The Image of Women in Contemporary Automotive Advertising

The diploma thesis examines the portrayal of typified female images for the purposes of ** automotive advertising**. In the theoretical part, we begin by defining advertising and highlighting its fundamental functions, with emphasis on the characteristics and functions of advertising female images. We continue by presenting images of women/femininity as they appear in automotive advertising, and analyse the relationship of consumer society or culture to this type of advertising, then present the types of women suggested by automotive advertising, and address the issue of the female body as an object of desire. The opinion survey among consumers about stereotypical images of women in automotive advertising showed that advertisements are dominated by the female type of wife/mother/housewife and the type of woman as an object of sexual desire. Consumers perceive such representations as sexist, offensive to women, and partly inappropriate for younger children and the general public.

Problem

The diploma thesis examines the portrayal of typified female images for the purposes of ** automotive advertising**. In the theoretical part, we begin by defining advertising and highlighting its fundamental functions, with emphasis on the characteristics and functions of advertising female images.

Solution and Method

We continue by presenting images of women/femininity as they appear in automotive advertising, and analyse the relationship of consumer society or culture to this type of advertising, then present the types of women suggested by automotive advertising, and address the issue of the female body as an object of desire. The research part is based on a public opinion survey about the prevailing types and roles of women in automotive advertising from the consumers' perspective, and on a comparative analysis of similarities and differences in the advertising typification of women for the needs of the automotive industry in the 1960s and today.

It concludes with a discussion of the legislative regulation of "eco" or so-called "green" advertising in the contemporary automotive industry in Slovenia, and with a presentation of the conceptual design and production of an additional diploma product, which, in the sense of good practice, illustrates morally and ethically sound advertising portrayal of women for the needs of the contemporary automotive industry and sustainable artistic design. Social norms and values change over time, which is why stereotypical images of women and femininity also change.

Automotive advertising uses these typified images to influence primarily the consumer behaviour of men.

Results

The opinion survey among consumers about stereotypical images of women in automotive advertising showed that advertisements are dominated by the female type of wife/mother/housewife and the type of woman as an object of sexual desire. Consumers perceive such representations as sexist, offensive to women, and partly inappropriate for younger children and the general public. A comparison of female images in automotive advertisements from the 1960s and contemporary times showed that the classic female type of wife/mother/housewife was initially aesthetically eroticised, then vulgarly sexualised, until it reached the contemporary fetishised type of femininity disguised as a femme fatale.

Slovenian automotive advertisers, in accordance with current legislation, comply with the provisions of "eco" or "green" advertising, whilst the additional diploma product is an example of good practice in the field of automotive advertising that avoids sexist stereotyping of women and femininity and complies with the provisions of "eco" or "green" advertising.