Introduction
Advertisement is techniques and practices used to bring products, services, opinions, or causes to public notice. It is meant to persuade the public to buy a product or a service. It persuades the public to respond to a marketing offer for a product or service (Gibson, 2004, pg. 14).
People respond to advertisement in different ways. For instance, some people make choices based on the advertisements made in the media. There are also people who cannot be influenced by advertisements to make choices. The response exhibited by consumers depends on the individual’s perception about the advertisement.
Argument that Advertisements Affect Our Choice
Most of the advertisements position a given product to a lifestyle which I valued by many people. The people who value the lifestyle will definitely buy the product. For example, those people who take beer will be influenced to take a certain brand that is being advertised because they believe what is said about that brand.
The advertisement may state that a particular beer brand adds energy to the body. They will believe the advertisement and take the brand. People, therefore, value a certain product because of the way it is advertised. They make decision to buy a product based on the way they understand the message communicated by the advertisement (Zlobin, 2004, pg. 30).
Advertisements made in the media influence the young people’s decision making process. For instance, pictures of sexily dressed ladies maybe used to advertise cars. These influence most men to make their choice when determining the model of the car to buy.
They believe that the pictures of those ladies represent the best model of a car. In addition, sexy and attractive women that are used in advertisements are meant to woo men into purchasing a given product. They get attracted to the women and in the process they buy the product. Therefore, advertisement affects the way people make their choice.
All advertisements emphasize only the positive aspect of a product or a service. This makes the people to forget the negative aspect of a product or a service. The consumers may buy products just because they liked them when they were advertised but not because they are not in need of the product.
They are wooed by the positive aspects of the product that are portrayed during advertisement. For example, the contraceptive used by women are only portrayed as being effective but the side effects are not talked about (Zlobin, 2004, pg. 38). Women just buy and use them but they hardly think about their negative effects.
Most of the advertisements made are aimed at familiarizing us with products and brands. We are only told about the positive side of the products.
For instance, alcohol and its different brands are advertised and a lot sad about the positive effects they have on the consumers. This makes the young people consume the products without being aware that they also have negative effects.
Advertisements may only make us aware of a particular group of products. When we want to satisfy a need, we only think of the products we know from advertisements.
Advertisers have realized that people are easily wooed to buy a particular product when they are told about the positive value of that product. The product may have negative effects on the consumers but they hardly count on them while making buying decision.
The negative effects are easily forgotten because they are omitted from advertisements. Advertisements, therefore, ensure that somebody will be willing to purchase a particular product.
Advertisement of a new product in the market makes people to buy it. Many people fear being left out as they want to keep up with the products and services, and also to be socially acceptable (Zlobin 2004, pg42).
Advertisements influence people to make choices on the products they buy. Many people believe that advertisement makes the shopping simpler and efficient. For people to reduce unnecessary risk, and to make decision at the point of purchase, they will tend to buy the products that are mostly advertised.
Argument Against Advertisement Uses the Media to Influence Our Choices
Most people believe that advertisements use media to influence our choice. This may not be the truth in most cases. People believe that they are in full control of the choices they make and are not influenced by advertisements. These classes of people make their decision based on their choice and not the advert made in the media.
Advertising is designed to enable a company to make a particular product known by the target customers. People will not buy a product they do not know about. The product may even be a luxurious one that the consumer can live without because they do not necessarily need it.
Such advertisements are meant are targeted to a particular group of customers with high ability to buy. The issue arises because the advertisements for such goods are seen by many people and not all of them will buy the product. Therefore, advertisement cannot influence people’s choices.
Advertisements are not inherently bad, but most of them use manipulative tactics to woo the consumers. The tactics make people believe that they are in control of their choices, even when they are influenced by advertisements (Haddow, 2009, pg. 34).
Conclusion
A company creates advertisement to make people buy its newest products. They are used in positioning a product in the market. Advertisements may, sometimes, create a false image about a product. They do not always portray a perfect image about what the product is and what it can offer the consumer.
Advertising is used by trade firms which want to make their new goods popular. It also helps the older products to remain strong in the market. If a brand takes long before it is advertised, it may be forgotten by the consumers. New products will come up in the market and overtake it.
Consumer behavior is shaped by what they see and perceive through their senses. The more they hear and see a product, the more they develop willingness to purchase it. They need to keep on seeing and hearing about a product if they were to keep on consuming the product.
Advertisement influences people’s decisions while making purchases. They make people believe that they are getting what they want. Transaction advertisements are used to remind consumers why they spent their money. They also reassure them that they made the right choice in purchasing a particular commodity.
Advertising is important in the modern economy. It makes products famous and known to many people throughout the world. Most consumers learn about products through watching advertisements. Their decision to buy products is highly influenced by the advertisements made for those products.
Referencing List
Gibson, D 2004, Communication Power & Media, Cengage Learning, Stamford.
Haddow, K 2009, Disaster Communications in a Changing Media World , Thomson Learning, South Melbourne.
Zlobin, N 2004, International Communications: A Media Literacy Approach, University Of New York, New York.