Consumer Behavior and the Sega Dreamcast

*Disclaimer this post is not endorsed by Sega, just the opinion of a person who has love for the Sega Dreamcast, even though its lifespan was short-lived

The Sega Dreamcast was the last hardware Sega manufactured. However, the console’s lifespan was cut short due to its competitor at the time, the Playstation 2. It launched in the United States from September 9, 1999 (9-9-99) and was discontinued March 31, 2001.

The success of the Dreamcast, and Sega as a hardware company, was based on the consumer behavior of 2 major markets, United States and Japan. Europe counts, but I feel like these two countries were more crucial in Sega’s hardware life. Because of Sega’s previous console, the Sega Saturn, it would come to no surprise that consumers would have a bad taste for Sega. In addition, Sony was promoting its upcoming beast of a console, the Playstation 2, so consumers would wait in anticipation. To counter that, Sega took their mistakes with the Saturn and made them strengths with the Dreamcast, pushed promotions, and released the product before the Playstation 2.

Since the Dreamcast was the only new gen (generation) console released at the time, with its promotion, stores sold out of the system within the first weeks it was released. This was a result of consumers wanting the Dreamcast, regardless of its predecessor. A dead phrase that’s been repeated over and over is that the Dreamcast was ahead of its time: the diversity in games, the graphics, gameplay, console and controller design, and the first gaming console to offer online play with its built-in modem. Since this system catered to the general public instead of hardcore arcade gamers, the system was selling left and right. However, after the Playstation 2 was released, Dreamcast consoles were stacked on stores shelves and a lot were left in warehouses, eventually discontinuing manufacturing because the Playstation 2 overthrew the Dreamcast with one feature, a DVD player.

DVDs were growing, especially in Japan. Since Playstation 2 played games and DVDs, consumers were inclined to buy one over a Dreamcast. Because of timing and lack of consumer research, Sega resigned from being a hardware company to just a software company for other consoles.

In summary, consumer behavior is based on trends, timing, and research. If you know what people want/will want, when to initiate the product, and doing more research on what will be the next big hit with consumers, products may strive longer or overthrow others in competition. The advertising and promotions were executed well; the flaw lied within the console’s capabilities and the desire of the majority of consumers. I am a proud owner of a Dreamcast and do believe it’s a great gaming console. If you are able to find one for a great deal, snatch it. You won’t be disappointed.

Here is a short documentary about the Dreamcast. For those that are interested, check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3rw-9Q0lJ0

Political Manifesto

*Disclaimer, this political group is fictional and any other groups that are politically active around the world with the same name is a mere coincidence

Although it’s not a macro-perspective, our political party is still relatable to a targeted group. Our political party is called Commuters Unite. The purpose of our campaign is to create more parking spots for students who attend San Jose State. Since the school is impacted, and tuition is too high, there should at least be a spot for a student coming from wherever they’re commuting from. In addition, students have to pay hundreds of dollar for a parking permit that doesn’t guarantee a spot. That is like buying a smartphone, but isn’t guaranteed to work or do the things you want to do when you want to do them. With more parking spaces or garages available to students, students would have less to stress about other than tests, academic advising, or other life obligations. We’re fighting to cater to the needs of students. It’s nothing too big, but big enough for their cars to park in.

Winning Campaign Slogan: A space we can believe in!

Leader: Allen Matsumoto

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/commutersunite?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CollegeComUnite

Greenpeace UK benefits from the usage of social media

DISCLAIMER: This post or blog is not endorsed by Greenpeace UK. This blog is just for an assignment for an advertising class.

Greenpeace UK is an independent global campaigning organization that focuses on protecting the environment and pointing out those who are contributing harm to it. Going the old-school route today would not get their messages out fast enough nor would it do justice. Instead, they use social media to get to the masses faster and more efficiently.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/

With YouTube, it enables them to be as creative as possible, utilizing the art of storytelling and visuals to paint a picture to viewers about environmental issues, whether if it pertains to a certain region in the world, animals that are endangered, or even everyday things we use that potentially could hurt us in the long run. Because of what YouTube has to offer, Greenpeace UK is able to compile their messages through motion picture, making it an essential tool for their needs.

