Perception of Images in Advertising and Impact on
Consumers’ Lives
KATHERINE SULLIVAN
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(1)
Exhibit 1: Nikolai Yezhov was photographed walking with Stalin, but after he was shot in 1940, he was
entirely edited out of the photograph
Introduction
In educated societies, the human brain has been trained to analyze text in a way that a reader is able to interpret writing as whatever
he or she sees in the meaning of the words by analyzing the context in
which the text was written. Through teaching people to read and analyze
literature, the educated society has become more accustomed to picking
apart the words they are reading. That same process, however, does not
hold true for the human perception of images. Through societal norms,
we have grown accustomed to accept images as truth without using the
same analytical process to pick apart images in the way we do text. The
human perception of “truth in images” plays a major role in the modern
day trend of manipulating photographs. In this increasingly digital age,
photographs can be manipulated to portray an illusion of whatever the
manipulator wants the picture to be. This can be especially prevalent in
print advertising, where the main goal is to influence the needs or desires
of a consumer with persuasive images.
Given the premise that the humans process images as truth
without taking the time to be critical, advertisers have a duty to present
images in a genuine form in order to avoid falsely misleading a consumer.
However, the basic foundation of advertising is its creatively persuasive
nature. Consequentially, the end result of stimulating a desire in the
consumer for a certain product justifies the means of advertisers using
creativity to essentially “sell” their idea to the consumer. Hence, the
consumer has an equally important duty to be more critical of
advertisements as well as a responsibility for his/her own actions in
response.
The dilemma is that modern day consumers are not engaging in
being a critical audience of advertisements the way they should be. This
uneducated consumer population creates the dilemma that consumers
are being misguided by images and believe that the images are truthful, at
a possible harm to themselves. The manipulation of images by
advertisers not only mis-represents the truth, but also guides these un-
trained consumers to believe an un-true statement about a product. This
can lead to potential harm if consumers don’t take a more active duty in
evaluating images in advertisements more carefully and realize that
advertisements are manipulative and persuasive by nature.
Therefore, the deontological standard of ethics lays somewhere
between the duty of the advertiser to be aware of the human perception
of “truth in images” as well as the duty of the consumers to be more
educated and critical of how they analyze the advertisements presented
to them in everyday life.
Psychological Perception of Images as Reality
“Visually the majority of us are still ‘object-minded’ and not ‘relation-minded’
… the language of vision determines, perhaps even more subtly and thoroughly
than verbal language, the structure of our consciousness.” 2
Education in literature has created a more critical audience that
interprets writing in a multitude of different ways. Imagine reading an
article relating to modern day politics. Automatically, as a reader, we are
taught to analyze the words for context and different implications of what
the author is really trying to say. One might ask: “Who is writing it?”,
“What is their political stance and party affiliation?”, “What do they want me to learn?” and finally, “What am I going to take away from this?”
After reading an article and analyzing the different ways it can be
interpreted based on context, one can decide whether or not to agree
with the author’s statements as they are going through this process and
walk away with an educated decision to create his/her own viewpoint.
However, humans have not been trained to evaluate images in the same
analytical process. We have learned to accept a picture or photograph for
what it is. We don’t take the time to step back and analyze the context of
the picture, its ability to be manipulated, or the point of view the
photographer is trying to portray. Society as a whole processes
photographic images as truth and does not promote a skeptical and
analytical viewing audience.
Recent evidence in perception and cognition demonstrates the
importance of visual perception and that, “Our eyes are wondrous
windows to the world. The last of our senses to evolve and the most
sophisticated, they are our main source of information about the world,
sending more data to the nervous system than any other sense.” 3 In fact,
the human brain processes images in a way that triggers emotion and
instinctive interpretation of reality. Instantaneously, when presented with
an image, the human brain has been taught to interpret the image as
reality and react immediately with instinctive emotions. The way we
interpret images as reality is explained in J. J. Gibson’s theory. He explains
the concept of the “visual field” which is the process of light reflections
coming into our eyes and the “visual world” which interprets these
patterns of light as reality. 4 In the “visual world” we interpret images as
our own perception of reality without further analyzing the context. These
images move freely from the visual field to the visual world without
entering a stage of analytical processing. 5
Furthermore, Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux’s study suggests that
we respond emotionally to viewing something before we can think them
through. 6 This study shows that the process of the brain works in such a
way that signals coming into the eye travel to the thalamus and then to
the amygdala (a part of the brain that plays a vital role in emotional
responses) before a second signal is even sent to the neocortex. 7 In more
common terms, this simply means our brain works in a way in which we
react emotionally to things we see before we are even able to think about
them. Therefore, according to Gibson, images are presented to the brain
and interpreted as reality, and as LeDoux suggests, humans automatically
react with emotions. Summed up, the human brain has been trained to
interpret images as reality while simultaneously reacting in an emotional
sense. This triggers a problem when consumers stick to these initial
instinctive emotional responses. What consumers should be doing is
taking a step back and re-evaluating the situation more critically after the
initial emotional reaction to give themselves time to process their
thoughts more clearly.
