CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

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1 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA INTRODUCTION In recent years, advertising has reached the stage of permanence in its occurrence with higher intensity reaching through different media dominated by the television medium from a stage of occasional occurrence with lower intensity through very limited media options. No one goes through a day without an exposure to an advertisement or a clutter of advertisemtns. Both the advertisers and the ordinary people have taken advertising as a daily ritual to be observed. In this background, the study of the attitude of people caught in the whirlwind of advertisements becomes imminent. Hence the present study has been taken up. SCOPE OF ANALYSIS The basic objective of the study was to evaluate the level of advertising ethics based on the perceptions of 451 randomly selected television viewers of Bangalore City. Based on the objectives of the study and hypotheses for the study, the responses from 451 sample respondents towards 41 statements on 11 dimensions of advertising ethics elicited on 5-point Likert s scale have been analyzed and interpreted under profile analysis, universal analysis and group analysis covering both the benefits and social costs of advertising. PROFILE ANALYSIS The profile of the sample respondents has been presented in Table 4.1, which brings out the demographic features of the respondents based on gender, age, education, income and viewing duration. Based on gender, women numbered 192 representing per cent as against men numbering 259 and representing per cent. From the viewpoint of age, youth numbered 268 representing of the sample respondents as against 183 adults representing per cent. With regard to education status, there were 337 respondents representing per cent having low education as against 114 respondents with high education and they represented per cent. From the viewpoint of income level, with almost equal number of respondents consisting of low income group and high income group with their respective numbers standing at 242 and 209 respectively and they constituted per cent and per cent respectively. Based on viewing duration, there were 166

2 short viewers numbering 98 and representing per cent and long viewers numbering 353 and representing per cent. To conclude, the demographic features of respondents were characterized by more number of men, youth, low education, low income and long viewing durations. TABLE 4.1 PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS Variable No. of Respondents Percentage (1) Gender Status: Women (W) Men (M) Total (2) Age Status: Youth (Y) Adults (A) Total (3) Education Status: Low Education (LE) High Education (HE) Total (4) Income Status: Low Income (LI) High Income (HI) Total (5) View Duration Status: Short Viewers (SV) Long Viewers (LV) Total Source: Field Survey. UNIVERSAL ANALYSIS Universal analysis includes the perceptions of 541 respondents together on 11 dimensions of advertising ethics consisting of both the benefits and social costs of advertising. The analysis and interpretation of data have been presented under (i) Information Content of Advertising; (ii) Economic Impact of TV Advertising; (iii) Abuse of Women in TV Advertising; (iv) Falsity in TV Advertising; (v) TV Ads Creating Affluence Attitude; (vi) Cultural Degradation of Society; (vii) Exploitation of Consumer Psychology; (viii) Puffery in TV Advertising; (ix) Non-Receptivity of TV Ads; (x) Behavior during Commercials; (xi) Ineffectiveness of TV Ad Regulation; and (xii) Summary of Benefits and Costs of TV Ads. 167

3 (i) Information Content of Advertising: Table 4.2 presents the perceptions of respondents on information content of television advertising consisting of five variables. It was found that the information content of advertising was assigned the mean value of only 2.42, which represented only 48.4 per cent. TABLE 4.2 INFORMATION CONTENT OF TV ADVERTISING Frequency Distribution and Advertising provides (is) Weights Total MV SD Better quality products Product information Communicative Right brand selections Prudent purchase decisions Total Source: Field Survey. Amongst the five variables of information content of advertising, respondents perceived advertised products being better in quality by assigning the highest mean value of 2.56, which was just above half-way mark at per cent. The least mean value was assigned to advertising helping in prudent purchase decisions with the mean value of 2.29 only. However, advertising being informative was assigned the second rank with the mean value of 2.49, which was followed by advertising being communicative, advertising helping right brand selection with their respective mean values of 2.39 and It was also observed that advertising providing better quality products had the largest perceptional dispersion as against the least perceptional dispersion in case of advertising helping in making prudent purchase decisions. To conclude, the information content was found to be considerably lower even below the half-way mark with the mean value of 2.42 only. (ii) Economic Impact of TV Advertising: Table 4.3 portrays the perceptions of the respondents towards the economic impact of advertising, which consists of six variables. The economic impact of advertising was found to be rated just a little above the information content with the mean value of 2.52, which indicated that only half of advertising was productive and the other half was a wasteful expenditure. 168

