Seeing those who are not on the sight: Unexpected effects of advertising on the lower society’s strata

Abstract

This article presents a part of a research carried out in the year 2005. The main objective of the research was to analyze the unexpected effects of advertising on the lower socio-economic strata in the city of Cordoba. This research deals with the phenomenon of reception taking as sample Barrio Chingolo, a fairly new housing complex designed to eradicate shantytowns existing on the banks of the Suquia River. The reception analysis was completed and contrasted with a research dealing with production by means of an approach to the creators of the advertising discourse, that is to say, the ones that establish who the target audience is.
This qualitative research is based on thorough interviews meant to find out how the poorer strata of society receive the messages that tend towards consumption and shape their range of possibilities. Concepts such as perception, stereotypes, representations, desire to consume and effective consumption are paramount to this research.