How does the use
of advertising have an effect on consumerism?
How does the use of advertising have an effect on
consumerism? Well, consumerism is an act which makes us purchase products. In
the 21st century the order of consumerism is beginning to have a
huge effect on the way in which we live our lives and what we invest in.
Advertising plays a huge role within consumerism, as it is this tool that
determines on whether or not we buy into a brand and purchase their products.
Advertising has always had an impact on how we think and act;
it has the ability to alter our emotions and needs. It is a powerful tool that
can manipulate us and subconsciously effect our way of thinking. Advertising
has evolved greatly over the years and with the vast amount of new media and
technologies in which advertising is used today, we have no way of escaping it.
It has now become part of our everyday life and quite often we take it for
granted. We take in approximately 5000 advertisements a day, both knowingly and
unknowingly (Story 2007).
Almost everywhere we look we see an advertisement, whether
we are on the bus, watching TV or reading a magazine. Companies and businesses
use advertising as a tool to persuade us into investing in their product or
service.
'One of the most important
weapons used in successful marketing is advertising' (Williams, 1980, pg
189)
Advertising first became a popular means of selling a
product in the 1800s.
'In 1862 came the United Kingdom
bill-posters Association... handbills (throw a ways) were distributed in the
streets of Victorian London with extraordinary intensity of coverage, in some
areas a walk down one street would collect as many as two hundred different
leaflets' (Williams,1980, pg 175)
Since then it has evolved with technology and new media’s.
Marketing teams are constantly finding new ways in which they can approach
advertising to 'move with the times'. Back in the late 19th century
most means of advertising was print based, using things such as flyers and
posters. These advertisements would be given out in the street or placed in newspapers.
There was then the rise of the radio which gave advertising another means of
communication and also the World Wide Web which has completely revolutionised
advertising. When we search online for information about something there will
always be some form of advertising either on the website or on the search
engine. Facebook for example, has become a big part of the online advertising
approach. Their site allows you to share your interests in a brand, which then
shows this interest to your friends which may also allow them to show their
interest in the same brand. This
basically means that you are advertising for the brand/product that you showed
an interest in because it is seen by your Facebook friends.
Using online advertising also means that companies gain a
better understanding of what consumers look at on the web and means they can
use this information to focus on these areas to attract more people to their
brand.
'In an advanced Capitalist
society such as Britain, the need for people to consume has become as
important, if not strategically more important, than the need for people to
produce'. (Strinat, D 2004)
Over the years, we as a society have become more
materialist, we crave the need to have new products that we are made to believe
will 'change' our lives. This gives a new approach to advertising which allows marketers
to play with our emotions in a way that we often do not realise. For example, a
modern day car advertisement will promote a way of life, of which you will gain
when buying their product. In one particular Renault Megane TV advert the car
became part of the family by being shown as the 'family dog', they promoted it
as being a very friendly, fun and family orientated car. Another example of
where a product’s advertisements promise us a more exotic lifestyle is perfume
and aftershave ads. They will always use attractive models set in a scene that
makes them appear to have the perfect life. The fragrance is shown to be the
product that can give you this lifestyle, and we as a materialist society
believe in the advert and invest in the brand.
Another example of strong branding and identity through the
use of advertising is Apple. Apple is one of the most successful businesses in
the world. Their products are revolutionary and they are always finding new
ways to use technology to help us live an easier life. Apple brings out new products
all the time, each of which will be popular and sell well. The reason Apple are
so successful is mostly because of the way in which they advertise their
products. They make personal connections within their ads so that their
consumers can relate to this. Rather than trying to blatantly sell a product,
they will make a subtle personal connection with their customers which will
make them feel more attracted to the brand. This relationship made with
customers through Apple's approach to advertising, makes the brand more
desirable to more people around the world.
'It is often said that our
society is too materialist, and that advertising reflects this. We are in a
phase of a relatively rapid distribution of what are called 'consumer goods',
and advertising, with its emphasis on 'bringing the good things of life', is
taken as central for this reason.' (Williams, 1980, pg 183)
Due to our society being so consumerist and materialist, it
means that we often buy products that we do not need or things that are not
essential for us to live. We now buy a product to buy social status, it’s
almost like the saying 'You are what you eat', but instead we are what we buy.
