A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ANIMAL SPOKES-CHARACTERS
IN PRINT ADVERTISEMENT
by
TIFFANY DAWN STALLARD, B.S.
A THESIS
IN
MASS COMMUNICATIONS
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
Approved
Chairperson of the Committee
Accepted
Dean of the Graduate School
August, 2003
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1 would like to thank all those who provided me with the support and
encouragement needed to make this document possible.
First and foremost, 1 would like to thank my committee, especially the
chairman. Dr. Roger Saathoff. Thank you for answering all of my questions and
guiding me through this confusing process.
To my friends and family, thank you for listening when 1 needed to talk and
for offering your opinions. 1 would have never made it without you and I am grateful
for you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ii
LIST OF TABLES
iv
CHAPTER
I.
II.
INTRODUCTION
1
Literature Review
1
RESEARCH
10
Methodology
10
Sampling
11
m.
RESULTS
13
IV.
DISCUSSION
22
Limitations
28
Suggestions for Future Research
29
REFERENCES
32
APPENDIX
34
LIST OF TABLES
3.1
Classification of animal spokes-characters
13
3.2
Animal classification broken down by magazine
14
3.3
Animals that are considered to be pets
14
3.4
Animals found to be portrayed both realistically and
anthropromorphized
15
3.5
Personification of animals broken down by magazine
15
3.6
The classification/nature of the animal spokes-characters coded crossed by
their personification
16
3.7
Chi square analysis for H4
16
3.8
Gender of animal spokes-characters coded
17
3.9
Animals featured with props
18
3.10
Analysis of the animal's personification and whether or not it was portrayed
with a prop
18
3.11
Type of product being promoted
19
3.12
Which magazine the animal spokes-character appeared in
19
3.13
Crosstabulation data for the magazine and product variables
20
3.14
Data for each magazine year in the study
21
CHAPTER 1
E^TRODUCTION
We are all familiar with spokes-character advertisements. Our mothers fed us
baby food from bottles featuring the Gerber Baby, and we now eat foods promoted by the
Keebler Elves and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Spokes-characters, also referred to as trade
characters, have been used in advertising in the United States for over 100 years. These
colorful characters help customers remember advertisements and branded products,
thereby creating a relationship between advertiser and consumer.
Spokes-characters are a little researched genre of advertising. There is even less
research that exists on the use of animal spokes-characters. Because so many spokescharacters are animals, this research study will analyze those characters by type and
purpose.
Literature Review
Characters designed for use in advertising campaigns may be referred to as
spokes-characters or trade characters. An operational definition of trade character is "a
fictional, animate being or animated object that has been created for the promotion of a
product, service, or idea. It does not have to be a legal trademark" (Phillips, 1996b,
p. 146). Trade characters will be referred to as spokes-characters in this smdy.
Cartoons and spokes-characters are used as walking metaphors for what cannot be
said direcdy. Phillips (1996b) identified three ways that spokes-characters are used to
communicate with consumers: creating a product identification, promoting brand
personality, and providing a promotional continuity. Spokes-characters help connect the
product, packaging, and the advertising campaign in the minds of consumers.
When a person hears the words "Energizer Bunny," advertisers hope they may
first think of the pink bunny beating on a dmm. Their mind will probably then turn to the
series of advertisements that feature the bunny meandering into different pseudocommercials. Successively, the person would then think of the product itself- Duracell
batteries. The whole line of cognition can be spurred by the mention of the spokescharacter alone.
Spokes-characters developed after manufacturers began encouraging trademark
recognition among consumers. In the 1920s, spokes-characters were developed to
become "personal advisers" for consumers. These characters helped bring the ingredients
of products to life by depicting them as animate beings with their own personalities
(Phillips, 1996b).
Research suggests that animated spokes-characters are both popular with
audiences and effective for advertising purposes because they can be nostalgic. Spokescharacters create identity for the brand or advertiser, therefore serving as a positive effect
cue because people start to enjoy watching them and associate positive feelings with
them, which in turn leads to positive feelings for the product (Callcott & Alvey, 1991).
