The Effects of Media on Society
When it comes to advertisement, and the media a question that comes to mind is: who are we? Are we who the media wants us to be? Many instances people in today’s society rely on the media to tell them how to dress, how to look cool. Yet if we examine the past few years, we see that styles that have boomed so quickly and faded just as fast. Why do these designers change or even worse die out? It’s all about fads. The advertisers do an excellent job of setting these goals in persuading us to purchase their product and because of it, they are constantly coming out with new styles and types of clothing that they want to make popular. We as the consumers are helping these companies to achieve these goals. What we as Americans don’t realize is that these companies and advertisements are ruining us as people. A problem is that we are being who these companies want us to be, or want us to look. We are changing our looks and appearance because of billboards or commercials we see constantly. Also with the current economic struggles, what kind of shoppers are we turning into? We are buying some of the most expensive clothes because it’s what is hot and what is “hip”. Finally now that we realize all this mess of advertising in our society it makes us ask another question, do we now change the way we buy clothing or the way we watch out appearance. Our society as fallen back on the fact that we will do whatever it takes to be accepted based on the media’s opinion.
While going to the mall we pass hundreds of advertisements whether it is driving there and while in the mall. When a shopper sees an attractive person or a picture that catches their eye they look into the ad even more and see what company or b...
... middle of paper ...
...company persuade us to buy their product just because some smoking hot model is being shown to us wearing their clothing. The media has its moments and it has times where they try to suck you into their storm of ads and sales that you feel almost obligated to but their product. As a society we all have to realize what is going on around us and with hold our money from it. The fashion that we are witnessing will be here today and gone tomorrow. Shoppers will have to be very conscious in spending and be strong enough not to be persuaded to the point that they will be drooling over a pair of jeans that they saw on a million commercials and hundreds of ads. Media is a monster that at first seems like a cute little dog, when you start to become fond of the dog and then it bites you, at first you get over the bite and keep playing with the puppy because you can’t resist it.
Have you ever seen an advertisement for a product and could immediately relate to the subject or the product in that advertisement? Companies that sell products are always trying to find new and interesting ways to get buyers and get people’s attention. It has become a part of our society today to always have products being shown to them. As claimed in Elizabeth Thoman’s essay Rise of the Image Culture: Re-Imagining the American Dream, “…advertising offered instructions on how to dress, how to behave, how to appear to others in order to gain approval and avoid rejection”. This statement is true because most of the time buyers are persuaded by ads for certain products.
“Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned.” ~J.B. Priestley sums up the reality of our media today. We are constantly being influenced and affected by advertisements and how we react to them. Advertisements have a great effect on us and how we operate. Advertisements attempt to control what we should wear, how we should look, what we should eat, what we should do, how we should think, and how we should smell. This magazine advertisement is very convincing of what type of perfume we should wear. “Moschino Couture!” uses an attractive woman, simplistic layout and sample perfume to sell us the product we all yearn for.
Imagine what the world would be like if when people came home from school or work, they were not able to sit in front of their television and watch their favorite shows. This would be hard to think about considering that not a day goes by that people don’t use some form of media. Media is used to obtain information and watch entertainment. There are many forms of this, and some include newspapers, the Internet, television, and so much more. While there are obviously many great benefits to the growth of media, there are some undeniable and harsh downsides. “In a study on fifth graders, 10 year old girls and boys told researchers they were dissatisfied with their own bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears or a clip from the TV show “Friends”" (Sanders). This is only one of the many disturbing statistics about the effects that media can have on people. An extensive amount of research and studies have been done over this topic, and it is very evident that media influence has greatly affected society and its peoples’ behaviors in a negative way.
Theories About Media's Effect on People People have invented many different theories as to why and how the media can affect people. 1. ' The Hypodermic Model' The Hypodermic model suggests that the messages from the media go directly into the minds of viewers, because they present information in such a powerful way that people immediately take it in and believe. For example 'The John Leslie scandal'. People reading this story, especially in a tabloid would instantly think that he did rape Ulrika Johnson, even though she had never said so herself and the reader has no evidence.
Today we live in a society that is being dominated and confounded by commercials and ads. A new age, which could be referred to as the advertising age where commercials and ads tell us what is a necessity and what isn't. Howard Luck Gossage in his book Is There Any Hope for Advertising? Stated that there are ads and commercials everywhere around us in which there is no escape. "I like to imagine a better world where there will be less, and more stimulating advertising. I suppose all of us would like to see this come to pass, it would certainly clear away some of the confusion from advertising's murky picture and make it easier to comprehend" (7). Ads and commercials have flourished everywhere like a virus, once it strikes there is no way we can remove the marks it left behind. It creates this blurry, confusing picture, a "murky picture" as Gossage stated, which most people won't find the genuine truth behind what the product really mean and if its really useful or not. Advertising forces consumers into buying products by manipulation which make the customers buy products they think are good for them when in fact it isn't and they do this by appealing in their innermost desires. Advertisers are aware of the cultural need of acceptance and people's insecurities and takes advantage of these desires to persuade people into buying their products.
