thesis

             When I had initially started thinking about my topic for this paper I thought that finding the differences in advertising to men and women would be an easy topic.  I figured that there had to be different ways in which to appeal to genders differently and I was convinced it would be an easy code to crack.  However, as I have done my research and gone to the mall in the hopes of finding these different advertising techniques I found that gender is defiantly not a large factor in advertisements, at least in the mall.  There are defiantly differences in advertising to men and women; however, the ideas are all pretty much the same.

            I recently went to the mall and took pictures of the ads in which I saw that were trying to appeal to either men or women. They were not much different in their advertising techniques.  I found, however, that when I looked in magazines or other places in which to advertise, the differences were much greater.  For the most part, the techniques were predictable. They used famous people in their ads, had good-looking people modeling their clothing, or showed that their product helped others making it more appealing to a consumer.  This, along with other techniques that I learned throughout my research, were used both in ads appealing to male and female consumers.

            After looking through the pictures of the ads that I found at the mall I see that all of them use different somatic or nonverbal systems in their advertisements.  It greatly shows how important the sense of time, perceptual spaces, interpersonal distances and personal front is in these advertisements.  I used our book, discourses in place, to figure out exactly what these ads are trying to portray and it was by far my most useful source.  I used these things to review every ad that I looked at and it really helped me to be clear on what the ad is trying to do and what its purpose is.

            My latest research has been good and bad in certain ways.  It has been great in the sense that I really am starting to understand the ads and what they are trying to say and what their creators are putting in them and why.  This is a very cool thing to learn in general, and is very useful to my paper.  However, I feel as though I have gone far from my original goal in trying to find differences in male and female advertising.  I don’t really see in my research how it is very different, which can be detrimental to my final paper.

            I have been trying to think of a way to spin off of my original idea in order to help make my paper better in the long run. I originally though that this idea was a great idea for a paper, however; with the research that I have been doing, that no longer seems to be the case.  Another idea I had was to just switch it and try and prove that in essence, even though there are some differences in advertising, at the mall with the ads that I have found, it seems as though the techniques are mostly the same.

 

There has been question to how advertising is portrayed differently between men and women and in some cases this is so, however, for the most part, advertising techniques are usually unisex and used in the same ways to call out to both men and women.

freewrite 5

In Sibley’s work he uses his sources in such smart ways. He uses the ideas of other people in ways that you would never think that he actually took them from others. He uses quotations to prove his points so well that his words just keep flowing and don’t get chopped in the rest of his thoughts, which is a very hard thing to do in a paper. He integrates his quotes in his own writing making it difficult to even realize hes quoting and I think that is what makes him sound to knowledgeable in his works. He uses many quotations and outside information but he uses it so well that the whole time it sounds like the information is coming directly from him.

Chang, Chingching. “THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPARATIVE AND NONCOMPARATIVE ADVERTISING.” Journal of Advertisment (2007): 21-35. HW Wilson. Web. 26 July 2009.

“   Perceived manipulative intent of ads is influenced by a significant interaction between gender and ad appeal type. For women, but not for men, comparative appeals generate greater inferences regarding manipulative intent than do noncomparative appeals.”

Shows a good difference in advertising techniques between men and women.

“comparative advertising encouraged greater levels of brand-evaluation involvement among men but not among women”

A big way in which advertisers compete is comparing brands side by side which works much more on men than women. The women benefit more from noncomprable advertising where as the men like to see two different products side by side before their ready to purchase.

Koernig, Stephen K., and Neil Granitz. “Progressive yet traditional: the portrayal of women compared to that of men in e-commerce magazine advertisements.” Journal of Advertising (1006). Access my Library. Web. 26 July 2009. <http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-17563918_ITM&gt;.

“The depiction of women as powerful, commanding (knowledgeable), and in control, yet able to retain traditional female characteristics, is reflected not only in advertising but also in other areas of society.”

This is an interesting quote because it shows how women are depicted in advertisements and that is a good thing for me to look for in the ads at the mall. It is also an interesting thing that this is a strategy for advertisers making women want to look powerful and in control and want to buy things that make them look like they are.

