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135 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.11, 2023
A STUDY OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON CONTROVERSIAL ADVERTISEMENTS
IN INDIA
Ananya Dutta, PGDM, First year, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship
Shivam Yadav, PGDM, First year, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship
Dr. S. Prem Latha, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship
Identical to other global economies, India's advertisement sector is crucial in influencing consumers'
attitudes towards goods and services. Over the years, the effectiveness of some companies' marketing
has been the only factor influencing brand memory. The penetration of various media channels in the
area has a significant impact on the performance of the advertising sector. With its increasing media
landscape and developing economy, India offers advertisers a wealth of options for growth. It is not
surprising that the nation has one of the most prosperous ad markets in the world considering the
"utterly, butterly delicious" Amul cartoon girl, Vodafone's Zoozoos, and being a Complan boy/girl,
among many more taglines that are identified with particular products.
Newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, and other media are the primary forms of communication. Their
primary source of income is advertising. These forms of communication cannot last very long without
the financial support of advertising income. These communication channels keep society informed.
Their continued existence is crucial, and the only way they can do so is through advertising. The market
is characterized by healthy competition, which benefits society as a whole.
However, in India, the media industry's repeated stereotyped content is to blame for the majority of
the viewers' opinions changing negatively. Advertisements, according to critics, instill unrealistic ideas
in the viewers' sensitive brains, frequently prompting people to make expensive purchases to keep up
with these fictitious Joneses or boost their low self-esteem.
Businesses all around the world use a variety of advertising strategies to increase sales and spread their
brand awareness. Some companies have placed a lot of emphasis on contentious advertising strategies
because, even though they may not be employed for the "right" reasons, they put their brands in the
public eye. After all, it is claimed that "any publicity is good publicity."
In contrast to conventional methods, controversial advertising strives to stand out from the sea of other
advertisements and makes noise. Large organisations are aware that in order to pique an audience's
interest, they must hit a nerve that will inspire discussion about the advertisement and, consequently,
the brand. When a business gets exposed for a divisive campaign, they frequently apologise and insist
they weren't intentionally trying to hurt anyone. It's tough to tell if these justifications are truthful or
not.
Advertising is a form of non-personal, promotional communication that must adhere to moral
standards because it will be broadcasted or printed and will be seen by the public. The results of this
unedited exposure include a variety of social and cultural issues such as aggression, eating disorders,
sexual behaviour, and changes in priorities in life.
Advertisers are frequently found to ignore, violate, or disobey the moral and ethical rules that the
Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) has established because doing so does not automatically
result in a punishment.
ABSTRACT
While some advertisers have launched controversial advertising campaigns that have been
tremendously effective, others have hurt the business. This is particularly important for recent
advertisements that have received immense backlash due to their content on religion, caste, colour and
other concepts. This paper presents preliminary study of sample size of 107 management students from
a population of 156 management students in the Oragadam belt. According to this study advertisements
are receiving backlash and then withdrawing it from every social media platform is only due to the
never changing mindset of the audiences.
136 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.11, 2023
KEYWORDS
Controversial
Advertisements
Religion
India
Marketing
Consumer
Ethics
Violation
Brand
Product
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this research study is
1. To determine whether the Indian advertisements violate the Advertising Standards Council of
India’s (ASCI) listed advertising ethical criteria and impact on society.
2. If the impact of controversial advertising on brand imagery and hence on brand equity, ethical
criteria’s are not enforced.
3. The study will also assist managers in developing a microscopic view of evaluating the
application of the tactics modified for contentious advertising techniques and in ensuring that
all criterias are adhered to identify controversial marketing strategies and their impact.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A convenience sample of students from a management school were given a questionnaire in order to
gauge their opinions on the advertisement of contentious products. Students have been used as study
subjects for many years in other countries, mostly due to their accessibility to the researcher and group
homogeneity (Calder, Phillips, and Tybout 1981).
A total sample of 107 students (59 men and 48 women) were surveyed from the population of 156
students. With ages ranging from 18 to 30, the average age of the entire group was 21.87 years old
(21.68 for men and 22.05 for women). The majority of the sample's first-year management students
completed the questionnaire, which was given out in a classroom setting and took about 10 minutes to
complete. The questionnaire's two main portions included a format in which respondents were
provided (i) a list of products and services; and (ii) a list of factors that lead to offensive advertising.