Thefirstftinctionof the trade character's personality is to give meaning to the
brand by symbolizing the character of that brand. It does this by transfening its own
cultural meaning to what can be viewed as an otherwise meaningless product (Phillips,
1996a). For example, an ant may be viewed as a strong, industrious, hard-working
insect. When presented in connection with a product, an advertiser hopes that the
audience will project the character traits of the ant onto the product itself. The spokescharacter can only be as effective as the cultural meaning of its species. A character will
use its personality and symbolic meaning to transfer meaning onto the brand. In
addition, a strong congmence between a spokes-character's personality and the brand
personality has been found to strengthen brand equity (Aaker, 1993).
Callcott and Alvey (1991) found that spokes-characters created specifically for a
product or brand, such as the Energizer bunny, produced a higher percentage of correct
product recall than did "celebrity" endorsers, such as Bugs Bunny, Garfield, or the
Peanuts characters, all of which may represent several products.
Commercials with animated spokes-characters have also been found to score
above average in their ability to change brand preference (Stewart & Furse, 1986).
Callcott and Phillips (1996) also found that commercials featuring animated characters
were watched more often than other types of commercials and that attitude-toward-the
brand is affected by a spokes-character's likability. Several respondents in their study
admitted to buying products because they liked the character in a commercial.
Advertisers frequently use animal spokes-characters because they can utilize
standard symbols of human qualities. Referring to the ant example above, a test was
conducted that showed most people agree on the same characteristics of ants: such as
"strong," "hard-working," "determined," "industrious," and "picnic" (Phillips, 1996a). h
is this unambiguous meaning that helps spokes-characters become popular with
consumers.
Because spokes-characters communicate through universal symbols and
meanings, they represent ideas and attributes that are never explicitly stated, and are
harder for the consumer to reject. These characters are therefore free to suggest product
attributes and benefits that could not be expressly stated. Spokes-characters are also
flexible. They are under the complete control of the advertiser. They do not grow old,
change meaning, or make demands (Phillips, 1996b).
Spokes-characters are also helpful in establishing promotional continuity. They
can be used across advertising campaigns, across brands in the same product line, and can
be used over time. Once consumers understand a character's role and link it to a
particular brand, future advertising can focus on reinforcement instead of initial
establishment (Phillips, 1996b).
Research has shown that animal spokes-characters are one of the most commonly
used trade character types in current advertising practice. They have been viewed as
standard symbols of human qualities for years (Phillips, 1996a).
The first step in examining the association between animal spokes-characters and
the products they promote is to look at the symbolic meanings of the animal being used.
Advertisers must know what each particular animal represents to the audience. They can
match the positive quahties associated with an animal to their products' attributes, or
avoid using the animal if it has a negative connotation.
One way to use an animal to relate a product to an audience is to
anthropomorphize it. When an advertiser gives an animal human characteristics, that
animal has become anthropomorphized (Spears, Mowen, & Chakraborty, 1996). Human
characteristics can appear in the form of clothing, speech, or even skills, such as driving
or cooking.
Some researchers argue that anthropomorphism is a misrepresentation of animals'
actual natures (Benson, 1983), while others see h as the human way of trying to
understand the inner world of animals (Eddy, Gallup, & Povenelli, 1993).
Through their analysis of anthropomorphic content in greeting cards, Brabant and
Mooney (1989) concluded that anthropomorphism allows people to minimize their risk of
rejection because the animal content makes the medium appear less sentimental or
serious. This relates to Phillips' idea that spokes-characters represent ideas and attributes
that are never explicitly stated, and are harder for the consumer to reject.
Characters can also be portrayed as realistic (the Geiko Gecko) or fantasy (a
unicom).
A considerable variety of animal species have been used as spokes-characters. A
previous study of animals appearing in television advertisements found that dogs and
birds were the most frequently used animals, appearing 20 and 12times,respectively out
of a total sample of 72. Other animals appearing more than once included horses,
cows/bulls, fish, domestic cats, lions, bugs, elephants, kangaroos, lobsters, mice, rabbits,
seals, and rams. Of these animals, 19% were anthropomorphized. None of the wild
animals were anthropomorphized, and only mammals were given human characteristics
(Lemer & Kalof, 1999).
All of the animal characters appearing in Callcott and Lee's 1994 study were
personified (anthropomorphized), and none behaved strictly as an animal. Of the top 25
spokes-characters found in that study, 20% were animals.
