|
Personal Impact Assessment of Advertising Culture of "Whiteness": Facial
Skin Color Preferences among Urban Chinese Women
By
Angela K. Y. Mak
Ph.D. Student
School of Journalism and Communication
1225 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Tel: (541) 346-7185
Fax: (541) 346-0682
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
A student paper submitted for presentation at the:
Visual Communication Division
2003 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention
Kansas City, Missouri
July 30 – August 2, 2003
ABSTRACT
Personal Impact Assessment of Advertising Culture of "Whiteness": Facial
Skin Color Preferences among Urban Chinese Women
This paper examines a key determinant of female beauty among urban Chinese
women: the preferred whiter facial skin tone color. By using Williams'
(2000a) Personal Impact Assessment, it investigates how the use of vivid
images on recent whitening skin care product television advertising helps
shape both the individual and social values among urban Chinese women in
relation to the Chinese proverb, "One whiteness can substitute for three
physical unattractivenesses (?????)."
Introduction
The concept of female beauty is illusory. The cosmetics industry
aggressively uses the media to bombard eager consumers with "flavors of the
month." Portrayals ostensibly establish and reinforce trends among the
committed. The concept of female beauty is also multidimensional (Englis,
Soloman, & Ashmore, 1994). It varies among nations and between different
cultures, as well as over time.
Female adults, especially in urban cities of the Greater China, are willing
to spend so much money in pursuit of the "perfect" skin for their
faces. In particular, they want to have whiter facial skin tone, so that
the connotations of "purity" and "beauty" from the product images would
transfer to their self-identities. The recent Advertising Expenditure by
AC Nielson shows that skin care is ranked the 7th product category for
advertising budget consumption in Hong Kong market. In the first quarter
of 2002, advertisers has spent US$26 millions on skin care products, which
has 48% increase compared to last year's first quarter (AC Nielson, 2002).
SK-II, a Japanese brand which has business partnership with Maxfactor (a
product of Procter & Gamble), positioned itself as the "queen" of skin care
products since 1998 because of the invention of "Pitera[1]." With the use
of celebrity endorsement and consistent brand image on its series of
advertising campaigns, SK-II whitening skin care product line has succeeded
in maintaining itself as the market leader. A recent poll conducted by Amy
Magazine in May 2002 revealed that 38% of the Hong Kong women choose SK-II
whitening mask as their most favorite whitening facial mask.
Purpose of Study
This paper examines a key determinant of female beauty among urban Chinese
women: the preferred whiter facial skin tone color. By using Williams'
(2000a) Personal Impact Assessment technique, it also investigates how the
use of vivid images on television advertising (i.e. The SK-II whitening
skin care product advertisements) helps shape both the individual and
social values among urban Chinese women in relation to the Chinese proverb,
"One whiteness can substitute for three physical unattractivenesses
(?????)." By discovering both the conscious and unconscious levels of
thinking among the whitening skin care product users, this paper helps
understand how the "myth" of SK-II works in shaping the ideology of
"whiteness" beauty in this social modality.
Conceptualization
Proverb and Culture
Samovar and Porter (1995) suggested that cultural values often are derived
from the larger philosophical issues that are part of a cultural
milieu. Cultural values, for definitional purpose, are broad-based,
enduring, and relatively stable organizational rules for making choices and
suggesting preferences for a group of people (Rokeach, 1968). They are
learned by society members.
A cultural belief in the idiomatic form contains the wisdom of a group of
people and hands down traditions from one generation to the next. By using
a few vivid verbal (and visual) images, an idiom or proverb captures what a
group of people deem as important. Because an idiom (or proverb) carries
cultural weight, it may impact on learned human behavior (Haskins and
Butts, 1973). But to assess the extent of impact, the meaning of an idiom
(or proverb) requires a study of its usage (Samovar and Zormeirer, 1995).
For this study, the common Chinese proverb, "One whiteness can substitute
for three physical unattractivenesses (?????)" is examined. The saying has
constantly reinforced the notion that a white complexion is a preferred
status over a dark and ugly one. It may explain, in part, the perception
of female beauty in minds of Chinese people.
Nowhere is the apparent impact of this more visible than in urban cities in
China, particularly in Hong Kong. The 1,092 square kilometer piece of
China is a sophisticated international city. Still, its citizens retain
the traditional ties to their agrarian cultural roots in the Pearl River
delta of Southern China. Cantonese Chinese people, born into rich
families, did not need to work in the productive, yet hot and sunny
farmlands. Females from these wealthy families were not even allowed to
have outdoor activities. As a result, they kept their skin a lighter skin
tone. This explicitly reflected and implicitly reinforced that they
belonged to the privileged, leisure class. So, whiteness became a higher
social status symbol for Southern Chinese.
When Hong Kong was colonized by the United Kingdom, Caucasian British
(gweilo) were also seen as having upper class privileges because they
served as government leaders and/or high-level managers – desired economic
states. Thus, the proverb, "One whiteness can substitute for three
physical unattractivenesses (?????)" took on a tangible meaning that whiter
was, de facto, better in Hong Kong society. Wealth and privilege and the
white skin that usually came from these conditions made it culturally clear
that even a person had a big nose or pimples, could be compensated over
those who had darker complexion. So, the proverb has taken on two distinct
meanings: First, a person who has whiter skin color looks better; and
second, a whiter skinned person is of a higher social status. This offers
valuable insight into the contemporary standard of female beauty in
Southern Chinese culture.
Symbolic Consumption
The Chinese proverb, "One whiteness can substitute for three physical
unattractivenesses (?????)," may also explain how the cultural gatekeepers,
i.e. advertising, use the proverb to shape the ideology of the "whiteness"
beauty in Chinese culture to persuade the consumption of their products
(i.e. whitening skin care products).
Soloman (1989) argued that most work on symbolic consumption focuses on the
decoding of product symbols by end consumers. He suggested the focus on
the intermediate stages of symbolic transmission: the processes by which
cultural products are filtered, modified, and sorted by cultural
gatekeepers prior to decoding by consumers. In order to understand this
"production site" on the use of vivid images to strengthen the "whiteness"
value in urban Chinese cities, this paper, therefore, uses the recent SK-II
whitening skin care products television advertisements to see how the
symbolic transmission interacts between the advertiser and the end-consumers.
