Even though the majority of companies have realised the benefits of implementing sustainability practices into their business strategies today, the problem is that the marketing of these activities still has a negative impact on the environment. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine if the impact of sustainable advertisements can influence the purchase decisions of young adults who show loyalty to another brand. In order to reach this purpose, qualitative research was conducted using an abductive approach through 23 semi-structured individual interviews with consumers between the ages of 19-30. This enabled us to get an in-depth understanding of their subjective consumption behaviour in comparison to sustainable advertisements. This report draws on existing literature which states that sustainability promotions positively impact the consumer decision process and that consumers’ rarely switch from a brand they are highly loyal to. The results show that sustainable advertisements' impact on young adults is dependent on the product-involvement category. In order for sustainable advertisements to have a chance to generate a switching behaviour among young adults for high-involvement products, the message must provide clear and transparent information regarding the product, because the perception of brands tends to be more valuable. However, this is not as important for low-involvement products since sustainable messages can provoke a switching behaviour based on emotional appeals. Therefore, this research contributes to companies which seek to use sustainable marketing for high- or low-involvement products.

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Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Louise Benjamin / This experimental research builds upon the health communications study completed by Rustam Haydarov in 2010, with a similar approach to ascertain how an individual’s age might influence their reaction to political messages. Using a typology of frames by Levin, Schneider and Gaeth (1998), the study utilizes an older demographic (ages 55-70) and a younger comparison group (ages 18-33) to determine a) if both groups find positive advertising messages more favorable than negative advertising messages and b) if the older demographic is more wary than younger counterparts when discussing current events and the future of America. The study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to determine reactions to goal-oriented and loss-oriented message framing in four mock print political campaign advertisements focusing on the topics of healthcare and college education financing. There was greater prevalence of strongly negative and strongly positive reactions among the younger demographic, except in the case of the loss-framed healthcare ad. The older group reacted more strongly to that particular ad, concerning an issue which had great relevance to them. Of the two age groups, the older demographic registered a more even-keeled reaction across the four ads. Overall, this study has focused on how message frame, topic and age of the message receiver combine to affect message resonance in the context of political communications.

The gender portrayals study aims to understanding how the roles of men and women are portrayed in magazine advertisements. This has been an issue investigated over the past decades as companies try to achieve a higher level of sales of their products and services and the gender issue influences in how this companies plan one advertising program or another. However, there is a debate among authors: some of them believe that advertising reflects what is already on society and others express that advertisers use the most convenient reality to sell their products. Thus, it makes us wonder what is the actual truth behind this debate. This thesis tries to answer the question of how men and women are portrayed in advertising campaigns. There are several studies on gender portrayals across countries but none that compares France, Spain and Sweden. This thesis tries to fill this gap.   The study is conducted following Hofstede framework that classifies countries whether masculine or feminine, and is completed by analyzing the data gathered from four magazines of these three countries. We classified this data following Courtney and Lockeretz classification scheme and analyzed the data obtained with theories of some other authors.   The results of this thesis show that males were dominant among working roles while females were in non-working roles. The findings might not add a huge contribution to this field of study but may be used as guiding tool for further research.

The focus of the study is to understand the efficiency of Vodacom and Tigo Television animation advertisements from the perspective of university students with and without education in media analysis in Tanzania. Vodacom and Tigo television animation advertisements have been introduced in Tanzania; however, there is little research about the effectiveness of the advertisements for market purposes of the commodities.   The overall aim of the study is to investigate university students’ media literacy, their interpretations, and alternative perceptions about Vodacom and Tigo television animation advertisements. The theoretical framework focuses on social action theory which is based on exploring meanings that audience create from the texts they consume from media. The empirical basis of the study consists of interviews and questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to two separate survey groups of 20 university students each. While one group consisted of students educated in interpreting media, the other group comprised of students not educated in media analysis. In order to achieve the aim of the study, a triangulation method was used to provide a broader and deeper understanding of respondents’ perceptions of the animation TV advertisements.   Based on the qualitative approach, five themes were found and regarded as respondents’ views and perceptions. Findings obtained through the quantitative method showed that respondents with media education had positive perceptions of the advertisements and could interpret and understanding them. While students without media education had negative perceptions and most of them could not interpret and understand the advertisements. Further research that will include a diverse sample population from different community groups is suggested.

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Magister Artium - MA / The theory of multimodality (Kress 2010; Kress and van Leeuwen 2006) has impacted major research fields like Linguistics and Education by significantly extending our understanding of what is meant by communication through different modalities and media. More recently, scholars have been paying attention to multimodality in the world of advertising (Lick, 2015; Enli, 2014). Drawing on the work from multimodality scholars like Machin and Mayr (2012), Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) and others, this study explores the multimodal choices that were strategically made by a major multinational beverage company, Coca Cola. Specifically, these choices relate to its health-related television advertisements that were created in response to health-related criticisms of its products by consumers and health institutions over the years. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the beverage company is ‘spinning the truth’ in response to health-related criticisms by using certain multimodal strategies in its healthrelated television advertisements posted on the YouTube website. The study also critically reviews the reactions of consumers to these specific television advertisements on YouTube and the issues they raised in their on-line comments. The findings of this research study illustrate that Coca-Cola did not admit to its contribution to obesity in its health-related television advertisements and it did not address health-related criticisms in the comment sections on YouTube. Instead the brand’s common message and stance in all of the health-related television advertisements was that consumers need to lose the calories that they gain from consuming Coke by eating well, being active and exercising in order to avoid obesity and other health issues.

Business professionals have always been intrigued on how to increase purchases through advertisements. Digital advertisements are a new medium in which businesses can utilize to connect with consumers. In this study, participants (n = 126) were presented advertisements on a Qualtrics survey that manipulated color (warm and cool) and font size (large and small) across three product types (electronics, food, and automobiles) to examine the effects of Purchase Intention. There were no significant main effects or interactions of color and font size on Purchase Intention throughout each product type. However, color and font size impacted other factors (Perception, Memory, and Appeal) in the study and showcased significant findings in Electronic and Automobile advertisement product types. These results have implications for the effectiveness of advertising in digital mediums, the power of personally tailoring advertisements to individual consumers, and ultimately converting prospective window shoppers to paying customers.

The rapid emergence of the middle class in England during the nineteenth century affected many aspects of Victorian society. New social ideals required alterations to what had previously been perceived as correct values, and this era has become infamous for its repression. The new middle classes were especially insecure as to what constituted appropriate behaviour, and so sought guidance from authority figures. Middle class women found this guidance in magazines such as publisher Samuel Beeton's monthly magazine, Myra's Journal of Dress and Fashion. Advice was provided in Myras editorial column, Spinnings in Town, written by Myra Browne. The counsel was given through clever advertorial plugs written into the monthly column. Social ideals were also communicated in illustrated advertisements via their imagery.<p>Advertisements for commercially manufactured soap were especially significant in recommending proper middle class behaviours and responsibilities. Victorian soap advertisements and recommendations not only sold the product to the consumer, they also created an idea of what constituted middle class behaviour and sold that to the willing and eager female consumers. Beauty was a main nonmaterial commodity sold via soap advertisements to the middle classes, and quickly became integral to the creation and maintenance of the middle class female identity. Despite their intentions, acceptance of the concepts of appropriate and actual deportment were not always consistent. Even the purveyors themselves could become susceptible to censure due to the whims of the marketplace, ill health, or awkward social compromises. Such was the case with the house that Beeton built.