The Effectiveness of Advertising - Essay Example

Advertising Running Head: The Effectiveness of Advertising The Effectiveness of Advertising in APA Style of Advertising 2 Nowadays it seems that the only way to avoid any form of advertising is to isolate oneself and live in a cave but not all advertising is negative and bad. It is found almost everywhere such as just by walking on the street, driving a car, or watching TV. Ference (2004) reports, “Every surface that could possibly have an ad slapped on it -- clothing, buses, taxis, myriad walls and billboards, even the snow you ski on -- now hawks something.” Although we seem to be hit everywhere we go with ads and cannot flee away from it if we wanted to, not all advertising is bad. According to Wikipedia encyclopedia, “Advertising is the promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, usually performed by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. (“Advertising”, 2006). Companies are bombarding us with thousands of different ads with only one intention: to persuade us to buy their products. Every advertiser or company must do more than just make a product, give it an attractive price, and offer it to the consumer. They have to also communicate and promote it to their current and future customers; they have to advertise it. Advertisers appeal to the lusts, desires, and wants of the target market or potential customer. “Target market is the market segment to which a particular product is marketed. It is often defined by age, gender and/or socio-economic grouping,” states Wikipedia encyclopedia (2006). As previously stated, an increasing number of advertisers, retailers, and wholesalers appeal to the target market’s emotions, lusts, desires, wants, and needs. They want to Advertising 3 pull at the heart strings in order to persuade, or get others to believe and create some action. Perhaps some of the best examples of these advertisements use sex to sell everything from beer to necessities such as toothpaste. The word lust is not often used in our society today so the meaning may be obscure to many Americans. (Advertisers Lure Customers with Worldly Lusts, n.d.) This may seem devastating but without advertising, many people would be out of jobs and many would lack product and service knowledge and opportunities to purchase what they want and need. For example, without advertising (whether it is on a billboard, on the Internet, or through a salesman), people would not be as informed and the opportunities for buying and sales would decrease. Advertising increases competition, competition encourages innovation which leads to more jobs. Burton (2005) reports, “The goal of the competition is to improve economic development…and hopefully, will result in job opportunities...” Although advertising can be found everywhere even to the point that we are used to it, advertising is truly misunderstood. It can even be found on toys, at the movies, and while you are waiting. Some shows and movies are entire advertisements for other products and services. Ference (2004) reports, “They even advertise when were waiting. Ever sit through The 2wenty? The 2wenty, so named for the advertainment it provides in the 20 minutes before your movie starts (quasi-phonetic numerical substitution is, of course, sic), replaces the slide-show ads of yesteryear with "programming" that hypes a movie, TV show, or musician – and interstitial "commercials" for Advertising 4 hilariously "local" products. (The pert Tel-Aviv car service receptionist and DJ school started by Jam Master Jay, being excellent instantiations here.) As quaint as this all seems, this type of captive cinema advertising is a $315.1 million business.” Let us not forget to mention the usage of the Internet and technology for advertising. Some even say that is a necessary evil. Advertising is necessary when the new product is introduced on the market to create a demand for it, or when there are pressures from competitors to remind the consumers of the product. It is also needed to inform people. Some advertisements help to better lives, improve health and save lives, and prevent consequences. For example, we can find various ads with the positive intentions such as persuading smokers to stop smoking or promoting organic food. Ads can be helpful if they inform the audience of detrimental consequences due to lifestyle choices. I.e., Pro-Cigarette Words and Ads are Illegal (1999), states “Cigarettes contain toxic chemicals and have a record of adulteration thus causing "wide devastation," not just the ‘potential’ for it.” It is interesting to see how advertisers are able to pull people in to buying a particular product. There are various methods they use to catch our attention and tug at the heart strings, emotions, and desires of their audience. Some of the examples are: Humor: Get more attention because they are entertaining. There are very effective. Controversial: Using sex examples. “Are you wearing any protection?”