The magic of advertising An analysis of a beauty product advertisement

51 Pages·2013·1.1 MB·English

by  Tine Nielsen

The
 magic
 of
 advertising

An
 analysis
 of
 a
 beauty
 product
 advertisement

Tine
 Langballe
 Nielsen
 –
 301843

Supervisor:
 Sinne
 B.
 Jakobsen

BA
 Thesis
 –
 December
 2013

Aarhus
 School
 of
 Business
 and
 Social
 Sciences,
 Aarhus
 University

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Abstract

Branding
 is
 a
 way
 for
 companies
 to
 distinguish
 themselves
 from
 its
 competitors
 by

the
 means
 of
 a
 product.
 One
 way
 to
 distinguish
 itself
 is
 by
 a
 celebrity
 endorser,
 who

becomes
 the
 image
 surrounding
 the
 brand.
 The
 effectiveness
 of
 a
 celebrity
 endorser

has
 been
 studied
 over
 30
 years
 and
 it
 demonstrated
 that
 a
 communicator
 that
 is

5
  highly
 credible
 is
 more
 persuasive
 than
 the
 opposite.

Therefore,
 this
 thesis
 has
 examined,
 how
 the
 company
 SK-­‐II
 has
 applied
 a
 celebrity

endorser
 in
 their
 print
 advertisement
 and
 how
 the
 celebrity
 becomes
 a
 part
 of
 the

overall
 argumentation
 of
 the
 message.

The
 thesis
 was
 based
 on
 an
 image-­‐oriented
 advertisement,
 in
 which
 various
 rhetorical

10
  strategies
 were
 chosen
 in
 order
 to
 respectfully
 analyse
 the
 advertisement
 SK-­‐II.
 It
 was

relevant
 to
 analyse
 what
 makes
 a
 consumer
 perceive
 Cate
 Blanchett
 as
 projecting
 a

credible
 image.
 To
 that
 notion,
 her
 trustworthiness,
 likeability
 and
 physical
 attrac-­‐
tiveness
 became
 relevant,
 as
 she
 is
 a
 beautiful
 woman
 that
 makes
 women
 desire
 her

looks.

15
  Furthermore,
 the
 advertisement
 attempted
 to
 express
 a
 “feel
 good
 about
 yourself”

theme,
 which
 both
 the
 argumentation
 theory
 of
 Toulmin
 and
 the
 three
 modes
 of
 per-­‐
suasion,
 logos,
 ethos,
 pathos,
 can
 be
 closely
 related
 to.
 Both
 the
 primary
 argument

and
 the
 pathos
 appeal
 expressed
 the
 similar
 message
 -­‐
 that
 a
 consumer
 can
 start
 a

luminous
 life
 with
 the
 SK-­‐II
 Facial
 Treatment
 Essence.

20
  To
 that
 notion,
 it
 was
 interesting
 to
 examine
 the
 analysis
 as
 the
 company
 attempted

to
 appeal
 to
 logos
 from
 a
 scientific
 approach,
 however
 it
 was
 assumed
 that
 the
 ap-­‐
peal
 to
 pathos
 was
 the
 most
 visible
 one.
 In
 addition,
 when
 identifying
 the
 primary

argument,
 two
 arguments
 were
 identified
 with
 an
 implicit
 and
 explicit
 expression.

Therefore,
 with
 relation
 to
 the
 “feel
 good
 about
 yourself”
 theme,
 the
 implicit
 argu-­‐
25
  ment
 became
 the
 primary
 argument
 of
 the
 advertisement.

Moreover,
 it
 became
 relevant
 to
 discuss
 the
 downsides
 of
 applying
 a
 celebrity
 en-­‐
dorser
 in
 advertising
 as
 an
 endorser
 can
 have
 a
 negative
 impact
 on
 an
 endorsement
 if

the
 endorser
 gets
 involved
 in
 a
 scandal.

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As
 a
 conclusion
 to
 the
 thesis,
 the
 advertisement
 appeals
 to
 its
 audience
 by
 the
 means

of
 Cate
 Blanchett
 as
 the
 celebrity
 endorser,
 the
 expertise
 of
 the
 company,
 the
 ability

to
 make
 consumers
 dream
 about
 the
 possibility
 of
 looking
 like
 Cate
 Blanchett.

