The Beauty Of Advertisement. Searching For Ultimate and Proximate Causes In Cross-Cultural Study

The presentation summarizes the results of empirical research conducted simultaneously in Poland and in the United States in 2013. The main research questions were related to taste for some aesthetic forms used by the advertisers. 240 subjects took part in the study in both countries by filling out the questionnaire concerning 45 different images. All images were chosen on the basis of a content analysis of five Polish color magazines addressed to various audiences.

Theoretical underpinnings of the presented study stem from the works of Pierre Bourdieu, but they are not limited to this perspective. The other important perspective is evolutionary theory informed by modern biology. Thus, presentation focuses on both proximate (cultural) and ultimate (evolutionary) explanations of the aesthetic taste.

The main research hypothesis states that individuals with folk cultural capital (inhabitants of rural areas, with low educational level, and low income) exhibit preferences described by sociologists as “low” (i.e. visual expressions drawing on the so-called “Hudson River Biedermeier” style characterized by realistic and emotionally marked landscapes). Such preferences resemble to a large extent the “universal aesthetic predispositions” discussed in the evolutionary theory. These preferences can be also referred to as ‘conservative’ (or ‘collectivist’). However, according to evolutionary theory, these preferences should be found across all social strata. Contrary to this belief, building on Pierre Bourdieu’s class-based understanding of taste diversification, I presume that a natural aesthetic taste is related to folk-type of cultural capital. In other words, my intention is to verify whether the aesthetic universals as described by evolutionists and cognitivists are subject to diversification based on cultural capital.