Acknowledgements We would like to express our gratitude to the following persons
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- Research questions
- Purpose
Reasons for the studyAs consumers, we have reacted on what we perceived as a different type of advertising, not using traditional role models, i.e. the good looking and successful individual. In the academic literature on marketing, advertising and consumer behaviour, we found material that claimed that there is a "post-modern" consumer. Some academics and marketing researchers, like Fuller and Thygseen or Fuat, Clifford and Shultz, claim that youth today have a totally new mindset, which can be branded as post-modern. These young consumers are described as people who perceive the world as fragmented but is able to accept the kind of chaos that this results in. They are less willing to commit to a single project or grand design. Their social reality is to a great extent constituted through hype or simulation. Consumers feel targeted by companies, who they see as symbols of power, and is currently taking control - going from manipulation to empowerment.(A. Fuat, Clifford J., Shultz II 1997) Is this description accurate? Do the audience think along the same line as the experts claim they do, and, is there really something like the post-modern youth? Are young consumers of today more receptive toward post-modern advertising than toward traditional advertising? The problem area can be divided in two. First there is the question if young consumers of today have a different kind of consumer behaviour. Is there a post-modern kind of consumer, who reacts against the modern society in different ways? Second, there is the question if the companies and their advertising agencies are trying to use this. If so, is this message effective on the audience? We will try to answer these questions by presenting different researchers theories on consumption. In addition to this we will use a focus group study, containing consumer of 20-30 years of age in Stockholm to find out if, and to what extent, these theories can explain statements and discussions within our focus groups. Research questionsTo be able to fulfil the purpose of this study, we would like to state two research questions. Our impression of what in this study is referred to as post-modern advertising, is that it is something "new" and different. By this, we mean that it uses a different language, models, layouts and concepts in the ads. We would like to know if the participants in our focus groups has got the same impression as we have. What is perceived differently compared to traditional advertising? The above mentioned is the reason for our first research question. Is post-modern advertising perceived by the audience in a different way than traditional advertising, if so what do the people in our focus group think is more positive or more negative with the post-modern ads? One thing that occurred to us at an early stage when discussing this type of advertising, was that it seemed to fit well with the description that some academics has made of consumption in the post-modern society. The reason for our second and last research question is therefore that we would like to find out if the theories can help us to shed some light upon our focus group discussions. Can the theories we present explain the statements and discussions by the consumers within our focus groups? Do the participants reason along the lines of the theories? PurposeWith the help of our research questions presented above we will be able to approach the purpose of this study. Of course, there are other conditions that needs to be fulfilled to be able to draw further conclusions. If the focus group is an applicable method when examining this type of consumers, if we asked the right questions, and if we were able to analyse the sessions with the help of the theories, we should be well prepared to draw some conclusions on, if, and why post-modern advertising has an advantage to the traditional type of advertising. With all this in mind we hope to be able to fulfil the following purpose. Our purpose is to find out whether a special type of advertising called post-modern advertising is perceived differently than the traditional type of advertising. Type of advertising In advertising theory, a division between ads that are information-loaded and image-loaded is made. We will focus on image loaded ads (of both the traditional style and the post-modern style). Image-loaded and information-loaded ads works differently, which we will explain below. We do not want to confuse the results by adding the extra variable of image- versus information-loaded ads. That is why we choose just to look at image-loaded ads. In order to better understand what the differences are and to explain why we choose the image loaded type. To deepen the understanding of the division between image loaded and information loaded advertising we will use the explanation used by Branthwaite and Swindells in their article, episodic/ semanting learning . Advertising can according to them be categorised along a continuum: -from information loaded Content: Information loaded product oriented-demonstration of attributes and characteristics. Presents a "new " product idea. Explicit claim. Executional style: Rational, factual, logical. Pedagogical. Product usage ( maybe exaggerated, comical) Speech bias
Open, arbitrary. Fictional, fantastic
Image and mood loaded. Coolages, disconnected, abstract. Entertaining, emotive. Visual, sounds bias. (Branthwaite, Swindells 1997) In terms of perceptual processing the image loaded advertising is different from the information loaded. The image loaded advertising is processed by episodic knowing. This means that the knowledge of the world is made up by separate and loosely connected events or episodes. It is autobiographical to everyday learning in life. You learn when things happen to you. It is passively and automatically registrated without an effort to learn. (Branthwaite, Swindells 1997) Information loaded advertising uses semantic knowing (which is more like the learning in school). This kind of knowing is based on active learning and relies heavily on verbal and intelligent, logical reasoning. It is about knowledge facts and truths. (Branthwaite, Swindells 1997) When we look at advertising we want to make clear what type of advertising we mean. In this study we will focus upon image loaded advertising, used in branding of a product or a company. This type of advertising contrasts with information loaded advertising, that are mainly used in campaigns that simply aim to describe recent features or discount in order to get the products of the shelf as fast as possible. The branding process aims instead to create an awareness of the brand. Consumer familiarity of a brand breeds positive feelings, so consumers are likely to choose the familiar brand over newer entrants into the markets. ( Mowen, 1998) Awareness campaigns often tries to create positive feelings in relation to the brand. The product itself need not to be in focus in branding advertising, since it is not supposed to explain features etc. about the product. The reason for excluding the information-loaded type of advertising in this study is that we did not find any example of such an ad that we could consider to be post-modern. Those ads might exist. But in this study we will focus on image-loaded adverting, and within this category make a distinction between traditional and post-modern advertising. Even if it might have been possible to take the information loaded ads into account, we feel that this would have done more harm than good, adding little value, but confusing the results. Product category All ads discussed in this study comes from the fashion industry. The reason for this is that these were the ones we first noticed as being special and different from the traditional type of advertising. Clothes is a product that everyone has to use. This makes it inevitable that everyone has some kind of opinion on the products and the advertising. It is therefore easy to address the subject in a focus group session. Furthermore clothes is a product that is visible to everyone. We feel that clothes has an expressive function. This is due to the fact that the product is publicly displayed ( in most cases) an therefore makes an impression on other people. Hence it has an impact on the social life and sends a message of the owners personality. All products do not have the same values as clothes. For example, it is hard to see how toilet tissues or motor oil would immediately benefit anyone's social status. The pre-selected brands we use in this study are: Levi's, Benetton and Diesel. The reason for choosing these brands is that they are famous for their advertising and often create a lot of attention when launching a campaign. All of these brands uses both traditional advertising as well as, what we view as post-modern advertising. Consumers - age group and geography In this study we which to examine the younger segment of the market in Stockholm. We choose to limit the study within the age group 20-30 years of age. Download 201.4 Kb. Share with your friends:
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