This study is an investigation into the stereotypes used in advertisements designed to appeal to university students’ sense of having a social identity, taking the situation at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) as being representative of university campuses as, among other things, social and cultural space. The study assumes that a university is a site of cultural negotiation, and as such may be viewed as a place where identities are formed and readjusted to conform to stereotypes popularised by influential social models as portrayed in the media. Moreover, with the process of globalization, which distributes stereotypical images globally, one would assume that advertising at NMMU functions in a similar way to its mode of functioning in most parts of the world. Although such media (advertisements) exist in various forms, the scope of the research for this study was limited to print advertisements. Advertisements relevant to the concerns of this study are found everywhere at South African universities. Today, the latest trend for companies like Mr. Price, Standard Bank, Truworths, Red Bull, and Axe, among others, is to sponsor university events, that way creating the opportunity to advertise their products or services to students. Moreover, the notice boards of South African universities are filled with posters advertising new products in the market. In addition to all this, the general South African goods and services market is flooded with magazines that contain stereotype-promoting advertisements targeting students or, in general, young adults. For the purposes of this study, a ‘stereotype’ is understood as an iconic site of identification which functions as a generalized model for social behaviour. In this sense, a ‘stereotype’ may also be understood as a representation of an ‘ideal self’. The purpose of this study is threefold: firstly, to show how and why students may be vulnerable to the stereotypes identified in terms of Lacan’s theory of the ‘mirror stage’; secondly, to identify and categorize the various stereotypes used in advertising to appeal to the student’s sense of social identity, and thirdly, to show that advertisements can be misleading in so far as stereotyping ignores the specificity of every student’s personal social situation and creates false expectations on the part of the target students.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:8395 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Okombo, G. A |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | ii, 93 leaves : col. ill. ; 31 cm, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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