“The advancements in representation, expertise, and power were also accompanied by some long-standing stereotypical values/themes. Some examples of the traditional values that differ between the ads are technological, durable, effective, and productivity being included in ads with males, and sexuality, nurturance, family, and enjoyment being included in ads with females.”

This is showing that ads with certain characteristics included in the ads are better. Maybe this will show in my research and if these things are in the ads, the products sell better.

freewrite 4

The article, THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPARATIVE AND NONCOMPARATIVE ADVERTISINGTHE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPARATIVE AND NONCOMPARATIVE ADVERTISING, by Chingching Chang, talks of many advertising issues such as the differences in advertising to men and women. The intended audience is probably people who are interested in different ways to reach out to different people through advertising or people who would like to understand it better. People that want to learn how to advertise and help their businesses, or people who want to know how not to fall for different types of advertising techniques. Chingching Chang seems to really have a good grasp on the different ways in which advertisers cater directly to men and women. This source is clearly Educational or academic because it is from The Journal of Advertising. I think that this article was very valid and a reliable source. It gave me the information I needed for my research and I knew that it was a credible source to use because the author as well as the journal were both very reliable sources.

Stephen K. Koernig and Neil Granitz also discussed the same topic in the Journal of advertising in the article, PROGRESSIVE YET TRADITIONAL. The source is clearly educational or academic again due to the fact that it is also from the advertising journal.

Again it is a very credible source, coming from the same reliable journal as the first article. However, these authors seem to have done a little more research than the first. There is much more information and it goes more in depth on certain things such as ways to advertise to women, and experiments proving their points made in the article. For the most part it has the same audience and validity, it is just much more informative and therefore would be a better source to use. Also, when I looked for additional work on the authors who wrote the two articles I found nothing in Chingching Chang, but multiple other works on Stephen K. Koernig and Neil Granitz. This shows that they could be a more credible source because they have more work and knowledge on such topics. However, Chingching Chang’s article is more recent which can make the information in the article more relevant to my paper. Overall I think that both works will be very useful to me.

For my primary research method I chose to use analysis. I will collect and organize data about the gender differences in advertising and see how it is so different to advertise to men and women. Then I will go to the mall and try and find those differences there in the advertisements that I see. I want to discover how companies advertise differently to different sexes and what their tactics are for each. I plan to research all of the different ways in which consumers advertise their items to men and women and after knowing the different strategies, I can go to the mall and find the different ways in which the advertisers are trying to market their products to either men or women. I will then take pictures and give my own analysis with the help of the research that I have already conducted. I will talk to store owners, workers and customers in order to further my research. I will also observe the advertisements and maybe see if the better advertising stores do better than those with less or worse advertisements? I do not really have any biases about my topic at this point in my research so hopefully that will not be an issue. I expect to discover the differences producers’ use in advertising when trying to sell their items to different markets. Which tactics are used for male and female and why are they different? How does it work? Is it affective? I want to find out all of these questions in my research.

            In my first free write I wrote about the differences between boys and girls on the playground. This topic still interests me that although there are no boundaries physically in my town, there still are places in which boys and girls as well as others are separated. My town is very diverse and I feel as though it would be interesting to not only see how things are different between gender, but ethnicity as well. I think that if I looked into different places around my town I can see some more places and things in which it is divided between different people.

            I can also extend this to things such as signs and how different things can have different meanings depending on the person. As we saw with all o f the forums, signs have different meanings if theyre placed in separate places. So if there is a sign in a diverse area can two different types of people see it differently? I think that it could be an interesting topic to look into and it will show me a lot about the differences in people.

            I want to go to local places such as parks, restaurants, malls, stores and other public spaces so I can research how different people congregate in different places or how different people interact in the same places. Such as the boys and girls playing differently on the playground.

This image is a Crusty space or a special use place. It is a secure zone in which it is blocked off to public users and only people with hybrid cars can use this spot. It is an attempt at going green and helping the environment. People put up these signs in good parking spots and places in which it would be an advantage to own a hybrid car so that they can use these advantages. It is to make the public want to drive a hybrid car instead and trying to pressure everyone to go green. I think that this is a great idea by giving people rewards for having environmentally safe cars. We all know that this technique is one that works in order to convince people to do things, by reward and punishment and I think that this idea is a great one. Advertisements can tell people how bad their cars are for the environment, but until it actually matters to the driver it wont be an issue if they love the car their driving. However, if there are perks that come with the hybrid cars, they may be more likely to buy one. As bad as it sounds that people need to be bribed into helping their own environment, it’s the most effective way in changing this kind of thing.

