I was sitting here trying to think about something to blog about that as far as I know hasn't been discussed yet, so I was surfing the the internet and came across this study on BizReport.com called "Do Female voice-overs influence more purchases?" and you know it really got me thinking about all the thought that goes into all the voice over decisions companies make. What type of product do they consider to be a females job or a males job to voice over? I remember in my persuasion class learning that people tend to find that men are more persuasive, so if that's justified why do company's even get women to do voice overs? But you know, come to think of it I can only think of one instance where a woman's voice is advertising a product (obviously, there are more I just can only think of one). The commercial I am thinking of is a Cadillac commercial, with Kate Walsh doing the voice over.There are hundreds of different advertisements out there and most of them are done by men's voices because according to BizReport "48% of US adults find male voices to be more forceful, 46% of adults found female voices to be more soothing and 19% found female voices to be more persuasive." That means that out of 100, 81% believe that a males voice is more persuasive than a woman's. I guess I can see where this comes from because some people may believe that men know what they are talking about, especially when it comes to something they are unfamiliar with like cars or technology.
Personally, I have to agree with the part of the article that says that "Some consumers don't care what type of voice is used - they listen only for the message and not the male or female tones." To me, I don't care who is promoting it, or advertising the product, because I either want it or I do not want it, and no male or female will all of a sudden make me crave a product I didn't want before.
http://www.bizreport.com/2010/03/study_do_female_voice-overs_influence_more_purchases.html#
I also do not care if it is a male or female doing a voice over but I have heard that Men voice overs are found to be more persuasive aka taken more seriously than a woman's. I think such television ads like those for sexy perfume fragrances or a female voice over would be more appropriate in catching the males or females attention. but I also agree with you that if it a man or woman doing a voice over a certain product I wouldn't care because it depends on what they are trying to sell to me and if I am interested in buying it or not.
ReplyDeleteI, too, never really thought of the importance of whether it is a female's or male's voice doing a voice over until I did an internship this summer at a local radio station. They went through all the details of how important a particular person's voice can be for a certain product or service. Sometimes the details even came down to how old the female was and what he ethnic background was. So I would have to say it influence people a little bit but not 100 percent.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting article. I personally never even really thought of the difference between males and female voiceover. After thinking about it now, I think it depends on the target audience and what the product is. Like for example, laundry detergent would be more applicable and relatable to the audience if a female did a voice over... and for like a Harley Davidson, a males voiceover would be best used because the person who would purchase the product, (mostly males) could relate to them more.
ReplyDeleteI must say that I wanted a cadillac after seeing that cadillac commercial. I think kate's voice was very effective because now that i look back on it i never really realized that most voice overs are done by men.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with ashlee. It does depend on the target audience. For this particular commercial the male audience probably enjoyed kate's voice and found it intreguing. And the females would probably want the car because they like her as an actress.
Either way I'm sure a lot of people (who could afford it) went out and purchased that car.
I can say that I do pay attention to a male or female voice in an ad, but it never makes my decision of whether or not I'm going to purchase the product/service. I can agree with you that the Cadillac commercial is absolutely amazing. I think it works so well BECAUSE of the female voice, and if it was a male voice it would basically be typical just as any other car commercial. I took persuasion class also, and learned that male voices are definitely more persuasive. I believe they are, but it doesn't affect me as much as the companies may think.
ReplyDelete