Chapter 4 Quantitative Analyses of the Written Data
4.6 Linguistic Devices
4.6.2 Hedgers and Boosters
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the advertiser uses a lot of terms about scope to emphasize their certainty of the effectiveness of the products advertised. Following a similar line, time, which is related to efficiency, tend to emphasize how time-saving for the target products to improve the consumer’s appearance and how lasting the effects of those target products are, both of which are the consumer’s interest. As for annexation, it is used to emphasize the additional functions of the beauty products. It can help the consumer have extra benefits from the products advertised.
4.6.2 Hedgers and boosters
Hedgers and boosters are modifiers which are frequently found in advertising discourse to persuade the consumer to buy the products. Table 21 shows differences between cosmetic ads and skin-care ads by the use of hedgers and boosters.
Table 21. Distribution of types of advertisements by types of modifiers (A= modifiers , B= types of beauty products)
A B Cosmetic Skin-care Total
Hedger 60.0% (3) 40.0% (2) 100.0% (5) Booster 39.0% (181) 61.0% (283) 100.0% (464) None 54.8% (416) 45.2% (343) 100.0% (759) Total 48.8% (600) 51.2% (628) 100.0% (1228)
According to Table 21, in general, hedgers are rarely used either in cosmetic ads or in skin-care ads. As for boosters, they are used more frequently in skin-care ads (61.0%) than in cosmetic ads (39.0%). In cosmetic ads, this finding seems to indicate
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that the advertiser is less confident with the effects of the products due to some of the consumer’s personal factors, such as the consumer’s knowledge, experience, and skills of using the cosmetics. As a result, the advertiser has to tone down their certainty and use fewer boosters in cosmetic ads than in skin-care ads. Though the uncertainty is not advantageous for the advertiser, it will avoid the consumer’s distrust on the exaggerated advertisements of beauty products. That is, the advertiser uses hedgers in a relatively conservative way to trade off the consumer’s trust and to sound more reliable. As to skin-care ads, the advertiser has more confidence in the products advertised because the effectiveness can be verified easily; therefore, boosters are used far more in skin-care ads than in cosmetic ads.
Also, it was expected that both hedgers and boosters would be used in both types of ads. Table 22 presents the results of data analysis.
Table 22. Distribution of types of modifiers by types of advertisements (A= modifiers , B= types of beauty products)
A B Cosmetic Skin-care Total
Hedger 0.5% (3) 0.3% (2) 0.4% (5) Booster 30.2% (181) 45.0% (283) 37.7% (464) None 69.3% (416) 54.7% (343) 61.9% (759) Total 100.0% (600) 100.0% (628) 100.0% (1228)
According to Table 22, most advertisements of beauty products (61.9%) do not carry modifiers; only 37.7% of them contain boosters, and hedgers are rarely used
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(0.4%). Also, in the use of boosters, it is found that skin-care ads score apparently higher than cosmetic ads. The reason for this difference lies in the effects of using the two different kinds of products. To be specific, skin-care products are used to improve the facial skin condition, and if the product itself is effective, the improvement of the skin condition will be revealed. That is, since the consequence of using skin-care products can be judged objectively, the advertiser is more certain and confident with these products, which allows the advertiser to exaggerate the functions of these commodities.
When the consumer uses cosmetic to improve her facial outlook, the skills to apply the cosmetic products are important. Since different women have different skills and preferences of using cosmetics, there are individual differences. More importantly, individual differences are also reflected in the judgements of beauty. As a result, the advertiser can not promise that the make-up will definitely make the consumer look better. Since the certainty is relatively low, the advertiser uses fewer boosters.
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Chapter 5
Qualitative Analyses of the Interviews
This chapter presents qualitative analyses of the interviews, which aim at the subjects’ attitudes on a 5-point Likert scale of persuasiveness toward the advertising
approaches, felicity conditions, CP, and PP. The related data are first examined by the subjects as a whole, and then by the subjects’ social characteristics.
5.1 Advertising Approaches
There are two ways for the advertiser to persuade the consumer: hard-sell approach and soft-sell approach. However, it has never been confirmed that the advertiser and the consumer share the same attitude toward the same beauty product.