4 TABLE 4.3 ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TV ADVERTISING Frequency Distribution and Advertising provides (is) Weights Total MV SD Spurs development Increased lifestyle Essential (at present level) Competitiveness in market A decrease in price levels Better products to society Total Source: Field Survey. However, the respondents perceived the economic role of advertising by assigning a moderately higher mean value of 3.05 and this indicated that advertising spurred economic development considerably. Next to advertising spurring the development process, the respondents perceived that it would improve the lifestyle of the people by assigning the mean value of On the issue of essentiality of the present level of advertising, the respondents assigned the mean value of 2.40 only and this indicated indirectly that there was too much of advertising in television. The respondents assigned a lower mean value of only 2.24 with regard to advertising enhancing the competitiveness in the market and this indirectly indicated that advertising resulted in the monopoly power of the advertiser. Further, the respondents rated whether advertising decreased the price level of the products advertised by assigning the second lowest mean value of 2.22 and this indicated that advertising unnecessarily caused an increase in the price level of the products. The least economic role of advertising was evidenced in case of advertising resulting in better products to the society with the mean value of only 2.20 and this indicated that advertising provided goods, which were not useful to the society. It was also found that the dispersion in perception was the smallest in advertising enhancing the competitiveness and advertising spurring the economic development having wider perceptional dispersion. On the whole, the results indicated that advertising spurred economic development and improved the lifestyles of the people, but it failed to fulfill the other economic functions like providing better products at reduced prices through enhanced competitiveness. Lastly, it was found that the present level of advertising was unwarrantedly very high. 169

5 (iii) Abuse of Women in TV Advertising: Table 4.4 presents the perceptions of respondents towards abuse of women in television advertising with three variables included under it. It was found that the abuse of women in television advertising was assigned a comparatively higher mean value of 3.56 and this indicated that women were used as sexual portrayals or were portrayed as stereotypes. TABLE 4.4 ABUSE OF WOMEN IN TV ADVERTISING Frequency Distribution and Statements Weights Total MV SD Advertising projects women with bad image Advertising exploits sexual instincts There is too much sex in advertising today Total Source: Field Survey. Advertising projecting women with bad image was assigned the highest mean value of 3.61, which was followed by the exploitation of the sexual instincts and the presence of too much sex in television advertising with their respective mean values of 3.56 and However, perceptional dispersions were found to be comparatively larger. To sum up, it was found that there was too much of abuse of women in television advertising with bad image, stereotyping, sexuality and sensuality. (iv) Falsity in TV Advertising: Table 4.5 highlights the perceptions of respondents towards falsity in television advertising, under which four variables are included. It was evidenced that television advertising was characterized by falsity at a higher level with the assigned mean value of 3.66, which represented the falsity level of per cent. The most falsity level was identified to be deceitful and misleading advertising with the mean value of 3.76 having smaller dispersion level as against a lower level of advertisements signaling wrong messages with the mean value of 3.49 having a higher dispersion level. The second most falsity component was found to be advertisements making false claims on the uses with the mean value of 3.74 and this 170

6 was followed by advertising exaggerating the usefulness level with the mean value of TABLE 4.5 FALSITY IN TV ADVERTISING Frequency Distribution and Statements Weights Total MV SD Advertisements are deceitful and misleading Advertisements make false claims on the uses Advertising exaggerates usefulness level Advertisements signal wrong messages Total Source: Field Survey. On the whole, falsity in television advertising was found to be very high in the sense that all television advertisements were loaded with per cent falsity. (v) TV Ads Creating Affluence Attitude: Table 4.6 summarizes the perceptions of respondents towards television advertisements creating affluence attitude in the society, which consists of four variables. The role of television advertising in creating the affluence attitude was assigned the mean value 3.38 characterized by a thin dispersion. TABLE 4.6 TV ADS CREATING AFFLUENCE ATTITUDE Frequency Distribution and Statements Weights Total MV SD Advertising makes people live in a world of fantasy Advertising encourages consume more philosophy beyond one s means Advertising presents luxury as a necessity Advertising provides useless goods and services to the society Total Source: Field Survey. 171

7 The most criticized variable was found to be advertising making people live in a world of fantasy with the mean value standing at 3.57 and the least criticized variable was found to be advertising providing useless goods and services with the mean value of 3.22, which were followed by advertising encouraging consume more philosophy and presenting luxury as a necessity with respective mean values of 3.40 and To conclude, it was commonly perceived by the respondents that television advertising created more of affluence attitude in the consuming public by making them live in a world of fantasy, nurturing them with consume more philosophy, converting a luxury into a necessity and thereby providing useless goods to society. (vi) Cultural Degradation of Society: Table 4.7 presents an overview of how television advertising causes cultural degradation of society through six variables included under the subject. Overall, cultural degradation of society through advertisements in television was assigned the mean value of TABLE 4.7 CULTURAL DEGRADATION OF SOCIETY Frequency Distribution and Statements Weights Total MV SD Children are indoctrinated to living with advertised products Advertisements are offensive Advertising endorses stereotyping Most advertising distorts the values in youth Advertising creates violent behavior in children Advertising is harmful to society Total Source: Field Survey. The most serious problem in cultural degradation of society by television advertising was perceived to be children indoctrinated to inevitable living with advertised products with the mean value of 3.67, which was followed by advertisements (1) being offensive, (2) endorsing stereotyping; (3) distorting values in youth; (4) creating violent behavior in children with the mean values of 3.58, 172

