In Response to “Advertisement should not be so aggressive!”
by June Ong
My fellow commerce student, Bryan Chow posted an intriguing article and analysis on, “How ads can push too hard.” The article outlines the negative effects of aggressive and pushy marketing tactics that some companies tend to use. This post stood out to me because I’m always that person sitting on the couch thinking to myself “wow that commercial totally made me never want to buy that product.”Studies show that consumers enjoy the decision-making process when considering buying a commodity, rather than being told what they should and should not want. For example an advertisement stating, “If you call yourself a sports fan, you gotta have direct tv!” could lead the potential customer to thinking that the company is implying that if he/she does not buy direct tv then they are not true sports fans, which could be interpreted as an insult.
I am in complete agreement with Bryan’s view on the topic. Some companies have got it all wrong in the sense that they believe that consumers are so easily brainwashed by simple and pushy statements such as, “You need this in your life”. At times, I almost feel insulted that the creators of certain ads think that we, as consumers don’t question as to why we “need” this in our lives. I strongly believe that commercials should stress the positive aspects of the product while hinting to the viewer that their product is the best. This approach would be much more effective as the consumer would feel that they are making a rational choice, given all the positive aspects of the product. Perhaps some of these companies with overly aggressive ads could do some extensive market research to evaluate their approach and come up with a new tactic towards effective marketing.