PBS Frontline's "Growing Up Online" reminded me of all the arguments my parents and I used to have about the Internet growing up. I believe that the Internet can be a potentially scary and dangerous place if you allow it to be. It also has granted younger and younger children access to a range of things that they would normally not be introduced to until they were much older. However, Fronline portrayed the very dramatic aspects of the world wide web and its consequences. It showed the effects of cyber-bullying, anorexics using the Internet as a safe haven, and paranoid mothers afraid of child predators.
The Internet is a place where you can find out information on pretty much anything. An eleven-year-old can learn how to make cocaine or a home-made bomb. However, it is also an important resource for education. I feel that if you know how to use the Internet and beware of the dangers you face from predators, identity theft, or the threat of cyber-bullying then the Internet can be a positive tool.
I watched the Evan Skinner's (PTO mom) reactions to the Frontline comments about her. She said she went online everyday and checked at least 20 times to see if anyone had anything nice or negative to say about her, which is proof that the Internet is addicting. Social networks like Myspace and Facebook allow people to communicate face-to-face and also in virtual world.
We should also be aware of the media trying to advertise to us while we're online. Most websites are sponsored. Some websites use very clever methods of advertising, like video game advertisements. The movie that was released over the summer, Pineapple Express had its own online video game on Facebook. Advertisements pop up at us and sometimes they're impossible to close. We can use ad blockers to limit the amount of pop-ups we see everyday, but whether we like it or not, online or offline we are presented with hundreds of advertisements a day. It is how we react to them that matters.
November 20, 2008
November 09, 2008
The Persuaders
1. Where are we headed? What's the future? What are your thoughts on how far the techniques of persuasion might go?
I believe that we are headed into a future where marketing and advertising tactics push even future than they do now. This is because our society is dependent on money and the amount of money we make depends on how our product or company's product sells. The way a product or service sells is through advertising. Now that there are such big businesses and media conglomerates, advertising is necessary for the survival of companies, big and small. I believe that people respond to advertisements. They connect with people on an emotional and sensual level. These feelings will only grow stronger as time goes on and as marketing becomes a bigger field. There will always be a group of people that is opposed to marketing and advertising, like Frontline, who makes this field look like an evil industry, when really the techniques are run by consumers themselves. I feel that in time, market research will develop vastly through the internet. I think that companies will begin to do research on popular google searches. They want to know what will sell a product, and within the world wide web lies their answer.
2. Is there something distinctive in the American character that makes us susceptible to this world of advertising and messages? "The Persuaders" program explores the idea that Americans are seeking and finding a sort of identity in buying/joining a brand. What is this about?
The American character is all about "stuff." We feel the need to possess material things, and in some cases, these things define our status in society. We want the most popular MP3 player, the iPod even though there are MP3 players sold in the market with the same features and capabilities. Americans most often pay for the brand and this is mostly to blame on the smart techniques that iPod and similar brand name companies advertise their products. Frontline theorizes that Americans are seeking and finding an identity in buying or joining a brand. This is what the marketing campaign of product does. It creates some sense of community among users of a certain product. It finds out what is important to this demographic of people and what makes them buy their product. It is typically true that Mac users are different from Windows users. This is because the target markets of the products are different and the advertisements and features of each product appeal to different emotions of the people in the target markets.
3. What are the common elements in the persuasion/selling strategies of advertising and marketing? And how can we move about in this world with a degree of self-awareness as to what's happening, especially since all these messages are increasingly trying to move us to act and make choices on an emotional level?
Some of the common elements in the persuasion/selling strategies of advertising and marketing are a sense of connection, the way in which it is omnipresent, subtle in a sense, and that its purpose is to sell. We should always be aware that we are constantly being marketed to. We should know that people are trying to make a living, as we are and that not all of what people say is true. We should try to not feel an emotional connection to a material possession, and see it for what it really is. Letting others take over your emotions when being marketed to is dangerous. However, we do not need to lock ourselves in a room to avoid this solicitation and we need to realize that marketing is not necessarily a bad thing. We just need to be aware of our own economy. We need to weigh our wants and our needs and make decisions that are right for us; not just what is right for everyone else. It is our responsibility to make good judgments followed by good decisions.
I believe that we are headed into a future where marketing and advertising tactics push even future than they do now. This is because our society is dependent on money and the amount of money we make depends on how our product or company's product sells. The way a product or service sells is through advertising. Now that there are such big businesses and media conglomerates, advertising is necessary for the survival of companies, big and small. I believe that people respond to advertisements. They connect with people on an emotional and sensual level. These feelings will only grow stronger as time goes on and as marketing becomes a bigger field. There will always be a group of people that is opposed to marketing and advertising, like Frontline, who makes this field look like an evil industry, when really the techniques are run by consumers themselves. I feel that in time, market research will develop vastly through the internet. I think that companies will begin to do research on popular google searches. They want to know what will sell a product, and within the world wide web lies their answer.
