There is no dearth of literature on advertising and its effect. Mordern(1991) is of the opinion that advertising is a great tool to push a service, a product or an idea into the brain of a probable customer. This in turn (Newell &Merier, 2007) gives customer a greater control on what fits their bill. The primary objective of the advertiser however is to attract the customer and prompt him/her to purchase. Ayanwale et al. (2005) studing the varied advertisements of Bournvita, concluded by showing the huge influence it had on its evolution as meals beverage. Adelaar et al. (2003) on the other hand completed an evaluation of on-line CD buying patterns of consumers that were prompted by emotional advertisements.In modern times television promotion helps promote items, services, organizations, as well as recommendations,  and helps entrepreneurs expand their reach. (Abideen et al., 2011). Over time several variations have been discussed trying to make sense of the varied  procedures employed to create such an organization or item evaluations, if they are in fact put through advertisements (Muehling et al., 1993).O’Guinn and Faber (1989) pointed out that once buying behaviour is developed, the average individual faces difficulties in controlling itentirely. (Etzel, Walker and Stanton 1997). Advertising through all mediums are considered an essential component in influencing people.(Abideen1, Farooq and Latif 2011).Investigation of consumer behaviour may be used to test various conversation strategies, and as a result improve manufactured products (Proctor and Rock. 1982).

Numerous forms of media produced emotive responses and motivated potential buyers to perform online purchase (ADELAAR, et al. 2003). Various authors have analyzed the habits of consumers in the telecom sector, experiencing effective marketing.

The characteristics of different media and its immediate and long-term effects on consumers are also varied (doyle and Sanders,1990). For instance, TV allows audio–visual content which is more suitable for product categories that may demand physical demonstration. Radio on the other hand tends to offer audio content and is most suitable for businesses catering to the local markets (Petersen, 2018).

Berkowitz, Allaway, and D’Souza (2001) contended that over a period of time, the effect of different media platforms on consumers’ memory may vary. For instance, initially TV advertisements have a substantial impact on consumers’ memory, but in the long term, it fades away. In contrast, a magazine initially has a low but persistent impact on consumers’ memory because the readers can read a magazine at their own pace.

Advertising has been classified on the basis of various factors and functions. Broadly speaking, all advertisements can be put under the following heads/types:

1.Social Advertising: Social Advertising, also known as ‘pro- bono’ (for public good), is used as a tool for creating social awareness. It is done by non-commercial organisations with the primary objective to educate. Such advertising deals with matters of public interest and aims to bring about a social change, or to apprise people of development policies (etc.), and hence it is also known as ‘public- service advertising’. This advertising can take the help of various media: for example, the form of press ads, exhibitions, outdoor publicity (which includes display of hoardings, kiosks, bus panels, wall paintings, cinema slides, banners etc.) and printed publicity (which could include booklets, folder, posters, leaflets, calendars and diaries).

Ads that create awareness about drugs, or the Mukesh Harane advertisement that showed the ill effects of tobacco, come under this category. Mukesh Harane — has been a real-life example — whose heart-wrenching story was taken up by the government of India to highlight the ill effects of tobacco. A modest young man from Bhusawal (Maharashtra), Mukesh lost his life to tobacco addiction. What was more tragic was his history of addiction was just a few months old. He became the mascot for anti-tobacco campaign and it was mandatory for all theatres to run the ad before the screening of any movie.

Just as the real-life story of Mukesh was quite successful in highlighting the ill effects of tobacco — at times— simply roping in actors does the job. People are so star struck that they quickly absorb what their favourite actor has to say. Amitabh Bacchan has featured in many of the ‘health awareness’ campaigns with the ad-makers’ belief that the huge fan following of the actor would do the trick. More examples of such kind of recent ads are the “Make in India” ad, the “BetiBachao- BetiPadhao” campaign, the “Swachch Bharat Abhiyan” and “JaagoGrahakJaago” consumer awareness advertisement.

2. Political Advertising: Political advertising is the one that is undertaken by various political parties to persuade the general public in favour of their party ideology. Such advertisements are quite common during the time of elections. This form of advertising usually appears in the form of circulars, fliers and billboards and also in the form of written communication in newspapers, magazines or other periodicals. Political advertising may also get broadcast on radio or get telecast on cable and satellite television channels.

