Advertising:Information or Manipulation - Essay Example

Advertising: Information or Manipulation According to Isaria K.Mwende “this world is a giant negotiating table, and whether you like it or not you are a participant. Advertising plays a substantial role in this phenomenon.” With the ever increasing emergence of the media - large amount of news papers, glossy magazines, radio and television stations, individuals are flooded with thousands of advertising messages every day regarding almost every commodity or service in the market. Advertising is significant since it gives knowledge to the customers concerning products offered in the market. It assists to generate demand for the commodities and facilitates the customer to select from a variety of goods present in the market. Both with the commendable purpose of forming awareness and expanding the range of options to customers on the accessibility of goods appropriate to fulfill their requirements, there are attention-grabbing techniques being applied in advertisements. Majority of the people are not conscious of these manipulative techniques, since they are primed by skilful photographers, actors, writers and technicians. This essay will discuss about the argument of whether advertising is informative or manipulative for thousands of individuals being exposed to them. As Norman Solomon states “It’s known as advertising, but we may as well call it psychological warfare. Our entire society is a free-fire zone for nonstop commercial assaults. Everyone is in the cross hairs… no matter how young or old.” People exposed to persuasive advertisements are led to purchase products they might not need therefore, it is justified to say that advertising, these days is based on manipulation and hence should be limited for the reason that it has undesirable and harmful effects. Teenagers and children are the prime target of these advertising campaigns urging them to buy a certain product. The effect of advertising on the lives, of kids and adults, has altered from the past few years. In the primitive days, promotion or advertising for game and different goods for children was mainly aimed for parents and the message was honest and direct. Nowadays however, the meaning and purpose of advertisements have changed. Advertising messages are further stylish, more persistent, and are directed straight at clasping the attention of youngsters at an incredibly premature age. Current advertising is mostly centered on making connections from the substantial traits of goods to the unfulfilled longing of possible customers. These techniques of inspiration meet the criteria of manipulation. According to Jacquelyn Massey “Teenagers do not fully understand the impact that advertising has on them. Webster’s dictionary uses words like “vigorous,” “lively,” “immature,” and “impetuous” to describe youth. Advertisers are well aware of these qualities when they concoct strategies to reach the youth market.” Advertisement today doesn’t tempt to logic but to sentiments: similar to some other type of plans of hypnosis, it attempts to influence its targets psychologically and then cause them to give in rationally. This kind of advertisement make an impression on the consumers by every kind of way: by recurrence of the similar method repeatedly; by the impact of an admired person like a famous actor or boxer, by fascinating the client and simultaneously deteriorating his analytical capability by showing sex appeal of the opposite sex, by horrifying them with a danger of bad breath or body odor, or still again by inspiring fantasies about an unexpected alteration in an individual’s entire path of life caused by purchasing a particular blouse or soap. Every one these techniques are fundamentally illogical as they have no association with the qualities of the products, moreover, they overpower and eradicate the analytical abilities of the client similar to a sedative narcotics or absolute hypnosis. According to Sapir Handelman “manipulative advertisements give customer’s a satisfaction by their daydream qualities just as movies do, but at the same time they increase his feeling of smallness and powerlessness.” As every thing has pros and cons, advertisements formulated in the right manner can prove to be beneficial too. Through frequent advertisement, the producer can persuade clients to purchase the products precisely without relying on middlemen this eradicates the costs and earning of the middlemen. In this way there are elevated revenue to the producer and lesser prices to the customers. Furthermore, it protects the customer from wasting time as the customer has previously seen the products and so doesn’t need to waste more in getting to know these commodities. It gives information about the latest models of the products to customers and therefore by consuming those products these clients can raise their living standards. Propaganda advertising is the manipulation of thoughts, figures, and signs to convince people to consider the advertised products in a particular way. The objective of these propagandas is to stop individuals from inquiring about the message or as of assessing analytically beyond the limits of the message so as a result the message is believed to be an absolute truth. In contradiction of this opinion, many people believe that advertisements for various products is basically the freedom of speech and hence the producers have the justification to present their products in whatever way they like as they possess the right. Some of the proposals needed to regulate advertising include the abiding of moral and ethical values simultaneously to the promotion of the product. Advertisements and images of the product can leave an influence on the working of a product and reckless advertising can persuade individuals to utilize the good in a dangerous manner. For instance, advertisers must not demonstrate people driving automobiles at the same time as using their cell phones to call or text. Ethically decent advertising is the advertising that request to attempt individuals to decide and proceed sensibly in ethically decent manner whereas ethically immoral advertising motivates to push people to perform immoral actions that are harmful of real community and are self-destructive. Advertisements today should respect truthfulness and should not deceive the customers by portraying qualities which are not present in the specific product. Laws should be made which should keep a check on the exploitation of the lower inclinations of human beings to bargain our ability to think or choose either because of the advertisements content or due to its influence, using allures to desire, pride, jealousy and avarice. These advertisements should give particular attention to the vulnerable and susceptible kids, teen agers, the aged, the disadvantaged, and the ethnically deprived people. As Randal Marlin states that advertising is beyond question an important form of mass communication today but majority of the people complain to some practices of advertising, which are considered as a danger to their independence, since it is formulated not to provide information but to convince the customers to buy a specific product. Work cited: Marlin, Randal. Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press, 2002. Print. Handelman, Sapir. Thought Manipulation: The Use and Abuse of Psychological Trickery. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2009. Print. Isaria K. Mwende, “ advertisements-maniipulation of innocent people” Tuesday May 03,2005 Norman Solomon “No truce in psychological war on kids” Alter Net, April 26,2000 Read More