Page 27 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

| Advert s ng and Persuas on

global. As a mode of communication, it employs powerful persuasive strategies
designed to convince viewers, readers, and audiences of all media that purchas-
ing products will make them popular, relieve their anxiety, and gratify almost any
need. As an aesthetic form, it has been called the art of capitalism, and because of
the emotional techniques it often employs, it has been condemned as manipula-
tive and psychologically harmful. Advertising continues to penetrate public space
and find new distribution sources with each new, popular media format, and the
debate over advertising’s influence on society and culture is continually renewed.
With economies of scale, for over a century industrial capitalism has been able
to manufacture and deliver commodities to world markets on an unprecedented
scale, with Americans comprising the largest market for world goods. The avail-
ability of such a quantity of products demands rapid distribution in retail outlets,
from high-end department stores to the expanding box stores that now pock
the county’s landscape. Products must be sold to consumers whose spending
consistently outstrips their income, and desire to purchase more products must
be continually stimulated. Advertising brings together media and marketing re-
search, extraordinary creative talent and vast audiovisual resources including
new computer-based digital technologies, all with the purposes of selling the
commodities capitalism has to offer.

sTraTEgiEs oF PErsuasion

Often the material differences that distinguish one product from its com-
petitor are slight, and marketers understand that relying simply on product
information is not an effective way to instill desire for products. In today’s ad-
vertisements, the psychological and emotional strategies of persuasion are re-
ferred to as the “soft” sell, and they vary greatly from one commercial campaign
to another, but many are familiar as recognizable standards.

Celebrity Endorsements and Brand Identity
The celebrity pitch is ever popular because audiences admire the glamour and
often trust those they have come to know through popular media. Products en-
dorsed or used by the familiar faces on TV and in magazines are effective ways
of compelling consumers to buy more things. If Michael Jordan likes Nike, and
sports fans like Michael Jordan, then those fans will be more inclined to want
the products he uses. Behind simple admiration is also the implied promise that
sports gear of a particular brand will increase the consumer’s chances of better
performance. “Liking sports” also becomes a consumer identity, and wearing
certain sports gear distinguishes the consumer as a sports fan. Brands associ-
ated with particular players and teams further refine these cultural signifiers of
identity. In this way, sports clothing of all sorts becomes equally important as a
cultural communicator and not just an item of apparel. As a form of symbolic
communication, sports gear is worn as much for style as for athletic activity.
As products move further away from materiality, and exist as cultural symbols,
“style over substance” becomes a quality of consumer culture.