How Advertising Affects What We Buy

To understand how advertising affects what we buy, we must first have an understanding of what advertising is. Advertising, in its simplest terms, is the activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services. However, is that all advertising truly is? There is not a single, generally accepted definition of advertising. Advertising is a form of communication used by a marketer to relay information about a product to consumers, thus creating awareness (What Advertising is… 1). Advertising is very important to our way of life and is viewed differently depending on the perspective of the viewer.

Until the 19th century there were no advertising agents either in Europe or in America. Anyone who wished to advertise had to deal directly with their local newspapers. By 1800, difficulties and complexities were beginning to grow up around the simple, direct relation between merchant and newspaper. The new complexities of business had created a need for a specializing middleman. The work of these advertising specialists was to assist in the buying and selling of a commodity, namely, newspaper space. By the 1830's editors in large cities were finding it advisable to send out employees from time to time among the local merchants and manufacturers to solicit orders for advertising (Hower 13-17).

Two of the earliest advertising agents, Volney B. Palmer of Philadelphia, and John Hooper of New York, started their advertising careers by canvassing orders for newspapers. The business of the advertising agent passed through four early stages of development: (1) newspaper agency, (2) space-jobbing, (3) space-wholesaling, (4) advertising concession agency (Hower 13-17).

In the first stage, the agent represents the ...

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...ngers. It is a public servant and therefore is used for the public interest. Advertising helps combat harmful propaganda while also footing most of the bill for our mass media (What Advertising Is… 161-169). Advertising is simply mass selling. It is a creative force that has generated new jobs, new ideas, has expanded our economy and helped to give us the highest standard of living in the world. Advertising stimulates ambition and desire.

Works Cited

Barton, Roger. Marketing & Advertising. New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and London:

McGraw-Hill, Inc.: 1964. Print.

Hower, Ralph M. The History of an Advertising Agency. Cambridge: Harvard University Press:

1949. Print.

Tyler, Poyntz. Advertising in America. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1959. Print.

“What Advertising Is… What it has done… What It Can Do Now.” Printers’ Ink May 15th,

1953: 1. Print.