Nowadays, the high sales of popular consumer goods often reflect the power of advertising other than the real needs of the society. While advertising plays a significant role in shaping consumer behavior, it is important to consider that social needs, cultural influences, and personal preferences also have an influence on decisions.
On one hand, advertising has an impact on consumer choices. Companies invest huge amounts of money in order to ensure high demand for their products, often appealing to social media stars, being flashy, persuasive campaigns. Though, advertising, through social media promotion, branch demands, to upgrade their smartphones regularly, despite needing new devices for many people, persuade them to buy them. Also, they may not meet the consumer’s needs, since many consumers are buying new fashion and there is a desire to buy them every time; this suggests that advertising can manipulate needs and create unreal necessities often.
On the other hand, consumer purchases are not entirely driven by advertising. Many products gain popularity because they fulfill needs and offer practical benefits, but this mostly happens with practical items such as food and household appliances. Additionally, consumers today are more informed. We have at our disposal online reviews and product comparisons on the internet that allows us to make rational decisions based on quality and functionality, rather than advertising alone. But this does not mean that it is the case with everything, since how much rational decisions are made, much more is brought because of the advertisement.
In conclusion, advertising has a big impact on what people buy, often making them want things they don’t really need. Today, many consumers also research products before buying, which helps them make better choices. Still, advertising plays a strong role in encouraging people to spend money, especially on things like fashion and technology. Therefore, I partially agree with the statement, as sometimes consumers make informed choices but advertising undeniably influences and the key of consumers.