Shock advertising. Are consumer responses affected by culture? A case study on Benetton campaigns under Oliviero Toscani examining German and English responses E-Book

Kerstin Holz

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2007

Beschreibung

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: First class, University of Birmingham, language: English, abstract: This research aimed to show whether responses to shock advertising campaigns are influenced by culture The aim and objectives for this research included to analyse the techniques and impact of shock advertising, evaluate the cultural characteristics of Germany and England in relation to the perception of advertising, analyse the impact of four selected campaigns on Benetton’s financial performance and to critically evaluate the extent to which culture influences the acceptance of shock advertising through focus groups/questionnaires. The gathered data from questionnaires and focus groups was then compared and contrasted against the findings from secondary sources as well as against each other. The comparison of the three types of research showed that differences between both cultures exist. Both countries have different approaches towards the Benetton campaigns: Germany strategically and England emotionally. This does not necessarily mean they respond differently to them, although research has shown that, as opposed to data gathered in the secondary literature, Germany responded more tolerantly and openly to the campaigns than expected, whereas England, expected according to the secondary literature to understand advertising based on creativity, did just the opposite. The English group rated the shock factor more strongly than the German group, proving that responses to shock advertising are dependent on cultural influences. The results from this research therefore show that responses to these campaigns are affected by culture especially in emotional campaigns such as the Benetton ones and companies should take these differences into account. Obviously it is cheaper and easier to run a standardized global campaign; however, this does not take different cultures in different countries into account which might harm brand perception due to misunderstandings and different decoding approaches. The phenomenon of globalisation will be of great interest for further research as it brings cultures closer together. The research, over a larger timeframe, might show how cultures are becoming more similar and therefore a standardised advertising strategy might be more useful than ever.

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ABSTRACT

This research aimed to show whether responses to shock advertising campaigns are influenced by culture. This study was carried out with a case study approach of clothing retailer Benetton. The chosen campaigns were all under direction of Oliviero Toscani who worked for Benetton from 1982-2000.

The sample of 30 for both countries was selected on a purposive basis in order to reflect Benetton’s target market of educated 18 - 34 years olds. Questionnaires, focus groups and secondary literature were selected research methods in order to elicit the needed information.

The aim and objectives for this research included to analyse the techniques and impact of shock advertising, evaluate the cultural characteristics of Germany and England in relation to the perception of advertising, analyse the impact of four selected campaigns on Benetton’s financial performance and to critically evaluate the extent to which culture influences the acceptance of shock advertising through focus groups/questionnaires.

The gathered data from questionnaires and focus groups was then compared and contrasted against the findings from secondary sources as well as against each other. The comparison of the three types of research showed that differences between both cultures exist. Both countries have different approaches towards the Benetton campaigns:

Germany strategically and England emotionally. This does not necessarily mean they respond differently to them, although research has shown that, as opposed to data gathered in the secondary literature, Germany responded more tolerantly and openly to the campaigns than expected, whereas England, expected according to the secondary literature to understand advertising based on creativity, did just the opposite.

The English group rated the shock factor more strongly than the German group, proving that responses to shock advertising are dependent on cultural influences.

The results from this research therefore show that responses to these campaigns are affected by culture especially in emotional campaigns such as the Benetton ones and companies should take these differences into account. Obviously it is cheaper and easier to run a standardized global campaign; however, this does not take different cultures in different countries into account which might harm brand perception due to misunderstandings and different decoding approaches.

UNITED COLOURS – UNITED OPINIONS – UNITED CULTURES?

Are consumer responses to shock advertising affected by culture? - A case study on Benetton.

ABSTRACT

List of Abbreviations

Rationale

Introduction

Literature Review

Evaluating current literature on shock advertising

Methodology

Methodology

Secondary data

Primary data

Sampling

Pilot study

Focus groups

Research process

Questionnaire session

Chi-square analysis

Chapter One

Introduction to the advertising culture and Benetton

The German customer and perspective on advertising

The English customer and perspective on advertising

Benetton’s advertising and finances

Oliviero Toscani’s philosophy of advertising

Chapter 2

Research in Germany

Chapter three

Research in England

Analysis

Chapter four

Focus group discussions in Germany and England

The campaigns

First impressions

Advertising strategy

Chapter five

Conclusions and Recommendations

Triangulation comparison

Secondary research

Questionnaires

Focus groups

Conclusion

Critical review of the research process

Recommendations

Reference List

Appendix

Appendix I - England -

QUESTIONNAIRE TO

1. What is / has shock advertising?

2. What is culture?

3.1 Baby – Campaign

3.2 HIV – Campaign

3.3 Bird – Campaign

3.4 Heart – Campaign

How important are the following cultural values to you?

How do you understand the following campaigns?

Would you or have you bought Benetton products due to the advertising or do you find these campaigns putting you off from buying?

