Media and Advertising Influence - Essay Example

Affiliation Media and Advertising Influence In the last a couple of decades, media, and advertising influence on the public have tremendously increased. Whether in on its views and decisions based on lifestyle, culture and other aspects that the public find of importance has increasingly adopted most, if not everything, of what the media advocates. Regardless of age, culture, ethnicity or political stand, every decision that the society makes in the contemporary world have been based on information acquired from either friends, family, other people and largely, the media. One may even not be surprised to find that even the information gathered from other people is primarily gotten from the media. Hence, one cannot help but wonder whether the media poses a negative or positive impact in our lives. This essay will focus on the impact that the media and its advertising impact it has on the public, based on their choices, identity and any other area of essence. The essay will also review different media channels and the roles they play towards influencing the public’s lives. While the public may be taking advertising for granted, it does seek to manipulate what it spends its money on. Most individuals do not suppose that they are vulnerable to being inclined, let alone controlled, by advertising. “But ironically, everyday advertisements are more likely to influence us without our fully recognizing that we are being influenced” (Wilson, p.187). On the other hand, if it were not so, then advertisement would not be so universal. The advertisers know their game and mostly conceal the scheming parts of advertising, since it would be impossible for the public to accept the product, if they realize they are being manipulated. Therefore, the advertisers ensure that their adverts maintain their innocence for it to have the influence it is intended to. The core purpose of advertising is luring and convincing people into buying the products and services being advertised. The advertisements are done in various categories that influence people which include advertising as information, influencing valuation, familiarizing with products, brand recognition, lifestyle identification and sexual allures. In the advertising as information category, the advertisers tend to offer information regarding various products the general or a particular group of the public may be interested in purchasing. Since no one is likely to purchase, a product they know not of, the advertisers will play a role in informing them of its existence, hence, the viral the information spreads the more people will buy. They can use TV, which up to now dominates the influence it has on people. The advertisers can also use, newspaper, though its influence is not that huge, magazine, which ranks number two in effects on the public choices. Lastly, they can use the internet, especially social media and radio. Therefore, people’s decision to purchase most products is based on the fact that an advertisement provided information about it, thus, influencing their decision of buying it. “The more heralding in the ad the more it focuses our attention on the information as new” Mehra; Anurag, p.209). For example, TV and radio stations, magazines, internet, and Newspaper may start advertising about a particular sunset Beach some place in Asia. Before the advert, no one, except the locals of that region, knew of its existence. Nevertheless, due to the information provided by the advert, people will tend to want more information about it and eventually, a notable lot will go to that place. However, it is important to note that not all advertisements provide authentic or full information regarding a product and most of them are characterized by exaggerated presentations. In terms of influencing valuation, the advertiser’s expectations are that people will likely be manipulated by a positive valuation on a product. It is, however, true to some lengths in that, based on other people’s feedback on their experience with the product, the public is more likely to want to have the same experience of the product like the testimonials indicate. The public are vulnerable to believing in everything a testimony says for they deem it real regardless of the person who testifies it, even if it is from an individual paid the product’s manufacturer to say the words. “Positive reviews have a larger impact on the sales than negative reviews, suggesting that reviews have a persuasive effect” (Greco; Albert; Rodriguez; Wharton, p.49). Therefore, based on the numerous positive valuations about a product and concealment of the negative ones from the public, people’s desires to purchase the product are heightened, resulting into buying. For instance, an advert on TV may be about burgers from a certain brand. The individual expressing his positive feedback about its sweetness might be one of the staff of the advertising company, who has never even tasted it. However, since he/she is paid to give a positive feedback, she does it, while obscuring any other true but negative feedback about the burger. Based on this information, regardless of the authenticity of the burger, the public would end up wanting to have a taste of it. In relation to familiarizing with products, the public tend to forget or ignore that there are a couple of negative features of a product. Also, they forget that these products might not necessarily be what they need or want. Individuals tend to pick products that are familiar than the ones that are not. The adverts that the public get exposed to are meant to familiarize the public with available products and their varying brands. “Advertisements try to sway us towards certain brand of potato chip or automobile” (Tugade; Michele; Michelle; Kirby, p.463).The adverts do so in a positive only framework with attempts to maintain the people’s openness to its familiarization process. Hence, individuals are more likely to select products based on the list of the advertised products only, than others, they are not aware of. Similarly, advertisers tend to influence us into being familiar with product’s brand. By this, they impose brand logos every place possible, from the products themselves to clothing, trucks among others. Since the familiarity is obtained from the ubiquitous adverts, the public’s choice of purchasing a certain product can be influence by such. In terms of lifestyle identification, most advertisements link products or their brands with a specific lifestyle. Hence, individuals who relates to such lifestyles are likely to get attracted to the products. Thus, when a person feel like they certain representatives in an advert values a certain product, regardless of its significance in the advert, the person will be drawn into purchasing it. Reasons for the action will be that he/she feels that they are alike. Likewise, sexual alluring adverts tend to have the same influence on individuals. It mostly involves advertisers using sexy women and handsome men during advertisements. For instance, they use sexy women during car advertisements or in a bikini while advertising about a particular beach. “What is also significant for us is the combination of the masculine and the feminine that the advertisements use with the key point being that without the feminine influence ads are lifeless and without the masculine ads are pointless” (Lehr; Mike, p.103). Although, advertisement benefits a state economically due to its being a large industry, and there are those that offer helpful information to the public, most of them do not. A large number tend to be deceptive, hence, have caused more harm than none to the public. I would, therefore, believe that advertisement influence is negative. Advertisements in the contemporary world have negative impact on children, teens, and adults at large. On children, most advertisements do not consider that there are children watching them, as they tend to be unsuitable for general viewing. For example, advertisements for contraceptives and substances such as cigarettes are done publicly. Children under the age of eight view them and to some lengths are exposed to stuff they are supposed to know of at a later age of about ten. Their innocence therefore is killed. For teenagers, most of them are at an age that is easily influenced by peer as well as exposure and surroundings. When adverts such as cigarettes, beers contraceptives are advertised in a positive way, the likelihood of them embracing them is high compared to ones who did not see the advert. Most of the bad conducts teenagers have a direct influence from the media or from peers who saw something from the media. Also, the public habits get, in one way or another, influenced by the media by adopting things they see. From their spending, lifestyle to health habits among others, whatever positive review they get from the media, they take it. Hence, one may spend a holiday at a beach they cannot afford, get health issues after taking unhealthy burgers advertised on TV, buy an expensive outfit that a particular actress wore e t c. In conclusion, advertisement can be considered good as much as it is bad. However, its influence on the public can be easily manageable if governments imposed rules and regulations that seek to protect the public from the negative impacts it poses on it. Since the public is the major reason as to why these advertisements exist in the first place, taking good care of it would be of great essence. The advertisements should be sensitive about the children, young and old viewers as well as consider the societal values. Their authenticity is also a feature that should be put into consideration. Work Cited Greco, Albert N, Clara E. Rodríguez, and Robert M. Wharton. The Culture and Commerce of Publishing in the 21st Century. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Business Books, 2007. Print. Lehr, Mike. The Feminine Influence in Business: Lady in Black. Coral Springs, FL: Llumina Press, 2005. Print. Mehra, Anurag. Advertising Management: Media Approach for Market Research. New Delhi, India: Global India Publications, 2009. Print. Tugade, Michele M, Michelle N. Shiota, and Leslie D. Kirby. Handbook of Positive Emotions. , 2014. Print. Wilson, Timothy D. Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002. Internet resource. Read More