The Ideal of Female Beauty in Two Different Cultures: Socio-Cultural Analysis of Belgian and Malaysian Print Advertisements

Bu makale kültürel ve sosyal değerlerin reklamlarda nasıl yansıtıldığını incelemektedir. Çoğu reklam ürünlerin işlevsel niteliklerini vurgulamakta, aynı zamanda gizli mesajlar taşımaktadır. Bu mesajlar vasıtası ile reklamcılar güzelliğin, kadınlığın,erkekliğin, zevkin ve gençliğin önemi gibi sosyo-kültürel değerleri yayabilirler. Çalışmada Belçika ve Malezya’da yayımlanan dergilerdeki kadınlar için yüz ve vücut kremi reklamlarının içerik çözümlemesi gerçekleştirilecektir. Araştırma, dil ve resimlerin ne yolla stratejik bir biçimde işlenerek okuyuculara gizli mesajlar aktarıldığına ve iletişimin bu dolaylı şeklinin reklam ajansları tarafından hedef gruplara ulaşmak için niyetleri açıkça belli edilmeden nasıl kullanıldığına yoğunlaşmaktadır. Bir taraftan reklamlarda kullanılan dişil stereotipler çalışılacaktır. Ne tür kadınlar gösterilmekte ve nasıl göz önüne koyulmaktalar? Bir diğer yandan, yansıtılan kültürel değerler incelenip bu değerlerin iki farklı toplumun değerlerini aktarıp aktarmadığı çözümlenecektir. Reklam ajansları pazarlama stratejilerini hedefteki tüketicilerin sosyo-kültürel altyapılarına adapte ediyor mu? Çalışmamın amacı reklamcıların Belçika ve Malezya’da tamamen farklı değerler yayıp yaymadıklarını ve, eğer varsa, benzerlikleri açığa çıkarmaktır.

This paper will examine to what extent cultural and social values are reflected by advertisements. Most advertisements stress the functional qualities of a product, but simultaneously they also convey implicit messages. Through these messages, advertisers can diffuse socio-cultural values such as the importance of beauty, femininity, virility, pleasure, youth, etc. A content analysis study of print advertisements for facial and body creams for women appearing in Belgian and Malaysian women’s magazines will be performed. The research focuses on how language and images can be manipulated in a strategic way to pass on implicit messages to the receiver and on how this indirect aspect of communication is used by advertising agencies to reach their target groups without openly admitting their intention, namely selling the product or increasing brand awareness. On one hand, the feminine stereotypes used in the advertisements will be studied. What kinds of women are represented and how are they brought into vision? On the other hand, reflected cultural values will be examined in order to analyze if these values transmit the character of two different societies. Do advertising agencies adapt their marketing strategies to the socio-cultural background of the consumers they wish to target? The purpose of my research is to reveal if advertisers diffuse totally different values in the Belgian and the Malaysian magazines or if there are some similarities.

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