An analysis of how advertising affects females’ self-image - specifically focusing upon print alcohol advertisements

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Chapter One: Introduction
Rationale for Research Topic
Research Question
Research Aims and Objectives
Research Methodology

Chapter Two: Literature Review
Introduction
Self-Concept and Self-Esteem
Body Image
Conclusion

Chapter Three: Literature Review Continued
Introduction
Female Representation
Sexual Nature of Print Alcohol Adverts
Male Dominance in Print Alcohol Adverts
Conclusion

Chapter Four: Content Analysis
Introduction
Content Analysis
Conclusion

Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
Limitations
Recommendations
Bibliography

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An analysis of how advertising affect females’ selfimage; specifically focusing upon print alcohol advertisements

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Acknowledgements

This research paper would not have been completed without the constant help and support received from numerous people.

- I would like to sincerely thank my supervisor Deirdre O’Loughlin for all of her guidance throughout my research and in helping me complete this FYP.
- To my parents without whose unending support I would not have been able to make it through these past 4 years of college.
- Finally to the occupants of 14 Harvard Close, both past and present, and all my friends, you have been a great inspiration to me.

Abstract

Over the past 40 years advertising has grown rapidly, and today the advertising industry is worth over $400 billion. Advertising therefore has a direct impact on people’s lives, and print alcohol advertising is no exception.

Advertising often reflects societal beliefs, but these beliefs are often misleading. Adverts portray flawless beauty in the form of female models, which leads to social comparisons being conducted by women. They compare their physical attractiveness, and if it doesn’t coincide with what they see, it can lead to poor self-esteem, a lack of self-confidence and even possibly developing eating disorders which are unhealthy.

The alcohol adverts are also very sexual in nature, with women being shown to be very scantily clad or partially nude. This only acts to accentuate the portrayal of beautiful women by again drawing social comparisons. The adverts often show women and men engaging in sexual activities which were previously not seen outside of the world of pornography, but advertisers today are pushing the boundaries further than ever before. This can lead to both men and women believing that what they see in these adverts is what is socially accepted and what might happen if they consumed the product on offer.

Print alcohol adverts tend to portray women as adorers to men, or purely as sex objects. The males in these adverts are often shown as in domineering positions, highlighting that women are seen as subordinate to men. A problem with men in this position is that fear may be instilled in women. Fear of rape and violence against women.

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Rationale for Research Topic

The purposes of this research paper are:

To investigate the link between advertising and the development of self. The author would like to present you with the opportunity to develop an understanding of how the media, through print alcohol advertising influences cultural ideals such as body image.

This author intends to provide a platform from which further research may be conducted and also attempts to offer the reader an engaging topic which will make them more aware of the subject matter.

1.2 Research Question

- “An analysis of how advertising affects females’ self-image; specifically focusing upon print alcohol advertisements”

1.3 Research Aims and Objectives

- The primary aim of this paper is to investigate how advertising affects the self-image of females by influencing societal beliefs.
- It aims to look specifically at how this occurs through print alcohol advertising.
- The paper will look at representation of females, body image, sexual portrayal of females and the dominance men have over women in these adverts.

1.4 Research Methodology

Once the rationale for the research topic was defined, and the aims and objectives outlined, it was essential to conduct the appropriate research to accurately obtain information surrounding the chosen topic. However, the research methodology was constrained due to the sensitive nature of the research topic. It was felt that primary research would contravene the University of Limerick’s ethical code. “In the context of research, ethics refers to the appropriateness of your behaviour in relation to the rights of those who become the subject of your work, or are affected by it” (Saunders et al, 2007: p.178). As a result it was decided that the type of research to be conducted would consist solely of secondary research. This would enable the investigator to analyze the work of other researchers and use this analysis as a basis for this research.

The author decided upon desk research to gather secondary information. “Desk research is the systematic collection and analysis of secondary sources of data” (Domegan and Fleming, 2003: p.77). It is advantageous to use this method of research for a number of reasons: “1) it may provide comparative and contextual data; 2) can result in unforeseen discoveries” (Saunders et al, 2007: p.259). A difficulty with using secondary data, as described by Domegan and Fleming (2003), relates to the recency and origin of the data. Other disadvantages are: “1) the data may have been collected for a purpose that does not match with yours; 2) there is no real control over data quality” (Saunders et al, 2007: p.261/2). Therefore the University library databases were fully utilized to try and obtain the most relevant data and to filter out irrelevant material.

