Advertising and consumption

Mr. Ancira, 10th grade economics

Recap:

Adam smith’s theory on capitalism

Laissez-faire

Economic policy of non-governmental intervention

at least to a minimum

invisible hand- competition and the market system working together guide resources to their most productive use

the individual freedoms of consumers are the driving forces behind the competition

are we making completely independent decisions?????

Our wants:

a want is an elaboration of a need

conspicuous consumption is the use of a good or service to impress others

advertising is one of the most powerful tools used to influence us all in conspicuous consumption

when people are surrounded by the same message over and over again, they start to believe it- and end up becoming it

Deconstructing print ads:

deconstructing is the process of critically looking at the multiple layers of something

when we deconstruct print ads, we are looking at the obvious and hidden messages that are sent to us as consumers

we will be looking at three different levels of deconstructing: literal, inferential, and critical

Literal level:

literal means to look at the actual format of the advertisement.

Things like:

colors

people

Setting

Shapes

Product

Typography

slogans

inferential level:

inferential means to examine the images

are there any:

images showing stories

metaphors

cultural codes

Critical level:

critical looks at explanations of concepts

what cultural emotions and desires does the ad play on?

concepts like:economicsHistoryPsychologysociologyanthropology

literal?

inferential?

critical?

literal?

inferential?

Critical?

literal?

Inferential?

Critical?