8 3.51, 3.17, and 3.13 respectively. However, advertising being harmful to the society was rated with the lowest mean value of 2.86 and this indicated advertising per se was not bad to the society. To conclude, the impact of television advertising on cultural degradation of society was rated at higher level with the mean value of 3.32 with moderately a high dispersion level, but its harmful effects on the society was rated at a considerably lower level with the mean value of (vii) Exploitation of Consumer Psychology: Television advertising as a strategy of exploiting consumer psychology has been presented in Table 4.8 with three variables included under it. It was found that television advertisements basically adopted the strategies to exploit the consumer psychology and the assigned mean value stood at TABLE 4.8 EXPLOITATION OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY Frequency Distribution and Statements Weights Tota l MV SD Advertising indulges in manipulation of consumers' minds Advertising forces us to react irrationally Advertising develops and exploits inferiority complex Total Source: Field Survey. The most serious charge against television advertising was found to be that advertising indulged in the manipulation of consumers minds and the mean value assigned was considerably higher at 3.78, which was followed by television advertisements forcing to react irrationally and developing and exploiting inferiority complexes of the prospective users with the respective mean values of 3.72 and However, dispersion levels were found to be moderately higher. To conclude, television advertising was perceived to exploit the consumer psychology at a substantial level and the contents of advertising were tuned to achieve the exploitation of consumers to the maximum. 173

9 (viii) Puffery in TV Advertising: Table 4.9 presents the results of three variables included under puffery in advertising. The negative attitude towards puffery mainly done through celebrity advertising was assigned a higher level of mean value at 3.54 and this indicated that the respondents did not favor it to the extent of per cent. TABLE 4.9 PUFFERY IN TV ADVERTISING Statements Celebrity advertising Frequency Distribution and Weights Total MV SD (Cekebrities) Causes an increase in the price of advertised item(s) Act against their conscience in the ads Cultivates minds of consumers to a film star or a celebrity Total Source: Field Survey. Surprisingly, celebrity advertisements causing an increase in the price levels of advertised products was assigned the mean value of 3.69, which was followed by celebrities acting against their conscience in the ads (hiding falsity in advertisements for the sake of high monetary rewards for appearance and endorsement) and celebrities unnecessarily cultivating the minds of consumers with the mean values of 3.51 and 3.43 respectively. Thus, puffery in advertising mainly effected through celebrities was negatively perceived by the respondents with the mean value of 3.54 but the dispersion levels were considerably larger excepting a lower dispersion level for advertising through celebrities leading to an increase in price level for the advertised goods. (ix) Non-Receptivity of TV Ads: Table 4.10 highlights the perceptions of respondents towards non-receptivity of ads, which consists of four variables. The receptivity of television advertisements was found to be highly negative with assigned mean value of In other words, the disliking of advertisements while viewing television was found to be almost per cent. 174

10 TABLE 4.10 RECEPTIVITY OF TV ADS Statements Frequency Distribution and Weights Total MV SD Advertisements are irritating Advertisements are too much repetitive There is too much of advertising Advertising misuses the right of expression Total Source: Field Survey. The most negative receptivity was evidenced in experiencing irritation caused by advertisements and the mean value stood at 3.89, which was followed by too much repetitive advertisements, too much of advertising, and misuse of right of expression by the advertiser and the media with their respective mean value of 3.88, 3.68, and It was also observed that the dispersion levels were considerably lower for irritation and repetition. On the whole, receptivity of television advertisements was very much negative with the mean value of (x) Behavior during Commercials: Table 4.11 displays data related to avoidance behavior of television ads by the respondents through four techniques and also also their helplessness in watching the ads because of road-blocking practiced very much in recent years. The respondents perceived that the avoidance of television advertisements was very much practiced by them and they assigned the mean value of 3.72, which indirectly represented that they avoided the advertisements to the tune of per cent by adopting various techniques. The highest avoidance level was found in channel zapping with the mean value of 4.34 (86.80%), which was followed by muting, physical zapping, inattentiveness, and switching off with their respective assigned mean values of 4.10 (82.00 %), 4.01 (80.20%), inattentive (64.80%), and switching off (57.60%). 175

