Central Argument: Out of the two types of advertisements, rational and emotional, it is hard to say which is better than the other because all humans have rational yet emotional thoughts.
All of us would have laughed, jumped with joy, or cried at least once at some point of our lifetime. The feelings don’t come out after logical thinking; they happen in an instant. I can almost guarantee that no one ponders over the reasons for shedding tears before crying, with the exception of actors and actresses when in front of cameras. Without any particular reason, feelings just can’t be controlled and denied. On the other hand, there are facts that can’t be denied as well because there is absolutely no way to prove them wrong; they are true. Facts are what they are, the conclusions generations of people experienced and came up with. Hence, it is hard to say which is better, being rational or emotional.
Advertisements with facts convince people to buy products by providing undeniable reasons of requirement. I, also as a part of the victim, have experienced the irrefutable feeling of necessity for the product when I watched advertisements providing real reasons. As a person relying heavily on factual benefits of products, when I watched an advertisement listing the need of IPad for easy transportation, access to Wi-Fi, and utilization of multiple applications which could be used for different situations, I couldn’t resist asking my parents to buy that most useful technology thing ever in the world.
Emotion-provoking advertisements are also very convincing. I remember watching an advertisement of a bike. It showed a man with number of girls on a very sexy car, but when another man appeared with this awesome bike, all the girls left the man with the car to join the man with the bike. Being as a girl, I thought the advertisement will provoke the guys to buy the bike for obvious reasons - guys want girls. So, if I was thinking about the advertisement in this way, I wonder how much impact it will actually have on the guys. But I know for sure that my uncle, who was with me then, wanted it really badly.
Personally, I really rely on facts for certain kind of advertisements such as medicine, because I know that medicine is a matter about life or death. I know that good medicine is essential for me to live on when compared to other products relatively. On the other hand, when I see advertisements about IPod, talking about entertainment it provides, I get this desire to buy IPod though I don’t really require it.
Advertisements with facts and those attacking emotions cannot be compared. The debate is still on and the psychology community is still trying to answer because all of us have experienced that rational advertisements as well as irrational advertisements inculcate us to buy the products.
You say that "it is hard to say which is better, being rational or emotional." But there's a difference between "better" and "effective." In terms of advertising, of course one wants facts for a necessary product such as medicine. But for unnecessary items? Companies have to rely on emotion. So, which is more effective? The one that is used for products you have to buy? Or the one used in products that you don't need? Anyway, I'm getting off topic.
ReplyDeleteFor this kind of essay, it is very important for you to identify your reason for writing in the introduction, along with your thesis: Author A believes B; I agree/disagree for reasons X, Y, and Z. (It'll be similar even if you qualify: Author A believes B; I believe he is only partially correct because of X, Y, and Z.)