Animal characters represented over 32% of all spokes-characters found in a study
of 3,117 advertisements that was conducted by Phillips and Gyoerick (1999). Of the
animal spokes-characters analyzed, 60%) were anthropomorphized.
Some spokes-characters, if created, are given genders. Other spokes-characters
that are realistically portrayed by an animal have pre-existing genders that are played up
in the advertising. Lash and Polyson (1987) conducted a study in which they asked
people to imagine animals of 93 different species. The subjects were asked to report
whether the animal that came to mind was male or female. Sixty-seven of the animal
species imagined had a significant gender association. Of those given a gender, 58%
were envisioned as male and 14% were female. The rest did not have a perceivable
gender. Four of the anthropomorphized animals found in Lemer and Kalof s study
(1999) were gendered as male. Four animals were gendered as female, as signaled by
voice, clothing, or name.
Research done by Peirce and McBride (1999) confirmed that a higher percentage
of spokes-characters are male. In fact, only nine of 39 television advertisements recalled
by test participants and 10 of 32 viewed in videotapes of commercials were anything but
male.
Phillips and Gyoerick (1999) found that 45% of characters in their study were
male, and about 28 % were female. The remaining 27% were not gendered at all.
Peirce (2001) found that a created spokes-character with a neutral gender was
least liked when compared to the same type of spokes-character with both male and
female attributes. This seems to suggest that audiences prefer gendered spokescharacters whether the product is targeted to one gender or both.
In a study of subjects' responses to different spokes-character attributes, Phillips
and Callcott (1996) found that respondents liked miniature props, such as hats, the
Doughboy's step ladder, and the Keebler Elves' tree house. Respondents also liked
spokes-characters that displayed humor.
As one might imagine, animal spokes-characters can be used to represent a wide
variety of products and services. Callcott and Lee (1994) found that over half of the
animated spokes-characters in their study were promoting nondurable goods. Less than
half of the animated advertisements contained spokes-characters in the service category
and "others" category combined.
About 85% of the characters in Phillips and Gyoerick's study (1999) promoted
non-durable goods, while only 6% promoted durable goods. Another 9% promoted
products that were named as "other."
Based on the literature reviewed, and the results discussed, the following research
questions and hypotheses were developed.
H]: Domestic animal spokes-characters will be found more often than wild
animal spokes-characters in magazine advertisements sampled.
Hj: Animals commonly kept as pets (dogs, cats, birds, etc.) will be used more
often as animal spokes-characters in advertisements sampled.
H3: The majority of animal spokes-characters in sampled advertisements will be
anthropomorphized.
H4: Anthropomorphized animal spokes-characters featured in sampled
advertisements are more likely to be domestic.
H5: The majority of characters in the advertisements sampled with an identifiable
gender will be male.
H(,: The majority of animal spokes-characters found in sampled advertisements
will be featured with some sort of prop.
H7: Anthropomorphized spokes-characters will be more likely to have a prop
than will those portrayed realistically in the advertisements analyzed.
Hg: Spokes-characters will be found more often in advertisements for nondurable goods than for durable goods in advertisements sampled.
RQi: Will spokes-characters be found more often in women's magazines than in
men's in the advertisements sampled?
RQ2: Will women's magazines feature more spokes-character advertisements for
non-durable goods than for durable goods in the advertisements sampled compared to
those found in the men's magazine?
RQ3: Has the number of animal spokes-characters increased from 1980 to the
present in the magazines sampled?
These hypotheses and research questions will providefiirtherexploration into the
genre of spokes-characters, as well as validate or question results from previous studies.
This study should help advertisers take a closer look at how spokes-characters are used in
advertisements and how they are being used to target each gender.
CHAPTER 11
RESEARCH
Methodology
A content analysis of advertisements in two different magazines was conducted.
Other authors have used content analysis as a way to study spokes-characters and animal
characters in advertising (Spears, Mowen, & Chakraborty, 1996; Callcott & Lee, 1994;
Lemer & Kalof, 1999; Phillips & Gyoerick, 1999). Also, little related theory can be
found to guide the development of research questions and hypotheses for studies of
spokes-characters. The method used in this study draws from previous spokes-character
research to develop coding classifications. This is the recommended approach of Riffe
and Freitag (1997).
