How Advertisement has portrayed Mass Media and how the media take into the matter?
Companies have used media as a method of communication to naturally spread the word about their products to a large audience since mainstream media became mass media. There is nothing wrong with that because it enables the dissemination of original notions and ideas. But as time went on, the sophistication of advertising strategies and approaches increased, luring, moulding, and even inventing consumerism and demands where none previously existed, or turning pleasures into necessities.
Every media platform’s advertisement has a unique composition that engages customers in a particular way. The media habits of consumers have changed as a result of digitalization. Therefore, it is necessary to have a deeper knowledge of how advertisements on various media platforms affect customer behaviour.
Manipulating images in advertisements
Advertisers have long been known to “photoshop” (slang for editing photos to fix or airbrush out flaws) images to make the subject appear more appealing. But other people have noted that this deft manipulation frequently goes too far. For instance, images of the ideal body are frequently presented to young people, especially girls. Even though it may be known that these images have been photoshopped, the constant message that young people are exposed to says the same thing: this is how you should look and behave, and something must be wrong if you are not meeting these (unrealistic) standards of perfection. Younger minds are more malleable and impressionable. As a result, it may cause stress and anxiety in adolescence and even later in life.
Because there are so many undefined parameters in this type of manipulation, there is very little regulation on a global scale. Some blatant situations, nevertheless, are simpler to target.
People who believe that parents should be able to teach their children how to distinguish reality from advertising disagree with government interference. Unfortunately, youngsters lack the cognitive development necessary to achieve this, as is also indicated in the section of this site dedicated to kids and consuming. Furthermore, how will two people fare against a horde of psychologists, advertisers, marketers, and attorneys seeking to educate their kids the contrary, even if responsible parents are to work with their kids in this manner?
Young people assume that because advertisements and photographs feature actual individuals, what they see must also be real. It may take several years, possibly well into adolescence or adulthood, to recognise and learn that these pictures are altered, by which point the majority of the consequences may have already been internalised.
It must be more harmful to live in a culture where you must continually be reminded that everything you see might not be genuine than it is to live in one where most things are real and the hopefully few false ones can be distinguished. That might allude to a more genuine sort of freedom.
Advertisements disguised as news story
Even with the advent of new words in critical circles, such as advertorials, news items or editorials can occasionally be subtly disguised product advertising.
In other instances, a news organisation will promote another programme on the parent network and highlight it as a news story due to significant ownership. Many would have to consent to editorial content being dictated by business in order to generate stories that would draw readers, such as placing certain advertising in the photographs, placing certain lines and paragraphs, highlighting essential products relevant to the narrative, etc.
Advertisements disguised as entertainment
Additionally, we are witnessing more complex approaches, such as short films that try to advertise a product in a subtly clever manner. These short films can be quite exciting and entertaining, but they also hide a product promotion underneath the primary plot.
Although it may be argued that there is nothing wrong with this because it is simply a more sophisticated technique to sell items, it would be beneficial if there was a clearer indication that this is a commercial so that more viewers would be aware of what they were seeing.
The importance of media, advertising, and consumerism is growing along with globalisation. For big multinational corporations that can benefit most from globalisation and see a bigger market to sell their goods to, this is great.
Propaganda
Media messages might be explicit declarations or hazy references to cultural norms. There are undoubtedly disagreements over the messages conveyed by the media. Think about the frequent accusations of political bias made against different news companies. Although accusations of subliminal messages or agenda-driven content have always been a problem in the media, the discussion about media messaging is becoming more and more prevalent. This discussion is crucial since the media has long been used to influence people’s opinions. Many contemporary persuasion strategies have their roots in the use of the media as a propaganda tool. When examining diverse media influences, a good place to start is with the function of propaganda and persuasion in the mass media.
The study of and use of propaganda has had a significant impact on the function of persuasion in contemporary mass media. Propaganda is not necessarily good or evil, like any other kind of communication. The reasons behind its users determine whether propaganda has a beneficial or bad impact on society and culture. The influence of the media on contemporary society is well documented. Governments, businesses, charities, and political campaigns all use both new and traditional media to develop and distribute their messages to the public. For better or worse, the relatively unregulated structure of the media has created a society where anyone can use the means of public influence.
Media and Behavior
The mass media disseminates messages that are not properly classified as propaganda or persuasion, despite the fact that they were intended for general consumption. Some claim that these messages have an impact on behaviour, particularly in young individuals (Beatty, 2006). There are significant concerns about how media influences culture since violent, sexual, and compulsive behaviours have been connected to media usage. Whether violent media genuinely incite violence is unknown, but there’s no denying that these media convey an emotional message to viewers that gets them to react. Media messages can also use feelings like fear, love, happiness, and depression. Media messages are not just explicit statements. The overwhelming influence of media on our culture can be partially attributed to these emotional responses.
New Media and the Internet
The Internet and other digital forms of communication have had a significant impact on society as new media. There is a great lot of distress about digital literacy and other concerns that inexorably come with such a social transformation as a result of this communication and information revolution. The public now has access to a staggering amount of fresh knowledge thanks to the internet. This abundance of information and how people process it both have a significant impact on culture. As access to knowledge increases, new perspectives on it have evolved. It was necessary for older media consuming habits to digest information through a specific sort of media in-depth.
Conclusion
Information is now more readily available and is therefore more likely to be spread across different media. A person might read a news story on a website and then send a section of it to a buddy. Search engines’ easy access to information could be the reason why fiction phenomena are often treated as fact. Media outlets are increasingly catering to this propensity of looking for specific details out of context. The most interesting information is frequently highlighted at the expense of more significant stories.
Sources:
https://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/2-1-mass-media-and-its-messages/
https://www.globalissues.org/article/160/media-and-advertising
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0973258618822624
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2030&context=gradschool_theses
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