Women as a marketing instrument

by D. Saraniya

Women are a significant component of our society and cannot be neglected due to their underestimated status and position.

A woman plays various roles in her life, that of a mother, daughter, sister and so on and helps in shaping the society in which we live. Although she has been duly respected for her responsibilities towards her family and society, in today's fast changing world it has been noticed in different sectors that women are mostly being treated as pleasure objects.

Today the marketing industry is among the fastest growing industries not only in our country but across the world. Almost every company, institution and service uses marketing as a tool to make people aware of their products and services and motivate sales.

Marketing not only informs people about the new brands available in the market or about the upcoming ones but also helps in creating a need for the product in the mind of the viewers. They also help in building a brand's image and creating a niche for it in the market.

Today, because of strong competition in the product and services sector particularly in the clothing, motorcars, cosmetics and furniture industry, only organisations which use the most innovative marketing methods, are successful.

Women are widely used by marketeers to promote sales and popularise products. Bose came out with a wireless iPod speaker and advertised it by showing good looking women socialising and having fun while listening to it.

They figured it would makes us think, "Hey if I buy this, good looking people will want to party with me". In the end we will probably use it to listen to music in the shower.

Although on the part of marketing it shows a positive approach, on the other hand abuse of women in marketing practices negatively affects social values and women's role in society.

Although the position of many women in society has improved significantly, the images of women in advertisements have not changed appreciably, and they are still being used as a marketing instrument in a way that degrades women's value.

Women appear as a sexually attractive object in any kind of advertisement or as an attractive material standing near a product.

Sometimes firms use attractive saleswomen to facilitate sales or to attract consumers' attention to the firm or product. The use of attractive women's images in advertisements is so widespread that such images are found in the advertisements for most product types.

For example the Axe effect (perfumes and deodorants) advertisement, wherein after the use of the

perfume the young girls try to jump on the man, who has applied it. Girls appearing in advertisements are usually fair and thin. Sometimes it stimulates youngsters to commit sexual violence.

Marketeers and advertisers should consider the ethical aspects of the abuse of women in marketing practices and should avoid violating ethical principles.

The writer is an Assistant Lecturer at the Eastern University.