Do You Think Advertising is a Necessary Evil?
Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, when people started producing goods for profit, advertising has come to play a vital part so that these goods and services reach their intended target market. Advertisement these days plays an important role, especially now that we have so many different companies offering the same products!
Why Advertising?
As a business owner you would want your business to grow, you would want more and more people to know about your products and services! That’s where advertising comes in! Advertisements help a business to make their products or services well known and attract more consumers. From a consumer’s perspective, advertisements help in giving information about various goods and products and in some ways it’s like a direct communication between the consumer and the producer.
Cons of Advertising
Advertising has several pros and cons! Perhaps the biggest con of advertising and the number one reason why most people think advertising is a necessary evil is that it costs a lot of money! And ultimately this cost is transferred to the consumer! So when you go to your local store to buy something, consider that almost fifty percent of the cost of a product goes into advertising.
Another con of advertising is that it taps into the subconscious of a person and makes people buy things they don’t need. And this is why many people consider advertisements as a mode of lying; glorifying products that most people don’t need and telling people that if they don’t buy that product they wouldn’t become a part of the “cool” crowd! Plus, many people consider that advertising just adds to corporate greed!
Pros of Advertising
Advertising helps spread information about new products and services and helps in raising the standard of living for people! Advertisements also help in increasing the sale of goods which helps in keeping the prices in check too. Also, you as a consumer get a variety of information about the products and services of competitors and advertisements can help you make the right choice!
Advertisements on the internet help websites earn revenue! In fact, most websites survive mainly with the revenue that third party advertisements generate for them. You might have seen these advertisements on Facebook, YouTube and other websites. These advertisements are the only reason that most websites continue to run and provide you with a free service!
It’s not possible to call advertisement a necessary evil because it offers several pros as well as cons at the same time. And despite the fact that it does involve a lot of money, in today’s world we can’t do without advertisement!