https://www.youtube.com/user/GreenpeaceVideo

With Instagram, compared to YouTube, they are limited with how long their videos can be, so they use the aspect of still pictures. They use a variety of pictures: hand-drawn, cartoons, pictures of real food/objects, pictures taken from a phone/camera; and from those pictures they include a message in relation to the environment. The way Greenpeace uses Instagram is like modern day propaganda. They only have one page/picture to describe/show something to the audience and it has to be convincing, relatable, easy to understand, and well-put together.

https://instagram.com/greenpeace/

For this last section, I will put Facebook and Twitter together because they are very similar, except for the fact that there is a character limitation for Twitter. Facebook acts as the main channel for Greenpeace, other than their main website. It enables them to do everything Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube can do, and more. They can provide links to these other social media mediums, provide more text about a message, promote petitions to stop companies from destroying the environment, and much more. The only limitation it has in comparison to their main site is the obvious layout. They use Twitter in a similar fashion like their Facebook. If they aren’t able to get their message within the character limit, they would provide a link to that article.

https://www.facebook.com/greenpeaceuk

https://twitter.com/greenpeaceuk

Are Gender Roles necessary in advertising?

In class, we watched an advertisement of a group of women drinking Diet Coke in a park-like setting, and they wanted the attention of a male who was mowing the grass. They rolled down a can of Diet Coke and gave them a signal to open it and drink it. He then opened the can, and because the can was rolled down the hill, the soda burst opened, getting the man’s shirt all soaked in Diet Coke. He took off his shirt, drained it out, smiled back at the women, and continued with his mowing. The women were in awe as they saw his physique. This advertisement was an example of reversed gender roles, since it’s usually the men who take initiation when getting a women’s attention.

Although it was a playful and comedic advertisement, in real life, it wouldn’t be a laughing matter if men were doing that to a woman. Now the question is, what do gender roles in advertisements play in society?

It’s in the phrase “gender role.” Advertisements emphasize gender roles for society, whether if it’s direct or indirect (such as the Diet Coke commercial mentioned earlier). Is it a good thing? It’s all perspective, but for this blog entry I will take the side that it isn’t a good thing.

It’s not a good thing for advertisements to portray any sort of gender role, for comedic effect or a dark ominous tone. It emphasizes that it’s ok that these gender roles are accepted by society, whether if they’re negative or not. We laugh not only through acceptance, but the addition of being in a desensitized world where men abuse women, sex on the first date is normal, and the majority of the minority will never outdo the majority (Caucasians). It’s evident that the world isn’t fair, but that doesn’t mean you should keep it that way. Some people went through a lot to fight for equality: gay people, minorities, females, etc.

A little off topic, but the Diet Coke advertisement portrayed that men should have a certain physique and appearance, being similar with the females. This is influencing that women should be slim and men should have muscles with definition, but not too bulky. Not only do advertisements emphasize on social norms, but they influence how people should look. Of course, they wouldn’t show plus-sized women or obese men in these commercials because advertisements and society has been shaped that men and women need to look a certain way.

In addition to gender roles, not gender appearances anymore, they frame an image, oppressing males and females. Men do the yard work (where the man was mowing the grass) where women spend their leisure time in less physical activities and just relaxing. In this example, only men are capable of doing hard work, oppressing that a women can’t do such a thing, in contrast that only women have picnics with their other girl friends that men can’t have picnics with their guys/bros.

Women being oppressed as sex objects/tools in advertising

In the advertising world, there are many issues surrounding gender stereotypes in advertising. Since there are many of them, I will narrow it down to one topic/theme for this blog, which is that women in advertising are oppressed as sex objects or tools. I will post an image and explain how that woman is portrayed as either a sex object or tool.

Images taken from:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/01/10/off-with-her-head-the-headless-womans-place-in-art-and-ads/

In this image, the woman’s body is just being used for the man’s pleasure, but instead of looking at the girl’s face, there’s a magazine showing a BMW. The woman’s body is just being used for sex/pleasure, but what the man really wants, or is really in love with, is the car. It says “The ultimate attraction” centered on the page, which should be the woman, but instead it’s the car that’s attractive.

Image taken from:

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-influential/10-of-the-most-sexist-modern-print-ads/

This next image shows an advertising campaign for a chip company. However, what is noticeable is the woman’s cleavage instead of the chips on the bottom right of the ad. Although she is holding a ball with the logo on it, she’s still exposing her cleavage. Her body is being used to attract others to the ad, to see if they’re viewing it for the wonderful and delicious… chips, or if they only cared about the woman’s body. This oppresses women that all they’re good at is looking good, or if they play sports that they need a certain sized bust or breast. Yes, physically active women do have different bodies in certain areas, but this ad is clearly emphasizing her body as a bridge to get people’s attention rather than have the chips advertise itself.

