An exploratory study of advertising's role in young Indian women's desire to be fair-skinned beauties and their consumption of skin-lightening products

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background- Setting the Scene
1.1.1 Introduction
1.1.2 India’s preference for fair skin
1.1.3 Women in India
1.1.4 The fairness industry and its advertising in India
1.1.4 The dark side of skin-lightening products
1.2 Research Purpose

Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1.1 Introduction
2.1.2 Culture’s determination of beauty
2.1.3 Advertising images- how they reflect cultural beauty standards and affect women
2.1.4 Research findings on skin-lightening
2.2 Theoretical considerations

Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1. Introduction
3.2 The strengths and weaknesses of survey research
3.2.1 The strengths
3.2.2 The weaknesses
3.3 The questionnaire, sampling and procedure
3.3.1 The questionnaire
3.3.2 Sampling
3.3.3 Procedure
3.4 Limitations
3.5 Encountered Problems

Chapter 4: Research Findings
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Findings

Chapter 5: Discussion & Conclusion
5.1 Discussion
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations for further research

1. Introduction

While in the United States the cosmetic surgery booms for increasing breasts, reshaping the nose and siphoning fat, companies producing whitening products have the right touch in India. We can observe continuously increasing television commercials promoting whitening-products and women’s magazines filled with fair-skinned models and rich in advertising inviting to beauty parlours with skin-lightening services. Moreover, we see light-skinned film stars which do not resemble the real population of India but rather look like fair-skinned Iranians, Turks, or Spaniards (Sequeira, 2005). Almost every Indian city is stamped by gigantic posters hung up in the city centres promoting well- known fashion houses, showing Saris worn by Indian models which are no more distinguishable from Europeans.

An impressive body of research can be found on advertising’s contribution to eating-disorders, consumption of alcohol, tobacco, etc. However, no research can be found on advertising’s role in the consumption of skin-lightening products which has become increasingly popular in Asia. Similar to eating-disorders, skin-lightening is an issue concerning body image with potential harmful consequences. This project deals with the situation in India, in particular, with the situation of young Indian women. Ever since advertisers and multinational companies discovered India’s remarkable aspiration for light complexions, more and more fairness products and most importantly, advertisements for fairness products, have been established on the Indian market. The desire for fair skin in India is a culturally embedded issue but advertising might have reinforced it. By applying a survey, it is my intention to explore this deliberation. To be exact, the project aims to examine advertising’s role in young Indian women’s desire to be fair-skinned beauties and in their consumption of skin-lightening products. The dissertation will be divided into five different chapters which include the following issues.

Chapter 1 will provide sophisticated background information about the issue of skin-lightening in India in order to make clear why this research project was worth undertaking. At the end of this chapter, I will depict the purpose of my research and my objectives.

Chapter 2 outlines the existing literature on cultural standards of beauty, advertising images and effects on women and some research on skin-lightening. The literature review will mainly give an insight of what earlier research found about the relation between advertising and body image. Subsequently, I will point out the theories which frame this research project.

Chapter 3 explicitly describes the method employed and a step-by-step report of the methodological procedure, including sampling, limitations of the research method and the problems I encountered while conducting the project.

Chapter 4 will demonstrate the findings of the research by outlining the major results which are closely related to my objectives.

Chapter 5 discusses the major findings according to the research objectives and by linking them to former research and theories revealed in the literature review and theoretical framework. At the end of the chapter, a conclusion will be done and recommendations for further research will be given.

1.2 Background – Setting the Scene

1.2.1 Introduction

I suppose that hardly anyone from outside India is truly familiar with Indian women’s preference for fair skin and their consumption of skin-lightening products, let alone the potential adverse effects of these products. To understand the reasons for and the purpose of my research, the following paragraphs intend to provide sophisticated background information about the fair beauty ideal in India, the fairness industry and the potential side-effects of skin-lightening products. A glimpse of the changed status of Indian women has the function to partly explain why there has been an increasing consumption of fairness products.

