Class Year
2015
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Fall 2014
Department 1
Environmental Studies
Abstract
Car commercials, like many advertisements, tempt its viewers with comfort, capability, or safety features, as well as being well‐engineered, affordable, attractive, large or compact sized, or fuel efficient. This study examines the pitches in YouTube car commercial video clips from the 1960s until 2014. We coded a total of 263 total car commercials based on pitch, setting, narrator, decade, and country of origin. The analysis revealed that most car commercials were presented in rural settings and capability was pitched most frequently overall. Fuel efficiency was ranked third overall; however, within urban settings, fuel efficiency had the highest frequency. During the 1990s, there was no presence of commercials alluding to fuel efficiency and instead safety was pitched more frequently compared to other decades. We discuss the other pitches that were found to be significantly different between the settings, narrators, decades, and countries of origin. Over time, pitches in car commercials have changed, perhaps because advertising is influenced by consumer demands, interests, and concerns.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Beyer, Alyssa P. and Moyer, Sara, "The Perfect Pitch: Car Commercials in the Environment" (2014). Student Publications. 275.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/275
Included in
Environmental Education Commons, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons
Comments
Environmental Studies Thesis