FD 2 Cognitive Filters

Mary-jane Garasi
FD2
October 12, 2011

Advertisements stick to you like glue. There are thousands of advertisements that we see every day. Once you see an ad, especially if it is a good one, you will remember it. Advertisements are simple, easy to remember, and pays a vital role in complete communication to the world. Without them, we wouldn't know about certain new products companies have out, the best places to eat, or even the best schools to send our kids to. Advertisements are trial and error; the ones that actually target the consumer are the ones that have an impact on the consumer's interest. [THESIS] Impacts are simply based on their consumer. Children lack cognitive filters and adults respond to commercials by automatically putting on cognitive filters.[THESIS]

Although there may be millions of ads every day, who really pays much attention to them? During the commercial breaks, the average American is running to kitchen for a soda or zapping around the other channels to see what else is on. There is distraction of hitting up your phone or computer just to see that status on everyone's facebook. In other words, we as consumers are watching TV. We are just not 100% focused on the additions that come up while watching our favorite show. This is where many marketers invest their millions of dollars in. Commercials. Not just any commercials. These are sales ads, compassion ads, statements ads, you name it. These marketers put out the most eye catching commercials in just thirty seconds. These thirty seconds can change a viewer’s point of view on whatever object they are marketing.

The average American child views up to 40,000 commercials a year. A growing body of research suggests links between children’s advertising and obesity, parent-child conflicts, violence and aggression, later tobacco and alcohol use, and a brittle self-esteem based on possessions. Mala Arkin also emphasized, "According to TV Free America the average child watches 20,000 30-second TV commercials a year. That number is staggering and has a direct effect on our children’s notion of what is necessary for life. Consumerism for the sake of consuming is promoted with no regard to impact this is having on our society. Many children in this country are blessed to have good lives with their basic necessities meet like food, shelter, clothes, and yet they are not happy because advertisers have told them they need more." A child's inability to grasp the definition of need fills their desire to want more.

For example I was watching a commercial on the Iphone. It starts off by showing the iphone's body all around and ends by saying it is built so you can rule the air. Verizon's sales blew up so fast that majority of the people who have bought the Iphones are from parents buying them for their children. Children seem to be more up to date with the new era of computers that most of marketers like Verizon are circled around the younger consumers. The average senior citizen would prefer something easier and a lot less complex to use like a regular Motorola cell phone without any use of data.

Children are too young to grasp the reality of what advertising and commercials are there for. They cannot grasp the notion to believe that the purpose of TV commercials have a purpose other than entertainment, and they completely believe what they see and hear. With all the credit card frauds happening in the world, most of them are done by children simply calling the 1-800 number just to be able to have free money, not knowing what the product actually is. As Carmen Lee said, "For example, young children who like to mimic what adults do, do not know who or what to believe in, if they see sometime on an ad, they would most likely think it is a right thing to follow." Completely true, when you were 8 years old, do you remember watching the commercials that advertised some of the best clothing brands? The cute little bell bottoms that said "juicy" in the back or the high rise shoes that gave you lift that you really had to buy it cause everyone in school was talking about it?

Adults on the other hand, respond to commercial advertising by automatically putting on cognitive filters. They are old enough to understand that these advertisements serve a purpose to inform, persuade, and inform the consumer with biased information. These advertising agencies pay millions of dollars and conduct thousands of research to deliver their interpretive strategies in as little as 30 seconds. Older adults produce more relevant thoughts about the advertisements than younger adults. When you are older, you tend to remember more and are able to distinguish the products on TV that is being marketed. Adults are capable of turning their "off" button on their brain to certain selling ads that are persuasive and biast.

I am 28 years old, when I watch a commercial on TV that is trying to sell me car insurance like the famous green gecko who is the branded trademark for Geico not only makes me believe that Geico may seem like a good option to look into. This "Piggy Commercial" had a pig yelling, "wheeee!" in the back seat of a toddlers car seat screaming out the window. There was no relevance to the commercial of having Geico as an insurance when the time of an accident occurs. All it showed was the driver (a lady) looking very irritated at this pig rushing to get this pig to its destination. A saving consumer like me would check not only Geico's rates, but I cross reference other insurance companies to make sure I have the lowest possible rate for the best deal. I believe adults tend to turn their cognitive filers on and are able to make choices. We can wheel and deal with the marketer on TV just to find the best suitable offer we can find.

When adults are watching TV, they aren't 100% focused on it. If they were they would be glued to their TV, attentively absorbing every word. Analyzing and deconstructing every image. Adults have a sense of control where they are able to distinguish marketing or just an informative ad.

Negative or positive impacts are primarily based on the consumer. It is highly distinguishable that negative impacts tend to be followed by children who have no sense of cognitive filtering. Their sense of filtering happens over time when they are able to understand the notion of these biased advertisements. Adults have this wonderful ability to be able to filter these notions in greater understanding that they do not have to be suckered in into these advertising agencies that continue to prove that their item is, "the next best thing."

Works Cited

Lee, Carmen. “Con Forum.” Online posting. 23 Sept. 2011. Laulima Discussion. [https://laulima.hawaii.edu].

Arkin, Mala. "Yes, Ads Have a Negative Impact!" Online posting. 20 Sept. 2011. Laulima Discussion. [https://laulima.hawaii.edu].

Verizon Iphone Commercial. 2011 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P88YDftKPhE]

Geico Piggy Commercial. 2010 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F_G2zp-opg]

Log of Completed Activities
_x__ Sep. 19- Intro to Paper #2. Read the Guidelines for Paper #2.
_x__ Sep. 23- Laulima Discussion: Ad Pros and Cons
_x__ Sep. 26- Complete readings for paper #2.
_x__ Sep. 30- Laulima Discussion: Logical Fallacies Exercise
_x__ Oct. 3- Submit RD2 [50 pts]. Review the guidelines.
_x__ Oct. 7- Submit three RD2 evaluations [50 pts]. Review the guidelines.
_x__ Oct. 12- Submit FD2 [125 pts]. Review the guidelines.