Image taken from:

http://msmagazine.com/nocommentarchive.asp

This last image shows an advertisement for a hair care product line for women. It’s saying that the hair care products will make your hair good looking, that others won’t notice anything that’s wrong with you. In this case, it’s showing that the bottom of the women’s dress is not fully down, showing a portion of her underwear. This, again, oppresses women in a comedic manner. Instead of having to show her underwear, they could’ve shown a rip on her shirt/blouse/dress or a coffee stain.

In retrospect, all of these advertisements use women and their bodies to get viewers to look at the ad. It’s not the only way it can be looked at, but it is a perspective. It is ultimately portraying that women are just for looks and attention. Their bodies are no more than a tool to get people to look at them through advertisements. This frames society to look at females as nothing more than looks. Whether if people find it funny or not, these types of advertisements do not help advance women into an equal level with men.

Racial and Gender Diversity

The television show I chose to talk about in this blog is Boy Meets World, which aired in the early 90s.

Since this show was filmed in Philadelphia, not to generalize, and in the 90s, majority of the characters in the show are white dominant. There are a few African Americans shown, but only one of them is a main character in the later seasons and the other two are supporting recurring character in the first few seasons. For every 2 boys/males, there’s 1 girl/female. It’s not a bad ratio for the main characters. Majority of recurring characters are white males, and one African American male. As a whole representation of the show, it does not support racial diversity and very little, but not equal, general diversity. An assumption/generalization can be due to the time period it was being filmed and where it was being filmed, which was on the east coast, in Pennsylvania. This kind of diversity is important in media because it shows that there’s some progress in including other races/ethnicity in television shows, giving them supporting roles in a positive light.

There are a few racial stereotypes in the television show. In the earlier episodes, there’s an African American boy that’s loud and rebellious, portraying that African Americans are loud and don’t do as they’re told. In a later episode, the two main female characters work at a Mexican restaurant and their co-workers have thick accents. Although they are not Mexican or Latin descent, they’re portraying a stereotypical Mexican since they end up going dancing with the female characters. I’m not too sure if dancing would be characterized as stereotypical for Mexicans/Latinos(as). As gender stereotypes, there’s one with a preppy-looking supporting character, wearing big glasses, is a smart student, giving the impression that only smart people look and dress like that. In addition, the good-looking men who get all the women aren’t too bright. 

Racial Stereotyping in Advertisements

I don’t think it’s ever right to racially stereotype for advertising purposes because the entertainment industry, mainly television and movies, already push racial stereotypes. Aside from that, I don’t feel like there’s a necessity to put stereotypes for advertising purposes, even for comedic feedback. Where some might be able to laugh at themselves, others take pride in their ethnicity and cultural, taking it offensively, potentially losing a customer base, or potential customers for that product/service. It would be best to avoid utilizing stereotypes to get on the good side of people, as well as the media/press, so that you won’t have to jeopardize your position or company’s image. There are many approaches to creativity in advertising without having to go the racial stereotype route.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_M9mC4Rbw

Racism in general is not just a thing in the past, but has evolved into present day, and will continue as long as the entertainment industry keeps using them in television and movies.  There are creative ways to portray or to get a message across, but in the end, if it involves racism, it doesn’t progress up to abolishing it.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-10-most-racist-ads-of-the-modern-era-2012-6#

Advertisers, as do others, have ethical responsibilities. Regardless of regulations in different countries, there are a lot of commercials that have been banned due to inappropriate content. There’s a difference between a bad commercial, where the quality isn’t there, and a BAD commercial, where the quality is there, but the content isn’t suitable not appropriate for all ages. Hence, if advertisers are not able to send a message without having it seem too sexual or eye-opening in a negative context, then their credibility is not better than rotten meat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNSpNnmVpps

