Are ads that appeal to young people a waste of time? – Believe it or not, young people are an advertiser’s best investment.
Elizabeth, aged 16, remembers the first time she saw an ad for pore-cleaning strips. “It really made me want to do something right away – to go out and buy them”. Before she saw the ad on TV and in teen magazines, she doesn’t remember worrying about the state of her pores. “I think commercials try to make you feel self-conscious,” says Elizabeth. “They want you to worry about clean pores, about your hair being shiny enough, about how muscular you are, and how much you weigh.”
“Advertising is accepted and expected. Young people don’t see anything wrong in a product being advertised. They don’t see any reason to be suspicious and if it’s on TV or somewhere else, then it must be good. They are easily affected by the charm and appealing presentation of advertising. They look for an instant and easy message. If it’s not there, they don’t take any notice. And they literally and naively believe celebrities in ads really use the products they are advertising,” says Stuart Armon, managing director of a company that conducts research into the media habits of the youth in the UK.
Brands capitalise on the age-old insecurities and self-doubt of teenagers by making them believe that to be truly “cool”, they need their product. They know that the youth market is able and willing to pay to be “cool”, since teens either have their own purchasing power or play a vital role in choices concerning consumption in the family economy.
However, today’s teens may force marketers to toss their old tricks. Companies hoping to win their hearts and wallets will have to learn to think like they do. Some companies, for example, hire “cool hunters” to infiltrate the world of teens and bring back the latest trends. However, as Armon explains: “The minute a cool trend is discovered, repackaged, and sold to teens, it’s no longer cool. So brands have to be able to constantly reinvent themselves. One splashy ad campaign running a couple of months is no longer effective”.
In Current Health and Guardian (abridged and freely adapted)
A. TRUE or FALSE? Quote from
the text to support your answer.
1) Ads have never directly affected Elisabeth’s buying decisions.
2) Ads want to make people embarrassed about the way they look.
3) Teenagers are difficult to convince.
4) Famous people give more credibility and realism to ads.
5) Companies take advantage of teenagers’ lack of confidence.
6) Young people influence their parents’ buying decisions.
B. Answer these questions in your
own words as far as possible:
1) Why are young people a good investment for advertisers?
2) Which techniques do advertisers use to get to teenagers? Name only three.
3) Do you agree with the last sentence of the text? Explain.
C. Explain the following from the
last paragraph in your own words.
1)...”to toss their old tricks.”
2)...”to win their hearts and wallets”...
D. What do the underlined words
refer to in the text?
1) them 2) they
3) it 4) they
5) them 6) their
E. Match the words on the left with their synonym/definition on the right.
1) buy | A - a type of product manufactured by a particular company |
2) commercial | B - purchase |
3) brand | C - a frequently repeated phrase used in an ad |
4) logo | D – the act of buying and using services |
5) slogan | E - the act of convincing someone |
6) jingle | F - compulsive buyer |
7) shopaholic | G - a TV advertisement |
8) persuasion | H - a short, simple piece of music used in an ad |
9) appealing | I - attractive |
10) consumption | J – a printed symbol/design |
F. VERB TENSES Complete the sentences with the correct tense of the verbs in brackets.
Since 1980, Americans (1. purchase) at a greater rate than any time in history. Anne Master is just one example. She is addicted to TV shopping. Right now she (2. sit) in front of her computer shopping online. She (3. not leave) her room once.
Usually when Anne (4. get) home from her job as a nightcare worker at 8.30 a.m, Anne will immediately tune into the satellite TV shopping channel and buy everything in sight. Her home is full of things she (5. not need).
One day when her money ran out, she (6. steal) about 100$ from the elderly patients in her care while they (7. have) dinner. Unfortunately she was caught and charged with theft. Later she apologised for all the trouble she (8. cause).
G. RELATIVE CLAUSES Link the sentences with a relative pronoun. Use commas where needed.
1) Mike has three credit cards. He’s a shopaholic.
2) Young people are targeted by marketing companies. This is not very surprising.
3) A woman was arrested yesterday. She was accused of stealing a pair of jeans.
4) We met a nice lady the other day. Her son spends a lot of money on clothes.
5) Compulsive shopping can be just as addictive as any other drug. It is also known as compulsive buying.
H. WRITING
Express your opinion on the following using about 150 words.
Advertising surely uses very effective tactics to influence people’s buying decisions, but at what costs?
KEY
A.
1) F - It really made me want to do something right away – to go out and buy them.
2) T - I think commercials try to make you feel self-conscious, says Elizabeth. (They want you to worry about clean pores, about your hair being shiny enough, about how muscular you are, and how much you weigh.)
3) F - They are easily affected by the charm and appealing presentation of advertising.
4) T - And they literally and naively believe celebrities in ads really use the products they are advertising...
5) T - Brands capitalise on the age-old insecurities and self-doubt of teenagers...
6) T - ... teens (...) play a vital role in choices concerning consumption in the family economy.
B.
1) They are a good investment because they are easy to convince. On the other hand they have their own money or easily influence their parents’ buying decisions.
2) Advertisers use different strategies:
* exploit people’s insecurities
* convince people that they really need a product to be “cool”
* use appealing presentations
* use instant and easy messages
* use famous people as a way to get teenagers’ attention.
3) Yes, I do. No matter how appealing and attractive an ad campaign might be, people will lose interest if it runs for too long. In order to maintain people’s interest, ads have constantly to reinvent themselves, presenting something different and appealing to the consumer.
C.
1) to throw away/discard their old strategies/tactics (in other words, they must invent new techniques)
2) to get people to be interested in a product and then make them buy it
D.
1) pore-cleaning strips
2) commercials
3) a product
4) celebrities
5) teenagers
6) brands
E.
F.
1. have purchased/ have been purchasing 2. is sitting 3. hasn’t left 4. gets 5. doesn’t need 6. stole 7. were having 8. had caused
G.
1. Mike, who is a shopaholic, has three credit cards.
2. Young people are targeted by marketing companies, which is not very surprising.
3. A woman who was accused of stealing a pair of jeans was arrested yesterday.
4. We met a nice lady the other day whose son spends a lot of money on clothes.
5. Compulsive shopping, which is also known as compulsive buying, can be just as addictive as any other drug.
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