Family Economics and Consumer Education

Family Economics And Consumer Education 3 (2+1)

Lesson 29 :Advertisements

Influencing methods of advertisements

The methods used to influence consumers by advertisements are

1. Non rational argumentation
2. Proper agenda
3. Indoctrinations
4. Imperative influence
5. Hidden influence
6. Rhetoric

1. Non rational argumentation- Non rationals are involved in some types of advertisements to appeal to people’s emotions, feelings etc. Without rational thinking they are provocative and exploit the consumer’s susceptibility to beauty romance etc.
2. Propaganda-The messages of advertisements of this type influence the consumer in particular directions viz soaps are made using ‘Tulsi’or with ‘Gangajal’ etc.
3. Indoctrination- These advertisements are persuasive and stress the importance of the product through propaganda.
4. Imperative influence- Consumers are made to respond and react to such type of advertisements viz ‘write a sentence’ or ‘fill in the blank’ to invoke a sense of competition for an award.
5. Hidden influence- Advertisements are in the form of brochures which are mistaken as journals or periodicals. Headlines like ‘customer services’ or ‘information Desk is used in news paper to mislead the consumers or general public.
6. Rhetoric-This is one effective method of persuasion . The sender of the message tries to impress about his prestige to enhance the credibility of the message.

The advertisement tries to impress about the prestige, social involvement, familiarity of the product and the manufacturer. Despite all these aspects of advertisements as a source of information consumers should try to use their own judgement regarding the product and whether to buy or not.