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Ads serve several functions: 1. Inform the consumer that certain offering exists. If someone invents a new superior type of coffee maker, they should let peopl

by smsm42 6y ago

Ads serve several functions: 1. Inform the consumer that certain offering exists. If someone invents a new superior type of coffee maker, they should let people know that there's now an option to make their coffee in a better way. There's nothing unethical in that. Of course, you can invent something like cigarettes, which people would be better without, but most inventions aren't like that. 2. Inform consumer that certain provider exists. I.e. if you have 20 coffee maker vendors, all alike, then when a customer goes to buy a coffee maker, they would tend to choose one they heard something good about, thus brand promotion and celebrity endorsements. This _might_ be somewhat unethical if inferior product is promoted with superior ones available, but usually there is enough offerings of similar quality that this is pretty neutral. Sometimes also something good comes out of it when companies sponsor worthy causes to get attention. 3. Associate the offering in consumer's mind with something positive and desirable. This one may be the ethically questionable one, as usually the association is completely bogus and is not based on any actual qualities of the offering but only on unsubstantiated claims of the advertiser that consuming the offering makes the customer "a kind of person" they want themselves to be. This is the kind that gives advertising the bad rep. But most online ads are actually not of this kind - it's just much harder to make such kinds of ads as a small banner.

silveroriole 6y ago
You don’t need product adverts for ‘ethical’ functions 1 and 2. Honest aggregators and reviewers which the buyer can seek out when they need something would fulfil that. I think that would also be much more convenient for the buyer (though obviously not for the seller, who wants to invent needs in people who otherwise wouldn’t think of buying anything).
- jan_Inkepa 6y ago
  I’ve had some experiences getting hungry while visiting unfamiliar city centres pre-smartphone and wishing there was more public advertising of restaurants. That is to say, there’s definitely some minimal amount of advertising that I apparently want in my life. If you don’t rely on advertising (speaking directly to possible customers) then you have to work with journalists other middle-men, whose tastes might not reflect those of your customers, or you have for a network to build, which might be too slow. Possible grateful future customers loose out here too.
  - Jochim 6y ago
    In what way do the aggregators/reviewers not solve that issue for you though? If I see a place that has 100+ 5 stars on tripadvisor/yelp I'm much more likely to go than if I see an advertisement, because at that point I know a reasonable number of actual people have gone and liked the experience. I typically dismiss any claims an advert makes as total bullshit because adverts are lying to you the majority of the time. In the case of a restaurant it might work if you're advertising that you're newly opened, but otherwise I'm wondering why people aren't being pulled in when they look on sites like tripadvisor/yelp.
- smsm42 6y ago
  You don't "need" ads, as in there are other ways to do it, if there was some reason to never use ads. But there's no reason, so ads are used too, and are quite effective in that too. And it won't be convenient for a buyer that doesn't know certain offering exists. I.e. if I don't know such thing as wireless headphones existed, I couldn't effectively look it up and seek reviews for it - somebody should tell me first - dude, did you know you can get rid of those annoying wires and just buy wireless ones? Now, did I "need" them? Strictly speaking, no - I could very well have lived all my life with wired ones and be fine. But wireless are better for me, so why should I resent someone who tries to sell them to me? For me, it's a win-win.
deleted 6y ago
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Jochim 6y ago
In response to 3. I'd argue it's a much bigger factor than we'd think. Instagram as a platform is now based almost entirely around influencers creating an idealised and unattainable representation of a lifestyle and then selling ad space for your product to be seen as part of that lifestyle. All social media enables/encourages this to a certain degree and I think the personal touch and reach that individuals give to the products they promote is potentially far more subtle and harmful than the banner ads we typically think of as problematic.

by smsm42 6y ago

silveroriole 6y ago

You don’t need product adverts for ‘ethical’ functions 1 and 2. Honest aggregators and reviewers which the buyer can seek out when they need something would fulfil that. I think that would also be much more convenient for the buyer (though obviously not for the seller, who wants to invent needs in people who otherwise wouldn’t think of buying anything).

jan_Inkepa 6y ago
I’ve had some experiences getting hungry while visiting unfamiliar city centres pre-smartphone and wishing there was more public advertising of restaurants. That is to say, there’s definitely some minimal amount of advertising that I apparently want in my life. If you don’t rely on advertising (speaking directly to possible customers) then you have to work with journalists other middle-men, whose tastes might not reflect those of your customers, or you have for a network to build, which might be too slow. Possible grateful future customers loose out here too.
- Jochim 6y ago
  In what way do the aggregators/reviewers not solve that issue for you though? If I see a place that has 100+ 5 stars on tripadvisor/yelp I'm much more likely to go than if I see an advertisement, because at that point I know a reasonable number of actual people have gone and liked the experience. I typically dismiss any claims an advert makes as total bullshit because adverts are lying to you the majority of the time. In the case of a restaurant it might work if you're advertising that you're newly opened, but otherwise I'm wondering why people aren't being pulled in when they look on sites like tripadvisor/yelp.
smsm42 6y ago
You don't "need" ads, as in there are other ways to do it, if there was some reason to never use ads. But there's no reason, so ads are used too, and are quite effective in that too. And it won't be convenient for a buyer that doesn't know certain offering exists. I.e. if I don't know such thing as wireless headphones existed, I couldn't effectively look it up and seek reviews for it - somebody should tell me first - dude, did you know you can get rid of those annoying wires and just buy wireless ones? Now, did I "need" them? Strictly speaking, no - I could very well have lived all my life with wired ones and be fine. But wireless are better for me, so why should I resent someone who tries to sell them to me? For me, it's a win-win.

deleted 6y ago

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Jochim 6y ago

In response to 3. I'd argue it's a much bigger factor than we'd think. Instagram as a platform is now based almost entirely around influencers creating an idealised and unattainable representation of a lifestyle and then selling ad space for your product to be seen as part of that lifestyle. All social media enables/encourages this to a certain degree and I think the personal touch and reach that individuals give to the products they promote is potentially far more subtle and harmful than the banner ads we typically think of as problematic.