What appeal and what kinds of humour are used in the adverts supplied? Are these creative strategies suitable for the target market?
Advertisements use emotional, fear and humour appeal to attracted and retain their customer basis. The above advertisement is focused around a sex and humour appeal as a parody of the ‘Lynx effect’ advert. Pelsmacker and Geuens (1999) suggest that humour can stimulate mixed feeling – “upbeat, warm and negative”. The surprising ending of this advert creates upbeat and amused humour during the ‘Specsavers effect’ ad.
Categories suggested by Specks (1991) indicate this advert uses multiple types of humour. Firstly ‘arousal safety humour’- the content is highly emotionally stimulating, for example the unlikely occurrence of a rush of ‘attractive’ women in bikinis running heading towards an average/ below average looking man. Incongruity is another category of humour this adverts can fall in to. Specks (1991) highlights an effect use of humour is that which requires minimal effort to solve – the simple, easy to follow storyline along with the effect the ugly glasses have on the women.
As this advert is a parody of the Lynx effect advert, throughout the beginning and middle of the ad, the product is unknown or different to what the audience may expect. Lorache et al (2014) suggests the unforeseen product of Specsavers and the effect the ugly glasses has on the rushing women adds an element of surprise and exaggeration humour to the advert increasing its memorability and enhances a positive mood of the audience.
Specsavers (2015) website indicates their service is targeted at all age groups, genders and demographics of those who require glasses. The target audience of this particular Specsavers advert isn’t clearly outlined however due to the similarities to the lynx ad and the strong focus on sex appeal and appearance, it may be concluded this ad is aimed more towards younger to middle ged males. This conclusion can be supported by research on Millennials 13-24 years by Nielsen (2012) males respond best to normal men in exaggerated situations, extreme imagery and whimsical humour – examples of this can be seen in the ad. Contrasting this, the same research by Nielsen (2012) found females respond best to fun, happy or I could be her situations. Although indications of these features may be seen throughout this advert the research is in favour of males being the suitable target audience for the ‘Specsavers effect’ ad.
According to Reichert et al (2012) sex appeal in advertising is on the rise. The use of attractive women in this advert indicates the use of sex appeal alongside the humour element in this advertisement. Sengupta & Dahl (2009) highlighted men have a more positive attitude towards sex appeal in advertising compared to women which may be due to the men displaying a broader and short-termed sex based relationships. This supports the assumption of the target audience being male as they are more suited, favourable and responsive to this method of advertising.
So is humour and sex appeal an effective strategy for the audience of Specsavers effect advert?
Unknown (no date) states humour should be related how it benefits the customer. The story line uses negative punishment to indicate what would happen if you did not use a Specsavers product in an over exaggerated circumstance, therefore in turn highlighting how the use of their products can benefit its customers. The article goes on to state audiences that are younger, better educated, upscale, professional males are more favourable towards humour in adverts that relate to creative personnel, non – durables and service businesses. These characteristics support the concluded target audience of males. The adverts indicate a more knowledge man than the below average looking one used in the advert, would have made the right decision and would of chosen to shop at Specsavers
However according to Millward Brown (no date) humour in advertising when used correctly can aid the communication of the ad, although the wrong or inappropriate type humour can have an adverse effect. If the humour is not directly related to the unique selling point (USP) of the product and advert it can distract from the overall purpose of the advertisement. This Specsavers advert focuses on the effect a pair of glasses has on a person’s appearance when judged by others. This does not directly relate to the USP of the product however it does indicate that Specsavers have more stylish glasses than others.
Finally the Graph (2013) states “humor appeal used in advertisements motivated the respondents to purchase the product but attributes of the product also plays a significant role in buying decision.” Specsavers are already a well-known brand in the optical market the characteristics and quality of the products they offer may have a larger effect on purchasing than humour in advertising.
It may be concluded that the humour used in the advert aids its memorability and enhances recognition for the brand however the features and quality of Specsavers products also effect purchasing decisions. The advert does use these creative strategies effectively to target specific audiences.
References:
DAHL, D. SENGUPTA, J. VOHS,K. (2009). Sex in Advertising: Gender Differences and the Role of Relationship Commitment. JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH. 1 (unknown), 217-231.
Lorache et al (2014.) Humour and sex appeals. Busm2619 Blackboard discussion topic. 15th January 2015. Available from http://worcester.blackboard.com[Accessed 26th January 2015].
Millward Brown. (no date). DOES HUMOR MAKE ADS MORE EFFECTIVE?. Available: http://www.millwardbrown.com/docs/default-source/insight-documents/knowledge-points/MillwardBrown_KnowledgePoint_HumorInAdvertising.pdf . [Accessed 26th January 2015.]
Nielsen (2012). Humour and sex appeals. Busm2619 Blackboard discussion topic. 15thJanuary 2015. Available from http://worcester.blackboard.com [Accessed 26th January 2015].
Pelsmacker, P. & Geuens, M. (1999). The advertising effectiveness of different levels of intensity humour and warmth and the moderating role of top of mind awareness and degree of product use. Journal of Marketing Communications. 5 (3) p.113-12
Reichert et al (2012). Humour and sex appeals. Busm2619 Blackboard discussion topic. 15thJanuary 2015. Available from http://worcester.blackboard.com [Accessed 26th January 2015].
Speck, P (1991). The humorous message taxonomy: a framework for the study of humorous ads. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising. 13. p1-44.
Specsavers . (2015). About us. Available: http://www.specsavers.co.uk/news-and-information/why-specsavers. [Accessed 26th January 2015.]
The Graph. (2013). Impact of humorous advertisements on customers’ behaviour. International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences . 2 (10), 34-41.
Unknown. (no date). Ch.6 – Source, Message & Channel Factors.Available: http://people.senecac.on.ca/flo.israel/mkm803.ch4.htm. [Accessed 26th January 2015.]
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