2. Is there something distinctive in the American character that makes us susceptible to this world of advertising and messages? "The Persuaders" program explores the idea that Americans are seeking and finding a sort of identity in buying/joining a brand. What is this about?
The American character is all about "stuff." We feel the need to possess material things, and in some cases, these things define our status in society. We want the most popular MP3 player, the iPod even though there are MP3 players sold in the market with the same features and capabilities. Americans most often pay for the brand and this is mostly to blame on the smart techniques that iPod and similar brand name companies advertise their products. Frontline theorizes that Americans are seeking and finding an identity in buying or joining a brand. This is what the marketing campaign of product does. It creates some sense of community among users of a certain product. It finds out what is important to this demographic of people and what makes them buy their product. It is typically true that Mac users are different from Windows users. This is because the target markets of the products are different and the advertisements and features of each product appeal to different emotions of the people in the target markets.
3. What are the common elements in the persuasion/selling strategies of advertising and marketing? And how can we move about in this world with a degree of self-awareness as to what's happening, especially since all these messages are increasingly trying to move us to act and make choices on an emotional level?
Some of the common elements in the persuasion/selling strategies of advertising and marketing are a sense of connection, the way in which it is omnipresent, subtle in a sense, and that its purpose is to sell. We should always be aware that we are constantly being marketed to. We should know that people are trying to make a living, as we are and that not all of what people say is true. We should try to not feel an emotional connection to a material possession, and see it for what it really is. Letting others take over your emotions when being marketed to is dangerous. However, we do not need to lock ourselves in a room to avoid this solicitation and we need to realize that marketing is not necessarily a bad thing. We just need to be aware of our own economy. We need to weigh our wants and our needs and make decisions that are right for us; not just what is right for everyone else. It is our responsibility to make good judgments followed by good decisions.
November 04, 2008
The Merchants of Cool
The marketing tactics of the product researchers are not only a bit extreme but also it seems that they are not that effective and are intrusive. It is true that it is hard for market researchers to understand what a teenager wants and what will make them buy a product since styles and ideals are constantly changing. One day something can be "in" and the next day its "out." I can see why they are trying so hard. It is a very desirable market to be in because typically teenagers have nothing to spend their extra cash on than their wants. Usually parents take care of what a teenager needs and they are left with spending money. It is a $33 billion dollar a year industry and everyone wants a piece of the pie.
A tactic that seemed a little ridiculous was going to spend the day with an "average" teenager. This only gives the world of one teenager in one city in one state in the country, even if they do this several times in different areas. It is too expensive and just seems like a waste of time. I thought a good idea was paying kids to come in and talk to a marketing director on what they want to see more or less of and how they respond to certain types of media. However, I still feel that the range of kids who were asked these questions was very limited. I'd think that polling a high school after they got out of classes for the day would give more feedback or posting a survey on a social network, such as Facebook for males and females of a certain age group would have more of an affect on market research.
I think some of these methods are a bit intrusive as well. I feel like some of these methods are what pushes younger kids try to go against the "mainstream" media because they feel that so much is thrown at them at once. They're consumed by what adults think will sell and are shown images of "sex symbols" such as Britney Spears at such a young age that they feel that they either need to be like them or go completely against them. I feel there is no happy medium. For example, rage rock was some teenagers' way out of the advertised and highly publicized world of music until market researches took notice and made this type of rock music acceptable and popular. In other words, this type of music became knows as a "sell out." Unfortunately, big business always wins. The quote by Brian Graner, MTV's channel president of programming in 2001, at the end of the Frontline article, "And I can't help but be worried that we are throwing so much at young adults so fast. And that there is no amount of preparation or education or even love that you could give a child to be ready," hit home and made me realize how intrusive market research really is.
A tactic that seemed a little ridiculous was going to spend the day with an "average" teenager. This only gives the world of one teenager in one city in one state in the country, even if they do this several times in different areas. It is too expensive and just seems like a waste of time. I thought a good idea was paying kids to come in and talk to a marketing director on what they want to see more or less of and how they respond to certain types of media. However, I still feel that the range of kids who were asked these questions was very limited. I'd think that polling a high school after they got out of classes for the day would give more feedback or posting a survey on a social network, such as Facebook for males and females of a certain age group would have more of an affect on market research.
I think some of these methods are a bit intrusive as well. I feel like some of these methods are what pushes younger kids try to go against the "mainstream" media because they feel that so much is thrown at them at once. They're consumed by what adults think will sell and are shown images of "sex symbols" such as Britney Spears at such a young age that they feel that they either need to be like them or go completely against them. I feel there is no happy medium. For example, rage rock was some teenagers' way out of the advertised and highly publicized world of music until market researches took notice and made this type of rock music acceptable and popular. In other words, this type of music became knows as a "sell out." Unfortunately, big business always wins. The quote by Brian Graner, MTV's channel president of programming in 2001, at the end of the Frontline article, "And I can't help but be worried that we are throwing so much at young adults so fast. And that there is no amount of preparation or education or even love that you could give a child to be ready," hit home and made me realize how intrusive market research really is.
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