4 ms·

So .. are you saying those companies are wasting their money by producing advertisements? Maybe you should inform them that they could be saving money by not pu

So .. are you saying those companies are wasting their money by producing advertisements? Maybe you should inform them that they could be saving money by not putting effort into producing those ads.

mindcrime 7y ago
They may very well be. It's a pretty well known issue in the field that it is very hard for firms to definitively attribute any specific revenue increase to their promotion efforts. It may be that all the ads are doing is reinforcing preexisting biases, and not inducing any new demand.
- paulryanrogers 7y ago
  The impact of Edward Bernays' work seems to indicate marketing can change biases.
  - mindcrime 7y ago
    Maybe so, but that's still pretty far from where this line of discussion started, which (as I interpreted it anyway) was the idea that ads can compel you to desire something that you really don't want to desire. I'm not saying ads are totally wholesome and good, and made of puppies and sunshine and rainbows or anything, mind you. I'm just skeptical of the degree of power that some people seem to attribute to advertising. To hear some people talk ads are just short of "Manchurian Candidate" level brain-washing.
- maxdamantus 7y ago
  Even if it is just a case of "reinforcing preexisting biases" (I don't think it is), I think it should be highly questionable when companies are spending money/time to maintain those biases of the population. It's not like the vast majority of ads encourage some rational thinking about a product. It's just some content that someone is paying you to watch.
roenxi 7y ago
You have to learn about KFC or powerade for the first time somehow. I, for example, don't think I've ever drunk powerade or gone in to KFC in living memory. I wouldn't even know that the C stands for Chicken except for their extremely effective global advertising. The birth rate in the US is something like 8 persons/minute of which presumably at least one 1 would be very happy to eat KFC and drink powerade. They are a good target for advertising, as well as people who are borderline about where they eat today. There was an xkcd comic that really summed this idea up well. There is population turnover. Just because you know what everyone knows doesn't mean the new entrants to the world do - they have to learn from somewhere. Advertising makes sure it happens. I can vouch that it is working well for me even though I don't eat fried chicken.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

So .. are you saying those companies are wasting their money by producing advertisements? Maybe you should inform them that they could be saving money by not putting effort into producing those ads.

mindcrime 7y ago

They may very well be. It's a pretty well known issue in the field that it is very hard for firms to definitively attribute any specific revenue increase to their promotion efforts. It may be that all the ads are doing is reinforcing preexisting biases, and not inducing any new demand.

paulryanrogers 7y ago
The impact of Edward Bernays' work seems to indicate marketing can change biases.
- mindcrime 7y ago
  Maybe so, but that's still pretty far from where this line of discussion started, which (as I interpreted it anyway) was the idea that ads can compel you to desire something that you really don't want to desire. I'm not saying ads are totally wholesome and good, and made of puppies and sunshine and rainbows or anything, mind you. I'm just skeptical of the degree of power that some people seem to attribute to advertising. To hear some people talk ads are just short of "Manchurian Candidate" level brain-washing.
maxdamantus 7y ago
Even if it is just a case of "reinforcing preexisting biases" (I don't think it is), I think it should be highly questionable when companies are spending money/time to maintain those biases of the population. It's not like the vast majority of ads encourage some rational thinking about a product. It's just some content that someone is paying you to watch.

roenxi 7y ago

You have to learn about KFC or powerade for the first time somehow. I, for example, don't think I've ever drunk powerade or gone in to KFC in living memory. I wouldn't even know that the C stands for Chicken except for their extremely effective global advertising. The birth rate in the US is something like 8 persons/minute of which presumably at least one 1 would be very happy to eat KFC and drink powerade. They are a good target for advertising, as well as people who are borderline about where they eat today. There was an xkcd comic that really summed this idea up well. There is population turnover. Just because you know what everyone knows doesn't mean the new entrants to the world do - they have to learn from somewhere. Advertising makes sure it happens. I can vouch that it is working well for me even though I don't eat fried chicken.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]