Soloman (1989) also suggested that there are three structural components in
a cultural production system. The first one is a creative subsystem
responsible for generating new symbols/products. The second one is a
managerial subsystem responsible for selecting, making tangible, mass
producing, and managing the distribution of new symbols/products. The last
one is a communications subsystem responsible for giving meaning to the new
product and providing it with a symbolic set of attributes which are
communicated to consumers. It would be interesting to see how SK-II
created the myth of whitening miracle in the cultural production system.
Facial Skin Color Studies
There are some research studies on the beauty concepts in advertising
recently. However, not many of them focus on the facial skin
color. Research on Blacks in advertising has pointed out the inherent
racist methods of marketing (Shepherd, 1980). Keenan (1996) found that
black people shown in advertisements were "less black" than those in
editorial photographs. Furthermore, Black women in ads were shown as
having lighter complexions and features than their male counterparts
(Keenan, 1996). Brown (1993) demonstrated that white people preferred
looking at a light-skinned, keen-featured black woman than at those who had
a classical African appearance. Black females also believe that black men
find light in female skin most attractive. This leads to the idealization
of lightness among the Blacks. Bond and Cash (1992) reported that blacks
who desire a different skin tone favor being lighter over being
darker. Hall (1995) suggested that the "bleaching syndrome" is a
response by African Americans to assimilate into a society culturally
dominated by whiteness even though such actions may cause psychic conflict.
Based on the evidence cited above in reference to universality of color
preferences and the evidence that African Americans have preferences, there
is a good reason to ask the research question, what are the Chinese facial
color preferences, especially among urban Chinese women? One might surmise
that there is an equally wide range of acceptable preferences for the
yellow facial skin of Chinese women shown in Chinese language beauty
publications.
In Mak's (1999) empirical study, an advertising photo of a Chinese woman's
face was manipulated into six different HSL (Hue, Saturation, and
Lightness) settings involving the addition and withdrawal of 10% for each
factor. The seven final renditions (including the original) were grouped
into 21 pairs. From each pair, subjects were asked to choose the one they
preferred. The results showed universal preferences for lighter/whiter
facial colors of the model between both sexes. To further test the reason
behind this "whiteness" preference, subjects were asked to rate their
attitude about the Chinese proverb, "One whiteness can substitute for three
physical unattractivenesses (?????)." Those who held the proverb in higher
regard also selected lighter/whiter skin tone photos.
Personal Impact Assessment
Although Mak's study (1999) is the first piece of research examining the
facial color preferences among Chinese in advertising, the study did not
really offer deep understanding about the symbolic consumption among the
users in individual and social levels. Also, it did not evaluate the level
of personal impact on consumers, a level often buried beneath conscious
awareness.
Williams (2000a) designed a technique called "Personal Impact Assessment"
(PIA) to access both conscious and unconscious processing of media
imagery. The PIA technique applies Williams' Omniphasic Theory (2000b),
which emphasizes a balance of rational and intuitive intelligences
representing complementary, parallel cognitive systems that are
independent, yet integrated, and equally significant to processing
information.
According to Williams (2000a), "PIA can help the individual understand how
mediated imagery generates associations that stimulate deeply held,
personal values and beliefs in ways that develop unconscious memory and
biases that subsequently motivate individuals toward specific behavior (p.
236)." This study, therefore, aims to use the PIA technique to explore
what urban Chinese women think and how they feel about whitening skin care
products. The study also examines the women's social relationships in
regard to the Chinese proverb, "One whiteness can substitute for three
physical unattractivenesses (?????)" manifested in the visual imagery of
SK-II television advertising.
Research Questions
Specific research questions guiding the study were:
1. Does SK-II use advertising to promote a culture of "whiteness" among
female urban Chinese strategically? If so, how?
2. What do the SK-II whitening skin care product advertisements mean, on
both conscious and unconscious levels, to female urban Chinese product users?
3. To what extent do the SK-II whitening skin care product advertisements
shape and promote the importance of the "whiteness" skin beauty concept
among urban Chinese women, in relation to their self-images, product images
and social values?
Methodology
In order to answer Q1, two recent SK-II television commercials about
whitening skin care products were chosen as the "image site" to see how
SK-II used advertising to create the "whiteness" culture among female urban
Chinese. Because of the language diversity, Cantonese version was chosen
for the Hong Kong audience and Mandarin version was chosen for the other
urban Chinese city people (i.e. in Taipei, Shanghai, Guangzhou and
Beijing). Both of the TVCs were endorsed by Sammi Cheng, the pop star in
Greater China market. She has lots of different images on stage when
performing her show business. She has been the spokesperson for SK-II
products since 2000, particularly for the whitening skin care products
(Figure 1).
[--- ??? Graphic Goes Here ---]
Figure 1: Sammi Cheng was chosen to promote SKII skin care products
In order to answer Q2, PIA technique was employed to discover the conscious
and unconscious minds of the users. There are eight steps in PIA – 1)
choose and view the image; 2) list primary words; 3) list associative
words; 4) select most significant associative word; 5) list the most
significant associative words; 6) relate associative words to an inner part
of the self; 7) review the inner symbols; and 8) write the story or insight
(Williams, 2000a).
Ten depth interviews were done by taking the PIA exercise (see APPENDIX A)
and answering some follow-up questions (see APPENDIX B). All of the
interviewees were current whitening skin care product female users from
urban Chinese cities, such as Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, and
Shanghai. Because of their unique backgrounds and interpretations of the
TVC, each PIA exercise was reported individually as case studies in this
paper (see APPENDIX C). To facilitate readability, these individual case
studies were categorized as 1) brand loyalty group; 2) brand switchers; 3)
advertising knowledgeable group; and 4) non SK-II myth believers.
In order to answer Q3, analysis on the interviewees' PIA exercises was
included to see if there were any common threads on their self-images,
product image, and social values related to the Chinese proverb, "One
whiteness can substitute for three physical unattractivenesses (?????),"
manipulated in the SK-II TV ads.