On television, these are repeated on consecutive days before the elections. “India- Shining-Campaign” carried out by one of the ruling political parties— before the 2004 parliamentary election— is a classic example of such type of advertisement. In such ads, the objective is to touch the emotional chord in the voters, though the rational appeal too is not missing. Besides promoting the plans and policies of the concerned party, these advertisements also expose the weaknesses of the opposition.Nicholas A. Valentino, Vincent L. Hutchings, and Dmitri Williams in their research titled, “The Impact of Political Advertising on Knowledge, Internet Information Seeking, and Candidate Preference”[5] opine that “informational benefits of political ads vary by their levels of awareness, such that the most aware experience the largest gains, especially when they are asked to make inferences about issues not explicitly discussed in the ad.” Further, the conclusion drawn from their exhaustive research is, that the most knowledgeable would use information in advertisements— as a substitute — for other kinds of fact-seeking. The lesser- informed spectators would be relatively unmotivated to seek out authentic information anyway.

3.Retail Advertising: Retail advertising is the one done by retailers selling goods directly to the customers. Retailers make use of attractive displays, bright neon signs posters, leaflets and ads in the daily newspapers to reach out to the customers. Service and discounts ensure that the customers keep coming back. Brand awareness and creation is the biggest advantage/feature of retail advertising. A good advertisement would also convey the USP of the brand to influence the buyers. Brand positioning— which is the act of creating and establishing an image in the minds— is also done via retail advertising. This further translates in traffic in the stores. Retail advertising works best when it is accompanied by a tagline.

Taglines click well with the audience and stay longer in the memory. For them to be effective; these have to be short, crisp, catchy and impressive. Nike’s ‘Just do it’ is an example that fulfils all the pre-requisites of an effective tagline. A Nike store emerges in the mind as soon as one hears the tagline. Other equally effective ones are ‘Think Different’ for Apple, ‘Open Happiness’ for Coca-Cola, ‘Because you’re Worth it’ for L’Oreal and ‘A Diamond is Forever’ for De-Beers.                               

Thus, catering as they do to different categories and contexts, one does see that advertisementscould be both commercial and non-commercial; however, what commonly brings together a well-defined set of objectives is their focus on the target-audience and the psychological aspects associated with it.

From an analysis of types given above; there is a common consensus that advertisements are meant to communicate, inform and persuade. Advertising is perhaps the most commonly used tool of promotion by an organisation. Since they communicate about a product, communication is the first step in the advertising process. It is an act of reaching out to the masses and because the endeavour is to reach the maximum number of people, it is also packaged with objectivity and appropriate amount of adequate information. Information is an essential part of a good advertisement and it is supposed to inform the buyers about the benefits they would enjoy if they buy a particular product, service, concept or an idea. Lavidge and Steiner’s [4] ‘Hierarchy of Effects’ model proposes that people who purchase a product essentially move from awareness through knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and then ultimately to purchase. This model talks of three stages of response to advertising:

1. Cognitive stage which consists of awareness and knowledge

2. Effective stage which is that of liking and preference

3. Behaviour stage which determines conviction and purchase.

It is desired and assumed that any information given in an advertisement would be complete and true and that an advertisement would follow a basic notion of ethics.Once—Cognitive and Effective stages— are accomplished through an anticipation of audience’ preferences, the advertiser would expect a favourable attitude to be generated. The customer would then be led to the Behaviour Stagewhich would eventually transform into sales. The basic goal of advertising is met, when prospects are translated into profits, resulting from sales. This goal could be perceived to have been accomplished, when customers are persuaded enoughto buy whatever has been advertised.

Quite rightly then, advertising is the magic talisman that opens the doors and lets the salesman in. It is successful in reaching places where salesmen might fear to tread. Witty advertisements also lighten the competition in the market as one saw in the case of Pepsi and its arch- rival, Coke. Looking at how these two iconic brands have been fighting tooth and nail, to dominate the soft drink market, makes up for an interesting study. Once when Coke had put up a board indicating their office on the second floor, Pepsi lost no time in putting up the other board just below it which mentioned‘Pepsi Everywhere’.