The respondents were asked to list the elements in commercials that they find positive and to list any
that they find offensive. 11 reasons are added by Waller (1999) to the list of causes: Indecent language,
nudity, racism, sexism, stereotypes of people, subject being too personal, hard sell, concern for
children, health and safety concerns, and violence.
DATA ANALYSIS
Fig 1: Respondents who are watching video advertisements
137 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.11, 2023
According to the above graph, persons between the ages of 25 and 30 are more likely to watch
advertisements, with people between the ages of 21 and 24 coming in second. Additionally, it reveals
that 4.4 percent of the younger generation finds advertisements boring.
Fig 2: Impact by advertisements on respondents
The above figure shows that 44.4% of respondents had some kind of influence from watching the
advertisements. 35.6% of respondents are not sure if there is any influence after watching
advertisements and 20% of respondents did not have any influence from the advertisements.
Fig 3: Impact of advertisements on religious or cultural beliefs of respondents
The above figure shows that according to 64.4% of respondents the advertisements are not doing
justice to the religious and cultural beliefs of people whereas, according to 35.6% of respondents the
advertisements are doing justice to the religious and cultural beliefs of people.
Fig 4: Demand of religious-incorporated advertisements
138 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.11, 2023
The above figure shows that 60% of respondents are not in favour of religious-incorporated
advertisements whereas, 40% of respondents will like to see more content related to religious in
advertisements.
Fig 5: Positive Characteristics in advertisements for respondents
The above figure shows that highest priority is given to Mental Health Awareness which is 18.6 percent
and the lowest given to LGBTQ+ which is 18 percent and second highest given to Gender Equality
and third and fourth highest is given to Body Positivity and patriotic content respectively.
Some controversial Advertisements in India:
Sabyasachi Controversial Mangalsutra Advertisement: - The contentious campaign featured a
lady appearing alone and in an intimate setting with a male while sporting a low-neckline dress.
Popular politicians and users of social media have been criticising the popular designer company
for its controversial Mangalsutra ad campaign. Designer company Sabyasachi ultimately
withdrew their divisive Mangalsutra commercial campaign after receiving intense outrage,
stating that it was "deeply saddened" because it had hurt a segment of society.
FabIndia Controversial “Jashn-e-Riwaaz” Advertisement: - The brand was charged with
"defacing" Diwali by calling it Jashn-e-Riwaaz. Many criticised the company for excessively
promoting Islam and secularism on a Hindu festival. The promotion was described as "culturally
inappropriate" by several others as well.
Tanishq Controversial Advertisement: - The bride's Muslim in-laws offer her a baby shower in this
advertisement. Detractors of the advertising assert that it promotes "love jihad," an allegation made
by extremist Hindu outfits that Muslim males are marrying Hindu women in order to convert them.
According to rights activists, India's tolerance of other religions is in jeopardy. Muslim-Hindu
partnerships have always been criticised. The association of the "love jihad" movement with a
darker, more malevolent goal, however, only emerged recently.
Surf Excel Controversial Holi Advertisement: - In the 30-second commercial for Surf Excel, "Rang
Laaye Sang," two young children—a Muslim boy and a young Hindu girl—are shown playing
Holi with other children. The advertisement features a young woman who decides to get coloured
to defend her Muslim buddy who must visit a local mosque to perform namaaz. The advertisement
concludes with the lad entering the mosque wearing a spotless white kurta-pyjama and telling the
girl that he will soon join in the festivities.
Amul Controversial Advertisement: - Only women are depicted in the advertising working in the
kitchen; this is how the brand honours the essence of womanhood. It's much less wise to base your
entire campaign around women doing housework.
Manyavar-Mohey Controversial Kanyadaan Advertisement: - Bhatt draws the conclusion that the
"daan" ceremony should be "Kanya Maan," appreciating the daughter rather than "donating" her.
In the commercial, Bhatt challenges whether the tradition of "Kanya daan," or offering girls in
marriage, is still appropriate in the current world. Daughters are not property.
139 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.11, 2023
Zomato Controversial Advertisement: - Roshan claims in the advertisement "Mann kiya, Zomato
kiya" that he ordered from "Mahakal" in Ujjain since he was in the mood for a "thali" (a food
platter). For those who are unaware, the Mahakaleshwar or Mahakal temple of Shiva in Ujjain is
one of the twelve 'Jyotirlingas' and draws worshippers from all across the nation.
