Currently, the substantial sales of common consumer items do not stem from the population’s necessity, instead, they are driven by marketing influences. I tend to agree with this statement due to the efficiency of targeted advertisement and the psychological impact induced on clients.
To begin with, targeted marketing plays a crucial role in increasing revenue. That is due to the fact the practice of tailoring promotional campaigns to the specific preferences of individuals, typically website users, allows advertisers to make the ads more relevant to them. Subsequently, sellers can reach potential customers with messages that deeply resonate with their desires. As a result, people’s buying behaviors are influenced, often leading them to purchase things they may not have considered otherwise. For example, it has been found that targeted advertising on Facebook can generate up to a 10-fold return on ad spend for businesses.
Also, many advertisements evoke strong emotions in people, such as happiness or nostalgia. This is done to make people buy impulsively. The reason why this works successfully is that intrinsic feelings can override rational decision-making and compel buyers to splurge on goods, even on items they do not genuinely need. For instance, Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign personalized their bottles with popular names and phrases like “Share a Coke with Sarah” or “Best Friends”. Not only did this trick trigger a sense of friendship and connection but it also encouraged consumers to buy the Coke bottles to share with loved ones, even if they did not want the drink at that moment.
In conclusion, personalized promotions, and a strong emotional aspect of marketing campaigns drive artificial demand for products beyond consumers’ needs.