OPINION

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By Cathy Li

It’s hard to go by a normal day in the USA without seeing a single ad. It’s a known fact: Advertisements are everywhere. Companies invest billions of dollars into creating these advertisements in abundant forms, from those annoying peely stickers on a large grey pole to the fancy Super Bowl ads that cost $5.6 million for a mere thirty seconds. As expensive as these ads may be, one may wonder how effective they truly are. After all, who actually watches an entire three-minute YouTube ad without skipping it? Furthermore, how does advertising compare in other countries, such as South Korea?

To understand the effectiveness of advertising, one must understand its consumer profile—a document of the general consumer’s demographics and buying patterns—in order to comprehend the consumer’s mindset and needs. For example, an 80-year-old will probably shop for different items than an eight-year-old. Advertising companies need to keep in mind their target audience; if Nordstrom is trying to sell a sleek, black prom dress online, their target demographic will be teenagers. To appeal to their target audiences, advertisement companies gather as much information as they can get from the consumers. In the US, the median age is 38.3 years, while South Korean’s median age is slightly higher, at 43.7 years old. In the USA, 82.8% of the population lives in urban areas, while in South Korea, 81.4% of the population is urbanized.

Another important aspect is through which channels both countries mainly use for advertising. In the US, TV channels and the press are some of the most popular advertising methods, along with social media. Similarly, South Korea also has TV and newspaper ads, using popular advertising agencies such as Cheil Worldwide, Innocean Worldwide, and HS AD. 87% of South Koreans aged 20-29 use social media and have some of the highest average internet connection speeds worldwide, so social media is also an essential medium for advertising.

The data above is helpful in understanding the general trends of advertising in the US and South Korea, but do young people, such as Collegiate students, purchase products from ads? When asked, Emilie Yang (‘21) replied, “Basically none, unless it was a targeted ad from a website I recently visited. It might get me to the website, but I don’t think it actually got me to buy anything.” Jonathan Wang (‘19) responded: “the things I buy online most often are small items that I need but aren’t really worth going out for… I don’t buy off of ads often.” Anju Natarajan (’22) was asked if bandwagoning trends would affect her decision to purchase a product, and she replied, “Yes, I would probably be more inclined to purchase [it]… especially when it comes to clothes/accessories.”

Emily Merchant (‘21) said, “It depends on the length of the ad and the content. If it’s an hour long and I’ve already watched it, I would definitely skip the ad.” When asked if celebrity endorsements would prompt her to finish the ads, she replied, “I would probably watch all of it if it’s short and the content is interesting.”

In South Korea, many companies target their audience by having famous Korean stars promote products. More than 40% of television ads in South Korea feature a celebrity, whereas only 10% do in the US, according to Bobby McGill at Brandinginasia.com. This popular method proves to be more effective in South Korea because of the number of fans that K-pop stars and actors have. A former executive creative director at the ad agency Ogilvy in South Korea was asked if narrator models convince consumers to purchase the product more, and the response was: “I don’t think it’s very effective, but it’s cheap and easy, and it’s slightly better than the balloon dancing guy.” 

It seems some advertising strategies not very effective, but some of the strategies make the product seem comparatively better. Will people actually purchase the product? Perhaps the fact that people rarely respond to advertisements is the reason why companies are investing in every way to appeal to their target audiences more.

Featured image credit: Pixahive user Sukhjinder.