- German -

FRAGEBOGEN ZUR THEMATIK

Was ist / hat Schockwerbung?

Was ist Kultur?

Baby – Kampagne

HIV – Kampagne

Vogel – Kampagne

3.4 Herz – Kampagne

Wie wichtig sind Ihnen die folgenden kulturellen Werte?

Wie verstehen Sie die folgenden Kampagnen?

Würden bzw. haben Sie Benetton Produkte aufgrund der Werbung gekauft oder sehen Sie die Werbung eher als abschreckend an?

Appendix J

Focus Groups transcripts – on the four chosen campaigns for the research process

Appendix  K

Web Chi Square Calculator: Results for Germany

Appendix L

Web Chi Square Calculator: Results for England

Appendix M

List of Abbreviations

Rationale

Herbert Simon, the winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize for Economics, wrote:

"What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it."

(http://www.coams.com/NewHome/theOutlook/0010/adprolif.htm)

Advertisements are information, and too many of them means consumers have to ration their attention. Consumers were exposed to 600 advertisements a day and we now to 3,000 (Study: Jupiter Research cited on http://www.coams.com/NewHome /theOutlook/0010/adprolif.htm), it is obvious that the average amount of attention we pay to each will be cut proportionately.

This leads advertisers to become desperate to break through the clutter and more willing to try new ways of grabbing consumers’ attention. Benetton’s answer to this was SHOCK! Benetton used shocking graphics and socially controversial topics for their advertising campaigns. However, even though much research has been undertaken on advertising, not much has been researched about the phenomenon of shock advertising. Benetton ran these controversial campaigns on a global basis, but it is not known if potential customers from all over the world decode the message in the same way. Being a German, living in Britain has shown me that even though we live on the same continent there are huge differences in how we perceive certain issues. So is it possible that two different cultures decode and understand controversial campaigns in the same way? Initial research suggested there is little or no literature on this issue. This made this topic very interesting especially as subjects as advertising management, consumer behaviour and international marketing always have been of great interest.

Introduction

This dissertation sets out to analyse whether consumer responses to shock advertising are affected by culture and offers a case study approach using Benetton’s controversial campaigns.

Benetton is one of the strongest brands (Muhkund, 2003; Ganesan, 2002) in the world and was adding to its popularity by the company’s advertising strategy (Ganesan, 2003) which was based on a shock factor addressing political and social issues.

Benetton, together with its creative director, Oliviero Toscani, who worked for Benetton from 1982-2000, is recognised for colourful and provocative campaigns. Its advertising strategy involved controversial advertising techniques and topics that used shock value in order to grab customers’ attention. Unlike most advertisements, which centre on the product or company being advertised, Benetton campaigns were focused on political and socially responsible issues such as race, child labour, death, birth, AIDS awareness, war and poverty (Pagnucco Salvemini, L. 2003). These advertising campaigns were conceived to increase brand awareness and create an image of a modern, socially responsible company (Pagnucco Salvemini, L. 2003).

Ganesan (2003) argues, this strategy was successful in the beginning but the more controversial the campaigns became, the greater the dissatisfaction from customers, retailers, government bodies and various non-profit organisations grew. In the end this led to Toscani leaving the company in 2000 and Benetton restructuring its advertising strategy. Different campaigns caused different controversies in different countries. The new-born baby campaign was banned in France, UK and Italy. The child labour and HIV campaigns were banned in Germany because it was felt that they exploited suffering (Ganesan 2002).

Despite the idea of one united Europe, a European currency and open travel across Europe, it still remains that Europe consists of different countries with different cultures. There are different views on what culture is. Rice (1993, p.242-253, cited in DeMooij, 1998) defines culture as:

“the values, attitudes, beliefs, artefacts and other meaningful symbols represented in the pattern of life adopted by people that can help them interpret, evaluate and communicate as members of a society.”

Hofstede (1991, cited in DeMooij, 1998) uses a different approach by defining culture as:

“the collective mental programming of the people in an environment. Culture is not a characteristic of individuals; it encompasses a number of people who were conditioned by the same education and life experience.”

These two definitions of culture show what encompasses culture and it could be argued that culture is a diverse factor which is hard to grasp when it comes to advertising. Usunier and Lee (2005) point out that the cultural variable is very complex and the influences on behaviour are difficult to analyse.

So how is it possible that different countries react differently to these advertising campaigns? Why are some forbidden in certain countries and not in others? Is it possible that culture affects responses to these controversial campaigns? In order to analyse these questions a triangulation research method was applied. Qualitative data was gathered through conducting focus groups in England and Germany. In order to gather quantitative data a questionnaire session was conducted before the focus group took place. The comparison of both culture’s results were then compared to findings from secondary literature which then reveals if the response to shock advertising is affected by culture and, if so, to what extent.