Question

I would have to agree that the shift is moving towards online advertising. Think about it, we have Netflix or on demand programming now where commercials are non-existent. However, we see ads all the time now online. If we go to watch a quick YouTube video on how to do something we are forced to watch a snippet of an ad. Even on social networking there are sponsored ads that are peppered through our feeds. Geo-targeting and data-opolies like Amazon and Google do collect our surfing habits and then these companies customize ads to target us. An article in the Harvard Business Review (Stucke, 2018) speaks about just this topic and how the fair market values of the individual’s data collected is far undervalued for what the data is actual worth, in terms of its utility for marketers.

The ability of television marketing to reach thousands, as it once did, is dwindling down. Here is why: during the infancy of television there was just air transmission. Most people of middle age can remember back to when there was only two or three channels in their area. Limited selection meant more eyes seeing an advertisement. With the advent of cable the markets increased as marketers to young children would hit them hard during the Saturday morning cartoon marathons. We have all heard of the massive amounts spent during the Super Bowl and the reason is that companies know millions are watching. However, more and more content is being viewed online where they can skip commercials (Day, 2018). So television does have its place, but only during certain high viewing events such as the Super Bowl and these events are becoming fewer and fewer.

So in essence, traditional television advertising is on the decline due to the still expensive nature of this medium. Internet marketing and targeting is on the rise because it reaches more of the intended targets at a much cheaper cost when compared to television (Marshal & Johnston, 2015). For instance, I purchase vitamins and supplements online from Vitacost.com. When I’m on reading a news article I start seeing Vitacost advertising and not just the company name but even some of the vitamin categories I was just looking at. This is an example of a more targeted approach to marketing that is more cost effective than a blanket ad during a show on the television.

Please respond to post in 100-150 words

Answer 1

Current research is discovering that individuals suffering from social isolation can employ television to create what is termed a parasocial or faux relationship with characters from their favorite television shows and movies as a way of deflecting feelings of loneliness and social deprivation. Just as an individual would spend time with a real person sharing opinions and thoughts, pseudo-relationships are formed with TV characters by becoming personally invested in their lives as if they were a close friend^[1] so that the individual can satiate the human desire to form meaningful relationships and establish themselves in society. Jaye Derrick and Shira Gabriel of the University of Buffalo, and Kurt Hugenberg of Miami University found that when an individual is not able to participate in interactions with real people, they are less likely to indicate feelings of loneliness when watching their favorite TV show.

They refer to this finding as the social surrogacy hypothesis. Furthermore, when an event such as a fight or argument disrupts a personal relationship, watching a favorite TV show was able to create a cushion and prevent the individual from experiencing reduced self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy that can often accompany the perceived threat. By providing a temporary substitute for acceptance and belonging that is experienced through social relationships, TV helps to relieve feelings of depression and loneliness when those relationships are not available. This benefit is considered a positive consequence of watching television, as it can counteract the psychological damage that is caused by isolation from social relationships.