11 Statements Switching to other channels (Channel Zapping) Killing the sound (Muting) TABLE 4.11 BEHAVIOR DURING COMMERCIALS Frequency Distribution and Weights Total MV SD Engaging in other works (Physical zapping) Inattentive Switching off Total Source: Field Survey. It is important to note that advertisements are meant for viewing and they are pictured to be so but the viewers almost never view them and this speaks of the apathy towards ads by viewers, amidst the stern belief of the advertisers that they will pay dividends some day through prolonged repetition. On the whole, the respondents perceived that they avoided much of advertisement through various techniques and the assigned mean value was very higher at 3.72 with moderately lower dispersion levels for channel zapping, muting, physical zapping, and higher dispersion levels for inattentiveness and switching off. (xi) Ineffectiveness of TV Ad Regulation: Table 4.12 highlights the level of ineffectiveness of regulating television advertising with four variables included under it. The ineffectiveness of ad regulation was rated with a considerably high mean value of 3.74, which indirectly indicated that the regulation was ineffective by times and that advertisements were never censored by the advertising industry and/or government machinery. The most serious ineffectiveness TV ad regulation was perceived with regard to the law failing in prohibiting sexually suggestive advertisements with the mean value of 3.83, which was followed by advertising in general not effectively regulated, regulatory bodies being mute observers of misleading and deceptive advertising, and non-existence of regulation of comparative ads and no regulation of research claims with their respective mean values of 3.81, 3.78 and

12 TABLE 4.12 INEFFECTIVENESS OF TV AD REGULATION Frequency Distribution and Statements Weights Total MV SD Law has failed in prohibiting sexually suggestive advertising Advertising is not effectively regulated by law Regulatory body is a mute observer Regulation of claims is nonexistent Total Source: Field Survey. On the whole, respondents perceived the complete failure of regulation of television ads in prohibiting or mitigating sexually suggestive ads, inaction on misleading and deceptive advertising and non-existence of control over comparative ads and research claims with the mean value of 3.74, which was overwhelmingly higher with moderately low dispersion levels. (xii) Summary of Benefits and Costs of TV Ads: Table 4.13 provides an overview of economic and social benefits of TV advertising. Both economic benefits and information content of advertising were rated with the mean values of 2.52 and 2.42 respectively and the aggregate benefits stood at the mean value of 2.47, which was just below per cent level. However, total social costs were rated with the mean value of 3.60, which represented per cent. A comparison between benefits and social costs of television advertising revealed that the social costs (3.60) outweighed the benefits (2.47) resulting in a net social cost of It was also observed that different social costs of television advertising were rated with the mean values ranging between 3.78 for non-receptivity of ads and 3.32 for cultural degradation of society. Next to receptivity of ads, ineffectiveness of ad regulation was rated with the mean value of 3.74, which was followed by avoidance of ads (3.72), exploitation of consumer psychology (3.72), falsity (3.66), abuse of women (3.56), puffery (3.54) and ads creating affluence attitude (3.32). 177

13 TABLE 4.13 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL BENEFITS OF TV ADVERTISING Dimensions of Ad Ethics Mean Value SD Ranking (A) Benefits: Economic Benefits Information Content Total Benefits (B) Social Costs: Non-Receptivity of Ads Ineffectiveness of Ad Regulation Behavior During Commercials Exploitation of Consumer Psychology Falsity Abuse of Women Puffery Creating Affluence Attitude Cultural Degradation of Society Total Social Costs Net Social Costs Source: Tables: On the whole, television advertising resulted in higher social costs than the benefits and this indicated much of television advertising was a social burden and an economic waste thereby reducing the social and economic welfare of the society. GROUP ANALYSIS In the background of the survey of literature related to the empirical studies on advertising ethics, the most frequently adopted variables include gender, age, education, income and viewing duration. The studies by McCarty and Shrum (1993), Andaleeb (1994), Shavitt, Lowrey and Haefner (1998) and Wolin and Pradeep (2003) posit that demographic variables consisting of gender, age, education and income level strongly influence the level and direction of perception in television viewers. Further, television viewing entails time orientation (Davies and Roja- Mendez: 2002), intrusiveness (Petty and Cacioppo: 1979; Bauer and Greyser: 1968), attitude formation during commercials towards ads (Heeter and Greenberg: 1985; Clancey: 1994; Speck and Elliot: 1997). Hence the perceptional differences from the viewpoint of various dimensions of advertising ethics have been presented under (i) Gender Analysis; (ii) Age Analysis; (iii) Education Analysis; (iv) Income Analysis; and (v) Viewing Duration Analysis. 178