In this thesis, the criterion for attitude test is persuasiveness. This section presents and analyzes the subjects’ attitudes toward the two advertising approaches applied into the two types of beauty products. These subjects’ reactions are analyzed, first, with these
subjects as a whole, then with subgroupings of the subjects by their educational level and age. Table 26 depicts the results of the interviews.
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Table 23. Subjects’ attitudes toward the persuasiveness of the advertising approaches by types of beauty products (A=approaches of advertising, B=beauty products, C=subjects)
C A B
Whole Education level Age
High Low Old Young
5.1.1 General attitudes toward advertising approaches by subjects as a whole According to Table 23, when all subjects are taken as a whole, the mean of their attitude toward the advertising approach in general is 3.27, which shows the subjects take a light favoring attitude toward the advertisements.
In terms of the advertising approaches, the mean of the subjects’ attitude toward hard-sell approach is 3.41, and that of soft-sell approach is 3.12. The gap between the two means shows that hard-sell approach is more persuasive than soft-sell approach.
That is, it seems that the potential consumer in Taiwan prefer rational statements (which take hard-sell approach) to statements of fantasy and sensitivity (which adopt soft-sell approach).
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5.1.2 Attitudes toward types of beauty products advertisements by subjects as a whole According to Table 23, in terms of two types of beauty products ads, in cosmetic ads, hard-sell approach (Mean=3.16) is preferred to soft-sell approach (Mean=2.41). During the interviews, some subjects claimed that using soft-sell approach for beauty products advertisements is vague, and the statement is not concrete. As consumers, they prefer definite description of the products, taking hard-sell approach as a device more reliable and persuasive than soft-sell approach.
According to the subjects, in skin-care ads, soft-sell approach (Mean=3.83) is more favored than hard-sell approach is (Mean=3.66), although the gap is fairly small.
According to the subjects, the use of soft-sell approach, such as describing the psychological state, sounds attractive to them.
Moreover, according to Table 23, the gap between cosmetic ads and skin-care ads is apparently larger when soft-sell approach is applied (with a discrepancy of 1.42) than when hard-sell approach is adopted (with a difference of 0.50). This finding implies that soft-sell approach is relatively less persuasive. According to some of the subjects, since what cosmetic ads aim at is to establish in the consumer a certain kind of image and/or ideology, which are abstract by nature, they would rather that those images and ideology be described in a more concrete and more direct ways of verbal expression. Moreover, unlike skin-care products, the effects of which can easily be
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verified, the effects of cosmetic products are subject to variate from person to person due to the consumer’s personal preference, which is not necessarily congruent with the advertiser’s expectations. Therefore, a negative attitude is induced. On the other hand, the subjects hold a favorable attitude toward soft-sell approach in skin-care ads because the commercial appeal of skin-care is concrete by nature and thus easy to comprehend; soft-sell approach even gives the consumer an extra image when she reads the advertisements. Therefore, in skin-care ads, soft-sell approach overrides hard-sell approach.
5.1.3 Subjects’ attitude toward advertising approaches and types of beauty products by subjects’ education level
When the subjects’ education level is taken into consideration, a different picture is yielded. According to Table 23, first, subjects of lower education level give more favorable attitude (Mean=3.41) toward advertisements of beauty products in general than those of higher education level do (Mean=3.12). Based on the contents of the interviews, it seems that those subjects of lower education level have less demand from the advertisements; namely, they do not mind whether the advertisements are direct and clear, which is hard-sell approach, or indirect and not so clear on the surface, which is soft-sell. Thus, they tend to accept whatever the ads try to convey.
On the contrary, the subjects of higher education level are less likely to accept easily
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what the advertisements say. That is, they tend to have more independent thinking and have their own choice of ideology, not influenced so easily as subjects of lower education level.
When the advertising approaches are taken into consideration, in hard-sell approach, both of the two education groups give a mean of 3.41, which shows that in the use of hard-sell approach, education level is not an influential social factor.
However, in soft-sell approach, the mean of the higher education group (2.83) is apparently lower than that of lower education group (3.41). This result seems to indicate that subjects of higher education level do not favor soft-sell approach, while the subjects of lower education level act the opposite. In other words, for beauty product advertisements, females of higher education level prefer rational and clear verbal descriptions to vague and fantasizing ones, being demanding in the truth value of verbal expressions through the use of oft-sell approach.. However, to the females of lower education level, it makes no difference.
