The role of advertising in Indian women’s desire to be fair
©2014
Textbook
70 Pages
Summary
This study deals with the situation in India, in particular, with the situation of young Indian women. Ever since advertisers and multinational companies discovered India’s remarkable aspiration for light complexions, more and more fairness products and most importantly, advertisements for fairness products, have been established on the Indian market. The desire for fair skin in India is a culturally embedded issue but advertising might have reinforced it.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
9
1. Introduction
While in the United States the cosmetic surgery booms for increasing breasts, reshaping the
nose and siphoning fat, companies producing whitening products have the right touch in
India. We can observe continuously increasing television commercials promoting whitening-
products and women's magazines filled with fair-skinned models and rich in advertising
inviting to beauty parlours with skin-lightening services. Moreover, we see light-skinned film
stars which do not resemble the real population of India but rather look like fair-skinned
Iranians, Turks, or Spaniards (Sequeira, 2005). Almost every Indian city is stamped by
gigantic posters hung up in the city centres promoting well- known fashion houses, showing
Saris worn by Indian models which are no more distinguishable from Europeans.
An impressive body of research can be found on advertising's contribution to eating-
disorders, consumption of alcohol, tobacco, etc. However, no research can be found on
advertising's role in the consumption of skin-lightening products which has become
increasingly popular in Asia. Similar to eating-disorders, skin-lightening is an issue
concerning body image with potential harmful consequences. This project deals with the
situation in India, in particular, with the situation of young Indian women. Ever since
advertisers and multinational companies discovered India's remarkable aspiration for light
complexions, more and more fairness products and most importantly, advertisements for
fairness products, have been established on the Indian market. The desire for fair skin in India
is a culturally embedded issue but advertising might have reinforced it. By applying a survey,
it is my intention to explore this deliberation. To be exact, the project aims to examine
advertising's role in young Indian women's desire to be fair-skinned beauties and in their
consumption of skin-lightening products. The dissertation will be divided into five different
chapters which include the following issues.
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Chapter 1 will provide sophisticated background information about the issue of skin-
lightening in India in order to make clear why this research project was worth undertaking. At
the end of this chapter, I will depict the purpose of my research and my objectives.
Chapter 2 outlines the existing literature on cultural standards of beauty, advertising images
and effects on women and some research on skin-lightening. The literature review will mainly
give an insight of what earlier research found about the relation between advertising and body
image. Subsequently, I will point out the theories which frame this research project.
Chapter 3 explicitly describes the method employed and a step-by-step report of the
methodological procedure, including sampling, limitations of the research method and the
problems I encountered while conducting the project.
Chapter 4 will demonstrate the findings of the research by outlining the major results which
are closely related to my objectives.
Chapter 5 discusses the major findings according to the research objectives and by linking
them to former research and theories revealed in the literature review and theoretical
framework. At the end of the chapter, a conclusion will be done and recommendations for
further research will be given.
1.
1 Background Setting the Scene
1.
1.1 Introduction
I suppose that hardly anyone from outside India is truly familiar with Indian women's
preference for fair skin and their consumption of skin-lightening products, let alone the
potential adverse effects of these products. To understand the reasons for and the purpose of
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my research, the following paragraphs intend to provide sophisticated background information
about the fair beauty ideal in India, the fairness industry and the potential side-effects of skin-
lightening products. A glimpse of the changed status of Indian women has the function to
partly explain why there has been an increasing consumption of fairness products.
1.
1.2 India's preference for fair skin
India's population is naturally `brown' but fair skin seems to be the most important attribute a
woman needs if she wants to be considered as beautiful in India. Additionally, fairer skin
remains to symbolize `aristocratic heritage and class allegiance' (Goon & Craven, 2003). In a
sunny country like India, many women consciously avoid the sun in order to maintain the
lightest skin colour possible (Sequeira, 2005). Especially when it comes to marriage, fair skin
becomes extremely important. Arranged marriages are still very common in India and so it is
mostly up to the parents to find a bride for their son or a groom for their daughter,
respectively. Therefore, matrimonial ads in newspapers, magazines and on websites are a
highly popular address to insert advertisements or to read profiles of the bride- or groom-to-
be. The most frequent description for the wanted bride that can be observed in those
matrimonial ads reads as follows "beautiful, slim, fair, convent-educated girl" (Chatterji,
2005). In fact, on most of these websites, members are asked to describe their complexion
with categories ranging from `very fair- fair- wheatish- wheatish medium- wheatish brown-
dark' (Sequeira, 2005).
