Advertising encourages us to buy things we do not need. Discuss.
Many firms spend a great deal of money on advertising their products. They spend all this money on advertisements in order to bring their products to the attention of as many people as possible. However, there is nothing altruistic about the manufacturers’ actions. They do not do this simply to make people aware of their new products.
They do so in order to make more money. Firms want people to be so impressed by their advertisements that they actually buy the products advertised as soon as possible. This increases the number of sales and thus increases the profitability of the company concerned. This is the main goal of business.
Many firms try very hard to make their product appear as alluring as possible. These firms know how important image is these days. They, therefore, spend a great deal of money on attractive packaging for their products so that they look good on advertisements. Sometimes the advertisement contains a clever slogan dreamt up by a copywriter. Also, advertisements often feature celebrities on the assumption that some people will want to buy whatever they are demonstrating. The advertisers believe that such people wish to emulate those they admire.
There is nothing actually dishonest about the methods used by manufacturers to attract buyers. But do these methods tempt us into buying things that we do not actually need? To some extent the answer to this depends on how you interpret the word “need”. We actually have very few basic needs, very few things that we could not live without. So, yes, the glamour of the advertisements is very likely to lure us into buying things that we do not really need.
There are, however, many manufactured goods, such as vacuum cleaners, television sets, cars, etc that we regard as essential to our modern lifestyles. From time to time, these items break down and need to be replaced. Advertisements, then, might provide us with some initial useful information regarding their replacements.
Mostly, though, the things we buy as a result of catching sight of an advertisement are impulse buys, not purchases that we have planned. Of course, although we might not actually need these goods, it is possible that they might improve our lives in some ways. We might not have realized that we need them, but we find them useful. For example, we might come across an advertisement for a particularly effective carpet cleaner.
The real problem with advertisements is not that they encourage us to purchase things that we do not really need. It is that they can encourage us to buy things that we find completely useless after we have bought them. We are probably particularly vulnerable when we are sitting comfortably watching television. We suddenly spot some kind of gadget which we think looks innovative and potentially useful. Then we feel that we must get it.
However, in the cold light of day after we have bought the gadget, we find that it is something that we would never use. It ends up at the back of a drawer or cupboard until we throw it away or give it away.
Sometimes, seeing the gadget in a shop before you purchase it can make you think twice. You walk away from the gadget. However, buying things online has increased our propensity to make impulse buys. This, combined with the lure of advertising, can lead you into making some very foolish purchases.
The power of advertising is very strong. You have to be even stronger if you are to avoid being lured into buying unnecessary or useless products.