An animal spokes-character was defined by the author to be any animal in an ad
that is either speaking to promote a product, or is featured on all aspects of packaging.
For example, Geoffrey Giraffe, the spoke-character for the retail store Toys-R-Us is
usually featured as the key agent in print advertisements. There may be a picture of
Geoffrey with a specific toy and then a "statement" from him somewhere on the page.
On the other hand, an animal was also considered to be a spokes-character if they
are identifiable with a brand due to their presence on all packaging, such as the bird
found on all Dove products.
Durable goods are defined as consumer goods, such as vehicles and appliances,
that are typically used repeatedly over a number of years. Non-durable goods are
10
operationalized as consumer goods lasting only a short amount of time, those that expire,
such as food (Phillips & Gyoerick).
Domestic animals were considered to be those which were domesticated to live
and/or be bred in a tame condition. Wild animals were considered to be those living in a
state of nature and not ordinarily tamed (Phillips, 1996a).
Sampling
Magazines were used in this study because they are read by audiences nationwide, and they are often targeted toward a specific group. It is much harder to make this
sort of gender delineation when analyzing television advertisements. Spokes-character
advertising in magazines targeted at two different demographics was studied. The
magazines included in this study are Redbook, to represent magazines targeted at women,
and Esquire, to represent magazines targeted at men. It would seem that in order for
gender research to be valid, over half of the readership of each magazine needed to be
either male or female.
The reasons behind picking these two magazines are twofold: (1) research was
limited to magazines available at local libraries, and (2) according to the web sites for
each magazine, Esquire and Redbook target similar audiences (http://www.esquire.com
and http://www.magazines.ivillage.coni/redbook).
According to its web site. Esquire readers are 59.2%) male and 40.8%o female.
Forty-six percent of its readers are between the ages of 25 and 44, with the second largest
percentage of readers in the 18 to 34 category.
11
Statistics for Redbook are somewhat similar. Women comprise 88.6% of
Redbook readers, while men make up the remaining 11.4%. However, 48% of Redbook
readers fall into the 25-44 year-old category. Again, the second largest percentage of
readers are 18 to 34 years old.
Samples from 1980, 1981, 1990, 1991, 2000 and 2001 were analyzed. Six
magazines of each publication were selected for each year in the study. This resulted in a
total of 72 publications to be analyzed. The issues included in the sample were randomly
selected from all published issues during the years to be analyzed using a random
numbers chart. The randomly selected months were Febmary, March, May, June,
September and November. The unit of analysis was each advertisement spanning at least
half of a page.
The years were selected based on the desire to know how animal spokescharacters were being treated over time. This idea was based on the study done by
Phillips and Gyoerick in 1999. The decision to analyze the first two years of each decade
was an arbitrary one.
The original plan was to analyze only four issues from each year. However, once
data collection was started, it became clear that the numbers would be too small to make
concrete comparisons. The months of March and June were randomly selected and
analyzed in addition to the months of Febmary, May, September and November.
12
CHAPTER III
RESULTS
One hundred fifty-seven animal spokes-characters were found. As can be
expected, several hypotheses were not supported, while others were.
Hi: Domestic animal spokes-characters will be found more often than wild
animal spokes-characters in magazine advertisements sampled.
Domestic animals were considered to be those which were domesticated to live
and/or be bred in a tame condition. Wild animals were considered to be those living in a
state of nature and not ordinarily tamed (Phillips, 1996a).
This hypothesis was not supported, as shown in Table 3.1. However, upon further
analysis of the data, it is statistically significant that more domesticated spokes-characters
were found in Redbook than in Esquire (x^=26.999, p<0.05). See Table 3.2.
Table 3.1: Classification of animal spokes-characters
Domestic
Wild
Total
Frequency
64
93
157
valid Percent
40.8
59.2
100
13
Table 3.2: Animal classifications broken down by magazine
magazine
Redbook
Esquire
Total
X2=26.999, p<0.05
animal's classification
Domestic
Wild
54
40
10
53
64
93
total
94
63
157
H2: Animals commonly kept as pets (dogs, cats, birds, etc.) will be used more
often as animal spokes-characters in advertisements sampled.
To address this hypothesis, data was receded into two groups, controlling for
animals that are considered to be pets. In this study, pets were considered to be any
domesticated animal kept for pleasure rather than utility. After re-coding of the variable
was done, a frequencies test showed that the hypothesis was not supported. Only 39.5%
of animal spokes-characters could be considered to be a pet. See Table 3.3.
