DHARA DOSHI

Advertising or advertizing is a form of communication for marketing and used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate an audience (viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group) to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the

desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common. This type of work belongs to a category called affective labor.

In Latin, ad vertere means "to turn toward. The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass mediasuch as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as blogs, websitesor text messages.

Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through "branding," which involves associating a product name or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement (PSA).

Modern advertising was created with the innovative techniques introduced with tobacco advertising in the 1920s, most significantly with the campaigns of Edward Bernays, which is often considered the founder of modern, Madison Avenue advertising.

 

 

 

NEGATIVE IMPACT

Every time you switch on the TV and you will see some products being pushed on you with some assurance. This is advertising. Your mind is being sold to these advertisers. Advertising is the promotion of product or services. This gives companies a way to expose their products to people and hence maximize their sales. With out advertisement not a single farm or company can grow in this world of competition. 

Advertising is the mostly debated topic now. Like every other thing it has also some positive as well some negative points. If it has some positive aspect of social and economical impact on society then it do have some negative impact also. Advertising a public welfare program has positive social impact whereas exposing woman in an advertisement has negative impact on society. 

Advertising is a mass marketing technique. Assorted techniques are used for advertising which persuades the consumers that why they need the product which is being advertised. They focus more on the benefits, which consumer will get from that product, rather than the product itself. Through advertising, products can be known to public easily. They can decide which product they need and why. Thus increasing the consumption and as a result also increasing the demand of the product. 

 Advertising can also be used to generate awareness among public that which product they use and to which product they can say no. It can also be used to educate people about certain diseases or danger (example: - AIDS, TB, viral diseases, etc.). Even the backward people are now aware of many diseases and their problems. And all these credits goes to proper advertising. Diseases like Polio could never been controlled if the timings for polio drops aren’t advertised regularly.  

Advertising can also be used to inform public about social events like concerts and performances. Charities can use media to advertise about the illnesses and encourage people for donations. Social organizations and NGOs can use the mean of advertisement for promoting their campaigns. Seeking help through advertisement during epidemics or natural calamities can help a lot. 

There are also various blames that advertising is causing negative social impact on lives. Even if advertising has a vast good impacts on society, it can be ruled out that is has bad impact also. It plays with the emotions of general public and encourages them to think that buying and depleting are the activities of life. Advertising posters of modern films, where sexuality is shown much than the actual theme of the movie, can divert the society a lot. Materialism is being much glorified through advertisements, which can again have dangerous consequences Society is becoming ignorant towards social or world issues because we are too obsessed to satisfy our newly created needs. We want to earn more and more money so that we can buy happiness in forms of products, being advertised as they can bring all the happiness in our lives. We are starving for material goals, because we always just want to have more. 

Products which are heavily advertised are expensive due to the cost spent on advertising. It is true that advertising increases consumption, but its also true that the more we consume, the more we destroy the environment, because if demand increases production also increases. Thus the need of raw materials also increases. 

There are two advertisements, shown below. Both of them are of same products, that is ice-cream, but with different forms. One can judge from them that which one have positive and which one can have negative impact on society.                         
 
So, we can say that advertising has positive as well as negative impact on society. The balance, of what is necessary and what really not needed should be focused more. Advertisement can create contentment but can also simultaneously create discontentment. Our society and the marketing of products depend so badly on advertisement that even its negative impact on society can’t outweigh the many positive social and economical effects.

Advertising is paid, non-personal communication that is designed to communicate in a creative manner, through the use of mass or information-directed media, the nature of products, services, and ideas. It is a form of persuasive communication that offers information about products, ideas, and services that serves the objectives determined by the advertiser. Advertising may influence consumers in many different ways, but the primary goal of advertising is to increase the probability that consumers exposed to an advertisement will behave or believe as the advertiser wishes. Thus, the ultimate objective of advertising is to sell things persuasively and creatively. Advertising is used by commercial firms trying to sell products and services; by politicians and political interest groups to sell ideas or persuade voters; by not-for-profit organizations to raise funds, solicit volunteers, or influence the actions of viewers; and by governments seeking to encourage or discourage particular activities, such a wearing seatbelts, participating in the census, or ceasing to smoke. The forms that advertising takes and the media in which advertisements appear are as varied as the advertisers themselves and the messages that they wish to deliver.

The word ‘advertise’ originates from the Latin advertere, which means to turn toward or to take note of. Certainly, the visual and verbal commercial messages that are a part of advertising are intended to attract attention and produce some response by the viewer. Advertising is pervasive and virtually impossible to escape. Newspapers and magazines often have more advertisements than copy; radio and television provide entertainment but are also laden with advertisements; advertisements pop up on Internet sites; and the mail brings a variety of advertisements. Advertising also exists on billboards along the freeway, in subway and train stations, on benches at bus stops, and on the frames around car license plates. In shopping malls, there are prominent logos on designer clothes, moviegoers regularly view advertisements for local restaurants, hair salons, and so on, and live sporting and cultural events often include signage, logos, products, and related information about the event sponsors. The pervasiveness of advertising and its creative elements are designed to cause viewers to take note.

