The Effect of Advertising (Essay Sample)

The Effect of Advertising
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The Effect of Advertising
The question as to whether advertising affects a person both directly and indirectly has elicited a number of debates in the academic and social spheres. While proponents argue that advertising influences peoples attitudes and life choices, critics assert that adverting undermines the quality of citizens lives without benefiting them. The phrase advertising has various meanings to people, but despite the disputes on the matter, the act of making individuals aware of a company’s products and services has a significant effect on people’s daily choices CITATION BHe13 \l 1033 (Hemalatha, 2013). Whether or not people concur with this, there is advertising triggers stored memories and sways people’s choices when it comes to purchasing a particular item. However, the success of adverting relies on the audience’s perception of the advertisement.
Overall, advertising remains a vital element in the corporate sphere despite the pessimistic views people associate it with. Its role in the marketing arena is evident as it continues to flourish in the lower and upper echelons of the global market. Advertising, commonly distinguished as the use of images, words and videos affects people’s brain and indirectly coaxes the to take particular actions. Advertising, whether its offline or online, undeniably sways individuals’ purchasing decisions, and without advertising, the consumption of tobacco, fast foods and beverages would not be as widespread as today CITATION Aak00 \l 1033 (Aaker, Brumbaugh, Grier, & Trickle, 2000). Advertising, therefore, makes people’s desires grow while instilling particular attitudes and viewpoints such as those opposing the sale of drugs to juveniles.
Advertising makes people aware about numerous aspects in their day-to-day lives and helps them make better choices. Critics argue that without advertising, people would still choose products they want. The assumption is true, but the main question is, would people make intelligent choices if there were no advertising? Advertising functions to direct people towards making a certain choice without compelling them to take the action conditionally CITATION WMO08 \l 1033 (O'Barr, 2008). For instance if a person sees their favourite celebrity wearing a particular clothing in an advertisement, they would want a similar one because they love the celebrity, and purchasing the attire makes them feel good. In this case, rerunning adverts about the clothing along with things people value and feel good about is likely to induce them into buying the apparel.
As a form of marketing, advertising centers on increasing the consumption of services and products offered by different organizations and influencing public attitudes towards specific activities. Therefore, advertising has encouraged a culture of consumerism whereby people purchase numerous products that are advertised because they match their personal needs CITATION Cha14 \l 1033 (Chandra & Kaiser, 2014). The rationale behind this assertion is that most products have different benefits, and advertising helps the public understand thus inspiring people’s purchases besides encouraging the consumption of various products among Canadians, adverting is a critical source of information and can help the public refrain from engaging in harmf