Short essay on Advertising as Mass Medium

Advertising has been the tool of businessmen for centuries, to assist them in selling of their goods.

As mass medium, it changes with changing markets, changing life styles, changing methods of distribution and changing techniques of communication.

In the process of communication through advertisements, advertiser is the sender, the people and the technology used are the channels, the regulatory agencies or pressure groups constitute both feedback and noise and consumers are the receivers.

Advertising has grown into an institution performing essential social and economic functions. The economic system of any country depends on the choices of the consumers. Through advertising, consumers are able to do much of their shopping before they ever leave home.

Advertising in general renders a useful service to society and its members. It disseminates information that indicates differences between brands of products and types of services as also the distinguishing characteristics of institutions and manufacturers.

Advertising serves as a powerful persuasive tool for the manufacturer creating a demand of his product. Many authors have argued that the power of advertising is so great that it deprives consumers of their discretion in the market place and makes it possible for suppliers to manage demand.

Advertising contains an element of persuasion. Even purely informative advertisements have all that is needed to persuade a reader or listener to buy the product.

It involves a recognition or belief on the part of the reader or listener that the advertised product will satisfy a need or desire. It interprets the hidden qualities of the product in terms of basic human desires.

Advertising communicates about a wide range of choices and facilitates the selection process. It increases consumption, raises standard of living and improves the quality of life of people. Thus it contributes to the development of the society.

Advertising also contributes substantially to consumer education. This is vital in a society where consumers enjoy great freedom in choosing what to buy. Advertising educates with the help of illustration, comparisons, literature, demonstration, etc.

Consumers choose the products they know and trust. Advertising as medium creates awareness and builds confidence in consumers. Thus advertising helps in making the economic system more responsive to consumer preferences. Ultimately it speeds up the process of resource allocation.

It stimulates the manufacturers to compete in presentation of their goods in advertisement in an innovative way.

Advertising affects the human values. Sometimes it creates wants for wrong things such as beer, liquor, cigarettes, chocolates etc. It creates value for luxuries. Thus people become dissatisfied with what they have.

They desire for things which are not within their reach. People tend to have things in excess and thus it contributes to the wastage of many things such as food items, appliances, clothes, furniture, cosmetics, etc.

Sandbag and Fryburger have rightly mentioned, “The Power of advertising is not that great. The audience’s predispositions, their attitudes, beliefs, motives, and values largely determine the media they select, the advertisements they see, the messages they accept, and the products they buy.

Instead of forcing a response, advertising elicits responses the audience was predisposed to make. Advertising succeeds when it gives people what they want.

Advertising as a medium is used for creating awareness about social problems. Advertising campaigns by government and social organizations dealing with importance of literacy, adult education, drug abuse, family planning etc., influence the thinking of the society and affect the consumption patterns of the consumers.

Advertisements on environment protection, save water, healthy living, correct way to use cooking gas, save electricity etc., contribute to the welfare of a nation by educating citizens about what is beneficial and to urge them to act to secure such benefits.

Advertising in India is performing a function of developing social conscience. An extensive application of advertising has been noticed in social services like, clean Ganga, donation of eyes, immunization, family planning, pollution, anti-drug addiction etc.

Nowadays advertising is playing a crucial role all over the world in educating, informing, inspiring and motivating layman on a number of social issues and themes with casual commercial activities.