CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

Rationale

In advertising, the use of male and female imagery or gender stereotyping is helpful in selling products to target consumers. The people involved in the creation of an advertisement use gender roles in choosing endorser(s) that can portray relevant image to the target market. Especially in television commercials where consumers experience audio-visual presentations that can create impressions by showing a particular gender endorsing a product. Advertisers use gender stereotyping as a way of making their target consumers relate to the advertisement. As a result, gender stereotyping helps advertisers in persuading their target consumers.

One of the most common used gender stereotypes in the Philippines is the role(s) assigned to fathers and mothers in giving financial support for the wellness of their family. In Philippine tradition, fathers are assigned to give financial support to the family while mothers are expected to take care of the children.

There are increasing trends with regards to traditional role of Filipino parents. Some fathers are currently called housbands and some mothers are called breadwinners (Rabago, 2008). Some mothers are involved in child rearing process and at the same time working for the financial needs of the family. This is evident in families with single mothers or families with the mother as the only breadwinner.

According to a statistical data gathered by Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) between the years 2006 and 2009, there are increasing numbers of women that are involved in empowering the labor force of the country. The data shows that in the year 2009, the number of employed women is 13,657,000 compared to the year 2006 which only shows 12,622,000 employed women. This shows that every year, women are more and more involved in contributing to the financial needs of the family. The statistics also shows the numbers of the employed women categorized in their marital status such as single, married, widowed, divorced/separated, and unknown respectively. Married women have the highest number of employment among other categories. In 2006 there are only 7,850,000 employed married women compared to the increase in 2009 that shows 8,487,000 employed married women. This shows that married women are more active compared to other categories of marital status presented in working to provide for the needs of the family (Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, n.d.).

I have observed that the only product that is not presently endorsed by both genders in the Philippines is an energy drink product. Energy drink products in television commercials currently use male imagery in endorsing the benefits of the product. Men working on construction sites, men depicted as heroes, and men helping others are just examples of those television commercials in the Philippines. As seen in the current trend of television commercials, the current target market of energy product advertisements are men. So this product caught my attention.

With the increasing trends in the traditional roles of Filipino parents, as mentioned earlier, it shows that the roles of parents in working for financial needs of the family are

presently assumed to be changing. Men now can be called housbands and be involved in the child rearing process, by choice, while women can be breadwinners and mothers at the same time. Unlike working men who can rest after work hours, career women after a long day of work are obligated to do house chores and take care of the children. This has caught my attention again on why despite the current increasing trends presented in individual roles of working for the financial need of the family, there are no energy drink product television commercials that are presently targeted to working mothers.

With these observations, I have decided to use female imagery in an energy drink product television commercial for working mothers and career women. This is to show to the target consumers, particularly working mothers and career women, that the use of female imagery in an energy drink product are feasible and credible.

With this, I will determine the feasibility and credibility of the use of female imagery through performing a pretest of the television commercial. The pretest will be done by performing focus group discussion about the advertisement. The reception analysis method will then be used to determine the feasibility and credibility of the use of female imagery on energy drink products in television commercials.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

ADVERTISING

According to Baran (2004), it is rare for an individual not to be an audience of an advertisement. Advertisers place advertisements beyond the traditional media in hopes of getting the attention of the audiences. The overwhelming numbers of advertisement the audiences confronts everyday make the commercials to be overlooked, and become invisible. He suggests that the only way an advertisement can get the attention of the audiences is somehow for it to be offending. Advertising is defended from criticisms by four (4) reasons why an advertisement about a product is important. The first reason is that competitive advertising powers the economy of a country, fostering economic growth, and generating jobs for many industries. The second reason is that the people always seek information about a product before making a decision of purchasing a product. The third reason is that incomes gathered from advertisements make possible the free mass media not only for entertainment but also to maintain the democracy. The fourth reason is that advertising increases the national productivity, as people work harder to gather all the products they want or need, and improves the standard of living.