Dussault (2006) provides an interesting quote in a recent article taken from the Internet
version of The Hindu Business Line which points out that skin colour becomes a vital issue
for marriage.
"If caste is less of a criterion for finding a life partner in contemporary India, fairness
of the skin -- mostly the woman's -- remains a sure value on the marriage market,
sometimes even more prized than professional skills or wealth. This explains why
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women take so much effort to lighten their complexion."
(http://www.blonnet.com/life/2006/02/24/stories/2006022400290400.html)
In an online-article Challapalli (2002) quotes an HLL spokesman who claims that over 90 per
cent of Indian women regard skin lightening as a high-need area. Pale skin has become so
essential in India that some even call it an `obsession'. Singh (1999) notes that women and
men in matrimonial advertisements mostly claim to feature a `white' or `extremely fair'
complexion or/and search for a partner featuring it. He asserts,
"Times and things have changed much -- since yesterday's bias is today's obsession.
The craze for fair, white complexion has become just more naked, commercialised,
unnatural and even `shocking'."
(http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99feb14/sunday/head7.htm)
Runkle (2004) conducted intensive participant observation at the 2003 Miss India pageant's
month-long training programme for contestants. She discovered that although attention was
paid to body and diet, "the most striking focus of the training programme was on skin
colour" (p.149). Every woman had to take some medication which was supposed to alter the
skin and in particular, the skin-colour. Runkle points out that the daily medication had
adverse effects, making some women feel weak and even sick. Furthermore she reports,
"in a disturbingly casual manner [the dermatologist] emphasized the need for all
contestants to bleach their skin by prescribing the peeling agent Retin-A as well as
glycolic acid, and in the case of isolated dark patches, a laser treatment." (p.149)
When asking the dermatologist about the reason for such an emphasis on fair skin, she
responded by saying that
"Fair skin is really an obsession with us, it's a fixation. Even the fairest of the fair, they
feel they want to be fairer." (p.149)
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1.
1.3 Women in India
The status of women in Indian society has dramatically changed over time. Whereas just two
decades ago it was common that only men were employed and used to take decisions at
home, there are today, an increasing number of women who have their own income and
make decisions within the family. The growing independence of Indian women has also led
to higher divorce rates among middle classes since many working women do no more agree
to the traditional ideal of marriage. Divorces in India's capital, New Delhi have doubled in
five years to 8,000 in the year 2005 and similarly, the figure rose in other metropolitan cities
such as Calcutta, Mumbai and Bangalore (Fjordman, 2005). Women are no longer just
staying at home anymore but most of Indian women work. Rising income is giving women
the opportunity to purchase according to their own ideas. This might partly explain the
increasing success of India's fairness industry which I will illustrate in greater detail in the
following paragraph.
1.
1.4 The fairness industry and its advertising in India
The fairness market has grown by about two-thirds to more than USD $230 in the last five
years (The Philadelphia Inquirer), and according to a 2003 article in Women's eNews, India's
"fairness industry" accounts for 60% of skincare sales with a total annual revenue of USD
$140 Million. Interestingly, the need to be fair is no longer unique to women but also
concerns Indian men. A recent survey commissioned by the Media Researchers Users Council
revealed that 32 per cent of India's consumers using fairness products are men.
American and European companies calculate the aspiration for fair skin to continue and are
now fighting for their market share. Popular western brands Avon, L'Oreal, Lancome, Yves
Saint-Laurent, Clinique, Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, and Revlon are all offering whitening
products on the Indian market (Leistikow, 2004). Moreover, the heightened competition has
forced companies to increase their investments for advertising. The most successful company
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on the fairness market Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), relaunched Fair & Lovely in March
2000 and increased its advertising spending by four times. For instance, in the period of
October- November in 2003, HLL spent more than Rs. 30 Million on television advertising.
HLL's brand `Fair and Lovely' has an estimated 60 Mio regular users (The Hindu Business
Line, 2003).
