The Benefits of Advertising

Advertising benefits consumers and the economy in a number of ways:

- It provides us with information about prices, recent improvements in certain goods and services, and the availability of new ones.

- Advertising often results in lower prices. Large-scale production can reduce costs. By creating mass markets, advertising enables producers to reduce the costs of their products and pass those savings on to the consuming public.

- Advertising stimulates competition, and competition benefits us all.

- Advertising pays most of the cost of magazines and newspapers, and all of the cost of commercial radio and TV.

- Advertising helps the economy as a whole by stimulating consumer demand.

Consumer spending has a direct effect on the health of the economy. Advertising helps to keep that spending at healthy levels.

The Price We Pay for Advertising

Not everyone agrees that advertising benefits the economy. Critics list the following points of its disadvantages:

- The information contained in advertising does not inform and often misleads the consumer.Because it costs money to advertise, this cost adds to the price consumers pay. Consumers are tempted to spend money for products they do not really need.

Radio and TV are not really free because the cost of advertising on them is also passed on to the consumers.

Advertising Strategies

Three strategies that have been especially popular with advertisers can be classified as slogans, rational appeals, andemotional appeals.

- Slogans. Advertisers often use slogans that sound great but mean little or nothing. Yet, advertisers seem to feel that such slogans, when repeated often enough, do increase sales.

- Rational Appeals. Rational appeals rely upon logic or reason to convince the consumer to buy a product. “Our Cookies Contain 25% Fewer Calories Than the Next Leading Brand.” This is an example of an advertisement that appeals to reason.

- Emotional Appeals. Emotional appeals rely upon the use of psychology. The following is a sampling of such strategies:

- Testimonials¹. These are the advertisements in which famous people claim they use and enjoy a particular product. Ads for sports equipment frequently rely on this strategy.

- The Bandwagon². The bandwagon appeal implies that everybody is using a particular product. The term derives from the practice, during nineteenth-century circus or political parades, of jumping on or following behind the wagon carrying the band. Soft drink and automobile ads use this appeal.

- Popularity. Some advertisements suggest that simply by using the advertised product you will be popular or find romance. Every day you as a consumer are the object of the marketing efforts of American and foreign companies. The advertising on television and radio and in the newspaper that come to your house are just some of the ways that sales promotions reach you. Most of these marketing strategies represent honest efforts to convince you to buy a product or service.

Notes:

1. testimonial (n) - рекомендация

2. bandwagon (n) - массовое движение “Делай как я.”

I. Выберите английский эквивалент для следующих русских слов:

1) рекламировать

a) advertise b) advertising c) advertiser d) adverse

2) конкуренция

a) competitive b) competition c) compete d) competent

3) доступность, наличие

a) avail b) available c) availability d)average

4) создавать

a) creation b) create c) creator d) creative

5) потребитель

a) consume b) consumption c) consummate d) consumer

6) производитель

a) produce b) product c) producer d) production

II. Подберите синонимы для следующих слов:

1. example	a) to require
2. to reduce	b) objective
3. disadvantage	c) sample
4. to need	d) to make
5. target	e) to decrease
6. to perform	f) drawback

III. Заполните пропуски следующими предлогами:

а) on (2) b) in c) with d) at e) by f) from:

1. Advertising often results ... lower prices.

2. The term «bandwagon» derives ... the practice of jumping on or following behind the wagon carrying the band.

3. Advertising helps to keep that spending ... healthy levels.

4. These three strategies have been especially popular ... advertisers.

5. Advertising helps the economy as a whole ... stimulating consumer demand.

6. Consumer spending has a direct effect ... the health of the economy.

7. The advertising ... television and radio are some of the ways that sales promotions reach you.

IV. Найдите в правой колонке русский эквивалент для английских словосочетаний:

1. goods and services	a) хорошо звучать
2. large – scale production	b) обращаться к разуму
3. consumer demand	c) ничего не значит
4. to mislead the consumer	d) увеличивать продажу (сбыт)
5. to spend money	e) товары и услуги
6. to sound great	f) потребительский спрос
7. to mean nothing	g) вводить потребителя в заблуждение
8. to increase sales	h) убеждать потребителя
9. to convince the consumer	i) крупномасштабное производство
10. to appeal to reason	j) тратить (расходовать) деньги