Sexism in advertising

Title: Communications and Media
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Sexism in advertising
Introduction
Sex is a word that attracts everyone's attention. Whenever a person hears the word sex, he perceives in that direction. Sex is the urge of having sex or instincts as it manifests itself in the behavior. It is possible that this urge manifests itself in the urge to buy certain things. For instance, a woman may see a beautiful model wearing sexy lingerie in a TV commercial and subconsciously want to purchase the product in attempt to look like her. A man may see an ad in which a group of men are drinking beer surrounded by several ladies and want to buy the beer in an attempt to live out the portrayed scenario. It is clear that sex and thought of sex demonstrate itself in the purchasing behavior. However, it is true to say that whenever someone hears about sex, sees a sexually related ad, or sees that a certain product is associated with sex, he will be more willing to buy this product. This article tries to examine sexism and its relationship with gender of the consumer, sexual preferences. It also tries to determine if men are more inclined to sex in advertising than women. it also tries to explain the role of age in advertising sexism. It also evaluates the effectiveness of sexism in advertising
Abstract
The way in which consumers perceive advertisements contributes directly on their feelings to the product and the company. When examining the effectiveness of sexual stimuli which is a controversial way of attracting attention, attaining positive consumer perception can be pivotal to the success of the ad.
Perception can be referred to as the method of obtaining information about our surrounding world through our senses and apprehending this information as beliefs. It is composed of three components; exposure, attention and interpretation which then lead to memory. In the attention process, an individual allocates part of his mental activity to stimulus. This is further affected by factors such as color, size, intensity and isolation.
Researches have shown that consumers react positively to some forms of sexual appeals. In evaluation of attractive models in advertisements, researchers have found that consumers automatically associate positive attributes with attractive models or spokespeople. According to the study by A.G Miller (1970), it was determined that participants found physically attractive models to be more sensitive, interesting, kind, strong, modest, poised and outgoing as well as to be of better character than individuals of lesser attractiveness. This research is critical in creating a successful advert, because it suggests that if a consumer sees physically attractive models using or wanting the product, they might subconsciously find the product more desirable as a result of their inferences on the models character. Furthermore, a study by Mills and Aronson found that an attractive female was far more efficient in convincing male audience when she announced her intention to persuade compared to when she did not state her purpose. An unattractive female model had a negative attention on the male audience irrespective of her message delivery. (Mills & Aronson, 1965).
Perception is of great significance for the marketer. The knowledge of perception is important to avoid problems when communicating with different target audiences. How consumers perceive a brand, product and how they perceive competitors determines how successful the product will be in the market.
Sexism in Advertising industry( e.g. airlines adverts, )
There are various forms of sexism in advertising industry. If one tunes his television or goes through newspapers, you are likely to encounter some form of sexism. This can be seen through the ads that portray women as sex objects, domestic archetypes or subordinates in male dominated scenarios. The evidences of sexism are highlighted in bondage and rape in consumer adverts. These adverts eroticize the roles of women and create unrealistic expectations of the roles of women. Many adverts have offensive and sexist content. This is usually hidden in an impression and nicety. The nakedness of the female is loosely conveyed in the product in question. People have come to embrace these images as the images of modern life, which represent images that may make women feel intimidated in silence but which may make us to blame for over-reacting in public.
Sexism is a trend that has lasted for a long time in advertising industry. Jezebel has examples of adverts that are disturbing in terms of roles of women in advertising.
These adverts are damaging to gender equality and speak of necessity of moral women in the advertising industry, currently dominated by men.
In apprenticeship, it is assumed that women cannot make it to the top in the executive positions because they are not competent enough to do so. Some sexists believe that the top jobs require 100 per cent commitment in order to deliver. They claim that women cannot make it to the top positions because they have other responsibilities to accomplish. These include looking after their kids. This prevents them from attaining the competence to work in top positions (Danna, 2001).
In sports advertisement, it is also believed that women cannot play certain roles such as sports commentating and refereeing a match. The men believe that women do not have the competence to do so. They believe that positions such as sports presenting should be reserved for men. The society has also come to believe this. Consequently, they believe that they can understand the intended information better if a man is given the task of doing such jobs. Similarly, they believe that matches such as football are better played if officiated by a man rather than a woman. For instance, in football recently, Andy Gray who commentates during football matches was heard saying sexist words during the match between Liverpool and Wolves. He said that women do not know the offside rule. He also added that the assistant referee at that time who was a lady should be shown when an offside had been committed. As a result of this, he was sacked from his position as a presenter.
Reactions of Men and Women to Sexual Stimuli in Advertising
There are arguments on the issue of whether or not sex can sell more products to men or women. According to research in the fields of advertising and media, men and women react differently to the use of sex images in advertising and campaigns. According to Melanie Yarborough, ads are usually more detailed when targeted at women because they are more concerned about grooming and appearance. Furthermore, women appreciate more distinctions, such as five different variations of shampoo-for curly, straight, oily or dry hair. For men, by contrast, toiletry ads focus on a single product. Males think in more macro way and need to be shown the big picture. Besides, men are less likely to process complex metaphors. Thus advertising is positioned differently to the two sexes. The study also showed that men are more responsive to sexual cues.
For many products, it is possible to find or invent sexual connection. However, this connection is much easier for men to create than women (Taflinger 2003). According to Taflinger (2003), sex is a strong stimulus in advertising, but it is a gender-linked stimulus. Sex easily sells to men whereas it is an adjunct to women. In advertising, it is easy to attract a man's attention by using women's bodies and insinuating that he will get the woman if he buys the product. This technique is playing on his instinctive world rather than intellectual world. For a woman, sexual urge is a complex combination of factors, most of which are difficult to inject into an ad in the time and space available. To sell to a woman, advertising relies on that modern idea about how men and women relate. Consequently, sex in the media has higher impacts and higher rate of success with males than females.
Currently, it is becoming more socially acceptable for women to speak about sex, and therefore more suitable for women magazines and television shows to discuss sexual issues and sexually related products. According to current study on sex and modern magazines by Ann Marie Kerwin, about a decade ago, sex articles tended to go in the middle of the magazine, away from advertising. Today, sex is the top cover line (Erwin 2000). Because feeling sexy is now more socially accepted, women are more open to sexual advertising because they would like to relate to the sexy model, which they associate with self-confidence. Kerwin comments that women today are optimistic about their lives and this part of the reasons we talk about sex. It can be concluded that sex sells to women, but more for the purpose of providing an image that they find desirable and they want to attain.
For men, sexual advertising sells differently than that of women. The general community knows which products use sexism to sell to the male population, and these include alcohol. Ina study on sex advertising, Tafliner states "With sex a...