5
  Characters:
 1,964

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Indholdsfortegnelse

1.
 Introduction.........................................................................................................6

1.1
 Problem
 statement.........................................................................................7

5
  1.2
 Scientific
 approach
 and
 method.....................................................................8

1.3
 Choice
 of
 theories...........................................................................................9

1.4
 Delimitation...................................................................................................9

1.5
 Structure
 of
 the
 thesis..................................................................................11

2.
 History...............................................................................................................12

10
  2.1
 Brief
 explanation
 of
 the
 print
 advertisement................................................12

2.2
 The
 SK-­‐II
 Company........................................................................................12

3.
 Theories.............................................................................................................12

3.1
 Celebrity
 endorsements ...............................................................................12

3.2
 The
 Match-­‐Up
 Hypothesis............................................................................13

15
  3.3
 The
 Meaning
 Transfer
 Perspective................................................................14

3.4
 Credibility.....................................................................................................14

3.4.1
 Expertise......................................................................................................15

3.4.2
 Trustworthiness...........................................................................................15

3.4.3
 Goodwill.......................................................................................................16

20
  3.5
 Communicator
 bias.......................................................................................16

3.5.1
 Knowledge
 bias............................................................................................16

3.5.2
 Reporting
 bias..............................................................................................16

3.6
 Social
 attractiveness.....................................................................................17

3.6.1
 Likeability.....................................................................................................17

25
  3.6.2
 Similarity......................................................................................................17

3.6.3
 Physical
 attractiveness................................................................................17

3.7
 Credibility
 and
 the
 Elaboration
 Likelihood
 Model
 (ELM)...............................19

3.8
 The
 three
 modes
 of
 persuasion.....................................................................20

3.8.1
 Logos............................................................................................................21

30
  3.8.2
 Ethos............................................................................................................21

3.8.3
 Pathos..........................................................................................................21

3.9
 Motivational
 appeals....................................................................................22

3.9.1
 Sex...............................................................................................................22

3.9.2
 Warmth.......................................................................................................22

35
  3.10
 The
 argument
 model..................................................................................23

3.10.1
 Claim..........................................................................................................24

3.10.2
 Data...........................................................................................................24

3.10.3
 Warrant.....................................................................................................24

3.11
 The
 argument
 types....................................................................................24

40
  3.11.1
 Sign............................................................................................................25

3.11.2
 Cause.........................................................................................................25

3.11.3
 Classification..............................................................................................25

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3.11.4
 Generalisation...........................................................................................25

3.11.5
 Comparison...............................................................................................25

3.11.6
 Authority....................................................................................................26

3.11.7
 Motivation.................................................................................................26

5
  4.
 Analyses.............................................................................................................26

4.1
 Analysis
 of
 the
 Match-­‐up
 Hypothesis............................................................26

4.2
 Analysis
 of
 the
 meaning
 transfer
 perspective...............................................27

4.3
 Analysis
 of
 credibility....................................................................................27

4.3.1
 Expertise......................................................................................................27

10
  4.3.2
 Trustworthiness...........................................................................................28

4.3.3
 Goodwill.......................................................................................................28

4.4
 Analysis
 of
 communicator
 bias.....................................................................29

4.5
 Analysis
 of
 social
 attractiveness
 in
 CB...........................................................30

4.5.1
 Likeability.....................................................................................................30

15
  4.5.2
 Similarity......................................................................................................31

4.5.3
 Physical
 attractiveness................................................................................31

4.6
 Analysis
 of
 credibility
 in
 relation
 to
 ELM.......................................................32

4.7
 Analysis
 of
 the
 three
 modes
 of
 persuasion ...................................................32

4.7.1
 Logos............................................................................................................33

20
  4.7.2
 Ethos............................................................................................................34

4.7.3
 Pathos..........................................................................................................34

4.8
 Analysis
 of
 two
 visual
 motivational
 appeals..................................................35

4.8.1
 Sex...............................................................................................................35

4.8.2
 Warmth.......................................................................................................36

25
  4.9
 Analysis
 of
 Toulmin’s
 argumentation
 theory.................................................37

5.
 Discussion..........................................................................................................41

6.
 Conclusion.........................................................................................................42

7.
 Bibliography
 (Refworks).....................................................................................45

8.
 Appendices........................................................................................................47

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1.
 Introduction

“One
 of
 the
 signature
 strengths
 of
 the
 advertising
 industry
 lies
 in
 its
 ability
 to
 trans-­‐
form
 seemingly
 mundane
 objects
 into
 highly
 desirable
 products”

