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Isn't that the primary goal of most advertising? To create a dissatisfaction in people in such a way that they're driven to buy your product in an attempt to fi

by banads 7y ago

Isn't that the primary goal of most advertising? To create a dissatisfaction in people in such a way that they're driven to buy your product in an attempt to fill that void?

Juliate 7y ago
It is.
nck4222 7y ago
That question is addressed in the article: "Their line is that advertising is trying to expose the public to new and exciting things to buy, and their task is to simply provide information, and in that way they raise human well-being. But the alternative argument, which goes back to Thorstein Veblen and others, is that exposing people to a lot of advertising raises their aspirations—and makes them feel that their own lives, achievements, belongings, and experiences are inadequate. This study supports the negative view, not the positive one."
- banads 7y ago
  I guess I just think it's funny that we need scientific studies for blatantly disingenuous claims: "their task is to simply provide information and in that way they raise human well-being." It's like doing a scientific study on the common claim of advertisers that "the internet would not exist without advertising".
  - nck4222 7y ago
    The research wasn't done to test a "blatantly disingenuous" claim, it was done to determine the effect of advertising on mood. They're able to quantify how much of an effect it has on happiness as well. "Our analysis shows that if you doubled advertising spending, it would result in a 3% drop in life satisfaction. That’s about half the drop in life satisfaction you’d see in a person who had gotten divorced or about one-third the drop you’d see in someone who’d become unemployed." That's a pretty significant amount, and if confirmed could certainly be used as an argument to regulate advertising, or a way for therapists to help improve the lives of their patients, or in many additional ways I haven't thought of in the 30 seconds I've spent thinking about it. I wouldn't be so quick to be dismissive of "blatantly obvious" scientific studies.
    - banads 7y ago
      You're right, this could be a useful statistic to use in an argument, especially to data driven people, like advertisers themselves.
- deogeo 7y ago
  > their task is to simply provide information Hilarious, when advertisements provide so incredibly little information, except how the product looks when held by attractive people, or driven by them along empty roads. And what little information they do provide, comes in tiny font after an asterisk at the bottom of the ad, that they were legally forced to include.
- speeder 7y ago
  I am currently working with marketing. But I am happy I actually DO give information... My job consists of finding what people need (not want, but literally need), and tell them we can provide it. Usually people that call the company where I work, thank us for having the product and the ads, sometimes they say they searched for days and then found our ads. That said... we sell industrial parts, mostly for the maintenance of existing machines, so it is easy to not have any ethical trap... But it is not THAT profitable either... (just for comparison: I know a guy that works filming TV ads, and he said politicians pay for 30 second ads to his company, the same income my company has for several months summed...)
  - kaybe 7y ago
    Thank you, this kind of advertisement is the one kind that is actually useful and needed. Search engines etc are a surprisingly bad way to find these kind of products (if you even realize it exists and can describe it).
cowmoo728 7y ago
Advertising used to be about listing the benefits of the product. Edward Bernays turned that on its head and made it about molding the public's psyche to make them see material goods as a form of identity, i.e. independent women who exercise their right to vote demonstrate their independence by publicly smoking cigarettes. > Bernays touted the idea that the "masses" are driven by factors outside their conscious understanding, and therefore that their minds can and should be manipulated by the capable few. "Intelligent men must realize that propaganda is the modern instrument by which they can fight for productive ends and help to bring order out of chaos." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
- JohnFen 7y ago
  And here lies the rotten and corrupted core of modern advertising.
joshuaheard 7y ago
Yes, advertising creates a tension by creating needs. Excessive tension creates stress, which leads to unhappiness.
vanderZwan 7y ago
Honestly, I think the researchers are being much too diplomatic when marketing people have been quite open about how, for example, they manage to sell more toys by teaching children to nag their parents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMDPql6rweo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMDPql6rweo
Groxx 7y ago
In practice: probably, yea. In principle: not necessarily? Needs and dissatisfaction can be pre-existing, but advertising is basically the only effective way for people to find out that options exist.

by banads 7y ago

Isn't that the primary goal of most advertising? To create a dissatisfaction in people in such a way that they're driven to buy your product in an attempt to fill that void?