According to Singh (1999),
"The artificial fair complexion is being bought at a high cost of money and skin health
risks. The cosmetics industry is thriving by creating an unprecedented demand for
unrealistic fair complexion through powerful publicity and exploiting the Indian
psyche." (http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99feb14/sunday/head7.htm)
But how do advertisements exploit the Indian psyche? This becomes clear when looking at
some common advertisements for fairness creams. Goon and Craven (2003) found that terms
such as `fair', `perfect', `natural', `white', `luminous', `even' and beautiful are frequently
promised by the ad and stand in contrast to descriptions such as `dark', `dull', `brown',
`blemished' and `problem'. For instance, L'Oreal claims that its `White Perfect Lotion gives
optimal whitening efficiency with three complementary whitening actions': `Prevent[ion]'- of
`darkening', `Exfoliat[ion]' for a refined and smooth skin surface, essential in regaining a
clear, transparent and fine complexion'; and `Protect[ion]' from `darkening and dullness' (p.7).
The text clearly indicates that white skin is more desirable and superior to dark skin. Goon and
Craven point out that "perversely it represents a regime of `protection' with the property to
`safeguard your skin from darkening and dullness ... [and] persistent skin darkening', as if the
bodily process of melanin migration is threatening to the subject" (p.8).
According to Dr. Ratan Chanduri (2005) "skin-whiteners" make an unrealistic promise. He
claims that a brown or black person can biologically not be transformed into a white person.
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A typical ad for a `Fair and Lovely' fairness cream starts by showing a dark-skinned girl, who
is sad, unsuccessful in love and career and feels ugly. After using `Fair and Lovely', however,
she is fair-skinned, very happy, becomes highly successful in love and career and feels
extremely beautiful. In an article on superbrandsindia.com, such an advertisement is even
cherished. The author asserts,
"Fair and Lovely has taken the `change your destiny' positioning to new heights with
the `cricket commentator' TV commercial. This ad celebrates the protagonist's success
in a traditional male-dominated area like cricket while still keeping the tone empathetic
and emotional." (http://www.superbrandsindia.com/superbrands2003/fair-n-lovely/fair-
&-lovely.htm)
The figure shows the individual contributions of skin creams on the Indian market.
Source: AC Nielsen India Retail Audit
1.
1.5 The dark side of skin-lightening products
The negative attributes of skin-lightening products are the main reason for conducting this
research project. One might think that fairness products are just some cosmetic products
similar to tanning lotions or anti-ageing creams in the Western World. Tanning lotions,
Volume & value contribution by skin cream segments
(for 12-month period ending July 2003)
Volume
contribution
(in %)
Volume
contribution
(in %)
Antiseptic creams
14
13
Astringents 1
1
Calamines foundations
2
6
Cold creams
13
10
Fairness creams/ lotions
48
53
Moisturising lotions/creams
17
11
Snows
1
0
Vanishing creams
4
6
16
however, are not dangerous and are thus substantially different from fairness products. In the
following I will demonstrate that fairness creams and other skin-lightening products can be
extremely harmful for the skin.
Skin-lightening products have the function to lighten the skin-colour. Melanin controls the
skin's pigmentation and in order to lighten the skin, fairness creams have to reduce or stop the
melanin production. This process can result into highly negative consequences. According to
Dr. Chanduri Ratan (2005), melanin is the "key physiological defence against sun induces
damages such as sunburn, photoageing and photocarcinogenesis" (p.11). Moreover, Dr Neil
Persadsingh, a Jamaican dermatologist, insists that if melanin is eliminated or its activity
reduced, skin could be badly damaged (cited in Dussault, 2006).
The President of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists in
Delhi, Anil Gangoo, witnesses damaged skin every day, caused by skin-lightening products.
He states,
"these products are dangerous and what is most worrying is that at least half the young
urban girls are using them, influenced by ads promoting the idea that a fair complexion
is worthier than a dark one."
(
http://www.blonnet.com/life/2006/02/24/stories/2006022400290400.htm)
Gangoo continues by putting forward his concerns about the trend of using skin-lightening
products. He claims that there are no laws enjoining companies to indicate the ingredients of
creams, let alone the proportions of ingredients used. In fact, many of the skin-lightening
creams contain ingredients deriving from harmful substances, such as corticoids, mercury or
hydroquinone of which high quantities can be fatal. In a period of ten years, Dr. Col. I.S.
