From the past decades, technology has advanced at a rapid pace, and today, the technology cannot be compared to that of the past decades, it terms of efficiency and complexity. Technology is useful in various spheres in the world, including the business sphere. One of the ways through which companies use technology is through advertising and marketing.
Through this, companies communicate with consumers, mainly creating awareness about their new products, or promoting their companies, for increased profitability. Marketing and advertising benefits the company the most, since this promotes company products, hence more sales for the company.On the other hand, consumers too benefit from marketing and advertising, as this makes them aware of the products in the market by different companies, thus are able to make their purchasing decision, after comparing various products in the market. However, advertising and marketing is also known to have negative influences on the target population for which the adverts are aimed.
Marketing and advertising has negative effects on the youth in America, and these include eating disorders and obesity, body dissatisfaction, violence, and consumerism. Commercial broadcasting is highly used by different companies today.The television is the most known for airing most commercials advertisements today. This is probably because more people have access to the television; therefore, companies can reach a larger number of people through the television. On the other hand, print magazines are also a channel for advertisements, which is used by different companies.
Most youth, especially the females, are highly attracted to fashion magazines, which are available and produced by various companies. Similarly, outdoor advertising, which involves different outdoor activities planned by a company, are mainly aimed at promoting the company and its products.Other forms of outdoor advertising include transit posters, bus adverts, bench advertising, and highway billboards, which communicate various messages from a company to the public. Nonetheless, apart from promoting and boosting company sales, these different forms of advertising have negative effects on the youth in America.
Advertisements and the approach used therein are considered to brainwash most people and affect the perspective of people on morals and self-image (Harper, Brit and Tiggemann 645).In the United States, there is the right to freedom of speech for advertisers, and this could probably be the reason why these sometimes ignore the negative implications of most of their advertisements. With regard to body dissatisfaction, most youth in America are influenced by the body images in various advertisements, and therefore, think of those as the ideal body images (Hargreaves and Tiggemann 469). In television advertisements for beauty products for both male and females, model women and men are used.
In the past, women models were portrayed as plumb and healthy, however, today, models are portrayed as skinny (Sparks 217). On the other hand, male models on television advertisements today are portrayed as men with steroidal masses, with muscles, and great strength. According to Hargreaves and Tiggemann, the exposure to the model body images in television advertisements has a negative impact on the perceptions of the youth about their bodies (470). These might therefore, look for ways of attaining the “ideal” body, as portrayed in television advertisements.The second negative effect of advertisements to the youth in America is obesity and eating disorders.
Obesity is a growing problem in the United States today. This problem affects the youth also, and this is highly attributed to the massive advertisements shown on the television and other advertising platforms, promoting fast food. Obesity is lethal, since this could lead to type 2 diabetes. The main factor promoting this in the United States is the advertisements on the television of fast food and processed food, which are designed to appeal to children and the youth (Aktas 142).Apart from the television, eateries also advertise their food on highway billboards, which is a form of outdoor advertisement. On the other hand, advertising and marketing has also contributed to eating disorders among the youth.
However, the most affected are females. In the quest of attaining the “ideal” body, most teenage girls in the United States will starve themselves, thus becoming anorexic, and others bulimic (Harris, Bargh and Brownell 406). On the other hand, consumerism is on the increase among the American population, including the youth. This is also blamed on advertising and marketing by companies.
Most youth will save money and buy the products advertised on the television and other advertising platforms. Most boys check out advertisements for their best and latest gadgets on highway billboards and television, and buy them, even when these are not a priority. On the other hand, most teenage girls are obsessed with beauty. Therefore, fashion magazines are the best source of information for them on the latest fashion in town and beauty products.
Therefore, just like the boys, teenage girls will also save money to buy the most fashionable clothes, and beauty products, even when these are not a priority.Consumerism influences negatively on the economy of a country, and to the financial status of an individual. Therefore, when the youth are high consumers of products, this makes them develop a poor habit, which might affect them negatively in future when they will be faced with bigger responsibilities (Sparks 165). Finally, some advertisements contain elements of violence, which affect children and youth, especially the males.
When children watch advertisements with elements of violence, they are more likely to develop violent behaviours, which they carry into their teenage years and sometimes into adulthood.Nonetheless, violent advertisements might involve guns and fighting, among other violent acts. These therefore, might confuse children and teenagers on whether they should adopt the morals taught to them by their parents, or the ones showcased in television advertisements (Sparks 202). In conclusion, advertising and marketing is important for both the company and its consumers. However, when companies use the wrong approach in their advertisements, this raises concerns.This is mainly because the advertisements are watched and made available to a great number of people in the population, including the youth and children.
Therefore, “inappropriate” advertisements, which are often glamorised to appeal to the youth might influence the youth in a negative way. The negative effects identified include obesity and eating disorders, consumerism, violence, and body dissatisfaction. These might affect the youth in a more negative manner when they become adults, thus resulting in an irresponsible and low morality society in future.
