The Impact of Advertising
The advertising business has become such an important factor in the economy in many countries, especially in the United States, that it also changes the economy itself, society, culture, and the political system.
The stimulation for the demand of products and services helps the economy grow stronger and stronger. New inventions become known much faster and can establish their spot in the sales figures of the economy. If there are more people buying these products the overall costs will drop and the product will become cheaper for the customer which raises his willingness to buy even more. On the other hand advertisements are very expensive and some economists believe that these costs are put on top of the actual price paid by the customer.
Critics argue that advertising can also have a huge influence on society. It tells the consumers that only purchasing products makes you happy and therefore people compare each other on their belongings. Women also compare themselves with the beautiful and very skinny models they see on commercials and ads. This sometimes results in eating disorders and a low self-esteem of women who don’t look like these models. Another bad effect is, that minority groups, especially in the United States are portrait in a subordinate position, which settles in the minds of people. Commercials are also an important part of the income of a TV station which leads to the suspicion that a news channel might not report on an incident about a company they depend on. A lot of TV shows are also based on these commercials, and if the ratings aren’t good enough the show will be stopped. Only those shows which attract a lot of viewers will be shown, which is not very differentiated and put minorities like older people at a disadvantage.
Advertising can also have an impact in politics. $ 467 million were spent on advertisements and TV commercials in the elections of 1998. It gives the opponents the chance to respond to charges very quickly reaching a few million viewers. But since this is very expensive only very rich people have to chance to run for a political position or at least depend on the donation of wealthier people who could have a huge impact on democracy this way. The political issues talked about in an election are also very much simplified because the spots are only about 30 seconds long, and you can’t really discuss a lot in such a short period of time.
There is finally the impact advertising can have on the culture of a country. The globalized economy uses the same commercials in a lot of different countries, which leads to a break down in the differences of these societies. Children will grow up not knowing how their culture has been before in their country. It can also lead to a lot of discussion about moral values if we just think about the very controversial ads of Benetton we have discussed.
Advertisements really affect some people, who are ignorant. Advertisors introduce their product, but they do not tell the truth.For example, they promote bleach product after and people suppose that it is correct and they buy it.Unlike this advertisement, they also give correct information about the products in some advertisements such as cars, phones, white goods etc. For instance, while people are walking or watching something, if they see something in the adversitements such as a kind of coke; even though they aren’t thirsty, they want to drink it ,because some of advertisements are brain washing.In short, advertisers want to earn a lot of money and they do not care anybody.
The Influence of Advertising
Dealing with advertising starts with understanding how it works, what it does, and how it intends to influence you.
While you may be taking advertising for granted, it does seek to influence what you spend your money on. Many people don't believe that they're susceptible to being influenced, let alone manipulated, by advertising. However, it wouldn't be so omnipresent if it didn't work.
Advertisers hide the manipulative parts of advertising, because people will not accept it if they notice being manipulated. It needs to appear innocent in order to have an influence.
So how does advertising influence people?
Advertising as information
An obvious reason for advertising is simply informing people of the existence of products they might be interested in buying. No one will buy something that they don't know exists, no doubt about that. When more people know about a product, more of it will be sold.
I remember an ad from an advertising agency that was about advertising itself. They said that it was good that there is advertising, as it is an important source of information about products. If that were all, most people would embrace advertising as a welcome addition to their lives.
However, advertising is obviously not a source of objective information. The bright side of a company's products is highlighted exclusively. No ad will list both the pros and cons of a product. It is also not exactly a source of complete information, as the amount of actual information in ads is usually very minimal, if, in fact, there is any real information at all. So, ads are not particularly trustworthy as information.
But advertising goes much further than being a limited form of information.
Influencing valuation
Judging by the extensive use of praise for products in ads, advertisers do expect that people will be influenced by the positive valuation. So apparently a significant amount of people do believe the praise is somehow real, even though it comes from a copy writer of an advertising agency, paid for my the manufacturer of the product.
While other people may believe that doesn't affect them much, what does happen is that they get to know about positive valuations, while negative valuations are mostly absent. The latter is not because the product isn't experienced as negative by some people, but because one doesn't hear of them. The net effect is that one is not unwilling to buy, or at least try, the product.
So it's good to get some more objective opinions about products, like from reviews, or from someone who will not just say she likes something just to hide shame about a bad choice.
Familiarizing with products
With advertising emphasizing only the positive aspects of products, one might forget that not only are there also negative aspects, but a product might not even be what we really want or need.
We are more willing to go with what's familiar than with what's not. Advertising familiarizes us with products and brands. It does so in a positive only context, attempting to keep us open to this familiarization process.
When we only know about particular products, selecting a product to satisfy a particular need could come down to choosing from the list of advertised products only. But sometimes, psychological needs can be satisfied somewhat by products, but may be satisfied even better by other things. When we feel without self-worth, buying a prestigious car may for some time make us feel valuable, but there are other ways as well to increase that sense of worth, like paying more attention to our feelings and life circumstances.
Brand recognition
It is not only specific products that advertisers want us to feel as familiar. They particularly want to familiarize us with brands. This is why brand logos are everywhere. Not only on the products themselves, but on trucks, pens, shirts, caps, and lots, lots of ads. The influence is ubiquitous, but unobtrusive.
So when you are considering a choice between products, it is good to beware not to choose just on the basis of familiarity of a brand. If you know a brand simply because you've seen the logo everywhere, you are letting marketers decide for you.
Life style identification
Lots of advertising connects a product or brand with a particular life style. People who identify with that lifestyle, will feel attracted to these products. When you feel like "such and such" a person, and an ad or commercial values that, you'll feel willing to buy the product or brand, even if it isn't presented that prominently in the ad. You'll believe you like the product because it is "like you."
#10 "For six weeks out of the year, I'm on 24/7 on-call duty."