Parmar, dermatologist at Prakash Hospital in Noida has observed a dramatic increase in
patients with skin disorders caused by skin-lightening products. (Cited in Dussault, 2006)
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According to a 2006 article in the International Herald Tribune, written by Thomas Fuller,
doctors, consumer groups and the government claim that some creams which are prescribed to
treat blemishes are applied in high doses to bleach the entire skin which can result in
hazardous health problems. Hydroquinone has been shown to cause leukaemia in mice and
other animals but for years, it has been prescribed by dermatologists around the world as a
solution against blemishes. Some doctors say that when the chemical is used in large doses
over a long period of time, it may cause cancer. Moreover, there are cheap black-market
products which are highly effective but contain illegal bleaching agents which are very often
sold in the poorer parts of South- and Southeast- Asia. One problem which doctors recognize
is that the most effective but harmful bleaching agents, are mostly the least expensive.
Dr. Ratan Chanduri (2005) argues that many current skin-lighteners contain hydroquinone and
kojid acid, of which both have "inadequate safety and stability profiles" (p.12). Hydroquinone
was banned in the United Kingdom in 2001 and has now also been banned in the European
Union, Japan and Thailand. However, it remains to be one of the most widely prescribed
bleaching agents worldwide.
1.
2 Research Purpose
The research project aims to
explore a highly understudied field of research. There has not
been any research dealing with Indian women's skin-lightening behaviour, let alone studies
about advertising and skin-lightening. This, I consider, is a vital gap which my research project
intends to fill.
The literature review has shown findings of earlier research which are relevant to my research
project. I understand skin colour as an aspect of body image, just as previous writers
understand body shape to be an aspect of this. In particular, the habit of skin-lightening will be
examined in the same way as previous research has dealt with eating-disorders. Therefore, the
project will draw upon a specific study, conducted by Prendergast et al. (2002) who
18
investigated correlations between the exposure to advertising and eating-disorders among
female undergraduate students in China. However, in contrast to this study my research project
will also incorporate cultural factors which possibly contribute to skin-lightening. Prendergast
et al. suggested that exposure to advertising is positively linked with body image
dissatisfaction and eating-disorders. In particular, findings demonstrated that exposure to
television music programmes and fitness magazines was essentially linked with women's body
image dissatisfaction and eating-disorders.
The research project aims to explore the following questions:
1) Why do young Indian women lighten their skin?
2) Is there a relation between women's behaviour of skin-lightening and the evaluation of
their body image?
3) Is advertising playing a role in women's evaluation of their attractiveness?
4) What is the role of advertising in young Indian women's consumption of skin-
lightening products?
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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
Studies exploring advertising effects on women's skin-lightening behaviour have not been
undertaken yet. This is why the following literature review mainly covers earlier research that
has been conducted to investigate advertising's impact on women's body image in general.
The following literature will outline what researchers have found about the different aspects
of my research topic. I will start by outlining what has been said about the determination and
importance of beauty in a cultural context. In the second chapter, I will denote past research
about media images and advertisers' way of reflecting cultural standards of beauty. In
addition, an overview of research about how advertising affects both, women's consumption
behaviour and the way women develop their body image, should provide a good base for a
better understanding of the purpose of my research. The third chapter covers some authors'
suggestions on skin-lightening. Although, research has been mainly done on Black people,
this chapter will provide a useful insight about the general relevance of the skin-lightening
issue.
2.2 Culture's determination of beauty
At the time when we are born we do not make a difference between a `beautiful' person and
an `ugly' one. The skill how to recognize a beautiful human-being is not inherited but taught
by the society and culture in which we are living (Cash & Pruzinsky, 1990).
According to Fallon (1990), one's body image will be developed in terms of cultural
standards, the extent one thinks he or she conforms to these standards and it also depends on
how important other members of the cultural group think it is to match these standards.
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Just how we learn how to behave according to our gender, we learn how to recognize beauty.
Our parents and social environment contribute a great deal to our perception of beauty and to
the way we judge our own attractiveness. A survey of 30,000 people assessed that people who
were dissatisfied with their appearance reported more frequently to have mothers being
critical about their looks (Wooley & Kearney-Cooke, 1986 in Cash and Pruzinsky, 1990).
Research revealed that beautiful people have a number of advantages compared with less
attractive people. For instance, Miller (1970) found that attractive people make a better first
impression than less attractive ones. Debevec et al., (1986) found that beautiful people have
greater social influence and Eagly et al., (1991) claim they are also better liked.
