The Effect Of Media Coverage On The Thinking And Behavior Of Consumers

Every day, companies present the people with advertisements everywhere they go. Advertisements have become very prevalent in today’s society nowadays focusing in on a negative connotation. Advertisement has become an effective way for producers to display their new products. In present day, they come in forms of billboards, flyers, e-mails, and even text messages. It is widely known that companies create advertisements to persuade people to buy specific products or goods; however, it is not widely known that advertisements can make a negative impact on today’s society. The companies manipulate people’s mind and emotions, swaying people by new promotions and therefore generating a strong desire to fit into the society, that causes them to make inessential expenditures. Advertisements pose a critical impact on the American culture.

Every minute of every day, millions of people are exposed to advertisements. They plague televisions, streets, radio waves, and all means of communication. These advertisements employ many methods of persuasion and their influence is irresistible. Just like prisoners in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, we are told every day to invest our time and interest into the subject of these advertisements, and to accept the forms of reality they serve us. Whether it be a commercial for a must-have new car, to a spot featuring desirable fast food, or to magazines with photoshopped models; we are seduced to accept these false

Advertisements are everywhere. From billboards, to magazines, to newspapers, flyers and TV commercials, chances are that you won’t go a day without observing some sort of ad. In most cases, companies use these ads as persuasive tools, deploying rhetorical appeals—logos, pathos, and ethos—to move their audiences to think or act in a certain way. The two magazine ads featured here, both endorsing Pedigree products, serve as excellent examples of how these modes of persuasion are strategically used.

The average United States Citizen views about 5000 advertisements a day (Johnson). Advertising is everywhere. Billboards on the way to work, ads on the internet, and paper products such as magazines or newspapers display a sale or a promotion of a good or service. Usually, the ad will give a brand or company name, and uses the product’s merits to draw the consumer closer. This has grown exponentially as advertisements in media in 1970 were estimated to be 500 a day, a ten percent increase in the last 48 years. (Johnson). This is due to the rise of technology, as the computer has become a household gadget within the new millenium. These advertisements are meant to give a synopsis of the product or service’s purpose, quality, and efficiency. If a consumer views 5000 advertisements in a single day and assuming the commercials do not repeat, 5000 goods or services are introduced. With more options to choose from in such little time, the consumer has a harder time differentiating the quality and perhaps necessity of the product. The marketers rely on the quick, impulsive decision making of consumers. With the misleading nature of many infomercials or radio broadcasts, the people of American society are bombarded with constant propaganda, thus making seemingly harmless promotions more potent to filling industries’ pockets and lessening the common population’s

Society uses manipulation to divert people’s attention every day and oftentimes people do not realize that they are being manipulated. An advertisement through television is one of the many ways that people are manipulated. TV uses advertisements daily by incorporating subliminal messages to get people to do things that they would not otherwise be thinking about doing. The following articles “Can TV improve us?” by Jane Rosenzweig, On Sale at Old Navy: Cool Clothes for Identical Zombies!” by Damien Cave and TV’s War of Words” by Deborah Tannen exemplify instances where manipulation is being showcased at its best.

It’s easy to say Americans are glued to their technology devices, but you cannot believe everything you read on the internet. Instead, Iyers quotes Nicholas Carr and his facts about the increasing hours of American adults spent online from 2005 to 2009 from his book “The Shallows.” Authority is a key element in persuasion because it gives audience a truthful representation of the author. With the audiences trust in the writer the piece is therefore powerful. Because the piece has a potential to make a differnce with the audience actually listening to the author.

Throughout recent years, television campaign advertisements have become predominant for various politicians. From the 1950s with Dwight Eisenhower’s first television campaign to today’s political campaigns and advertisements, political platforms have prospered on deceptive commercials and heresy. Advertisements like these are designed specifically to persuade voters and political debates. Indeed, some political campaigns may have genuine characteristics, numerous show pessimistic attitudes towards their opponents, the other parties. Political campaign advertisements have matured from simple radio or television advertisements to an extravagantly expensive industry worth millions of dollars. Members of the campaign staff work tirelessly to create the catchiest slogans, and gain viewer support in aspiration to win the campaign.

