Do consumers benefit of advertising?

Posted by Alexander Ginzburg on September 28, 2007
Filed Under Advertising |

Up until now I’ve been talking about the price that advertisements make people pay in exchange for information. I’ve also argued that this price is much higher than the fair value of the information. Some researchers along with some advertising fans (mostly those who make a living of it) explain this anomaly by some sort of a benefit that consumers get from advertisements. The most common benefit mentioned in this context is their informative value. According to this claim, the extra money paid by the consumers attributed to the information concealed in the advertisements. My immediate response to that would be: “complete nonsense”. It’s not that there is no information in ads and commercials at all, but its quantity, quality and value are negligible.

First of all, let’s talk about the quantity. How often do you encounter an ad that makes you feel lucky for not missing what ever it has to say? Frankly I find it difficult to appreciate the informative value of a typical ad that all it has to say is that I’m lovin’ it, to enjoy or just to do it. Even when we do find some useful messages, I wouldn’t put my money on its quality. How can the advertising companies, which have all the reasons to manipulate its audience, be trusted? Even if the law prevents them from lying, it doesn’t prevent them from publishing partial truth. Same as I wouldn’t want my doctor to tell me just the positive side of my health condition, I’d also wish to receive a complete information regarding the products I’m purchasing. Even if I was interested in the message delivered by the advertisements, why do I have to pay so much to hear it? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to hire someone else instead of the whole national soccer team of Brazil to tell us how great Nike’s shoes are? I’m also sure that 2.5$ million is not the best deal for an opportunity to deliver a 30 seconds message, but those beer and snack companies keep doing it every year during the super bawl. The conclusion is that the advertisements are here not to inform us, but to influence our decisions. The fact that no one would agree to pay just to watch a commercial shows that consumers don’t benefit from advertisements.

However, there is an alternative way to receive information about products and services. This way is much more objective, more credible and cheaper. It can be achieved with the assistance of journalism, in particular journalism that specializes in consumerism. By this way, people could read in the same newspaper a report about Kobe Bryant’s score in the last night game and an objective review of the new Nike’s sneakers line in two separate articles; and they wouldn’t have to pay Kobe to tell them about the shoes.