Results
"Whiteness" Advertising Culture and SK-II
An recent informal interview with a former advertising practitioner who had
served her client, SK-II, in Taiwan revealed how SK-II was operating the
cultural production system (Soloman, 1989). After conducting tons of
consumer research to get some insights from Chinese women in Greater China,
the advertising practitioners came up with a creative strategy on building
SK-II as the "queen" of skin care product. The themes of the series of
advertising campaigns were consistent and easily decoded – the benefits of
facial problem removal demonstrated by the female Chinese celebrities on
using the SK-II products, with the emphasis on the scientific formula. The
dark red corporate color signifies the reliable, elegant and classy product
image (Figure 2).
[--- ??? Graphic Goes Here ---]
Figure 2: SK-II corporate logo
In order to resonate the feelings of the target audiences, the creative
directors asked the celebrities to pretend like "chatting" with the
audiences in front of the camera. They usually integrated some slang
phrases to create the close feeling so that it helped the audiences easily
remember the effectiveness of the products, like a miracle for changing
their facial problems. When SK-II had new product launch, it put lots of
emphases on bombarding the target audiences by television commercials to
increase the reach and frequency within a short period of time.
There are big ideas of the two chosen TVCs of the recent SK-II whitening
skin care products. The first one was the Cantonese version (Figure
3). The colorful curtain setting detonates the black forehead, reddish and
yellow facial that are not perfect for white skin. After her use of the
new SK-II whitening facial mask that contains "Pitera," her face turns much
whiter. Sammi feels very satisfied, as her skin is now as white as "tofu
dessert."
[--- ??? Graphic Goes Here ---]
Figure 3: Cantonese Version (captured from TVC)
The second TVC was the Mandarin version (Figure 4). Sammi is sitting in a
very nice, comfortable living room to introduce the three steps on
whitening face. The first step is by using the "facial cloth" which
contains Pitera. The second step is by using the "gray bottle" which can
remove dark spots on skin. The last step is by using the "red bottle"
which is a UV product. Sammi's facial expression and body movement echo
what she says "I don't need to change anything anymore!" (because the three
products from SK-II finally turn her face white and she is so satisfied
with the white image).
[--- ??? Graphic Goes Here ---]
Figure 4: Mandarin Version (captured from TVC)
It is also interesting to take a look on the "legend" of SK-II from one the
official websites (http://www.sk2.co.uk/our_legend1.htm):
"For almost a generation, Japanese women have known a secret...
Their secret is contained in the revolutionary effects of SK-II: a skincare
range combining the magic of nature with the advances of science.
A Japanese monk visiting a sake brewery noticed that the brewery workers
had extraordinarily soft and youthful hands. Even an elderly man with
pronounced wrinkles on his face possessed the silky smooth hands of a young
boy.
After a series of experiments a team of skincare scientists discovered the
secret; a clear, nutrient-rich liquid that could be extracted during the
yeast fermentation process. They named the liquid 'Pitera', which, over
time, has become known as the 'Secret Key' to beautiful skin."
Such "legend story" provided some insights about the mythology of SK-II
skin care products – it is a "miracle" and "secret key" to beautiful skin!
Personal Impact Assessment Exercise
In order to unmask the myth of SK-II whitening skin care product
advertising, Williams' (2000) PIA technique was employed to investigate the
conscious and unconscious levels of the minds of the female urban Chinese
product users. Ten individual case studies were reported in the following
groups: 1) SK-II brand loyalty group; 2) brand switchers; 3) advertising
knowledgeable group; and 4) non SKII myth believers (see APPENDIX C).
To demonstrate the PIA exercise clearly, Figure 5 illustrated how one of
the 10 interviewees followed the eight steps of the exercise:
Primary words
Associative words & the most significant (underlined)
Inner self
Figure 5: Visual demonstration of Joyce's PIA exercise
Joyce[2] was a Human Resources Officer working in Hong Kong. She regarded
herself as a very dark skin person and thought that she was perceived much
older because of her skin color. Joyce was not a SKII brand loyal person
because the price was too high. Joyce believed that white skin tone color
could substitute for rough skin, flat nose, and small eyes. Her level of
advertising knowledge was little.
Figure 5 illustrated how Joyce practiced the PIA exercise. In each callout
bubble, it contained the primary word, associative and most significant
words, as well as her inner self symbol after watching the Cantonese
version of the SK-II whitening skin care product TV ad. The red word
represented the primary word that Joyce described the significant part of
the image, i.e. POPULAR. The blue words were the associative words Joyce
pondered the word POPULAR, i.e. hit, attraction, well-known, and
follow. And she underlined attraction as her most significant associative
word. Joyce, therefore, identified it as her inner FANTASY self in green.
Below is the insight from Joyce after doing the PIA exercise:
"The action of removing the colorful curtain reminds me that we need to
remove all the obstacles in front of us. We need to have an optimistic,
open mind in facing difficulties rather than just worrying it in an
unrealistic manner. Then we can keep ourselves young and sparkling all the
time. Though the product is popular, it is quite expensive so I will find
another cheaper product to use. The TV series remind me the importance of
whiteness – clean image to everyone rather than black forehead, yellow and
reddish face. But my in-born dark skin is a fact. So there of course is a
dilemma there because I know whiteness product to me is useless. I can't
be as white as Sammi on the TV commercial!"
Discussion
Primary Words and Product Image
Overall, the primary words generated by the interviewees can be basically
classified into 1) feature-oriented; 2) feeling-oriented; and 3)
image-oriented (Table 1). The primary words revealed how SK-II image was
in the minds and hearts among different types of whitening skin product users.
In terms of feature-oriented primary words, most of the interviewees would
recall the visual components of the two TVCs, such as "face", "forehead",
"curtain", "home", and "mask". However, they had different feelings
towards the TVCs. For the brand loyalty and brand switcher groups, they
would come up with more positive feelings like "comfortable", "clean",
"reliable", "safe" and "relaxing". In contrast, the advertising
knowledgeable group and the non-believers had more negative feelings toward
the TVCs, like "exaggerating", "overwhelming light", "untruthful",
"artificial", "superficial" and "complicated".
Feature-oriented
Feeling-oriented
Image-oriented
Face, forehead, curtain, home, and mask
Comfortable, clean, relaxing, exaggerating, overwhelming light, untruthful,
and complicated
Reliable, safe, artificial, and superficial
Table 1: Primary words generated by ten interviewees
Associative Words and Self-images
The associative words, however, related to what things or values were
important to the individuals. Interestingly, those brand loyalty users had
many words related to physical beauty, such as "skin", "beautiful", "slim",
and "attractive" while the non-believers generally did not have any
associative words related to physical beauty. Their most significant
associative words were, for example, "plain", "energetic", "enlighten",
"feign", "lifestyle", and "positioning".