Figure 1:

https://i2.wp.com/beyourgoogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/61.png

There is nothing that can beat advertising, when it comes tobuilding up goodwill, or even when the public is to be warned against imitation of the products. The understanding of the consumer- patterns and related behaviour then determine both— promotional strategies as well as competitive ethic — in the contemporary market-based scenario.

After having analysed concept, types and consumer-behaviour integral to advertising, one should briefly look at its evolution and trajectory across human history.

Tracing the history and evolution of advertising is a difficult task and dates back to the time when mankind started trading.Egyptians used papyrus to promote the sale of their slaves and Greeks used ‘street callers’ that announced the arrival of the ships and the cargo which were then to be put up for sale. These are perhaps the earliest examples of advertising,and though they might look primitive today, but these had in them— all the characteristics of advertising— and met all the objectives. Montenegro Morales, in “The History of Advertising” talks of the first advertisement of a tavern in Pompeii, where a stone wall said:

“Traveler, if you go from here to the twelve tower, there Sarinus have a tavern, with this we invite you to come in, bye.

References of wall- painted white proclaiming edicts and gladiators’ fights are also seen. However, theMiddle Ages saw the emergence of signagesto cater to the illiterate masses.A tavern for example was represented with a bush and which gave us the proverb “A good wine needs no bush”. Besides these— a horse shoe represented a cobbler/ hat,a miller/ suit, a tailor/ goat, a milk store and so on. These signs went on to evolve from basic symbols into artistic expressions and more colours, elaborate carvings and gilt and paint was added too. Interestingly — many of these signages —later developed into trademarks which we still have today. These optional signages, became compulsory in fourteenth century England, when in the year 1389— a law was passed— wherein the landlords were forced to put signages outside their premises. The legislation said, “Whosoever shall brew ale in the town with intention of selling it must hang out a sign, otherwise he shall forfeit his ale."[5]

Figure 2. The Golden Fleece Pub

http://www.antiquesatoz.com/sgfleece/thedingcharlesv.htm

The next defining phase in the evolution of advertising came with Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press in the year 1438 and subsequently, there was a boom in print and publicity movements. The first newspaper´s announcement appeared in the year 1650 in the Several Proceedings in Parliament and this was about offering a reward for returning twelve stolen horses. In the seventeenth century, advertisements in papers grew and after the great fire in the year 1666, people turned to newspapers in great numbers to advertise under the category “Lost and Found”.

However, the language then used was more informative rather than persuasive. By the seventeenth century, people had mastered the art of taming advertisementsto suit their ends, and so we had around the same time, the discourse for controlling false advertisement claims. This continuedtill the nineteenth century and with industrialization and mass production of things like clothes, soap, groceries or objects of everyday usage; advertisements came to bridge the gap between the buyer and the seller. People had begun to realise that it was profitable to extend out to far off customers rather than to confine themselves to their back yards. Sellers reached out to people they had never met and newspapers provided the ideal media platform for doing so.

Also, by now newspapers had become affordable and much widely available. These also had more pages so that one could have bigger and brighter ads.V.Palmer, in the year 1840, established the institutional set-up for modern day advertising by setting up an advertising agency in Philadelphia. He bought large amounts of space in newspapers and later sold the space to advertisers and added to his profit. Slowly, the concept of advertising agency evolved, and it did involve a lot of creative planning. It also came to be seen now as a full-fledged profession. Advertisements now had a character; an individual essence and a lot of thought was put into it.

The first advertising plan as we know was created for Gillette (razor blades). What followed next was the ‘Golden Age’ of advertising famously represented by the Penny Press.  It became very popular due to its low price of something as miniscule as a penny per paper. These papers being affordable were accessible to a much larger audience and for the first time, advertisements permeated to the lower classes as well.  As the advertising agency flexed its muscles, it also realised it had to cater to the public. So, newspapers started carrying all the generally relevant information— like the prices of everyday essentials and related information — everything that could probably interest the general public.

By the time, advertisements reached the twentieth century, it had become a full-fledged industry. Then to put some checks and balances around the same, laws were also made.This became a necessity as deception in the industry was growing rapidly. The Federal Trade Commission came up with laws to curb this ever-increasing menace in the year 1914. This was primarily to protect one’s business from immoral conduct of a rival business owner. A process was put in place to verify claims. This brought about a marked change with claims becoming more accurate. Two years later in the year 1916, the advertisers themselves felt the need for a self-regulatory committee and ‘Better-Business-Bureau’ was established. During the GreatWar, advertising also served the role of awakening the general public to war-related issues and fulfilled an important gap therein.

