Advertising As Communication - Gillian Dyer

Intorduction

Page 6

"Advertising's central function is to create desires that previously did not exist."

Chapter 4 - The Effects Of Advertising

Page 76

The Bypodermic model of sociological research suggests that:

"It is argued, for instance, that 'experimental' social and social-psychological research leads to a distorted view of the role that the media play in society. Research that looks for immediate responses to a single stimulus like an advertisement is probably over-simplified (although scientifically controllable) and inadequately conceptualized."

Pages 76 and 77

The Socially-Mediated model of sociological research suggests that:

"A member of the audience, some research has shown, cannon be affected by the media if they do not fulfil or gratify a need. For instance, if a person leads an active, varied life, and is secure and stable, no amount of advertising which appeals to fears of loneliness or being a social outcast, or to social snobbery will succed"

Although this is referred to as "optimistic research".

Page 80

"As early as the 1930's, literary critic F.R.Leavis accused the popular media, particularly advertising, of evoking cheap, almost mechanical emotional responses, and inculcating 'the choosing of the most immidiate pleasures got with the least effort' (1933, p.3). He warned that advertisements corrupted feelings, debased language, exploited peoples emotional needs and fears, and encouraged greed, snobbery and social conformity."

"his criticisms of advertising have some force and relevance even today"

Page 81

"Marcuse contends that the media define the terms of the way in which we think, and that their influence has to be assessed not in the strict sense of their impact on what we think about, but in terms of the way in which they condition our entire intellectual outlook"

My Understanding

There are numerous ways to assess the impact of advertising on people and society in general, all of which have different 'results'. You can't definitively say that advertising has a specific on someone or society, but you can use the outcomes of the different ways of assessing to validate or invalidate a certain viewpoint on advertising.

Chapter 7 - The Language Of Advertising

Page 147 

"The associations that words have can mislead people into thinking they are buying something other than what the product actually is or contains. For instance, orange squash is sometimes called orange crush which might make people think that the drink had more real oranges in it. The Trade Descriptions Act (1968) makes it an offence to offer goods or services under descriptions that are not accurate"

My Understanding

When advertising a product, you can't lie, you have to be honest. But you can use creative language to try and make the customer see the product differently. This isn't lying on your end, but more trying to convince the customer to lie to themselves.

Harvard Referencing

Dyer, G (1982). Advertising As Communication. 2nd ed. Suffolk: St. Endmundsbury Press. 6, 76-77, 80-81, 147.

Potential Further Research From Here

• Look at F. R. Leavis and Marcuse
• Find out if the Trade Descriptions Act applies to charitable donations
• Consider the differences between "give" and "donate"