The brand switchers and the advertising knowledgeable group had a mix of
feelings in their associative words. They wanted some positive moods like
"cute", "effective", "sparkling" and "confident". They also wanted some
promising rewards besides pursuing physical beauty, like "family", "money",
"children" and "friend." And yet, they were realistic in knowing that
"challenge", "opportunity", "man-made", "advertising", "first impression",
and "attraction" are what they should pursue in reality. A summary is
shown in Table 2.
Brand loyalty users
Non-believers
Brand switcher & Ad knowledgeable group
Skin, beautiful, slim, and attractive
Plain, energetic, enlighten, feign, lifestyle, and positioning
Cute, effective, sparkling, confident, family, money, children, friend,
challenge, opportunity, man-made, advertising, first impression, and attraction
Table 2: Associative words among different whitening product user groups
Inner Self Symbols and Social Values
The common threads on inner self symbols among the interviewees were: They
wanted to have a "change" in their lives so that it could satisfy their
"fantasies", "desires", "dreams", and "wants" to become more "confident",
"charming", "cheerful", and "simple". And yet, they found that they were
so "vulnerable" in looking for that change. It correlates to what they
described in their insights from the PIA exercises – they understood that
those whitening skin care products would not really change their facial
skin color become really white. But they would keep pursuing this
"changing" feeling by using the products. Such dilemma could also relate
to the belief in the Chinese proverb, "One whiteness can substitute for
three physical unattractivenesses (?????)." For those who did not believe
in the proverb (i.e. BJ and Qing), they had more focused, less dreaming
inner self symbols compared to others (see APPENDIX C). The believers,
actually, were trying to meet the standards on how others thought about them.
In summary, the PIA exercise helps understand how the creation of
"whiteness" myth in the SK-II whitening skin care products advertising
affects the individual and social values among the urban Chinese women in
this study. The manipulation of the advertising by emphasizing the
importance of the Chinese proverb, in particular, has greater impact on the
brand loyalty users, brand switchers, and the advertising knowledgeable
group. Pursuing whiter skin tone color is equal to making a great change
in their lives, though many of them understand that it is very difficult in
reality.
Visual Literacy
It was difficult to interpret the PIA results in a systematic, consistent
way because each individual case was so unique. However, most of the
interviewees had an "a-ha" type of response. They found that they
understood what they really waned in their lives more after finishing their
PIA exercises. As Williams (2000) points out, "Most individuals can take a
quick look at the image and logically reject the idea that using the
product will fulfill their needs in the way that is illustrated. Through
this rejection a person may feel s-he has understood and countered the
effect of the ad. But when they find themselves unwittingly standing at
the counter purchasing the product over and over again, they must begin to
consider that their rational evaluation and rejection, in fact, did not
work and that something else was at play (p. 241)."
The PIA exercise, therefore, provided a chance for the interviewees to
learn their intuitive, visual intelligence. It was interesting to know
that even those interviewees who have advertising background (and some of
them even are working in advertising industry) found themselves so
vulnerable in front of advertising "intrusion." Visual literacy,
therefore, must be taught in Journalism and Communication schools because
the students are the "cultural gatekeepers" in the future. If they do not
have visual intelligence in looking at visual images, all of us would be
controlled by the manipulative advertising messages from the large
corporations. Consumer education on visual literacy through the use of PIA
is recommended. This paper is not trying to position PIA as an
anti-consumerism advocacy tool but at least, it could offer a chance for
the consumers to "stop", "look" and "listen to their hearts (intuitive
visual thinking)" before purchasing any kinds of products.
Limitations and Future Directions
Although this study represents only ten current whitening skin care female
product users and cannot be generalized to a larger population, it offers
excellent qualitative insight. This study provides evidence on which to
base future work exploring the interaction between production site,
audience site, and cultural meaning. Future research based on a
representative sample of women in different Chinese cities should explore
thoughts and emotions of different groups of product users in a systematic
comparison of such quantitative results with extensive qualitative study
would contribute both to own understanding of the advertising's role in the
culture of whiteness and Chinese cultural biases toward light toned skin.
Intuitive processes and experiences are extremely personal, idiosyncratic
and often based on unconscious memory and cognition (Bechara and Damasio et
al., 1997). As this study uses a qualitative method on interpreting PIA,
future research could create a profile on the primary and associative words
as well as the inner self symbols to see if there are any "patterns"
emerged from the individuals. Ratings on each word could be given to the
participants to see if there is an overall positive or negative perception
on the mythology of the cultural consumption system.
Besides the whiteness on facial color, future research ideas could look at
other beauty issues related to urban Chinese females, such as pore-less
refined skin, slim figure and big breasts to see how they are manipulated
by the imagery mediated communication industries, filtered in self-images
and social values. With the use of PIA and the creation of word profiles,
we may also see if there are similar patterns among beauty products in
terms of mythology.
Conclusion
This paper gives a deeper understanding on how the cultural consumption
system works through the manipulation of advertising message related to
cultural and social values. The use of PIA technique helps deconstruct the
"myth" of the whiteness advertising culture by understanding the conscious
and unconscious levels of thinking of the product users. From this study,
the "vulnerability" of the whitening skin care product users gives us a
warning about the influence of cultural gatekeepers in shaping our
self-images and social values. Teaching the practice of intuitive, visual
intelligence, in an equal and complementary manner with rational
intelligence through PIA could be one of the self-reflective therapeutic
methods for consumer education. As "seeing is believing" (Barry, 1997), we
should educate consumers on how to become more visual literate while being
bombarded by advertising messages every day. By knowing one's inner self
better, it could unmask the beauty illusion and refocus the consumer needs
to other meaningful ways.
REFERENCES
AC Nielson News. (2002). Hong Kong advertising expenditure records 8%
growth in Q1 (April 26, 2002)
http://asiapacific.acnielson.com.au/news.asp?newsID=80
Barry, A. M. S. (1997). Visual Intelligence: Perception, Image, and
Manipulation in Visual Communication. NY: State University of New York Press.
Bond, S. and Cash T. F. (1992). Black beauty: Skin color and body images
among African-American college women. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,
22(11), 874-888.