(Trampe
 et
 al.
 2011)

5
  Advertisements
 that
 involve
 beauty
 objects
 such
 as
 shoes,
 make-­‐up
 and
 perfumes

can
 change
 ordinary
 products
 into
 desirable
 ones.
 The
 reason
 is
 that
 advertisements

can
 transfer
 symbolic
 meaning
 from
 a
 physical
 object
 to
 suggest
 a
 self-­‐image
 of

beauty
 and
 attractiveness.
 The
 abovementioned
 products
 are
 brands
 created
 to
 dif-­‐
ferentiate
 from
 an
 increasing
 competitive
 market
 by
 leading
 the
 receivers
 to
 a
 de-­‐
10
  sired
 ideal
 (Trampe
 et
 al.
 2011:
 1030-­‐1034).

In
 the
 same
 context,
 the
 products
 arise
 from
 branding,
 which
 is
 a
 process
 where,
 a

company
 distinguishes
 itself
 from
 its
 competitors
 by
 means
 of
 their
 products
 (Jobber,

2010:
 303).
 There
 are
 several
 approaches
 to
 branding
 and
 one
 of
 the
 popular
 ones
 is

15
  the
 employment
 of
 celebrity
 endorsers
 to
 bring
 awareness.
 In
 addition,
 it
 will
 lead
 to

positive
 associations
 of
 the
 brand,
 and
 therefore,
 increase
 buyer
 intentions.
 Employ-­‐
ing
 celebrity
 endorsers
 in
 advertising
 is
 not
 a
 new
 phenomenon
 (Fleck
 et
 al.
 2012:

651).
 More
 than
 10
 percent
 of
 television
 advertising
 contains
 celebrity
 endorsements

(Gass
 &
 Seiter,
 2011:
 72).
 Several
 social
 psychologists
 have
 conducted
 research
 over

20
  30
 years
 on
 the
 effectiveness
 of
 celebrity
 endorsers
 to
 promote
 brands.
 The
 re-­‐
searches
 have
 demonstrated
 that
 a
 source,
 which
 is
 perceived
 as
 highly
 credible,
 is

more
 persuasive
 than
 a
 source
 with
 low
 credibility
 (Atkin
 &
 Block,
 1983:
 57).
 Most

companies
 use
 sources
 in
 advertising
 that
 attempt
 to
 project
 a
 credible
 image.
 Such

sources
 can
 be
 celebrity
 endorsers
 that
 can
 be
 associated
 with
 physical
 attractiveness

25
  and
 personal
 qualities
 (Atkin
 &
 Block,
 1983:
 57).

Advertising
 exists
 in
 our
 everyday
 life.
 When
 we
 pass
 ads
 on
 busses,
 billboards
 or

store
 windows
 solely
 to
 mention
 some
 of
 the
 persuasion
 efforts
 (Corbett,
 1990:
 5),

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we
 are
 surrounded
 by
 influence
 attempts
 (Gass
 &
 Seiter,
 2011:
 2).
 However,
 what

makes
 companies
 employ
 celebrities
 to
 promote
 brands?
 What
 makes
 people
 believe

that
 by
 employing
 the
 same
 product,
 they
 will
 look
 like
 a
 celebrity
 endorser?
 What

makes
 a
 celebrity
 endorser
 have
 a
 credible
 image?
 How
 do
 a
 personal
 quote
 and
 a

5
  persuasive
 text
 itself
 appeal
 to
 the
 audience?
 These
 are
 some
 of
 the
 questions
 I
 want

to
 examine
 in
 my
 thesis.

Therefore,
 this
 thesis
 attempts
 to
 examine
 what
 impact
 a
 celebrity
 endorser
 has
 on

its
 audience
 and
 how
 the
 print
 advertisement
 persuades
 the
 audience
 into
 purchas-­‐
10
  ing
 the
 product.
 For
 that
 reason,
 I
 want
 to
 analyse
 a
 print
 advertisement
 in
 which
 the

company
 employs
 a
 celebrity
 endorser.
 Moreover,
 I
 want
 to
 focus
 on
 how
 the
 print

advertisement
 applies
 a
 celebrity
 endorser
 and
 how
 the
 celebrity
 becomes
 a
 part
 of

the
 persuasive
 arguments
 and
 personal
 quote.