Juliate 7y ago

It is.

nck4222 7y ago

That question is addressed in the article: "Their line is that advertising is trying to expose the public to new and exciting things to buy, and their task is to simply provide information, and in that way they raise human well-being. But the alternative argument, which goes back to Thorstein Veblen and others, is that exposing people to a lot of advertising raises their aspirations—and makes them feel that their own lives, achievements, belongings, and experiences are inadequate. This study supports the negative view, not the positive one."

banads 7y ago
I guess I just think it's funny that we need scientific studies for blatantly disingenuous claims: "their task is to simply provide information and in that way they raise human well-being." It's like doing a scientific study on the common claim of advertisers that "the internet would not exist without advertising".
- nck4222 7y ago
  The research wasn't done to test a "blatantly disingenuous" claim, it was done to determine the effect of advertising on mood. They're able to quantify how much of an effect it has on happiness as well. "Our analysis shows that if you doubled advertising spending, it would result in a 3% drop in life satisfaction. That’s about half the drop in life satisfaction you’d see in a person who had gotten divorced or about one-third the drop you’d see in someone who’d become unemployed." That's a pretty significant amount, and if confirmed could certainly be used as an argument to regulate advertising, or a way for therapists to help improve the lives of their patients, or in many additional ways I haven't thought of in the 30 seconds I've spent thinking about it. I wouldn't be so quick to be dismissive of "blatantly obvious" scientific studies.
  - banads 7y ago
    You're right, this could be a useful statistic to use in an argument, especially to data driven people, like advertisers themselves.
deogeo 7y ago
> their task is to simply provide information Hilarious, when advertisements provide so incredibly little information, except how the product looks when held by attractive people, or driven by them along empty roads. And what little information they do provide, comes in tiny font after an asterisk at the bottom of the ad, that they were legally forced to include.
speeder 7y ago
I am currently working with marketing. But I am happy I actually DO give information... My job consists of finding what people need (not want, but literally need), and tell them we can provide it. Usually people that call the company where I work, thank us for having the product and the ads, sometimes they say they searched for days and then found our ads. That said... we sell industrial parts, mostly for the maintenance of existing machines, so it is easy to not have any ethical trap... But it is not THAT profitable either... (just for comparison: I know a guy that works filming TV ads, and he said politicians pay for 30 second ads to his company, the same income my company has for several months summed...)
- kaybe 7y ago
  Thank you, this kind of advertisement is the one kind that is actually useful and needed. Search engines etc are a surprisingly bad way to find these kind of products (if you even realize it exists and can describe it).

cowmoo728 7y ago

Advertising used to be about listing the benefits of the product. Edward Bernays turned that on its head and made it about molding the public's psyche to make them see material goods as a form of identity, i.e. independent women who exercise their right to vote demonstrate their independence by publicly smoking cigarettes. > Bernays touted the idea that the "masses" are driven by factors outside their conscious understanding, and therefore that their minds can and should be manipulated by the capable few. "Intelligent men must realize that propaganda is the modern instrument by which they can fight for productive ends and help to bring order out of chaos." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

JohnFen 7y ago
And here lies the rotten and corrupted core of modern advertising.

joshuaheard 7y ago

Yes, advertising creates a tension by creating needs. Excessive tension creates stress, which leads to unhappiness.

vanderZwan 7y ago

Honestly, I think the researchers are being much too diplomatic when marketing people have been quite open about how, for example, they manage to sell more toys by teaching children to nag their parents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMDPql6rweo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMDPql6rweo

Groxx 7y ago

In practice: probably, yea. In principle: not necessarily? Needs and dissatisfaction can be pre-existing, but advertising is basically the only effective way for people to find out that options exist.