Brown, J. C. (1993). Which black is beautiful? Advertising Age, February
1, 19.
Englis, B. G., Soloman, M. R., and Ashmore, R. D. (1994). Beauty before the
eyes of beholders: The cultural encoding of beauty types in magazine
advertising and music television. Journal of Advertising, 13, 49-64.
Hall, R. (1995). The bleaching syndrome: African-Americans' response to
cultural domination vis-à-vis skin color. Journal of Black Studies, 26(2),
172-184.
Haskins, J., and Butts, H. F. (1973). The Psychology of Black Language. New
York: Barnes & Nobles.
Keenan, K. L. (1996). Skin tones and physical features of Blacks in
magazine advertisements. J & MC Quarterly, 73(4), 905-912.
Mak, A. K. (1999). Facial skin color preferences for Chinese women in Hong
Kong magazine advertisements. Human Communication, 2(1), 87-98.
Samovar, L. A., and Porter, R. E. (1995). Communication Between Cultures.
Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Samovar, L. A., and Zormeirer, S. M. (1995) Language as a mirror of
reality: Mexican American Proverbs. Communication Between Cultures. Calif.:
Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Shepherd, J. M. (1980). The portrayal of Black women in the ads of popular
magazines. Western Journal of Black Studies, 4, 179-82.
Soloman, M. R. (1989). Building up and breaking down: The impact of
cultural sorting on symbolic consumption. Research in Consumer Behavior,
3, 325-351.
Rokeach, M. (1968). Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Williams, R. (2000a) Visual illiteracy and intuitive visual persuasion,
part II. Journal of Visual Literacy, 20(1), 111-124.
Williams, R. (2000b) Omniphasic visual-media literacy in the classroom part
III. Journal of Visual Literacy, 20(2), 219-242.
Appendix A – Personal Impact Assessment Exercise
Thank you for your participation in this study. Now, you're first going to
complete an exercise. You'll be viewing a TV commercial and please follow
the eight steps one by one while completing the exercise. Enjoy the
discovery journey!
1. View the Image: View the RealPlayer TV commercial that I just sent to
you. You should view the TV commercial at least three times and feel free
to use the "pause" button if you wish. Here're are some tips that could
help your viewing process:
• Looking at all the images from the TV commercial and letting your eye and
mind wander around the different parts.
• Notice the light, its direction and contrast and feel.
• Notice the primary points of interest and where they are placed.
• Notice lines and curves and basic design elements and how they help or
hinder your eye movement.
• Notice the grain or dot structure and surface pattern.
• Notice the range and saturation of tones and/or colors and how they
affect your feelings.
• Notice how the image makes you feel.
• Does it draw you in or keep you out?
• Does it tell a clear story or does it stimulate your imagination to
develop your own ideas or stories?
2. List Primary Words: List a single word that describes each of the
significant parts of the image (the TV commercial)--character, place,
things, colors/tone, feelings, etc.—in a column on the left side (Primary
words) of page 2. You can list as many single word as you can. The single
word could be a noun, an adjective, a verb and whatever. Put one word for
one sentence in that column.
Primary words Associative words
(for Step 2 only) (for Steps 3 & 4)
3. List Associative Words: Look at each of the descriptive words (in
Step 2) you have written, one at a time. Start with the first word and
write other words (word associations that come into your mind as you ponder
the first word). Finish all of the associations for the first word before
you move on to the next word. I suggest that you list at least three
associative words for each primary word. More is fine.
For example,
(Primary word) (Associative words)
Happy Love Warmth Energy Food
4. Select Most Significant Associative Word: When you have completed the
list of word associations, go back to the first primary word and think
about its associative words over in you mind. Again, start with the first
primary word and its associative words and go down the list. Try to intuit
(first come in your mind) which is the most significant associative word
for each primary word and underline it. Do not over think this; just say
the associative words to yourself until one seems most significant. Do
this for each group of associative words you have listed, one at a
time. There are no right or wrong answers. Simply pick the word that
seems most appropriate to you as you read the words.
For example,
(Primary word) (Associative words)
Happy Love Warmth Energy Food
(most significant associative word)
5. List the Most Significant Associate Words: Make a second list of the
underlined "significant associative" words. Keep them in the same order in
which they are found on the primary list. Leave enough space for each word
on the list (i.e. one word for one sentence). You can simply copy and
paste the underlined "significant associative" words onto this page.
Significant Word Association My Inner _____________ Self
(from Step 4 to Step 5) (for Steps 6 & 7)
6. Relate Associative Words to an Inner Part of Yourself: Look at each
word in the "significant word association" list (from Step 5) and consider
what part of your inner self that word represents or symbolizes. Write
that part of yourself to the right of the "significant word
association." To identify the inner parts of yourself, it may be helpful
to say "my inner______ self". i.e.: my inner vulnerable self, my inner
trusting self, my inner fantasy self.
For example
Significant Word Association My Inner _____________ Self
Energy (that I underlined before) My inner motivating self
7. Review the Inner Symbols: Look over these word symbols of your inner
self and see if there is some clear connection or story about yourself that
arises from the interaction of the inner-symbols from the image (TV
commercial). This story or connection or meaning may be just a simple
feeling or it may come to you in a flash or as an ah-haaa-type
response. It will often reveal the inner conflicts, emotions, values, or
feelings that are behind your personal, intuitive attraction to the image.
8. Write the Story/Insight: Write down the story or insight. Think about
how it applies to your attraction to the image or how it offers insight
about your own life relative to the image. Consider how the association of
the product with fulfillment of these inner desires and values might
establish unconscious biases and motivations. Consider how these
unconscious motivations might influence your desire for the product or for
things associated with the product (i.e.: attraction, physical perfection,
love, power or confidence) and how this desire might influence you to adapt
your behavior in some way.
APPENDIX B - Follow-up Questions
Thank you for participating this study. Below are some questions that I
would like to know more about you personally. Please type out your answers
next to the questions.
1. Have you used SK-II whitening products before?
2. Are you currently using SK-II whitening products?
3. If not, what brand(s) are you using? And why you don't use SK-II
whitening products?
4. Tell me what's your impression on SK-II:
5. How many years have you been working?
6. On average, how much money do you spend for skin whitening (including
product, facial treatment in beauty center, and taking pills) per month?
