（外国语言学及应用语言学专业论文）英语商品广告中的性诉求例证.pdf

2 提要 本世纪最热门的话题之一就是关于性的尽管人类社会逐渐步入数字纪元性始 终在人类社会占据着重要地位 性感的男性女性始终是广告的焦点所在 在广告界, 性 诉求依然作为一个重要的卖点存在于广告创意中 本论文主要研究了性诉求在英语国 家广告中的运用同时对中国广告界采用这种诉求方式可行性必要性以及注意事项 进行了分析 何谓性诉求广告性诉求广告是以广告受众的感官本能感受为出发点来激发 他们购买欲望的诉求手段好的性诉求广告能够吸引人的注意力, 刺激观众的欲望, 并且引发观众对品牌的积极联想. 早在十九世纪六十年代广告人已经发现性吸引是一条通往财富之路近年来 原本局限于某几类产品的性诉求广告范围逐渐扩大在 21 世纪由于电视广播 杂志等媒体的高度发展性诉求广告更是无所不在性诉求广告在取得良好广告效应 的同时也受到来自社会方方面面的批评广告人处于一种矛盾的困境中究竟是以利 益为中心开发性诉求广告还是严格遵循社会道德成为他们在设计性诉求广告过程中 亟待解决的问题而大部分时间利益战胜了道德挑战大众接受极限的性诉求广告 纷纷出台广告向我们传递着社会的思维信仰渗透到我们生活的各个领域因此 广告作为一门社会学科它的性感使用度一直被公众所关注事实上随着社会性意 识的逐步开放性广告覆盖了社会的方方面面所受限制也越来越少 论文作者对本领域的兴趣来自于一个事实 即今天愈来愈多的广告采用性诉求来 帮助销售产品 而在一个多世纪以前, 性诉求仍然是广告中的一块禁地 当今社会, 人 们的购买欲望已经朝着更为直接,强调自我和享受的方向发展 这种趋势也可以看作是 一种人性的解放因此, 如何创造出一些既具有艺术美感, 又能带了较好市场收益的 性行销广告就显得尤为重要 由于性领域始终面临着来自社会道德方面的制约 我国在使用性诉求广告时一直 十分谨慎在这方面的研究也比较有限性行销广告一定要考虑到不同民族社会的 历史传统以及性别角色的差异忽视这一点将会使品牌遭受巨大的损失论文共分为 四个部分论文先从性诉求广告的发展历史入手回顾了自二十世纪二十年代来性诉 求广告的发展历程本文分析了男性和女性在性诉求广告中所呈现的形象以及这些 形象对目标受众的影响文章对性诉求广告内容进行了分析, 即哪些因素构成了性诉 3 求, 这些因素的强弱程度对性诉求广告效应的影响以及性诉求广告在人物选择 氛围 声音等方面的规则论文讨论了性诉求广告对企业品牌方面有三方面的积极影响分 别是吸引观众注意力引发积极联想形成正面品牌形象论文最后提出性诉求广告 要注意不同民族文化人群的差异从而做出相应的调整来适应这些差异性 通过上述几个方面的分析论文作者认为性诉求广告是一种有效的行销方式西 方的性行销广告已经非常发达, 而在国内, 该领域的无论是理论研究还是实践应用还 是相对落后的随着我国社会经济的发展人们意识形态的进一步开放需要更多的 广告人来关注这个领域我们在充分了解到它在行销方面的有效性的同时也要认识 到它的负面效应只有这样性行销这种方式才能更好的为我国的广告人所用 关键词性诉求 客化 性心理目标受众分析, 内容分析, 4 abstract the intention of this study is to explore the possible advantages of applying sex appeal in advertisements and its application in china and western countries. as this is a sensitive area, ethical and cultural caution must be taken to avoid clashes of culture and value. when human society has stepped forward into a digital era, there is one thing that remains unchanged: those sexy women models with ample breasts and masculine men are still the main focus of ads. sex appeal is still where the selling point of ads lies. in the mid of late 1960s, advertising executives discovered the road to fortune - this road is sex. especially in present-day society, it is abundantly clear that sex is what sells. we find it on television, in magazines, billboards and even the radio. it seems that everywhere we look, sex is right in front of us. there is a struggle among advertisers on whether to use the sure way to sell the maximum number of products or to be true to a sense of morality. more often than not, greed takes over and morality is lost. to sell products, advertisers target audiences and try to appeal to their senses and feelings. the problem is that sexual appeal seems to be showing up more often with a broader range of products and audiences. females are more likely than males to be presented in seductive fashions or appear nude but males are now being portrayed as sexual objects more and more. despite uncertainty over advertisement effectiveness, the use of sex appeal is still considered an effective method of selling products because of its ability to attract consumer attention to an ad. advertising presents the images, ideas, and belief systems that a society holds. they have worked their way into media, social concerns, family values and moral ethics. advertising is a social practice so the expression of sexuality continues to be an issue of social concern. open-sexuality has spread throughout our entire society and has shown that there are very few limits. actually, open-sexuality has become part of society. daily life and observation shows that more and more ads focus on sexy images to help sell and promote products today while in the previous century sex was still a forbidden area to be utilized as a tool for selling or marketing. the effectiveness of sexual appeal is its ability to arouse and grab an individuals attention, which may affect a consumers feeling 5 about a product. consumers concept of consumption has undergone a critical change towards new aesthetic standard of bold expression, intuitional need and enjoyment. therefore, it is justified to regard it as a revolution of humanity, which is aptly reflected in the products employing sex appeal in advertising. this thesis is divided into six chapters. the first chapter of this thesis discusses the history of sex appeal ads since the 1920s. the second part of this thesis analyzes male and female images in sex appeal ads and how these images affect information processing of target audience. the third part focuses on content analysis of sex appeal ads, which means how combined factors