The secondary research conducted consisted of searching databases, the internet, printed and e- journal articles and books for readings and information surrounding the chosen topic. Once literature was gathered it was possible to obtain additional material by searching through the bibliographies of referenced literature. This helped enable the author to “see more clearly how the research relates to prior research” (Saunders et al, 2007: p.74).

The research was then broken down into main topics, and these are discussed in the literature review in Chapters 2 and 3. “The objective of a literature review is to summarize the major issues related to the research” (Hair et al, 2007: p.102). A content analysis approach was also undertaken by the researcher and is Chapter 4. “A content analysis is often used for analyzing newspapers and advertisements” (Hussey and Hussey, 1997: p.251) and as such was seen as an ideal approach to analyze the adverts in detail. A content analysis method “is an approach to the analysis of documents and texts (which may be printed or visual) that seeks to quantify content in terms of predetermined categories in a systematic and replicable manner” (Bryman and Bell, 2003). It is an objective technique as described by both Berelson and Holsti (cited in Bryman and Bell 2003 p194). This is to ensure that the researcher’s personal opinions or biases interfere as little as possible.

The research question focused specifically upon print alcohol advertisements and these are reference points for comparing the literature to. These advertisements were mainly sourced through the internet focusing predominately on adverts which featured in, magazines, newspapers and on billboards. The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth website provided advertisements “to provide context for their reports and to stimulate discussion, comment, criticism and public concern about alcohol marketing” (http://camy.org/gallery/). This website highlighted the various high profile magazines in which the print alcohol advertisements were shown including: Blender, Rolling Stone, ESPN the Magazine, US Weekly, Sports Illustrated, In Style, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, FHM, Maxim, Entertainment Weekly, Wired, Stuff, and Opzij [a Dutch feminist magazine] (http://commercial-archive.com/node/145965). The adverts appeared in a lot of male orientated magazines, but also in many more main stream magazines aimed at both genders. This allowed the researcher to ascertain a more accurate picture of what alcohol advertisements were deemed the norm.

Chapter Two: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

“The last 40 years has seen explosive growth in the accessibility of visual media” (Diet Blog, 2007) and now each day people are subjected to huge amounts of images in the media. “The average woman sees 400 to 600 advertisements per day” (Eating Disorder Community, 2006) and often results in them judging themselves against what they see in these adverts. Consider that “the advertising industry has grown rapidly over the past number of years, going from a $20 billion dollar industry in the 1970’s to a $180 billion dollar industry by the 1990’s” (Kilbourne, 2006) and a “PwC report forecasted global ad spends to increase from $358 billion in 2004 to $477 billion by 2009” (Adams, 2005). As advertising is everywhere: on television, in movies, on radio, in magazines, newspapers and on billboards it is apparent that it impacts upon everyone, everywhere, on an ongoing basis. People of all ages and genders are subjected to these advertisements, and the content of these advertisements must be analyzed.

Often advertisements describe unrealistic views of the world. Cortese (2008: p57) says that advertising sells much more than products; it sells values and cultural representations. He continues to say that advertising also “has a great deal to say about gender identity. Ads use men and women to grab our attention and persuade”. Goffman (1979: p.8) says that gender reflects fundamental features of social structure. This literature review will attempt to evaluate the effect that images in print alcohol advertising have on females in our society today and how this depiction of women affects their self-image.