7. How often do you read those women magazine within a week?
8. Have you seen the TV commercial that you viewed before? If so, how many
times have you seen it?
9. Your skin tone is (underline the most appropriate answer):
very white fairly white neutral fairly dark very dark
10. Compared to other women in your city, your skin tone is (underline the
most appropriate answer):
very white fairly white neutral fairly dark very dark
11. Do you believe the Chinese proverb, "one physical attractiveness can
substitute for three physical unattractivenesses." If so, what are the
three physical unattractivenesses in your mind?
12. How does this proverb apply to your life (work/love/friendship/family,
etc)?
Once again, thank you so much for your time and effort. I appreciate it
very much!
APPENDIX C – INDIVIDUAL PIA RESULTS
a) SK-II Brand Loyalty Group
1. Hannah's Profile:
City of origin: Taipei
Occupation: Coffee shop owner
Advertising knowledge: Very little
Brand loyalty: SK-II
Impression on SK-II: Reliable and suitable for skin, highly recommend
Skin tone: Neutral
Compared to others: Fairly white
Three physical unattractivenesses: Freckle, wrinkle and ugly face
Applicability of the proverb: Improve appearance, more attractive to men
and make myself happier!
Hannah's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
Clear
skin wording light
Changing
White
beautiful clean comfortable happy
Confident
Transparent
see through breakable secret
Secret
Direct
easy-to-follow understandable
Simple
Comfortable
sleep coffee warm sports
Powerful
Buy
money happy confidence relax
Surviving
Sammi
superstar thin tall perfect skin
Dreaming
Skin
whitening pimples wrinkles freckle
Charming
Thin
pretty charming attractive confident
Confident
Perfect skin
beautiful makeup charming
Confident
'Blackhead' nose
ugly remove clean facial
Disgusting
Fresh
simple comfortable cool
Energetic
Miracle
magic pop-star witch minority
Unbelievable
Hannah's Insight:
"I want to change many things in my life – appearance, lifestyle,
connection with other people, etc. After the change, I will become more
confident and comfortable. The whitening product that I am using now is
not only for changing my skin tone color, but also help changing my inner
self – become more confident and charming!"
2. Carmen's Profile:
City of origin: Hong Kong
Occupation: Office lady, part-time student
Advertising knowledge: Very little
Brand loyalty: SK-II
Impression on SK-II: Effective
Skin tone: Fairly white
Compared to others: Fairly white
Three physical unattractivenesses: Fat and short
Applicability of the proverb: My mom always uses it to describe me!
Carmen's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
Character
Attractive Beautiful Happy
Wanting
Place
Warm Comfortable Silent
Surviving
Colors
White Red Yellow Black
Wanting
Tone
Soft Sweet angry
Controlling
Feelings
Sweet Happy Sad
Controlling
Clothes
Colorful attractive soft
Wanting
Decoration
Bright Clean Warm
Surviving
Body
Slim Fat tall
Wanting
Carmen's insight:
"I was attracted by the product after reading the TV. White is very
important to a Chinese Woman. White can cover all the ugly part on your
face. I 'm a Chinese woman, so I need it too. Also, It can build up my
confidence. I trust this product because this TV is very persuasive to me.
The Place and Decoration is what my dream house like. It is very
comfortable and clean. The lighting is very bright. Also the character
feels very enjoyable and happy to her life. I WANT it too."
b) Brand Switchers
3. Cathy's profile:
City of origin: Beijing
Occupation: Full-time student (Working on TV before returning to school)
Advertising knowledge: Little
Brand loyalty: SK-II, Lancôme, and Olay
Impression on SK-II: Expensive and but not worthy
Skin tone: Fairly dark
Compared to others: Fairly dark
Three physical unattractivenesses: Rough skin, too skinny or too fat
Applicability of the proverb: I think I'll look better in having white skin
so I'm trying to make myself look whiter in everyday life.
Cathy's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
Whiteness
Clean, beauty, wedding, hospital
Desiring
Relaxing
Holiday, hobby, family, home
Nostalgic
Fast-paced
Vigor, springiness, busy, energy
Motivating
New face
Happy, new lifestyle, opportunity
Desiring
Change
New, strange, challenge, opportunity
Curious
Convincing
Safe, reliable, truth, trusting
Vulnerable
Clean
Comfortable, relaxing
Tired
High-tech
Reliable, Modern, Convenient
Vulnerable
Complete
Safe, guaranteed, convincing, finish
Vulnerable
Cathy's insight:
"I personally prefer white skin because whiteness means clean and innocent
to me. I don't know exactly why I think in this way, most probably is the
influence of mass media. However, my skin is kind of dark. So, I always
dream of white skin. In the TV commercial, whiteness is the theme – the
furniture, the wall, the celebrity's clothes and the package of the
products. I think I am interested in the TV commercial "by nature."
Because my skin color is far from the color I like, I really want a
"change." I think this is another keyword in the ad besides whiteness. The
celebrity is famous for her regular changes of the makeup, clothes and
hairstyles. At the first sight of her, the word comes to my mind is
"change." However, in the end of the ad, she said, "I know I don't want to
change anymore (after her skin turns white)." This quote gave me a sense of
relaxing – a sense of "finally, I found what I really want in my life" -
something like that. This indicates a beginning of a new life to me – many
new things, new feelings that I've never experienced before.
Another thing I'd like to relate the TV commercial to my personal
experience is that I've tried many brands of whitening products before to
get my skin whiter. But I don't think any of them really works. So, I'm
kind of vulnerable. Truly reliable technology is very important for me
when choosing whitening products. So I have deep impression about the
complete and high-tech whitening package, and I think it's really reliable.
The last thing deeply impressed me is the cozy, warm and homely environment
in the ad. The homely environment reminds me of my home. Since I am now
far away from my family and the current study and work are stressful, a
home-like environment makes me feel relaxed, comfortable and warm."