(Ad for Bolle sunglasses). Advertising 5 Testimonials: Real people speaking about advertising products. Music: Get a memory jogger (Sutherland & Sylvester, 2000, p. 102- 105). Companies are also trying to get our attention by using someone else’s face to advertise their products like actresses, models, or singers (Sutherland & Sylvester, 2000, p. 105). Although advertisers are highly skilled at what they do in order to lure us, we are not helpless victims to their attempts and trials. Advertisements have different effects on different people. We see various types of ads and commercials every day, but our minds can process only part of them. We usually notice those that somehow catch our attentions; some of them can be entertaining, others a little irritating. The major variables that influence our view of ads are: Ad Credibility, Ad Perceptions, Attitude toward the Advertiser, Attitude toward Advertising, and Mood (Alwitt & Mitchell, 1985, p. 47). There are also certain ways of how our minds understand ads. First, we recognize that it is an ad. Then we immediately try to identify what it is an ad for. To do this, we look for something familiar. We look for something that corresponds to a memory address--something that already exists in our memory. Finally, once we have located this familiar memory address, our minds can store any new information gained from the ad. We can put fat-free chips into the Pringles pigeonhole (Sutherland & Sylvester, 2000, p. 92). We have the choice to make decisions on whether we allow something to affect us or not. Advertising 6 Yes, advertising bombards us everywhere but it is not without control and regulation by the government, businesses, and citizens. This opens one of the major issues in advertising, “the question of law and ethics”. Advertising should be carefully controlled. Society needs to make sure that people are not taken in by misleading advertisements. There is a set of principles that all advertisers must follow (Roman & Mass, 2003, p.200-202): 1. Tell the truth, show the truth – The product should look exactly the same way as the consumers will purchase it. 2. Make the general impression truthful – “Advertising is judged not by what it says, but what the consumer thinks it says”. ( p.201) 3. Ban “weasels” and dangling comparisons – All sentences must be clear. 4. Substantiate product claims – Must provide evidence that the claim is true. 5. Back testimonials with research In order to ensure ethical behavior in advertisement, media have to follow certain standards. For this purpose, there has been established a special Advertising Review Boards. Their goal is to ensure that “all marketing and communications programs are truthful, clear, and in good taste, and to guard against consumer misrepresentation” (Roman & Mass, 2003, p.209). Advertising 7 In conclusion, although advertisers spend millions of hours, dollars, and other assets/resources to deliver advertisements all around us, advertising is very misunderstood. We are lured on every level in the attempts to get us to spend our money and perform the action (make the sale) of what the advertisers wish. It seems to be unavoidable and a never-ending, never-winning battle and even entire movies are now advertisements for toys, fast food, music, etc. Not only are we hit via traditional methods such as newspaper and magazine ads but we are also bombarded with popup ads on the Internet. However, we are not helpless victims who cannot make choices of our own. There are also laws, policies, guidelines, and codes of ethics and conduct in which advertisers must and should abide by. Finally, not all advertising is bad as have been reported in this writing. Advertising has helped created jobs, present opportunities, encourage competition which lowers prices and increases innovation, creates jobs, and so much more. Indeed we are hit by advertising constantly and many believe that all advertising is bad; however, this report has shown that not all advertising is bad and that there is good that comes from the work of advertisers. Advertising 8 Bibliography Advertising. (2006, June 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:53, June 14, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Advertising&oldid=58465237. Adverising Planning. (2001, May 17). Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Retrieved June 6, 2006, from: http://ruralbusiness.tamu.edu/genmkt/pdfs/adyourbz.pdf#search=goals %20of%20advertising Advertisers Lure Customers with Worldly Lusts (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2006, from http://www.biblestudyguide.org/articles/sin-ads.htm Alwitt, L. F. & Mitchell, A. A. (Eds.). (1985). Psychological Processes and Advertising Effects: Theory, Research, and Applications. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved June 5, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=85638012 Advertising 9 Burton, Taylor (2005). Competition encourages businesses to innovate, 06/17/05. Retrieved September 10, 2006, from http://www.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2005/06/17§ion=cit y&storyid=elililly Ference, A. (2004). Advertising Sucks, It’s Everywhere…Do Something. The Black Table, 07/01/04. Retrieved September 9, 2006, from http://www.blacktable.com/ference040701.htm Pickett, G., Grove, S., & Laband, D. (2001). The Impact of Product Type and Parity on the Informational Content Advertising. The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol.9, (3), p.32. Retrieved June 27, 2006, from Proquest database: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=9&did=95869457&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=4 &VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1151420392&clientId= 31924 Pro-Cigarette Words and Ads are Illegal (1999), Retrieved September 10, 2006, from http://www.members.tripod.com/medicolegal/cigadsillegal.htm#3 Advertising 10 Roman, K., & Mass, J. (2003). How to Advertise: Building brands and businesses in the new marketing world. (3rd ed.). New York, St. Martin’s Press. Sutherland, M., & Sylvester, A. K. (2000). What Works, What Doesnt, and Why What Works, What Doesnt, and Why (2nd ed.). St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin. Retrieved June 5, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98640261 U.S Ad spending by media, (May 31, 2006). Advertising Age. Retrieved June 4, 2006 from: http://www.adage.com/datacenter/article?article_id=109583 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2006). Retrieved September 9, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_marketing Read More