Moral Effects of Advertising - Literature review Example

? Moral Effects of Advertising al affiliation Moral Effects of Advertising Reality and advertisements are two disconnectedentities which are part of our day to day lives. Advertisement is a means of selling out products to consumers, which in most cases are exaggerated and far from reality. Most products are advertised ways that create of desire, eroticism or love in the society. Through advertisements, businesses increase their sales by attracting more customers, even unwilling ones. This art has evolved from simple advertisement to huge spending departments and professions. Creativity is highly cultivated in the advertising department and organizations spend billions of money in creating them. The media, newspapers, radio, internet, and television have been commercialized and host the biggest percentage of advertisements. The media has become a platform for sales, and most of its revenue come is from advertising. Most of them have adverse effects on individuals, society, and environment. People have increased their consumption and resources have are strained due to increased demand. Advertisements falsify products through their language and create products that do not exist. Advertising exaggerates product qualities and adds non existing features, which create a hunger feeling for style in the minds of recipients. This has eroded morality of advertisers, and they use all kinds of slogans to sell their products. According to Mukesh & Ranju (2010), advertisers use terms such as government approved even on counterfeit products. These slogans are misleading and deceptive and encourage unfair trade practices. They create differences in products, which do not exist, and en up confusing consumers. Insurance advertisements are used to instill fear on people. They create insecurity in the minds of people without insurance covers due to uncertainty of the future. They are very persuasive and create a mind position of the viewers that only an insurance cover can satisfy their needs. Such advertisements force people to buy or acquire substandard products or those they do not need. According to Allan & Paul (1997), the general public beliefs’ advertising hazardous products such as cigarettes and alcohol is immoral and dangerous. The congress may have passed laws to ban such advertisements on radio and television, but these companies sponsor sports events and celebrity endorsement. Health officials urge advertising agencies such as the media to avoid such advertisements, but these agencies are beneficiaries. Cigarette advertising is misleading and encourages children, adolescents and other individuals to smart smoking. These advertisements use attractive adventures and several youths are lured to smoking and alcohol drinking. Some of these advertisements are associated with vigorous athletics. They appear on race cars and sponsorship banners and are accompanied by slogans aimed at attracting people. Smoking has dangerous effects on health and is a leading legal killer substance in the world. Women magazines collect a lot of revenue from tobacco adverts. The use of “slim” and “thin” in these adverts illustrate weight loss in women, which attracts several women into smoking. Berger (2011) argues that advertising has affected socialization skills of people. Socialization is the process by which the society teaches individuals how to behave: rules to obey, roles to perform, and values to hold. Traditionally, this was done by parents, educators, religious leaders, and peers. Advertisements through the mass media have taken up this role with consequences that are mostly negative. Billboards and screens are splashed with adverts containing celebrities and role models to several people. The recipients are forced to copy the lifestyles of these people, which include using products they were advertising. Models appear in condom advertisements, and this attracts several teens to sexual activities. An advantage of such an advertisement is that, they use protection and avoid STDs and HIV/AIDS. However, these adverts have increased immorality in the society. Several advertisements create a sexual appeal according to Chan (2006). These appeals increase sexual activities and pornography among the people. Beauty products are advertised by models and in some cases are half naked or expose large portions of their bodies. Some of them involve romantic touching or romantic activities like kissing. This creates sexual feelings and desires among viewers and contributes increased sexual immorality. These advertisers especially women are dressed in tight and short clothes. Most people tend to emulate them in their dressing, and this creates a big challenge on decency. Consumers are forced to purchase those products to gain attraction and beauty like that of the advertisers. Some of them may even cause discomfort and dislike from viewers when aired at family time. Parents often have to protect their children from such adverts and may feel uncomfortable if some occasions. In the business environment, sexual harassment and indecent dressing causes sexual harassment by colleagues. Sexual harassment involves sexual advances or requests for sexual favors as defined by Shaw (2011). The world has become a free market based on advertisements. John (1997) argues that levels of human wants have increased due to product advertisements. Every time, there are new products in the market and people develop desires for them. Consumer wants to be satisfied increase and this exerts more pressure on the desire to emulate the affluence of others. Individuals can strain and overwork themselves in order to maintain the new lifestyles. People even get loans and other debts to purchase products that supplement their lifestyles. This can create suffering and psychological torture when certain wants are not met, and debts have accumulated. Weight loss products are on the increase and many people, especially women, want to remain slim. This forces them to purchase several products and change brands when some of them have negative results. However, such advertisements increase consumer satisfaction and the society becomes more productive. Several people have health problems which act as a limiting factor to their productivity. Advertising enlightens them on products that can help them cope with the problem or eradicate the problem. This makes the society a better place and increases individual productivity. Young children cannot differentiate advertisements and regular programs in television and radio. Some countries like Sweden have banned advertisements directed towards children. Berger (2011) explains that young children are defenseless against advertisements and turns them in to whiners. They start nagging to get something they saw in an advertisement. They want pester power and develop ways to manipulate their parents for certain things they saw in the television. In movie and wrestling advertisements, some children want to have the same character and may try out what they saw in the television. This becomes dangerous because it involves violent actions. The music industry is fast growing and has great influence on the people especially teenagers. Lahusen (1996) explains