15
  Hence,
 my
 focus
 will
 be
 on
 an
 image-­‐oriented
 advertisement.
 Such
 advertisements

seek
 to
 persuade
 a
 receiver
 on
 the
 benefits
 that
 he/she
 will
 personally
 receive
 by

purchasing
 a
 product.
 Furthermore,
 it
 seeks
 to
 create
 positive
 associations
 between

the
 product
 and
 the
 idealised
 lifestyle
 (Gass
 &
 Seiter,
 2011:
 307).
 In
 this
 context,
 I

want
 to
 analyse
 SK-­‐ll‘s
 employment
 of
 a
 celebrity
 endorser
 in
 order
 to
 persuade
 its

20
  audience
 into
 purchasing
 the
 proposed
 brand,
 thus
 changing
 the
 customers’
 behav-­‐
iour.

1.1
 Problem
 statement

How
 does
 the
 company
 SK-­‐II
 linguistically
 and
 visually
 apply
 a
 celebrity
 endorsement

25
  in
 the
 print
 advertisement
 and
 how
 does
 the
 celebrity
 become
 a
 part
 of
 the
 overall

argumentation
 of
 the
 message?

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1.2
 Scientific
 approach
 and
 method

On
 the
 basis
 of
 the
 above-­‐mentioned
 problem
 statement,
 I
 will
 be
 conducting
 a
 quali-­‐
tative
 analysis
 i.e.
 analysing
 and
 interpreting
 the
 collected
 empirical
 data.
 The
 analy-­‐
sis
 is
 thus
 based
 on
 a
 hermeneutical
 approach,
 which
 is
 the
 theory
 of
 interpreting
 all

5
  forms
 of
 cultures
 and
 observations
 in
 human
 activity
 i.e.
 attaining
 an
 understanding

of
 texts
 (Holm,
 2011:
 84).
 Within
 hermeneutics
 there
 is
 an
 assumption
 that
 human

beings
 are
 not
 controlled
 by
 legality.
 However,
 they
 are
 controlled
 by
 the
 foundation

on
 which
 they
 act,
 hence,
 the
 previously
 mentioned
 definition
 of
 attempting
 to

understand
 human
 beings
 rather
 than
 explaining
 them
 (Holm,
 2011:
 84).
 This
 ap-­‐
10
  proach
 to
 hermeneutics
 is
 based
 upon
 a
 scientist,
 Wilheim
 Dilthey
 and
 it
 is
 recognised

as
 the
 classical
 hermeneutics.

Within
 hermeneutics,
 understanding
 can
 be
 achieved
 through
 a
 circular
 process,

which
 is
 called
 the
 hermeneutic
 circle.
 This
 circular
 process
 assumes
 that
 an
 individ-­‐
15
  ual
 will
 understand
 the
 whole
 context
 of
 a
 text
 by
 understanding
 the
 single
 parts
 and

likewise,
 such
 individuals
 will
 understand
 its
 single
 parts
 by
 understanding
 the
 whole

(Holm,
 2011:
 86).

Moreover,
 hermeneutics
 recognises
 another
 scientist,
 namely
 Gadamer,
 who
 had
 a

20
  different
 understanding
 of
 hermeneutics.
 He
 believes
 that
 an
 individual
 will
 have

prejudice
 when
 attempting
 to
 understand
 a
 given
 text.
 According
 to
 Gadamer,
 under-­‐
standing
 is
 changing
 and
 always
 prepared
 to
 accept
 new
 perspectives
 of
 a
 text.

Therefore,
 Gadamer
 attempts
 to
 create
 a
 new
 understanding
 and
 interpretation
 of
 a

given
 text,
 which
 makes
 this
 approach
 the
 modern
 hermeneutics
 (Holm,
 2011:
 90-­‐
25
  91).

The
 thesis
 will
 employ
 the
 modern
 hermeneutics,
 as
 the
 purpose
 is
 to
 interpret
 and

analyse
 a
 print
 advertisement.
 As
 mentioned
 above,
 it
 is
 acceptable
 to
 suggest
 a
 new

understanding
 and
 interpretation
 of
 a
 text,
 hence
 Gadamer’s
 modern
 hermeneutics.

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1.3
 Choice
 of
 theories

The
 thesis
 is
 structured
 around
 employing
 celebrity
 endorsers
 in
 an
 advertisement,

for
 which
 it
 is
 relevant
 to
 begin
 with
 explaining
 a
 celebrity
 and
 an
 endorser.
 There-­‐
fore,
 I
 will
 explain
 the
 match-­‐up
 hypothesis
 and
 the
 meaning
 transfer
 perspective,
 in

5
  order
 to
 explain
 how
 a
 company
 chooses
 a
 celebrity
 to
 endorse
 their
 brand.