If one were to buy a top from Primark, for example, you would have a less
social status than if you were to buy one from Harvey Nichols. This is due to
branding and advertising, and how a company use these tools effectively to get
us to buy the more expensive items. This could sometimes mean that you spend
more on a well known branded item, simply for the brand name, when you could
get the exact same thing for half the price that isn’t branded and this all
boils down to the use of advertising in a consumerist society.
'Many people will indeed look
twice at you, upgrade you, upmarket you, respond to your displayed signals, if
you have made the right purchase within a system of meanings to which you are
all trained' (Williams, 1980, pg 189)
Advertising is now being used to sell everything, and each
time a brand uses this tool to sell their product they will promote it as being
an essential part of our lives. There is so much theory behind an ad, every
little detail is considered and chosen for a purpose that will help communicate
the right message that will lead to sales for a company, and colour is an
example of this. When a brand is designing its identity it will keep a consistency
between all ads and designs. They will create a brand image that is memorable
so that consumers will easily recognise a company’s branding. This plays an
important role within consumerism because a strong brand image attracts consumers;
the more recognisable the brand is the more people will invest in it.
'When we find ourselves drawn
into a shop by enticing window display, we are being consumer. When we buy a
new brand of toothpaste because the packet informs us that it will whiten our teeth,
we are being consumers...The act of consumption has been characterised as the
flow of goods from producers to consumers. Consumption is what we do in
response to the activity of retailers, marketers and advertisers.' (Pavitt,
J, 2000, pg 102)
'The slogan came from research
into why consumers drank Guinness - the overwhelming reply was 'because it's
good for you' (Prnewswire.co.uk)
This particular Guinness campaign lasted for over 40 years;
they continued to focus on the fact Guinness did have health benefits. Although
most of their advertising within this campaign was being honest to the consumer
without trying to trick them into thinking the beverage was good for them,
there were some ads which tried to push the idea that you should drink lots of
Guinness.
The 'A Guinness a day' line, along with 'Guinness is good
for you' suggests that it is necessary to drink a pint of Guinness a day. The
consumer already knows that Guinness is good for you because they were the
reasoning behind the campaign but with the added line of 'a Guinness a day'
helps to persuade and inform them that it’s okay to drink a Guinness a day. The
consumer justified the campaign and then Guinness saw an opportunity in which
they could use this to raise sales. In a way it is being a bit sly but like
most advertising it is very clever.
' The power of the consumer
affects how you market, how you develop products, how you change your launch
time frames and how you price things' (Wickstrom, M 2006, pg 29)
However in present day adverts, advertisers have made advertisements
seem more complex to convey a message about a product in order to make it seem
like the consumer has more control. No one likes being told what to do, so if
they offer a product that comes with a 'perfect lifestyle guaranteed'. This
makes the consumer think that they have complete control over their emotions
and choice on whether to buy the product. But in actual fact they have all been
trained to respond to this type of advertising that effects their emotions and
therefore leading them to still invest in the product. We have no longer have
control on the way in which we buy things. It has become a materialist system
where we as consumers are made to feel we need to buy something when in actual
fact we probably do not.
'Commercial breaks, radio spots,
product placements, billboards, pop-up ads- we sometimes take for granted how
much advertising surrounds us in our daily lives. We may find ads funny, odd or
even disturbing, but we rarely stop and consider their deeper meaning or
function within society' (Turow and Mcallister, 2009)
In conclusion, it is clear to see that advertising has a
huge effect on the way we live our lives and buy into brands. If marketers and
advertisers reach us on a personal level then we are more likely to invest in
their brand. There is no way in which we can really fully escape advertising as
it is literally in every part of our lives. You couldn’t go out of the house
without seeing hundreds of adverts for all sorts of things. The only way in
which we can gain control in this materialist society that we live in, is to
gain a better understanding of how advertisers think as well as how they act to
try and persuade us to buy into a product or service. This means that consumers
would have more control over what they want and what they need to purchase and
we will no longer be 'tricked' or 'trained' into buying into a brand. But as
consumers become more aware, it maybe that marketers and advertisers will
always stay one step ahead.
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