Many of these may seem like obvious tactics that advertisers and influence agents will utilize to sway our opinion. However, when we are not prepared to scrutinize and resist them, these principles will often work subliminally and quite powerfully. Thus, an important part of resisting these common influence tactics is awareness of their fundamental operating principles, contexts in which they are most easily provoked, and the best methods to avoid falling

In order to attract a specific demographic, advertisement companies employ diverse methods of persuasion. Corporations such as Wendy’s hire advertisement agencies for their expertise in how to attract target audiences to their products. Wendy’s advertisement campaign for ‘Where’s the Beef?’ integrates a few different methods of persuasion; credibility, similarity with the target, and likeability. Wendy’s is trying to entice the 16-40 age demographic of Americans. By incorporating these methods of persuasion to attract the aforementioned target age demographic, Wendy’s is anticipating to attract new customers, consequently increasing profitability.

Many consider ads to be most influential type of rhetoric. City dwellers in the United States view nearly 5000 ads per day and these highly impact the processes of purchase, decision making, and even voting (Johnson). A well constructed ad has the ability to change laws. An example of an attempt to amend established legislature is The Employee Rights Act (“The Bill”). Through the uses of proper circulation in response to exigency, the built credentials, and form of the ad, viewers may be persuaded to vote in favor of the bill.

You can detect media bias through any type of advertisement or broadcast, from televisions, radios, posters, and billboards. when you feel that the advertisement is trying to persuade you to think or act a certain way about a specific situation or group, then that is media bias. You can detect propaganda when the information giving on the advertisement is trying to influence you to be with or against something. Or if it is an item that can be bought or sold, the advertisement will use propaganda to try to persuade you to buy it. The advertisement would say things like “DO YOU WANT YOUR HOUSE CLEAN AND SPOTLESS, LOOKING BRAND NEW? WELL, BUY THIS CLEANING KIT AND WATCH YOUR HOUSE TRANSFORM INTO YOUR DREAM CLEAN CASTLE.” Also, you see propaganda

Very few viewers of adverts decode images passively. Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright argue that there are very few viewers who decode images passively because there is no mass culture. This is because each viewer has different contexts and social backgrounds meaning that the images they view can be decoded in various ways because of their frame of reference and background. However the subject of how audiences decode and view media including advertising can be seen in various different perspectives particularly with Karl Marx and Louis Althusser who have similar but different theories around audiences as passive and active parts of the decoding process. Through Stuart Hall also we can understand the different ways audiences can receive a advert.

Each and everyday individuals—namely radio listeners—are emotionally stimulated by thousands of daily news and commercial messages. Consumers of this traditional technology have to selectively process the information they receive in order to make what was heard more easily recalled. Because of this, advertisers put effort towards increasing the overall effect the product message has by employing different cognitive strategies that may, or may not affect a listener.

While analysing media ownership, it resulted clear how proprietorial influence plays an important role in citizens’ lives. It is not just a matter of controlling the news outcome but it also directly influences politics where media coverage is essential for the spreading of ideas. Regarding this topic, the perfect example in position of power is Rupert Murdoch, a man whose only cravings are power and control, a man who has built an empire from the ground earning a position of international respect and importance. He has become the face of the news, or more accurately, the man behind the news. Every single person that works for him is subjected to is halo of influence even when he is not around. Politicians fear his power because it can affect their careers, freedom of the press activists sill dream of the day his massive empire will disaggregate. Today’s news is overall influenced by five major companies; therefore, the questions arises spontaneously: can we trust what we read?

I would not forget to remember Prof. Suresh Pattanayak, Prof. Rupesh Kr. Tiwari and all faculty members for their unlisted encouragement and more over for their timely support and guidance till the completion of our project work. I heartily thank our internal project guide, Dr.R.S.Mohan, Dean , Department of Management, for his guidance and suggestions during this project work. I am extremely thankful to all those persons who have positively helped me and customers who respond my questionnaire, around whom the whole project cycle revolves.