Download The media, advertising and consumption as major

The media, advertising and
consumption as major vehicles of
change: the case of Greece,
1960-2000
Emmanuel Hairetakis,
University of Athens
The basic question underlying the current presentation
is the way with which the above three concepts,
being initially separated during the early stages of the
sixties, or even earlier in Greece, began converging,
so as to merge into a unified form during the following
decades (the 70’s, the 80’s and the 90’s) with
increasingly complicated ties between them. This
convergence created an indissoluble, tripolar bond of
the form mass media—advertising—consumption in
Greece, towards the end of the 90’s, as we were
approaching the year 2000.
1. The Greek mass media
2. Advertising in Greece
3. Consumption in Greece
4. The convergence of advertising, mass media and
consumption
1. The Greek mass media
The trajectory of the mass media during these last forty years is
characterized by an increasing complexity, which is intensified by
the clash of power blocks, both of the Press and of the
electronic and new media, a strife finally shaping the levels of
mass media commercialization. Although this picture is
complemented by what happens in the advertising sector, the
field of mass media and its developments establishes a
trustworthy index for the fashioning of commercialization levels.
Within this frame, we may discern three major periods, covering
1960-2000:
the period of the pre-TV era (from 1960 until 1966).
the introductory and expansion period of television (from 1966
until 1988-89), and
the deregulation period and its aftermath (from 1988-89 until
2000).
periods directly related to the evolutionary course of the mass
media and of their audiences, as well as to the course of
advertising and the transitional phases of the market, mostly of
consumer goods.
1. The Greek mass media
Pre-TV era (-1966)
Advent & expansion of TV
(1966+)
Deregulation & aftermath
(1989+)
Domination of the print media
Radio as intermediary in the process
of the gradual domination of TV
Domination of the electronic &
(secondarily) of the new media
Transformations of advertising
communication
Product-oriented
Symbolic/Imaginary
(expansion of markets- new
markets)
(the product tends to disappear
in its advertising
representation)
Citizens & consumers. The evolving
TV-viewer ; from opinionated to
connoisseur
Consumers : individualized
consumption of the mass media
content. Chaotic TV-viewing.
Expansion of markets and
creation/establishment of new
markets
Intense market competition.
Segmentation of product
categories
Educational
(education-information)
Transformation of the audience
Citizens, consumers
Transitional phases of the
market
Creation of markets and
product/commodity categories
1. The Greek mass media
Regarding the levels of commercialization, we may discern
three levels: an initial level (from 1960 up to 1987), the
intermediate commercialization (from 1987 up to 1996),
and the course towards the advanced commercialization
(from 1997 up to 2000), even though this last phase tends to
extend well after the year 2000.
During the initial level, there were only state-controlled
electronic media, with no apparent competition between
them. The degree of quantification of the mass media
audiences, with the aid of pertinent research - a
precondition that is the driving force of quantification- was
not intense, to the degree that there was no such demand
from the side of the mass media. Media audiences at the
time were not diversified. Audience fragmentation was
founded and expanded subsequently, with the
intensification of competition between the media, and
thus the quest for numerical proof demonstrating their
actual influence.
1. The Greek mass media
During the intermediate level, the hegemony of the public
electronic media declines gradually, and is replaced by the
advent of the privately owned electronic media and their
subsequent expansion, thus becoming their major
competitors. However, the new problem is that of their
viability, since the only major source of income for the
privately owned electronic media comes from their
advertising activities, thus furthering the increase in
competition, and therefore the demand for comparative
quantitative data, such as their viewing levels and their
market share. This competition is further increased along
with the growth of TV advertising expenditure, being the
direct outcome of the expanding competition between
products and services available in the market, having to
find a way so as to realize their profit objectives according
to their marketing plans through the “construction” of
demand, by mostly using TV advertising in order to promote
their commodities to the public at large.
1. The Greek mass media
The intensification of competition resulted into viewing
audiences as fragmented, and this fact further increased
the need for quantitative research results. At this stage, the
methods for conducting research are transformed so as to
respond to the increased demand. This led to a departure
from the questionnaire method, and to a lesser degree,
from the telephone surveys, and we have the advent of the
electronic record of TV viewing, that evolved to a
significant degree since the second half of the 90’s. A direct
consequence of these was that research results contributed
to the programming of TV stations, in their effort to employ
programmes attractive to large audiences, leading to
expanding their advertising income, and thus to an
increased financial viability for the privately owned
commercial stations.
1. The Greek mass media
The advanced level of commercialization concerns the
period 1998-2000 and henceforth. During this phase, the
private TV stations have achieved hegemony. They have
expanded, and their dominance in the media field is
without question. Competition further intensifies in the field
of the electronic media and in the markets of products
and services. The requirements of the private TV stations
are especially demanding, both in the area of
programming (in the need to include programmes that
may exhibit even slight numerical differences compared to
their competitors) and in the competition between them at
the level of TV viewing and in the existing financial
limitations for creating or purchasing programmes, which
has now become a critical factor for their viability.