Post-war, the world had realised the magic of the electronic medium and also the joy of consumption. The materialistic world looked more attractive than ever. It provided a balm to the injured psyche and people were no longer modest in voicing their love for extravaganza. That modernity had become the ‘buzz -word’ was clearly reflected in the ads of the day.Trucks that were earlier deployed in military enterprise made logistics simple and door to door delivery started. This ease of shopping further accelerated the growth of chain stores and many more such came into being. Interestingly, all this brought about a rejigging of the traditional Christian dogmas, that preached against excess and advocated materialist moderation.

Another fillip to advertising came from the radio, as it was the primary form of entertainment for families, who huddled in front of the little box, that would peddle out to them their favourite music and broadcasts. Obviously, it did not take long for advertisers to notice the power that this little box had over the masses, and they zealously turned towards it to increase consumer awareness about their products. Around the second decade of the twentieth century, station owners started obtaining business licences and radio advertising came into existence. We have an evidence of the first radio advertising when AT&T sold the broadcasting opportunities to businesses— and the New York Radio Station— became the first one to run a paid advertisement. There was no looking back thereafter and radio remained the favourite till the middle of the century. There was a rapid advertising evolution with sales setting new records, especially sales of popularand household consumption goods. Also, advertisements continued to become accessible to the common masses.

All this was not without its fair share of controversies. Advertisements now were loaded with sex, violence and false claims. This in fact had begun much earlier and the earliest advertisement was by the Pearl Tobacco brand in 1871, which featured

Figure 3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_in_advertising

scantily clad woman. This brings us to the very pertinent topic of advertising ethics and how far they are followed by businesses. The word ‘ethics’ is derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’ meaning ‘character’, ‘habit’ or ‘custom’.Hence, ethics is a philosophical discipline, that studies human actionsand also values and norms to which they conform.

Aristotle was the first Greek thinker to give to the world an ethical way of living life. For him, ethics was not a dry philosophy, but something pulsating with life. It was not an eternal and unchanging ideal, but something that could mould itself, so as to do maximum good to maximum people. He enumerated three virtues that could bring about such an effect —Temperance, Courage and Justice. Immanuel Kant, in The Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and The Foundations of Metaphysics of Morals (1785), elaborates on his theory of ethics and places reason as the highest point of morals. He specifies: “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become the universal law.”[6] By this theory, Kant specifically rejects the notion that the ends justify the means.

With time, business ethics have evolved as a set of moral codes to prescribe the ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ of the marketing scenario. Some transmuted over a period of time, as behaviour that was once accepted, became objectionable— especially for those businesses — that were involved in slavery, colonialism and related aspects. The term ‘Business Ethics’ came into use for the first time in 1970’s in the United States. Within a decade, it was taught as a subject in at least five hundred courses. A fully recognised society named “Society for Business Ethics” had become functional by the year 1980.

Ethics in business is viewed as a set of moral principles governing both the seller and the buyer. Ethical advertising is a type of advertising which is truthful, does not in any way promote forgery and lies within the limits of checks and balances. The touchstone is that the principles of moral order should also apply to the contested field of advertising. A misleading advertisement leads to inappropriate information and consumer’s point of view needs to be given cognisance in ensuring authenticity of the same. A misleading advertisement could also be perceived as contemptuous for glorifying certain habits or tendencies which could be otherwise regarded as undesirable. The primary aim of good advertising is not to lure, but to inform, so that people can make more rational and informed choices. Pontifical Council of Social Communications in 1997 enumerated three broad principles for ethical advertising and these were respect for truth, respect for human dignity and respect for social responsibility.

Respect for truth entails that the consumer should not be made to believe in false claims. Truth should not be altered and half-truths should be avoided. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an agency entrusted with the task of protecting customers from unfair and deceptive practices. So widely prevalent is the practice of befooling the customers that there are hundreds of cases that it handles each year. Lately, it ear-marked numerous companies like Sears (Roebuck and Co.) and Amazon for misleading consumers and making unsubstantiated claims.