In relation to what Baran suggests about the audiences needing information before purchasing a product. There are six (6) steps that a consumer takes before purchasing a product (Clow & Baack, 2007), and it is called the Hierarchy of Effects Model. The model shows that the first step is awareness, wherein the consumer must be aware of the existence of a certain product. The second step is knowledge, wherein the consumer must be informed about the use or the importance of a product. The third step is liking, wherein the consumer decides if he/she finds the product to his/her liking or not. The fourth step is preference, wherein the consumer will find if a certain product is preferred over another product. The fifth step is conviction, wherein the consumer makes a decision of buying the product without any

doubt or hesitation. And the last step is purchase, wherein the consumer finally buys the product.

TELEVISION AS A MEDIUM IN ADVERTISING

Most of the advertisers prefer television as the medium of advertising their products. According to Vivian (1998), television can move people and create an influence. Television is popular as a medium of entertainment that it has eroded the newspapers dominance for news and entertainment in a short period of time since its introduction. Television is effective in creating short-term impressions, but can also create long-term effects to the audiences. Scholars have different views of the effects of television to a society, but all the scholars have the same belief that it certainly creates a degree of influence.

A. Gender Stereotyping in Advertising

Gender stereotyping helps the advertisers to sell products to a particular group. We can call any generalizations about gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals or group as gender stereotyping; and the way how we categorize the characteristics of people being classified as feminine and masculine (Gender Stereotypes, n.d.).

Moreover, stereotyping is applying a standardized image or concept of certain groups, usually based on limited information because the media cannot present all realities of all things. Media practitioners, especially advertisers, tend to facilitate and encourage

stereotyping about specific people and groups when making decisions about how they present them (Baran, 2004).

Media always uses stereotyping especially in advertising, entertainment, and news industries; which need to make the people quickly understand the message. Stereotypes act like codes that give the viewers a quick common understanding about an individual or group of people with regards to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role, or occupation. But there can be problems when using stereotyping. It can reduce the differences in people or individuals to simplistic categories. Media stereotyping can also transform assumptions into realities about a particular group of people. It can also be used as to justify the power of those people in the position and it can also perpetuate social prejudice and inequality (Media Awareness Network, 2010).

According to the content analysis by Lundstrom and Sciglimpaglia (1977), at least six (6) studies have utilized content analysis in portrayal of women in commercial advertising. The earliest of the studies, conducted by Courntney and Lockeretz, show that in 1971, only 9% of women are portrayed in working roles, compared to 45% for men. The study concludes that there are four (4) major sexual stereotypes for women in advertisements: 1. That a womans place is in the home. 2. That women dont make important decision. 3. That women are dependent on men. 4. That men regard women primarily as sex object.

In the same content analysis by Lundstrom and Sciglimpaglia, they have reviewed the study done by Wagner and Banos in 1973. It showed that in the said year, the percentage of women in working role have had risen to 21%.

Moreover, in the Philippines, men and women are given the same opportunities in the business realm at the present urban setting. And in some cases Filipino women run successful businesses and become CEOs. This can also be shown in the present trends regarding school organizational positions that students choose to elect girls to be president, and in some cases all of the positions are given to female candidates. This is generally because of the present mindset towards the female gender as more hardworking, well-versed, and dedicated than men (Women in the Philippines, 2011).

B. Role of Media in Advertising

According to Chaturvedi (2008), the media is responsible for making the information reach the masses and developing the bond of the service provider, advertisers in this case, and the user, or target audience. It helps the advertisers to make the consumers knowledgeable about a certain product and its availability in the market for them to make the right choices.

C. Persuasive Communications in Television Advertising

There are three (3) characteristics to be successful in marketing communications (Kelmans Source Characteristics, 2010):

1. Source credibility

The communicators believability, as perceived by the messages recipient (Source Credibility, 2011).

2. Source attractiveness

The attributes of the communicator that the audience can identify with or aspire to, usually it involves the recipients perception.

3. Source power

The power of the communicator to make the receiver in compliance to the message (Kelmans Source Characteristics, 2010). Moreover, a persons credibility comprises of different elements, but according to source credibility theory, there are two (2) most identified elements of the sources credibility, perceived expertise and trustworthiness of the source. The theory also indicates that the sources impact is dependent on the ability of the receiver to internalize the message (Gilbert, Fiske, & Lindzey, 1998). In persuading the consumers, Aristotles Rhetoric has been used in advertising and of mass media, making it more prominent in peoples lives (Rhetoric, 2011). There are three (3) rhetorical proofs: emotional (pathos), ethical (ethos), and logical (logos). The pathos is very powerful in persuading the audience, especially in dramatic works. Ethos on the other hand, is how the speaker, the endorser in this case, becomes trusted by the audience by his/her character. And logos is how the speaker presents facts by word or reasoning (Rhetorical

Proofs, n.d.). This will be the basis or the guide of my study regarding the use of female imagery in energy drink product.

