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UNIT 6 Do You Follow Ads?
Integrated Skills Development
Passage The Power of Persuasion
Advertising follows us everywhere. Whenever we turn on the television, listen to the radio or open a newspaper or magazine, we are bombarded with advertisements. They invite us to try a new type of orange juice, wear X-brand jeans or watch the latest film. They beg us to notice the difference and discover the advantages. They exist to make us want what they are selling.
Strangely, the more we are exposed to advertising the less we notice it. We get so used to seeing advertisements everywhere that they become largely invisible, as if they were another part of our everyday lives. But does that mean that we are no longer affected by them?
One advertising expert believes that the special power of advertising lies in the fact that we do not pay much attention to it. Dr. Herbert Krugman, who was head of research for a major advertising company for many years, says that the less we notice ads, the more we are affected by them.
Dr. Krugman believes that when we stop noticing advertisements, we Iower our defenses, allowing the messages of the advertisements to be taken in and stored, ready to be triggered into action at the right moment. He says that the effects of advertising on the individual are small, but over a period of time they have a powerful effect on the masses.
Advertising serves an important function in society. Selling goods is an essential part of any economy. Advertisements help to sell goods by informing people about the products and services available. They supply us with information about new goods and developments that may be useful to us.
Often, advertisements help to pay for the entertainment we enjoy. Sponsors, who support events in exchange for advertising exposure, help to lower the cost of concerts, sports events and festivals.
But most experts who study advertising and its influence on human behavior argue that, more than being a source of information, advertising exists to persuade. It sells products and services by turning them into images and dreams. To do so, it may not always tell us everything about the products we are being persuaded to buy.
A market analyst says that all advertising, no matter how innocent, is misleading in some way.
When asked about the power of advertising in research surveys, most people
agree that it works, but not on them. Almost everyone believes that they have
complete control over how the thousands of ads they see every day affect them.
Only the professionals who create the ads know differently. After all, they see the results and they know advertising works as they expect. It works without us being aware of it. It works not by brainwashing us overnight, but by slowly and carefully shaping the way we think — and buy.
New Words and Expressions
power
n. 能力；力；權
persuasion
n. 勸說，說服
bombard
V. 不斷攻擊，（被問題、要求）困擾
juice
n. （水果等）汁，液
brand
n. 商標
