Advertising and its effects on mental health.
Advertising is omnipresent. It is so well infused in our day-to-day life that we restore the details without even trying. We mindless scroll through social media for hours and we don’t realize how many ads we’ve gone through, how many product details we have retained in our mind.
Advertising has both positive and negative impacts based on the quality, presentation and content of the advertisement.
Positive
- Source of information: Advertisers who chose to advertise based on product attributes provide information about the benefits of the product. Also, ads that are public service announcements, introduce innovative technology and milestones are a good learning opportunity.
- Health and hygiene: Certain advertisement prompt healthy eating, some promote the importance of hygiene which help inculcate good habits.
- Motivation: Ads may be encouraging to pursue a career or profession as well as engage in activities that are healthy and beneficial. They promote empathy and a sense of social duty that may awaken people to help others.
Negative
- Manipulative: Advertisements make people believe they need a product. The basic aim of an advertisement is to fuel desire. People are made to feel inferior, like there is something wrong with them that can be fixed with the product being advertised.
- Misleading: Advertisements distort reality and exaggerate information. As advertisements are open to interpretation, advertisers use their creative license for their own good.
- Deceptive: False imaging, flashy and unrealistic scenarios, sexual objectification are all used to deceive customers into buying the products. Advertisers have blurred the line between reel and real.
Advertisements subconsciously affect the buying behavior, lifestyle and desires of people. Consuming the content is inevitable but one should not give in without knowing the whole truth,