Image Manipulation
In consideration of the human brain processing images as an
interpretation of reality, the accurate depiction of images is important to
maintaining an honest representation. In the increasing digital age, photo
manipulation has become an increasingly popular way of re-formatting
images to create a desired effect. 8 Photoshop and other photo enhancing
and editing programs have allowed people to take a photographic image
and edit it in any way the creator desires. Layers can be manipulated to
multiply numbers of people in the photograph just as easily as a human’s
body can be airbrushed to display “perfection” or “beauty”. 9 Also,
selective cropping of photos can focus the image solely on what the
creator of the photograph want the viewer to see. A picture of a nice
quiet meadow can easily hide the toxic waste dump site that sits only a
matter of feet away, creating a misleading illusion that the meadow is a
clean and pure area. Furthermore, specific objects now can be selected
and removed from a picture altogether. This type of editing is seen quite
frequently in political propaganda. Nikolai Yezhov was photographed
walking with Stalin, but after he was shot in 1940, he was entirely edited
out of the photograph (see figure 1). 10 This shows the ability to alter
photographs of historic events simply because of political reasons.
However, this type of alteration to photographs is looked down upon in
the journalism realm. Los Angeles Times Photojournalist, Brian Walski,
was fired after he combined two images into one single image which was
posted on the front page of the newspaper. 11 This was a pressing issue
because the readers of the newspaper interpreted this image as reality,
when in fact it was manipulated and did not accurately portray the real
image.
In the press, standards have been set on images to ensure their
accuracy, because of the viewer’s reliance on the truth of the
photographs. However, this controversy has also come up in advertising,
especially real estate. Certain aspects of a home or its surrounding areas
can be edited to make the property look more desirable and therefore sell
better. 12 Power lines can be removed, colors can be made more vivid and
dull parts of the house can be digitally touched up. Again, this idea of
image manipulation would not be such an immense issue if the images
were not interpreted as reality. However, since images are perceived to be a reality, manipulation of the genuine content of those images creates
dishonest and deceiving information to a non-analytical consumer.
The Powerful Impact of Images in Advertising
The fact that the brain processes images in a way that we react
quickly with emotional responses 13 means that the powerful effect public
images can have on society and the individual need to be considered. Dr.
Julianne Newton, a visual journalism professor at the University of
Oregon, said, "Images affect memory, and behavior, and values. Images
affect what you believe about yourself, about others, and about the world
out there. Images are powerful, and visual ethics is about the appropriate
use of powerful images." 14 Consumers are exposed to images used in
advertisements every day. Often times, these advertisements can create
false beliefs about what society considers beautiful, “cool” or what
“everyone else is doing”. The concept of “self – identity image” ads
explores the idea of the powerful impact advertisements have on an
individual. These types of ads portray an image that the individual relates
to or compares themselves with. They create an idealized image of a
person who typically represents a user of the product. 15 An example
might be a “sex appeal” advertisement in which a thin, flawless,
“beautiful” woman is portrayed in the picture, attempting to sell a
product based on the association with the beautiful individual. Many
women will relate to that image and see themselves as imperfect or
needing to be more like the woman in the ad. This can produce
potentially harmful psychological effects on the woman viewing the ad.
This also creates a moral dilemma about the creation of the manipulated
image, because the woman now will compare herself to a false image. 16 The moral questions to ask when creating such an advertisement should
be: whether or not the ad makes misleading promises, if it promotes false
values, if it causes harm, and if it threatens the autonomy of the
individual. 17
The basic idea behind “self-identity image” advertising is that it is
meant to create a feeling of association with the ad, and its powerful
implications can cause a consumer to believe what is being presented to
them. A woman might believe that if she uses the product, she too will fit
this societal perception of “beauty”. These types of images can have a
negative effect on an individual’s self esteem or create a mental illusion
that he/she must conform to the pressures implied in the advertisement.
