Brandon Beck

MAR4156
February 6, 2021

Singapore Airlines

1. Do you think the creation of the icon ‘Singapore Girl’ helped Singapore Airlines to become a
distinguished brand in Asia? Justify your stand. 

Yes. When advertising a product, there is an increase in the tendency for customers to purchase a
product when they feel an emotional connection to the brand. The empowering and boosting of
the consumer’s morale through effective marketing also encourages them to engage and with the
brand and keep it with them, therefore leading them to further interact with the product. (1) With
SIA essentially being a pioneer in the airline industry by exceeding expectations in valued
service and comfort, these ideas of emotional connection, for the sake of simplification, must be
put into a tangible form that consumers can grasp. The ‘Singapore Girl’ does this effectively and
propelled the airline to elite status in the Asian airline market. This marketing technique made
SIA easily stand out from competitors in the area, since most focus on airline development was
recognized only in the West. Furthermore, the ‘Singapore Girl’ is a symbol of care and comfort
against barriers such as fear and uncertainty when flying. Since advertising is an emotional
community, airlines must find ways to downplay and influence any fears or anxieties, by using
gender and mental health as mediums to normalize the industry and assure the normativity and
scarcity of technologically based risks in flying. (2) The tender image of the ‘Singapore Girl’
does just that.

2. Do you believe the  ‘Singapore Girl’ strategy is sexist? Should it be changed? Justify your
stand. 

I believe that there is and always will be a sexist element to this type of marketing, as well as to
the flight attendant industry as a whole. In the 1950s and 1960s, cabin crew were painted as ‘sex
symbols’ and ‘suited ladies.’ (3) By the 1990s, after the rise of the women’s movement and the
view that ‘sexually exploitative advertising is indefensible,’ (3) that image was changed
radically, particularly in the United States and Europe, to simply a ‘flight attendant that is
female.’ (3) With this evolution, airlines had to change their marketing focus, since the female
attendant position was stripped of its symbolic status and therefore not a useful or morally
acceptable mechanism of which an airline could present itself to the world. (3) However, the
emotional labor and weight of the flight attendant still remained – the very thing that popularized
the female, caring flight attendant. As a result, airlines had to change the consumer’s perspective
of flying to the equivalent of staying at a first-class restaurant or resort. What SIA is doing is
simply combining both of these aspects and further contributing to the feminization of the
industry. (3) However, I believe all companies should adapt to the current times in order to stay
relevant. If SIA decides to reevaluate the ‘Singapore Girl’ icon to a less sexist appearance, they
will have to assess how they could do so while still keeping the familiarity of the icon and the
emotions that come with it.

3. Do you think Singapore Airlines can be successful in warding off the competition from low-
cost carriers without any reduction in its price range? How? Justify your stand.

There are several factors that can boost an airline’s brand and loyalty. One of these is a
company’s corporate social responsibility which has a direct impact on business. Companies
with positive ethical and social implications, particularly surrounding views of sexism and
iconography, positively effects business and protects the corporate image. (4) Also, with
fluctuating fears of flying, specifically after 2001, airlines need something more than cheap
prices to encourage possible consumers and restore the public’s confidence. (5) One way of
doing so is through branding that promotes five-star warmth, care, and security from a tangible,
trusted being. SIA can do this with the ‘Singapore Girl’ or an equivalent. Lastly, when looking at
the prospects of SIA, one must look at the nation of Singapore. From the mid-1900s to the 21st
century, Singapore went from being one of the poorest nations in Asia and one of the most
corrupt in the world to one of the richest and most prosperous nations in the world, all while not
having any natural resources. (6) Therefore, Singapore is a proud nation and must look at
creative ways to export products and cement its place in the world. (7) (8) SIA has been a
leading example of that. Though current consumer trends point to rising use of low-cost
businesses, especially when such businesses are also locally founded like Tiger Airways, the
nation of Singapore still holds SIA to a pioneer standard. However, this concept has rubbed some
locals the wrong way, with them complaining about how the airline focuses their marketing too
much on seeking attention and validation from foreigners, particularly Westerners, while
subconsciously brushing aside local customers. (9) Nonetheless, at the end of the day, there is
still a continuous customer loyalty present, since this company basically introduced the nation to
the world as not another forgettable tropical harbor, but as innovative and first-class. It is a part
of Singaporean history.
 WORKS CITED

(1) Abayi, Mahsa, and Behnaz Khoshtinat. “Study of the Impact of Advertising on Online
Shopping Tendency for Airline Tickets by Considering Motivational Factors and
Emotional Factors.” Procedia Economics and Finance, vol. 36, Jan. 2016, pp. 532–
539. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/S2212-5671(16)30065-X.

(2) Popp, Richard K. “Commercial Pacification: Airline Advertising, Fear of Flight, and the
Shaping of Popular Emotion.” Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 16, no. 1, Mar. 2016,
pp. 61–79. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/1469540513509640.

(3) Lyth, Peter. “‘Think of Her as Your Mother’: Airline Advertising and the Stewardess in
America, 1930-1980.” Journal of Transport History, vol. 30, no. 1, June 2009, pp. 1–
21. EBSCOhost, doi:10.7227/TJTH.30.1.3.

(4) Vo, Tam Thien, et al. “How Does Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Influence
Word of Mouth on Twitter? Evidence from the Airline Industry.” Journal of Business
Ethics, vol. 157, no. 2, June 2019, pp. 525–542. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10551-017-
3679-z.

(5) Goodman, Christopher J. “Takeoff and Descent of Airline Employment.” Monthly Labor

Review, vol. 131, no. 10, Oct. 2008, pp. 3–16. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=35648397&site=eds-live.

(6) Zarroli, Jim. “How Singapore Became One Of The Richest Places On Earth.” NPR, NPR, 29
Mar. 2015, www.npr.org/2015/03/29/395811510/how-singapore-became-one-of-the-
richest-places-on-earth.

(7) “Wearing the Singapore Badge with Pride.” Straits Times, The (Singapore), 27 Mar.
2015. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edsnbk&AN=1545284B12B02248&site=eds-live.

(8) “Celebrating National Pride: 3 Singaporean-Helmed Companies That Took the Global Stage
By Storm.” Canon, Canon Singapore, sg.canon/en/campaign/business-
insight/tips/celebrating-national-pride-3-singaporean-helmed-companies-that-took-the-
global-stage-by-storm.
(9) Bah, Tan Bah. “Do Singaporeans Love or Hate Singapore Airlines?” The Independent News,
The Independent News & Media, 20 Sept. 2020, theindependent.sg/do-singaporeans-
love-or-hate-singapore-airlines/.