Fig 6: Which advertisement is negative for respondents
By the above figure we can say that according to the respondents Sabyasachi Advertisement is the
most negative with 33.3 percentage and the second most negative is FabIndia Advertisement with
42.22 percentage and the least negative among them is the Zomato Advertisement with 28.8
percentage.
Fig 7: Content intolerable by respondents in advertisements
According to the above figure the content which include Gender Inequality and Pornographic content
is highly Intolerable by the people with 26.6 percentage and least intolerable content by the people is
LGBTQ+ with 28.8 percentage.
RESULTS
Why are recent advertisements receiving such immense backlash?
Advertising has a significant impact. Since art has power, this artistic medium also has impact. It is
relatively easy to mould Indian audiences and consumer bases since they are highly value-focused and
emotionally invested. Advertising affects society and its beliefs in both positive and negative ways.
Through dramas and stories that are set in the present with a slight alteration for the better or for the
worse and that reflect the neighbourhood or society at a given period, advertising fosters the
"normalisation of culture."
Conflicts that result from westernisation are frequently seen in the advertising sector as domino
consequences. There are many backlashes to certain advertisements that negatively westernise the
140 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.11, 2023
community in ways that are in opposition to the principles of the Indian traditional system. These
advertisements also persuade impressionable young people to adopt wholly western customs. A good
difference is that they also work to stop traditions that ought to never have started in the first place.
Fig 8: Causes of advertisements to face backlashes
The above figure here shows that most of the recent advertisements are facing backlash due to the
mindset of the audiences.
Let us take a look at an example, Tanishq recently withdrew an advertising that showed a united front
and the beauty of a cross-cultural marriage from all social media platforms out of concern that they
would already be the targets of vicious retaliation. When in fact, that advertising was entirely tranquil
and carried a crucially important message for the modern world. Despite the necessary and glaringly
clear reasons why the advertisement should or must be aired back on all platforms, it is not, and the
reason for this is due to a particular group of individuals.
The above example of Tanishq receiving backlash and then withdrawing it from every social media
platform is only due to the never changing mindset of the audiences.
FINDINGS
From the above result and discussion, we can further conclude that:
1. The above study shows that 44.4% of respondents had some kind of influence from watching
the advertisements. 35.6% of respondents are not sure if there is any influence after watching
advertisements while 20% of respondents did not have any influence from the advertisements.
2. The above study shows that according to 64.4% of respondents the advertisements are not
doing justice to the religious and cultural beliefs of people whereas, according to 35.6% of
respondents the advertisements are doing justice to the religious and cultural beliefs of people.
3. The above study shows that 60% of respondents are not in favour of religious-incorporated
advertisements whereas, 40% of respondents will like to see more content related to religious
in advertisements.
4. The above study shows that the content which includes Gender Inequality and Pornographic
content is highly Intolerable by the people with 26.6 percentage and least intolerable content
by the people is LGBTQ+ with 28.8 percentage.
5. The above study shows that most of the recent advertisements are facing backlash due to the
mindset of the audiences.
CONCLUSION
Advertising should sell but there is no 'one way'
Waller (2004) pointed out that the majority of research has viewed "controversial advertising" as a bad
idea, and if controversial advertising simply elicited bad reactions, advertisers would steer clear of this
kind of campaign.
A legitimate goal of an advertising campaign is to alter consumer perception or conduct. And as long
as there is a connection back to the brand, brands can increase affinity by elevating them.
141 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.11, 2023
However, it will be difficult when businesses tell individuals how to live their lives in regards to
cultural, religious, or ethical matters. It will draw criticism to imply that a consumer's belief in a festival
or religion requires modification. Advertisements are available for public viewing and critique, much
like movies and books. And who will be spared in this day and age when they do?
Communication is about expressing the right things in the right way, on the appropriate platform, at
the right time. Does your campaign meet all of the criteria for effective communication?
Recent advertisements are determined on changing consumer perception and mindset through shock
marketing and this is nearly impossible as India is still deeply rooted in its age-old ethics and morals.
Brands should understand the needs and wants of their audience and generate advertisements not only
to gather profits but also to influence mass audiences without any backlashes.
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