Buy ology begins by diving into the psychology that lurks behind our true motives as to why we purchase the products that we do, even if they are lethal to our own health. An interesting point taken note of is the fact that the warnings on cigarette packages actually don’t rest cravings but stimulate them instead resulting in more harm than good.
One specific point made here is that we really don’t have the control that we think we do over what we are purchasing and that our brains are subliminally dictating what we purchase. I strongly disagree with his argument, although neuroimaging provides powerful support otherwise. Neuroimaging can pose many dangers and is not even completely understood quite yet, this link discusses some of the dangers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sak6i175akY. The idea that our brain is dictating so many of these choices totally goes against what humans possess as free will. This idea totally takes any accountability off the individual and babies people into thinking that it is not their fault. That is absolutely ridiculous to believe because each person has a free will and will power to change the fact that they smoke cigarettes or over eat. This kind of supporting evidence is exactly why the United States is single handedly the most obese nation. Our culture goes by the notion that it’s not your fault when in reality in many cases it is. We as Americans have chosen to lose grasp of the understanding of community, and we have chosen to get wrapped up in material goods because of the pulsation of advertisement and the media influence on our mass culture. We choose to drive places that are in walking distance and biking distance and this plays into why the obesity rate in this country is so high.
The text also provides the idea of product placement in movies and that through scanning presents evidence that only products that have a pivotal role in a movie are remembered and most others are thrown out. This is a strong point to make considering that companies dump millions into getting their products shown in movies. This is making the assumption that most of these product advertisements that are in movies are pointless and a waste of money. I find it hard to believe that the ads don’t mean anything with the amount of market research and money spent on these different ads. My question is does this research take into consideration that idea of repeated viewing or people who watch movies that appeal to them 3 or 4 times because they like them so much. I can’t imagine that the viewers that watch certain films multiple times don’t take note of a greater number of the advertisements.
Robert McLarney
Section 01
I agree with you personal accountability is ignored as a reason for consumerism. Even though marketing and advertising do have subliminal messaging it all depends on the person they attack. Advertising affects many people differently. Some people are unaffected by it, whereas other people go out and buy the first thing they see from an ad.
ReplyDeleteIn order to understand certain aspects of marketing we must see how they affect the individual within the mass culture. Although one person does not make a product successful, understanding the appeal may lie in how one person feels when they see the ad.
I believe that our society is definitely influenced in numerous ways when it comes to advertisements. For instance cigarette commercial or ads either cause people to desire them or think they are disgusting. I think it traces back to how people are raised as well. Depending on what an individual is exposed to throughout their life has a large influence on what becomes their weakness in the world of advertisement. Different products appeal to different people and advertisers are well aware of which audiences to target and how to manipulate that audience successfully.
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