When the types of ads are taken into consideration, in hard-sell approach, the
means of cosmetic ads given by the two education groups are the same, with both scoring 3.16. A similar pattern is repeated in the two education groups’ reactions to
skin-care ads, both offering a mean 3.66. In other words, the subjects of either education group prefer skin-care ads to cosmetic ads, although the difference is not
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large. On the other hand, in soft-sell approach, the higher education group’s evaluation of cosmetic ads is 2.33, and that of the lower education group is 2.50. To conclude, despite the selling approaches, both of the two education groups disfavor the cosmetic ads, and favor skin-care ads. According to some of the subjects, cosmetic advertisements are too abstract for them to understand; therefore, the advertisements are not persuasive to them. However, both higher and the lower education groups give positive evaluations to skin-care advertisements, with both groups giving a mean of 3.66 to hard-sell approach, and with the higher education group scoring 3.33 and the lower education group scoring 4.33 for soft-sell approach. It is noticed that the subjects of lower education level hold a conspicuously higher evaluation toward the use of soft-sell approach for skin-care ads. It seems that the subjects of lower education level, again, are found to be much easier to be persuaded to accept what the advertisements try to sell.
5.1.4 Attitudes toward advertising approaches and types of beauty products by subjects’ age
According to Table 23, both the older subjects and the younger subjects give a mildly favorable evaluation toward advertising approach in general, 3.24 and 3.28, respectively, without conspicuous age difference.
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When individual advertising approaches are taken into consideration, for hard-sell approach, both age groups score 3.41. However, for soft-sell approach, the mean of the older group score 3.08, which is slightly lower than that of the younger group, 3.16. Again, no significant age difference is located.
When the two types of beauty products are taken into consideration, in hard-sell approach, the older group and the younger group both score 3.16 for cosmetic ads, and 3.66 for skin-care ads. These results indicate that both age groups prefer skin-care ads to cosmetic ads, although the difference is not large. On the other hand, in soft-sell approach, the older group’s evaluation of the cosmetic ads is 2.50, and that of the younger group is 2.33, with both age groups giving negative attitudes toward using soft-sell approach to advertise cosmetic ads. However, both groups give positive evaluations to skin-care ads with soft-sell approach, 3.66 by the old and 4.00 by the young. In conclusion, the two age groups resemble each other, first, in giving positive attitudes toward hard-sell approach, despite the types of the commodities advertised;
next, in giving negative attitudes toward using soft-sell approach for cosmetic ads, but positive attitudes toward advertising skin-care products with soft-sell approach.
According to the subjects, women in Taiwan, old or young, tend to be attracted by skin-care ads because, culturally, Chinese women are expected and encouraged to pursue natural beauty, at which skin-care products aim, rather than to seek artificial
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beauty, the primary goal of cosmetics.
5.2 Subjects’ Attitude toward the Persuasiveness of Felicity Conditions in Advertisements
Since every piece of advertisement is with referential content, only the other three of the felicity conditions—preparatory condition, sincerity condition, and essential condition—are examined here. This section describes the subjects’ attitudes toward the application of these three felicity conditions on cosmetic ads and skin-care ads, first, with the subjects as a whole, and then with subgroupings of the subjects by their educational level and age. Table 24 presents the means of these attitudes.
Table 24. Subjects’ attitudes toward the persuasiveness of the felicity conditions by two types of beauty products (A=felicity conditions, B=beauty products, C=subjects)
C A B
Whole Education level Age
High Low Old Young
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5.2.1 General attitudes toward felicity conditions by subjects as a whole
According to Table 24, when the subjects are taken as a whole, their general attitude toward the felicity conditions on the whole is 3.15, meaning that the subjects are not strongly persuaded to believe that the advertisements can do what they claim to be capable of doing. The reason may be that the advertisements are too exaggerative to be true. For example, the advertisements promise that once the consumer use the product, it will serve multiple functions and solve all the skin problems, and she will be as beautiful as a superstar. Obviously, this kind of
advertisement is exaggerating. Thus, the subjects are not persuaded.