14 (i) Gender Analysis: Perceptional differences between women viewers (W) numbering 192 and men viewers (M) numbering 259 on 11 dimensions of television advertising ethics consisting of both benefits and social costs have been analyzed under (a) Information Content of Advertising; (b) Economic Impact of TV Advertising; (c) Abuse of Women in Advertising; (d) Falsity in Advertising; (e) Ads Creating Affluence Attitude; (f) Cultural Degradation of Society; (g) Exploitation of Consumer Psychology; (h) Puffery in Advertising; (i) Non-Receptivity of Ads; (j) Behavior During Commercials; (k) Ineffectiveness of Ad Regulation; and (l) An Overview of Gender Differences. (a) Information Content of Advertising: Table 4.14 presents the perceptions of women and men respondents towards information content of television advertising. It was evidenced that women perceived a higher level of information content of advertising than men with their respective assigned mean values of 2.92 and 2.04, but showing low and high dispersions respectively. TABLE 4.14 INFORMATION CONTENT OF ADVERTISING: WOMEN VS. MEN Advertising provides (is) p- W M W M Diff value Product information Right brand selections Prudent purchase decisions Communicative Better quality products Total Note: The minus symbol under Mean Value Difference denotes the difference in mean value assigned by women over men and it is applicable to subsequenttables from Table 4.14 to Source: Table-B1. However, there was no significant difference in perception between women and men. If women perceived advertised products being better in quality with the highest mean value of 3.33 followed by advertising being informative with the mean value of 3.10, men assigned highest mean value of 2.10 to advertising being communicative followed by advertisements helping in right brand selections with the mean value of The lowest mean value of 2.65 was assigned by women to 179

15 advertising helping in prudent purchase decisions as against men assigning the mean value of 1.99 to advertised products being better in quality. It was also evidenced that women assigned higher mean values to all the four variables than men. The mean value difference between women and men was found to be the largest with regard to advertising providing better quality products with the value of 1.34, which was followed by product information, right brand selections, communicative intensity, and lastly prudent purchase decisions with the their respective differences of 1.07, 0.68, 0.67 and 0.63.To conclude, women perceived a higher level of information content of television advertising than men, but there were no statistically significant differences in perceptions. (b) Economic Impact of Advertising: Table 4.15 highlights the perceptions based on gender towards economic impact of advertising. It was found that the women respondents perceived a higher level of economic impact of advertising with the mean value of 2.93 than men with the mean value of 2.21, but there was no significant difference in perception between the two groups. TABLE 4.15 ECONOMIC IMPACTOF ADVERTISING: WOMEN VS. MEN Advertising provides (is) p- W M W M Diff. value Essential (at present level) Spurs development Increased lifestyle A decrease in price level Competitiveness in market Better products to society Total Source: Table-B2. Women rated advertising improving the lifestyle of the people with the highest mean value of 3.58 as against the lowest mean value assigned by men with Women also rated advertising spurring development and essentiality of advertising at the present level with the respective mean values of 3.33 and 3.16, but the mean values assigned by men for these two variables respectively stood at 1.84 and With regard to advertising causing a decrease in the price level, both the groups rate it with the lower mean values of 2.44 and 2.05 respectively, but the rating was a little higher by women than men. Women assigned the lowest mean 180

16 value of 1.84 to adverting being essential at the present level as against men assigning 1.95 to advertising enhancing competitiveness in the market. The largest mean value perceptional difference was found to be 1.32 with regard to advertising not being essential at the present level and this was followed by increased lifestyle, competitiveness in the market, spurring the development, better products to the society, and lastly a decrease in the price level with their respective mean value differences of 1.01, 0.68, 0.49, 0.43 and On the whole, women perceived a higher level of economic impact of television adverting than men, but there were no statistically significant differences. (c) Abuse of Women in Advertising: Table 4.16 presents the perceptions of women and men towards abuse of women in television advertising. With both the groups rating the abuse highly, women rated higher with the mean value of 3.55 as against men rating with the mean value of 3.38 and the dispersion level was found be lower in women than in men with no statistical differences in the perception levels. TABLE 4.16 ABUSE OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISING: WOMEN VS. MEN Advertising p- W M W M Diff. value Exploits sexual instincts Projects women with bad image Has too much sexual content Total Source: Table-B3. Women project with bad image was rated by women the highest with 3.91, which was followed by exploitation sexual instincts and too much of sexual content with the mean values of 3.91 and 3.57 respectively. Men rated too much of sex in advertising with the highest mean value of The mean value differences between women and men were found to be smaller with 0.61, 0.55 and 0.97 with regard to exploiting sexual instincts, projecting women with bad taste and too much sexual content respectively. For each of the three variables included under abuse of women, women respondents ratings were higher than that of men and dispersion levels were lower for women s group than for men s group. To conclude, women 181

