Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Two studies of the mass media were conducted to investigate the roles of Blacks in magazine and television advertising. Study I was a longitudinal study of 6266 pictorial advertisements in five categories of general magazines. Study II was a descriptive study of one week of 705 commercial network television advertisements. In both studies, the amount of exposure and status relationships of Blacks were studied vis-a-vis their White counterparts. Results showed a marked tendency toward all-white characters in both magazines and television with some indication that status for Blacks is increasingly that of an "equal". / 2031-01-01

Background:  With the ever-growing advancement of technology and the implementation of new groundbreaking technology in our day-to-day lives, a path of curiosity was opened that attracted attention. Just how much does the use of artificial intelligence (AI) affect consumer behavior and how much do consumers trust AI.    Purpose:  The purpose of this thesis is to explore the effects of the implementation of AI and machine learning in marketing on consumer behavior and measure the level of trust consumers have towards this advancement of technology.    Method: This research study is conducted through a qualitative method while taking advantage of interviews from individuals based in Sweden ranging from ages of 18 to 30 carried out in a thematic analysis approach.   Conclusion: the results show that implementation of AI in marketing has direct effect on the consumer behaviour. The authors have used various different of primary data collected from a number of interviews and secondary data from depth research of articles as well application of consumer decision model (CDF) to analyse and evaluate the findings.

The thesis deals with representation of cyborgs in advertising on mobile phones from Apple and Samsung. The aim is to show how this theoretical concept - a cyborg as human in intimate relationship with technology - is depicted in advertising. The concept of the work deals with the origin of the term cyborg, its development and its display in art, literature, movies and in works in field of humanities. When examining cyborgs, we use notes from philosophers and science historians, D. Haraway, K. Hayles, A. Clark, W. Mitchell. Their concept of the cyborg is more about mental rather than physical connection to the machine. Here, the mobile phone is used as an extension of people's skills, mental and physical, even without having the device implanted into their body. It corresponds to the idea of human as a cyborg, because the phone as a technology and its user creates a single being, which is now part human part machine. For theoretical base, papers on visual communication, advertising and semiotics were used. This thesis intends to defend the idea of humans as cyborgs and to show how advertisements display relationship between humans and technology, and how new positions of power are created in this ideological environment.

Video game advertising is a major venue for game industry to promote its products. As a form of advertising, game advertising reflects national cultural values. It also manifests game cultural values which gamers are able to identify with. Millions of people, youth and children in particular, are being exposed to game advertising. Video game advertising may not only influence viewers' purchasing decisions, but has the potential to influence their attitudes and perceptions of important societal issues such as gender roles, violence and sex. However, few studies have examined the information content and messages of game advertising. The purpose of this study is to begin to fill the gap. This study examined the content of 1,021 print game advertisements in four popular game magazines published between December 2006 and May 2008 in China and the United States. The study was built on a variety of theoretical backgrounds and game studies. First, built on Resnik and Stern's (1977) classification of information cues and conceptual differences between advertising service and tangible products, the study found that Chinese game advertisements used more information cues than U.S game advertisements. Second, built on a variety of cross-cultural frameworks including Hofstede's ─ individualism vs. collectivism, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's human and nature relationship and time orientation, the study found that that U.S. game advertisements used more individualistic appeals, manipulation-of-nature appeals and future-time-orientation appeals than Chinese game advertisements. It was found that Chinese game advertisements used more collectivistic appeals, oneness-with-nature appeals and past-time-orientation appeals than U.S. game advertisements. Third, the study, on the basis of synthesizing game literature, examined gender representation, sex and violence, and major game cultural values in Chinese and U.S. game ads. The study found that in both Chinese and U.S game advertisements, males were more likely to be featured (83.5% in U.S. ads and 55.9% in Chinese ads) as primary characters than females (12.4% in U.S. ads and 42% in Chinese ads). Female characters were sexualized when presented. The study also found 29.8% of Chinese advertisements contained sexual content and only 4% of U.S. game advertisements contained sexual content. It was found violent content was common in U.S. game advertisements and 61% of U.S. game advertisements contained violent content. U.S. game advertisements contained more violent words than Chinese game advertisements. The study examined three online game cultural characteristics reflected in game ads. Compared with U.S. ads, Chinese game advertisements used more character progression, virtual item accumulation and socialization appeals. Limitations of the study and directions for future study are discussed.