4. Cat's Profile:
City of origin: Hong Kong
Occupation: Graphic designer
Advertising knowledge: Some
Brand loyalty: No…brand switcher – SK-II, Neutrogena, Origin, Olay & Biotherm
Impression on SK-II: Not effective and expensive
Skin tone: Neutral
Compared to others: Fairly dark
Three physical unattractivenesses: Unclear contour line face, uneven facial
color and fatty face
Applicability of the proverb: Honestly, I don't care how "white" my friends
are but I prefer my male friends look darker because I think whiteness on a
man's face looks weak. If my female friends were not white, I wouldn't
think that she is not pretty or not looking good. But it will sometimes
affect my job decision, as I wouldn't choose those jobs that require me to
exposure under the sun!!
Cat's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
Sammi
Trend, Pretty, Famous, Trustworthy
Fantasy
SK-II
Effective, Famous, Popular
Trusting
White
Pure, Pretty, Angel
Fantasy
Cute
Happy, Laugh, Cheerful
Entertaining
Comfortable
Home, Relax, Relief
Hoping
Home
Warm, Safe, Relax, Sleeping, Sweet
Trusting
Scientific
Reliable, Effective, Safe, Proof
Positive
Expensive
Money, Guarantee, Confidence
Motivating
Cat's insight:
"I found that I feel quite happy and reliable with the product though it is
not really effective to me. I believe that the ad of the product can meet
my desire to "become white" and that's why I do not only pay attention to
the content but also trust what it says. Also, the character in the ad is
very important and can really catch my attention because she's regarded as
the lead of the trend that I hope to follow. By the way, I just realize
that I am a positive person but in fact, many people think that I look cool
or sad or depressed. Maybe it's because of my dark skin that leads to such
misperception. Or maybe I just hide my inner self."
5. Joyce's profile:
City of origin: Hong Kong
Occupation: Human Resources Officer
Advertising knowledge: Little
Brand loyalty: Fancl
Impression on SK-II: Expensive, luxurious and popular
Skin tone: Very dark
Compared to others: Very dark
Three physical unattractivenesses: Coarse skin, flat nose, and small eyes
Applicability of the proverb: People say I am older because of my dark
skin. My boyfriend will say those white girls are beautiful and look at
them. My best friend is a white girl.
Joyce's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
Popular
Hit, attraction, well-known, follow
Fantasy
Plain
Face, color, perfect
Dreaming
White
Face, color, perfect, dream
Unrealistic
Black
Bad, common, ugly, always
Worrying
Forehead
Problems, first-impression, face, look,
Concerning
Yellow
Bad, old, dirty, real
Worrying
Red
Childish, allergy, sensitive, non-health
Worrying
Curtain
Out, remove, unnecessary
Relief
Mask
Treatment, recover, help, comfort, confidence
Comfortable
Home-feeling
Warm, personal, friend
Escaping
Refresh
New, green, young, energy
Hopeful
Relief
No pressure, lay, comfort, nice
Relaxing
Energetic
Refresh, sparkling, hopeful
Wanting
Kawaii (cute)
Dream, young, Japanese, cute
Luxurious
Cross-arm gesture
Objection, defensive, cute, Japanese
Luxurious
Self-confidence
Bright, efficient, work, look
Significant
Tofu (soy) dessert
Smooth, tasty, dessert, white, yummy
Attractive
Mouth-watering
Delicious, bite, myself
Exploring
Try
Want, need, free-trial
Improvement
Joyce's insight:
"The action of removing the colorful curtain reminds me that we need to
remove all the obstacles in front of us. We need to have an optimistic,
open mind in facing difficulties rather than just worrying it in an
unrealistic manner. Then we can keep ourselves young and sparkling all the
time. Though the product is popular, it is quite expensive so I will find
another cheaper product to use. The TV series remind me the importance of
whiteness – clean image to everyone rather than black forehead, yellow and
reddish face. But my in-born dark skin is a fact. So there of course is a
dilemma there because I know whiteness product to me is useless.
I can't be as white as Sammi on the TV commercial."
c) Ad Knowledgeable Group
6. Vivien's profile:
City of origin: Hong Kong
Occupation: Advertising Account Manager
Advertising knowledge: A lot
Brand loyalty: SK-II
Impression on SK-II: Famous, very expensive, not so worthy
Skin tone: neutral
Compared to others: neutral
Three physical unattractivenesses: It depends. If people are tired, in bad
mood or under pressure, the proverb applies. It doesn't apply for people
who are healthy, active and happy.
Applicability of the proverb: I don't really concern about this…as long as
I won't become a "dark" person. I am totally OK with my skin
tone. Sometimes in summer, tan-look is preferred so as to give people an
impression of healthiness.
Vivien's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
White
Pure, Dignity, Righteous
Believed
Bright
Yellow, Sunshine, Sunbathing
Cheerful
Impossible
Being a billionaire!!!
Fantasy
Cheerful
Children, Love, Smile
Motivating
Comfortable
Home, Holiday, Family, Being with friends
Secured
Beautiful
Love, Family
Trusting
Cute
Dogs, Children, Smile
Simple
Relax
Holiday, Home, Dining, Eating
Secured
Fake
Office, Colleagues, Life, Human Beings
Weak
Untruthful
Advertising, sales
Exaggerated
Vivien's insight:
"The SK-II whitening products use puffery advertising to persuade female
users. It is exaggerating. Having said that, however, I still believe in
that because it helps to whiten my skin – to make me look cheerful and
beautiful. Others then perceive me as a trustful person."
7. CC's profile:
City of origin: Hong Kong
Occupation: Advertising Account Executive
Advertising knowledge: A lot
Brand loyalty: Neutrogena
Impression on SK-II: Too expensive and not worthy
Skin tone: Fairly white
Compared to others: Fairly white
Three physical unattractivenesses: Fat, short, skin with big pores
Applicability of the proverb: It does apply to the first impression when
you meet somebody. Whey you're white, it makes people feel that you're
tidy and neat, though you're not pretty enough. White skin also makes
people think that you're kind, pleasant and cheerful. It helps make
relationships with others.
CC's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
White
Smooth, clean, angel and beautiful
Fantasy
Comfortable
Relax, air-conditioning, no worry
Fantasy
Clean
White, neat and tidy
Judging
Cool
Relax, convenient, comfortable
Fantasy
Overwhelming lighting
Fake, man-made
Resistible
Nutrient
Rich beautiful conscious
Judging
Decent
OL, confident
Vulnerable
CC's insight:
"The white and smooth face in the TVC let me related to myself…I'm white
but seem not "purify" enough. I'm white and all the people surrounding say
I have a good skin…but seem not as good as hers. It makes me feeling dirty.
