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Anyone who has found out about a useful product through advertising that you wouldn’t have know about otherwise, purchased it, and been pleased with your purcha

Anyone who has found out about a useful product through advertising that you wouldn’t have know about otherwise, purchased it, and been pleased with your purchase, raise your hand. Anyone? This whole “advertising is useful” thing sounds like the spherical cow of marketing to me. It might make sense in abstract but it doesn’t reflect reality.

charcircuit 2y ago
There's several games I've enjoyed from seeing ads for them. I would have never seemed them out on my own.
milesrout 2y ago
Yes, happens often. Plus all the products that have been recommended by (a friend that became aware of them through)+ advertising. And all the products that only exist because of advertising. Also: sales. I have bought things in sales that I would not have bought otherwise (because its value to me is higher than the sale price but lower than the normal price) where I was only aware of the sales from ads.
mindwok 2y ago
Many people, otherwise advertising wouldn’t work at all and the industry wouldn’t exist. Even if you hear it via some other source, they may have heard of it via some form of advertising.
- wat10000 2y ago
  That doesn’t follow. Most advertising exists to make you more likely to buy the product, not merely to inform you that it exists.
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    one follows the other though, no? how can you make me buy something if I’ve never heard of you?
    - wat10000 2y ago
      Sure, if nobody has ever heard of you then making them aware of you is a necessary step in making them more likely to buy your stuff. But that doesn’t mean it’s a major benefit of advertising. There are plenty of other ways to discover products, and most advertising is done by established brands to people who already know about them. How much advertising do Apple, Coca-Cola, Toyota, etc. do? How many people are unaware that their products exist?
      - bdangubic 2y ago
        actually discussed them - here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43595269#43598451 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43595269#43598451
anigbrowl 2y ago
It is useful in specialist domains. If you love fashion then fashion magazine ads are worth studying, because you read them with a critical eye. If you're into any sort of nerd hobby (model trains, synthesizers, board games...) then the specialist magazines/video channels/forums for that hobby are interesting, again because you have a critical eye. Sure, there are ads that target the newbie with 'the first and last ______ you'll ever need!' but as you get more experienced in the hobby you quickly learn to distinguish which manufacturers are selling the dream vs offering their product. This remains true even on forums for particular vendors that have a cult following. Likewise for many professional trade news outlets. But it only works where you have specialized focus and experienced/informed consumers that are able to separate the sizzle from the steak. For example, doctors and other medical professionals are generally well qualified to assess the claims of pharmaceutical advertising, consumers are not - even though I am comfortable reading the fine print in such ads and even reading papers about clinical trials, I still rate my evaluative ability as mediocre compared to a professional. Mass market advertising for general consumers is generally cancer, imho.
- wat10000 2y ago
  I think we should separate ads that people seek out from ads that people put up with. They’re very different in purpose and effect. When the ad is the thing you actually want to see, I have no problem with it. The issue is ads that you’d rather not see, but are either attached to something you do want to see, or are placed where you have no choice.
gameman144 2y ago
I'd be happy to give an example I gave below: rake hands. I hate the step after raking where you have to use the rake and one hand to carry the leaves to the bin. There was an ad for "rake hands" where you just hold a small hand-formed rake in each hand and scoop them both. Twenty bucks, vastly improved yardwork experience, and I would have literally never thought to look for something like that.
therealdrag0 2y ago
My hand is raised
ninalanyon 2y ago
I can think of one such case in my life and I'm 69 years old. That's not enough to warrant the amount of advertising we are bombarded with.

charcircuit 2y ago

There's several games I've enjoyed from seeing ads for them. I would have never seemed them out on my own.

milesrout 2y ago

Yes, happens often. Plus all the products that have been recommended by (a friend that became aware of them through)+ advertising. And all the products that only exist because of advertising. Also: sales. I have bought things in sales that I would not have bought otherwise (because its value to me is higher than the sale price but lower than the normal price) where I was only aware of the sales from ads.

mindwok 2y ago

Many people, otherwise advertising wouldn’t work at all and the industry wouldn’t exist. Even if you hear it via some other source, they may have heard of it via some form of advertising.

wat10000 2y ago
That doesn’t follow. Most advertising exists to make you more likely to buy the product, not merely to inform you that it exists.
- bdangubic 2y ago
  one follows the other though, no? how can you make me buy something if I’ve never heard of you?
  - wat10000 2y ago
    Sure, if nobody has ever heard of you then making them aware of you is a necessary step in making them more likely to buy your stuff. But that doesn’t mean it’s a major benefit of advertising. There are plenty of other ways to discover products, and most advertising is done by established brands to people who already know about them. How much advertising do Apple, Coca-Cola, Toyota, etc. do? How many people are unaware that their products exist?
    - bdangubic 2y ago
      actually discussed them - here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43595269#43598451 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43595269#43598451

anigbrowl 2y ago

It is useful in specialist domains. If you love fashion then fashion magazine ads are worth studying, because you read them with a critical eye. If you're into any sort of nerd hobby (model trains, synthesizers, board games...) then the specialist magazines/video channels/forums for that hobby are interesting, again because you have a critical eye. Sure, there are ads that target the newbie with 'the first and last ______ you'll ever need!' but as you get more experienced in the hobby you quickly learn to distinguish which manufacturers are selling the dream vs offering their product. This remains true even on forums for particular vendors that have a cult following. Likewise for many professional trade news outlets. But it only works where you have specialized focus and experienced/informed consumers that are able to separate the sizzle from the steak. For example, doctors and other medical professionals are generally well qualified to assess the claims of pharmaceutical advertising, consumers are not - even though I am comfortable reading the fine print in such ads and even reading papers about clinical trials, I still rate my evaluative ability as mediocre compared to a professional. Mass market advertising for general consumers is generally cancer, imho.

wat10000 2y ago
I think we should separate ads that people seek out from ads that people put up with. They’re very different in purpose and effect. When the ad is the thing you actually want to see, I have no problem with it. The issue is ads that you’d rather not see, but are either attached to something you do want to see, or are placed where you have no choice.

gameman144 2y ago

I'd be happy to give an example I gave below: rake hands. I hate the step after raking where you have to use the rake and one hand to carry the leaves to the bin. There was an ad for "rake hands" where you just hold a small hand-formed rake in each hand and scoop them both. Twenty bucks, vastly improved yardwork experience, and I would have literally never thought to look for something like that.

therealdrag0 2y ago

My hand is raised

ninalanyon 2y ago

I can think of one such case in my life and I'm 69 years old. That's not enough to warrant the amount of advertising we are bombarded with.