the media is filled with advertisements of album releases, concerts and other activities revolving music have a lot of flashy adverts. Popular music such as rock and pop has a wide range of effects on morality of individuals. Rap music has been my favorite genre for several years. In many occasions, emulating rappers in terms of slang and dressing was a regular act. This music has violent scenes and drug use and encourages social groupings, which in most cases have a violent motive. People emulate hairstyles, dressing code, walking styles, and other lifestyles from musicians. Most of this music has erotic messages, which corrupt the morality of listeners. They advocate for sex, crime, drugs, and other illegal ways of making money. Political advertisements may also be accompanied by musical scenes from affiliated musicians. This influences the voters decisions based on their loyalty and love for the musicians. Stereotyping is a major problem in the society. It refers to presenting certain groups of people in specific roles only. Advertising has greatly stereotyped women and elderly people as stated by Mukesh and Ranju (2010). In many advertisements, women play the role of housewives, mothers or creating a sexual appeal. They are portrayed as decorative objects and are not given professional roles. Aged people are portrayed as ill, dependent, desperate and searching for help. This creates stereotypes in the society who are biased against women and elderly people. In many occasions, men are portrayed as decision makers, managers, and hold important roles in the society. This creates a superiority feeling in the viewers, who in some cases discriminate against women. With the increase in modernization and women education, advertisers need to give women professional roles and show them as prominent figures in the society. This will reduce stereotyping in the future generations. Women are portrayed as slim, beautiful and have smooth skin, which creates an ideal image among viewers. They spend time worrying over weight gain and have a feeling of inadequacy with respect to self perception when they fail to attain the “ideal Image.” Social media advertisements call for creation of personal brands and mob version of style in the society. Lanham (2007) explains that social networking sites create hunger for community interaction and exploration. Facebook and MySpace provide platforms for interaction and social sharing and can contain erotic content. YouTube invites people to broadcast themselves through their own videos. These advertisements penetrate deep into the minds of recipients and create a strong explosion of trial of oneself especially adolescents. Many of them have the fear of being locked out and try as much as they can to find a space for themselves in the society. Teens create homemade pornographic films and nude photographs. These attract sexual predators and molesters who use the same social networks to lure their prey. Many teens have the need of trying out dangerous moves on skate boards, bicycles, cliffs, and motor cycles. They film these scenes and upload them on YouTube and other sites. Advertising is repetitive, fantastic and persuasive. Majority of advertisements use emotional appeals to attract consumers. This blurs the distinction between reality and fantasy and creates and creates a state of uncritical consciousness as stated by Chan (2006). It suppresses critical thinking about products and encourages irrational consumption. According to Goodstein (2010), consumption becomes the primary means of acquiring and maintaining social status. The consumption rate surpasses the investment rate of individuals and the country. People undertake expensive vacation due to advertisements of serene beaches and high class hotels. This irrational consumption creates a culture of unstable consumers who switch brands as per the rate of new advertisements. Advertising communicates messages of faith, charity, and patriotism. Some advertisements cover needy children or people with illness who require financial assistance for medical services. Viewers get the urge to assist them financially. Neighborly services and compassion are also encouraged through advertisements. This advocates for better relationships with neighbors and the need to help each other in the society. Messages of peace are broadcast through adverts aimed at promoting national coercion and political stability. People participate in charity walks and activities in support of health schemes and other social projects. These involve raising funds for cancer, HIV/AIDS control, heart disease treatment, and kidney treatment foundations. Religious beliefs advertisements communicate scriptural and faith messages which help followers of a particular religion. Environmentalists have urged environmental awareness on consumers. Kolby & Thornburg (2005) explains that some of the products advertised have adverse effects on the environment, and it is the moral responsibility of consumers to avoid such products. However, some of these responsibilities are beyond the consumer abilities and preventing their effects is beyond their abilities. Some of the product labels lack effects on the environment and consumers use them and affect the environment unknowingly. Advertising industry is filled with effects on individuals, society, and individuals. Consumers copy lifestyles and slogans in advertisements. Advertisements create stereotypes about ideal styles and products and confine them to beliefs and products featured in certain advertisements only. Different genders have different roles in adverts, and the society views them as such. Young children cannot differentiate reality and fiction in advertisements and nag their parents for products they see in advertisements. Most of the moral degradation in the society such as smoking, pornography, and alcoholism can be attributed to advertisements. Viewers try to emulate what they see in advertisements and copy lifestyles of music icons. Advertisers use emotional appeal to attract consumers and have led to irrational consumption. However, peace messages, charity works, and compassion are encouraged through advertisements. References Allan, M.B. & Paul, R. (1997). Morality and Health. New York: Routledge. Berger, A. A. (2011). Ads, fads, and consumer culture: Advertising's impact on American character and society. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Chan, K. (2006). Advertising and Hong Kong society. Hong Kong: Chinese Univ. Press. Goodstein, E. S. (2010). Economics and the environment. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. John, V. C. (1997). Philosophy of Meaning, Knowledge and Value in the Twentieth Century. New York: Routledge. Kolby, J., & Thornburg, S. (2005). Nova's master the LSAT. Los Angeles, CA: Nova Press. Lahusen, C. (1996). The rhetoric of moral protest: Public campaigns, celebrity endorsement and political mobilization. Berlin [u.a.: de Gruyter. Lanham, R. A. (2007). Style: An anti-textbook. Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books. Mukesh, T.& Ranju, T. (2010). Advertising and Sales Management. New Delhi: FK Publications. Shaw, W. H. (2011). Business ethics. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. Read More