Advertising Perception

QUESTION

Consumer Behavior

Reflective Journal

Advertising Perception

As consumers we are bombarded with advertisements. Sometimes those advertisements are intentional and sometimes they are unintentional. The messages from these advertisements vary but one thing they all have in common is that a goal of advertisements is to persuade the consumer to make certain product selections.

During one day of the week, pay special attention to the advertisements you encounter. These advertisements can be on television, radio, magazines, social media and Internet or, billboards. Reflect on the advertisements you saw during your day. Site 5 specific advertisements and discuss them including your perception of those advertisements. What were they trying to accomplish? Were they subliminal in nature?

Your work should be at least 500 words and draw from your own personal thoughts and ideas. This journal entry should be written in first person and if you use information from the textbook or lecture be sure to cite your sources.

ANSWER

Advertising Perception

Introduction

Advertising is done to create certain impressions about a product, in the minds of potential customers. They aim at encouraging people to purchase the product, by creating the impression that a consumer has the need for the said product. Advertisements are many, in our day to day lives, and we cannot ignore the effect they have on our perception towards the advertised products. Examples of current advertisements are given below:

Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl advertisement of 2018: the advert portrays a life full of fun and enjoyment, with images of people playing a game of spin the bottle, riding a bicycle with many balloons, street magic, dancing on the beach, swinging on a swing, birthday celebration, and looking at stars. The ad depicts a stress-free life, stipulating that enjoying a Coca-Cola drink makes our lives as fun as depicted. This ad has the effect of making us want to experience such a life, and may push us to buy the beverage. It makes life look so easy, as if all one needs in a coke beverage, then everything falls into place.

The Pepsi ad (with Kendall Jenner): the online ad by Coca-Cola’s rival company, Pepsi, is one that captured my attention in a big way. The ad starts with the opening of a Pepsi can, then events of merriment and festivity follow. The advert aims at depicting how a drink of Pepsi can brighten the day for its consumers, with a celebration following the opening of a Pepsi drink. The use of a celebrity like Kendall Jenner is an ad boosts its marketability, as many people, especially the youth, identify with the star, and would want to use a product that the celebrity uses. The ad meets the manipulative agenda, by convincing consumers that their days could be brightened by the use of the Pepsi drink.

The world of Red Bull commercial: the Red Bull advert has been developed from the past ads showing a cartoon character taking the Red Bull drink and floating away. The new ad targets the youth, showing that Red Bull is not just about energy, but also the lifestyle that comes with using the Red Bull energy drink. It portrays that when a person takes Red Bull, they become part of a community of high-class individuals in the society. This is a very effective ad, and the youth will be influenced to use Red Bull in the bid to look classy.

Little Caesar’s pizza ad 2017: the ad shows a young boy who is not impressed by his father, who brings pizza that is not from Caesar’s. This ad tells us of the incredibly cheap pizza deals from Little Caesar’s Pizza. It also makes it look like the best parent only gets pizza from Little Caesar’s Pizza. Many of us would want our friends and children to be impressed by the food that we buy them, and this advert uses that to influence our buying decisions.

KFC’s dancing chicken advert: this advert designed to advertise KFC kitchen has been on social media and the internet for a while. It shows a hen dancing while walking in an empty room, and ends with the words ‘the whole chicken’. It aims at telling consumers that KFC offers the best quality of chicken, the best chicken there is. However, the ad does not impress me to want to buy KFC chicken. I am sometimes bored, watching a hen make dance movements on a board. I do not think that there is any connection between seeing a live hen dance and wanting to feed on the produce from the hen. I feel that KFC should have made a better ad to make consumers want to buy their chicken.