Minorities In Advertising

Past literature regarding the portrayal of minorities in television commercials indicate that both psychological and interpersonal communication contribute to the main objective of finding how minorities are portrayed differently than their non-minority counterparts, and also what effects this has on individuals’ perception of minorities. There have been two studies done that have included either social influence or media influence in their study regarding the effects of media on individuals. The first study was based on election debates that were televised and how that would affect television viewer’s favoritism towards a specific candidate using the “worm” (Davis, Bowers, & Memon, 2011). This so called “worm” was a type of response measure
that was used in the study which represented a relatively small sample of undecided viewers which would record their satisfaction with a specific candidate using a handset (2011). The study was conducted in order to demonstrate if social influence had any effects as a result of the use of the “worm” (2011). Furthermore, the physiological literature covers a large number of demonstrations on how people can sometime be influenced strongly by others opinions, specifically when uncertainty is present (2011). This study allowed for a different representation on how social influence can be present, which correlate to the study of how television commercials could potentially affect the perception of others based on the differences between minority and non-minority representations.
Another study proposed not only the inclusion of social influence, but also incorporated media influence in its review. This study was conducted on the basis of finding how social influence could be present on the effects that television can have on adolescents' materialism. The study not only reviewed any possible sign of social influence, but also how it can interplay with media influence in order to produce any possible effect on the values of adolescents’ materialism (Chia, 2010). Interestingly enough, it was found that the exposure that adolescent’s had to advertising was both indirectly and directly associated in terms of their materialistic values (2010). The indirect effects were a result of the adolescent’s interpersonal communication with others such as friends, and or family members (2010). This study was not only great at analyzing any possible effects that social influence had on the perception of materialistic values, but also, was able to incorporate how media influence can come into play as well.
Identify
Generally, the social influence theory is widely used in many studies that have been conducted pertaining to the sociological literature on individuals’ interpersonal communication and society.
There are different parts which make up social influence, one being “social influence in which individuals change their personal attitude or behavior in order to adhere to existing social norms (Mazzitello, Candia, & V.D., 2007). Another part of social influence involves any direct requests that are made from one person to another (2007). And the last part is when people obey direct orders that are made from others in order to perform some type of action (2007). In this particular study, only one type of social influence will be analyzed which is the first part of social influence, which involves individuals changing their personal attitudes or behavior in order to adhere to social norms. When individuals watch television advertisements, their perception of minorities could be influenced by the portrayal of minorities in any given television advertisement, which is what this study will be analyzing. Social influence is generally accepted in this type of study, as it can prove to have direct effects on individuals’ perceptions on
minorities. A study that was completed in the past used social influence to identify any possible relationship between media and the adolescents’ perception on materialism. This study argued that in the past, social scientists as well as media critics had attributed the increasing materialism amongst adolescents on social influence as well as media influence (2010). The study used social influence to identify any possible influence that could have been a direct effect by the media and the spending habits of adolescents (2010). Also included in the study was the direct effect that family members or friends can have pertaining to the individual’s materialism (2010). Ultimately, the study proved that media advertisements had a direct and indirect effect on adolescents’ materialistic values (2010). This study will examine the results that television commercials can have on individual’s perception of minorities, which can be influenced by social influence. The study will use quantitative and qualitative data to come up with a conclusion on the basis of any effects that social influence can have based television advertisements.
METHODOLOGY
This study will utilize data gathered from television commercials across three television networks during a span of three hours.
The timeline will include data gathered during prime time television which will range between 6 PM and 9 PM. This time was specifically chosen because this is when television networks have the most viewers, which typically will target a specific group of people being those who are part of both the generation x and y. Additionally, advertisers tend to choose this time frame to display their prime advertisements because of the high volume of viewers. Usually, advertisers may choose this time frame to display advertisements which are sure grab viewer’s attention through provocative advertisements. The data will be collected in an excel spreadsheet and will be categorized by television network and time (by hour). Furthermore, the data that will be collected will be both quantitative and qualitative, which will then be represented in a graph. The data that will be gathered will be based on the frequency that minorities are represented in the advertisements as well as non-minorities. The data will also be categorized in terms of the individuals’ race, and also what role the individual plays in the advertisement (whether it be a background role or a main role). Once the data has been collected it will be turned into a graph, which will detail any possible trend based on the results gathered. Descriptive analysis will also be used as it will show any
possible patterns that would emerge from the data collected. It seems that this method would be easier for people to understand once the data has all been gathered and analyzed.