Advertising, Difficult Persuasion.

Author: Shu Desen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: The author is a thoughtful and insightful scholar, known for his dialectical approach but not excluding empirical evidence. Readers will quickly notice that many of the advertising perspectives presented in the book differ from those used in the advertising textbooks currently employed in higher education. He strives to reflect the true nature of things, neither artificially exaggerating the role of advertising nor deliberately downplaying its function. The book avoids simplistic cause-and-effect conclusions, yet the author's sparks of thought shine throughout. The advertising perspectives proposed in this book differ from the commonly held view that advertising influences sales by altering consumers' thoughts or shaping their perceptions of a product. The prevailing consensus is to associate a brand or product with a celebrity or a romanticized lifestyle, implying that using the product can transform consumers into more beautiful, likable, and energetic individuals. Consumers, skeptical yet tempted by the allure of advertising suggestions either consciously or subconsciously, end up purchasing the product.