Advertisement has a Negative Influence on People and the Society - Essay Example

Thesis: Advertisement has a negative influence to people and the society Currently, the level of competition in the local and international market has increased tremendously. This has mainly resulted from liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information and integration of economies. As a result, multinational companies which have a huge financial base have entered in different markets across the world in order to reduce the risks and uncertainties associated with concentrating on a single market. This has intensified the need to advertise in the audio, visual, print, and social media. However, the rivalry between these firms has made some of them to go a notch higher in order to position their products strategically in the market. Some of these strategies that are being applied by the companies have a negative influence on the people. Advertising is a method used by the firms to inform the customers on the existence of the product in the market or persuade the existing customers to continue purchasing the product. However, some of these adverts exaggerate the ability of the products or services to meet the tastes and preferences of the customers. For instance, some of the cosmetics adverts mislead the users that the products have the ability to make them look like some of the celebrities being used in the advertisement. However, this is not the case. The use of the renowned persons is only meant to attract the interests of their fans towards their products (Parsons and Pauline 131). Therefore, people are influenced to think that celebrities are better people than the rest of the people in the society. This makes some young people to shun their ideas and behaviors in order to look like their role models. Advertisements have a negative influence on the young generation by depicting the celebrity music or movie stars using tobacco products, alcohol, and junk foods. These are strategies that are being used by the companies to attract the interests of this generation which forms the largest market segment. However, these ads end up influencing the young people towards drug abuse (Parsons and Pauline 131). Many of them end up engaging in criminal activities in order to sustain their behaviors. Moreover, the ads on junk foods have led to an increase in the number of people suffering from obesity. This is because these advertisements have influenced people to change their consumption behavior and turn towards fast foods. Advertisements have changed the way people interact in the society. Many of the adverts use half-nude pictures in order to attract the viewers. This has made many people to change their dressing modes and expose their bodies in order to look like models who are used in these ads. However, this aspect has increased the number of rape cases in the society. Furthermore, other adverts use sexual images to attract the people. This has increased the urge by the young generation to engage in sexual behaviors (Parsons and Pauline 133). This has led to early pregnancies and increased the number of those infected with HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases. Advertisements have changed the people’s perception towards women. Many ads being used by the company use thin models to attract the clients. This has made many people to think that ideal ladies need to thin (Okazaki 451). As a result, majority of the ladies are skipping their meals in order to lose weight. However, many of them become malnourished with some of them even dying in the process. Others expose themselves to various diseases that are associated with poor feeding habits. This is after being misled by the constant use of thin models in adverts which do not portray the real image of the society which has people of different sizes. Many of the young people feel lonely and like to be accepted by their peers in order to feel appreciated. Advertisements depict idealized images of handsome men and beautiful women. Furthermore, they depict various characteristics of successful people. They try to convince the people that if one is not handsome or successful, then he needs to use specific products. Many young people have fall out of colleges in order to follow the advice being given in the ads. In addition, others have ended up disfiguring their faces. This is an indication that ads have a major impact on the consumption behavior of the market. Advertisements have influenced people towards a consumerism culture. Initially, people were reserved and saved their money for better use in the future. This made them live comfortably and within their means (Okazaki 452). However, this aspect has changed with time. Currently, TVs and internets are full of adverts each urging the clients to consume a particular product or service. This has swayed people towards consuming products and services that they do not need. For instance, some ads portray that celebrity use more than one car from a particular firm. This makes the people to think that owning more than one car is a show of might and financial power. This has mainly influenced the young generation which has a disposable income. These are people who buys every new electronic that has been released to the market but puts little effort towards saving for their future. Advertisements have a major influence on gender roles and how to handle various chores in the household. For instance, the advertisement of toys has played a significant role in dividing the roles of men and women in the society. Adverts have made the parents to believe that there are toys for boys and girls. This affects the growth of the children. A girl child grows knowing that there are some careers that are specifically meant for their male counterparts (Hovland and Joyce 362). On the other hand, boys grow up knowing that there are chores that are meant for ladies. This creates a barrier for women in the society because people are made to believe that women are weak, therefore, they cannot hold top positions. This has made many women not to realize their potential despite being better than men. In addition, these perceptions have made it hard for men to help their women in bringing up the family. This has burdened women who could have opted to pursue their careers. With the entry of the internet and social media in the society, violent games advertisements have become common in the media. Many young children are spending a lot of time playing these games which advertised intensively in the current media houses. This has created a generation that believes that violence is the best way to achieve results (Carroll and Ann 382). In addition, this explains the reason why the number of murder and criminal cases being reported has increased tremendously. Advertisements create negative morals in the society. Many of the adverts do not portray or inform the people on the specific benefits or disadvantages of the product or service. As a result, people are starting to believe in lying and it’s becoming a social norm to lie in the society (Pardun 98). This behavior is moving to other sectors or institutions that are critical to the society. For instance, the politicians are now using the same strategies being used by the advertisers to brand themselves and sell their agendas to the members of the public. However, at the end they do not fulfill these promises. Nevertheless, through the influence of the adverts, people are no longer interested in investigating the truth and observing the necessary moral standards. In conclusion, advertisements have negatively influenced people and the society at large. People have now changed their mode of interaction and beliefs concerning various important aspects. In addition, their consumption behavior has changed immensely. Therefore, there is need to question the moral standards being observed by the advertisers in order to salvage the society. Works Cited Carroll, Archie B, and Ann K. Buchholtz. Business & Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management. Australia: South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Hovland, Roxanne, Joyce M. Wolburg, and Eric Haley. Readings in Advertising, Society, and Consumer Culture. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2007. Print. Okazaki, Shintaro. Handbook of Research on International Advertising. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2012. Print. Pardun, Carol J. Advertising and Society: An Introduction. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2014. Print. Parsons, Elizabeth, and Pauline Maclaran. Contemporary Issues in Marketing and Consumer Behaviour. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009. Print. Read More