Effects of Advertising on the Society - Essay Example

Effects of Advertising on the Society Effects of Advertising on the Society Introduction The success of organizations in today’s business environment is influenced by their abilities to create awareness and convince the customers on the benefits of using their products. These results into the need for marketing, an integral practice in every business setting that adopts a number of approaches to increase awareness, sensitize the customers on the benefits of the products, and increase overall market centrality. Different advertising approaches are currently used with others exploiting the advances that have been made in technology and the internet to reach out to people who are located in different places in the globe. Despite the benefits of advertising to the business and growth of the organization, a number of ethical issues have been raised and these concern the impacts that the approaches have on the society. Due to the convincing language that is used in advertising, children and school going teenagers are exposed to the negative influence of art. This is because some activists are advocating for a commercial free youth while others recommend individuals to be informed that leads to confusion in the society. The negative effects of advertising, especially on children and on the society in its entirety, have been discussed in various ethical discourses. This has sought to encourage the development of control mechanisms to ensure that ethics are observed in the practice. Advertising and the Society Since the 19th century, psychologists have been weary of the impacts that advertising can bring to the society, which explains the earlier studies that were conducted to ascertain the mental and emotional impacts of advertising (Crary, 2007). In the modern world, the channels of advertising have increased and organizations can use different forms of media to maximize the number of potential buyers that hear about their products. The most common advertisement channels include television stations, radio sets, the internet, shopping malls among others. These have remained the central areas of focus for organizational advertisers (Meltz, 2007). Though the entire society is influenced by both positive and negative advertising, children are at a greater risk of being affected by the message relayed in the advert. This is due to their mental and emotional immaturity, which makes them more susceptible to any information passed to them; a factor that has been attributed to increasing childhood obesity due to food advertising (Klein, 2000). For instance, the most advertised junk foods include M&Ms candy, Fruit Loops by Kellogg Co., and PepsiCo Inc.s Sierra Mist drink. Marketers and organizations aim to sell their products by reaching out and convincing a large number of audiences; a fact that few children can actually conceive. This results in a situation where individuals take all the information passed by the advertiser as the gospel truth and work towards achieving the desires of the ad. Advertising and Teenage Obesity Fast food industries have been accused of exploiting the immaturity of children and teenagers to market their products and maximize their overall sales. A number of junk food adverts have been accused of being extra-influencing especially to the children thus leading to an increase in the overall junk food intake (Klein, 2000). In most of these adverts, young and celebrity models are portrayed eating the junk food while being able to maintain their body shapes. This allures the children into over consumption of the junk food without realizing that the actors on the ad are paid to portray false information and influence the customers’ judgment leading to undesired outcomes (Meltz, 2007). For instance, excessive consumption of junk foods by teenagers and children as a result of influence from advertising has been attributed to increase in cases of childhood and teenage obesity in the world. This demonstrates the ethical boundaries that advertising have failed to observe in pursuit of maximizing sales and maintaining profitability in their businesses. In a research conducted by a consumer insight group in India, it was established that children who are exposed to candy commercials were more likely to consume the candies as opposed to those who are not. If provided with an option of choosing the candy with other vegetative substitutes, such children tend to favor the candies as opposed to other healthy foods. Other adverts confuse the children. For instance, a company recommends for people to eat Happy Meals, which are junk, while advocating for healthy living. This demonstrates the psychological impact that advertising has triggered on them and how it has affected their choices, which leads to further negatively effect on their health (Crary, 2007). Advertising, Sex Appeal and the Society Adverts and commercials also have a strong convincing power that arrests the social beliefs of the society and especially concerning the children. After exposure to certain commercials, children tend to develop a strong urge to have the commodities and this causes a nagging behavior especially if the parents are unwilling to avail them (Meltz, 2007). This can be attributed to the strong worded messages that adverts use, which lures the children in to believing that owning or using the product, is a basic factor in life (Baker, 2001). For instance, coca cola adverts have been shown to amplify the benefits of the drinks by using exaggerated adverts, which makes children to believe that a bottle of coke will provide them with the same experience. According to the American psychological association, children in the United States use multiple types of media such as computers, watching television and playing video games in their play stations. For instance, some advertisements have affected the teens who strain to fit in the society due to insecurity. The continued advertisement of non-nutritional food products has been directly linked to the rising level of obesity in the country especially among teenagers. This has been attributed to the remarkable ability of children to recall content that they view and listen to in media as form of advertising (Klein, 2000). Current commercials have capitalized on the power of sexual appeal to attract more customers or at least attract the attention of the TV viewers in the country. As a result, it is common to watch adverts of different companies ranging from food, service and product companies, using the female sex appeal to reach out to specific consumers (Klein, 2000). This has massive impact on the morals of the society and affects the overall growth of children and teenagers with respect to behavior. The excessive use of nudity in most television station adverts has created a perception among youths that nudity is the current trend (Baker, 2001). This increases incidences of early sexual behavior among teenagers who are influenced by the adverts to explore their sexuality and as a result engage in early and risky sexual behaviors. Commercials and adverts have thus affected the moral fabric of the society, as parents today cannot effectively discourage their children from engaging in early sexual behaviors since they watch them on TV commercials on a daily basis (Crary, 2007). Conclusion Advertising is a tool that a business must use to ensure that it remains competitive in the market and increase its market share and profitability. As a result, the channels of advertising have tremendously increased with the advancement in information technology, which has enabled organizations to widen their scope. However, advertisements have been shown to affect societal growth and morals negatively as they create false impression on people especially children. This affects their behavior and results in the development of habits and behaviors that affect their normal growth and health. Increased consumption of junk food as depicted in adverts is not all healthy since it increases obesity in teenagers. This increases their exposure to lifestyle diseases such as obese dependent diabetes, high blood pressure, and the development of cancerous tissues. References Baker, R. (2001). Stealth TV. American Prospect. Retrieved from http://prospect.org/article/stealth-tv Crary, D. (2007). Group Wants Shrek Dropped from Anti-obesity Ad. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2007/04/25/group_wants_shrek_dropped_from_antiobesity_ad.html Klein, N. (2000). No logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. New York, NY: Macmillan. Meltz, B. F. (2007). Fighting Obesity, but Fronting for Junk Food Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/05/21/fighting_obesity_but_fronting_for_junk_food/ Read More