Introduction
There exist various definitions of the term “aesthetics”. Most commonly aesthetics is equated with either the philosophy of art or the philosophy of beauty; “it has even been equated, on the grounds that philosophy deals only with second-order questions and consists of discourse about discourse, with the philosophy of criticism” (Beardsley 1958, p.13). Others use this term for “any kind of general inquiry into the arts, whether philosophical or scientific” or they suggest that “aesthetics should become a science” (Munro 1949, p. 85). The current paper is concerned with aesthetics as a part of philosophy that deals with the problem of the existence of beautiful things and men’s response to their beauty; the problem of artistic and intellectual activities and men’s responses to them and various circumstances that surround these problems.
Main body
The notions and values that aesthetics operates by are expressed in various forms: Music, Art, and Drama, Symbols, Dance, Colors, Fashion, Agronomics, Design, etc. The fields where aesthetics finds its application are rather diverse: film, television, video, digital art, cartography, music, literature, gastronomy, etc. This paper focuses on marketing as a sphere where aesthetics influences much and which is dependent on the aesthetic values of this or that society.
Marketing as a societal process that is needed to discern consumers’ wants is closely interconnected with aesthetics. The use of aesthetics in marketing is revealed through the branding of a product, its commercial representation, and the reputation of its producer. Marketers’ actions are aimed at tackling the consumers’ aesthetic appreciation of such elements of product consumption as sophistication, color harmony, stylishness, slogans, authenticity. The marketers’ concern is to satisfy customers’ curiosity, self-gain, or mental adjustment. These concepts are the driving force of marketing development.
Marketers should take into account the consumers’ senses, their appreciation of the artistic nature of the products, including their smell, taste, or ambiance. They intend to deal with the products that customers believe to be beautiful, that have a fashionable design. The adverts should be delivered in a good taste to attract the customers’ attention. The branding should be aesthetically pleasing and customers’ experience should evoke only pleasant feelings and emotions.
All stated above is characteristic for UK marketing. The firms there investigate public opinion and make use of this knowledge. Various public opinion polls are held to learn what the British mean by the beauty and what they consider to be beautiful. Inviting new clients to seminars is a common practice for UK marketers. Not only the customers’ attitudes to this or that product are estimated there but their overall understanding of beauty and various moral values.
The UK marketers follow the principle that they “need to be energetic, innovative, creative and in touch with society – plus have the ability to follow through ideas. The most important asset is the ability to listen to the consumer and create change for their benefit if necessary”, “…the old cliché ‘the customer knows best’ is always true” (Estridge 2004, p.1).
The same marketing principles are implemented in developed countries. If we consider marketing in China we will observe that China is at a point in its development. The current market situation is that the Chinese people are interested in getting the products they want but don’t have available to them, and if they have multiple choices they will try different products. Thus the marketers’ objective is to attract the customers’ attention by satisfying their needs.
In order to succeed in this venture, Chinese marketers, as well as their British counterparts, try to find a formula that taps into the Chinese psyche. To unlock the Chinese consumption base marketers resort to such a tool as the “cool factor”. Chinese consumers are extremely interested in the brands they use. Therefore, they often buy products from well-known American and British companies. Chinese customers care about the status that the trends they make use of giving them, if they buy expensive goods they do it not because of the urgent necessity but because this or that thing will contribute to their personal success.
But it does not mean that Chinese customers are loyal to one brand only. Their tastes are easily modified and they are ruled by them when jumping from one brand to another. Tom Doctoroff, Greater China CEO at advertising agency JWT characterizes Chinese consumerism as follows: “There are many popular things…Nike is popular. Adidas is popular. Some luxury brands are popular. iPods are popular. [Do] people like trendy things? The answer is absolutely yes…There are a lot of things that are making money, but nobody has established such a loyal franchise that there is absolute loyalty to that brand. I get lots of studies that say people switch a lot” (China Marketing 2007). Therefore, Chinese marketers need to fight for the aesthetics of their products as it attracts the attention of the public.
Also, we should admit that the hunt for “cool factor” is justified when it comes to mobile phones, or MP3 players, or fashionable clothes. But for most products, marketers should resort to some other ways to attract new customers and to collaborate with them for a long period. Television turns to be the most effective tool for marketing in this country, as marketers realize that visibility is connected with safety in the customers’ minds, the more safety is guaranteed the more products are bought. Online, television and print advertisements make the customers buy the things that the companies suggest and the ads do it by offering aesthetic pleasure and promoting Chinese values. And it is executives’ primary task to understand the basic nature of Chinese culture and relate their brand with them.
Conclusion
Thus, China and UK are similar in their approaches to marketing, both of them count on consumers’ appreciation of stylishness, craftsmanship, soothing ness of the things proposed. Cultural traditions and moral values of the society are also carefully considered by the marketers, both native and foreign, that act in the countries under consideration. The only difference is that UK marketing appears to be more innovative as far as this problem is concerned, whereas China marketing is apt to adopt the techniques already known in the world. Still, this is a characteristic feature of any sphere of a developing country and China is not an exception.
Bibliography
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Beardsley, M. C., 1958, Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism, Harcourt, Brace, New York.
Estridge, B. 2004, ‘If the Customer Is Satisfied, So Am I; Marketing Is One of the Boom Careers of the 21st Century – but What Exactly Does It Involve? Bonnie Estridge Met One of the Leaders in the Field’, The Evening Standard, p.1.
Marilyn, A. S., 2004, International Strategic Marketing: A[N] European Perspective, Routledge.
Munro, T., 1994, The Arts and Their Interrelations, Liberal Arts Press, New York.