How Does Advertising Effect People - Essay Example

How does advertising effect people? Advertising is the promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, usually in a popular media. Advertisementsare placed in newspapers, magazines, schools, and on billboards everywhere. It is used to convey availability of a "product" (which can be a physical product, a service, or an idea) and to provide information regarding the product which can stimulate demand for the product. Stimulating the demand is one of the main objectives of advertising. Moreover these advertisements persuade people to buy the product, and keep the organization in the public eye (Wikipedia, 2005). Many questions arise about these advertisements, such as “Is advertising misleading? Does it create or bring about stereotypes? Does it create insecurity in order to sell goods? Does it cause people to buy things that they really don’t need?” Advertisements can have both positive and negative effect on people. In the ancient time ‘word of mouth’ was the most popular way of advertisements, today with the intervention of media and internet, advertisement has become an easy and popular mode of providing information. Advertising has different effects on people, it changes their prospective on what is, and what is not, worth buying, what they buy and when they buy it. Advertising affects people in what they do and how they do it. Advertising alone, however, does not get customers. It simply catches consumers’ attention, gets them to walk up to a shelf, and make an impulsive purchase. However, getting the customer back requires a more creative marketing approach. Today advertisers are into more of market research to analyze the consumers’ behaviors, likes, and dislikes. The most popular method is tests and surveys, both before and after a product is introduced. Telephone surveys are very common. Along with those, written questionnaires and samples, either handed out in stores or sent by mail, are effective tests to see if consumers like a product or not. Such kind of market researches gives consumers ample opportunity to put forth their views and also helps the firm to improve the product to satisfy the needs of the consumer. Companies also check whether the ads are being productive by means of comparing the money made and number of sales during periods of advertising to those during a time of no advertising. Some companies even allow average consumers to preview a commercial to get a response. As a result, companies learn what consumers want before wasting money on useless ads. Today a well-known advertising strategy is making consumers feel insecure and creating fears that can be overcome by buying. For instance, ads for deodorants are mainly based on creating fear among the consumers. The presence of body odor on individuals makes them an outcast in society. Advertisers use this knowledge to their advantage by developing ads that show a person using deodorant and being recognized as popular and a mode of attracting the opposite sex. Advertising reveals the latest fashions and the new popular novelties on the market. It exhibits perfect individuals wearing the new styles and looking good. Consumers observe this perfection and envy it. Therefore, they go out and buy in hopes of reaching perfection. Furthermore, being an accepted member of society has become very important to most individuals. Fear also works into the whole advertising process. Due to the fear by consumers that they will not fit in, they pay close attention to the new ads for the new looks, which gives advertisers more drive to make their ads portray the ideal person. Advertisers also insure that ads are simply informational, but many disagree and believe that they are definitely persuasive (WowEssays.com). Advertising is an effective method of public relations communication for several reasons. It is economical, making it possible to carry out a public relations message to a large number of readers at a relatively low cost per reader. It can be highly selective and concentrated on a particular segment of the public such as stockholders, suppliers, or opinion leaders. Intensive community coverage may be secured through the use of local newspapers, radio, or television advertising. This will provide enough space to tell a complete story and inform and educate people (How Advertising Effects What You Buy, 2005). Advertisements can have both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of advertisements include – it lets the customer know about the latest products and its advantage over the old products; it encourages competition among different firms and puts a pressure on the respective firms to improve the quality of the products; it stimulates production and demand for the products that helps to solve the problem of unemployment; and advertisement is the way of informing people regarding the latest developments and other important issues. Besides these advantages there are several disadvantages of advertisements – it increases the cost of the products which is a burden on the consumer; it could be possible that substandard products of products of low quality may be promoted by advertising it in a attractive manner; it may also persuade people to buy unnecessary products and goods; and it may mislead the people through exaggerated claims. In conclusion, today people are aware about the portraying of the good as well as the bad part of the ads. For instance, they are either perceived as directly lying, lying by omission or portraying a product or service in a light that does not reflect reality. It is this increased awareness of the intention of advertising, as well as advertising regulations that have increased the challenges that marketers face. Hence the manufacturers need to understand the consumers need. In order to get the repeat orders of the customers, it becomes essential that the quality of the product and services are the most important than advertisements. References How Advertising Effects What You Buy, 13 December 2005, Wikipedia, Advertising, 13 December 2005 WowEssays.com, The Effects of Advertising on Teens, 13 December 2005, Read More