Table 3.3: Animals that are considered to be pets.
Pet
Non-Pet
Total
frequency
62
95
157
valid percent
39.5
60.5
100
14
Ry. The majority of animal spokes-characters in sampled advertisements will be
anthropomorphized.
Again, the hypothesis failed to be supported, as shown in Table 3.4.
Anthropomorphized spokes-characters made up a mere 12.7% of the animals coded.
However, it is statistically significant that all anthropomorphized spokes-characters were
found in Redbook magazine (x'=15.361, p<0.05). See Table 3.5.
Table 3.4: Animals found to be portrayed both realistically and
anthropromorphized.
Anthropomorphized
Realistic
Total
Frequency
20
137
157
valid percent
12.7
87.3
100
Table 3.5: Personification of animals broken down by magazine.
magazine
Redbook
Esquire
Total
animal's personification
Anthropomorphized
Realistic
74
20
"
63
20
137
Z2=15.361, p<0.05
15
total
94
63
157
H4: Anthropomorphized animal spokes-characters featured in sampled
advertisements are more likely to be domestic.
When analyzed using a chi square, this hypothesis was not supported. Of the
anthropomorphized animal spokes-characters coded, exactly half were wild and half were
domestic. See Tables 3.6 and 3.7.
All of these characters appeared in Redbook magazine.
Table 3.6: The classification/nature of the animal spokes-characters coded crossed
by their personification.
classification
Domestic
Wild
Total
personification
Anthropomorphized
Realistic
10
54
10
83
20
137
Total
64
93
157
Table 3.7: Chi square analysis for H4
Pearson Chi-Square
Value
df
.810
1
Computed for only a 2x2 table
16
asymp. sig. (2-sided)
.368
Hj! The majority of characters in the advertisements sampled with an identifiable
gender will be male.
This hypothesis was supported. The majority of spokes-characters with an
identifiable gender were in fact male (24.2% versus 2.5% that were female). However,
the majority of spokes-characters, 73.2%, did not have an identifiable gender. See Table
3.8. A chi square was not used for this hypothesis because there was a cell size less than
five.
Table 3.8: Gender of animal spokes-characters coded.
frequency
Male
Female
Not Gendered
Total
valid percent
38
24.2
4
2.5
115
73.2
157
100
Ha: The majority of animal spokes-characters found in sampled advertisements
will be feamred with some sort of prop.
This study did not support results of previous studies. No support was found for
hypothesis six. Only 12.7 percent of the animal spokes-characters were featured with a
prop. See Table 3.9.
17
Table 3.9: Animals featured with props.
frequency
Yes
No
Total
20
137
157
valid percent
12.7
87.3
100
H7: Anthropomorphized spokes-characters will be more likely to have a prop
than will those portrayed realistically in the advertisements analyzed.
This hypothesis was not supported either. However, it is statistically significant
that animals featured realistically were more likely to be featured with a prop (x^=10.218,
p<0.05). See Table 3.10.
Table 3.10: Analysis of the animal's personification and whether or not it was
portrayed with a prop.
personification
Anthropomorphized
Realistic
Total
featured with a prop?
Yes
No
7
13
124
13
137
20
Total
20
137
157
Hg: Spokes-characters will be found more often in advertisements for nondurable goods than for durable goods in advertisements sampled.
Similar to previous studies, this hypothesis was supported. The animal spokescharacters coded in this study were promoting non-durable products 76.4%) of the time, as
opposed to the 23.6% promoting durable goods. See Table 3.11.
Table 3.11: Type of product being promoted
Durable
Non-durable
Total
frequency
37
120
157
valid percentage
23.6
76.4
100
RQi: Will spokes-characters be found more often in women's magazines than in
men's in the advertisements sampled?
This hypothesis was also supported.
Almost 60%) of the animal spokes-
characters were found in the women's magazine, Redbook. Forty percent were found in
Esquire. See Table 3.12.
Table 3.12:
Redbook
Esquire
Total
Which magazine the animal spokes-character appeared in
valid percent
59.9
40.1
100
frequency
94
63
157
RQ2: Will women's magazines feature more spokes-character advertisements for
non-durable goods than for durable goods in the advertisements sampled compared to
those found in the men's magazine?
