Influence of sexual objectification of women in advertising, on consumer purchase decisions

 

Influence of sexual objectification of women in advertising, on consumer purchase decisions




























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“I’ve seen the future and it is blue.”
 By Matthew Friedman (2003)















ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 



Firstly, I’d like to offer my humblest thanks to God, the most merciful and most compassionate having all knowledge and wisdom. 

I feel much pride in acknowledging the inspiring guidance, encouraging attitude and valuable comments; I received from my dissertation supervisor Prof. Charles Dennis; who has been very helpful and supportive at every stage of my dissertation progress, by continuously motivating me to stay on a right track and work effectively with his excellent coaching.
My sincere thanks are due to the contestants of this study for giving their valuable time and participating in the study. Without their contribution my research would not have been completed. At the end, I feel great depth of obligation to my loving parents whose prayers have enabled me to reach this stage.
Thank you very much all for your help and support.

























DECLARATION




I confirm that this report is wholly my work. The dissertation does not incorporate without any proper acknowledgement of the particular author in referencing. I also confirm that the work is not a copied from any previously published materials. The referencing and citation is fully provided in the text and footnotes, using (Harvard Reference Style) and the full reference list is provided as well. I have given my best in this research, by trying to provide all knowledge obtained about the research topic. I accept that on submission of this research report, it becomes the property of Brunel University who may further use this report for research purposes if required, without my consent.


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ABSTRACT



This research focuses on differentiating the decision making of consumers towards brands that are promoted through sexually objectified ads on women. The study highlights the perceptions and attitudes of consumers towards purchasing such brands. It also seeks to understand the influence of present situation on consumers’ attitudes and decision to buy.
The research literature shows the consumer behaviour responses towards advertising. It reflects on whether ads objectifying women as sex objects have a positive or negative influence on the consumers. And in turn how does it affect their purchase decisions.

This research is based on quantitative research approach where the data is collected using a questionnaire survey. The survey is carried out in two different situations to fill in the gap in the literature, determining and comparing the different responses of the two different groups of participants. 

The findings from the research reveal that consumers have neutral attitude towards such ads, they do not have any negative feelings towards the ad, as they consider it as a normal routine advertisement. This is the case due to much of sexual content used in media these days. However, the results also show that the first Group of participants not inclined towards purchasing the brand, due to the environment they were provided to answer (right after viewing the ad), while the second group had almost equal ratio of respondents inclined towards purchasing the brand and not effected to purchase it. This shows that it’s not the “sex sells” slogan that works, but consumers just take it as any other advertisement.  Moreover, path for further research studies is also recommended in the end. 




 
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………….3
Declaration.............…………………………….………………………………….....4
Abstract……………………………………….……………………………………...5
Contents of dissertation…..........................................................................................6
List of figures………………………………………………………………………...9

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Introduction..……………………………...………………….…………………10
1.2 Significance of study……………………………………...…………………….11
1.3 Aims and objectives…………………………………………………….……….13
1.3.1 	Objectives…………………………………………….……………..13
1.3.2 	Research question………………………….………….…………….13
1.4 Structure of dissertation...……………………………………………………….14

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction ...……………………………...………………….…………………16
2.2 Consumer behaviour and decision making……………………………………......16
2.2.1	Consumer Behaviour….........................................................................16
2.2.2 	Understanding consumer behaviour....…………….……………….….18
2.2.3 	Consumer decision making processes .........................................….....20
2.2.4	Advertising and consumer behaviour …………………………….......24
2.3 Sexual objectification of women in advertising