attribute to the sexual content of an ad. in addition, by summing up the characters, scenery, voice and storylines of sex appeal ads, this thesis formulates formulas about sex appeal ads. as for the business gaining of sex appeal ads, the author of the thesis mainly examines their function in getting attention, generating positive emotional reflection and forming favorable brand images. the last part of this thesis goes over the adaptation of sex appeal ads among different cultures, nationality and groups of people. the usage of sex appeal has been comparatively developed in western countries, while in china, we still lag behind in this field. how we are going to cultivate aesthetic value as well as lucrative market gaining out of this strategy is of vital importance. in addition, due to the different personal taste, national mores as well as religious belief, this area is very sensitive. different nation may show different tolerance towards sex appeal in ads. neglecting this crucial point may run the risk of total failure of an advertising campaign or causing outrage among its target audience. as a result, it is highly recommended that advertisers take both the national, regional and moral difference into consideration before conjuring up sexual images in ads. research and practice in sex appeal in western countries has revealed us a full picture of its ups and downs in the past one hundred years. china is lagging behind with the west both in the aspects of researches in this area and its application in actuality. china needs to be prepared with the possibility of gradual sexualized advertisement as a result of intrusion of western ideology as well as liberalization of chinese people in their sexual attitude. this preparation and awareness is to chinas benefit in sense of economic gaining, sexual education and public morality. 6 key words: sexual appeal, objectification, sexual psychology, target audience analysis, content analysis acknowledgements i owe special thanks to my supervisor, prof. sun jianqiu, who gave persisting guidance to the overall planning of this paper and did regular reading and correcting the papers many problems where unfolding explications were needed. she helped improve my writing with insight, great patience and enthusiasm. in course of my research and writing, many people have provided help in the form of suggestions, reference and clippings. my friend patrick davis went over the whole thesis and gave me many valuable suggestions. my friend li cong lent me some materials on current advertising. i would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for all the researchers in this field of sex appeal in advertising. i quote many valuable results from them. without their enlightening study, it is impossible for me to finish this thesis. finally, i want to thank my parents, li ying and pan sumei, who have always been encouraging me in the past three months. it is their understanding and love that give me confidence to finish this paper. 1 chapter 1 introduction 1.1 introduction the intention of this study is to examine the usage of sex appeal ads in western countries and the possible application of sex appeal in the advertising media of china. methodology of this study will base on qualitative method with an emphasis on case study. this thesis is divided into six chapters. the first chapter of this thesis discusses the history of sex appeal ads since the 1920s. during the past one hundred years, advertising executives have gradually discovered the road to fortune-this road is sex. especially in present-day society, it is clear that sex is what sells. we find it on television, in magazines, billboards and even the radio. it seems that everywhere we look, sex is right in front of us. the second part of this thesis analyzes male and female images in sex appeal ads and how these images affect information processing of target audiences. to sell products, advertisers cater to the need of audiences and try to appeal to their senses and feelings. actually, consumers concept of consumption has undergone a critical change towards new aesthetic standard with an emphasis on bold expression, intuitional need and enjoyment. therefore, it is justified to regard it as a revolution of humanity, which is aptly reflected in the products employing sex appeal in advertising. as for the models in sex appeal ads, females are more likely than males to be