More than 50 years ago, the social critic Vance Packard wrote, "Large-scale efforts are being made, often with impressive success, to channel our unthinking habits, our purchasing decisions, and our thought processes by the use of insights gleaned from psychiatry and the social sciences. "The economist John Kenneth Galbraith charged that radio and television are important tools to accomplish this manipulation of the masses Because consumers don't need to be literate to use these media, repetitive and compelling communications can reach almost everyone

 

Do you agree? Argue for both the sides

 

Answer:

"Large-scale efforts are being made, often with impressive success, to channel our unthinking habits, our purchasing decisions, and our thought processes by the use of insights gleaned from psychiatry and the social sciences."

If I say that I am agreeing with this statement following will be my support points:

Some people charge that marketers link products to desirable social attributes, so they create a materialistic society where what we own defines our value as a person.

They make luxurious needs their basic needs, which frequently affect our thinking process and purchasing decisions.

One influential critic even argued that the problem is that we are not materialistic enough: We do not sufficiently value goods for the utilitarian functions they deliver but instead focus on the irrational value of goods for what they symbolize.

According to this view, if we could suggest an example "Wine would be enough for us, without the additional promise that in drinking it we show ourselves to be manly, young at heart, or neighborly.

On the other hand, A washing machine would be a useful machine to wash clothes, rather than an indication that we are forward-looking or an object of envy to our neighbors."

And if I am not agreeing with this statement I would defend by the following description:

Its quite obvious that marketers do create 'artificial needs'

Large-scale efforts are being made, often with impressive success, to channel our unthinking habits, our purchasing decisions, and our thought processes by the use of insights gleaned from psychiatry and the social sciences.

Typically these efforts take place beneath our level of awareness; so that the appeals which move us are often, or I should say, "hidden.."