Children are exposed to the negative effects of the media every day. Shows such as Bad Girls’ Club and Real World serve as poor role models for young people. There are many steps parents and guardians can take to lessen or completely stop the influence. Parents and guardians should offer children proper supervision, plenty of play, and education to shield them from the negative effects of the media.
Advertising is an essential phenomena of the media and modern life. It is a profitable industry which affects our life as well as our lifestyle. Most of the advertising campaigns tend to attract the attention of the people by exposing them to what they believe is the most important marketing strategy. Strategies that will influence, manipulate, and attract many people, primarily women. Every day we come in contact with many advertisements that enlighten our society through its information; in magazines stuffed with models, billboards on the highway, actresses and celebrities on television, the message of what women should look like is everywhere. The unrealistic standard of beauty that women are bombarded with every day, gives them a goal that
The media and many advertisments influence, or at least try to influence viewers and listeners. Beauty advertisments particulary uses skinny, long-haired models, with beautiful soft, and smooth skin with a beautiful eye color texture that complements the product being advertised. The people who work in the field of advertising use beautiful models for make-up, clothing, and for a representation of what an individual young lady, or man should be, or look like. Beauty advertisments often target young girls, making them insecure and feel worthless about themselves when their fine just the way they are. Advertisers make it very broad about the product that they're selling, and having a model present for the advertisment to attract other young ladies who feel that wearing make-up and beautiful wardrobe will make them beautiful, and look like the presenters, or models on television.
“Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need”-Will Rogers. The world is being so influenced by false advertisements, that people feel as if it is necessary to look and be just like these fake people that are shown. These advertisements in the media are slowly tearing all of society apart as we speak. Even if everyone doesn’t notice it, the world is changing and something needs to be done about it.
This affects so many of us from children to adults. Many people look for the new trends, that the celebrities start. After seeing the new trends, they want to be stylish as well. There are so many designer brand names to choose from. Not only in clothes, but watches, purses, shoes, wallets and etc. For example, the Victoria Beckham label they carry dresses, denim, eye wear, accessories, and so many more items. So many women, teens, and men want items with a brand name. Back again to the Kardashians, they have their own fashion line where they sell all kinds of products. They are not the only celebrities that have a label of their own. There are many who have them; Beyoncé, Kanye West, Jessica Simpson, and many more have their own fashion line. Now even children are getting more into the brand of their clothes. When children go from elementary to middle school they change their style; because they want to fit in with all the older children. They change their brand of clothes, shoes, and back packs. As for girls might start wearing make-up and want to get artificial nails. Men care more about their vehicle, jeans, and shoes. The magazines, media, and T.V. play a tremendous part in setting the trends that many people want. So many people are becoming all wrapped up in these many designer names and seeing all the beautiful
Advertising in American culture has taken on the very interesting character of representing our culture as a whole. Take this Calvin Klein ad for example. It shows the sexualization of not only the Calvin Klein clothing, but the female gender overall. It displays the socially constructed body, or the ideal body for women and girls in America. Using celebrities in the upper class to sell clothing, this advertisement makes owning a product an indication of your class in the American class system. In addition to this, feminism, and how that impacts potential consumer’s perception of the product, is also implicated. Advertisements are powerful things that can convey specific messages without using words or printed text, and can be conveyed in the split-second that it takes to see the image. In this way, the public underestimates how much they are influenced by what they see on television, in magazines, or online.
The Role of Media in the Society Media has always played a huge role in our society. For a long time media is one of the methods of controlling people and leisure. In In ancient times when there was no newspapers and television, people used literature as a source of information, some books like "the Iliad", and different stories about great kings, shows those people the information about them, and how they are used. Nowadays, media is one of the main parts of our lives and our society, because we use word media, to combine all. sources of information to be used.
Media technologies are becoming an important aspect of today’s society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. Media is commonly defined as being a channel of communication. Radio, newspapers, and television are all examples of media. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Since many people use media very frequently, it is obvious to assume that it has affects on people. According to the text book Media Now, "media effects are changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior that result from exposure to the mass media," (386). This leaves us with many unanswered questions about media and its influences. This paper will look at how the effects of media are determined and explore the main affects on today’s society - violence, prejudice, and sexual behavior.
Social Scientists say that the average American watches too much television and plays too many video games. I would agree with this, because in high school that is all I did, but not so much for me anymore. Back when I was in high school that is all I did. Watch television, play Nintendo, hang out with my friends. However, now that I am in college, I have had to change my ways. It helps a lot that I don't have either one of those in my dorms.
The mass media has played a key role in shaping people’s lives. The modern society’s use of mass media including TV, radio, newspaper, as well as print media has largely influenced people’s ideas regarding themselves and the society at large. This is evident from their behavior towards themselves and their community as well as their treatment of the environment. While some experts believe that the media is to blame for most of the negative behavioral traits among the active members of society, the majority agree that the media makes people understand and develop a positive sense of association with their society within which they live, making it easy for them to identify and get their role in it.