We are all surrounded by ads. Everywhere we go we see ads in different shapes, sizes and forms. We see them on TV, on our smartphones and other mobile gadgets. We also see them on newspapers, magazines, billboards and almost everywhere. We can even see advertisement posters on doors of public comfort rooms. In other words, ads are ubiquitous.
It seems ironic to think that we often dismiss these ads while we regard them as a mere nuisance. But, little did we realize just how profound these ads impact our brain. Although we think of advertisements as distractions or interruptions, do you know that they can have the power to manipulate your brain? Not to mention the agony that it gives you while you wait for that “Skip Ads” button to activate when you’re watching YouTube.
These Marketing Ads Influence Our Buying Decisions
However, not all people agree with the fact that ads do influence the brain in many ways. This is because people would want to believe that they are in complete control of their buying decisions and that they are not merely influenced by those mere 30 seconders that often appear on their mobile gadgets. These ads were designed to create a lasting and persisting impression to humans. Don’t you ever wonder why ads can have the power to either make or break a newly introduced product to the public? These ads have always been successful at creating memories in the minds of many people. Whether these memories are good or bad, it is all up to the viewers’ how they perceive such product, but then again, based on what they see in its advertisement. These ads are also successful in eliciting emotional responses from us. And, these emotional responses indeed can also impact how we perceive the product while also influencing our buying decisions.
Ads Are Created for Those Who Have the Money to Spend
Advertisements are created because companies want their target market to buy it. This is perhaps the most obvious purpose of ads. These ads are not just created for an individual who hardly has the money to buy. But, instead, they are designed to attract the rich and not just any other ordinary “Joe.” But, why? Wealthy people only make up a small percentage of the population. Rich people are the ones who got plenty of money to splurge on something even for the ones that they don’t need. Once they liked the product right after seeing it from the ads, they immediately buy it. After all, its amount will only have a minimal effect on their bank account.
Buying What Our Hearts Desire NOT What Our Pockets Can Afford
We often see people and things on ads that we mostly cannot afford. One ad shows a beautiful sexy woman lying on a huge Cleopatra sofa. She’s wearing a red, obviously expensive dress. Her heels are sparkling, and so is the smartphone in her hands. In other words, that woman in the ads portrays an image of a person living with a kind of lifestyle that many of us find impossible to afford. But, you as the viewer will see yourself hoping and wishing that one day you can afford such things. In other words, that specific ad has left a mark on your heart and mind. Every day, you work hard with the hope of being able to buy what you have seen on the ads. Psychologists refer to this as "referencing."
How Marketing Ads Make You Feel Poor or Rich
People reference either unintentionally or intentionally their lifestyles to the ones they’ve seen on advertisements. Although they may not notice it right away, this referencing can be so subtle that you will not notice yourself slowly creating a vision of your self in that same situation or place depicted in the ads. Then, people will make changes to their behavior so that it would be aligned with their vision of that “woman wearing a red dress.” But, as soon as people realize that what they’re trying to envision is something that is way too expensive for them to afford, they resort to borrowing huge amounts of money and be debt-saddled for life. Others continue to live with that vision on their minds while at the same time feeling utterly poor to afford such things. They think of themselves as very poor, as they reference themselves to the ones they see in the ads. In other words, these ads do have the power to affect how you feel and how you view happiness.
The Consequences of Debts
The sad thing about being lured by these ads is the fact that it leads people to keep on buying. These ads make people want to buy more to the extent of making them debt-saddled for years. Unfortunately, it is so hard to get out of the vicious cycle of buying and borrowing. This is true especially if an individual's desire to keep on buying things does not seem to go away. Besides, it is so hard to resist your urge to buy when those ads are everywhere. These ads continuously remind you what you do not have yet and what you still need to buy. Thus, the cycle of borrowing and buying will always remain.
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