay factor where you can watch them repeatedly.
6. Academic context for this study (similar research, relevant theory, named theorists)
Gillian Dyer, Jib Fowles, William Leiss, Judith Williamson, The Morgan
7. Institutional context for this study (industry focus, other texts for comparison, named practitioners, relevant theory, issues, questions)
- Focusing on how the car industry present their latest car models in order to attract a certain gender.
- Looking at certain car producers - honda, ford, toyota, kia, skoda, bmw, mercedes, nissan and how their adverts and cars target gender.
- the works of Nick Velody - worked for 'Ford' adverts
- the works of Leighton Ballet - workds in car advertising
8. Identify the audience context for this study (audience profile, access to audience, potential sample)
A comparison between genders
Mainly targeted at adults because they are the ones tha adverts are aimed at
Easy to access to adults through family friends and teachers.
Samples taken from these various adult groups
9. How will the 4 key concepts be relevant to your study (audience, institution, forms and conventions, representation)?
audience - my primary reseach is based on audiences responses to questions relating to car adverts. therefore this is a primarty concern of mine. i will seperate my findings into gender, as well as seeing if there is a difference relating to ages of genders and what they like.
institution - as the car companies are the ones who are producing the adverts i will be studying, it is crucial that i research into the companies themselves and their intentions. my whole project is based on the cars produced by these companies.
representation - representation of genders through car advertising. are car adverts aimed at the stereotypical man and women? do stereotypes still exist? do they play a part in car advertisin? how are the cars represented?
forms and conventions -
10 Potential research sources (secondary): secondary academic books and websites, secondary industry books and websites, secondary popular criticism. Please identify specific examples you have come across.
- Gillian Dyer - Advertising as Communication
- Jib Fowles - Advertising and Popular Culture
- William Leiss - Social Communication in Advertising
- Judith Williamson - Decoding Advertising (photographs with detailed analysis)
- The Morgan : The Art of Selling a Unique Sports Car
11. Potential research sources (primary): audience reception research, your own content/textual analysis etc
- Analysis of car adverts from the television
- Analysis of car adverts from magazines and newspapers
- Focus groups - getting audiences to respond to certain adverts
- Gender analysis - getting responsess from both men and women on car adverts and comparing them.
- Questionairres
12. Modifications agreed with your lead teacher
none
13. Potential limits/obstacles/problems?
- not enough material around on my actual topic
- getting enough samples from adults on cars.
- finding a time when adults are available to talk about cars. they generally are busy with work and children so it will be hard to find a time.
14. Teacher concerns
15. Teacher approval
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Focus Groups
Laminate car adverts and pictures from magazines and in focus groups, ask different audiences what they think of the advert.
Don't ask questions, let them give all the answers.
Don't ask questions, let them give all the answers.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Car Advertisement
template questions:
how do men and women respond to car advertising?
how do male and female audiences respond to modern car advertising?
are car adverts specifically engineered to target men?
how are car adverts specifically engineered to target both genders?
why are car adverts so dependant on using new technologies?
are car adverts constructed to appeal to both genders?
how do men and women respond to car advertising?
how do male and female audiences respond to modern car advertising?
are car adverts specifically engineered to target men?
how are car adverts specifically engineered to target both genders?
why are car adverts so dependant on using new technologies?
are car adverts constructed to appeal to both genders?
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