1.2.2 India’s preference for fair skin

India’s population is naturally ‘brown’ but fair skin seems to be the most important attribute a woman needs if she wants to be considered as beautiful in India. Additionally, fairer skin remains to symbolize ‘aristocratic heritage and class allegiance’ (Goon & Craven, 2003). In a sunny country like India, many women consciously avoid the sun in order to maintain the lightest skin colour possible (Sequeira, 2005). Especially when it comes to marriage, fair skin becomes extremely important. Arranged marriages are still very common in India and so it is mostly up to the parents to find a bride for their son or a groom for their daughter, respectively. Therefore, matrimonial ads in newspapers, magazines and on websites are a highly popular address to insert advertisements or to read profiles of the bride- or groom-to-be. The most frequent description for the wanted bride that can be observed in those matrimonial ads reads as follows "beautiful, slim, fair, convent-educated girl" (Chatterji, 2005). In fact, on most of these websites, members are asked to describe their complexion with categories ranging from ‘very fair- fair- wheatish- wheatish medium- wheatish brown- dark’ (Sequeira, 2005).

Dussault (2006) provides an interesting quote in a recent article taken from the Internet version of The Hindu Business Line which points out that skin colour becomes a vital issue for marriage.

“If caste is less of a criterion for finding a life partner in contemporary India, fairness of the skin — mostly the woman's — remains a sure value on the marriage market, sometimes even more prized than professional skills or wealth. This explains why women take so much effort to lighten their complexion.” (http://www.blonnet.com/life/2006/02/24/stories/2006022400290400.html)

In an online-article Challapalli (2002) quotes an HLL spokesman who claims that over 90 per cent of Indian women regard skin lightening as a high-need area. Pale skin has become so essential in India that some even call it an ‘obsession’. Singh (1999) notes that women and men in matrimonial advertisements mostly claim to feature a ‘white’ or ‘extremely fair’ complexion or/and search for a partner featuring it. He asserts,

“ Times and things have changed much — since yesterday’s bias is today’s obsession. The craze for fair, white complexion has become just more naked, commercialised, unnatural and even ‘shocking’.” (http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99feb14/sunday/head7.htm)

Runkle (2004) conducted intensive participant observation at the 2003 Miss India pageant’s month-long training programme for contestants. She discovered that although attention was paid to body and diet, “the most striking focus of the training programme was on skin colour” (p.149). Every woman had to take some medication which was supposed to alter the skin and in particular, the skin-colour. Runkle points out that the daily medication had adverse effects, making some women feel weak and even sick. Furthermore she reports,

“in a disturbingly casual manner [the dermatologist] emphasized the need for all contestants to bleach their skin by prescribing the peeling agent Retin-A as well as glycolic acid, and in the case of isolated dark patches, a laser treatment.” (p.149)

When asking the dermatologist about the reason for such an emphasis on fair skin, she responded by saying that

“Fair skin is really an obsession with us, it’s a fixation. Even the fairest of the fair, they feel they want to be fairer.” (p.149)

1.2.3 Women in India

The status of women in Indian society has dramatically changed over time. Whereas just two decades ago it was common that only men were employed and used to take decisions at home, there are today, an increasing number of women who have their own income and make decisions within the family. The growing independence of Indian women has also led to higher divorce rates among middle classes since many working women do no more agree to the traditional ideal of marriage. Divorces in India’s capital, New Delhi have doubled in five years to 8,000 in the year 2005 and similarly, the figure rose in other metropolitan cities such as Calcutta, Mumbai and Bangalore (Fjordman, 2005). Women are no longer just staying at home anymore but most of Indian women work. Rising income is giving women the opportunity to purchase according to their own ideas. This might partly explain the increasing success of India’s fairness industry which I will illustrate in greater detail in the following paragraph.

1.2.4 The fairness industry and its advertising in India

The fairness market has grown by about two-thirds to more than USD $230 in the last five years (The Philadelphia Inquirer), and according to a 2003 article in Women's eNews, India's "fairness industry" accounts for 60% of skincare sales with a total annual revenue of USD $140 Million. Interestingly, the need to be fair is no longer unique to women but also concerns Indian men. A recent survey commissioned by the Media Researchers Users Council revealed that 32 per cent of India’s consumers using fairness products are men.

