Modern day society depends heavily on mass media for information,
trends, and creative stimuli. We make ourselves vulnerable to each and every facet the media offers, specifically the internet and
television. Over time, advertisers and marketers have strengthened
and enhanced their manipulative tactics against consumers, while the
majority of consumers have simultaneously become oblivious and even
more susceptible. The development of the internet's inner workings
has yielded new programming methods, such as cookies, beneficial to
marketers in that they enable internet tracking of consumers. This
tracking is conducted in order to personalize advertisements to
consumers in order to increase the likelihood of them purchasing the
advertised products. In actuality, major corporations, such as
Target, track consumers in order to specify which of the store's
products are relevant to consumers and thus more likely to be
purchased. In conjunction with the media, marketers possess the
ability to make consumers believe they need to purchase certain
products.
For instance, a person could see a target commercial for
Taylor Swift's new album. Interested in the artist, this person
browses websites related to Taylor Swift. Target can then
specifically offer a discount on the album or other products
associated with this celebrity directly to the consumer.
Unfortunately, advertisements are not always designed to be pleasant
in nature. There are a plethora of advertisements that function
directly off of the inhibitions and emotions of consumers. The style
of marketing involved with playing off of consumers' insecurities
typically depict a certain looking person consuming or using the
advertised product or service. This actor or actress depicted in the
advertisement usually possesses the aesthetic society deems
“attractive.” However, the majority of consumers do not possess
the same aesthetic and automatically believe they should, thus making
them believe that purchasing the product will help them to attain
this particular aesthetic. There is also the form of advertisement
that exploits consumers emotions in order to bolster the appeal of
the product or service. In any case, advertisements will generally
stop at nothing to get their product purchased.
Your blog reflects Google’s recent motivation for posting people’s pictures and profiles to endorse products. Indeed, consumerism is being placed above privacy. Now, people will become unpaid spokespeople for products—because who will “dare” post anything negative? Taking anonymity away limits negativity. If people can no longer feel free to be anonymous to post their opinions on products—many people won’t post any opinion at all. Indeed, technology is exploiting us. And as you pointed out, “advertisers’ will stop at nothing to get their products purchased.”
ReplyDeleteNot to say I condone what's happening in the ad world, but I disagree with your statement about "advertisers will stop at nothing to get their products purchased". Advertisers are hired to sell a product for a company. If the company doesn't make any money, the ad company loses prestige. There are many companies who rely on ads to get their product out there, and the advertising company gets the brunt of the abuse. Truth be told, we are perpetuating our own demise. We want these products, and we have asked for them to sell it to us; to make us believe in their product. Now, Google+ is stepping up the ante by grabbing our +1's and sharing real time perspectives with other consumers. Now we want privacy?? I am SO confused...
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