Relation Between Advertising and Our Consumer Culture

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Nowadays, it is a consumption society which contains both homogeneity and diversity. As one of the biggest contributor of customer culture changes, advertising is an essential and inevitable element in our daily life which could be visible anywhere and experienced different stages. Early advertisements are generally seemed as “simple, crude and naïve”, while the contemporary advertisements are “persuasive, subtle and intelligent” (McFALL, 2004:3). The early advertise agency just bought some space in media and sold to customers. As the development of advertisement, art design and unique idea were added into advertising, and then it formed advertisement industry. Advertisement industry “adjusted its marketing practices to the novel situation created by consumer culture”. (McFALL, 2004:110) Advertisement is not only an assistor to the increase of consumption economy, but also a contributor to customer culture development. “The contemporary advertising agency did emerge as the result of historical circumstances”. (McFALL, 2004:111) The advertisement industries have more significant impact on marketing and customer which could be interacted with customer’s consumption attitude, value and belief. However, “culture can function like a nature” (Cronin, 2000:145). A slogan called “I shop therefore I am” which came from Barbara Kruger was famous in recent years. She argues that every purchasing behavior could be seemed as a reflection of customer’s aesthetic attitude, consumption taste and buying habit (I Shop, therefore I Am, 2000). In this article, a topic of the reflection and interaction between advertising and modern consumer culture would be analyzed, including the necessity, representation and semiotic meaning. This essay has three m... ... middle of paper ... ...umption and Identity from the 1900s to 1970s, Aldershot : Ashgate, Page 145 McFall, E. (2004). Advertising: A Cultural Economy, London: Sage, Page 3, Page 110, Page 111 Mooij, M.de. (2004). Consumer Behavior and Culture, Sage Publications, Page 102, Page 119, Page 274, Page 275 Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, London: Sage, Page 30, Page 126, Page 132, Page 133 Schudson, M. (1993). Advertising, the Uneasy Persuasion, London : Routledge, Page 210 Slater, D. quoted in Bell D. and Hollows J. (2005). Ordinary Lifestyles: Popular Media, Consumption and Taste, Maidenhead: Open University Press, Page 178 Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising, London: Boyars, Page 60 Zyman, S. and Brott, A. (2002). The End of Advertising As We Know It, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, Page 9, Page 10, Page 19

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