D. Writing for Visual Media

Scripts are written in able to prepare for the movement, actions, expressions, and dialogues for a TV program or film (Screenplay, 2011).

According to Friedman (2010) there is seven-step method in developing a creative concept in visual writing:

1. Define the communication problem (What need?) 2. Define the target audience (Who?) 3. Define the objective (Why?) 4. Define the strategy (How?) 5. Define the content (What?) 6. Define the appropriate medium (Which medium?) 7. Create the concept

These questions must be answered in able to present the solutions for my study.

Moreover, there are stages of developing a script, suggested by Friedman (2010):

1. Background research and investigation (done before defining the outline or the objective of the content)

2. Developing a creative concept (where to set down in writing the key ideas and basic vision of the script) 3. Pitching or verbal presentation (the part where to communicate and sell the idea) 4. Concept outline (the ideas are already organized, ready to proceed to the next stage) 5. Treatment (expansion of the concept, also about structuring and arrangement of the scene) 6. First draft (initial attempt to transpose the treatments content) 7. Revision (the process of changing or throwing unneeded ideas) 8. Final draft (final document with all the improvements and finishing touches are applied)

E. Storyboard

Storyboards are used to represent the story with sequential stories or key frames in able to help the people to get the idea visually (Friedman, 2010). The storyboard will help me visualize and especially present the idea or the concept of the television commercial of energy drink for women.

F. Pretest of the Product being Advertised and its Analysis

Focus group discussion (FGD) can be used as a method of conducting the pretest of a product. According to Kumar (1987), FGD is a rapid assessment, semi-structured data gathering method in which selected set of participants will be gathered to discuss issues and

concerns based on the researchers given themes (Escalada & Heong, 2009). In order to determine or to know the reaction of the participants about the topic, questions will be asked by the researcher. I will use this qualitative method in conducting the pretest of my energy drink commercial.

Reception analysis method can be used to analyze the data gathered from the focus group discussion. It is used to explore the active choices of the consumers with the uses and interpretations of media materials (Audience Reception, 2011). This will be the analysis method I will use in determining the feasibility and credibility of using female imagery in energy drink television commercial.

RELATED STUDIES

In a content analysis by William J. Lundstrom and Donald Sciglimpaglia (1977), Sex Role Portrayals in Advertising, they have used six (6) different studies to find out how women are portrayed in advertising. One of the earliest, a study by Courtney and Lockeretz of general audience magazine in 1971 have found out that only 9% of women are portrayed in working roles, compared to the 45% of working men. A follow-up study by Wagner and Banos in 1973, has found that women in working roles risen up to 21%. A separate study by Sexton and Haberman shows the comparison of content advertisement in five different magazine circulations between 1950 and 1971 that there has been an increase of work related to women. But in a more comprehensive study of Venkatesan and Losco of advertisements between 1959 to 1971 shows that the most frequently observed roles of women being sex

objects, physically beautiful, and women dependent on men. Lastly, Belkaoui and Belkaoui have conducted comparative analysis of print advertisements appearing in 1958, 1970, and 1972 found that women are more often show as unemployed or low-income wage earners.

In a more recent study conducted by Scott Coltrane and Michele Adams (1996), WorkFamily Imagery and Gender Stereotypes: Television and the Reproduction of Difference, show that how popular cultural imagery reflects and reproduces the division of work and inequality in gender roles. There are evaluated results shown from a study of television commercials between 1699 and 1990 about gender, family relationship, work status, occupational category, job authority, and interaction style. They have found that women are less prevalent in advertisements than men. They are more likely to be shown in families and less likely to be shown in hold jobs. Results of the study suggest that media portrayals of women only changed slightly, with men as breadwinners and women as sex objects.

