Social Comparison and Self-esteem

Have you ever watched a Dove commercial or a Nike commercial? If so, how did they make you feel? Did they boost your confidence? Marketers do influence consumers self-esteem when they design and use these ads to reach their target audience. Many ads can trigger social comparison. The viewer will compare themselves to the actor or actress on the screen.

A great example of an ad that makes men compare themselves to the actor in the ad is the Old Spice commercials. Their tagline is "The man your man could smell like." Here, the target consumer is essentially women. All women love when men smell good and look fit. They may compare their partner to the actor and buy the product because they want them to be just like the actor. When a male watches this commercial, he may compare himself to the actor. He may want to change his body wash scent, change how he looks, and perhaps become more adventurous based on the commercial.

Dove promotes self-esteem in every campaign that they do. Their ads have many confident messages and inspire women to be themselves and feel beautiful in their own skin. Recently the company pledged that all of their models are real women. They are never models. They want to portray women in their natural element and help make every girl a #ConfidentGirl. Also, Dove has been promoting diversity which is great in our evolving world.

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