Today the high sales of popular consumer goods reflect the power of advertising and not the real needs of the society in which they are sold.To what extent do you agree or disagree?Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Today, with a significant increase in the number of producers for various goods, not only do buyers have difficulty choosing favourable products but also competition between producers to persuade consumers has been become hard and serious. Therefore advertisements play a key role in today’s marketing and so some people believe that power of advertisements is the major incentive for the market growth of buying popular consumer products and necessary needs of buyers are not very important. I agree with this opinion to some extent but I think the main reason for these increase of sale is people’s necessity, not advertisements.
On the one hand, producers apply various methods to market their products for consumers. These days, if you see carefully around yourself, you will face tempting advertising slogan on a billboard on streets, on different types of media that surround you and want to induce you to choose their goods. Companies spend a lot of money advertising the products and they use celebrities and famous people to bring their favours into their stories. These methods have been successful in some cases, especially for affluent people who want to be in fashion and able to afford the luxurious goods such as houses, cars and jewellery. So this success is held in a limited circle.
On the other hand, an intensive growth of sales of people’s main consumer products is as a result of increasing their needs to them. The role of advertisement in this area is confined to help the buyer choose the best products and not persuade them to buy unnecessary goods. When it comes to vital goods of living, people whether rich or poor do not pay attention to advertising messages that how much or many of these goods they buy.
In conclusion, I think that is true the power of advertisement can make people buy their products but this power is limited to rich people and also unnecessary consumer goods so that the real needs of the society dictate the rate of sales.
Alternative Answer:
In this contemporary world, if the company wants to survive, they need income which can be brought by selling their goods. They use electronic media and newspapers as a medium of communication between them and consumers. It is also the responsibility of the consumers to think once or twice before buying the product for themselves. It is completely left to the customer opinion, as he has the right to choose. So, to some extent, I agree with the statement given in the question.
Firstly, from company’s perspective side who makes the commodity, products are advertised everywhere on roads using flexies, the internet and other electronic media. They try to entice the customer by using cine stars, actress, singers to advertise their product or by giving special offers, weekend offers etc, rather than highlighting the quality of the product. Sometimes they do not show the drawbacks of the commodity such as the material used, warranty, durability etc. Some sales websites such as Flipkart, Amazon, snapdeal, try to attract customers.
Secondly, from consumers’ perspective, customers have their own habits in buying the product. Only a few customers get attention towards product and their advertisement rather seeing the quality of the product and its Brand. Most of the customers do their own survey before buying items. Suppose if the person wants to buy a mobile, he compares the performance of the gadget with other gadgets, he takes ratings into consideration, experts view and from their opinion, he will buy the gadget. In addition to that, customers take the Brand into account and don’t bother about any star acting in that advertisement.
In conclusion, it is neither possible to blame the customer nor the advertisement. Advertisements act as one way to communicate with customers and get their opinion. But it is also the responsibility of consumers before buying the product and think whether it is useful to them or not. If they have enough income, doesn’t mean they spend it lavishly, irrespective of that everybody has the freedom to think. So use it appropriately.