American and European companies calculate the aspiration for fair skin to continue and are now fighting for their market share. Popular western brands Avon, L'Oreal, Lancome, Yves Saint-Laurent, Clinique, Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, and Revlon are all offering whitening products on the Indian market (Leistikow, 2004). Moreover, the heightened competition has forced companies to increase their investments for advertising. The most successful company on the fairness market Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), relaunched Fair & Lovely in March 2000 and increased its advertising spending by four times. For instance, in the period of October- November in 2003, HLL spent more than Rs. 30 Million on television advertising. HLL’s brand ‘Fair and Lovely’ has an estimated 60 Mio regular users (The Hindu Business Line, 2003).

According to Singh (1999),

“The artificial fair complexion is being bought at a high cost of money and skin health risks. The cosmetics industry is thriving by creating an unprecedented demand for unrealistic fair complexion through powerful publicity and exploiting the Indian psyche.” (http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99feb14/sunday/head7.htm)

But how do advertisements exploit the Indian psyche? This becomes clear when looking at some common advertisements for fairness creams. Goon and Craven (2003) found that terms such as ‘fair’, ‘perfect’, ‘natural’, ‘white’, ‘luminous’, ‘even’ and beautiful are frequently promised by the ad and stand in contrast to descriptions such as ‘dark’, ‘dull’, ‘brown’, ‘blemished’ and ‘problem’. For instance, L’Oreal claims that its ‘White Perfect Lotion gives optimal whitening efficiency with three complementary whitening actions’: ‘Prevent[ion]’- of ‘darkening’, ‘Exfoliat[ion]’ for a refined and smooth skin surface, essential in regaining a clear, transparent and fine complexion’; and ‘Protect[ion]’ from ‘darkening and dullness’ (p.7). The text clearly indicates that white skin is more desirable and superior to dark skin. Goon and Craven point out that “perversely it represents a regime of ‘protection’ with the property to ‘safeguard your skin from darkening and dullness … [and] persistent skin darkening’, as if the bodily process of melanin migration is threatening to the subject” (p.8).

According to Dr. Ratan Chanduri (2005) “skin-whiteners” make an unrealistic promise. He claims that a brown or black person can biologically not be transformed into a white person.

A typical ad for a ‘Fair and Lovely’ fairness cream starts by showing a dark-skinned girl, who is sad, unsuccessful in love and career and feels ugly. After using ‘Fair and Lovely’, however, she is fair-skinned, very happy, becomes highly successful in love and career and feels extremely beautiful. In an article on superbrandsindia.com, such an advertisement is even cherished. The author asserts,

“Fair and Lovely has taken the ‘change your destiny’ positioning to new heights with the ‘cricket commentator’ TV commercial. This ad celebrates the protagonist’s success in a traditional male-dominated area like cricket while still keeping the tone empathetic and emotional.” (http://www.superbrandsindia.com/superbrands2003/fair-n-lovely/fair-&-lovely.htm)

The figure shows the individual contributions of skin creams on the Indian market.

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Source: AC Nielsen India Retail Audit

1.2.5 The dark side of skin-lightening products

The negative attributes of skin-lightening products are the main reason for conducting this research project. One might think that fairness products are just some cosmetic products similar to tanning lotions or anti-ageing creams in the Western World. Tanning lotions, however, are not dangerous and are thus substantially different from fairness products. In the following I will demonstrate that fairness creams and other skin-lightening products can be extremely harmful for the skin.

Skin-lightening products have the function to lighten the skin-colour. Melanin controls the skin’s pigmentation and in order to lighten the skin, fairness creams have to reduce or stop the melanin production. This process can result into highly negative consequences. According to Dr. Chanduri Ratan (2005), melanin is the “key physiological defence against sun induces damages such as sunburn, photoageing and photocarcinogenesis” (p.11). Moreover, Dr Neil Persadsingh, a Jamaican dermatologist, insists that if melanin is eliminated or its activity reduced, skin could be badly damaged (cited in Dussault, 2006).