DESIGN PROBLEM

There are increasing changes in trends with regards to the traditional roles of Filipino parents. The father of a family can now be called housband, the one who takes care of the children and stays in the house, and the mother can now be called the breadwinner. Advertisements about energy drink products in the Philippines only use male imagery to attract the target consumers. Since the increasing change of trend is not shown in advertisement, particularly the involvement of mothers in supporting the financial needs of

the family, I will use female imagery in an energy drink advertisement that shows a woman who is the breadwinner of the family. The advertisement will then be used for focus group discussion, and the data gathered will be analyzed using reception analysis method. This is to find out if using women, especially mothers, will be feasible and credible as endorsers of the said product.

The researcher will seek the answers to these problems:

1. How will the researcher show female imagery, particularly mother, as involved in supporting the financial needs of the family, and at the same doing her role as a mother? 2. What is the character portrayal of the mother and her son in the television commercial? 3. What advertising technique is going to be used by the researcher to present and establish the imagery in the said product? 4. How will the researcher show to the target audience the use of female imagery in energy drink products for career women, especially mothers? 5. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study aims to:

1. Show female imagery, particularly a mother involved in supporting the financial need of the family, in endorsing energy drink. 2. Carry out a pretest of the television commercial by conducting a focus group discussion. 3. Find out about the feasibility and credibility of female imagery in energy drink product by using reception analysis method to the data gathered from the focus group discussion.

THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The researcher will use the Rhetoric by Aristotle since he wants to focus on the feasibility and credibility of female imagery in energy drink products. Aristotles Rhetoric talks about how the speaker will persuade the audiences with the application of the three rhetorical proofs: logos (logical), ethos (ethical), and pathos (emotional). The audience will be persuaded through the speech of the speaker, particularly in using the emotional appeal. This will also make the target audiences to become conscious of the current change in trends with regards to the breadwinner of a family.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

The production is divided into three stages the preproduction, production, and post production. Ethos and pathos will be the basis for the first two (2) stages. This will be my guide in building-up the character of the mother in being involved in giving support for the financial need of the family and at the same time the child rearing process as to be used in an energy drink television commercial. The emotional proof of Aristotle will be used to

determine the feasibility and credibility of the said imagery. It will help me in answering or giving a solution to the communication problem.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

The following are the terms and their definition of the production: Script - the basis of the productions story sequence Storyboard - sequence of images that follows the scripts contents Television commercial paid advertisements with images and sounds that convey messages Gender stereotypes the traits and behaviors perceived to a typical man and woman Female imagery medias portrayal of women to the public Logical proof the main argument of speech Ethical proof the character or the ways of a character or speaker Emotional proof the emotions of the viewers or listeners after the main argument of the speaker Preproduction stage scriptwriting and storyboard making for the televisionadvertisement Production stage shooting and editing of the television commercial

Postproduction stage showing the television commercial to selected target consumers Focus group discussion two groups of five (5) members each, five (5) for male group and five (5) for female group. The groups will be interviewed with regards to the use of female imagery. Reception analysis used to analyze the data gathered from the focus group discussion to determine the credibility and feasibility of the mother

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

There are currently change of trends in the traditional roles about working for the financial support to family in the Philippines. But the traditional roles of parents are still portrayed in television advertisements for different products. One of these products is energy drink. The lack of the television advertisement portraying female as the consumer of the said product caught my attention. So I will use female imagery, instead of the traditional male imagery, in an energy drink commercial. The significance of the study is to present to the public about the increasing change of trend in the traditional roles of Filipino parents in working for the financial need of the family. A credible television commercial using female imagery in an energy drink product will be needed to make the public rethink about the involvement of women in working for the financial need of the family, and making career women to purchase the product.

After producing the television advertisement, I will determine the feasibility and credibility of using female imagery for an energy drink product through focus group discussion and using reception analysis method to analyze the results. The result of this study adds to the knowledge and consciousness in the advertising industry in the Philippines.

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

DESIGN BRIEF

The Problem

The main problem of the study is about the use of female imagery in an energy drink television commercial, and to determine its feasibility and credibility. In the Philippines the traditional endorsers of energy drink products are men, but there are increasing trends of changes in working for the financial needs of a family in the country that can open a potential market. Some men are called housbands, the father doing the traditional role of a mother, and some women are called breadwinners, working for the financial needs of the family. However, as mentioned earlier, there are no advertisements that show the mother needing

energy products to support for her work. So the researcher will produce an energy drink product commercial with the use of female imagery.

