Philippine E-Journals

The study aimed to unravel perceptions of the viewers towards the women endorsers of Tanduay print advertisements. In essence theresearchers were able to make an in-depth analysis of women portrayalsusing advertisement as a medium, the social values impated and the socio psychological impact evoked by these women images among viewers.The exploratory study combined quantitative and qualitative research designs. One hundred respondents were chosen for the survey: 50 males and50 females. To reinforce the data extracted from the survey, Focus Interviews(FI) were conducted among key informants. The researchers used purposivesampling to meet the required sample for the study in both survey and FIfollowing a pre- determined set of criteria.Results from both the survey and FIs revealed that the perceptionsof the male respondents were remarkably different from the opinions thatthe female respondents held. The males were inclined to have positiveviews regarding women endorsers of Tanduay print ads while most femalerespondents exhibited conservative reactions and to some extent repulsionwith the women images. In a nutshell the results of the study showed thefollowing: 1. Images depicted by women endorsers varied depending on thehow they were interpreted by the viewers. While most women respondentstended to view the images as offensive and indecent most male respondentsgenerally saw the women images as representative of beauty and glamour.Social values associated with these images were likewise consistent withthe perceptions of the viewers. The social values attached with womenendorsements were independence, strength and self-worth on the part ofthe women. While among most female respondents the women endorsers’act of posing was interpreted to mean values attached with the need forpublicity and material gain. The socio- psychological impact among most malerespondents generally exhibited the positive feelings of admiration and pridefor these women endorsers’ boldness and self-assurance while from amongmost female respondents antipathy was the dominant reaction.The latitude of acceptance therefore between male and femalerespondents was found at the opposite ends of the continuum. While thelatitude of social acceptance among the most female respondents was low,the male respondents exhibited high latitude of acceptance. Social acceptanceamong most male respondents was high and associated with their tendencyto demonstrate favorable attitude towards women posing for Tanduay. Thelatitude of rejection was high among most women respondents since theinclination to perceive women endorsers in a bad light surfaced in most interview. The latitude of non-commitment or non-involvement among bothmale and female respondents was present to some degree for those who were unsure or undecided about some questions. The issue of obscenity andexposing women in advertisements has always been widely argued especiallyas it concerns Filipino women in a particularly conservative community.