This can also be regularly seen in the case of products labelled as ‘Natural’. On investigation, it is often found that labelling foods as such had only been done to increase sales and hence profits, considering the current mad craze for ‘natural’ and ‘organic’. Vinegar is a glaring example of this. The latter is found in both natural and synthetic form. Just listing it as an ingredient without specifying its exact composition leaves one much farther from the truth. Another example is that of Kellogg cornflakes which is often marketed as a health food whereas the fact is that it is far from truth. Besides the basic ingredient which is corn— it has sugar, malt flavouring and fructose— and all these have high levels of Glycaemic index. One cup of cornflakes has the following nutritional composition:

Considering the abysmal low protein content that it contains, it is unlikely to keep one full for long. Due of its high GI, it leads to elevated concentrations of Blood glucose levelthat could contribute tohigh risk and type 2 diabetes. Then there are advertisements that are especially meant for children. Many snacks and goodies meant for attracting vulnerable kids are stuffed with hidden sugar and preservatives, but are packaged in attractive ways, and advertisements are made glossy to convince the young audience. Another example is that of Unibic Cookies often marketed as a healthy tea time biscuit. In an advertisement of the same product, Shilpa Shetty who is considered a health freak, makes a fruit parfait with Unibic Digestive Cookies and the caption runs as — “To give it a healthy twist, we are making this recipe using Unibic Daily Digestive cookies which has 26% fibre". This sounds exaggerated and unreal. 26% fibre in a packaged product is beyond belief. A closer look would reveal the following facts:

On closer analysis, one finds that the product is claiming to fulfil 26% of one’s fibre requirement i.e.— 6.1 grams— which is true. Also, getting 26% of one’s dietary fibre requirement by eating 100 grams of these cookies, which are loaded with vegetable oil (palm), sugar and others harmful ingredients would indeed be a mistake.

Advertisements are often exaggerated too. They can use metaphors (for example, a certain shoe can make you run as fast as Usain Bolt) or alliterations to attract audience’ attention, and by doing so, they try to provide a long-lasting impact. (Dunkin donuts or Café Coffee Day or Big Bazaar, Tic tac and countless others). This exaggeration can often be referred to as puffery. The ‘world’s best coffee’ might not actually be the best or a single sanitary napkin might not be capable of resolving a woman’s dilemmas. Fortunately, though—most of the times— the consumers have enough common sense to see the fine line. Sometimes, we love the exaggeration if the ad is creative enough or part of a comic situation.

Sample this: “In the crazy world of advertising, pigs can fly, babies can talk, and teleportation is real.”[7]  It is also a world, where a deodorant can make women swoon; an energy drink could sprout wingsso that one could fly and a sauce seems so hot so as to literally burn things with one’s breath. Commercials of this category assume that the viewers will understand the hyperbole and that they will recognize and enjoy the exaggeration as a norm. Such ads imply that the metaphor or hyperbole would be understood by the audience and not taken literally.

A very serious offshoot of unethical advertising is when businesses forget their social obligations and perpetuate stereotypes. Women and ethical minorities suffer from such portrayal. Women are often portrayed as playing a subservient role. She is often seen as a house maker and such depiction fails to recognize her transforming role in society. A dark woman is shown to fail in interviewsand her life can change only if she applies a certain whitening cream. Women are often shown to be obsessed with beauty, household drudgery or motherhood.

However, this has undergone a change recently with many advertisements having taken cognizance of woman’s changing roles and these often come as a breath of fresh air. Ariel’s 'Share the Load' ad is one such example, where a father after observing his daughter juggle work and household chores, introspects his own role at house and brings a positive change in the family by sharing laundry duties with his wife. Equally captivating is the Titan Raga ad— 'HerLife– HerChoices’ advertisement— which is truly an empowering ad. It depicts a strong and an independent woman who is capable of taking decisions for herself and making her own choices.

Figure 4

https://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/7mlmrj/usha_sewing_machine_ad_from_ 1970s_train_her_to_be/

These advertisements seem to have come a long way, from the Usha 1970s advertisement, that emphasized the importance of training girls to do household work (like sewing) so as to qualify for an“ideal housewife” tag.  Over time, these have evolved, but it is no coincidence that even today, there is not a single sewing machine advertisement that shows men doing the job.