Modern economic theory has taught us that the market efficient equilibrium is reached through rational choice made by informed consumers. Needless to say, this idea is a long way from the reality of our consumer market, one that is littered with incidences of sub-par product quality and higher-than-competitive level pricing, both elements of market failure. Here I would like to raise the question: does marketing play a role in any of this, and if so, how?

A typical marketer would market themselves to be the agent who helps inform consumers to make rational decisions that best benefit consumer interests. As many of today’s consumer products involve sophisticated technology not understood by most, it makes natural sense to have an intermediary who bridges that gap between our needs and want to the utility that can be derived from complex pieces of machinery. If this were true, marketers are indeed contributors towards an efficient market.

Before we can continue, I would like to ask the reader to watch the following video: The Force: Volkswagen Commercial

Hope that wasn’t entirely boring.

As many of you may already know, this commercial is very well received to the extent some would even consider it as a work of art. However, if we return to our earlier topic; where does this fit in to the purpose of creating informed consumers?

If one were to make a proper, informed decision with regards to purchasing an automobile, you would take into consideration its technical specifications, performance stats and possibly third party reviews. Yet, nothing that is even remotely related to any of those topics is presented in the advertisement. In fact, most commercials provide little informational value at all possibly because they were never intended to have. Not that the companies are necessarily trying to deceive the consumers, but they are definitely managing their impression to draw upon the appeals of their targeted market in order to earn supra-normal profits.

Having answered the question I started with, I would like to raise a new one: are these ads, ones that are non-deceiving and yet non-informative justified, taking into consideration that they add no intrinsic value to the products at hand while being sold at a premium for their perceived worth, or more commonly known as their brand.