How advertising informs to our benefit

In business, there is always competition between companies which are of a common market. Thus, when information in advertisements shows how one product is fairly better than the other, the rivaling companies would try to get the head lead by improving their product to be even better than the ones advertised. Hence, this cycle goes on, thus leading only to products being of better quality and more creative inventions which would surely benefit the purchasers. On the other hand, if there were no advertisements, the quality of products would not develop as companies would have no idea how creative and useful ideas have been implemented onto the item to improve it as there is no information available on how they make themselves more attracting to customers and their domain of research to upgrade the conventional products. Without this, companies would be oblivious and could not establish as they are not sure of where to take their first step and which dimension of their product they should develop on. Also, they would not know what the specific needs and wants of the public are as without the information given by advertisements, companies would only know which products were sold successfully but not the reason why they were more successful and which cravings of the customers they satisfied. Same for trade in tobacco, with advertisement, companies would gain better knowledge that the people want healthier and less risky cigarettes. They would also know more on what type materials could be used to substitute the normal cigarettes to make it safer. Thereafter, companies would build on the ideas of other products and make theirs better. Thus, this would improve the quality of products and hence, benefit us.

For most companies, there would always be a specialty in their products and reason why their products are better or unique compared to the products of other companies within the similar domain of business. This is to ensure that they stand out and the masses would be more attracted to their products and hence, increasing the demand. Due to this, the content of their products would be clearly boasted on the billboards showing their superiority. Hence, this would give us a better insight on the origins of not just the product being advertised, but also how other similar products are being made as most advertisements would compare and contrast their new innovations with other conventional brands. For example in tobacco trading, some people tend to be fearful of getting hoarseness or wheezing which symptoms lead to cancer and death. Thus, to get these people to not quit smoking and to throw in their money, tobacco companies exhibit how their cigarettes are a healthier choice compared to other brands due to its composition. Therefore, this could educate not just the smokers, but also the public on the materials which could lessen the risk of cancer when smoking. Hence, it is clear that advertising informs to our benefit.

However, it is undeniable that some information might not be entirely accurate or not all the truth is revealed. Very simply, when companies create new items, there might be flaws or disadvantages to it. However, when they launch their product and advertise it, obviously they would broom the dirty secrets under the carpet and only give the desired but false front. Hence, this would make the information given on advertisements to be unreliable and deceptive, which would lead to misconception of the public. However, after the product is spread out to the public and is applied, its true effects can never be hidden and would eventually surface. This would then defame the company selling these products and hence labeling their advertisements as not trust-worthy. Also, there are also inspections done on the products to check whether they correspond to how they advertise them. This would also discriminate the reliable companies from those who are corrupt. Hence, not all advertisements are beneficial the all.

Thus, advertisements can be beneficial to the public in direct and indirect ways such as educating them and improving the products. However, we should be cautious when receiving information from advertisements and question the source in which they come from.