F C V M 1 4 0 0

B U Y I N G O R D Y I N G ? M E D I A , C O N S U M P T I O N A N D T H E M A K I N G O F S E L F

LECTURE 5
ADVERTISING,
SOCIETY AND
IDEOLOGY – A
CRITICAL STUDY
Mr. Fred Yeung
Division of Communication
INTRODUCTION

 What is Advertising?
 Advertising and Capitalism
 Advertising as an institution of Consumer culture
 Advertising and Social Change
WHAT IS ADVERTISING?
• What is Advertising?
What is Advertising?
Advertising
Advertising is a paid, non-personal communication of
information about products or ideas by and identified
sponsor through the mass media in an effort to
persuade or influence behavior.
ADVERTISING AND
CAPITALISM
 Economic aspect:
• An integral part of the flexible economy
• Accelerating the speed of the circuit of capital with high
turnover rate

 Cultural aspect:
• Supply imaginary resources both for class distinction or
appropriation and resistance
 Advertising as an Institution 慣例 of
Consumer Culture
THREE characteristics:
1. Ubiquity 普遍存在
2. Ordering of Roles
3. Regulation of Resources
 Advertising as an Institution of
Consumer Culture
THREE characteristics:
1. Ubiquity
- The presence of advertising in our lives is pervasive 滲透的
and unavoidable continues to expand
- While advertising is ubiquitous, it is hardly representative of
all of the country’s potential advertisers
 Advertising as an Institution of
Consumer Culture
THREE characteristics:
2. Ordering of Roles ( 角色排序 )
a) Advertising orders human behavior into roles, like seller,
retailer, wholesaler, consumer, target market, etc;
b) Advertising sets an agenda for us as consumers by defining
standards and criteria for our consumer behaviour and;
c) Advertising also reorders roles of people in the mass media.
For example, the role of magazine publisher has changed
from the seller of a product to the gatherer of a target market
for advertising.
 Advertising as an Institution of
Consumer Culture
THREE characteristics:
3. Regulation of Resources
- Advertising stimulates the demand for consumer goods so
that consumers will buy the goods produced and money will
flow from consumers to producers.
- Advertising, in conjunction with branding, also developed as a
means for manufacturers to set prices for their products.
Advertising and Social Change
Overview
- Media images help shape our view of the world and our
deepest values, and how to conform to the dominant system of
norms, values, practices, and institutions 慣例 .
- Due to the significant roles that media and advertising play in
individuals identity formation and worldviews, it is necessary
to consider the role that ads play in reproducing or maintaining
hegemony 霸權 .
• Hegemony = power or dominance that one social group has
over others.
(Lull, 1995)
MEDIA IMAGES
Advertising and Social Change
Advertising and Hegemony
- Advertisers, employed in an industry motivated by profit and
once labelled as, “hidden persuaders,” have worked in favor of
maintaining hegemony and the dominant ideology.
- However, we live in a world of continuous and dynamic
changes!
Advertising and Social Change
Define Social Changes and role of advertising
Social changes mean variations of any aspect of social
processes, social patterns, social interactions or social
organization. It is a change in the institutional 慣例的
and normative structure 規範結構 of society due to social
development.
Social changes influence the consumption pattern of
people.
Role of Advertisement :
From information provider on products and services to
inducting purchase of the product is facilitated through
the process of advertisements.
 Advertising and Social Change
Transformation from “Producer Society” to “Consumer
Society”
• Advertising induces the transition from a producer-directed to
a consumer-driven society.
• By stimulating demand for new products, advertising helped
manufacturers create new markets and recover product start-up
costs quickly.
Advertising and Social Change
Transformation from “Producer Society” to “Consumer
Society”

• From product-centered to product-user relationship.

• From literal and verbal to visual, image.
• From functional appeal to emotional appeal; target to
individualistic lifestyle.
• From Mass needs to Individualistic needs.
Advertising and Social Change
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVERTISING IN
PRODUCER SOCIETY

• Informative
• Literal
• Direct message
• Rather close readings
Advertising and Social Change
CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVERTISING IN
CONSUMER SOCIETY
• Emotional, sensual experience
• Visual
• Indirect message
• Rather open readings
CONCLUSION

 Define Advertising
 Advertising and Capitalism:
Economy and Culture
 Advertising as an institution of Consumer culture
 Advertising and Social Change:
From Producer Society to Consumer Society
 FCVM1400 Buying or Dying, Open Book Quiz
Next Week
 Duration: Within 24 hours
 Answer all questions: 50%
2 Long questions (20%) + 2 Application questions (30%)
 Similarity should not exceed 15%. Resubmission to Turnitin before deadline
is allowed.
 Late submission OR resubmission after deadline is NOT allowed.
 Discussion among classmates is NOT accepted to avoid Plagiarism
 Topics: Lecture 1 to Lecture 5
 L1 Fundamental thinking and reasoning skills
 L2 Moral reasoning frameworks for the value and meanings of consumption
 L3 Theories of media, consumption, culture and religious perspectives
 L4 Consumerism and Materialism
 L5 Advertising, society and ideology – a critical study