The Target Audience

The target audience of the prototype energy drink advertisement is parents with traditional and non-traditional beliefs of how a family should get financial support. The chosen viewers of the television commercial will be used for the advertisement pretest using focus group discussion.

The Objective

The objective is to show this new trend relating to advertising in the Philippines, especially in television commercials. The new trend is to use female imagery, especially in supporting for the financial need of the family, in an energy drink product television commercial. The responses of the viewers will then be used to determine the feasibility and credibility of using female imagery in energy drink products by using focus group discussion and the results will be analyzed using reception analysis method. Also, this will also make the viewers, especially the target audience, realize about the current change of trends with regards to traditional roles of a Filipino family.

The Strategy

The strategy is to use female imagery in an energy drink product. The advertisement will show a career and family woman with her son, preparing for work in home while doing some household chores, while still being beautiful.

The Content

The duration of the advertisement will be sixty (60) seconds. It will show a mother preparing for the day with her son. The mother is energetic and beautiful at the same time.

The Medium

The researcher will use television as the medium for the advertisement because the commercial will need a series of visual images and verbal communication between the characters.

The Concept

A mother is cooking, specifically frying a fried chicken while wearing a duster and an apron, in the kitchen for the breakfast. Then the mother will look at the camera and say bilang ina, kailangan mong masiguro ang kalusugan ng iyong anak. Then her son, about six (6) years old, is waiting in the dining table for breakfast. The mother will appear from the kitchen to put the newly cooked viand and rice on the table. The son will then take a fried chicken onto his plate while the mom is saying kailangan rin na ikaw ang magluto at maghain para sa pamilya. Then the mother will then clean up the table and bring some plates to the kitchen. The mother will then be showed putting the plates on the kitchen sink for cleaning and say anak, maligo ka na. The son will reply out of the camera yes, mom. The mother will then say while looking at the camera and washing the dishes at the same time ikaw ang maglilinis, magliligpit, at maghuhugas ng pinggan. The next scene will show the mother wearing her working uniform while tying her sons shoelace. The mother will standup and face a mirror, then she will fix her uniform while looking to the camera through the

mirror. She will then say to the camera pero minsan, bilang isang ina, kailangan na rin na ikaw ang magtatrabaho para sa pangangailangan ng pamilya. Then her son will give her the energy drink. The mother will then face the camera and say, kaya kailangan mo ng lakas, she will then drink the energy drink in front of the camera. The mother will then say At kailangan mo rin na manatiling maganda. Then a female narrator will say Energa energy drink with vitamin-E! Ang lakas na may kagandahan. Available at your leading supermarkets and drugstores nationwide. Then her son will hug her and say you are the most beautiful mom in the world. The mother will smile.

CREATIVE PROCESS

The advertisement is all about the use of female imagery in energy drink product. This will be a way of showing to the consumers the increasing trend of change in traditional roles of parents in working for the financial needs of the family in the Philippines. Also, this will show to the target consumer that such trend exists. To produce the television advertisement, the researcher will write for it. The commercial will then be presented to a selected target consumer and conduct a pretest of it with focus group discussion, and the results will be analyzed through reception analysis method.

The production is divided into three (3) stages: preproduction, production, and postproduction. The preproduction stage includes the scriptwriting and storyboard making. Shooting will and editing will be done on the production stage. Aristotles logical and ethical proofs will be based on these two stages in the conceptual framework.

The pretest of the television commercial through focus group discussion of its target consumers will be done on the postproduction stage. Reception analysis will then be used after the focus group discussion to determine the feasibility and credibility of using female imagery in energy drink television commercial. This will help the researcher in answering the communication problem.

THE SOFTWARE

In editing the video that will be used for the energy drink advertisement, I will use Sony Vegas Pro 10.0. This software is the latest of Sonys video editing software. The software is designed to enhance and edit HD (high-definition) videos without any problems in conversion and rendering. Ive chosen the Sony Vegas Pro 10.0 because it is easy to use and I have experienced using the software for my past projects. Some tutorials for the software use are available in different websites in the internet, such as YouTube.com.

References:

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