17 perceived the abuse of women in television advertising than men with no statistically significant differences. (d) Falsity in Advertising: Table 4.17 presents the perceptions of women and men towards falsity in television advertising. It was observed that women perceived a lower level of falsity advertising than men and the mean values stood at 3.48 and With both the groups rating advertising falsity, the results had no statistical significance. If women rated false claims on the uses with the highest mean value of 3.73, men rated exaggerating usefulness level with the mean value of Similarly, deceitful and misleading advertisements were rated by men with mean value of 3.81 as against the rating of 3.70 by women. The mean value difference was the highest with regard to exaggerating usefulness level with the value of 0.74 and almost no difference existed with regard to making false claims on uses. TABLE 4.17 FALSITY IN ADVERTISING: WOMEN VS. MEN Advertisements W M W M Diff. Make false claims on uses Deceive and mislead Exaggerate usefulness level Signal wrong messages Total Source: Table-B4. Further, advertisements making false claims and advertisements being deceitful and misleading had lower dispersion levels for the both the groups as against high dispersion levels for advertisements exaggerating usefulness levels and signaling wrong messages. On the whole, men rated falsity in advertising at a higher level than women but the ratings were not statistically significant. (e) Ads Creating Affluence Attitude: Table 4.18 provides the perceptions of women and men towards ads creating affluence attitude. The results indicated that men rated advertisements creating affluence attitude with the higher mean value of 3.70 than women rating with the mean value of just

18 TABLE 4.18 ADS CREATING AFFLUENCE ATTITUDE: WOMEN VS. MEN Advertisements W M W M Diff. Provide useless goods Encourage consume more philosophy Present luxury as a necessity Make people live in a world of fantasy Total Source: Table-B5. Men rated advertising making people live in a world of fantasy with the highest mean value of 3.96, followed by encouraging consumer more philosophy, providing useless goods to the society, and presenting luxury as a necessity with their respective mean values of 3.63, 3.61 and 3.59 and women rates these rated these variables in the order of 3.03, 3.09, 2.58 and 2.96 respectively. The mean value difference was the largest with regard to advertising providing useless goods with the value of 1.03 and smallest difference was with regard to ads encouraging consumer more philosophy. With a very low difference in the dispersion levels between the two groups, the dispersion level for each of the variable had no consistency and hence trend varied across variables. On the whole, men rated the ads creating affluence attitude with the higher mean values than women but there were not statistical differences in perceptions. (f) Cultural Degradation of Society: Table 4.19 highlights the perceptions of women and men towards cultural degradation of society by television advertising. It was evidenced that men perceived cultural degradation of society at a slightly higher level with the mean value of 3.34 than women with the mean value of 3.30 by considering all the six variables. There was no consistency in group ratings for each of the six variables and hence each variable is analyzed separately. Advertising being harmful to the society was rated higher with the mean value of 2.91 by men against women rating it with the mean value of Advertisements endorsing stereotyping were rated with the higher mean value of 3.72 by women than men with the mean value of only

19 TABLE 4.19 CULTURAL DEGRADATION OF SOCIETY: WOMEN VS. MEN Advertisements cause (are) W M W M Diff. Harmful to the society Stereotyping Violent behavior in children Offensive Distort values in youth Children to live with materialistic outlook Total Source: Table-B6. Advertisements creating violent behavior in children were rated by men with the higher mean value of 3.44 by men than women having assigned the mean value of 2.71 only. However, advertisements being offensive were rated by women with a higher mean value of 3.92 than by men with the mean value of There was an almost concurrence of both the groups with regard to advertisements distorting values in youth with both women and men assigning the mean values of 3.15 and 3.19 respectively. Children s indoctrination was rated by men with the higher mean value of 3.83 than women having assigned the mean value of The perception levels differed between women and men respondents for each variable. With men generally assigning the higher mean values, women perceived stereotyping and offensive nature of advertising with high mean values than men and the differences had the values of 0.36 and 0.60 respectively. Further, the difference in perception was very much marked with regard to ads creating violent behavior in children with men overrating it by In tune with these oscillations, the perceptional dispersions also varied. To conclude, both the groups rated television advertising resulting in cultural degradation of society at moderately high levels having no substantial differences in ratings characterized by no statistical difference. (g) Exploitation of Consumer Psychology: Table 4.20 presents the perceptions of respondents from the viewpoint of gender-based differences towards television advertising resulting in exploitation of consumer psychology. The results indicated that men perceived a higher level of exploitation of consumer psychology by television advertisements with the mean value assigned at 3.83 as against women assigning only