The following table summarizes the courses of
commercialization levels, in parallel with the various forms
of research for recording TV audiences:
1. The Greek mass media
Concise course for the creation of interest and demand for
media research, and especially of the research recording the TV
audiences.
Level of
commercialization
Phase/conjuncture
of the electronic
media
Initial (1960-1987)
Only public electronic
media under state
control are in existence.
Intermediate (1988- Deregulation1998)
“entrance” of private
electronic media
Advanced
(1999-2000)
Expansion and
domination of the
private electronic
media
Levels of use
Simple record and
comparability of data
Increase in the needs
for programmng( e.g
increase in the number
of stations, increase in
advertising volume.
Especially demanding
needs for programming
at various levels :
stations, advertisers,
advertising agencies.
Μethods/techniques for
realizing audience
research
Questionnaire, interview
Improved questionnaire,
telephone surveys, advent and
improvements of the
electronic record of TV
viewing
Generalization of the
electronic record of TV
viewing.
2. Advertising in Greece
We may discern three major periods of
advertising/commodity communication, almost the
same as the evolutionary course of the mass media,
within the time frame of 1960-2000 :
the educational period
the product-oriented period
the symbolic/imaginary period. A concise description of
the above periods is provided in the following table:
2. Advertising in Greece
Phase
Educational
Product-oriented
Symbolic/imaginary
Main
objective
The audience is being
educated in knowing
product categories
and in the formation
of a positive attitude
to them.-Creation of a
positive attitude.
The audience is informed
about the various products
belonging to product
categories advertised.
The audience is “subjected”
to the various
characteristics/properties
that will “belong” to him
provided that he will buy
the products being
advertised :
products/commodities as a
ticket for entering a “new”
world.
Advertising
discourse
Educationinformation. Use of
simple and
understandable
language.
Advertising discourse
focuses on the
product/commodity, that
seems to dominate in its
various representations.
Creation of difference ( real
or perceived) between
products/commodities
belonging to the same
category.
The product/commodity
gradually “vanishes” from
its advertising
representation, functioning
in an elliptical manner.
Commodity discourse,
where the product is not
represented΄absence of the
product.
Market level
Shrinkage of selfconsumption.
Creation of markets
and
product/commodity
categories.
Εxpansion of current
markets and creation of
new markets of
products/commodities.
Keen up to very intense
market competition.
Fragmentation of
product/commodity
categories.
Overall
objective
Εducation
Knowledge of
products/commodities and
their characteristics.
«Environments» of
products, not the products
per se e.g. world of
Nescafé, world of Swatch.
3. Consumption in Greece
During 1960, groceries were the center of reference for the
everyday purchases of households. These shops had created a
personal relationship with their clients, which bought products
not according to their (visual) appearance, but based on that
personal relation, combined with their own perception of the
grocer’s sincerity in weighing. There were no supermarkets at the
time
The transition from grocery stores to supermarkets began
towards the end of the 60’s and was completed towards the
late 80’s. What was lost (and has not since been replaced) was
the personal relationship clients had with grocers, i.e. the time
for small talk
What was observed during this “short decade” of the 60’s was a
form of dispute and uprising from those who demanded a
different world, which had been repulsive to established powers
already since the period between the two world wars. The
establishment was seriously disputed
3. Consumption in Greece
The decade of the 70’s was the inaugural kick-off of an approach
that asserted that “everything that cannot be invested in human
relations is invested in objects” forewarning the flourishing of neoliberalism for the subsequent decades, as well as the preservation
of the information deprivation, within an environment where the
mass media went through an unprecedented growth
The fact that during the 80’s Greece became a full member of the
European Common Market was an important development,
influencing in a positive manner/way the course of marketing, and
consequently the course of advertising. The penetration of the
international advertising agencies into the Greek market was
intensified, as well as their merging with Greek advertising agencies.
The consumption standards of Greeks tended to approach those
of the sizeable European countries, while at the same time,
institutions such as the family, started eroding. An outcome of the
expansion of consumerism was the spreading of consumer credit
during the second half of the 80’s, trend which took even larger
dimensions during the ensuing years. Consumers thought of
consumer credit as the (only feasible) way of approaching their
consumer standards, including loans for purchasing a house and for
consumer goods as well
3. Consumption in Greece
Advertising, a practice which had intensified in Greece
and in other European countries, using both new and
older methods of persuasion in order to achieve its sales
objective, even opposing the prevailing social
conventions, contributed substantially to the
de-politicization of “consumers”, to the glorification of
worldwide brands and to the sales decrease of the
traditional Greek products, that were seen as oldfashioned in the endless sign wars of advertising
Since the 80’s, “consumers” become selective, and direct
themselves towards branded products. The great majority
of newspapers adopt the tabloid format, while they
continue to be significant sources of information.