Previous centuries of European colonization experienced by nations located in the Global South have influenced a desire among modern-day customers to purchase cosmetic products that promise a lighter skin complexion. Earlier scholarship focused on this sector of the beauty industry from an economic perspective, but contemporary research has shifted towards analyzing the advertising materials to understand how customers are persuaded to invest in these goods. This study provides further information through a content and rhetorical analysis of thirty-eight advertisements that were originally posted on Gluta-C’s Instagram between November 2013 and April 2016. The frequencies of particular word choice from the posts’ taglines are considered along with their positive and negative connotations. These English-language artifacts were also classified based on the artistic proofs of ethos, pathos, and logos from Neo-Aristotelian criticism. This deconstruction reveals that Gluta-C strengthens its reputation by explicitly outlining the ingredients of its skin-whitening creams while reassuring its safety from potential side effects and emphasizing its outstanding abilities compared to competitors. Emotional appeals were primarily utilized to create associations with wintertime holidays, highlight the undesirable appearances of customers before using the products, and describe their perfect lifestyles after consumption. Logical reasoning was used to present a solution to buyers’ skin problems, offer convenience to their beauty routines, and explain the additional benefits of using these skin-lightening lotions. / Media Studies & Production

Many ethical studies have focused on advertising; however, they have yet to focus specifically on Super Bowl advertisements. This thesis examines the ethical issue of portraying deceptive acts within the storylines of Super Bowl advertisements from 1988-2008. Results indicate that 196 of the 2,172 advertisements studied, contain deceptive storylines. Most often the advertisements depicted white males, ages 30-64, using deception. Also, deception was usually done out of self interest at the expense of others. The deception often led to negative social, material, and emotional consequences for the person being deceived, with mostly positive outcomes being shown for the person doing the deceiving. These, and other actions, provide a model of behavior that may have a negative impact on society, which warrants future research on this subject.

As consumers, we are bombarded daily with companies advertising their products and services. A growing concern is the unethical use of partially-clothed or nude models and their effects on consumers who often are not even actively searching for information about these products or services. No matter the ethical implications many companies choose this method of promoting their products to the general population. Much research has been done to study the effects that these risqué images have on consumers' self-image and feelings, most commonly though, on females. This research focuses on males as consumers and their attitudes towards advertisements and how it compares to the female consumer. Only when we understand the attitudes toward advertisements can we effectively inform our customer of products and services. The purpose of this thesis is to explore males and how their self-image and exposure to images in advertising can affect their attitude towards the advertisement. Through the analysis of consumer surveys completed by both males and females, this thesis evaluates how males feel towards authentic advertisements and compare that to their female counterpart. Evidence shows that a consumer's attitude towards an advertisement has an impact on their attitude towards the brand. By discovering how males' attitudes towards advertisements are formed and comparing that to females' attitudes towards advertisements, this thesis aims to make an impact in the marketing discipline to improve advertiser's knowledge and ability to create advertisements that serve a purpose and are considered appealing by consumers- leading them to purchase.

The sexualization of women in advertisements remains a controversial form of media, specifically infantilization. Infantilization is defined as the portrayal of adult women acting and looking childish through attire and demeanor. This study examines consumers’ perceptions of infantilized women in advertisements. Students (n = 100) from a 4-year university participated in an online questionnaire examining measures of morality, objectionability, and ubiquity of five advertisements. Three out of the five advertisements display infantilized female models. The others show women in a non-infantilizing manner. A single chi-square conducted on the participants found significant differences in if students can correctly identify in ads. Additionally, a series of analyses of variance (ANOVA) also found significant differences between males and females in their perception of the infantilization of women in advertisements. Overall, the results indicated that participants incorrectly identified infantilization, and males rated it lower in morality and higher in objectionability than females. These findings support the need for a more critical analysis of the infantilization of women.

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