The portrayal of body image in the media is typically a display of life- styles and values held by any given society. Advertisements are the communicators of concepts which are associated with life- styles and these values and some of these concepts include among others, success, love, popularity and even cultures. Advertising and media images play a critical role in appealing to consumers. Any product and service provider will go out of their way to ensure that they reach their target market by the use of good sales and marketing skills as seen in the media. There is concern that there is excessive use of sexual stereotypes and the use of women carries the day. It is through this perspective that most advertisements use women in advertising, simply because this is the best way that society can notice their products. Not that adverts featuring men do not sell the products and services, but adverts featuring women appeal to the consumers more, than any other advertisement.
Women are used to ensure the sale of goods and services and this goes beyond mere desire to purchase services and products. There is always tremendous influence that an advertisement will have on consumers and direct images of beauty have a huge effect on the purchasing power of any product. Not that a woman should not be used to lure consumers but then, this is the way society has been cultured. There is more effect created when the perfect figure and definition of beauty in women is used. Of concern is the use of slim sexual bodies of women that have been stereotyped. To a huge extent, some of these sexy figures used in advertising are nude or semi- nude depending on the product or service being advertised (Chadee 17). The bottom line is that many consumers are lured into purchasing through appealing advertisements that use women.
It is almost impossible to ignore any human body that is deemed sexual or appealing. Society is cultured in a way that it defines components and things that are good, and a tag is put on these components, things or people. Advertising relies on two concepts, perceived imagery and physical imagery (Hoyer, Maclnnis & Pieters 78). The physical is what brings about the perceived imagery. In order to reach out to the target market, advertisers have to convince consumers and make them find a reason they should purchase a given service or product. Women are considered objects of beauty and when they are perceived as such, they make an impact on the consumer. They can make good ‘objects’ that are deemed beautiful to the eye and hence, make an item sell.
It is difficult to ignore an image of a beautiful woman either in real life or in an advertisement. When one notices the woman in an advertisement then they will notice the item being advertised. Often, the images of women that are used show the perfect definition of femininity and they can sell all times of products from liquor to beauty products and even cars. Slim and sexy women are ideal and not plus size body figures (Peden). Society has been cultured to think that slim is better than plus size. It is, therefore, capitalizing on this fact and sure enough, this does pay when it comes to maximizing on sales. That ideal look, mostly featuring young and beautiful women seek the attention of the consumer not only to the product but also to the female species. Such images send a message that the product in question is as good and perfect as the woman in the advertisement. There is no better way of convincing the minds of consumers that anything could be any perfect, or better than the true beauty of the female species. They are appealing to the eye and can convince consumers and get money out of their pockets.
Attractive women in advertisements possess the power to affect the consumer’s rational thought. In fact, rational though is credited for impulse buying. Who will not want to provoke impulse buying of their products or services? If any advert could dare feature hard facts and figures, no one will spare a single second to figure out the real intention of the advert, leave alone the product marketed (Hoyer, Maclnnis & Pieters 109). The art of advertising requires that an ad uses minimum words and attractive images. Women have the strength to attract and hence, the reason an advert would rather not have figures and a lot of literature. The ploy beloved by advertises to drape women on products has worked well so far because this way, they maximize their profits through high sales.
Women may be seen as mere objects that are used in advertising, but the truth is, it does pay to use them. Seeing an attractive woman arouses the brain and hence, buyers end up buying on impulse. When non rational adverts are used, one can be sure of minimum sales and this is not the reason producers and service providers are in the market. Overall, women are used to make high sales and this is a fact that cannot be ignored. When they feature, definitely the product will sell. At least this is how society has been cultured. They play an important role in the advertising industry. They are the objects that sell the products and services.
Works Cited
Chadee, Derek. Theories in Social Psychology. New York : John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print
Hoyer, Wayne, D., Maclnnis, Deborah, J. & Pieters, Rik. Consumer Behavior. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print
Peden, Lisa. Advertising Semiotics Lecture. University of Toronto. CCT 1080 Lecture Hall,
Mississauga, ON. 10th Novembre 2010. Lecture.