In terms of the persuasiveness of the individual felicity conditions, the subjects’
evaluation toward preparatory condition is 3.02, that toward sincerity condition is 3.27, and that toward essential condition is 3.05. These results indicate that among the three felicity conditions, the subjects take more positive attitude toward sincerity condition than toward the other two conditions. A possible explanation is that once the advertiser shows a little sincerity, the subjects tend to feel sincere and, thus, reliable.
On the other hand, preparatory condition and essential condition are not satisfied so easily as sincerity condition is. That is, the advertiser has to bring forward apparent evidence to prove that the advertisement is true, which needs great efforts. Therefore, both of the evaluations are less positive.
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5.2.2 Attitudes toward types of beauty products advertisements by subjects as a whole According to Table 24, in terms of the two types of beauty product ads, in
cosmetic ads, sincerity condition (Mean=2.99) is preferred to preparatory condition (Mean=2.72) and essential condition (Mean=2.83). That is, all of the subjects’
evaluations to these three felicity conditions are negative.
In skin-care ads, sincerity condition (Mean=3.55) is more favored than preparatory condition (Mean=3.31) and essential condition (Mean=3.21). Although the mean is above 3.00, the strength of persuasiveness is still not high (not over 4.00).
Moreover, the pattern is the same as that in cosmetic ads, which shows that the types of commodities make no difference. Again, a possible explanation is that only in sincerity do the subjects believe it to be true because the social norm of sincerity is easier to reach.
The gap between cosmetic ads and skin-care ads is apparently smaller in essential condition (with a difference of 0.38) than in preparatory condition (with a discrepancy of 0.59) and in sincerity condition (with a distinction of 0.56). A possible reason is that the promise in the advertisement cannot be verified so far; thus it is not reliable and persuasive.
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5.2.3 Attitudes toward felicity conditions and types of beauty products by subjects’ education level
According to Table 24, in terms of education level, the general attitude toward felicity conditions by the subjects of higher education level and that by the lower education subjects are 3.28 and 2.87, respectively, with a gap of 0.41. In other words, higher education subjects hold a positive attitude toward beauty product advertisements, but the lower education subjects a negative attitude. According to the subjects, it is likely that the lower education subjects have difficulty in understanding clearly the wording of the advertisements; therefore, they tend to reflect such insufficiency and insecurity of comprehension by holding a negative evaluation.
Next, when individual felicity conditions are taken into consideration, in preparatory condition, the mean offered by the higher education subjects is 3.20, and that by the lower education subjects is 2.70; in sincerity condition, it is 3.37 and 3.17, respectively; in essential condition, 3.28, and 2.76, respectively. These results indicate that it is only in evaluating sincerity condition do both of the two education groups offer positive attitudes, with the gap between the two groups being small. In evaluating the persuasiveness of the other two felicity conditions, the higher education group consistently gives positive evaluations, while the lower education group systematically offers negative attitudes. These results seem to imply that the lower
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education group, lacking the ability to understand the advertisements clearly or completely, unable to judge whether the felicity conditions are met, is faced to give a negative evaluation.
When the types of beauty products are taken into consideration, whatever the felicity conditions may be, the two education groups always give better evaluation to skin-care ads than to cosmetic ads. The subjects seem to think that skin-care ads are more persuasive than cosmetic ads. A possible reason from the subjects is that skin-care ads give concrete sense of the products to the consumer, and the consequence of using the skin-care products can be verified. However, cosmetic ads give abstract sense of the products, and the effects of using cosmetics cannot be verified clearly or directly. That is, whether the effects are good or not depends on individual preferences. For example, some females think that heavy make-up is good-looking, while others do not think so. As a result, the felicity conditions of skin-care ads are considered more persuasive than those of cosmetic ads.
5.2.4 Attitudes toward felicity conditions and types of beauty products by subjects’ age
The older group’s and the younger group’s general attitudes toward felicity conditions are 2.82 and 3.43, respectively, with a difference of 0.61. It is noticed that the older group holds a negative attitude, whereas the younger group holds a positive
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attitude. According to the subjects, the older group is against advertisements because they think the advertisements, which are primarily intended to earn money from the potential consumer, are exaggerative and untrue; while the younger group tends to consider advertisements as a tool to supply information, and thus tends to accept what the advertisements say and believe that they are true.
When the three individual felicity conditions are taken into consideration, the
When the three individual felicity conditions are taken into consideration, the