The President of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists in Delhi, Anil Gangoo, witnesses damaged skin every day, caused by skin-lightening products. He states,

“these products are dangerous and what is most worrying is that at least half the young urban girls are using them, influenced by ads promoting the idea that a fair complexion is worthier than a dark one.” ( http://www.blonnet.com/life/2006/02/24/stories/2006022400290400.htm)

Gangoo continues by putting forward his concerns about the trend of using skin-lightening products. He claims that there are no laws enjoining companies to indicate the ingredients of creams, let alone the proportions of ingredients used. In fact, many of the skin-lightening creams contain ingredients deriving from harmful substances, such as corticoids, mercury or hydroquinone of which high quantities can be fatal. In a period of ten years, Dr. Col. I.S. Parmar, dermatologist at Prakash Hospital in Noida has observed a dramatic increase in patients with skin disorders caused by skin-lightening products. (Cited in Dussault, 2006)

According to a 2006 article in the International Herald Tribune, written by Thomas Fuller, doctors, consumer groups and the government claim that some creams which are prescribed to treat blemishes are applied in high doses to bleach the entire skin which can result in hazardous health problems. Hydroquinone has been shown to cause leukaemia in mice and other animals but for years, it has been prescribed by dermatologists around the world as a solution against blemishes. Some doctors say that when the chemical is used in large doses over a long period of time, it may cause cancer. Moreover, there are cheap black-market products which are highly effective but contain illegal bleaching agents which are very often sold in the poorer parts of South- and Southeast- Asia. One problem which doctors recognize is that the most effective but harmful bleaching agents, are mostly the least expensive.

Dr. Ratan Chanduri (2005) argues that many current skin-lighteners contain hydroquinone and kojid acid, of which both have “inadequate safety and stability profiles” (p.12). Hydroquinone was banned in the United Kingdom in 2001 and has now also been banned in the European Union, Japan and Thailand. However, it remains to be one of the most widely prescribed bleaching agents worldwide.

1.3 Research Purpose

The research project aims to explore a highly understudied field of research. There has not been any research dealing with Indian women’s skin-lightening behaviour, let alone studies about advertising and skin-lightening. This, I consider, is a vital gap which my research project intends to fill.

The literature review has shown findings of earlier research which are relevant to my research project. I understand skin colour as an aspect of body image, just as previous writers understand body shape to be an aspect of this. In particular, the habit of skin-lightening will be examined in the same way as previous research has dealt with eating-disorders. Therefore, the project will draw upon a specific study, conducted by Prendergast et al. (2002) who investigated correlations between the exposure to advertising and eating-disorders among female undergraduate students in China. However, in contrast to this study my research project will also incorporate cultural factors which possibly contribute to skin-lightening. Prendergast et al. suggested that exposure to advertising is positively linked with body image dissatisfaction and eating-disorders. In particular, findings demonstrated that exposure to television music programmes and fitness magazines was essentially linked with women’s body image dissatisfaction and eating-disorders.

The research project aims to explore the following questions:

1. Why do young Indian women lighten their skin?
2. Is there a relation between women’s behaviour of skin-lightening and the evaluation of their body image?
3. Is advertising playing a role in women’s evaluation of their attractiveness?
4. What is the role of advertising in young Indian women’s consumption of skin-lightening products?

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1.1 Introduction

Studies exploring advertising effects on women’s skin-lightening behaviour have not been undertaken yet. This is why the following literature review mainly covers earlier research that has been conducted to investigate advertising’s impact on women’s body image in general.

The following literature will outline what researchers have found about the different aspects of my research topic. I will start by outlining what has been said about the determination and importance of beauty in a cultural context. In the second chapter, I will denote past research about media images and advertisers’ way of reflecting cultural standards of beauty. In addition, an overview of research about how advertising affects both, women’s consumption behaviour and the way women develop their body image, should provide a good base for a better understanding of the purpose of my research. The third chapter covers some authors’ suggestions on skin-lightening. Although, research has been mainly done on Black people, this chapter will provide a useful insight about the general relevance of the skin-lightening issue.

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