In modern society, people are unfailingly exposed to advertisements from a wide range of companies through multiple platforms. While advertising undeniably shapes consumer behavior to a considerable extent, individuals are not entirely passive recipients, and several measures should be implemented to safeguard them from potential manipulation.
Advertising has strong impacts on consumers when they create artificial needs. When walking around in the street and coming across an advertisement, you usually think that product needs to be in your house. Besides that, with the rapid flow of life and the habit of showing off on social media, ads using emotional appeal easily convince you to buy immediately or you could have the fear of missing out. At the end of month or year, the ratio of purchasing is always higher than any time due to the myriad of flash sales or limited offers given to customers, which makes them feel that the product is a real bargain.
On the contrary, people are not completely controlled as they can access information. Well-informed consumers regularly read reviews, make comparisons with similar products on other stores before deciding to buy anything. They also have high awareness and become more selective in shopping by using ad blockers to get rid of bothered ads or use the internet to verify claims, which makes ads less powerful.
Hence, heterogeneous measures should be prosecuted to assure the safety of customers. First and foremost, governments are obliged to ban misleading ads and set strict laws. Schools can educate young people about media literacy to raise their awareness about counterfeit advertising. Additionally, firms also take responsibility for creating advertisements, which must satisfy the ethical, meaningful, and visual aspects.
In conclusion, although advertising significantly affects consumer behaviour, individuals still retain the ability to make informed decisions, and stronger regulations along with education are quintessential to shield them.