However, sometimes, it can raise many questions when targeted for children. Read on to know about the various effects of advertising on children. There are plenty of theories about the effects of advertising. Various creative heads that belong to different advertising agencies are often churning out new ideas to deliver their message to the public. Children form the major chunks of the target group for advertisers. Many advertisements aimed towards children are a sole proof of this fact. The prime motive of any advertisement is to convince the viewer about the quality of the product and instill that urge in him or her to purchase the same. Today, advertising plays an important role in the society, as it tends to influence young minds in particular.

The first prime motive of advertising is to attract attention. With children, the messages need to be conveyed in a different manner. Goods are particularly packaged in order to appeal to the younger generation. Children today, are more specific about their needs and wants. Children are therefore reckoned to be a major ‘buying force’ by advertisers.

However, advertising can also have a negative influence over young minds if parents are not really careful and do not teach their children about the importance of money. In many cases, children tend to misinterpret the messages conveyed through the advertisement. They end up having wrong notions about many issues. Advertising influences the minds of children, which creates a need to own that particular product being advertised. Glossy images on the magazines or billboards or flashy advertisements on television only create the urge for impulsive buying. Parents who cannot deal with the rising demands or temper tantrums only tend to give in to the demands of their children. Children then get used to a certain kind of lifestyle, which is shown on the television or through various media. This only creates a very wrong impression on their young minds making them lose the ability to live a life without relying on materialistic joys. The power of advertising thus, cannot be ignored.

For example, a child may prefer only a specific pair of branded jeans as compared to other clothing available in stores. He or she may want to live the life that is projected in the advertisements. The child may dictate to his/her parents about personal preferences in clothing, food, toys, etc.

Well, with these kinds of effects of advertising, one wonders who is to be blamed in this whole issue. Parents play a major role in this case. They need to monitor what influences the minds of children. Parents also need to be firm with children whenever their demands increase. Children need to be told gently that a ‘no’ cannot be converted into a ‘yes’ with tears or brawls! Parents also need to instill good habits and help children to differentiate between right and wrong. And the sooner it’s told, the better it would be for the child and subsequently parents as well. Advertisers on the other hand, can also try to put their message across creatively and target the entire family rather than just children. This will ensure even parents stay within the loop and can monitor the demands of the children. With a balanced approach, the negative effects of advertising can surely be curbed to a great extent.

 

POSITIVE

Although people often focus on the negatives when they discuss the effects of advertising, it is important to note that advertising does have its positive side. In fact, some of our society's most important messages have come through advertising, like "Friends don't let friends drive drunk." In addition to promoting important social messages, advertisements can also spark the economy by fostering competition and innovation.

Public Service Advertisements

Public service advertisements are often the first things considered when people discuss the positives of advertisements. These advertisements market a social concept of importance to the general public. Many public service announcements run messages about health, safety and national security. In the United States, the Ad Council, a nonprofit organization, sponsors many public service announcements. Their famous lines include "Loose lips sink ships," a 1942 advertisement run to promote national security during World War II. However, other nonprofit organizations, the government, faith-based organizations and private companies also run public service marketing campaigns. For example, the U.S. government has run a number of advertisements about the importance of disaster preparedness.

Social Benefits

In addition to public service advertisements, traditional advertisements that market a product or service can offer social benefits. In fact, according to Megan Vande Kerckhove, a student at the University of Florida's Interactive Media Lab, advertising is free speech, and it can work to promote free speech. According to VandeKerchkhove, this is especially true in countries where free speech has been suppressed. Advertising there, especially when it comes from the Western world where free speech is embraced, can encourage the idea that free speech is important. Furthermore, freedom of choice and advertising-supported entertainment, which is often a promoter of social change, are two important components of society that are both promoted through advertising.

Economic Benefits

Advertising has a number of positive effects on economies both in the U.S. and abroad. According to the International Advertising Association, advertising can encourage companies to compete and provide new products. This encourages more consumers to buy because these products meet the needs and wants of more consumers. Thus, the economy is positively affected. In addition, advertising can help create more jobs. As the demand for products and services goes up because of advertising, more people are needed to manufacture, supply, ship and test those products and services. Thus, more jobs are created.

Choice

In addition to encouraging consumers to choose the products that are best for them, advertising, at least in democratic nations, allows individuals to learn about the wide variety of lifestyle and political choices available to them and choose the ones that they find best. For example, in the United States, candidates for an elected position often run advertisements that discuss their strengths and the opponent's weaknesses. These advertisements encourage Americans to compare and contrast the candidates and choose the one with whom they most agree.