 

 

This would be a passage space. It takes you from one place to another. These stairs divide the forest and take you to a whole new place that you cannot even see from where we are. It is the perfect example of a passage space. It is also a great example of public space because it is outside in the forest and anyone has access to them. 

 

This is a great example of a secure zone. It is a gated in homes that are only accessible to the people living there. It is a great comfort for those who live there that no outsiders can get it, however it is also only allowing interactions between people living in the community. They are shaping the people living here to only be friends with each other by not allowing others access to the building. I think this is a great thing because in today’s world there are too many break-ins and too much crime going on for people to be allowed access into people’s homes and buildings just because they want it. If someone wants to have a guest they can bring one in themselves and their homes will be much safer. 

 

I think that this is transgressive because it is obviously out of place and is not supposed to be there. This is very controversial and that is why I picked this example. Americans who clearly do not like Islamic people created this. It was created out of hate and it is very sad. Some people may call this a persons right to freedom of speech and that they are allowed to say and write what they would like as part of their rights, however, others see it as a hate crime. This center is a place of Islamic pride, where they go to worship and congregate together. It should not be a place of hatred and shame, which is what people have made it. This was very interesting for me because I got to see first hand how differently people see things. To the person who did this, they probably saw it as freedom of speech and just as transgressive and that nothing was wrong with it. However, to the people that it hurt it is a lot more than that. Therefore I think that it depends on the person to determine what is transgressive and what isn’t.

Ads

In this ad the represented participants are Kobe and the fact that he is an all-star basketball player. It is shown in this image that he is a great, and intense player and the ad is trying to tell its consumers that if they try their product they’ll be like him. The interactive participants are the viewers and creators of the ad; such as the company of vitamin water as well as all of its consumers who are buying that product and giving into their advertisements. The modality of this is so interesting. I feel as though the signs of this ad are purely shown by his gestures in the photo. His face is very intense and his leg and arm muscles are bulging. You can tell that he is very into the game and that he cannot be stopped. They want to put this image out to the young hopeful athletes who want to be just like Kobe and turn out just like this.

            After seeing this ad I feel as though there are many controversial issues that can arise. Firstly, if seen in public space this would be taken by the public as some miracle drink that can make you a basketball all-star such as Kobe himself because he drinks it as well. He looks strong and determined and they are making it seem that this is just because he had some Vitamin water before. Also, Kobe had previously been convicted in a sexual assault case and now this ad is still portraying him in such a positive light. This can be very controversial in society because many people see this situation differently. Some think that he shouldn’t be given these advertising opportunities while some don’t think he should be punished forever. This can raise quite a stir when put in a public area for all to see.

            I chose this because I thought that it seemed really intense and I think that it is funny when companies make their products look so absolutely necessary to their clients. In reality, no matter how much vitamin water I drank in my lifetime, I will never play basketball like Kobe. The drink will not give me his skill or discipline and yet that is what it is made to be in this ad along with many others. I always thought that was funny and interesting.

 

This sign is an icon. It is a sign that shows its meaning or purpose by looking like the object. This sign is very clear and you can tell that it is telling us not to smoke. The meaning of the sign is very clear and the picture is easy to read. In context this sign does not really change, no matter where you see it the meaning is the same.

 

 

 

This is a symbol. A symbol is a sign that is directly associated with the object. This symbol is a mezuzah which is directly associated with Judaism. It is found on the front door of most Jewish households. This symbol is a constant reminder of gods presence. This specific symbol does not really change its meaning in context of place because it is not usually seen in many different places.

 

This is also a symbol, an Italian horn. In italy it is used to protect people from the “evil eye.” Depending on its context it can take on new meanings. Most people wear it on their neck with or without a cross to show their Italian pride and it is also sometimes a symbol for power and good luck.