Animal spokes-characters contained in Redbook promoted non-durable products
significantly more often than the ones found in Esquire (x^=7.530, p<0.05). See Table
3.13.
19
Table 3.13:
Crosstabulation data for the magazine and product variables
magazine
Type of product
Durable
Non-durable
Total
Redbook
15
79
94
Esquire
22
41
63
37
120
157
Total
'-1
con
_^/» n r
RQ3: Has the number of animal spokes-characters increased from 1980 to the
present in the magazines sampled?
This question looked at the simple number of animal spokes-character
advertisements found in each decade. Based on the information, the answer is uhimately
yes. The number of animal spokes-character advertisements increased between the
eighties and nineties, but then decreased after the turn of the century. Thirty-six animal
spokes-character advertisements were coded in 1980 and 1981. That number increased to
63 in 1990 and 1991. This showed a remarkable 75% increase from one decade to the
next. However, the number of animal spokes-characters then declined roughly eight% to
58 by the next decade.
Out of all advertisements found in 1980 and 1981, 23% of advertisements found
included an animal spokes-character. In 1990 and 1991, that number dropped to 14%. hi
20
2000 and 2001, animal spokes-character comprised 17.5%) of all advertisements found.
See Table 3.14.
Table 3.14: Data for each magazine year in the study
magazine year
frequency
valid percent
1980
23
14.6
1981
10
36.9
1990
38
24.2
1991
25
15.9
2000
23
14.6
2001
35
22.3
100
100
Total
21
CHAPTER rv
DISCUSSION
Although this study replicated others to a certain degree, it was also unique. Little
to no research has been done on animal spokes-characters in the past. This study also
shows how two magazines use animal spokes-characters to target different genders and to
promote differing types of products.
Hi: Domestic animal spokes-characters will be found more often than wild
animal spokes-characters in magazine advertisements sampled.
Support for Hi was not found. Domestic animals only accounted for 40.8%o of
spokes-characters coded. Wild animals occurred 59.2%) of the time.
These numbers could change if the sample size was expanded, or more years were
analyzed. These percentages may simply be unique to the years analyzed in this study.
Another possible explanation is that advertisers assume that more people can
relate to domestic animals. A higher percentage of people come in contact with
domesticated animals more often than they do wild animals. Advertisers may simply
want to use something that is more familiar to their consumers.
Originally, birds were thought to be a domesticated animal. Birds are often kept
as pets, and could be considered to be part of the pet recoding and analysis. However, the
birds found in this study all appeared as wild animals. Birds were found to be the spokescharacter for three different brands: Dove soap. Birds Eye frozen foods, and Lacoste
22
men's clothing. In the pictures, they were all portrayed realistically, and as a bird in
flight, not a caged bird displayed as a pet.
The Dodge Ram and the Camel cigarettes camel were the most commonly found
wild animal spokes-characters, ft is interesting to note that these advertisements were
found in both Redbook and Esquire. However, Camel advertisements were found most
often in Esquire.
There was some debate about whether or not to classify a camel as domesticated
or wild. The opinion of five Mass Communications students and faculty were consuhed
and the majority of respondents concurred that it was, in fact, a wild animal. This was
especially believed due to the portrayal of the camel in most advertisements. There was
no saddle, harness or load packed onto the camel and no human was portrayed in the ad.
The camel was standing in the middle of the desert in front of pyramids. All of these
characteristics suggested that the animal was wild.
There was also slight debate about the nature of the rabbit spokes-characters. The
rabbits found were promoting Duplo toys, makers of Lego®. The same people's opinions
were consuhed and the majority concuned that the rabbit should be classified as a wild
animal as well. This is due to the fact that more rabbits exist in the wild than they do as
domesticated pets. In fact, many apartment complexes do not allow rabbits as pets.
H2: Animals commonly kept as pets (dogs, cats, birds, etc.) will be used more
often as animal spokes-characters in advertisements sampled.
No support was found for H2. Again, varying the sample size could have a
positive or a negative effect on the results.
23
Although this hypothesis was not supported, the most commonly found domestic
spokes-character was a dog. Most of the dogs coded were acting in a pet capacity,
promoting products such as dog food, dog treats or dog medicine. The same holds tme
for cat spokes-characters.