20 TABLE 4.20 EXPLOITATION OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY: WOMEN VS. MEN Advertising causes W M W M Diff. Irrational reaction Inferiority complex Manipulation of consumers Total Source: Table-B7. The perceptional differences in terms of mean were not to be very high. Considering all the three variables under exploitative strategy, men assigned the highest mean value of 3.90 for advertising resulting in manipulation of consumers minds and women assigned 3.62 for consumers being forced to react irrationally and advertising developing and exploiting inferiority complex. To conclude, exploitation of consumer psychology was perceived at a higher level by both men than women respondents with no statistically significant dispersion levels. (h) Puffery in Advertising: Table 4.21 presents the perception of respondents towards puffery in advertising based on gender. Puffery was recognized by men with a higher mean value of 3.81 than by women with 3.19 with no statistically significant difference, when all the three variables considered together. Men rated celebrities acting against their conscience in the ads regarding the claims, celebrity ad causing an increase in the price of products, and celebrity role in cultivating minds of consumers were rated higher with the respective mean values of 3.85, 3.80 and 3.77 as against women assigning the mean values of 3.06, 3.54 and 2.97 respectively. TABLE 4.21 PUFFERY IN ADVERTISING: WOMEN VS.MEN Celebrities W M W M Diff. Cultivating the minds of consumers Acting against their conscience in the ads Causing an increase in the price of advertised product(s) Total Source: Table-B8. 185

21 The variation in perceptions was high with men overrating celebrities cultivating the minds of consumers and acting against their conscience in the ads with the overrated values of 0.80 and 0.79 respectively by men. To conclude, puffery in television advertising through celebrities mainly was perceived higher by men than by women with no statistically significant differences. (i) Non-Receptivity of Ads: Table 4.22 highlights the statistical results on negative receptivity of ads by men and women respondents by considering four variables. The negative receptivity of ads was found to be perceived at a higher level with the mean value of 3.87 by men against 3.67 by women. Advertising being too much, irritating and repetitive, men assigned the mean values of 3.80, 3.90 and 3.84 respectively as against women assigning the respective mean values of 3.53, 3.88 and However, misusing the right of expression by advertising, men assigned the higher mean value of 3.94a than women assigning the value of only TABLE 4.22 NON-RECEPTIVITY OF ADS: WOMEN VS. MEN Advertisements are W M W M Diff. Too many Irritating Too much repetitive Violation of right of expression Total Source: Table-B9. Comparatively, higher negative attitude was evidenced with regard to irritation, repetitiveness and misuse of right of expression by both the groups. However, the rating of too much advertising was perceived by women with lower mean value 3.53 than men with The mean value difference was the highest for violation of right of expression with the value of 0.61being overrated by men and other variables were found to have no major differences. On the whole, men rated receptivity of ads at a lower level than women and the results were not statistically significant. 186

22 (j) Behavior during Commercials: Table 4.23 presents the behavior of viewers during television commercials based on gender. It was interesting to find that the respondents in both the groups top rated ad avoidance behavior. It was found that men avoided television ads at a higher level than women with their respective mean values of 3.76 and Both the groups avoided the commercials at a significantly higher level with no statistical significant perceptional differences. TABLE 4.23 BEHAVIOR DURING COMMERCIALS: WOMEN VS. MEN Techniques W M W M Diff. Physical zapping Channel zapping Muting Inattentive Switching off Total Source: Table-B10. If men top rated channel zapping with the mean value of 4.68, women assigned highest mean value 4.14 to physical zapping. The second technique of avoidance of ads by men was muting with the mean value 4.38 and the preference of women was channel zapping with the mean value of Inattentiveness was assigned the mean value of 3.57 by women as against 3.00 by men. Switching was resorted to by both men and women almost equally with their respective mean values of 2.80 and The mean value difference was found to be higher perceived by men with regard to channel zapping and muting, but it was lower with regard to inattentiveness, physical zapping and switching off. To conclude, avoidance of television advertising was found to be the highest in both the groups with no statistically significant differences in perceptions. (k) Ineffectiveness of Ad Regulation: Table 4.24 highlights the perceptions of respondents towards ineffectiveness of ad regulation based on gender. It was found that men perceived the ineffectiveness at a higher mean value of 3.79 than women at the mean value of 3.67 with no statistically significant differences. It was also evidenced that there was no consistent pattern of differences in perceptions between two groups. 187