Applying Semiotics

Print ad: Curve Sport Cologne in ESPN Magazine

Denotation

-          Erin Heatherton is in the ad

o   She’s off center, towards more of the left side of the ad

o   She’s standing

o   She has green/yellow eyes

o   Her hair looks like it’s being blown

o   Her left ear is visible

o   She’s wearing a white dress with straps

o   You can see her cleavage

o   Facing forward, towards the reader/viewer

o   She’s holding the cologne with her right hand

o   She’s holding it with her fingers

o   The cologne is held close to her lips on the right side

o   The brand is shown on the cologne bottle she’s holding

o   Her right elbow is on her left hand

o   Her left arm is across her torso area

o   Her shadow or someone else’s shadow is visible behind her

o   Only half of her body is in the ad

o   The brand name is on the right side of the ad/ left of her head

§  The position of the brand Is slanted

§  It says “NEW Curve SPORT COLOGNE”

§  It says “Introducing Erin Heatherton Brand Ambassador for Curve” in small white font below the band name

o   The cologne bottle and container are to the right of the ad, just above where her arm is crossing her torso area

§  The word “Curve” is in cursive

§  It is orange-colored with white shadowing

§  The container is on the left side of the cologne bottle

§  The bottle is dark grey with the colors of the brand

§  The container for it is aluminum, dark gray, and the top is orange

·         It’s facing away from the page

§  It says “FROM THE #1 BRAND OF MEN”S FRAGRANCES*” below the images in white-colored font

§  It says “ AVAILABLE AT CVS/PHARMACY, RITE AID, TARGET, WALGREENS,AND WALMART” in a smaller font, in orange color

Connotation

-          Women love men who wear cologne

-          Women know when men wear cologne

-          Cologne attracts attractive women

Myth (narrative/meaning)

-          By using Curve sport cologne, it will be noticeable for women and they will be attracted to whoever uses it. The women, maybe as attractive as Erin Heatherton, will have some curvature and knowing someone is wearing Curve sport cologne will blow them (their hair) away.

