Essay/Term paper: Hidden persuaders

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Expository Essays

HIDDEN PERSUADERS.

Why do we drink a certain kind of milk, use a certain kind of shampoo or buy a certain washing machine. Do we really have a choice in these decision or are we compelled to make them by some hidden force. When you look at all the brands of milk powder available today the fingers in your hand wouldn"t be enough to count them. We have to make a decision on which brand to choose. The question is what is the basis on which this choice will be made on. Most of the time the product you get packed in different packets under different brand names are the same thing. Because of this the different produces have to use some method to tell the consumer that their product is better and that we should buy their product.

To achieve this purpose the produces use Advertising. Advertising was needed only when several manufactures started manufacturing the same product or when a manufacturer produces something that is not essential for a person.

At the beginning advertisements gave the plus points of a product and showed how it can help a person in everyday life. This was good because the people got to know what they could buy to make life easier. At this time what advertising did was to say that this product is available it can make your life easier so if you want to buy it. as time went by and more competitors came along the advertisers turned to another method of advertising they started making advertisements which were aimed at the subconscious. They started making mothers fell guilty for not giving their child a certain brand of milk. This was done by showing that the best mother in the world acted by some beautiful model gives her children that brand of milk. The children are showed to be happy and lively and the mother asks here audience "Why don"t you give your child Nespray and make him grow healthier. By doing this they make the mothers guilty for not giving their child this brand of milk. So they are compelled to buying that brand of milk by the advertisement. This is not because the child wants it but because the mother wants to remover her guilty conscious. This milk may be just the same as any other milk in the market and contain the same nutrients and be more expensive than the other similar milk but the mother will find the extra money to buy this kind.

Another method the advertisers use is the promise of happiness. They portray sad people who become happy when they get some product. These advertisements are aimed at people who are worried about some thing or teenagers who are constantly looking for ways to have fun. A good example for these adds are the Coca Cola adds. They portray highly energised people jumping about, dancing and having fun. Then they show them with a Coke bottle. This make the watcher want to try to have the fun shown in the advertisement. They nearly subconsciously buy the products.

Advertisements not only make us buy thing but shape our lives to the way they our now. They portray people who have different hair styles or clothing styles which become fashion trends and everyone starts following that style. They show very nice young girls being attracted by some product for men and when having this product people are made to think that they could get around girls.

We are bombarded by hundreds of advertisements daily. These advertisements show us what we should eat and drink to look nice and be healthy. They tell us what car should be driven to look nice. What razor we should use to shave to get a shave like the person in the add who attracts beautiful women towards him. What radio station we should tune into to get the music that will make you happy. The advertisers show you products which are new inventions and adds something you like to the picture and tells you that you can"t live without it this persuades people into buying these things. They might have no particular use for the item they purchase but they buy it to satisfy their mind.

The advertiser has become a person who plays with your mind and alters your likes and dislikes. The new wave of advertising has started aiming at the subconscious mind by that changing how people think. They have become the god of the Greeks who made people do things. They are the HIDDEN PURSUADERS.