I want to be free from all skin – problems, which I would be proud of and
make me feel relax and comfortable. If I feel that my skin is not white,
smooth enough, I would think myself is ugly and also the others would do.
The skin is very important to me. It can affect my mood and feeling during
the whole day. It induces me to keep my good skin. The setting is very
comfortable and decent. It represents a class with confident and
intelligent. I should be like that!
But when the overwhelming lighting makes the perfect skin, it is very
man-made. I hate it. I hate something which is very man-made, like over
make-up. It's not true and it's not beautiful. I don't appreciate it.
The image does induce me to do something, of coz one of the solution is
whitening mask, to keep my good skin, but the overwhelming lighting
reflecting the perfect skin makes a fake impression. The product seems not
credible enough. It just oversells it."
d) Non SK-II Myth Believers
8. Szeman's profile:
City of origin: Hong Kong
Occupation: Public Relations Account Executive
Advertising knowledge: A lot
Brand loyalty: Valmont (and my mom is a beautician)
Impression on SK-II: Expensive, over-claiming.
Skin tone: Very white
Compared to others: Very white
Three physical unattractivenesses: Fat, short, aging
Applicability of the proverb: Appearance is very important when having job
interviews. It may help our first impression in building relationships
(work and friendship).
Szeman's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
White
Plain, nothing, pure
Stabilizing
Pure
Clean, non-bacteria, illness
Controlling
Clean
White, fresh, cleanser
Recharging
Celebrity
Expensive, famous, popular
Controlling
Gray
Ill, bad, sad
Alerting
Exaggerated
Over-claim, false, dramatic
Vulnerable
Colorful
Yellow, energetic, rainbow
Driving
Szeman's insight:
"I am very careful in evaluating the ads. I do not want to buy the products
just after reading the ad. I read too many ads from SK-II. The ads are too
dramatic. I would not believe it easily. I am self-alerted. I am
self-controlling when reading the ad. I think that what I am using now is
sufficient. In fact, I bought Max Factor lipstick which also promoted by
Sammi before. After using it, I felt very dry and it hurt my lip. I feel
that I was cheated by the ad. So, I do not trust what Sammi "sells" and the
SK-II ads anymore."
9. BJ's profile:
City of origin: Hong Kong (but raised in Canada)
Occupation: Full time student (Financial analyst before returning to school)
Advertising knowledge: Little
Brand loyalty: Glycel, Sisley and SK-II
Impression on SK-II: Too many products
Skin tone: Fairly white
Compared to others: Fairly white
Three physical unattractivenesses: No…attractiveness is from inner beauty
Applicability of the proverb: Inner beauty is the most important and I
believe we should feel comfortable of our look that is given by our parents.
BJ's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
Artificial
Unpleasant, dull, tedious
Boring
Suitable
Appropriate, familiar, accepted
Outstanding
Clear
Fine, definite, plain
Focus
Colorful
Enlighten, bright, match
Happy
Superficial
Pretended, act, feign
Open
BJ's insight:
When I was a teenager, I admired people with tanned skin and it looked so
healthy. I was not happy with my fair skin as I think I was as white as
"pig". There was one time, I tried to put on the darkest suntan oil and
went on sunshine bathing for the entire afternoon and I did only turn my
skin to red, then few days later, it turned back to normal. I felt very
boring by going back and forth to the beach and I decided to give up.
However, when I grow up, fair skin is a sign of delicate and pure
look. People is dreaming to have light skin and spend $$$ on whitening
skin-care product. Oh!! Thanks so much I did not burn my skin when I was
young.
10. Qing's profile:
City of origin: Shanghai
Occupation: Part-time student (Journalist before coming to the US with her
husband)
Advertising knowledge: Little
Brand loyalty: Maybeline, Aupress
Impression on SK-II: Too expensive, unnecessary
Skin tone: Neutral
Compared to others: Neutral
Three physical unattractivenesses: Small eyes, fat and rude manner
Applicability of the proverb: No…I don't agree this proverb, as it looks
unhealthy if someone has too white skin. I don't pursue white skin on
purpose in my life.
Qing's PIA exercise:
Primary Words
Associative & Most Significant Words
Inner Self Symbols
Clean
Distilled water, sky, naive
Gentle
Matched
Positioning, love, clothes
Balancing
Consistent
Question, answer, talk + action
Inconsistent
Complicated
Numbers, production, philosophy, instruction
Casual
Fashionable
Fashion, idea, language, style
Unsatisfying
Energetic
Undergrad. Students, football, lifestyle, transportation
Satisfying
Natural
National park, lifestyle, village, expression
Contrasting
Successful
Money, fortune, power, family, friendship, self-actualization
Natural
Qing's insight:
"The process of the growth of a girl, actually, is a process of finding
ways to balance herself. You couldn't believe how I was like 10 years
ago…I was the type of girl who wanted to travel alone with my backpack. I
was always criticized by the leaders of the Chinese government. At that
time, I really wanted to escape to big cities. Because city girls are
associated with striving for freedom, dream and love from the song, "Olive
Tree."
My life became stable after working for few years and my ability was
recognized. My satisfying inner self was achieved by climbing the career
path. I understood that the only way to achieve success was by working
hard. I tried to maintain my image as a successful office lady (when I was
still a single person).
But I finally realized that marriage is the "second" life of women…after
getting married. It changed the way of my thinking…from a girl to a
woman. I cannot do what I want right away because I need to be responsible
for my beloved one.
"Balance is beauty." I feel satisfied with my balancing self. My
unsatisfying inner self reveals that I lose balanced a bit because I am now
a F2 visa holder. That means I need to rely on someone. But I am
adjusting it to keep myself balanced. The way that I am achieving for
balanced life is far more important than making a lot of money."
[1] Pitera contains a natural collection of vitamins, minerals, amino
acids and organic acids and helps restore the skin's natural rhythm by
stimulating its renewal process. Its effects can only be described as
astonishing. Women who have tried SK-II talk about their skin having become
smoother, clearer, and more radiant. They agree that it gives them
something infinitely precious - the gift of re-birth (http://www.sk2.co.uk).
[2] Surprisingly, all interviewees preferred to use their real names in
the study, as they would like to share their learning process in the PIA
exercise with other readers.
|