Following
 the
 theories,
 as
 mentioned
 above,
 it
 is
 relevant
 to
 explain
 the
 believability

of
 both
 the
 advertisement
 and
 the
 celebrity
 endorser.
 Credibility
 involves
 five
 sub

theories,
 which
 are
 the
 factor
 analytical
 approach,
 the
 communicator
 bias,
 the
 social

attractiveness
 and
 the
 Elaboration
 Likelihood
 Model
 in
 relation
 to
 credibility.

10
  Henceforth,
 the
 thesis
 will
 be
 supplemented
 by
 three
 other
 rhetorical
 strategies.

Firstly,
 I
 will
 present
 the
 three
 modes
 of
 persuasion
 –
 logos,
 ethos
 and
 pathos.
 Such

theory
 is
 relevant
 in
 the
 thesis
 in
 order
 to
 analyse
 how
 the
 text
 persuades,
 motivates

and/or
 informs
 an
 audience
 about
 the
 brand.

In
 continuation
 of
 the
 three
 modes
 of
 persuasion,
 the
 motivational
 appeals
 are
 ana-­‐
15
  lysed.
 This
 theory
 is
 relevant
 in
 order
 to
 present
 how
 the
 communicator/sender
 at-­‐
tempts
 to
 evoke
 a
 desired
 emotion
 in
 the
 receiver
 and
 to
 make
 the
 receiver
 take
 a

desired
 action.

The
 last
 rhetorical
 strategy
 is
 the
 argumentation
 theory
 of
 Toulmin.
 This
 theory
 is

employed
 to
 identify
 and
 analyse
 various
 arguments
 in
 the
 advertisement,
 as
 it
 is

20
  relevant
 to
 present
 how
 the
 advertisement
 attempts
 to
 persuade
 consumers
 into

purchasing
 the
 product.

1.4
 Delimitation

There
 are
 several
 delimitations
 in
 the
 thesis
 as
 the
 amount
 of
 characters
 is
 limited.

25
  In
 relation
 to
 the
 argumentation
 theory,
 I
 will
 not
 employ
 both
 the
 standard
 model

and
 the
 extended
 model.
 The
 thesis
 will
 solely
 focus
 on
 the
 standard
 model
 and
 the

various
 argument
 types
 thereof.
 This
 is
 on
 the
 grounds
 that
 the
 thesis
 is
 not
 struc-­‐
tured
 around
 an
 analysis
 of
 arguments
 in
 the
 advertisement,
 however,
 solely
 to

underline
 the
 various
 arguments
 and
 the
 types
 employed.

30

Page
 9
 of
 51
Tine
 Langballe
 Nielsen

Another
 limitation
 is
 the
 various
 motivational
 appeals
 that
 exist
 to
 evoke
 a
 desired

emotion
 within
 the
 receiver
 i.e.
 anxiety,
 fear,
 guilt,
 health,
 honour,
 humour,
 patriot-­‐
ism
 pity,
 pride,
 sex,
 warmth.
 Due
 to
 the
 extent
 of
 the
 thesis,
 it
 will
 solely
 focus
 on
 two

appropriate
 appeals,
 namely
 sex
 and
 warmth.

5
  In
 addition,
 motivational
 appeals
 may
 raise
 positive
 or
 negative
 reactions
 to
 what
 is

acceptable
 in
 a
 consumer
 society.
 However,
 as
 it
 will
 be
 interesting
 to
 examine
 such

ethical
 reactions
 to
 a
 print
 advertisement,
 the
 limitation
 of
 characters
 delimits
 a
 fur-­‐
ther
 study
 into
 such
 reactions.
 The
 purpose
 of
 the
 thesis
 is
 to
 analyse
 how
 a
 celebrity

is
 applied
 linguistically
 and
 visually
 in
 an
 advertisement
 and
 how
 the
 celebrity
 be-­‐
10
  comes
 a
 part
 of
 the
 overall
 argumentation
 of
 the
 message.
 The
 purpose
 of
 the
 theory

is
 therefore
 to
 identify
 the
 various
 motivational
 appeals
 that
 seem
 most
 appropriate

for
 a
 print
 advertisement.

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 10
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