Although definitions of beauty have changed throughout history, beauty remains equated with
worth and desire, at least in the Western world (Rudd & Lennon, 1999; Banner, 1983). The
more attractive we think a person is, the more positive qualities we think he or she has and the
more positive responses we have towards this person (e.g., Dion et al. 1972; Bertolissi et al.,
1999).
People of different cultures have different views about the looks of an attractive person and
most cultures have their specific beauty practices (Cash & Pruzinsky, 1990). One example
which clearly demonstrates how much beauty practices can differ is that concerning skin
colour. Whereas many Asian and African women bleach their skin in beauty salons and avoid
the sun in order to look as light-skinned as possible, women in the Western world visit
tanning salons and sunbathe whenever possible to look less pale.
2.3 Advertising images- how they reflec t cultural beauty standards and affect women
Culture determines beauty but, as has been often suggested, mass media is one of the most
vital agents for people's definition of beauty (Banner, 1983) and advertising is one of the
major components. According to Bell (1991), a young woman constructs her body image in
reference to the socially represented ideal body, her internalised ideal body, her present body
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image and an objective body shape. The `socially represented body' is the ideal of a body,
reinforced by the media. According to Gunter & Maggie (2004),
"the mass media have been conceived to operate as transmitters of cultural ideals...If
the media depict a slim physic as attractive, this body image may attain the status of an
ideal that everyone should attempt to achieve..." (p.148)
Certain culturally-determined beauty ideals can be observed to be reflected in advertisements
and there are various views about the way advertising represents these beauty ideals. It has
been argued that advertising `appropriates from culture' and already existing emotions of
women are `wrapped up and sold' (Jhally, 1987). As already mentioned in the previous
chapter beauty ideals can vitally differ from one culture to another and in order to be
successful, marketers must take into account individual cultural standards of beauty. As
Gunter (2005) points out:
"There is more going on here than mere marketing, in fact the marketing could not
work unless it fitted with already culturally resonant and acceptable models of
femininity." (p.47)
Similarly, McQuail (2005) argues that "most of this material does not originate with the
media themselves but `comes from society' and is `sent' back to society by way of the
media" (p.457). He takes the view that media do not entirely operate according to own ideas
but rather function within a "pre-existing structure of social relationships and a particular
social and cultural context" (p.459).
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However, there is an increasing body of research concerned with the way marketers represent
this cultural- bounded ideal in advertising. It has been argued that advertising uses unrealistic
images of women which do not reflect the real people on the streets but rather represent
unattainable standards of beauties (Richins, 1991).
Aesthetic beauty has existed long before media came into play but since media's birth there
are current trends of attractiveness and a woman who does not fit into this particular pattern,
has no chance to be considered as beautiful (Jhally, 1990). But can the media alone be
blamed? The answer is probably `no' since women accept these ideal as norms and are
consistently attempting to conform to them. In an article written by Sut Jhally you can find a
statement of Tony Schwartz who calls it "partipulation" rather than pure "manipulation"
since the audience participates in its own manipulation.
To attract attention to their products and in order to make them more appealing, advertisers
have traditionally used beautiful women because they believe that beautiful models are
credible, desirable, and aspirational (Frith and Mueller, 2003; Joseph, 1982). Indeed, there is
evidence that beautiful people in advertisements positively affect the consumers' opinion
about the ad and the promoted product (see Joseph, 1982 for a review). Researchers put
forward that women see attractive models in the media as the acceptable level of
attractiveness and in general, when rating some women's attractiveness, they compare them
with models. Theoretically, this results into consumers' desire to achieve the models' level of
beauty (e.g. Richins, 1991; Martin and Gentry, 1997).
The audience's enthusiasm to participate in the hunt for the perfect look is boosted by
advertisers who indicate that it is possible to look like models in the media if women just try
hard enough (Kilbourne, 1987). Therefore, advertisements in magazines and television
commercials claim to provide the solutions to reach the perfect beauty by offering the `right'
products, such as cosmetics, cloths or dieting products.
Details
- Pages
- Type of Edition
- Erstausgabe
- Publication Year
- 2014
- ISBN (eBook)
- 9783954898244
- ISBN (Softcover)
- 9783954893249
- File size
- 1.5 MB
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2014 (October)
- Keywords
- indian