Ann Marie Barry said:
“As unhealthy and unrealistic advertising images become more
and more implicated in social ills, such as psychologically based but
mentally manifested afflictions of anorexia and bulimia; as tobacco
addiction increases among young adolescents, and well over 1000 people
die every day of tobacco related causes, we still have only begun to realize
how patterns in mass media first legitimize and then normalize socially
destructive behavior.” 18
A historical example of advertisements that negatively affected
women was in cigarette ads. Gloria Steinem of the National Organization
for Women Foundation stated, “Creating the idea that independence was
attached somehow to smoking, or that it was a sign of rebellion to
endanger your health, has been the main purpose of cigarette
advertising.” 19
In modern day, advertisements do have an increasingly powerful
impact on individual consumers and the way they think. However,
consumers are constantly allowing advertisements to affect their
decisions and thought processes. This brings up the idea that it is both
the responsibility of marketers and consumers to understand the amount
of power that consumers are giving images. After their initial reaction to
an ad, the consumer must realize what they are doing and step back from
allowing themselves to be vulnerable. Also, advertisers need to be
conscious of the possibility that images could have a large effect they
have on a consumer’s viewpoint.
Responsibility of the Advertiser
As a result of consumers identifying with images and perceiving
them as reality, marketers have an ethical responsibility to present the
images in a way that avoids falsely misleading a consumer to believe
something that is not true. This type of ethical behavior is based on
deontological ethics or the marketer’s “duty” to have good intentions
behind the creation of their advertisements as well as a “duty to society”
to present images as facts. Deontological moral systems are
characterized by the idea that in order to make the correct moral choices,
we have to understand what our moral duties are. Furthermore, there is
a need to evaluate what motivations are pushing actions and if these
motivations have good intention. 20 “Marketing textbooks state that
consumers buy a product in the hopes that it will move them some way
from their "real self” to their "ideal self” (Beckman 1992).” 21 Once
marketers realize this power to affect consumer’s perceptions, they have
a responsibility to present their advertising images in an honest way.
However, the basic foundation of advertising and marketing is to
utilize creativity and innovation to stimulate a need in the consumer.
Therefore, persuasive imaging and inventive messaging must be a
contributing part to a marketer’s efforts. Given this standard
establishment of what it means to be a creative marketer, their artistic
and influential nature must be present, but it must also be seeded in
honesty and good moral intentions.
Consequentialist ethical theories base the morality of an action to
be based on the consequences that result. 22 In advertising, depicting an
image in a manipulative way may result in consequences of a consumer
identifying with false beliefs. For example, an image of a woman put into
Photoshop and airbrushed to become flawless, may consequentially lead
a woman consumer to believe that the product in the ad will help her
become more like the woman in the image. However, in the creative
realm of marketing, the end goal is to sell a product. Therefore, the end
result justifies the means of stimulating these types of beliefs in a
consumer. At this point, the duty switches over to the consumer to realize
that in order to not subject oneself be a “mean to the marketers end”
consumers must learn to be more critical of what is actually being sold in
the advertisement and what the actual context is of the image presented.
Duty of the Consumer
Beyond the duty of the marketer to depict an accurate portrayal
of images presented to the public, the consumer has a much greater
responsibility to become a more critical and analytical audience of
advertisements. Like our earlier discussion on the extent to which readers
analyze the context and meaning of written word, consumers need to start to use the same type of analytical tools to view and process images.
Although the brain reacts instinctively with emotions before we even
have time to think about it, consumers need to take a step back and think
through the situation after the first emotional response. You cannot
control first instinct emotional responses. Our brain has been engineered
in a way to react emotionally before we think to enable humans to survive
in intense situations. However, after that initial emotional reaction,
consumers can take a step back and actually think through what was
presented to them and decide how they are going to ultimately react to
the situation. Hence, consumers now have a certain duty to become more
involved in dissecting advertisements after their first reaction. John
Douglas Bishop23 suggests that in “self-identity” image ads, the goal of the
marketing strategy is for the product to become a “symbol” of an ideal
person or ideal situation. If consumers are trained to be a critical
audience, they can choose to accept or reject the symbolism. This is also
largely due to the fact that the wide array of image ads available. This
variety of advertisements allows the consumer to have the autonomy to
choose which value to identify with. A consumer’s own self-will can direct
the outcome of those types of decisions. 24 Furthermore, although people
are exposed to advertisements on a consistent basis, ads do not have any
authoritative power and therefore cannot restrict human free will to
decide our own behaviors. 25 Humans still have the innate will to make our
own decisions and interpretations. Therefore, a human has the ability to
look at an ad and decide how to accept and interpret the image.
