MSTC Ad

Sexual Appeal

As a woman and mother of two girls I believe companies need to remain ethical when it comes to their advertising campaigns.  Even though studies have shown sex appeal sells, it is an extremely effective way to draw attention to your product. With that said, I feel there is a time and a place for some companies to market their product like beer for instance. You don't want to run your ad at 11:00 in the morning on PBS KIDS morning shows or on a Religious T.V. station. 

 Companies must not only care about the opinion of the "direct" target, but also be aware of the effects on the "indirect" target also. There are two legal distinctions to be considered in an advertisement for them to be considered explicit. One being "indirect" which can be enforced if considered severe enough by enforcing "community standards". This is mainly done by using citizen or group pressure groups. The other legal distinction is considering something "obscene".  There are 3 conditions to be met to consider an advertisement obscene:

1.  Appeals to prurient or unwholesome interest
2. Patently offensive or open to public attention
3. Lacks any social value

A large concern as a mother of two teenage daughters is the effects advertising companies are having on their self-esteem when it comes to using photo retouching. As a mother I feel it is up to the parent to explain that what you see on television or in the magazine is not always factual. It may not be realistic to achieve the look of a celebrity or a supermodel.  I also feel it is up to a parent to be in tune with your child to realize if there is a self-esteem issue or eating disorder. With that said I feel advertising agencies should be required to have a disclaimer explaining that this photo has been altered. So it can help women and young girls to again regain the confidence I feel most young women are lacking in this day and age.   Examples of Retouching:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5va_Fb61ac8&feature=BFa&list=PLE71053C64714A5B0  A great link about Photoshopping and the Controversy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovpd5O6M8tQ&feature=BFa&list=PLE71053C64714A5B0      

External Influences on Consumer Behavior

Culture- Culture can be found just about anywhere. From language, music, art, race, what you read, how you dress, to location, these are all examples of culture. Culture can help to guide the average customer into making a purchasing decision. http://mdk09d.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/marlboro11.jpg 

in the Marlboro ad it portrays the image all smokers of Marlboro's are cowboys, are rugged, tough, ride horses, or maybe believe that by smoking Marlboro's you can become this way.

 Subculture- Subculture is a lot like culture but is just a smaller group or smaller, more defined, category. A subculture may be a symbol, or a way of dress, or type of music, it may also be defined by your personal sexuality. A few examples would be Music:rock, rap, country, or jazz. Labels from Society- Emo, Goth, Prep, Punk, Skater, Rocker, and Hippie are also forms of subcultures. http://edgeymon.hubpages.com/hub/Part-2c-Subculture-Roles-and-Control#slide2143752

Social Class- Social class is measured in many different ways, some may look at status, wealth, or power. They often refer to three categories; Upper class, Middle class, and Lower class.

 Upper class consists of the wealthy or powerful who usually control most of the political office's or production companies. In some countries wealth is all it takes to enter the Upper class, but in others it may only depend on being born to a certain bloodline. 

Middle class often referred to as "white-collar" workers are the most difficult to define. mainly consist of the professionals like managers and and supervisors. There are three sub sections of the middle class .

Lower class consists of mainly considered "working class and have little education and work in low paying jobs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-IINQmE62k&feature=related&noredirect=1 

http://www.louisvuitton.com/front/#/eng_US/Homepage

http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/index.jsp

Reference Groups- Can consist of celebrities, or someone that would be looked up to or aspired. It can be a entire group of people like tweens, teens,or 50 and older.Reference groups can consist of membership or non-membership groups. The information obtained is used as a benchmark or reference for companies to compare against. http://www.celebrityendorsementads.com/celebrity-endorsements/product-index/

 

 Situational Determinates-  A ssituational determinates is something to cause a persons situation to change, such as a loss of a job, a pregnancy, diet, health scare,new job, new house, more responsibility, weather, or even kids. All of these can cause a person to have to change the way they buy and spend their money. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpdWfaNACgE