Today Media - Advertisements Distort Reality - Research Paper Example

?Table of Contents Page 2 Introduction 3 Advertisements distort reality 4 Advertising is a one-sided stand to obtain corporate goals 6 Some audience does not have enough ability to understand advertisement’s purpose 7 Conclusion 9 References 10 Abstract In this paper, the proponent tries to discuss advertising as an integral component of mass communication through the media. Ads are defined to be effective approach in mass communication in order to convey information, initiate consumer persuasion and promote social interactions. It is in this reason that the stand of the proponent is to ban some ads which are not creating important impacts on the society due to some important reasons. Advertisements can distort reality. It is a one-sided stand in order to obtain corporate goals. Lastly, some audience does not have enough ability to understand advertisement’s purpose. Based on these reasons, the proponent was able to use important journal articles, and books in line with understanding the very nature of advertising and its impact on the society. Furthermore, other important related concepts in other fields such as psychology, and social science are integrated within the concept of mass communication and the social media. In doing this, further justification of the use of advertising as effective approach in conveying information is justified. The important implications of advertising in the society are also discussed based on other relevant and practical examples commonly observed in common and various ads. Introduction Certain ads are effective in conveying information to the extent that consumer persuasion is at a higher level. This persuasion at a higher level is very influential in trying to convince people of certain ideas. For example, tobacco marketing is associated with youth smoking, their behaviors towards it and their intention to smoke (Hanewinkel, Isensee, Sargent, & Morgenstern, 2010). However, anti-tobacco media campaigns are found helpful in smoking cessation (Biener, Reimer, Wakefield, Szczypka, Rigotti, & Connolly, 2006). Furthermore, anti-tobacco television ads using fear and disgust contents have been found significant on resources intended for message encoding, recognition memory and emotional responses (Leshner, Bolls & Wise, 2011, p. 77). These only show that advertising is effective way of communicating ideas, information and other relevant social concerns. In particular, advertising activities are integral parts of marketing and other related social interactions that aim to promote certain ideas, opinions or products and services. For a long period of time, ads are used to convey significant information and people are learning many things from them. The very proof why ads are effective is their continuing existence in the media, and other related mass communication today. If they are not that effective, then they should have been long banished and should never be the primary options on the list among marketers and some people. However, certain ads should be banned in the interest of health, morality, annoyance – alcohol, cigarettes, prescription meds, etc due to the following reasons. Advertisements distort reality The advancement of technology makes it possible for advertisers to distort reality by creating much of virtual reality (Frith & Mueller, 2010). It has long been contended that advertisements tend to distort the reality, but the availability of much advanced technology has become the doorway to create more virtual reality. There are many available animated commercial advertisements today that try to distort the picture of reality. What the advertisers try to promote is the product itself and not the entire concept of the social reality. These highly animated commercials are without question attractive to the extent they can actually catch attention. Some of them moved out from the bound of morality and other relevant social issues. These ads might be considered the reality among children so it is important to consider that unrealistic ads should be totally banned for the sake of the audience’s cognitive limitations. Children are vulnerable to be influenced by what they observed in their immediate environment from a psychological perspective (Feldman, 2003). It is therefore important that as much as possible ads should give a strong adherence to the reality rather than creating a certain reality for everyone. In this case, all ads should depict the whole picture of observed social reality. Thus, ads which have strong distortion of reality should be banned. On the other hand, it is clear that advertisements are created to move merchandise so in a way they have to distort the picture of reality rather than having close observations in contemporary life (Marchand, 1986). For example, some commercial ads try to promote alcohol in such a way drinking it provides comfort, fun and satisfaction. In reality, alcohol is a depressant so it is far away from the actual setting with what ads are trying to showcase into the audience. Other examples show some TV commercials that try to demonstrate lovers rejecting their partners because of bad breath. In addition, some ads try to integrate smoking with social acceptance, high status in life and even masculinity impact. In these specific examples, another point is certain about ads and that is to show that they do not only tend to distort social reality but try to be selective in their audience as well (Marchand, 1986). The above two essential examples are very critical because they exactly emphasized the truth about advertising and its implications to the society. Based on the above information, it is clear that advertising may not necessary be telling the truth but there is more emphasis on creating certain reality that is far from what really exists in the actual social setting. It is important to pick this as important argument against banning some ads high with distortion of reality so that the society will be informed with the right information and even those chosen target audiences. Although some TV commercials for instance are patterned based on the people’s experiences in life, it is clear that distortions of some reality are eminent due to the fact that there is a high level of emphasis on showcasing a very important point. This is to ensure recall, emotional appeal and cognitive response to significantly work in great detail. Advertising is a one-sided stand to obtain corporate goals May it be good or bad; the influences of advertisements are still strongly studied by sociologists, psychologists, marketers and other experts. Ads are almost everywhere especially in today’s trend on how businesses are conducted. Marketing for instance has reached to a specific level of sophistication in which products, brands and information are placed in ads via magazines, television, radio and through the internet. Among of them, television ads are most effective in achieving brand recall and image (Parasuraman, Grewal, & Krishnan, 2006). The very reason why ads still exist until today is because it is effective at influencing people and the consumers in general. “Advertisements guide the