23 TABLE 4.24 INEFFECTIVENESS OF AD REGULATION: WOMEN VS.MEN Ineffectiveness of Regulation W M W M Diff. Ineffectively regulated Mute regulatory body Regulating claims of nonexistent Failing in prohibiting sexually suggestive advertising Total Source: Table-B11. If men perceived the ineffectiveness of regulation at a higher level of mean value of 3.92, women perceived a lower level of ineffectiveness with the mean value of 3.66 and both the groups had lower value of dispersion than in other variables. Similarly, men perceived the non-existence of regulation of claims with the mean value of 3.78 and women assigned the value of only However, women perceived law failing in prohibiting sexually suggestive advertising with a higher mean value of 3.99 than men with the mean value of At the same time, both women and men perceived regulator body being a mute observer with almost equal mean values of 3.79 and 3.77 respectively. Comparatively, men overrated non-existence of regulation of claims and ineffective regulation as against women marginally overrating mute regulator y body and failure in prohibiting sexually suggestive advertising. To conclude, men perceived the ineffectiveness ad regulation at a moderately higher level than women, but the results were not statistically different. (l) An Overview of Gender Differences: Table 4.25 presents an overview of perceptional differences based on gender towards all the 11 dimensions of advertising ethics. Benefits of advertising were rated by women with a higher aggregate mean value 2.92 than men having assigned the mean value of 2.13 only. For both economic impact and information content of advertising, women assigned the higher mean values of 2.93 and 2.92 than the mean values assigned by men at 2.21 and 2.04 respectively. As against these benefits, the social costs of advertising, taken as proxies for unethical advertising, men rated these costs with an aggregate mean value of 3.70 vis-à-vis women having assigned the mean value of

24 TABLE 4.25 AN OVERVIEW OF GENDER DIFFERENCES Women Men Ranking by Dimension of Advertising Ethics MV Ranking SD Differences (A) Benefits: Information Content Economic Impact Total Economic Benefits (B) Social Costs: Creating Affluence Attitude Puffery Exploitation of Consumer Psy Falsity Non-Receptivity of Ads Ineffectiveness of Ad Regulation Behavior During Commercials Cultural Degradation of Society Abuse of Women Total Social Costs Net Social Cost Source: Tables If non-receptivity of ads was rated by men with highest mean value of 3.87, women rated both non-receptivity of ads and ineffectiveness of ad regulation with the mean value 3.67, which were far below the ratings by men. If women perceiving the lowest unethical advertising with regard to creation of affluence attitude with the mean value 2.92 only, the mean value assigned by men was 3.70 for this variable. It was also glaringly observed that men assigned the lowest mean value of 3.39 for the abuse of women as against a higher mean value assigned by women at Excepting for abuse of women, men perceived unethical practices at higher levels than women. The largest perceptional difference between men and women was found with regard to creation of affluence attitude by advertising and this was followed by puffery, exploitation of consumer psychology, falsity, non-receptivity, ineffectiveness of ad regulation, and cultural degradation of society. On the whole, women recognized benefits from advertising at a higher level than men with the mean value difference of 0.79 and men recognized the social costs or unethical advertising at a higher level with the mean difference of 0.29 than women resulting in net social costs or unethical advertising recognized by men with the mean value difference of 1.08 over women. In other words, perceptional 189

25 differences between women and men from the viewpoint of television advertising ethics or unethical advertising were found to exist. (ii) Age Analysis: Perceptional differences between youth (Y) numbering 268 and adult (A) numbering 183 on 11 dimensions of television advertising ethics consisting of both benefits and social costs have been analyzed under (a) Information Content of Advertising; (b) Economic Impact of Advertising; (c) Abuse of Women in Advertising; (d) Falsity in Advertising; (e) Ads Creating Affluence Attitude; (f) Cultural Degradation of Society; (g) Exploitation of Consumer Psychology; (h) Puffery in Advertising; (i) Receptivity of Ads; (j)behavior During Commercials; (k) Ineffectiveness of Ad Regulation; and (l) Summary of Age Differences. (a) Information Content of Advertising: Table 4.26 presents perceptions of youth and adults towards information content of advertising. Youth perceived that advertised products were better quality with the highest mean value of 2.90, but they assigned lowest mean value of only 2.38 for ads facilitating prudent purchases. TABLE 4.26 INFORMATION CONTENT OF ADVERTISING: YOUTH VS. ADULTS Advertising provides (is) Y A Y A Diff Product information Right brand selections Prudent purchase decisions Communicative Better quality products Total Note: The minus symbol under Mean Value Difference denotes the difference in mean value assigned by adults over youth and it is applicable to subsequent tables from Table 4.26 to Source: Table-C1. As against these perceptions by the youth, adults assigned the highest mean value of only 2.16 towards ads helping in right brand selections and the lowest mean value was assigned to communicative role of ads with the mean value of However, there was no consistency in dispersions regard the variables. The largest mean value difference in perception level of youth and adults was found to be with regard to with regard to communicative feature with -0.91, and the lowest difference 190