2/21 Multimodal Midterm Reflection Prompt

Reflecting on the work I've done thus far this semester I have come across a few challenges while composing my web text. With our web text, we are supposed to identify a subject, locate two issues within our topic, and research our questions. To add to this I've participated in a number of class discussions to explore several options and ways to make sure our rhetorical choices are good choices and not just a faux pas, sort of speak. While doing this I have run into a few challenges, much of them being in my tone and language, also trying to stay focused on the topic at hand.

 One of them being the tone I have with the audience. I didn't want to come up short on the entertainment with those I am targeting. I realized the psychological effects of advertising may not be exciting to my readers, so I figured out a way to watch the tone of my web text. I decided that I wanted to inform but also be relatable when describing advertising; therefore I used cultural meaning in my writings to help relate to my audience, alluding back to cultural aversions such as Facebook and twitter. 

I also wanted to make sure the language of my writing was informative and entertaining, that many call "infotainment", my goal is to not persuade necessarily what the reader thinks about advertising on television and in magazine but to give them a broader scope on to actually what they're looking at when the watch television whether it is an actual advertisement or a show and even when they read. To overcome this problem of language, I used many quotes from profound philosophers in the field of advertisement and psychology.

 Once again, my goal is to inform so I felt it was necessary to quote and paraphrase experts in the field, while watching my tone of course. Writing in my journal entries definitely helped along the writing process of the web text. I felt that my proposal was a huge help, it kept me in line for what my goal of my research leading to my web text was about. The topic definition helped me as well providing a purpose to the paper and also key questions I should be answering. To overcome my fear of going off topic and not being able to fully express my views on advertising, I use the topic definition as a guideline as well because I feel like if I've answered all questions posed and even newer ones that have and may have arisen then I have completed my goal.

In the end, I will overcome these rhetorical challenges by incorporating all I have done, as far as, the classroom discussions, topic definition, blogging, research and writing; into a well outlined web text that will vividly display an accurate knowledge in tone, language, and style by not only selecting fonts, colors, and images but by using "infotainment" to make sure my audience understands and can relate to what I want them to hear and know.

2/14 Paragraph Development

Products, that is consumer products, have a significant role in society. According to Grant McCracken, they are responsible for carrying and communicating cultural meaning (Douglas and Isherwood 1978; Sahlin 1976). In advertising, the goal is to expand consumer goods throughout the "social world", to help promote these products; advertisers, designers, directors, and even consumers encourage the progression of "cultural meaning". Geertz described cultural meaning as, "the Western conception of the person as a bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cognitive universe, a dynamic center of awareness, emotion, judgement, and action organized into a distinctive whole and set contrastively both against other such wholes and against a social and natural background (Quinn and Strauss 1997)."  

In Class Research 2/9

Key Research Question: How does the mass media in advertising affect the psyche of consumers?

Bibliography: The Social Uses of Advertising: An Ethnographic Study of Adolescent Advertising Audiences
Ritson, Mark ; Elliott, Richard
Journal of Consumer Research, Vol.26(3), p.260-277 [Peer Reviewed Journal]


Bibliography: Death and mourning in technologically mediated culture.(Report)
Gibson, Margaret
Health Sociology Review, Dec, 2007, Vol.16(5), p.415(10) [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Bibliography: Cultural influence on consumers' usage of social networks and its' impact on online purchase intentions
Pookulangara, Sanjukta ; Koesler, Kristian
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2011, Vol.18(4), p.348-354 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Bibliography: Brand communications in fashion categories using celebrity endorsement
Carroll, Angela
The Journal of Brand Management, 17, 2, 146-158(13) [Peer Reviewed Journal]
2009

The Proposal

The Proposal

With our culture, the internet media is becoming more enticing, relative,and prevalent in society. Many advertising companies are using social networking sites and various forms of media to attract consumers to their business. The psychological role advertising companies play in the media can deeply effect consumers in a positive or negative aspect. With that being said, my paper will be about the mass media in advertising and how it subliminally conditions our society.

This is important because with our culture, media plays a huge influence on our behavior as consumers. Consumers reactions to the subliminal messaging has turned our society superficial. My paper will be targeting social networkers; Purdue University-Calumet students; and Consumers.

I will be researching how this effects the psyche of consumers using academic journals, books, internet sources, and magazines.

I hope to shed light on the effects of consumerism and our behavior as consumers, to help enlighten my audience on how we can be subconsciously programmed to act and react to what we see and hear.

2/7 In Class Discussion

An Experimental Study of the Relationship between Online Engagement and Advertising Effectiveness
Calder, B.J. ; Malthouse, E.C. ; Schaedel, U.
Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2009, Vol.23(4), p.321-331

Cultural influence on consumers' usage of social networks and its' impact on online purchase intentions
Pookulangara, Sanjukta ; Koesler, Kristian
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2011, Vol.18(4), p.348-354

Topic Definition

Background: With our culture, the internet media is becoming more enticing, relative,and prevalent in society. Many advertising companies are using social
networking sites and various forms of media to attract consumers to their sites. The psychological role advertising companies play in the media can deeply effect consumers in a positive or negative aspect.

Purpose: This paper will look at the psychological effects advertising has on the
public through our electronic media. My goal is to make my audience aware of
the mental and physical implications of mass media advertising.

Working Title: "Advertising: Mass Media Junkie"

Key Question: In What Ways Does the Mass Media Effect the Psyche of its Consumers?

Sub Questions: How does subliminal messaging effect consumer behavior? What ways do advertising companies design their campaigns to appeal to the public? How does advertising work in social networking environments?