Advertising Impact On Society

Advertising affects us in many ways. It is widely agreed that consumers is being influenced by advertising, or that it is causing us to act in a certain way. Companies use a variety of media outlets to advertise or spread their messages to the public. Some are called ‘traditional media’ and include daily press, trade magazines, cinema, and direct mail. (Smith, K. 2019). However, in recent years, companies have begun using several new channels to spread their advertising. It’s widely agreed that advertising negatively affects us. This essay argues that it has positive effects. For example, it creates jobs, promotes competition between companies and increases sales. On the other hand, it can also negatively affect young girls’ body image, which can cause body dysmorphia (Phillips, K.A. 2004).

Advertising can cause prospective customers to become more aware of company products. If customers learn information about certain products and understand how good the product is, they may buy it. (Mansoor, H. 2019). According to a recent study by Harness, J.(2019), advertising cause customers to buy products in the probiotic industry. Around 20 years ago, only experts know what good bacteria was and that it protects people’s gut microbiome. However, today marketing lets probiotic companies, for instance Activa, which is most known for their yogurt, make customers aware of their needs for healthy gut flora. In 2013 Activa had sales of $80 million (Sandler, L. 2018), and in 2017 after it introduced major advertising campaigns, it went up to $123 million. This could have been caused by advertising. Without marketing, there would be no demand for probiotics. As soon as society knew about the importance of bacteria, the company started to take off and therefore, Activa could show why their probiotics are the best.

Advertising can cause two other changes in the financial market. One the one hand, it can cause competition between companies. This takes place in several ways. It is important because every business needs to let customers know what makes their product unique and why the costumers should buy from just their company, not their competitors. Abela and Farris (1999), essay suggest that advertising stimulates competition between companies which in turn promotes product development and lower prices for the consumer. The second factor is that advertising cause is innovation. According to Federal Trade Commission, (2018), competition between companies caused by advertising can stimulate the invention of new that are often improved or more efficient. This can also benefit consumers who enjoy using higher quality products. This can increase economic growth and make people’s standards of living better.

Advertising will affect us in different ways. This is because advertisements are usually designed differently depending on who is targeted. (Morris, A & Katzman, K. 2003). Companies design their advertising to suit a group of consumers, based on their gender, age, ethnicity, interests, and opinion. Companies can choose what type of marketing or message they want to send out about their product. This may change if the target market is female or male, has a social identity, or an income or interest. Some advertising uses gender roles and includes traditional symbols for women and men. The goal with the different target advertising is to affect each decision about making current consumption.

For example, advertising aimed at women sometimes causes them to want to feel prettier or think about their looks. It does this by offering certain products that relate to an image of a ‘perfect cover girl’. This has the effect of girls comparing themselves to models and thinking that a model’s body is normal and healthy. Several scientists have done studies about how advertising impacts our body image. These show that models seen in advertising affect especially effect young girls and impact their body images. This can result in body dysmorphia. (Phillips, K.A. 2004). Body dysmorphia (BDD) is a disease that manifests itself through an obsession for a certain defect in the body, invented or existing. The person is fully occupied by one or more parts of his body. Today, one in 50 people have BDD and the condition is more common in women (Phillips, Didie, Feusner & Wilhelm. 2008). It usually starts when women are in their teens and are targeted by advertising. However, it is interesting that advertising aimed at men usually emphasizes their health, not their appearance.

In summary, advertising impacts society and businesses in different ways. Women can be negatively affected by advertising. It is less clear how it affects men. Advertising is good for businesses, but it is expensive. So, it may only be useful to businesses that can afford it. However, all businesses should try and engage in some form of advertising. This helps them communicate ideas to the public about their products. It is also good for the economy. If the economy grows, so will businesses. And last, as we already knew, the social media has a powerful impact on society, not just that it affects us in a positively and negatively way, but also that we see advertising almost everywhere, more than we are aware of. I believe advertising has an influential impact on society especially young girls, I reckon that some advertising should change when it comes to models and today’s body ideal. I think that we should use all different kinds of models and not just what we think is perfect. To use models that for example is more curvy and not have perfect skin, would change how society look at body images and will get young adults a better picture to look up to. But I also believe that advertising does a lot of good thing for our society, as we have a large and wide market we also get a lot of option, and with a large market there is more jobs witch is a good thing in today’s society.