Promotional communications and society

Materialism, consumerism, market information

Promotional communications

• There are a wide array of communication methods used to promote a product, service, person or idea

• Much of that effort goes to promoting commodities for sale

• Promotional communications include advertising, publicity, personal sales, direct response, viral communications, and so on

Promotional communications

• The most straightforward effect of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of promotional communications is selling products– Brand competition v. overall sales levels

• Significant research evidence supports the former, but the latter is pretty ambivalent

• Providing information for consumers is seen as a positive function of promotional media– Allows for comparison among products at a limited

cost to consumers, government– Producer provision is the most efficient manner to

provide and distribute information

But there may be other effects:

• Pollay’s list:

Let’s look at three potential effects:

• Creation/maintenance of a heightened level of consumption

• Development of a constant feeling of inadequacy among members of the society– Mostly women, but increasingly men– Significant self-image problems– Outer-directedness rather than inner-directedness

• Support for a selfish, materialist set of values within the society

Creation of a heightened level of consumption

• “Throw-away society”– I want the newest computer gadget

• Fashion-mindedness– I can’t wear that–it’s out of style– I have to have the hot brand and I don’t care what it

costs• Supersize me

– Vastly overweight society• I don’t want to borrow it, I want my own

– Massive videotape libraries now going in the trash– DVD libraries replacing them

Adbusters

Feelings of inadequacy

• Since the development of products and social faux pas surrounding human odor, many personal products, etc. have been marketed as a means to make up for our ‘inadequacies’

• Most heavily promoted are the answers to the social transgression committed by women who are not 5’10” and 120 pounds or less– Diet fads– Exercise programs– Liposuction

The weighting game

• Men and women in the U.S. are overweight– Losing some weight would not hurt a lot of us

• However, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to approach weight loss

• There are psychologically healthy and unhealthy ways to approach physical health– Being healthy may be more important than being thin– Tobacco companies have promoted their products as

ways to lose weight or to keep weight off once lost

Weight and ego

• It is abundantly clear that heavy people are treated with contempt in the United States and suffer severe self-perception problems– Constant haranguing from the media teams with rude

comments from acquaintances and even from friends• The perception that cut-downs and contempt are acceptable

within the society is maintained by a hostile media environment, among other influences

• We know that people feel free to act in fairly meanspirited ways if they feel that the wider society accepts that behavior

– (attribution)

• Even beautiful women don’t measure up– Models must be ‘airbrushed’ to remove pores,

wrinkles– Computer programs lengthen limbs, take off

pounds

Age and ego

• For women, especially, the loss of youthful beauty brings shame– Oil of Olay

• Older women are portrayed in roles that treat them as sexually unappealing and dowdy—or else mean-spirited and cruel– There are the rare exceptions

Beauty

• Fairly strict rules of beauty apply and women who do not approximate those dimensions, facial features, etc. are portrayed as ‘wanting’– The massive cosmetics, fashion, diet and cosmetic

surgery industries are dependent upon the social striving for a culturally determined vision of beauty

– Those who are constantly attempting to reach the ideal spend time, money and personal satisfaction in the pursuit

Materialism

• Materialism is an emphasis on the ‘ownership’ of material goods– Other, non-material values are de-emphasized

• People in a materialist society come to be overly concerned with (or, perhaps, obsessed with) the accumulation of goods

• Conspicuous consumption—wanting to be seen wearing, driving, listening to certain goods—is a significant preoccupation of the populace– This goes hand-in-hand with a great concern over

others’ attitudes toward oneself

Materialism

• “Whoever has the most stuff when he dies wins”– Overworked, hectic lifestyle in order to build

up a massive bank account• Personal life suffers• Children are neglected• Health suffers

– Hypertension– Heart problems– Stress disorders

Materialism

• Need to have the best, most expensive commodities leads to a lack of enjoyment of more moderately-priced goods– People don’t tell their friends they got the

dress at Marshall’s

• Equation of price with quality– Pay someone $30 to rip holes in your jeans

for you

Promoting a materialist mindset

• No individual ad will have much effect– “Cultivation of materialist beliefs”

• A typical ad opens with a dilemma faced by the protagonist. Either a helper recommends a solution or the protagonist attempts to solve the problem herself. The brand in question is brought to bear on the problem and the outcome is success.

The point is . . .

• Advertising and other forms of promotional communication typically do not propose any solution other than a purchase. The goods or services are the means to fulfillment. The brand is the hero. Consumption is the way to success and happiness. – In many cases, and in many parts of one’s life the

exact opposite is true—you can’t buy happiness. The attempt to do so actually undercuts your success.

Materialism

• Another facet of materialism is putting a price on everything.– You all know what true love costs—3 months’ salary

(just ask DeBeers)– Even the priceless campaign could be taken to be

implying that the expenditures outlined were necessary to bring about the ‘priceless’ outcome at the end

• Perhaps even worse is the use of sacred or patriotic images and beliefs as a mere platform for the buying and selling of goods– Jesus jeans

Materialism

• If we value things more and people less, we might be persuaded to act selfishly on the world stage when our ‘lifestyle’ is threatened– How dare they charge so much for ‘our’ oil?– We’ll worry about the environment after we assure

ourselves of well-paid jobs, nice homes (out away from the city), cheap energy, SUVs, long, relaxing vacations overseas, etc.

– Oh, and what about that crazy massive federal debt, anyway?

So . . .

• Promotional communications are meant to “sell” something, usually goods. While the main marketing focus will usually be on taking customers away from the competitor, nearly all promotional communications agree that the key to success, happiness, youth, etc. is consumption. The cumulative effect of such a culture, along with other supportive influences, is that a culture of materialism and consumerism evolves. Such a culture supports resource destruction and waste, low self-esteem and personal satisfaction, and a selfish outlook on life. These, in turn, promote an aggressive, selfish public policy both domestically and internationally.