Even though many dog and cat advertisements were found, there were very few
other animals found that were used as pets.
H3: The majority of animal spokes-characters in sampled advertisements will be
anthropomorphized.
It was interesting to find that in the magazine advertisements sampled, H3 was not
supported. In past studies, researchers found a larger amount of anthropomorphized
spokes-characters than were found in this sample. Varying the years sampled may make
a difference in the results. Another possibility would be to compare the magazines
sampled in this study with those sampled in the previous studies.
Technological trends may also explain why more realistically portrayed animals
were found in abundance. One new advertising trend occurring in television
advertisements is to make animals appear realistically, but anthropomorphize them by
giving them speaking capabilities. Although these animals are anthropomorphized on
television, if an advertiser chooses to use the same character in a print advertisement, that
animal may only be recognizable due to a slogan or product name appearing in the ad.
There is no way to give that animal speaking ability on paper.
H4: Anthropomorphized animal spokes-characters featured in sampled
advertisements are more likely to be domestic.
24
Due to the fact that exactly half of the coded spokes-characters were
anthropomorphized and the other half were wild, it is difficuh to predict if H4 could be
supported if the sample size were larger.
Ecological trends may be one factor influencing the development of animal
spokes-characters. Many advertisers may be reluctant to create a wild animal character if
that animal is an endangered species, or is thought to be mean. Sometimes a bear can be
constmed as cute and friendly, but in certain contexts, it can be rather large and
frightening. Advertisers must use caution when placing wild animals in their campaigns,
due to their unpredictable nature.
H5: The majority of characters in the advertisements sampled with an identifiable
gender will be male.
More than half of the spokes-characters analyzed did not have an identifiable
gender. This was not expected when reading the results of previous studies. Their
numbers seem to suggest that only a small portion of spokes-characters analyzed were
neither male nor female. However, for those that were gendered, males appeared
overwhelmingly more than females.
Since more spokes-characters were found in women's magazines, it does not
seem that advertisers feel that they need to target women with female characters.
He: The majority of animal spokes-characters found in sampled advertisements
will be featured with some sort of prop.
25
No support was found for Hg. The majority of spokes-characters found did not
have a prop. Some of the more frequently appearing props include sunglasses, a ball and
a fishing pole.
Although previous studies have shown that respondents do like the use of props,
many advertisers may feel that it detracts from the spokes-character itself, or is too
"cutesy."
H7: Anthropomorphized spokes-characters will be more likely to have a prop
than will those portrayed realistically in the advertisements analyzed.
H7 was not supported. In fact, significance was found for the reverse of what was
predicted. In past studies, anthropomorphized animals were more likely to be featured
with a prop. In this study, realistically portrayed animals were found using a prop more
often. One reason for this could be due to the small amount of anthropomorphized
spokes-characters found in the sample.
Another possible reason is that advertisers feel that by anthropomorphizing an
animal, the animal has already been given a "prop" in terms of clothing, etc. Thus, they
may feel more inclined to give a little something extra, such as a ball, to an animal that
looks realistic.
Hg: Spokes-characters will be found more often in advertisements for nondurable goods than for durable goods in advertisements sampled.
This hypothesis was supported, which was not a surprise, considering that the
results duplicated the other studies similar in nature.
26
It is interesting to note that advertisements for dog and cat food were abundant in
both magazines. They were just as likely to appear in Esquire as they were in Redbook.
This tends to suggest that advertisers of these products believe that men are just as likely
to be responsible for the purchasing of their pets' food as women. However, it does seem
that advertisers tend to place more of the responsibility of buying food for the family on
the woman.
RQi: Will spokes-characters be found more often in women's magazines than in
men's in the advertisements sampled?
RQi was supported most likely due to the nature of the advertisements in the
magazines sampled. More spokes-characters were found in women's magazines than in
the men's magazines sampled. This could be due to the fact that more spokes-characters
were found promoting non-durable goods such as food, and those types of products are
more likely to be found in a women's magazines, such as Redbook.
RQ2: Will women's magazines feature more spokes-character advertisements for
non-durable goods than for durable goods in the advertisements sampled compared to
those found in the men's magazine?
