How consumers react to print advertisements on second hand cars that Research Paper

How consumers react to print advertisements on second hand cars that have been labeled as offensive - Research Paper Example The two print advertisements that received the most negative perceptions both contained sexually-oriented body images. The survey also found that advertising perceptions had a significant impact on consumers’ intentions to reject the products and the brands. Introduction Various companies have been using different ways of promoting their products and increasing sales. This will enable them to fulfill the business objectives i.e. profit maximization and maximization of shareholders wealth. One way of creating this product mix is advertising. Advertising is a public promotion of some product or service with the aim of drawing attention and in the process, persuade potential consumers to buy the product or service. Offensive advertisement has been supported by some while others have elicited a lot of controversy. The supporters argue that the world needs controversial adverts because they are usually more creative and therefore easy to remember. Problem Statement This research wa s motivated to take an in-depth look at the adverts that have been regarded as offensive and how it affects the society. With firms increasingly using advertising as a way of boosting sales, there needs to be a way to monitor and give views on what these firms present to the society. Some adverts are educative and very informative but others are offensive and tend to be racist, degrading to women or just insulting. Scope This research will only focus on the offensive ads in the media that have elicited controversy. But the research was conducted on the used cars advert, which features a blonde woman posing seductively. The report will be aimed at establishing views on the morality and sense of such advertisement being aired and printed on papers. The rest of the report... The research looked at the effects of offensive advertising featured by Dale Wurfel Used vehicles on the consumers. The results of the study were mixed. It was expected that the respondents would perceive the advertisements more negatively this was only partly the case. Some considered the ads more often offensive, uncomfortable, disgusting and impolite while others judged them to be more irritating and ridiculous. It seems, however to suggest that consumers are more likely to appreciate the creative elements in the potentially offensive advertisements. Other consumers, however, are likely to appreciate the informative elements in the potentially offensive advertisements. The survey also demonstrates that advertisers in have to be careful when using potentially offensive advertisements. Results indicate that the more negative the ads are perceived, the higher the likelihood of rejecting the products and the brands. This was especially true for some respondents, who showed a significa nt higher tendency to reject the products and the brands. The less creative/appealing the ad was the higher the likelihood of rejecting the products and the brands. The â€Å"creative/appealing† factor was the most important factor to explain and predict the rejection of the products and the brands. To conclude, the survey provides evidence that different consumers in the two cultures react differently to offensive print advertising of a limited type of offensiveness.