Lastly, if consumers are concerned with the way they are being
affected by the images in advertisements, they have a responsibility to
educate themselves on how to be more critical. Although it is difficult to
decipher if the image was digitally manipulated, a consumer can still ask themselves, “What is the message the marketers are trying to get me to
believe?” “What are they actually selling?” or “Does this image accurately
portray a realistic view of what the product can do or is it exaggerated for
persuasive purposes?” Once a consumer is more conscious of the
implications behind the advertisement, they can understand the context
of the images in the same way readers understand the context of an
article. It is therefore the responsibility of the consumer not to view
themselves as “victims of the system” but to take proactive steps to learn
more about the background of the message that an advertising strategy is
trying to portray.
Recommended Actions
In a society where public service announcements are becoming
more and more frequent, communities are becoming involved with
educating people about important, widespread topics. Organizations and
activist groups who aim to educate consumers need to step in and create
ads that will stimulate awareness in the consumer. Much like how
“Partnership for a drug-free America” (http://www.drugfree.org/)
produces ads showing the negative effects of drugs, these types of public
service ads can help educate consumers on how to be a more critical
audience of advertisements. Once consumers are more aware of how to
be a “smart audience”, they will be less susceptible to be easily
manipulated by misleading ads. This will in turn help the advertisers learn
to be more honest in the way they present images. If consumers are
learning to be more critical, the advertiser will inevitably react and
become more aware of being honest in the images they create.
Conclusion
Advertising has long been a creative way to influence consumers into
thinking they want or need a certain product. This is done through images
that a consumer processes as reality and emotionally connects with. This
type of persuasive control in the hands of an advertiser should be
grounded in moral and ethical responsibilities to portray their images with
a certain amount of accuracy. This issue is prevalent in not only the realm
of advertisements reaching consumers but also to images reaching people
as citizens of a democratic society. Images are manipulated to stimulate a
certain way of thinking in much of the political world as well. Political
propaganda has the same goal as advertising: persuasive control. Images
can be altered to promote a certain viewpoint or to gain support for a
certain cause. However, a consumer and/or citizen ultimately need to be
the decision makers on how they react to advertisements or political
propaganda and the actions they take in response. When an image is put
in front of a person, it does not take away from the natural autonomy
humans have in decision making. If an individual is educated through
public service announcements regarding the analyzing of advertisements
or images, they can consciously choose not to accept an image as the
ultimate truth and societal norm. The decision to be more critical and the
responsibility to stop the amount of control images have on the society’s
values lay in the hands of the consumer or citizen themselves. Therefore,
the strong power that images have had on an individual is a shared
responsibility between the moral decisions of the advertiser or creator of
the image as well as the necessary critical thought process of the
individual.
Works Cited
1. King, D. (1997). The Commissar Vanishes: the falsification of
photographs and art in Stalin's Russia. Metropolitan Books, New York
2. Barry, Ann Marie Seward. (1997). Visual Intelligence: Perception, Image
and Manipulation in Visual Communication. New York: State University
of New York Press.
3. Ibid 2
4. Ibid 2
5. Ibid 2
6. LeDoux, Joseph. (1996). The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious
Underpinnings of Emotional Life. New York, NY: Touchstone, Rockefeller
Center
7. Ibid 2
8. Gross, Larry P. and Katz, John Stewart. (2003). Image Ethics in the
digital age. University of Minnesota Press
9. Ibid 8
10. Ibid 1
11. Walden, Scott. (2006). Truth in Photography. Blackwell Publishing
12. Richardson, Vanessa. (2007). Not-so-real estate: Is it ethical to alter
photos? Bankrate.com Microsoft, MSN. Retreived from
http://realestate.msn.com/selling/Article_bankrate.aspx?cpdocumentid
=4697254
13. Ibid 2
14. Winslow, Donald R. (2007). The Problem Seems To Be A Lot Deeper
National Press Photographers Association: Photojournalism Ethics. News
Photographer Magazine.
15. Bishop, John Douglas. (2000). Is self identity image advertising ethical?
Business Ethics Quarterly, Volume 10, Issue 2. pg 371-392.
16. Ibid 15
17. Ibid 15
18. Ibid 2
19. Gloria Steinem. (1995). Warning! Advertising can be Hazardous to
your Health. [Motion picture]. United States: National Organization for
Women Foundation.
20. Cline, Austin. (2007). Deontology and Ethics: What is Deontology,
Deontological Ethics? About.com. Retrieved from
http://atheism.about.com/od/ethicalsystems/a/Deontological.htm
21. Ibid 15
22. Cline, Austin. (2007). Another view of consequentialist ethics.
About.com. Retrieved from
http://atheism.about.com/b/2003/12/31/another-view-of-
consequentialist-ethics.htm
23. Ibid 15
24. Ibid 15
25. Ibid 15