Belk and Pollay (1985: p.888) describe print advertising as “the family album of society. The images present a picture of the way we should see ourselves.” But this can often lead to a distorted view of the world, as Água-Mel (2000: p.76) describes it, “advertising is a misrepresentation of reality”. “Advertising reflects society in a distorted fashion, calling attention to and exaggerating some aspects of our lives and hiding others” (Patterson et al, 2008: p.4). It seems that in alcohol advertising, it is women who are being misrepresented the most and aspects of modern life and the role of women in society may not be reflected accurately. In advertising women are primarily depicted as “sexual objects” (Cortese, 2008: p.57; Solomon et al, 1999: p.188; Polonsky et al, 2001: p.246; Lavine et al, 1999: p.1050; Stockard and Johnson, 1992: p.9; Lysonski, 1985). This research will attempt to determine how these factors affect a person’s selfimage and perception of self-worth, and examine how print alcohol advertising is influencing societal beliefs. These may have a direct impact upon a person’s self-esteem if they do not conform to these supposed norms. The next section will focus upon what self-concept and selfesteem are, and how adverts affect a person’s own self-worth.

2.2 Self-Concept and Self-Esteem

“The self concept refers to the beliefs a person holds about his or her own attributes, and how he or she evaluates these qualities. Self-esteem refers to the positivity of a person’s self-concept” (Solomon et al, 1999: p.176). These tie in with self-objectification which, according to Myers and Crowther (2007: p.298), occurs when women internalize the sexual objectification promulgated by a largely visually based media and by those around them in society. For the purpose of this literature review, the attributes focused upon are physical attributes of the models in print alcohol advertisements and subsequently how these affect a person’s self-concept and self-esteem.

“Marketing communications can influence a consumer’s level of self-esteem and exposure to ads can trigger a process of social comparison, where the person tries to evaluate his or her self by comparing it to the people depicted in these artificial images” (Solomon et al, 1999: p.176). This literature review will attempt to show how through advertising, with specific focus upon print alcohol advertising, this social comparison may affect a person’s self-concept and self-esteem.

Solomon et al, (1999: p.177) describe the self as having different components, or role identities, and only some of these are active at any given time. The ideal/desired self is a person’s conception of “what they would like to be” (Arnould et al, 2004), while the actual self refers to our more realistic appraisal of the qualities we have or lack. People compare their qualities and abilities to those shown in advertisements, and although “consumers realize that mass media present the world in a stylized and idealized way, individuals nonetheless draw meaning from these images” (Gulas and McKeage, 2000: p.17).

“A person’s physical appearance is a large part of his or her self-concept. Body image refers to a consumer’s subjective evaluation of his or her physical self” (Solomon et al, 1999: p.192). Females are constantly trying to look thin, and adhere to what society apparently demands through a constant barrage and portrayal of gorgeous models selling all types of products and alcohol ads are no exception. This advert seems to be saying that the ideal body is the one on the right of the picture. The model is beautiful, slender, and as a result is supposedly better than the young girl on the left. It appears to say that women should strive to look like the woman on the right. This can affect a person’s self belief and self esteem and that person must try and feel positive about themselves in spite of this. “Self- enhancement is defined as an individual’s biased attempt to maintain positive views of him or herself to protect or enhance self-esteem” (Martin and Gentry, 1997: p.21). According to Esmonde (2005) striving for unattainable beauty ensures that women lack self confidence and a belief in their own value.

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“Advertising is also central in the constitution of bodily norms, promoting images of the body beautiful, instructing consumers in the creation of image and self-representation, and encouraging them to take responsibility for the way they look” (Patterson et al, 2008: p.10). However, the onslaught of images in print alcohol advertisements often serves only to reproduce negative self- esteem amongst females and young adolescents. “Images in the media are often blasted as being unattainable and the cause of low self-esteem and even eating disorders among young girls” (Milner, 2005: p.26). Gulas and McKeage (2000: p.17) indicate that the idealized images of physical attractiveness found in advertising have a negative effect on girls’ and women’s self- perception. Research has found that adolescent and pre-adolescent girls compare their physical attractiveness with that of models in ads. “In a recent survey by Teen People magazine, 27% of the girls felt that the media pressures them to have a perfect body” (Eating Disorder Community, 2006). This advert for Chivas Regal depicts the apparent ‘ideal’ body shape of women. This is implied by slogan: “Yes, God is a man”, which suggests that man created this woman, and as such it is the ideal beauty that all women should aspire to be like which is thin, curvy, tanned i.e. ‘beautiful’.

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