Features of the Use of Images of Works of Fine Art for Products and Services Promotion

The close relationship between advertising and art began in the XIX century. At the moment, images of works of fine art are widely used in advertising, but not always competently or appropriately, which significantly affects the perception of the advertised product or service. Since works of fine art are actively used in advertising, specialists need to adhere to ethical and aesthetic standards when creating it in order for this technique to be effective in the future. The purpose of the study is to analyze the features of influence images of the classic form of fine art-painting-in advertising, taking into account the relevant norms of ethics and aesthetics, on the attitude to the advertised product or service. The paper considers the main approaches to defining the concept of "art", the history of the relationship between art and advertising, as well as its ethical and aesthetic aspects. Moreover, the author considers approaches to the promotion of goods and services, the role of images and signs in advertising, as well as aspects such as visualization and its impact on the emotional perception of consumers. This  study has a mixed research design. At the first stage, a qualitative research method was used — conducting focus groups. At this stage, the criteria for acceptable and unacceptable, from the point of view of generally accepted norms of ethics and aesthetics, use of images of masterpieces of world painting in advertising, where there was a violation of the line between ethical and unethical, were previously identified. Moreover, it will determine how images of works of fine art affect the perception of the advertised product or service and the likelihood of their further acquisition. In the second stage of the study, a quantitative research method was used — an online survey, where respondents expressed their agreement or disagreement with the judgments identified during the focus groups. Also, the research hypotheses were tested. The research results contain recommendations on the use of images of works of fine art in advertising. This study also reveals the perception of advertising that uses masterpieces of painting on its perception.