Shaping or Mirroring
Joo-Hyung Song(2011110104)
Shaping versus Mirroring
Studies undertaken by the Media Awareness Network estimate that on average, the typical North American will see 3000 ads per day (2010). ( http://www.nextstepmarketing.com.au/ articles/advertising/does-advertising-shape-or-mirror-society/) Current advertising's role in society is both shaping and mirroring.
However, now days advertisements are focusing more on shaping than mirroring. With the development of information technology including the internet, consumers are very well informed about products, ingredients, and materials that are good for them. Many times, consumers already have the knowledge needed to choose which product to buy without looking at advertisements. So for the companies to persuade consumers' to purchase their merchandizes they have to make consumers want(or need) their products. Shaping the social view on certain matters for the advantage of a certain company is very hard but if done properly it can be a very effective way to achieve higher sales.
For example, Korean advertisements are overly using idol groups for their advertisements. This is because a lot of Koreans set them as role models and try hard to look, talk, and act like them. The frequent usage of idol members in advertisements reflects our celebrity based teen cultures but it also further enhances the celebrity based cultures and make people into believing that in order to be popular or to look good they must be like the idols.
Another example of shaping of advertisement is insurance advertisements. Health insurance advertisements pick certain words that will make the viewers worry or even be scared about their state of health and repeat those words more than a hundred times in a single commercial. For example, a health insurance commercial on TV that covers cancer will use the word death, cancer, after death payment, and wrong statistics over and over again until the viewer either gets sick of the commercial and
Shaping versus Mirroring
Studies undertaken by the Media Awareness Network estimate that on average, the typical North American will see 3000 ads per day (2010). ( http://www.nextstepmarketing.com.au/ articles/advertising/does-advertising-shape-or-mirror-society/) Current advertising's role in society is both shaping and mirroring.
However, now days advertisements are focusing more on shaping than mirroring. With the development of information technology including the internet, consumers are very well informed about products, ingredients, and materials that are good for them. Many times, consumers already have the knowledge needed to choose which product to buy without looking at advertisements. So for the companies to persuade consumers' to purchase their merchandizes they have to make consumers want(or need) their products. Shaping the social view on certain matters for the advantage of a certain company is very hard but if done properly it can be a very effective way to achieve higher sales.
For example, Korean advertisements are overly using idol groups for their advertisements. This is because a lot of Koreans set them as role models and try hard to look, talk, and act like them. The frequent usage of idol members in advertisements reflects our celebrity based teen cultures but it also further enhances the celebrity based cultures and make people into believing that in order to be popular or to look good they must be like the idols.
Another example of shaping of advertisement is insurance advertisements. Health insurance advertisements pick certain words that will make the viewers worry or even be scared about their state of health and repeat those words more than a hundred times in a single commercial. For example, a health insurance commercial on TV that covers cancer will use the word death, cancer, after death payment, and wrong statistics over and over again until the viewer either gets sick of the commercial and