Magazines have already started to use foreign names for
their names (i.e. their titles), even if they were direct
transplants of foreign magazines, while their pages contain
few advertisements of Greek products
3. Consumption in Greece
The “deregulation” of the electronic media during the later part of
the 80’s, brings to the fore the municipal radio stations (most of them
proved to be short-lived) and the private radio stations, and,after a
while, private television. “Deregulation” possesses an unstable legal
status, with licences being issued for a few months only, and
renewed according to governmental objectives and intentions,
while the advent of telecontrol (available for all colour TV sets)
radically changed the practice of TV viewing, as well as the ways TV
content was consumed and understood. The practice of offers from
the print media (mainly from newspapers), i.e. incorporating a book,
or a CD or similar objects with the issue/copy is already a wellestablished custom, and this comes full circle with the complete
commercialization of the mass media, the continuous increase of
advertising, mainly in TV, that has already started to disturb a
significant part of TV viewers. And simultaneously, new media are
already appearing, such as the internet and mobile telephony,
accompanied with their ever-growing acceptance by the public at
large, contributing towards the creation of an entirely new mass
media field. And already, articles focusing on consumption are
already appearing in the print media quite frequently.
3. Consumption in Greece
During the 90’s, the formation of an ideological
consumerism had already emerged: the grocery store
already belonged to the past, the customers of
supermarkets did not use a buying list, but usually filled-up
their shopping basket, they had withdrawn into themselves,
and of course borrowing items from neighbours was nonexistent, though it had been a usual practice during the
60’s and the 70’s. Individualization was rampant, combined
with the conviction that the continuously aggravating
social problems could not be solved collectively but only
individually (an outcome of the ideological dominance of
neo-liberalism), within a universe where advertising was
omnipresent, inflating the consumer culture, focusing on
surface impressions and appearances
3. Consumption in Greece
The paradox is in that consumer culture had been
promoted as a guarantor of financial stability and
individual freedom, an assertion that had been
vigorously propagated by an obsession (and not an
ideology) that was to be discredited during the
ensuing years. A recent survey revealed that the
everyday reality in Greece is aggravated by insecurity,
doubts, stress and discontent, describing the overall
climate in Greece, clearly pointing towards the
decline in the everyday quality of life of citizens, and
the eventual transition from a society of need to that of
desire
4. The convergence of advertising,
mass media and consumption
An especially vital fact in this continuous course of
convergence is the formation and the evolution of the media
power blocs, the older one being that of the print media
(represented mainly through political newspapers), and the
more recent one, that of the electronic and new media. Each
one of those two power blocs also constitutes a pressure
group, in the wider sense of the word, demanding for the
realization of its interest, both as a bloc- i.e. as a lobby-and also
individually, i.e. per medium, and pursuing the maximization of
its influence and its vested advantages.
The continuous tacticisms of these influence groups follows the
historical course of the media, since the written
speech/discourse- the major means of expression for political
newspapers- is gradually reduced, being replaced by the
image, the main vehicle of the electronic and new media,
represented by television and its various mutations. Within such
a correlation, the predomination of the image already is an
undisputed fact.
4. The convergence of advertising,
mass media and consumption
The wider environment that sustains/supports all the above is
the culture of contemporary, or late, capitalism (which, in
contradistinction to the culture of early capitalism, which
demanded ascetism combined with hard work), promoting
the idea of individualization that is achieved through
individual accomplishment and individual gratification,
encouraging their pursuit via consumption, as it is promised
by marketing and advertisements of an ever widening
spectrum of commodities, under the guise of products and
services.
This was combined with the support, in one way or another,
and the domination of formalism in Greek society, while the
prerequisite for a civic tradition, based on wider social
groupings and on the dissemination of education, which is
connected to the written speech, would in all possibility, lead
towards the opposite direction, thus leaving the doors open
for the invasion and the flowering of mass culture.
4. The convergence of advertising,
mass media and consumption
Certainly, the daily existence and the wider acceptance of
popular tradition could possibly act as an obstacle to the
course towards commercialization, since it refers to
conditions and approaches directly confronting the
prevalence of the monetary sphere and its by-products, and
it had necessarily to fall into disuse, exactly as the limitation of
self-consumption was essential for the proliferation of
commodity communication, i.e. of advertising.
Of course, consumption is a cultural process, but the “culture
of consumption” is, considered from important viewpoints,
the culture of contemporary West, which of course is not the
exclusive way to consume, but the dominant one, and to a
large degree incorporates all other imaginable ways into its
own field. And this becomes evident from the extended
abundance of commodities accessible in the “cathedrals” of
consumption, the shopping malls.
4. The convergence of advertising,
mass media and consumption
The wider environment that sustains/supports all
the above is the culture of contemporary, or late,
capitalism (which, in contradistinction to the
culture of early capitalism, which demanded
ascetism combined with hard work), promoting
the idea of individualization that is achieved
through individual accomplishment and
individual gratification, encouraging their pursuit
via consumption, as it is promised by marketing
and advertisements of an ever widening
spectrum of commodities, under the guise of
products and services.
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