Pros and Cons of Advertising.
Advertising refers to non personal transmission of information regarding products, services or initiatives by recognized sponsors via the media.
It is normally paid for and is influential in nature. Advertising has expanded to be worth large amounts of money worldwide. Approximately, all public surrounding has some advertisements in view and all kinds of media, from daily nations to the internet, are full of adverts (Kumar, 1988).
It has not been established whether the presence of extensive advertising is expedient for a community. This paper will discuss the pros and cons of advertising. In my opinion, I believe that advertising is dangerous and should, therefore, be banned.
Major argument
Cons of advertising
Reason 1: Advertising leads to tyranny of alternatives or alternative burden.
Advertising makes many people become inundated by the never ending need to make a decision amongst contending demands on their concentration. The assertion of adverts being all over people increase anticipations about a good and lead to unavoidable disappointment after its purchase. Customers feel that an unfortunate purchase is their mistake for not selecting more prudently and lament for not having selected something else. “People are on average less happy than they were 30 years ago – despite being better off and having much more choice of things to spend their money on”(Tate, 2010).
Reason 2: Advertising is a kind of indoctrination.
It deprives people of their freedom to make decisions through targeting their insensible thoughts. Individuals cannot just decide to turn their backs on advertising. Advertisers utilize several underhand techniques to put their message forward. For instance, posters have interest grabbing words or stimulating pictures. “Some adverts today are even hidden in what seems like pieces or art or public information, so people do not realize they are being marketed to” (Kumar, 1988).
Reason 3: Adverts lead to inferiority.
Adverts make persons have a feeling of lowliness. This is especially if this people lack the product which is being advertised. Insights of beauty and style have been tremendously distorted. “Many young people have low-self esteem, and lead unhealthy lifestyles because they feel they should be thinner and more attractive like the models they see in adverts” (Dahl, 2011). This has led to life threatening issues like eating chaos and self harm.
Reason 4: Advertising makes a person too attracted to physical possessions.
It gives the intuition particularly to children that they should possess everything they need. “People are becoming more selfish and obsessed with their possessions, and losing their values of patience, hard work, moderation and the importance of non-material things like family and friends” (Harrell, 2008). This destroys relationships and peoples individual development, which has tremendous results to the community as a whole.
Reason 5: Advertising offers an unfair benefit to giant industries.
This constrains the value of products for customers and puts a vast roadblock to the victory of small companies. “Small companies might have much better products, but they cannot afford to advertise them as well and so people do not find out about them” (Dahl, 2011).
Minor argument
Pros of Advertising
Reason 1: Advertising assists people to choose amongst contending needs.
Many advertisements capture people’s concentration to new products. They also try to win on charges, and this assists people to look for the best quality or cheapest goods.” What advertising does is to help people make better decisions about how to spend their money, by giving them more information about the choices available” (Cousens & Askew, 1920).
Reason 2: Adverts make even the playing field between small and large companies.
If a small company has a fantastic product which is new and advertises it in an intelligent manner, then this will attract consumers. “If there were no advertising then small businesses would have no chance at all to make their product well known” (Cousens & Askew, 1920).
Reason 3: Advertising is informative.
It educates customers about new goods and services that can assist them to make their lives better. “When executing advertising, it is best to think of yourself as an uninvited guest in the living room of a prospect who has the magical power to make you disappear instantly “(Arens, 2002).
References
Arens, F.W. (2002). Advertising series in marketing. Boston: Irwin Publishers.
Cousens, E. H. & Askew, B .J. (1920). Pros and cons of Advertising: a newspaper reader’s and debater’s guide to the leading controversies of advertising. London: Routledge publishers.
Dahl, G. (2011). Advertising for Dummies. New York: Dutton Publishers.
Harrell, D. G. (2008). Marketing: Connecting with Customers. Chicago: Chicago Education Press.
Kumar, N. (1988). Advertising Management. New York: Anmol Publications.
Tate, C. (2010). Marketing Your Small Business for Dummies. Milton: Wiley publishers.