direction of consumers’ affective responses” (Schumann & Thorson, 2007, p. 46). However, as stated earlier, some ads are highly distorted due to the fact that through them merchandise should move, and eventually corporate objectives are achieved. Thus, no matter what it takes, even though there is a form of distortion to be made, ads should be able to achieve their main purpose from the standpoint of the ones who created them. From marketers’ perspective, the very goal of ads is to actually move certain merchandise in the market and have its significant share. In this case, it is clear that ads are a way too focused on corporate goals from the standpoint of marketing activities. It does not include consideration about its impact on the society except however in creating a significant achievement of the corporate goals. Those ads which do possess this intention should be banned. Some audience does not have enough ability to understand advertisement’s purpose Not all people understand the concept or idea behind advertisement. In the society where everyone is learning from his or her environment, nobody is exempted from learning certain things in the media. Although various methodologies have been used so that there will be different results in finding the impact of advertisements on children, specific results still show that children at the age below eight are most likely not to be able to understand the agenda of advertising, but some research argued they could (Gunter, Oates, & Blades, 2005). This clearly emphasize that banning television advertising has become a very important issue due to some disagreements between people from the academe and practitioners regarding at what age children have capability to differentiate between program and advertising material (Gunter, Oates, & Blades, 2005). This may somehow imply that whether children completely understand or not about the purpose of advertisements is still not final and ongoing debate exists regarding it. However, what is clear in this case is the thought that there is indeed a chance that children below the age of twelve may not completely comprehend what advertisements stand for. A certain probability about the negative impact of television advertisement on children may not be actually overlooked. From the standpoint of cognitive, behavioral and humanistic perspectives in psychology, people’s behaviors are assumed to be acquired from their environment (Feldman, 2003). This has become the basis of the mass media communication in conveying information to the people. The idea is tied up with the different perspectives in psychology that try to bring out the idea of the important role that the environment played in influencing people’s behavior. In this case, certain media such as the television, print ads, newspapers, magazines and more are integral parts of the environment that try to influence people’s behaviors. They have substantial influence on the people’s behaviors because individuals acquire something from them. This in particular has become the basis and theoretical framework of certain idea that children may have acquired certain ideas from mass media particularly on advertising. However, considering that they do not still have substantial experience in the world, they are most likely to be influenced by their environment. The most difficult part in this case is that what they may have observed may be the absolute truth for them depending on their cognitive stage of development (Gunter, Oates, & Blades, 2005). This is the specific part of their lives when they have certain cognitive abilities and limitations. Thus, it is implied that showing them the advertisements that are not suitable to their cognitive capabilities may not be appropriate at all. For instance, a commercial ad showing someone smoking is in the eyes of a child is a normal way of life. A child does not specifically know more the detail about cancer, and other related diseases that are acquired from smoking. In this case, the child does not have enough capacity to make a distinction between what is wrong or bad except however if there is an adult supervision. This specifically illustrates the fact that children are susceptible to be influenced with what the media try to impart with them due to certain level of their cognitive stage development. It is the environment that plays a significant part in their learning and formulation of behaviors. In line with this, depending on their level of cognitive development, children do not have enough capacity to determine whether what they are learning or perceiving are appropriate for them. In this case, they do not bother to consider understanding the real purpose of some advertisements and what are they really for them. In this reason, it is important not to air those ads with sensitive information knowing the fact that there are children who in the first place are incapable of understanding the real purpose of advertisements. Conclusion Ads are everywhere and they are integral parts of the media. There are various debates made concerning the significance of ads on people’s lives. Based on this, it is important to consider that advertising as important component in mass communication through the media and as a way to reach people, influence them and allow them to do something. Ads therefore are important ways to ensure reaching corporate objectives or certain goals of an organization. However, based on these, it is important to take into account that ads should be able to consider their contents prior to creating impacts on people’s lives. It is in this reason that certain ads should be banned if they certainly do not make a positive impact in the society, particularly if they are too centered on the organization’s objectives without taking into account their impact on the society and other social concerns. References Biener, L., Reimer, R. L., Wakefield, M., Szczypka, G., Rigotti, N. A., & Connolly, G. (2006). Impact of Smoking Cessation Aids and Mass Media Among Recent Quitters. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 30, 217-224. Feldman, R. S. (2003). Essentials of Understanding Psychology (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Frith, K. T., & Mueller, B. (2010). Advertising and societies: global issues (2nd ed.). New York: NY: Peter Lang. Gunter, B., Oates, C., & Blades, M. (2005). Advertising to children on TV: content, impact, and regulation. Mahwah, New Jersey: Routledge. Hanewinkel, R., Isensee, B., Sargent, J. D., & Morgenstern, M. (2010). Cigarette Advertising and Adolescent Smoking. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 38, 359-366. Leshner, G., Bolls, P., & Wise, K. (1998). Motivated Processing of Fear Appeal and Disgust Images in Televised Anti-Tobacco Ads. Journal of Media Psychology. 23, 77-89. Marchand, R. (1986). Advertising the American dream: making way for modernity, 1920-1940. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. Parasuraman, A., Grewal, D., & Krishnan, R. (2006). Marketing Research (2nd ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning. Schumann, D. W., & Thorson, E. (2007). Internet advertising: theory and research (2nd ed.). Mahwah, New Jersey: Routledge. Read More