presented in seductive fashions or appear nude but males are now being portrayed as sexual symbols more and more. the third part of the thesis focuses on content analysis of sex appeal ads, which illustrates how combined factors attribute to the sexual content of a sex appeal ad. in addition, by analyzing the characters, scenery, voice and storylines of sex appeal ads, this thesis formulates formulas about sex appeal ads. as for the business gaining of sex appeal ads, the author of the thesis mainly examines their function in getting attention, generating positive emotional reflection and forming favorable brand images. the last part of this thesis goes over the adaptation of sex appeal ads among different cultures, nationality and groups of people. advertising is a social practice, so the expression of sexuality continues to be an issue of social concern. sex appeal ads have 2 worked their way into media, social concerns, family values and moral ethics. open-sexuality has spread throughout our entire society and has shown that there are very few limits. actually, open-sexuality has become part of society. in addition, due to the different personal taste, national mores as well as religious belief, this area is very sensitive. different nations may show different tolerance towards sex appeal in ads. neglecting this crucial point may run the risk of total failure of an advertising campaign or causing outrage among target audiences. as a result, it is highly recommended that advertisers take both the national, regional and moral difference into consideration before designing sexual images in ads. the usage of sex appeal has been comparatively developed in western countries, while in china, we still lag behind in this field. how we are going to cultivate aesthetic value as well as lucrative market gaining out of this strategy is of vital importance. research and practice in sex appeal in western countries has revealed us a full picture of its ups and downs in the past one hundred years. china is lagging behind with the west both in the aspect of researches in this area and its application in actuality. china needs to be prepared with the possibility of gradual sexualized advertisement as a result of intrusion of western ideology as well as liberalization of chinese people in their sexual attitude. this preparation and awareness is to chinas benefit in sense of economic gaining, sexual education and public morality. 1.2 literature review and methodology 1.2.1 literature review: studies of sexual appeal usually examine this area from either quantitative perspective or qualitative perspective. quantitative perspective includes studies of audience effect and individual difference variables, integrative reviews of past research and new studies. definitional issues are addressed, as well as directions for future research. the qualitative perspective explores past and current theories, proposes new theories with a basis in qualitative studies, and uses the tools of these varied disciplines to scrutinize and understand sexually oriented content in advertising and new media. in another level, researchers from different research tradition explore sex appeal from 3 different perspectives. marketers are primarily concerned with micro-level effects. they usually examine how sexual information evokes reaction from viewers and how these reactions influence consumer behavior. in this way, marketing research on sexual appeal is not only concerned with understanding how sex affects processing and purchasing, but also with providing useful generalizations to help professionals make decisions about using these appeals. humanities research examines sexual appeal from different perspectives, usually at a macro level. researchers of humanities are interested in how sex appeal ads say about culture, power, relationships, development of gender identities, stereotypes, peoples fantasies, and ethics. the following review will focus on past research findings about effects of sexual ads, customer reflection and sexual information since these are the three areas that have been most thoroughly studied. up till now, most studies in advertising examine the effects of sexual ads from the information processing (mcguire, 1968, 1972) and hierarchy of effects perspectives (stewart, pechmann, ratneshwar, stroud, objects that are shaped or positioned like genitalia and sexual acts; and small, hidden