Is it true...?

Question

that in today's US, marketeers create needs where none exist to promote and sell useless items for the sake of selling and profits?
Rather than filling real needs and wants do advertisers create artificial and absurd needs and wants for profit alone as motive?

Answer 1

Some of it certainly is but the primary job of marketing is to create a "need" where none existed previously. A classic example is the cell phone industry.

15 years ago a cell phone was an extravagant waste whereas today it is a genuine necessity in many parts of the world. This is particularly true in remote locations where the cost of wiring every home to the land-line network would be prohibitive compared to the cost of a single cell tower.

Just to give you an idea of how ubiquitous the cell phone has become, AT&T recently announced the death of the payphone on their network. It used to be that when you got off the plane at an airport you were confronted with banks of payphones at nearly every gate. Nowadays if you need a payphone at an airport you have to search for one.

Answer 2

Sorry but I really don't believe that it is true. All of the examples given here are existing needs of the consumer that the marketers capitalize on. For example body oder. We are social creatures and we have a constant anxiety to fit it. Marketers see this and may magnify the anxiety to sell a solution (the product) but the base anxiety already existed.

Yes, the pharmaceutical industry might tell you you need a pill to sleep when really you could solve your problem by getting a better mattress. However, they didn't convince you you had insomnia. The need exists first and the marketer will try to sell you a solution. Whether or not its the best, cheapest or safest option is not the point here.

Same for the cell phone industry. Inventors marketed the cell phone but if it didn't give us some sort of convenience that we needed the product would not have flourished. Marketers can make a product more attractive, show the consumers they need it and differenciate themselves from competitors, but rarely can they invent a need.

To prove this you can look at all the products and services that, despite huge marketing budgets, failed to be accepted by the market. New Coke anyone?

Answer 3

To a large extent it is true. Satisfying the needs of consumers is a primary function of marketing, but all too often marketers try to convince consumers they need a product that does not serve much purpose. There are books and articles written on this issue. Excellent examples are the many drugs and medicines advertised to solve real or imagined medical problems that could be solved by other means at less cost. For example, do we really need the sleeping tablets when it is possible to get a good night's sleep simply by doing some exercise and avoiding late evening meals? There are many other examples.

Answer 4

yes, absolutely.

they often take a tiny concern (body odour, for example) and turn it into a major paranoia.... but their product will make the whole problem go away!

it is the job of advertisers to sell products. it's the job of product makers to make the shareholders rich.

nowhere does anyone have to be honest or moral.

it's sad, but that's the reality.

Answer 5

it certainly is!