preview

Abercrombie and Fitch Brand Marketing Essay

Good Essays

Whether or not it is morally acceptable for Abercrombie and Fitch to use nudity and sexuality in its advertising is not the real question; rather, it is whether or not it is ethical for Abercrombie to use classical conditioning to program society in a manner that forces consumers to associate uncontrolled desires with a basic brand of clothing. This company has successfully associated two things which are the antithesis of one another: clothing and nudity.

Abercrombie and Fitch maintains its outstanding competitive advantage with its unparalleled marketing tactics. No firm in history has applied the use of sexuality and physical beauty in marketing better than Abercrombie and Fitch. They have successfully forced consumers to make …show more content…

It has asked, or perhaps forced, customers to think not with their head, but with their hormones: morally unacceptable.

Abercrombie and Fitch uses classical conditioning in a variety of different ways. The campaigns, which always contain photographs like the ones provided, have successfully conditioned consumers to elicit a response from their sexual desires from an extremely basic line of clothing. Abercrombie’s clothing is basic and almost never scandalous. Their clothing lines provide good and decent cover for customers. So what is the problem? The issue lies in the fact that this very basic, however very unique form of clothing has been used as a tool to elicit sexual feelings on the part of those who see the clothing, the name or the style.

First, they have elicited the responses based on feeling of beauty. The provided marketing catalogue rarely shows models actually wearing large amounts of clothing. The consumer is not able to evaluate any of the products characteristics when faced with an ad. Showing bodies that nearly all consumers will find attractive is a clear attempt to tie physical beauty with the product. Beauty, however, is a tactic that many firms use and may be less harmful than the following strategies.

Second, the whole purpose

Get Access