TV ad: Pizza Hut Commercial Crust Flavor Challenge

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61qjLlGA5fE

Denotation

-          3 males eating pizza

o   They’re sitting on a worn dark-brown couch

§  One looks white/mixed curly brown/black hair

·         He’s sitting on the right side of the couch

·         He has a ring on his ring finer

·         He’s wearing glasses

·         He’s wearing khaki pants

·         A navy blue long-sleeve shirt

·         His arm is resting on the arm rest of the couch

·         He’s holding a pizza crust with his right hand

o   His arm is being held up and out, about chest level

o   The pizza crust is facing down

·         He looks sort of focused on the game

§  One is African American

·         He’s the furthest from the shot

·         He’s sitting on the left side of the couch

·         He’s holding a red cup with his left hand

·         He’s holding a pizza crust with his right hand

o   His arm is resting on his left leg

·         He’s wearing a grey long sleeve shirt

o   A white undershirt

·         He’s wearing blue jeans

·         He has no expression on his face

§  The one in the middle is white with short brown hair and has facial hair

·         He’s throwing a pizza crust in the box in front of them

·         He’s throwing the pizza crust with his right hand

o   The pizza box is filled with pizza crusts

o   It’s sitting on a coffee table in front of them

o   There’s a red cup on the table

o   The tv remote is on the table

o   Keys are on the table

·         He’s wearing a red sweater

o   He has a blue shirt underneath

o   He’s wearing grey pants/jeans

·         His left arm is resting on his left leg

o   His hand is in the shape of a fist

·         He seems really focused in the game

-          There are things hanging on the wall behind them

o   It’s a white wall

o   Abstract paintings

o   Maps of the world

o   The test you’re given when you get your eyes checked

-          There are lamps on both sides of the couch

o   One has a red cup in front of it

o   The other one has novelties next to it

-          A head coach

o   Throws flags at the middle person

§  The flag is red

o   He’s wearing black shirt/vest

o   A black hat

o   White long-sleeve underneath

o   He’s mad

-          “THE CRUST FLAVOR CHALLENGE” is shown

o   Bottom middle positioned below the coach

o   Pizza Hut circular logo is on the right side

o   Pizza Hut napkin logo is on the left side

o   The font is white

o   The letters are all in caps

-          People in a meeting

o   An older African American male

§  Right side of the table/ first shot

§  Furthest from the first shot

§  Has some grey hair

§  Looking at his female colleague

§  Wearing a green long sleeve

§  Wearing a dress shirt underneath

§  Both hands are on the table

§  A cup closest to his left hand

·         Filled halfway with water

o   A female

§  Sitting in the middle

§  She has short hair

§  Wearing a pink long sleeve

§  Wearing a polka dot dress shirt underneath

§  She’s on her phone

·         She’s holding it with her left hand

·         She’s using her right hand to use the touchscreen

§  There’s a laptop in front of her

§  There are papers on the laptop

§  There’s a cup by the laptop

·         It’s empty

o   A white male

§  Sitting on the left side

§  Tossing the crust on the plate in front of him

§  He has short hair

§  He’s wearing a light blue dress shirt

§  He’s wearing a dark blue tie

-          There are windows

-          The sun is shining in

-          There’s a lamp behind the woman

-          There’s a plant behind the African American male

-          In the next shot of the meeting room

o   There are 3 more individuals

o   They’re all white

§  2 of them are paying attention to the coach throwing the flags

·         They’re sitting down

·         One female with blonde hair with a blue blazer

·         One male with brown hair and a black blazer

§  They’re dressed well

§  One of them is standing up

·         He’s holding a pen with his right hand

·         He’s wearing a checkered shirt

·         He’s wearing a belt

·         He’s wearing tan pants

·         There’s a whiteboard behind/the right side of him

o   There are 3 paintings/pictures behind the coach

o   The wall is white

o   There’s black wooden furniture behind the coach

§  There’s a small lamp on it

§  There are light tan binders on it

Connotation

-          Only men watch football

-          Pizza is the only snack food for football

-          Business people eat the same food as college/adults

-          African Americans don’t care about what’s going on

-          Football coaches are only white

Myth (narrative/meaning)

-          No one eats the crust of a slice of pizza because it’s plain and simple. It’s like a bad call or incomplete, like a play in football. Pizza crust needs flavor in order for it to be a good call or a complete play. In other words, adding flavor onto your, coming from Pizza Hut, would be a better decision.

Outdoor ad: Fatherhood.gov advertisement at a mall

Denotation

-          There is a daughter and her father

o   The father is Roman Reigns and his daughter Joelle

o   The left side of Roman’s face is visible and the right side of Joelle’s face is visible

§  Roman is leaning on his right arm

·         His hand is in a fist

·         He has a Samoan tribal tattoo on his right arm

§  Roman has long hair

§  His hair is on the right side, showing more of his face

§  He is holding a pink teacup with his left hand

·         He is wearing a black watch

·         His arm is being held up

§  He’s looking right at his daughter

§  He’s smiling at his daughter

§  He’s wearing a black vest

§  He has groomed facial hair

§  It says “WWE Superstar Roman Reigns and daughter Joelle” in a small white font below Roman

§  He’s laying up on his right side

§  Only a third of his body is shown

o   There’s a pink teacup near the small white font

o   There’s a pink plate in the middle/bottom of the ad

§  There’s a lighter pink on the inside of the plate and a darker shade on the outside

§  It has wavy edges

§  There’s nothing on it

o   Joelle is holding a teapot

§  She’s pouring “tea” in her father’s teacup

§  She’s pouring it with her left hand

§  She’s smiling at her father

§  She’s looking at her father

§  She’s sitting on her knees/knees in front

§  Her right arm is resting on her lap

·         Her right hand is holding another pink teacup

§  She’s wearing a purple plaid shirt

·         The shirt is sleeveless

§  She’s wearing blue jeans

o   There’s a window

o   There are blue containers in a white shelf

o   There is a couch, but it is mostly blocked by Joelle

-          They are in a living/family room

o   They are playing tea on a light-brown carpet area

o   Behind them is a dark-brown wood floor area

-          They are playing tea

-          There’s an orange area below the image

o   It says “Take time to be a dad today.” Top center of the orange area

§  “Be a dad today” Is in a bigger font

o   Fatherhood.gov is centered below the phrase

o   There are two icons on each lower end of the orange area

§  They might be programs or other organizations that support/are affiliated with this

Connotation

-          Fathers don’t have time to spend with their children

-          Girls like to play tea

-          Big muscular men have a soft side

Myth (narrative/meaning)

-          Regardless if you’re a professional wrestler or a business man, you, as a father, should always spend and make time for your children. Whether if your child is a boy or a girl, do what they want to do, because if they’re happy they get to spend time with their father, you should be happy to make your child happy.