images of naked people, body parts and genitalia. the purpose of subliminal embed is to subconsciously affect peoples acts and thus achieve the desired results perceived by advertisers. sexual embeds represent a type of sexual information in advertising, although usually 23 small and intangible. one class of sexual embed refers to sexual symbolism, which includes representations of objects that connote either genitalia or sexual acts. for example, a viewer should subconsciously interpret an image of a cylindrical cologne bottle positioned at a 45-degree angle as an erect penis. similarly, the image of a key inserted into a block could represent intercourse. consider the baileys ad, which an advocate of embeds, might argue that the positioning of the womans finger in her open mouth would signify as oral sex in the viewers subconscious (fig. 3.5) a second type of sexual embed is often characterized by hidden sexual images and words (rosen noticing young unmarried couples hitchhiking throughout the country and the skyrocketing divorce rate. the american census bureau estimates that 1.3 million people, both young and old, live together without being married. in 1975, the annual divorces passed the million marks. according to the u.s. department of commerce, since 1960, the divorce rate has more than doubled (statistical abstract of the united states, u.s. department of commerce, 1978, population: xiv, p.13.). the move for womens rights has been pervasive and women began to seek better jobs and equal pay for equal work (see fig. 2.9). these social changes have made the bland depiction of women as sex objects or 39 homemakers limited. another significant change in american society over the past two decades has been the increase in the number of working women. the percentage of women in the labor force rose form 36.7 percent in 1965 to 56.4 percent in 1988. the increase in the number of working women has many implications for marketing and promotional strategies. many marketers are directing more of their advertising to working women, as they not only constitute an important market segment but also are more likely to be involved in purchase decisions that have traditionally been the domain of men. a study by the young and rebicam advertising agency found that working women are more likely to be concerned with decisions regarding financial services, travel, and the selection of an automobile than nonworking women. the true importance of sexual revolution is a redefinition of sex roles. because the vast majority of women hold jobs outside the home, they want to see themselves portrayed in professional situations. advertisers should show them for what they are: intelligent, hardworking, and vital members of society. instead of always being “my girl friday,” women want to be shown as bosses (fig. 2.10). most sex appeal ads use women as both subjects to appeal or to be appealed. as a result, how to define the new role of women and how to depict them in a new social background are key to the success of sex appeal ads. with the progress of feminist movement, more and more women begin to appreciate themselves from diversified perspectives, no longer housewives, mothers, office clerks and sex objects (fig. 2.11). when targeting this new group of people, there are two problems involved. first, to which women groups the sex appeal ads target determine what female images advertisers are going to select. different age groups of women may define their ideal types in different ways. second, whatever the result is, it is highly recommended that advertisers conduct additional surveys to fully consider the effect of the ads. in accordance with the feminist movement, the demand for product variety has increased. often the products that were advertised in publications also presented conflicting viewpoints in terms of female liberation and female sexuality. highly sexual and suggestive illustrations not only celebrated the beauty of women, but also promoted male sexual fantasies. 40 daly claimed in “the hot sell” (daly, 1998: 1) that: advertisements aimed at young male consumers will continue to become more explicit. advertisers and agency executives say that they have to use graphic, sexually charged images to capture the attention of the consumer and to attract buyers who are bombarded by hundreds of product promotions every day. like most consumers, males see numerous ads every day