Effects of women representation in advertising on customers' attitudes

Abstract

The influence of advertising on creating social attitudes and customer behavior is visible both on rational and emotional level. Due to that, advertising creates psychological effects, and is also in conflict with moral and ethical standards of the society which should be based upon. Stereotypical representation of women in advertising, which usually includes images of a housewife, business woman with no family, or just an ornament, can be found in all kinds of ads, such as TV and Internet commercials, billboards, on a daily basis. However, the paradox which women very often face, with no clear connection with the product or service which is been advertised, brings up the following questions as the purpose of this paper: whether frequent representation of women in advertisements is necessary, or desirable even, whether the suggested models of women's beauty which is promoted in this way, are the most powerful 'means' for sales. If it is the most powerful means, is it possible to settle two opposing phenomena that arise from such a fact - the social one, which puts a woman in a negative context, has a negative effect on her personal satisfaction and self-confidence, and is opposed to the morals and ethics, and the marketing one, which has an aim of attracting consumers, thus changing their attitudes towards purchasing.

Keywords

• advertising
• women in ads
• customers' attitudes
• ethical issues