Support for RQi seems to indicate that RQ2 would be supported as well.
Women's magazines are more likely to promote food and beverages, personal grooming
products and clothing. Men's magazines often promote the same types of products, but
tend to focus more on status items, such as vehicles, expensive cigars and high-end
services. Many of these products do not lend themselves well to spokes-character
advertising.
27
RQ3: Has the number of animal spokes-characters increased from 1980 to the
present in the magazines sampled?
Research question three showed that although the amount of animal spokescharacter advertisements increased between the eighties and nineties, they decreased by
the year 2000. This could be due to the nature of advertisements featured in those time
periods. As products being advertised change over time, so do the advertising pitches.
Limitations
One limitation of this study is that only one magazine targeting each specific
audience was examined. Results of the analysis are generalized to an entire audience
without a cross-reference. No other magazines were analyzed for this study due to time
limitations, availability and scope. The primary purpose for using a men's magazine and
a women's magazine was to look at basic differences between the two. The researcher
wanted to find out if there was, in fact, a basic difference between how the two genders
were targeted with animal spokes-characters. Enough data was gathered from the
analysis to warrant fiiture exploration and research in the area.
It is important to note that advertisements were analyzed based on animal spokescharacters, not simply the presence of an animal in an ad. Many advertisements featuring
animals were found but not recorded because animals were simply part of the picture or
the background. Fumre studies could be conducted to analyze the mere use of animals in
advertising.
28
Only animal spokes-characters were examined. Results are not representative of
spokes-character advertising as a whole. Also, results are not representative of spokescharacters appearing in television commercials, or on product packaging.
This study also does not consider the effectiveness of spokes-character
advertising. Claims about the effectiveness of animal spokes-characters as compared to
human or animate object spokes-characters can not be made.
In spite of these limitations, this study offers valuable information about the genre
of animal spokes-characters. Research has been done about the entire spokes-character
genre, as well as portrayal of animals in advertisements. The limitations mentioned
above do not diminish the value of the study at hand.
Suggestions for Future Research
ft is clear that more research is needed in this area of animal spokes-characters in
order to make a more definite statement about their use and purposes. It is suggested that
a greater number of gender-targeted magazines are analyzed in order to have a more
clear-cut idea of how animal spokes-characters are used to target men and women, hi
addition, adding a children's magazine into the analysis would also make an interesting
study.
Another suggested analysis is to do further research into time periods. It is
interesting that the amount of animal spokes-characters went up between the 1980s and
1990s, but then decreased slightly after the turn of the century.
29
Further research should look into the possible change in numbers of these spok
es-
characters found toward the end of the decade. This study only looked at the first two
years, ft would be especially interesting to analyze each year between 1980 and 2000, to
see exactly where the numbers start changing.
Another suggestion for future research would be to analyze the two magazines
sampled in this study with the magazines used in past studies, such as Good
Housekeeping.
Due to the small amount of literature available to guide present studies on animal
spokes-characters, this smdy should help answer some questions, as well as create some
new ones. It is important to know what drives consumers to make the purchasing
decisions that they make. Sometimes a decision between two similar brands can be made
simply by the type of packaging, advertising slogan or the person or character promoting
the product. Although this study does nothing to analyze the purchasing behavior or
preferences of consumers, it can be a good starting point. Using the data collected from
this sample, advertisers can see how some brands are using animal spokes-characters, and
for what types of products. Research analyzing attitude-toward-the brand and attitudetoward-the ad can be drafted from some of the results discussed in this study.
Advertisers should not be afraid of using animals when creating spokes-characters
for their products. Spokes-characters provide an avenue for the audience to connect with
a manufacturer's product. The character might as well be cute and cuddly.
30
REFERENCES
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31
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32
APPENDIX
Coding Sheet for Animal Spokes-character Analysis
Is the animal domestic or wild?
DOMESTIC
WILD
How is the animal personified?
ANTHROPOMORPHIZED
REALISTIC
If the animal has an identifiable gender, what is it?
N/A
MALE
FEMALE
Is the animal featured with any kind of prop?
YES
NO
What type of product is this character promoting"]
DURABLE
NON-DURABLE
What magazine and edition was the character featured in?
REDBOOK
33
ESQUIRE
What size was the ad?
(for determining validity of the unit of
analysis)
34
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