Read the text and find answers to some questions above.

Advertisements have an enormous impact on the buying power of people. Advertising is often aimed directly at young people. Not only because they spend $70 billion a year, but they influence their parents' purchase also. Youth are hit by certain appeals – appeals to be like everybody else, sex appeal, and even negative appeal. How can young people increase their awareness of persuasion tactics used in magazine advertising?

“Reading” advertisements is valuable for young people, and adults, so they can evaluate the appropriateness of an advertiser’s message. You need to become aware of who wants you to spend your money and how they would like you to spend it. Understanding how to “read” advertisements critically, that is, understanding how ads are functioning to persuade you, can make you shrewder about how companies create their ads to encourage you to buy certain products. Knowing when and how you are being targeted will make you a more critical consumer.

You should be able to analyze advertisements in order to:

· identify marketing techniques

· identify implied messages

· evaluate what makes ads effective

· create your own ads

· develop a means to educate others about ads

A magazine advertisement is very much like a persuasive essay. It begins with a thesis, something to be proved, and then uses visual images, techniques and persuasive words as supporting arguments. In ads, the “promise” (defined below) serves as the thesis, while the elements of the ad try to persuade consumers to buy the product.

The promise of an advertisement is what is implied or suggested that the product will do for the consumer. For example, suppose a toothpaste ad shows a lovely woman with shiny straight teeth. Her bathroom in the background is spotless and beautiful. The slogan for the toothpaste is “Kream toothpaste has made my life better.” The ad promises that your teeth will be clean, straight and white, your bathroom will be perfect and your life will be easier if you buy and use Kream. The promise of the Kream toothpaste ad is that you will become that person pictured in the ad by using Kream. Consumers have the right to accept or reject the promise of an ad.

A technique is a method ads use to persuade consumers to buy a product. Most techniques appeal to our sense of belonging and acceptance. Some of the more common techniques used in advertising include the following:

Bandwagon: the impression that everyone else is doing it. An example of a bandwagon ad might be “Four out of five people interviewed said they preferred Kream to any other toothpaste. What do they know that you don’t know?”

Sex appeal: other people will think that you are more attractive or desirable because you use that product. An attractive model may be used to gain your attention.

Emotional words: specific words used to affect your emotions either positively or negatively (feelings of fear, power, success, being part of a group, excitement, etc.).

Transfer: positive feelings about the people in the ad are transferred to the consumer; using the product will make you look or feel like the people in the ad. In the transfer technique the names or pictures of famous people, but not direct quotations are also used.

Testimonial: using the words of a famous person to persuade you.

Visual imagery: use of people, settings or situations that appeal to consumers. What are the fun or interesting things being done by the beautiful people in the beautiful setting? Often the image has little to do with the product. An advertisement set on a superb beach in the Bahamas has no connection to an air freshener or toothpaste, yet disconnected images are often used because they evoke positive feelings.

Repetition: the product name is repeated at least four times.

Companies target specific groups in their advertising-groups defined by gender, ethnic group, income, occupation, region of the country and so on. A technique that works for one group may not appeal to another. If you know when and how you are being targeted by an advertiser, you can view an ad more critically.

 

a Post-Reading Tasks

I. If you could not answer some questions above, answer them now, otherwise just check your answers.

II. Answer the following questions.

1. What evidence would tell you about the effectiveness of an ad?

2. What are the elements of a magazine ad?

3. What products (articles of food and perfume) do your family members use and buy? Designate brand names of the products.

4. Why do family members buy and use these specific products?

5. Do your family members and you respond to ads or do you believe the products you use are of superior quality?

6. Do you usually accept or reject the ad’s promises? Explain your reasoning. Even if you reject the ad’s promise (e.g. no matter how much you use the product you won’t be like the model), would you still use the product or service for other reasons?

7. Are there any differences in approaches used to market different products? Name these differences.

8. What is the most memorable advertisement for you? (write it down) Why? Analyze what techniques were used there. What is your favorite advertisement? Why?

9. What advertising techniques can be used only in TV/ radio/ newspaper ads? Name these techniques. What techniques can be used in all three media?

10. Can you give examples of each advertising technique out of those advertisements which are on TV now?

11. What is the most successful advertising technique to your mind? Prove your point of view.

12. Do you think that learning to recognize advertising techniques can help you when it comes to purchasing products?

13. Do you agree with the following belief: “The advertising’s role, if any, is to reduce the cost of what consumers pay for information?”

14. What do the ads really want you to do?

 

Follow-up Activities

I. Compare techniques promoting different products. (Individual work)

Find several ads in the magazines for two or more different types of products, for example computers and automobiles. Create a chart to organize your research on a product of your choice. On the vertical scale, list specific ads for computers and automobiles. On the horizontal scale, list the techniques mentioned earlier. Place a check mark next to each technique used by each ad. What conclusions can you draw about computer-advertising techniques versus automobile-sales techniques? What techniques are popular with automobile/ computer advertisers? What is the most popular technique? What is the less popular technique?

 

II. Exploring magazine ads. (Group work).

Divide into groups. Each group should choose one category for the type of products usually advertised in magazines (automobile, service, pharmaceutical, computer, alcohol, tobacco, etc.). Each group finds in magazines advertisements which suit their category. Count the number of ads for each category. Based on your reading of the ads:

· identify the promise the advertisement makes;

· define the techniques the ad uses to support the promise (mark out the most frequently used technique);

· point out any persuasive or emotional words;

· describe the different visual images and explain how they make the ad more attractive;

· determine the targeted audience;

· identify ads by their age, gender, income, occupation and any other identifiable category.

Finalize your findings by writing a small report. Magazine’s ads will serve you as a visual material. Specify in your reports the names of the magazines from which you took advertisements. What is the type of the magazine in which the most ads, belonging to your category, were found?

 

III. Emotional word/image safari. (Individual work).

Using a magazine hunt for emotional words or images used by advertisers. Keep a list including a reference to where the ad was found. Read your list of words or show images. Point out five most frequently used emotional words. What are the most popular characters judging by the images used in ads?